His Errors con-
demned in a Council
at Rome.
In the Year 374. or 375. Damasus convened a great Council at Rome, in which the Errors of Apollinaris were condemned; but neither was he nor any other named as the Broacher or Author of that Doctrine. |Damasus imposed
upon by Vitalis one
of his Disciples.| The very Year that Damasus condemned the Doctrine of Apollinaris, he was deceived and over-reached by one of the Disciples of that Heresiarch, named Vitalis. He was a Presbyter of the Church of Antioch, and of the Communion of Meletius, by whom he had been ordained; but afterwards, renouncing his Communion, he joined Apollinaris, and, being in high Esteem with the People, drew great Numbers over with him to that Side. Of these, called from him Vitalians, Apollinaris some Years after appointed him Bishop, adding thereby a Fourth Party to the Three that already divided the Church of Antioch, viz. the Arians, Paulinians, and Meletians[[1082]]. Before he threw off the Mask, and publicly maintained the Tenets of Apollinaris, he strove to be admitted with his Followers to the Communion of Paulinus of Antioch, and of Damasus; and with this View he undertook a Journey to Rome in the Year 375. As he had been suspected, and even accused, of holding the Doctrine of Apollinaris, Damasus required of him, before he admitted him to his Communion, a Confession of his Faith, which he gave under his Hand, but in such Terms as bore a double Meaning. Damasus, however, well satisfied with it, gave him a Letter for Paulinus of Antioch, and sent him back to be admitted by that Bishop to the Communion of the Church[[1083]]. But Damasus soon after, either upon his own Reflection, or at the Suggestion of others, apprehending himself imposed upon, writ another Letter to Paulinus, by the Presbyter Petronius, and afterwards a Third, which Holstenius has inserted at Length in his Roman Collection[[1084]]. Together with this Letter Damasus sent to Paulinus a Confession of Faith, drawn up by a Council summoned for that Purpose, desiring him to admit none to his Communion, but such as should sign that Confession, and the Confession of Nice[[1085]]. To this Piece the Fathers of the Council of Chalcedon no doubt allude, in commending Damasus for pointing out, in his Letters to Paulinus, the Rules all Catholics ought to be guided by in reasoning of the Mystery of the Incarnation[[1086]]. What Baronius observes here is true, viz. that Vitalis, by the same ambiguous Confession of Faith, imposed upon Gregory Nazianzen, who received the Apollinarists as Brethren, and not as Enemies[[1087]]. He adds, And no Wonder that Vitalis imposed upon Damasus, since by the same Confession he imposed upon Gregory Nazianzen: he ought rather to have said, No Wonder that he imposed upon Gregory, who did not pretend to Infallibility, since he imposed upon Damasus, who was infallible. As Vitalis refused to sign the Confession sent by Damasus, Paulinus would not admit him to his Communion; upon which he pulled off the Mask, publicly renounced the Communion both of Damasus and Paulinus, and, bidding Defiance to the Canons, accepted the Title and Dignity of Bishop of Antioch, offered him by Apollinaris. |Apollinaris openly de-
clares against the
Church.| At the same time that Heresiarch, finding he could conceal himself no longer, openly declared, that he would communicate with none who held, that our Saviour had taken a human Soul, and human Understanding: which was separating himself from the Communion of the Catholic Church[[1088]]. It was long before it was believed in the Church that those Tenets had been broached, or were held, by Apollinaris: no Credit was given, at first, even to his Disciples, most People being inclined to think, that they were mistaken, and did not comprehend the sublime Thoughts of that great Man[[1089]]. But when no room was left for any further Doubt, the Surprize and Concern of the whole Catholic Party were equal to the high Opinion they had entertained of him till that Time[[1090]]. When Epiphanius writ against the Apollinarists, he well knew Apollinaris to be the Author of that Sect; for he reproaches him with this unwarrantable Separation from the Church; and yet he speaks of him with the greatest Respect; seems to think, that many Things had been unjustly fathered upon him; and takes a great deal of Pains to assure his Reader, that what he writes is Truth, and not Calumny proceeding from any private Pique, Malice, or Grudge[[1091]].
A great Schism in the
Church.
