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GENNADIUS
LIST OF THE AUTHORS WHOM GENNADIUS ADDED, AFTER THE DEATH OF THE BLESSED
JEROME (1)
1.James, surnamed the Wise.
2.Julius, bishop of Rome.
3.Paulonas the presbyter.
4.Vitellius the African.
5.Macrobius the presbyter.
6.Heliodorus the presbyter.
7.Pachomius the presbyter-monk.
8.Theodorus, his successor.
9.Oresiesis the monk.
10.Macarius the monk.
11.Evagrius the monk.
12.Theodorus the presbyter.
13.Prudentius.
14.Audentius the bishop.
15.Commodianus.
16.Faustinus the presbyter.
17.Rufinus the presbyter.
18.Tichonius the African.
19.Severus the presbyter.
20.Antiochus the bishop.
21.Severianus the bishop.
22.Nicaeas the bishop.
23.Olympius the bishop.
24.Bachiarius.
25.Sabbatius the bishop.
26.Isaac.
27.Ursinus.
77.Pastor the bishop.
28. Another Macarius.
29. Heliodorus the presbyter.
30. John, bishop of Constantinople.
31. John, another bishop.
32. Paulus the bishop.
33. Helvidius.
34. Theophilus the bishop.
35. Eusebius the bishop.
36. Vigilantius the presbyter.
37. Simplicianus the bishop.
38. Vigilius the bishop.
39. Augustine the bishop.
40. Orosius the presbyter.
41. Maximus the bishop.
42. Petronius the bishop.
43. Pelagius the heresiarch.
44. Innocentius the bishop.
45. Caelestius, follower of Pelagius.
46. Julianus the bishop.
47. Lucianus the presbyter.
48. Avitus the presbyter.
49. Paulinus the bishop.
50. Eutropius the presbyter.
51. Another Evagrius.
52. Vigilius the deacon.
53. Atticus the holy bishop.
54. Nestorius the heresiarch.
55. Caelestinus the bishop.
56. Theodorus the bishop.
57. Fastidius the bishop.
58. Cyrillus the bishop.
59. Timotheus the bishop.
60. Leporius the presbyter.
61. Victorinus the rhetorician.
62. Cassianus the deacon.
63. Philippus the presbyter.
64. Eucherius the bishop.
65. Vincentius the Gaul.
66. Syagrius.
67. Isaac the presbyter.
68. Salvianus the presbyter.
69. Paulinus the bishop.
70. Hilarius the bishop.
71. Leo the bishop.
72. Mochimus the presbyter.
73. Timotheus the bishop.
74. Asclepius the bishop.
75. Peter the presbyter.
76. Paul the presbyter.
78. Victor the bishop.
79. Voconius the bishop.
80. Musaeus the presbyter.
81. Vincentius the presbyter.
82. Cyrus the monk.
83. Samuel the presbyter.
84. Claudianus the presbyter.
85. Prosper.
86. Faustus the bishop.
87. Servus Dei the bishop.
88. Victorius.
89. Theodoritus the bishop.
90. Gennadius the bishop.
91. Theodulus the presbyter.
92. John the presbyter.
93. Sidonius the bishop.
94. Gelasius the bishop.
95. Honoratus the bishop.
96. Cerealis the bishop.
97. Eugenius the bishop.
98. Pomerius the bishop.
99. Gennadius.
CHAPTER I.
James, (1) surnamed the Wise, was bishop of Nisibis the famous city of
the Persians and one of the confessors under Maximinus the persecutor. He
was also one of those who, in the Nicean council, by their opposition
overthrew the Arian perversity of the Homoousia. That the blessed Jerome
mentions this man in his Chronicle as a man of great virtues and yet does
not place him in his catalogue of writers, will be easily explained if we
note that of the three or four Syrians whom he mentions he says that he
read them translated into the Greek. From this it is evident that, at that
period, be did not know the Syriac language or literature and therefore he
did not know a writer who had not yet been translated into another
language. All his writings are contained in twenty-six books namely On
faith, Against all heresies, On charity towards all, On fasting, On prayer,
On particular affection towards our neighbor, On the resurrection, On the
life after death, On humility, On penitence, (2) On satisfaction, On
virginity, On the worth (3) of the soul, On circumcision, On the blessed
grapes, On the saying in Isaiah, "the grape cluster shall not be
destroyed," That Christ is the son of God and consubstantial with the
Father On chastity, Against the Nations, On the construction of the
tabernacle, On the conversation of the nations, On the Persian kingdom, On
the persecution of the Christians. He composed also a Chronicle of little
interest indeed to the Greeks, but of great reliability in that it is
constructed only on the authority of the Divine Scriptures. It shuts the
mouths of those who, on some daring guess, idly philosophize concerning the
advent of Antichrist, or of our Lord. This man died in the time of
Constantius and according to the direction of his father Constantine was
buried within the walls of Nisibis, for the protection evidently of the
city, and it turned out as Constantine had expected. For many years after,
Julian having entered Nisibis and grudging either the glory of him who was
buried there or the faith of Constantine, whose family he persecuted on
account of this envy, ordered the remains of the saint to be carried out of
the city, and a few months later, as a matter succeeded Julian, gave over
to the barbarians the city which, with the adjoining territory, is subject
unto the Persian rule until this day.
CHAPTER II.
Julius, (1) bishop of Rome, wrote to one Dionysius a single epistle On
the incarnation of Our Lord, which at that time was regarded as useful
against those who asserted that, as by incarnation there were two persons
in Christ, so also there were two natures, but now this too is regarded as
injurious for it nourishes the Eutychian and Timothean heresies.
CHAPTER III.
Paulonas, (2) the Presbyter, disciple of the blessed deacon Ephraim a
man of very energetic character and learned in the holy scriptures was
distinguished among the doctors of the church while his master was still
living and especially as an extemporaneous orator. After the death of his
master, overcome by love of reputation, separating himself from the church,
he wrote many things opposed to the faith. The blessed Ephraim when on the
point of death is reported to have said to him as he stood by his side--See
to it, Paulonas that you do not yield yourself to your own ideas, but when
you shall think that you understand God wholly, believe that you have not
known,-for he felt beforehand from the studies or the words of Paulonus,
that he was investigating new things, and was stretching out his mind to
the illimitable, whence also he frequently called him the new Bardesanes.
CHAPTER IV.
Vitellius (3) the African, defending the Donatist schism wrote Why the
servants of God are hated by the world, in which, except in speaking of us
as persecutors, he published excellent doctrine. He wrote also Against the
nations and against us as tradi-tors of the Holy Scriptures in times of
persecution, and wrote much On ecclesiastical procedure. He was
distinguished during the reign of Constans son of the emperor Constantinus.
CHAPTER V.
Macrobius (4) the Presbyter was likewise as I learned from the writings
of Optatus, afterwards secretly bishop of the Donatians in Rome. He wrote,
having been up to this time a presbyter in the church of God, a work To
confessors and virgins, a work of ethics indeed, but of Very necessary
doctrine as well and fortified with sentiments well fitted for the
preservation of chastity. He was distinguished first in our party in Africa
and afterwards in his own, that is among the Donatians or Montanists at
Rome.
CHAPTER VI.
Heliodorus (1) the Presbyter wrote a book entitled An introductory
treatise on the nature of things, in which he showed that the beginning of
things was one, that nothing was coaeval with God, that God was not the
creator of evil, but in such wise the creator of all good, that matter,
which is used for (2) evil, was created by God after evil was discovered,
and that nothing material whatever can be regarded as established in any
other way than by God, and that there was no other creator than God, who,
when by His foreknowledge He knew that nature was to be changed, (3) warned
of punishment.
