[N28]. To convince the Reader of this double Forgery, I need not refer him to that judicious Writer. The many groundless, perplexed, and contradictory Arguments, or rather Conjectures, alleged by those who have taken most Pains to prove both the above-mentioned Pieces genuine, viz. by Chifflerus, Papebrok, and Cardinal Noris, are, perhaps, a more convincing Proof of their being forged, than any that can be alleged against them. There is so palpable a Difference, in point of Style, between this Letter, and that which Syricius writ to Himerius, and which is on all Hands allowed to be genuine, that no one can possibly suppose both to have been penned by one and the same Person. Besides, in the former Letter Syricius absolutely commands, and in this only advises, exhorts, and intreats the Priests and Deacons to live continent. Of those Two Difficulties none of the Writers I have just quoted have thought fit to take the least Notice, though they could hardly escape their Observation. The very first Canon or Article of this Letter, for the sake of which both the Letter itself, and the Acts of the Council, were most probably forged, sufficiently betrays the Forgery. For it is absolutely unintelligible, and therefore pointed, construed, altered, &c. in Twenty different Manners, by those who maintain it to be genuine. Some read it thus: Ut sine conscientia sedis Apostolicæ Primatis nemo audeat ordinare; That no one should presume to ordain without the Knowlege of the Primate of the Apostolic See. I do not find the Bishops of Rome to have ever styled themselves, in their Letters, Primates of the Apostolic See; nay, the humble Title of Primate of the Apostolic See (humble with respect to the Bishop of Rome, Primate, Prince, and Monarch of the whole Church), so soured Labbé, that he fairly owned the Truth, chusing rather to give up the Letter, than to admit a Title that seemed to detract from the Supremacy. Besides, it is very certain, that, in the Time of Syricius the Bishops of Rome were not yet so lost to all Modesty as to pretend, in open Defiance of the Canons, that no Bishop should be ordained without their Knowlege. Others read that Article thus: Ut extra conscientiam sedis Apostolicæ, hoc est, Primatis, &c. That none should presume to ordain without the Knowlege of the Apostolic See, that is, of their Primate. Now, is it probable, that the Bishop of Rome would have given the Title of Apostolic See to all the Metropolitan Churches; a Title which Pope Leo the Great would not allow even to the Bishop of Constantinople[[1]]? I might add, that the Author of this Letter writes, and I think very ridiculously, that the African Bishops would have come to Rome to assist at the Council, had they not been prevented by their Infirmities, or old Age; which is supposing them all to have been old or infirm; that the Subscription of this Letter is very singular, Data Romæ in Concilio Episcoporum octoginta, which in all other Synodal Letters is placed at the Beginning; that neither this Letter, nor the Council of Tela; by which it is supposed to have been quoted, are ever mentioned or taken notice of by any of the Councils, that were afterwards held in Africa; to establish the Celibacy of the Clergy. Some will have this Letter to have been written only for the Bishops of the Vicariate of Rome, of which Syricius was Primate, and to have been sent by him to the Bishops of Africa, and perhaps to those of the other Provinces, with a Design to try whether they might not be prompted to receive the Canons it contained, as general Rules, though made for the Vicariate only. This had been attempting to establish at once, and in a manner by Surprize, an universal Jurisdiction. But I can hardly believe, that, in the Days of Syricius, when the Ambition of the Bishops of Rome was yet in its Infancy, they should have aspired to, or entertained any Notion of, such a Jurisdiction. As to the Council, I shall only observe here, that it is said in all the printed Copies of the Councils, all the antient Manuscripts, but one, to have been held at Tela, in the Province of Byzacene, whereas Tela is allowed, even by those who defend this Council as genuine, to have belonged to the Proconsularis. They have therefore nothing else to recur to but the Ignorance of the Transcribers, the usual