The Schism, which the establishing of a new Bishop occasioned in the Church of Antioch, was not confined to that alone, but extended to most other Churches, over which Apollinaris appointed Bishops of his own Sect, who held separate Assemblies, practised different Rites, and, instead of the sacred Hymns commonly sung at Divine Service by the rest of the Church, introduced Canticles composed by their Leader, and containing the Substance of his Doctrine[[1092]]. The many perplexed Questions and Difficulties, which he and his Emissaries were daily starting about the Incarnation, bred such Confusion in the Minds of Men, that many began to question the Truth of that Mystery[[1093]]. The Objections they moved against our Saviour’s taking Flesh, and being born of the Virgin Mary, seemed calculated merely to raise improper Ideas, and sully the Thoughts of chaste Minds; for they themselves held his Body to be coeval with the Divinity, and to have only been conveyed into the World by means of the Virgin Mary[[1094]]. Their Doctrine was applauded and received by many, and few who read their Books were content with, or kept to the plain and antient Doctrine of the Church[[1095]]. |Basil recurs to the
Western Bishops;| Basil therefore, and the other orthodox Bishops in the East, to put a Stop the more effectually to the growing Evil, not only declaimed against it in all their Writings, but dispatched the Two Presbyters Dorotheus and Sanctissimus with Letters to Damasus, and the other Western Bishops, intreating them to condemn without Delay the Doctrine of Apollinaris, and Apollinaris himself, since he had at last openly declared against the Church, and owned himself the Author of the new Sect[[1096]]. |who condemn the
Doctrine of Apol-
linaris, and depose
him with Vitelis
and Timotheus.| In Compliance with this Request, a great Council was convened at Rome the following Year 378. in which Apollinaris was not only condemned with great Solemnity, but deposed, with his Two favourite Disciples, Vitalis and Timotheus; the former Bishop of the Apollinarists at Antioch, and the latter at Berytus in Phœnicia[[1097]]. By the same Council it was defined, that Jesus was true Man, and true God; and whoever maintained or asserted any thing to be wanting either to his Humanity or Divinity, was declared an Enemy to the Church[[1098]]. Vitalis had deceived Damasus, as I have observed above, by a Confession of Faith, in which, under equivocal Terms, he had artfully concealed his Heresy. The Bishop of Rome therefore, now undeceived, caused the Confession he had formerly approved of to be anathematized by the Council, together with its Author, exerting himself, says Gregory Nazianzen, with so much the more Vigour against them, as they had formerly taken Advantage of his Candour and Sincerity to impose upon him[[1099]]. Gregory Nazianzen therefore supposes, that the Pope could be imposed upon in a Matter concerning the Faith. Indeed the Sticklers for Infallibility must either give up that Prerogative, or allow all the Fathers to have talked Nonsense.
A Mistake of Baronius.
Baronius is certainly mistaken, and so was Ruffinus[[1100]], whom he follows, in asserting the Heresy of Apollinaris to have been first condemned by the Council of Rome, since it is manifest, that the Doctrine of that Heresiarch had been condemned long before by Athanasius, Basil, and Epiphanius, in their Writings, and by the Council held at Alexandria in 362. But Ruffinus probably meant no more, than that those Errors were first condemned by the Council of Rome, under the Name, and together with the Person, of Apollinaris; which is undeniable. |Another Mistake of
the same Writer.| I cannot help observing here another Mistake of Baronius, pretending that Damasus (for whatever was done by the Council is by him ascribed to Damasus alone) in condemning Apollinaris condemned all the Errors he held; and consequently the Opinion of the Millenarians, holding that Christ was to return upon the Earth, and reign over the Faithful a Thousand Years before the End of the World. |The Doctrine of the
Millenarians held by
the greatest Men in
the Church.| This Opinion was first broached about the Year 118. by Papias Bishop of Hierapolis, a Man of great Piety, honoured by the Church of Rome as a Saint[[1101]]. He declares, in the few Fragments of his Works, which have been conveyed to us by Eusebius[[1102]], that, as he lived near the Times of the Apostles, he made it his chief Business to learn of their Disciples whatever they could recollect to have been done or said by them, on different Occasions, that was not recorded in Holy Writ. Thus he learned the above-mentioned Doctrine[[1103]], which, upon the Authority of such a Tradition, countenanced by some Passages in the Revelations[[1104]], and one Text in St. Paul, was embraced and held by the most eminent Men for Piety and Learning, at that time, in the Church; and, among the rest, by Irenæus, and Justin the Martyr. And yet such a Doctrine is now rank Heresy in the Church of Rome. But, by declaring it such, have they not overset their own System, which places Tradition upon a Level with the Canonical Books of the Scripture? |How little Tradition to
be depended upon.| Can they allege a more antient Tradition, one more universally received, or equally countenanced by Scripture, in favour of the many traditional Articles of Faith, which they have obtruded upon the World? Papias declares, he received the above-mentioned Doctrine of those who had learned it immediately of the Apostles. If such a Tradition be rejected as false, what other has a Right to be admitted as true? If we deny or question St. Peter’s having been at Rome, Tradition, and the Authority of Irenæus (for all the others have copied from him), are immediately produced against us. But what Weight either ought to bear, the Case before us sufficiently demonstrates.