CHAPTER VII.
Pachomius (4) the monk, a man endowed with apostolic grace both in
teaching and in performing miracles, and founder of the Egyptian
monasteries, wrote an Order of discipline suited to both classes of monks,
which he received by angelic dictation. He wrote letters also to the
associated bishops of his district, in an alphabet concealed by mystic
sacraments so as to surpass customary human knowledge and only manifest to
those of special grace or desert, that is To the Abbot Cornelius one, To
the Abbot Syrus one, and one To the heads of all monasteries exhorting
that, gathered together to one very ancient monastery which is called in
the Egyptian language Bau, they should celebrate the day of the Passover
together as by everlasting law. He urged likewise in another letter that on
the day of remission, which is celebrated in the month of August, the chief
bishops should be gathered together to one place, and wrote one other
letter to the brethren who had been sent to work outside the monasteries.
CHAPTER VIII.
Theodorus, (5) successor to the grace and the headship of the above
mentioned Abbot Pachomius, addressed to other monasteries letters written
in the language of Holy Scripture, in which nevertheless he frequently
mentions his master and teacher Pachomius and sets forth his doctrine and
life as examples. This he had been taught he said by an Angel that he
himself might teach again. He likewise exhorts them to remain by the
purpose of their heart and desire, and to restore to harmony and unity
those who, a dissension having arisen after the death of the Abbot, had
broken the unity by separating themselves from the community.Three
hortatory epistles of his are extant.
CHAPTER IX.
Oresiesis (1) the monk, the colleague of both Pachomius and Theodorus,
a man learned to perfection in Scripture, (2) composed a book seasoned with
divine salt and formed of the essentials of all monastic discipline and to
speak moderately, in which almost the whole Old and New Testament is found
set forth in compact dissertations--all, at least, which relates to the
special needs of monks. This he gave to his brethren almost on the very day
of his death leaving, as it were, a legacy.
CHAPTER X.
Macarius, (3) the Egyptian monk, distinguished for his miracles and
virtues, wrote one letter which was addressed to the younger men of his
profession. In this he taught them that he could serve God perfectly who,
knowing the condition of his creation, should devote himself to all
labours, and by wrestling against every thing which is agreeable in this
life, and at the same time imploring the aid of God would attain also to
natural purity and obtain continence, as a well merited gift of nature.
CHAPTER XI.
Evagrius (4) the monk, the intimate disciple of the above mentioned
Macarius, educated in (5) sacred and profane literature and distinguished,
whom the book which is called the Lives of the fathers mentions as a most
continent and erudite man, wrote many things of use to monks among which
are these: Suggestions against the eight principal sins. He was first to
mention or among the first at least to teach these setting against them
eight books taken from the testimony of the Holy Scriptures only, after the
example of our Lord, who always met his tempter with quotations from
Scripture, so that every suggestion, whether of the devil or of depraved
nature had a testimony against it. This work I have, under instructions,
translated into Latin translating with the same simplicity which I found in
the Greek. He composed also a book of One hundred sentiments for those
living simply as anchorites, arranged by chapters, and one of Fifty
sentiments for the erudite and studious, which I first translated into
Latin. The former one, translated before, I restored, partly by
retranslating and partly by emendation, so as to represent the true meaning
of the author, because I saw that the translation was vitiated and confused
by time. He composed also a doctrine of the common-life suited to Cenobites
and Synodites, (1) and to the virgin consecrated to God, a little book
suitable to her religion and sex. He published also a few collections of
opinions very obscure and, as he himself says of them, only to be
understood by the hearts of monks, and these likewise I published in Latin.
He lived to old age, mighty in signs and miracles.
CHAPTER XII.
Theodorus, (2) presbyter of the church at Antioch, a cautious
investigator and clever of tongue, wrote against the Apollinarians and
Anomians On the incarnation of the Lord, fifteen books containing as many
as fifteen thousand verses, in which he showed by the clearest reasoning
and by the testimony of Scripture that just as the Lord Jesus had a
plenitude of deity, so he had a plenitude of humanity. He taught also that
man consists only of two substances, soul and body and that sense and
spirit are not different substances, but inherent inborn faculties of the
soul through which it is inspired and has rationality and through which it
makes the body capable of feeling. Moreover the fourteenth book of this
work treats wholly of the uncreated and alone incorporeal and ruling nature
of the holy Trinity and of the rationality of animals which he explains in
a devotional spirit, on the authority of Holy Scriptures. In the fifteenth
volume he confirms and fortifies the whole body of his work by citing the
traditions of the fathers.
CHAPTER XIII.
Prudentius, (3) a man well versed in secular literature, composed a
Trocheum (1) of selected persons from the whole Old and New Testament. He
wrote a commentary also, after the fashion of the Greeks, On the six days
of creation from creation of the world until the creation of the first man
and his fall. He wrote also short books which are entitled in the Greek,
Apotheosis, Psychomachia and Hamartigenia, that is On divinity, On
spiritual conflict, On the origin of sin. He wrote also In praise of
martyrs, an invitation to martyrdom in one book citing several as examples
and another of Hymns, but specially directed Against Symmachus (2) who
defended idolatry, from which we learn that Palatinus was a soldier.
CHAPTER XIV.
Audentius, (3) bishop of Spain, wrote a book against the Manicheans,
Sabellians and Arians and very particularly against the Photinians who are
now called Bonosiacians. This book he entitled On faith against heretics,
and in it he showed the Son to have been coeternal with the Father and that
He did not receive the beginning of his deity from God the Father, at the
time when conceived by the act of God, he was born of the Virgin Mary his
mother in true humanity.
CHAPTER XV.
Commodianus, (4) while he was engaged in secular literature read also
our writings and, finding opportunity, accepted the faith. Having become a
Christian thus and wishing to offer the fruit of his studies to Christ the
author of his salvation, he wrote, in barely tolerable semi-versified
language, Against the pagans, and because he was very little acquainted
with our literature he was better able to overthrow their [doctrine] than
to establish ours. Whence also, contending against them concerning the
divine counterpromises, he discoursed in a sufficiently wretched and so to
speak, gross fashion, to their stupefaction and our despair. Following
Tertullian, Lactantius and Papias as authorities he adopted and inculcated
in his students good ethical principles and especially a voluntary love of
poverty.
CHAPTER. XVI.
Faustinus (1) the presbyter wrote to Queen Flaccilla seven books
Against the Arians and Macedonians, arguing anti convicting them by the
testimonies of the very Scriptures which they used, in perverted meaning,
for blasphemy. He wrote also a book which, together with a certain
presbyter named Marcellinus, he addressed to the emperors Valentinianus;
Theodosius anti Arcadius, in defence of their fellow Christians. From this
it appears that he acquiesced in the Luciferian schism, in that in this
same book he blames Hilary of Poitiers and Damasus, bishop of Rome, for
giving ill-advised counsel to the church, advising that the apostate (2)
bishops should be received into communion for the sake of restoring the
peace. For it was as displeasing to the Luciferians to receive the bishops
who in the Ariminian council had communed with Arius, as it was to the
Novatians to receive the penitent apostates.
CHAPTER XVII.