Refuge in such Cases, whom they all agree to have been mistaken, though all equally at a Loss, and at Variance among themselves, how to correct the supposed Mistake. For, instead of Tela, some read Zela or Zella, others Tena, Teneptis, Teleptus, &c. In short, there is not a single Town in the whole Province of Byzacene, bearing the least Resemblance in Name with Tela, that has not been substituted in its room; nay, some have bestowed that Honour on the smallest Villages, as if it were probable, that, in a Province, filled, as Byzacene was, with considerable Cities, and Episcopal Sees, Bishops should chuse to assemble in a Village. To read Proconsularis instead of Byzacene, as some have done, is contradicting, and consequently giving up, the Acts of that Council; for the Thirty-three Bishops named there, as composing it, were all of the latter Province, and Vincentius and Fortunatianus are said to have assisted as Deputies from the former[[2]]. It would be needless to dwell any longer on this Subject, and point out the many Absurdities and Contradictions that occur in the supposed Acts of that Council, since the very Title must convince every impartial Reader, that no such Council was ever held. I cannot, however, help taking Notice of a very extraordinary Canon, quoted by Ferrandus, from the Letter of Syricius, and approved, as is said there, by the Council of Tela; viz. That no Bishop should be ordained by a single Bishop, the Church of Rome excepted. This Exception is not to be found in the Letter ascribed to Syricius, from which they make Ferrandus quote it; and, besides, the Bishops of Rome were never ordained by a single Bishop, nor did they ever take upon them to ordain Bishops alone.
[1]. Leo, ep. 78.
[2]. Concil. t. 1. p. 1577.
I find no farther Mention made of Syricius, in the antient Writers, till the Year 390. when he condemned the Doctrine of Jovinian; and cast him and his Followers out of the Church. Jovinian was by Profession a Monk, by Birth a Latin, as Jerom observes, and the first who infected that Language with Heresy; all, or rather almost all, the Heresies that, for the first Four hundred Years, had disturbed the Peace of the Church, having been broached by Greeks, Chaldæans, or Syrians[[1273]]. He had formerly practised great Austerities, going bare-footed, living upon Bread and Water, covered with a tattered black Garment, and earning his Livelihood with the Sweat of his Brow, his Hands being callous with long and hard Labour[[1274]]. The Doctrine he taught is, by Jerom, reduced to the Four following Heads: 1. That those, who, with a lively Faith, have been regenerated by Baptism, cannot afterwards be overcome by the Devil. 2. That for all those, who shall preserve their Baptism; an equal Reward is reserved in Heaven. 3. That there is no Difference of Merit between abstaining from some Meats, and using them with Thanksgiving. 4. and lastly, That Virgins, Widows, and married Women, are in a State of equal Merit; and, consequently, that all Difference in Merit can only arise from their different Actions. That the Two last were then counted Heresies, shews that the Church began, in this Century, to be tainted with Doctrines that border on Popery, and no-ways consist with the Liberty of the Gospel[[1275]]. Besides these Tenets, Jovinian taught, as Ambrose and Austin inform us, that the Virgin Mary preserved her Virginity in conceiving our Saviour, but lost it in bringing him forth, pretending to prove by Arguments, false, but ingenious enough, say they, that we should otherwise be obliged to own, with the Manichees, the Body of Christ not to have been real, but aereal[[1276]]. He, besides, charged the Catholics with Manicheism, on account of their preferring the State of Virginity to that of Matrimony[[1277]]. Both Jerom and Ambrose tell us, that, together with his Doctrine, he changed his Manners, renouncing his former Austerities, and giving himself up to all manner of Debauchery, to redeem, as it were, the Time he had lost[[1278]]. But perhaps this Charge was not well founded, but rather supposed as a Consequence of his undervaluing Celibacy, and the Merit ascribed to it, there being too many Instances in Ecclesiastical History of such Inferences, drawn from Opinions which were not approved by the Fathers of the Church, as