To return to Apollinaris: It is very certain, that he held and taught the Doctrine of the Millenarians; but it is no less certain, that such a Doctrine was not condemned, as Baronius pretends[[1105]], by the Council of Rome in 378. since many eminent Men in the Church held it, and Sulpitius Severus among the rest, after that Council, without being deemed Heretics on that score. |The Apollinarists con-
demned by several
Councils.| The Sentence pronounced against Apollinaris, and his Disciples, by the Council of Rome, was confirmed by a Council held the same Year at Alexandria[[1106]], by an Oecumenical Council assembled at Constantinople in 381. and by the Council of Antioch in 379[[1107]]. However, the Apollinarists, though thus condemned and deposed by all the Councils of the East and West, as we read in Gregory Nazianzen[[1108]], still kept their Ground, till Recourse was had to the Secular Power. |Penal Laws enacted
against them.| For the Emperor Theodosius, at the Request of Nectarius Bishop of Constantinople, enacted a Law, dated the Tenth of March 388. forbidding the Apollinarists to hold Assemblies, to have any Ecclesiastics or Bishops, or to dwell in the Cities[[1109]]. As this Law was executed with the utmost Rigour, at least against the leading Men of the Party, who were banished the Cities, and confined to the Deserts[[1110]], the Apollinarists were in a few Years reduced to a very small Number, when they begged to be admitted to the Communion of the Catholic Church, which was in the End granted them by Theodotus[[1111]], who governed the Church of Antioch, from the Year 416. to 428. But as their Conversion was owing not to Conviction, but Persecution, they still held in their Hearts the same Sentiments, which ever must happen in the like Case; nay, and privately instilled their Errors into the Minds of many, whose Faith had been, till that time, untainted[[1112]]. It was to these pretended Catholics, or disguised Apollinarists, that the Eutychian Heresy, and that of the Monothelites, of whom I shall speak hereafter, owed their Birth[[1113]]. Hence the Emperor Marcian, by an Edict in 455. declared the Eutychians to be Apollinarists, and consequently liable to the same Penalties[[1114]]. As for Apollinaris himself, he died about the Year 392. having maintained, to the Hour of his Death, the same Sentiments, in which he had lived; and, with them, the same outward Appearance, at least, of a most holy and exemplary Life[[1115]]; which is all the Authors of those Times Will allow him.
New Disturbances
raised by Ursinus.
While Damasus, and the other Western Bishops, were wholly intent upon suppressing the Heresy of Apollinaris, and restoring the Eastern Churches to their former Tranquillity, the Antipope Ursinus, laying hold of that Opportunity, arrived privately at Milan, and there joined the Arians, upon their promising to support him with the whole Power of their Party[[1116]]. But Ambrose, who then governed that Church, and kept a watchful Eye over the Flock committed to his Care, gave immediate Notice of their clandestine Meetings, and pernicious Designs, to the Emperor Gratian, who soon after ordered Ursinus to quit Italy, and confined him to Cologne[[1117]]. During his Exile his Partisans were not idle; they found the Emperor Gratian, who in 375. had succeeded his Father Valentinian I. warmly engaged in favour of Damasus: they well knew, that so long as he continued in that Disposition, it would be in vain to solicit the Return of Ursinus, or to put up any Petition in his Behalf. |Damasus falsly ac-
cused, but cleared by
the Emperor.| In order therefore to estrange the Mind of the Emperor from Damasus, they suborned a Jew, named Isaac, who had embraced the Christian Religion, but was then returned to Judaism, to accuse him before the Civil Magistrate of an heinous Crime, which I find not specified by any of the Antients. But the Emperor, taking upon himself the judging of that Cause, soon discovered the Innocence of the Accused, and the Malice of the Accuser; and therefore, honourably acquitting the former, and punishing the latter according to his Deserts, confined him to a Corner of Spain[[1118]].