Rufinus, (3) presbyter of the church at Aquileia, was not the least
among the doctors of the church and bad a fine talent for elegant
translation from Greek into Latin. In this way he opened to the Latin
speaking church the greater part of the Greek literature; translating the
works of Basil of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Gregory Nazianzan, that most
eloquent man, the Recognitions of Clement of Rome, the Church history of
Eusebius of Caesarea in Palestine, the Sentences of Xystus, (4) the
Sentences of Evagrius and the work of Pamphilus Martyr Against the
mathematicians. Whatever among all these which are read by the Latins have
prefatory matter, have been translated by Rufinus, but those which are
without Prologue have been translated by some one else who did not choose
to write a prologue. Not all of Origen, however, is his work, for Jerome
translated some which are identified by his prologue. On his own account,
the same Rufinus, ever through the grace of God published an Exposition of
the Apostles (3) creed so excellent that other expositions are regarded as
of no account in comparison. He also wrote in a threefold sense. that is,
the historical, moral and mystical sense, on Jacob's blessing on the
patriarchs. He wrote also many epistles exhorting to fear of God, among
which those which he addressed to Proba are preeminent. He added also a
tenth and eleventh book to the ecclesiastical history which we have said
was written by Eusebius and translated by him. Moreover be responded to a
detractor of his works, in two volumes, arguing and proving that he
exercised his talent with the aid of the Lord and in the sight of God, for
the good of the church, while he, on the other hand, incited by jealousy
had taken to polemics.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Tichonius, (1) an African by nationality was, it is said, sufficiently
learned in sacred literature, not wholly unacquainted with secular
literature and zealous in ecclesiastical affairs. He wrote books On
internal war and Expositions of various causes in which for the defence of
his friends, he cites the ancient councils and from all of which (2) he is
recognized to have been a Donatist. He composed also eight Rules for
investigating and ascertaining the meaning of the Scriptures, compressing
them into one volume. He also expounded the Apocalypse of John entire,
regarding nothing in it in a carnal sense, but all in a spiritual sense. In
this exposition he maintained the angelical nature (3) to be corporeal,
moreover he doubts that there will be a reign of the righteous on earth for
a thousand years after the resurrection, or that there will be two
resurrections of the dead in the flesh, one of the righteous and the other
of the unrighteous, but maintains that there will be one simultaneous
resurrection of all, at which shall arise even the aborted and the deformed
lest any living human being, however deformed, should be lost. He makes
such distinction to be sure, between the two resurrections as to make the
first, which he calls the apocalypse of the righteous, only to take place
in the growth of the church where, justified by faith, they are raised from
the dead bodies of their sins through baptism to the service of eternal
life. but the second, the general resurrection of all men in the flesh.
This man flourished at the same period with the above mentioned Rufinus
during the reign of Theodosius and his sons.
CHAPTER XIX.
Severus (4) the presbyter, surnamed Sulpitius, of the province of
Aquitania, a man distinguished by his birth, by his excellent literary
work, by his devotion to poverty and by his humility, beloved also of the
sainted men Martin bishop of Tours and Paulinus Nolanus, wrote small books
which are far from despicable. He wrote to his sister many Letters
exhorting to love of God and contempt of the world. These are well known.
He wrote two to the above mentioned Paulinus Nolanus and others to others,
but because, in some, faintly matters are included, they have not been
collected for publication. He composed also a Chronicle, and wrote also to
the profit of many, a Life of the holy Martin, monk and bishop, a man
famous for signs and wonders and virtues. (1) He also wrote a Conference
between Postumianus and Gallus, in which he himself acted as mediator and
judge of the debate. The subject matter was the manner of life of the
oriental monks and of St. Martin -- a sort of dialogue in two divisions. In
the first of these he mentions a decree of the bishops at the synod of
Alexandria in his own time to the effect that Origen is to be read, though
cautiously, by those who are wise, for the good that is in him, and is to
be rejected by the less able on account of the evil. In his old age, he was
led astray by the Pelagians, and recognizing the guilt of much speaking,
kept silent until his death, in order that by penitent silence he might
atone for the sin which he had contracted by speaking.
CHAPTER XX.
Antiochus (2) the bishop, wrote one long a volume Against avarice and
he composed a homily, full of (4) godly penitence and humility On the
healing of the blind man whose sight was restored by the Saviour. He died
during the reign of the emperor Arcadius.
CHAPTER XXI.
Severianus, (5) bishop of the church of Gabala, was learned in the Holy
Scriptures and a wonderful preacher of homilies. On this account he was
frequently summoned by the bishop John and the emperor Arcadius to preach a
sermon at Constantinople. I have read his Exposition of the epistle to the
Galatians and a most attractive little work On baptism and the feast of
Epiphany. He died in the reign of Theodosius, his son by baptism.
CHAPTER XXII.
Niceas, (1, 2) bishop of the city of Romatia, composed, in simple and
clear language, six books of Instruction for neophites. The first of these
contains, How candidates who seek to obtain grace of baptism ought to act,
the second, On the errors of relationship, in which he relates that not far
from his own time a certain Melodius, father of a family, on account of his
liberality and Garadius (3) a peasant, on account of his bravery, were
placed, by the heathen, among the gods. A third book On faith in one
sovereign, a fourth Against genealogy, (4) a fifth On the creed, a sixth On
the sacrifice of the paschal lamb. He addressed a work also To the fallen
virgin, an incentive to amendment for all who have fallen.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Olympius (5) the bishop, a Spaniard by nationality, wrote a book of
faith against those who blame nature and not the will, showing that evil
was introduced into nature not by creation but by disobedience.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Bachiarius, (6) a Christian philosopher, prompt and ready and minded to
devote his time to God, chose travel as a means of preserving the integrity
of his purpose. He is said to have published acceptable small works but I
have only read one of them, a work On faith, in which be justified himself
to the chief priest of the city, defending himself against those who
complained and misrepresented his travel, and asserting that he undertook
his travel not through fear of men but for the sake of God, that going
forth from his land and kindred he might become a co-heir with Abraham the
patriarch.
CHAPTER XXV.
Sabbatius, (7) bishop of the Gallican province, at the request of a
certain virgin, chaste and devoted to Christ, Secunda by name, composed a
book On faith against Marcion and Valentinus his teacher, also against
Eunomius and his Master Aetius, showing, both by reason and by testimony of
the Scriptures, that the origin of the deity is one, that the Author of his
eternity and the Creator of the earth out of nothing, are one and the same,
and likewise concerning Christ, that he did not appear as man in a phantasm
but had real flesh through which eating, drinking, weary and weeping,
suffering, dying, rising again he was demonstrated to be man indeed. For
Marcion and Valentinus had been opposed to these l opinions asserting that
the origin of Deity is twofold and that Christ came in a phantasm. To
Aetius indeed and Eunomius his disciple, he showed that the Father and Son
are not of two natures and equal in divinity but of one essence and the one
from the other, that is the Son from the Father, the one coeternal with the
other, which belief Aneetius and Eunomius opposed.
CHAPTER XXVI.
Isaac(1) wrote On the Holy Trinity and a book On the incarnation of the
Lord, writing in a very obscure style of argument and involved language,
maintaining that three persons exist in one Deity, in such wise that any
thing may be peculiar to each which another does not have, that is to say,
that the Father has this peculiarity that He, himself without source, is
the source of others, that the Son has this peculiarity. that, begotten, He
is not posterior to the begetter, that the Holy Spirit has this
peculiarity, that He is neither made nor begotten but nevertheless is from
another. Of the incarnation of the Lord indeed, he writes that the person
of the Son of God is believed to be one, while yet there are two natures
existing in him.
CHAPTER XXVII.
Ursinus(2) the monk wrote against those who say that heretics should be
rebaptized, teaching(3) that it is not legitimate nor honouring God, that
those should be rebaptized who have been baptized either in the name of
Christ alone or h@ the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, though the formula has been used in a vitiated sense. He considers
that after the simple confession of the Holy Trinity and of Christ, the
imposition of the hands of the catholic priest is sufficient for salvation.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Macarius(1) another monk, wrote at Rome books Against the
mathematicians, in which labour he sought the comfort of oriental writings.