could no-way be justified. They often painted those, whom they styled Heretics, in the blackest Colours, to prejudice the People more effectually against their Doctrine. In this Art Jerom excelled all the rest, and none ever disagreed with him, who did not at once forfeit those very Virtues, which he himself had admired and extolled in them before. He abstained, however, from Matrimony; but merely, say Austin and Jerom, to avoid the Trouble and Anxiety attending it, and not because he apprehended there could be in this Life any Merit in Continency, or any Reward allotted for it in the next[[1279]]. This Doctrine he broached in Rome, and soon found there a great Number of Followers, among the rest several of both Sexes, who had embraced, and professed for many Years, the State of Virginity, being seduced and misled, says Austin, by the Cavils of that impious Wretch, asking them, whether they pretended to be more holy than Abraham and Sarah, than many other Men and Women, who, though married, are commended in the Old Testament, for their eminent Sanctity[[1280]]. The first, who took Offence at this Doctrine, were Two Laymen, viz. Pammachius and Victorinus. All we know of the latter is, that he was illustrious for his Birth, and, if we believe Ambrose, venerable for his Piety[[1281]]. As for Pammachius, he is well known in the History of the Church, and often mentioned by Jerom with the greatest Commendations. He was descended, says that Writer, from the antient Family of the Camilli, and yet less distinguished by the Nobility of his Descent than his Piety[[1282]]. Having heard, by Chance, some of the Propositions advanced by Jovinian, he made it his Business to inquire more narrowly into his Doctrine, being assisted therein by Victorinus, who had taken the Alarm upon hearing, in Rome, this shocking Doctrine, says Jerom[[1283]], that a Virgin was no better than a married Woman. These Two having, by a diligent Inquiry, discovered at length the whole Doctrine of Jovinian, as well as the Author and Promoters of it, they presented a Request to Syricius, acquainting him therewith, and desiring, that the Doctrine of Jovinian might be condemned by the Episcopal Authority, and the Sentence of the Holy Ghost, as contrary to the Law of God[[1284]]. These are Ambrose’s Words, as the Text now is; but it is generally thought to have been altered and corrupted. |The Doctrine of
Jovinian condemned
by a Council at
Rome.| Be that as it will, Syricius did not take upon him to act on this Occasion by his private Authority; but, assembling the Priests, Deacons, and other Ecclesiastics of Rome, he read to them the Request of Pammachius and Victorinus, and, having, together with them, maturely examined the Doctrine of Jovinian, he declared it, with the unanimous Consent of the whole Assembly, contrary to Scripture; and at the same time cut off, for ever, from the Communion of the Church, not only Jovinian, who had first broached such a Doctrine, but those among his Followers, who were found to have been the most sanguine in promoting it; viz. Auxentius, Genialis, Germinator, Felix, Frontinus, Martianus, Januarius, and Ingenius[[1285]]. Jovinian, instead of submitting to the Judgment of Syricius, and his Clergy, immediately left Rome, and repaired with all Speed to Milan, not despairing of being able to engage Ambrose in his Favour, and likewise the Emperor Theodosius, who was then in that City, before Syricius could prejudice them against him. Of this Syricius was aware, and therefore, without Loss of Time, dispatched Three of his Presbyters to Milan, Crescentius, Leopardus, and Alexander, with a Letter to that Church, which has been transmitted to us among Ambrose’s Works[[1286]], acquainting them with what had passed at Rome. In virtue of this Letter he was rejected by Ambrose; and, at the Request of the Three Roman Presbyters, driven our of the Town by the Emperor[[N29]].
[N29]. Baronius pretends it was on this Occasion that Theodosius enacted the Law, dated from Verona the 3d of September of the present Year 390. commanding all, who professed a monastic Life, to quit the Cities, and retire, pursuant to their Profession, into the Deserts[[1]]. But that it was made on a very different Occasion, it will fall in my way to shew hereafter.
[1]. Bar. ad ann. 390. n. 47, 48.