This Attempt on the Reputation of Damasus was not the only Thing that gave him great Uneasiness at this time. The Emperor Valentinian had transferred, as I have related above, the Power of judging Bishops, such at least as were concerned in the Schism of Ursinus, from the Civil Magistrate to the Bishop of Rome. |Some Bishops, de-
posed by Damasus,
keep their Sees.| But several Bishops, though deposed by him, still maintained themselves in their Sees, with open Force, in Defiance of his Sentence, and the Imperial Law. Among these were the Bishop of Parma, and Florentius Bishop of Puzzuolo, who, for their Attachment to Ursinus, had been both deposed by Damasus, and other Bishops assembled at Rome[[1119]]. The Donatists too, notwithstanding the severe Laws enacted against them by several Emperors, had got Footing in Italy, and in Rome itself, where they were known by the Names of Montenenses, and Rupenses, on account of their assembling in a Church or Oratory, which they had among the neighbouring Rocks and Mountains[[1120]]. They had a Bishop of their own, either sent from Africa, or ordained by Bishops sent from thence for that Purpose. Claudian, who governed them at this time, was their Fifth Bishop of Rome[[1121]]. The Emperor ordered him to be sent back to Africa, whence he came. But though he had been several times imprisoned, in order to oblige him by that means to return, he could not even so be prevailed upon to abandon his Flock; but continued at Rome, perverting many there, and rebaptizing all he could pervert[[1122]]. |The Italian Bishops
recur to the Emperor.| To put a Stop to these Evils, the Bishops of Italy, assembling at Rome, had recourse to the Emperor Gratian, acquainting him with the Conduct of the contumacious Bishops, and earnestly intreating him to cause the Law, commanding the Bishops to be judged by the Bishop of Rome, and not by the Civil Magistrate, which he himself had enacted with his Father, to be put in Execution. By that Law, the Emperor, in all Likelihood, only intended to confirm, with respect to the Bishop of Rome, the Canons of the Church, appointing the Metropolitan, with his Council, Judge of the Bishops of his Province in Ecclesiastical Causes. But the Bishops, assembled on this Occasion at Rome, attempted to extend the Authority of the Bishop of Rome, far beyond the Bounds to which the Emperors and Canons had confined it. |Their letter to him.| For, in their Letter to Gratian, they suggested the following Regulations as necessary for the Tranquillity of the Church, and intreated him to establish them by Law: 1. That if any, who had been condemned by the Bishop of Rome, or other Catholic Bishops, should, after such Condemnation, presume to keep their Churches, they should be banished from the Territories of the Cities, where they had been Bishops. 2. That such as should refuse, when lawfully summoned, to appear before the Bishops, should be obliged, by the Prefect of Italy, or his Vicar, to repair to Rome, to be judged there. 3. That, if the accused Bishop resided in a distant Province, he should be obliged, by the Judges of the Place, to appear before his Metropolitan; and, if his Metropolitan was suspected as partial, or prejudiced against him, he might be allowed to appeal to the Bishop of Rome, or to a Council of Fifteen neighbouring Bishops; but, if the Accused was himself a Metropolitan, he should either repair to Rome, or appear before such Judges as the Bishop of Rome should appoint; and, when thus condemned, submit to the Sentence[[1123]]. |What they demand in
particular for the
Bishop of Rome.| In Behalf of the Bishop of Rome in particular they begged, in the same Letter, that, as he was above other Bishops by the Prerogative of the Apostolic See, though upon a Level with them as to the Ministry, he might not be obliged to appear before the Civil Magistrate, since other Bishops had been exempted from their Jurisdiction, but before a Council, or that the Emperor would reserve to himself the Cognisance of what concerned him, leaving to the ordinary Judges the Power of examining Facts and Witnesses, but not the Authority of pronouncing Sentence[[1124]]. |The Emperor’s
Answer.| What Answer the Emperor returned to the Council, we know not; but, in a Rescript, addressed to the Vicar Aquilinus, after summing up the Heads of the Letter from the Council, and severely reprimanding his Officers for their Neglect, in not causing the Imperial Law to be put in Execution, he confirms the Rescript address’d to Simplicius, which I have mentioned above; commands the Bishop of Parma, Florentius of Puzzuolo, and Claudian the Donatist, with all those who shall be condemned by the Councils, as Disturbers of the Quiet of the Church, to be driven from their Dioceses, and banished an Hundred Miles from Rome: he grants all the Council had desired, with respect to the judging of Bishops; but requires the Bishop of Rome to act with the Advice of Five or Seven other Bishops; and, lastly, he forbids Persons of infamous Characters, or known Slanderers, to be admitted as Informers or Witnesses against Bishops[[1125]]. In this Rescript he takes no notice of what the Council had asked for the Bishop of Rome in particular.