CHAPTER XXIX.
Heliodorus,(2) presbyter of Antioch, published an excellent volume
gathered from Holy Scriptures On Virginity.
CHAPTER XXX.
[John(3)(4) bishop of Constantinople, a man of marvelous knowledge and in
sanctity of life, in every respect worthy of imitation, wrote many and very
useful works for all who are hastening to divine things. Among them are the
following On compunction of soul one book, That no one is injured except &
himself, an excellent volume In praise of the blessed Paul the apostle, On
the excesses and ill reputation of Eutropius a praetorian prefect and many
others, as I have said, which may be found by the industrious.]
CHAPTER XXXI.
Another John,(5)(6) bishop of Jerusalem, wrote a book against those who
disparaged his studies, in which he shows that he follows the genius of
Origen not his creed.
CHAPTER XXXII.
Paul the bishop wrote a short work On penitence in which he lays down
this law for penitents; that they ought to repent for their sins in such
manner that they be not beyond measure overwhelmed with despairing sadness.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Helvidius,(7) a disciple of Auxentius and imitator of Symmachus, wrote,
indeed, with zeal for religion but not according to knowledge, a book,
polished neither in language nor in reasoning, a work in which he so
attempted to twist the meaning of the Holy Scriptures to his own
perversity, as to venture to assert on their testimony that Joseph and
Mary, after the nativity of our Lord, had children who were called brothers
of the Lord. In reply to his perverseness Jerome, published a book against
him, well filled with scripture proofs.(1)
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Theophilus,(2) bishop of the church(3) of Alexandria, wrote one great
volume Against Origen in which he condemns pretty nearly all his sayings
and himself likewise, at the same time saying that he was not original in
his views but derived them from the ancient fathers especially from
Heraclas, that he was deposed from(4) the office of presbyter driven from
the church and compelled to fly from the city. He also wrote Against the
Anthropomorphites, heretics who say that God has the human form and
members, confuting in a long discussion and arguing by testimonies of
Divine Scripture and convincing. He shows that, according to the belief of
the Fathers, God is to be thought of as incorporal, not formed with any
suggestion of members at all, and therefore there is nothing like Him among
created things in substance, nor has the incorruptibility nor
unchangeableness nor incorporeality of his nature been given to any one but
that all intellectual natures are corporeal, all corruptible, all mutable,
that He alone should not be subject to corruptibility or changeableness,
who alone has immortality and life. Likewise the return of the paschal
feast which the great council at Nicea had found would take place after
ninety years at the same time, the same month and day adding some
observations on the festival and explanations he gave to the emperor
Theodosius. I have read also three hooks On faith, which bear his name but,
as their language is not like his, I do not very much think they are by
him.
CHAPTER XXXV.
Eusebius(5) wrote On the mystery of our Lord's cross and the
faithfulness of the apostles, and especially of Peter, gained by virtue of
the cross.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Vigilantius,(6) a citizen of Gaul, had the church of Barcelona. He wrote
also with some zeal for religion but, overcome by the desire for human
praise and presuming above his strength, being a man of polished language
but not practised in the meaning of Scriptures, he expounded the vision of
Daniel in a perverted sense and said other frivolous things which are
necessarily mentioned in a catalogue of heretics. [To him also the blessed
Jerome the presbyter responded.](1)
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Simplicianus,(2) the bishop, exhorted Augustine then presbyter, in many
letters, that he should exercise his genius and take time for exposition of
the Scriptures that, as it were, a new Arabrosius, the task master of
Origen might appear. Wherefore also he sent to him many examinations of
scriptures. There is also an epistle of his of Questions in which he
teaches by asking questions as if wishing to learn.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Vigilius(3) the bishop wrote to one Simplicianus a small book In praise
of martyrs and an epistle containing the acts of the martyrs in his time
among the barbarians.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Augustine,(4) of Africa, bishop of Hipporegensis, a man renowned
throughout the world for learning both sacred and secular, unblemished in
the faith, pure in life, wrote works so many that they cannot all be
gathered. For who is there that can boast himself of having all his works,
or who reads with such diligence as to read all he has written?(5) As an
old man even, he published fifteen books On the Trinity which he had begun
as a young man. In which, as scripture says, brought into the chamber of
the king and adorned with the manifold garment of the wisdom of God, he
exhibited a church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. In his
work On the incarnation of the Lord also he manifested a peculiar piety. On
the resurrection of the dead he wrote with equal sincerity, and left it to
the less able to raise doubts respecting abortions.(6)(7)
CHAPTER XL.
Orosius,(1) a Spanish presbyter, a man most eloquent and learned in
history, wrote eight books against those enemies of the Christians who say
that the decay of the Roman State was caused by the Christian religion. In
these rehearsing the calamities and miseries and disturbances of wars, of
pretty much the whole world from the creation(2) he shows that the Roman
Empire owed to the Christian religion its undeserved continuance and the
state of peace which it enjoyed for the worship of God.
In the first book he described the world situated within the ever
flowing stream of Oceanus and intersected by the Tanais, giving the
situations of places, the names, number and customs of nations, the
characteristics of various regions, the wars begun and the formation of
empires sealed with the blood of kinsmen.
This is the Orosius who, sent by Augustine to Hieronymus to teach the
nature of the soul, returning, was the first to bring to the West relics of
the blessed Stephen the first martyr then recently found. He flourished
almost(3) at the end of the reign of the emperor Honorius.
CHAPTER XLI.
Maximus,(4) bishop of the church at Turin, a man fairly industrious in
the study of the Holy Scripture, and good at teaching the people
extemporaneously, composed treatises In praise of the apostles and John the
Baptist, and a Homily on all the martyrs. Moreover he Wrote many acute
comments on passages from the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. He
wrote also two treatises, On the life(5) of Saint Eusebius, bishop of
Vercelli, and confessor, and On Saint Cyprian, and published a monograph On
the grace of baptism. I have read his On avarice, On hospitality, On the
eclipse of the moon, On almsgiving, On the saying. in Isaiah, Your
winedealers mix wine with water, On Our Lord's Passion, A general treatise
On fasting by the servants of God, On the quadragesimal fast in particular,
and That there should be no jesting on fast day, On Judas, the betrayer, On
Our Lord's cross, On His sepulchre, On His resurrection, On the accusation
and trial of Our Lord before Pontius Pilate, On the Kalends of January, a
homily On the day of Our Lord's Nativity, also homilies On Epiphany, On the
Passover, On Pentecost, many also, On having no fear of carnal Foes, On
giving thanks after meat, On the repentance of the Ninivites, and other
homilies of his, published(1) on various occasions, whose names I do not
remember. He died in the reign of Honorius and Theodosius the younger.
CHAPTER XLII.
Petronius,(2) bishop of Bologna in Italy(3) a man of holy life and from
his youth practised in monastic studies, is reputed to have written the
Lives of the Fathers, to wit of the Egyptian monks, a work which the monks
accept as the mirror and pat tern of their profession. I have read a
treatise which bears his name On the ordination of bishops, a work full of
good reasoning and notable for its humility, but whose polished style shows
it not to have been his, but perhaps, as some say, the work of his father
Petronius,(4) a man of great eloquence and learned in secular literature.
This I think is to be accepted, for the author of the work describes
himself as a praetorian prefect. He died in the reign of Theodosius and
Valentinianus.
CHAPTER XLIII.
Pelagius(5) the heresiarch, before he was proclaimed a heretic wrote
works of practical value for students: three books On belief in the
Trinity, and one book of Selections from Holy Scriptures bearing on the
Christian life. This latter was preceded by tables of contents, after the
model of Saint Cyprian the martyr. After he was proclaimed heretic,
however, he wrote works bearing on his heresy.
CHAPTER XLIV.
Innocentius,(6) bishop of Rome, wrote the decree which the Western
churches passed against the Pelagians and which his successor, Pope
Zosimus, afterwards widely promulgated.
CHAPTER XLV.
Caelestius,(7) before he joined Pelagius, while yet a very young man,
wrote to his parents three epistles On monastic life, written as short
books, and containing moral maxims suited to every one who is seeking God,
containing no trace of the fault which afterwards appeared but wholly
devoted to the encouragement of virtue.
CHAPTER XLVI.
Julianus(1) the bishop, a man of vigorous character, learned in the
Divine Scriptures, and proficient both in Greek and Latin, was, before he
disclosed his participation in the ungodliness of Pelagius, distinguished
among the doctors of the church. But afterwards, trying to defend the
Pelagian heresy, he wrote four books, Against Augustine, the opponent of
Pelagius, and then again, eight books more. There is also a book containing
a discussion, where each defends his side.
This Julianus, in time of famine and want, attracting many through the
alms which he gave, and the glamour of virtue, which they cast around him,
associated them with him in his heresy. He died during the reign of
Valentinianus, the son of Constantius.
CHAPTER XLVII.
Lucianus(2) the presbyter, a holy man to whom, at the time when
Honorius and Theodosius were Emperors, God revealed the place of the
sepulchre and the remains of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr, wrote out that
revelation in Greek, addressing it to all the churches.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
Avitus(3) the presbyter, a Spaniard by race, translated the above
mentioned work of the presbyter Lucianus into Latin, and sent it with his
letter annexed, by the hand of Orosius the presbyter, to the Western
churches.
CHAPTER XLIX.
Paulinus,(4) bishop of Nola in Campania, composed many brief works in
verse, also a consolatory work to Celsus On the death of a christian and
baptized child, a sort of epitaph, well fortified with christian hope, also
many Letters to Severus, and A panegric in prose written before he became
bishop, On victory over tyrants which was addressed to Theadosius and
maintained that victory lay rather in faith and prayer, than in arms. He
wrote also a Sacramentary and Hymnal.
He also addressed many letters to his sister, On contempt of the world,
and published treatises of different sorts, on various occasions.(1)
The most notable of all his minor works.. are the works On repentance,
and A general panegyric of all the martyrs. He lived in the reign of
Honorius and Valentinianus, and was distinguished, not only for
erudition(2) and holiness of life, but also for his ability to cast out
demons.
CHAPTER L.
Eutropius,(3) the presbyter, wrote to two sisters, handmaids of Christ,
who had been disinherited by their parents on account of their devotion to
chastity and their love for religion, two Consolatory letters in the form
of small books, written in polished and clear language and fortified not
only by argument, but also by testimonies from the Scriptures.
CHAPTER LI.
Another Evagrius(4) wrote a Discussion between Simon the Jew and
Theophilus the Christian, a work which is very well known.
CHAPTER LII.
Vigilius(5) the deacon. composed ant of the traditions of the fathers a
Rule for monks, which is accustomed to be read in the monastery for the
profit of the assembled monks. It is written in condensed and clear
language and covers the whole range of monastic duties.
CHAPTER LIII.
Atticus(6) bishop of Constantinople, wrote to the princess daughters(7)
of the Emperor Arcadius, On faith and virginity, a most excellent work, in
which he attacks by anticipation the Nestorian doctrine.
CHAPTER LIV.
Nestorius(8)(9) the heresiarch, was regarded, while presbyter of the
church at Antioch, as a remarkable extemporaneous teacher,(10) and composed
a great many treatises on various s Questions, into which already at that
time(1) he infused that subtle evil, which afterwards became the poison of
acknowledged impiety, veiled meanwhile by moral exhortation. But
afterwards, when commended by his eloquence and abstemiousness he had been
made pontiff of the church at Constantinople, showing openly what he had
for a long while concealed, he became a declared enemy of the church, and
wrote a book On the incarnation of the Lord, formed of sixty-two passages
from Divine Scripture, used in a perverted meaning. What he maintained in
this book may be found in the catalogue of heretics.
CHAPTER LV.
Caelestinus,(2) bishop of Rome, addressed a volume to the churches of
the East and West, giving an account of the decree of the synod against the
above mentioned Nestorius and maintaining that while there are two complete
natures in Christ, the person of the Son of God is to be regarded as
single. The above mentioned Nestorius was shown to be opposed to this view.
Xystus likewise, the successor of Caelestinus, wrote on the same subject
and to the same Nestorius and the Eastern bishops, giving the views of the
Western bishops against his error.
CHAPTER LVI.
Theodotus,(3)(4) bishop of Ancyra in Galatia, while at(5) Ephesus,
wrote against Nestorius a work of defence and refutation,(6) written, to be
sure, in dialectic style, but interwoven with passages from the Holy
Scriptures. His method was to make statements and then quote proof texts
from the Scriptures.
CHAPTER LVII.
Fastidius,(7) bishop in Britain, wrote to one Fatalis, a book On the
Christian life, and another On preserving the estate of virginity,(8) a
work full of sound doctrine, and doing honour to God.
CHAPTER LVIII.
Cyril,(9) bishop of the church at Alexandria, published various
treatises on various Questions, and also composed many homilies, which are
recommended for preaching by the Greek bishops. Other books of his are; On
the downfall of the synagogue, On faith against the heretics, and a work
directed especially against Nestorius and entitled, A Refutation, in which
all the secrets of Nestorius are exposed and his published opinions are
refuted.
CHAPTER LIX.
Timotheus,(1) the bishop composed a book On the nativity of Our Lord
according to the flesh, which is supposed to have been written at Epiphany.
CHAPTER LX.
Leporius,(2) formerly monk afterwards presbyter, relying on purity,(3)
through his own free will and unaided effort, instead of depending on the
help of God, began to follow the Pelagian doctrine. But having been
admonished by the Gallican doctors, and corrected by Augustine in Africa,
he wrote a book containing his retraction, in which he both acknowledges
his error and returns thanks for his correction. At the same time in
correction of his false view of the incarnation of Christ, he presented the
Catholic view, acknowledging the single person of the Son of God, and the
two natures existing in Christ in his substance.(4)
CHAPTER LXI.
Victorinus,(5) a rhetorician of Marseilles, wrote to his son Etherius,
a commentary On Genesis, commenting, that is, from the beginning of the
book to the death of the patriarch Abraham, and published four(6) books in
verse, words which have a savour of piety indeed, but, in that he was a man
busied with secular literature and quite untrained in the Divine
Scriptures, they are of slight weight, so far as ideas are concerned.
He died in the reign of Theodosius and Valentinianus.
CHAPTER LXII.
Cassianus,(7) Scythian by race, ordained deacon by bishop John the
Great, at Constantinople, and a presbyter at Marseilles, rounded two
monasteries, that is to say one for men and one for women, which are still
standing. He wrote from experience, and in forcible language, or to speak
more clearly, with meaning back of his words, and action back of his talk.
He covered the whole field of practical directions, for monks of all sorts,
in the following works: On dress, also On the canon of prayers, and the
Usage in the saying of Psalms, (for these in the Egyptian monasteries, are
said day and night), three books. One of Institutes, eight books On the
origin, nature and remedies for the eight principal sins, a book on each
sin. He also compiled Conferences with the Egyptian fathers, as follows: On
the aim of a monk and his creed, On discretion, On three vocations to the
service of God, On the warfare of the flesh against the spirit and the
spirit against the flesh, On the nature of all sins, On the slaughter of
the saints, On fickleness of mind, On principalities, On the nature of
prayer, On the duration of prayer, On perfection, On chastity, On the
protection of God, On the knowledge of spiritual things, On the Divine
graces, On friendship, On whether to define or not to define, On three
ancient kinds of monks and a fourth recently arisen, On the object of
cenobites and hermits, On true satisfaction in repentance, On the remission
of the Quinquagesimal fast, On nocturnal illusions, On the saying of the
apostles, "For the good which I would do. I do not, but the evil which l
would not, that l do," On mortification, and finally at the request of Leo
the archdeacon, afterwards bishop of Rome, he wrote seven books against
Nestorius, On the incarnation of the Lord, and writing this, made an end,
both of writing and living, at Marseilles, in the reign of Theodosius and
Valentinianus.
CHAPTER LXIII.
Philip,(1) the presbyter Jerome's best pupil, published a Commentary on
Job, written in an unaffected style, I have read his Familiar letters,
exceedingly witty, exhorting the endurance of poverty and sufferings. He
died in the reign of Martianus and Avitus.
CHAPTER LXIV.
Eucherius,(2) bishop of the church at Lyons, wrote to his relative
Valerianus, On contempt for the world and worldly philosophy, a single
letter, written in a style which shows sound learning and reasoning. He
wrote also to his sons, Salonius and Veranius, afterward bishops, a
discussion On certain obscure passages of Holy Scriptures, and besides,
revising and condensing certain works of Saint Cassianus, he compressed
them into one volume, and wrote other works suited to ecclesiastical or
monastic pursuits. He died in the reign of Valentinianus and Martianus.
CHAPTER LXV.
Vincentius,(1) the Gaul, presbyter in the Monastery on the Island of
Lerins, a man learned in the Holy Scriptures and very well informed in
matters of ecclesiastical doctrine, composed a powerful disputation,
written in tolerably finished and clear language, which, suppressing his
name, he entitled Peregrinus against heretics. The greater part of the
second book of this work having been stolen, he composed a brief
reproduction of the substance of the original work, and published in one
[book]. He died in the reign of Theodosius and Valentinianus.
CHAPTER LXVI.
Syagrius(2) wrote On faith, against the presumptuous words, which
heretics assume for the purpose of destroying or superseding the names of
the Holy Trinity, for they say that the Father ought not to be called
Father; lest the name, Son should harmonize with that of Father, but that
he should be called the Unbegotten or the Imperishable and the Absolute, in
order that whatever may be distinct from Him in person, may also be
separate in nature, showing that the Father, who is unchangeable in nature
may be called the Unbegotten, though the Scripture may not call Him so,
that the person of the Son is begotten from Him, not made, and that the
person of the Holy Spirit proceeds from Him not begotten, and not made.
Under the name of this Syagrius I found seven books, entitled On Faith and
the rules of Faith, but as they did not agree in style, I did not believe
they were written by him.
CHAPTER LXVII.
Isaac,(3) presbyter of the church at Antioch, whose many works cover a
long period, wrote in Syriac especially against the Nestorians and
Eutychians. He lamented the downfall of Antioch in an elegiac poem, taking
up the same strain that Ephraim, the deacon, sounded on the downfall of
Nicomedia. He died during the reign of Leo and Majorianus.
CHAPTER LXVIII.
Salvianus, (1) presbyter of Marseilles, well informed both in secular
and in sacred literature, and to speak without invidiousness, a master
among bishops, wrote many things in a scholastic and clear style, of which
I have read the following: four books On the Excellence of virginity, to
Marcellus the presbyter, three books Against avarice, five books On the
present judgment, (2) and one book On punishment according to desert,
addressed to Salonius the bishop, also one book of Commentary on the latter
part of the book of Ecclesiastes, addressed to Claudius bishop of Vienne,
one book of Epistles.(3) He also composed one book in verse after the Greek
fashion, a sort of Hexaemeron, covering the period from the beginning of
Genesis to the creation of man, also many Homilies delivered to the
bishops, and I am sure I do not know how many On the sacraments. He is
still living at a good old age.
CHAPTER LXIX.
Paulinus (4) composed treatises On the beginning of the Quadragesimal,
of which I have read two, On the Passover Sabbath, On obedience, On
penitence, On neophytes.
CHAPTER LXX.
Hilary, (5) bishop of the church at Aries, a man learned in Holy
Scriptures, was devoted to poverty, and earnestly anxious to live in narrow
circumstances, not only in religiousness of mind, but also in labour of
body. To secure this estate of poverty, this man of noble race and very
differently brought up, engaged in farming, though it was beyond his
strength, and yet did not neglect spiritual matters. He was an acceptable
teacher also, and without regard to persons administered correction to all.
(6) He published some few things, brief, but showing immortal genius, and
indicating an erudite mind, as well as capacity for vigorous speech; among
these that work which is of so great practical value to many, his Life
Saint Honoratus, his predecessor. He died during the reign of Valentinianus
and Mar-tianus.
CHAPTER LXXI.
Leo, (1) bishop (2) of Rome, wrote a letter to Flavianus, bishop of the
church at Constantinople, against Eutyches the presbyter, who at that time,
on account of his ambition for the episcopate was trying to introduce
novelties into the church. In this he advises Flavianus, if Eutyches
confesses his error and promises amendment, to receive him, but if he
should persist in the course he had entered on, that he should be condemned
together with his heresy. He likewise teaches in this epistle and confirms
by divine testimony that as the Lord Jesus Christ is to be considered the
true son of the Divine Father, so likewise he is to be considered true man
with human nature, that is, that he derived a body of flesh from the flesh
of the virgin and not as Eutyches asserted, that be showed a body from
heaven. (3) He died in the reign of Leo and Majorianus.
CHAPTER LXXII.
Mochimus, (4) the Mesopotamian, a presbyter at Antioch, wrote an
excellent book Against Eutyches, and is said to be writing others, which I
have not yet read.
CHAPTER LXXIII.
Timotheus, (5) (6) when Proterius (7) had been put to death by the
Alexandrians, in response to popular clamour, willingly or unwillingly
allowed himself to be made bishop by a single bishop in the place of him
who bad been put to death. And lest he, having been illegally appointed,
should be deservedly deposed at the will of the people who had bated
Proterius, he pronounced all the bishops of his vicinity to be Nestorians,
and boldly presuming to wash out the stain on his conscience by hardihood,
wrote a very persuasive book to the Emperor Leo, which he attempted to
fortify by testimonies of the Fathers, used in a perverted sense, so far as
to show, for the sake of deceiving the emperor and establishing his heresy,
that Leo of Rome, pontiff of the city, and the synod of Chalcedon, and all
the Western bishops were fundamentally Nestorians. But by the grace of God,
the enemy of the church was refuted and overthrown at the Council of
Chalcedon. He is said to be living in exile, still an heresiarch, and it is
most likely so. This book of his for learning's sake, I translated by
request of the brethren into Latin and prefixed a caveat. (1)
CHAPTER LXXIV.
Asclepius, (2) the African, bishop of a large see (3) within the
borders of Bagais, wrote against the Arians, and is said to be now writing
against the Donatists. He is famous for his extemporaneous teaching.
CHAPTER LXXV.
Peter, (4) presbyter of the church at Edessa, a famous preacher, wrote
Treatises on various subjects, and Hymns after the manner of Saint Ephrem,
the deacon.
CHAPTER LXXVI.
Paul (5) the presbyter, a Pannonian by nationality, as I learned from
his own mouth wrote On preserving virginity, and contempt for the world,
and the Ordering of life or the correction of morals, written in a mediocre
style, but flavoured with divine salt. The two books were addressed to a
certain noble virgin devoted to Christ, Constantia by name, and in them he
mentions Jovinian the heretic and preacher of voluptuousness and lusts, who
was so far removed from leading a continent and chaste life, that he
belched forth his life in the midst of luxurious banquets. (6)
CHAPTER LXXVII.
Pastor (7) the bishop composed a short work, written in the form of a
creed, and containing pretty much the whole round of Ecclesiastical
doctrine in sentences. In this, among other heresies which he anathematizes
without giving the names of their authors, he condemns the Priscillians and
their author.
CHAPTER LXXVIII.
Victor, (8) bishop of Cartenna in Mauritania, wrote one long book
against the Arians, which he sent to king Genseric by his followers, as I
learned from the preface to the work, (9) and a work On the repentance of
the publican, (10) in which he drew up a rule of life for the penitent,
according to the authority of Scriptures. He also wrote a consolatory work
to one Basilius, On the death of a son, filled with resurrection hope and
good counsel. He also composed many Homilies, which have been arranged as
continuous works and are as I know, made use of by brethren anxious for
their own salvation.
CHAPTER LXXIX.
Voconius, (1) bishop of Castellanum in Mauritania, wrote Against the
enemies of the church, Jews, Arians, and other heretics. He composed also
an excellent work On the Sacraments. (2)
CHAPTER LXXX.
Musaeus, (3) presbyter of the church at Marseilles, a man learned in
Divine Scriptures and most accurate in their interpretation, as well as
master of an excellent scholastic style, on the request of Saint Venerius
the bishop, selected from Holy Scriptures passages suited to the various
feast days of the year, also passages from the Psalms for responses suited
to the season, and the passages for reading. The readers in the church
found this work of the greatest value, in that it saved them trouble and
anxiety in the selection of passages, and was useful for the instruction of
the people as well as for the dignity of the service. He also addressed to
Saint Eustathius (4) the bishop, successor to the above mentioned man of
God, an excellent and sizable volume, a Sacramentary, (5) divided into
various sections, according to the various offices and seasons, Readings
and Psalms, both for reading and chanting, but also filled throughout with
petitions to the Lord, (6) and thanksgiving for his benefits. By this work
we know him to have been a man of strong intelligence and chaste eloquence.
He is said to have also delivered homilies, which are, as I know, valued by
pious men, but which I have not read. He died in the reign of Leo and
Majorianus.
CHAPTER LXXXI.
Vincentius (7) the presbyter, a native of Gaul, practised in Divine
Scripture and possessed of a style polished by speaking and by wide
reading, wrote a Commentary On the Psalms. A part of this work, he: read in
my hearing, to a man of God, at Cannatae, promising at the same time, that
if the Lord should spare his life and l strength, he would treat the whole
Psalter in the same way.
CHAPTER LXXXII.
Cyrus, (1) an Alexandrian by race, and a physician by profession, at
first a philosopher then a monk, an expert speaker, at first wrote
elegantly and powerfully against Nestorius, but afterwards, since he began
to inveigh against him too intemperately (2) and dealt in syllogism rather
than Scripture, he began to foster the Timothean doctrine. Finally he
declined to accept the decree of the council of Chalcedon, and did not
think the doctrine that after the incarnation the Son of God comprehended
two natures, was to be acquiesced in.
CHAPTER LXXXIII.
Samuel (3) presbyter of the church at Edessa, is said to have written
many things in Syriac against the enemies of the church, especially against
the Nestorians, the Eutychians and the Timotheans, new heresies all, but
differing from one another. On this account he frequently speaks of the
triple beast, while he briefly refutes by the opinion of the church, and
the authority of Holy Scriptures, showing to the Nestorians, that the Son
was God in man, not simply man born of a Virgin, to the Eutychians, that he
had true human flesh, taken on by God, and not merely a body made of thick
air, or shown from Heaven; to the Timotheans, that the Word was made flesh
in such wise, that the Word remains Word in substance, and, human nature
remaining human nature, one person of the Son of God is produced by union,
not by mingling. He is said to be still living at Constantinople, for at
the beginning of the reign of Anthemius, I knew his writings, and knew that
he was in the land of the living.
CHAPTER LXXXIV.
Claudianus, (1) presbyter of the church at Vienne, a master speaker,
and shrewd in argument, composed three books, On the condition and
substance of the soul, in which he discusses how far anything is
incorporeal excepting God.
[He wrote also some other things, among which are, A Hymn on Our Lord's
Passion, which begins "Pange lingua gloriosi." He was moreover brother of
Mamertus, bishop of Vienne.] (2) (See note.)
CHAPTER LXXXV.
Prosper (3) of Aquitania, a man scholastic in style and vigorous in
statement, is said to have composed many works, of which I have read a
Chronicle, which bears his name, and which extends from the creation of the
first man, according to Divine Scripture, until the death of the Emperor
Valentinianus and the taking of Rome by Genseric king of the Vandals. I
regard as his also an anonymous book against certain works of Cassianus,
which the church of God finds salutary, but which he brands as injurious,
and in fact, some of the opinions of Cassian and Prosper on the grace of
God and on free will are at variance with one another. Epistles of Pope Leo
against Eutyches, On the true incarnation of Christ, sent to various
persons, are also thought (4) to have been dictated by him.
CHAPTER LXXXVI.
Faustus, (5) first abbot of the monastery at Lerins, and then made
bishop (6) of Ritz in Gaul, a man studious of the Divine Scriptures, taking
his text from the historic creed of the church, composed a book On the Holy
Spirit, in which he shows from the belief of the fathers, that the Holy
Spirit is consubstantial and coeternal with the Father and the Son, the
fulness of the Trinity and therefore God. (7) He published also an
excellent work, On the grace of God, through which we are saved, (8) in
which he teaches that the grace of God always invites, precedes and helps
our will, and whatever gain that freedom of will may attain for its pious
effect, is not its own desert, but the gift of grace, I have read also a
little book of his Against the Arians and Macedonians, in which he posits a
coessential Trinity, and another against those who say that there is
anything incorporeal in created things, in which he maintains from the
testimony of Scriptures, and by quotations from the fathers, that nothing
is to be regarded as incorporeal but God. There is also a letter of his,
written in the form of a little book, and addressed to a certain deacon,
named Graecus, who, leaving the Catholic faith, had gone over to the
Nestorian impiety.
In this epistle he admonishes him to believe that the holy Virgin Mary
did not bring forth a mere human being, who afterwards should receive
divinity, but true God in true man. There are still other works by him, but
as I have not read, I do not care to mention them. This excellent doctor is
enthusiastically believed in and admired. He wrote afterwards also to
Felix, the Prae-tonian prefect, anti a man of Patrician rank son of Magnus
the consul a very pious letter, exhorting to the fear of God, a work well
fitted to induce one to repent with his whole heart.
CHAPTER LXXXVII.
Servus Dei (1) the bishop, wrote against those who say that Christ
while living in this world did not see the Father with his eves of flesh--
But after his resurrection from the dead and his ascension into heaven when
he had been translated into the glory of God the Father as in reward so to
speak to him for his abnegation and a compensation for his martyrdom. In
this work he showed both from his own argument and from the testimony of
Sacred Scriptures that the Lord Jesus from his conception by the Holy
Spirit and his birth of the Virgin through which true God in true man
himself also man made God was born, always beheld with his eyes of flesh
both the Father and the Holy Spirit through the special and complete union
of God and man.
CHAPTER LXXXVIII.
Victorius (2) the Aquitanian, a careful (3) reckoner, on invitation of
St. Hilary bishop of Rome, composed a Paschal cycle with the most careful
investigation following his four predecessors, that is Hippolytus,
Eusebius, Theophilus and Prosper, and extended the series of years to the
year five hundred and thirty-two, reckoning in such wise that in the year
533 the paschal festival should take place again on the same month and day
and the same moon as on that first year when the Passion and resurrection
of our Lord took place.
CHAPTER LXXXIX.
Theodoretus (1) (2) bishop of Cyrus (for the city founded by Cyrus king
of the Persians preserves until the present day in Syria the name of its
founder) is said to have written many works. Such as have come to my
knowledge are the following: On the incarnation of the Lord, Against
Eutyches the presbyter and Dioscorus bishop of Alexandria who deny that
Christ had human flesh; strong works by which he confirmed through reason
and the testimony of Scripture that He had real flesh from the maternal
substance which he derived from His Virgin mother just as he had true deity
which he received at birth by eternal generation from God the Father. There
are ten books of the ecclesiastical history which he wrote in imitation of
Eusebius of Caesarea beginning where Eusebius ends and extending to his own
time, that is from the Vicennalia of Constantine until the accession of the
eider Leo in whose reign he died.
CHAPTER XC.
Gennadius (3) a Patriarch (4) of the church of Constantinople, a man
brilliant in speech and of strong genius, was so richly equipped by his
reading of the ancients that he was able to expound the prophet Daniel
entire commenting on every word.
He composed also many Homilies. He died while the eider Leo was
Emperor.
CHAPTER XCI.
Theodulus, (5) (6) a presbyter in Coelesyria is said to have written
many works, but the only one which has come to my hand, is the one which he
composed On the harmony of divine Scripture, that is, the Scriptures of the
Old and New Testaments, against the ancient heretics who on account of
discrepancies in the injunctions of the ritual, say that the God of the Old
Testament is different from the God of the New. In this work he shows it to
have been by the dispensation of one and the same God, the author of both
Scriptures, that one law should be given by Moses to those of old in a
ritual of sacrifices anti in judicial laws, and another to us through the
presence of Christ in the holy mysteries and future promises, that they
should not be considered different, but as dictated by one spirit and one
author, since these things which if observed only according to the letter,
would slay, if observed according to the spirit, would give life to the
mind. This writer died three years since (1) in the reign of Zeno.
CHAPTER XCII.
[Sidonius (2) bishop of the Arverni wrote several acceptable works and
being a man sound in doctrine as well as thoroughly imbued with divine and
human learning and a man of commanding genius wrote a considerable volume
of Letters to different persons written in various metres or in prose and
this showed his ability in literature. Strong in Christian vigour even in
the midst of that barbaric ferocity which at that time oppressed the Gauls
he was regarded as a catholic father and a distinguished doctor. He
flourished during the tempest which marked the rule of Leo and Zenos.] (3)
CHAPTER XCIII.
John (4) of Antioch first grammarian, and then Presbyter, wrote against
those who assert that Christ is to be adored in one substance only and do
not admit that two natures are to be recognized in Christ. He taught
according to the Scriptural account that in Him God and man exist in one
person, and not the flesh and the Word in one nature.
He likewise attacked certain sentiments of Cyril, bishop of Alexandria,
unwisely (5) delivered by Cyril against Nestorius, which now are an
encouragement and give strength to the Timotheans. (6) He is said to be
still living and preaching.
CHAPTER XCIV.
[Gelasius, (1) (2) bishop of Rome wrote Against Eutyches and Nestorius
a great and notable volume, also Treatises on various parts of the
scripture and the sacraments written in a polished style. He also wrote
Epistles against Peter and Acacius which are still preserved in the
catholic church. He wrote also Hymns after the fashion of bishop Ambrosius.
He died during the reign of the emperor Anastasius.
CHAPTER XCV.
Honoratus, (3) bishop of Constantina in Africa wrote a letter to one
Arcadius who on account of his confession of the catholic faith had been
exiled to Africa by King Genseric. (4) This letter was an exhortation to
endure hardness for Christ and fortified by modern examples and scripture
illustrations showing that perseverance in the confession of the faith not
only purges past sins but also procures the blessing of martyrdom.
CHAPTER XCVI.
Cerealis (5) the bishop, an African by birth, was asked by Maximus
bishop of the Arians whether he could establish the catholic faith by a few
testimonies of Divine Scripture and without any controversial assertions.
This he did in the name of the Lord, truth itself helping him, not with a
few testimonies as Maximus had derisively asked, but proving by copious
proof texts from both Old and New Testaments and published in a little
book.
CHAPTER XCVII.
Eugenius, (6) bishop of Carthage in Africa and public confessor,
commanded by Huneric (7) King of the Vandals to write an exposition of the
catholic faith and especially to discuss the meaning of the word
Homoousian, with the consent of all the bishops and confessors of
Mauritania in Africa and Sardinia and Corsica, who had remained in the
catholic faith, composed a book of faith, fortified not only by quotations
from the Holy Scriptures but by testimonies of the Fathers, and sent it by
his companions in confession. But now, exiled as a reward for his faithful
tongue, like an anxious shepherd over his sheep he has left behind works
urging them to remember the faith and the one sacred baptism to be
preserved at all hazards. He also wrote out the Discussions which he held
through messengers with the leaders of the Arians and sent them to be given
to Huneric by his major domo. Likewise also he presented to the same,
petitions for the peace of the Christians which were of the nature of an
Apology, and he is said to be still living for the strengthening of the
church.
CHAPTER XCVIII.
Pomerius (1) the Mauritanian was ordained presbyter in Gaul. He
composed a dialectical treatise in eight books On the nature of the soul
and its properties, also one On the resurrection and its particular bearing
for the faithful in this life and in general for all men, written in clear
language and style, in the form of a dialogue between Julian the bishop,
and Verus the presbyter. The first book contains discourses on what the
soul is and in what sense it is thought to be created in the image of God,
the second, whether the soul should be thought of as corporeal or
incorporeal, the third, how the soul of the first man (2) was made, fourth,
whether the soul which is put in the body at birth is newly created and
without sin, or produced from the substance of the first man like a shoot
from a root it brings also with it the original sin of the first man,
fifth, a review of the fourth book of the discussion, (1) and an inquiry as
to what is the capability of the soul, that is its possibilities, and that
it gains its capability from a single and pure will, the sixth, whence
arises the conflict between flesh and the spirit, spoken of by the apostle,
seventh, on the difference between the flesh and the spirit in respect of
life, of death and of resurrection, the eighth, answers to questions
concerning the things which it is predicted will happen at the end of the
world, to such questions, that is, as are usually propounded concerning the
resurrection. I remember to have once read a hortatory work of his,
addressed to some one named Principius, On contempt of the world, and of
transitory things, and another entitled, On vices and virtues. He is said
to have written yet other works, which have not come to my knowledge, and
to be still writing. He is still living, and his life is worthy of
Christian profession, and his rank in the church.
CHAPTER XCIX.
I Gennadius (2) a presbyter of Marseilles, have written eight books
Against all her-esies, five (3) books Against Nestorius, ten (4) books
Against Eutyches, three books Against Pelagius, also treatises On the
Millennium and On the Apocalypse of Saint John, also an epistle On my
creed, sent to the blessed Gelasius, bishop of Rome.]
Taken from "The Early Church Fathers and Other Works" originally published
by Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. in English in Edinburgh, Scotland, beginning in
1867. (LNPF II/III, Schaff and Wace). The digital version is by The
Electronic
Bible Society, P.O. Box 701356, Dallas, TX 75370, 214-407-WORD.
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