§ 18. How much harm was done to the Christian cause by these sophists or philosophers, inflated with a conceit of their own knowledge, and with hatred of the Christian name, appears from many examples in this century, and especially from Julian, who was seduced by such men. Among those who would pass for the wiser sort, desirous to avoid extremes, many were induced, by the arguments and explanations of these men, to devise a kind of intermediate religion, made up of the old superstition and Christianity, persuading themselves that it was the very thing enjoined by Christ, and that it had long been hidden by the pagan priests under the veil of ceremonies and fables. Of these views were Ammianus Marcellinus, a very prudent and discreet man 7, Chalcidius, a philosopher, Themistius, a very celebrated orator 9, and others, who conceived that both religions were in unison, as to all the more important points, if they were rightly understood; and therefore held,

the Great; the second edition is more temperate. Both editions were extant in the times of Photius: see his Biblioth. codex lxxvii. Schl.]

[Ammianus Marcellinus, a celebrated Latin historian, of Grecian extract, was a soldier, for at least twenty years, from A.D. 350 onwards, and served in the honourable corps called Protectores Domestici. On retiring from military life, he fixed his residence at Rome, where he lived perhaps till the end of the century. There it was he composed his faithful and valuable history. The work originally consisted of thirtyone books, and gave the Roman history from the accession of Nerva, (where Suetonius ends,) to the death of Valens. The first 13 books, which must have been very concise, are lost. The last 18, which are more full, include the period from A.D. 353-378. The style is harsh and unpolished, and sometimes difficult; but the fidelity and accuracy of the narration render the work highly valuable. Marcellinus was probably a real pagan; but he was not a bigot, and he was willing to give every one his due, according to his best judgment. The best editions of his work are, that of Valesius, republished by Gronovius, Leyden, 1693, fol. and 4to, and that of Ernesti, Lips. 1775, 8vo. See Bayle, Dictionnaire Histor. et Crit. art. Marcellin. Tr.]

8

[Chalcidius, a philosopher of the fourth century, was author of a Latin

translation of the Timaus of Plato, and of a commentary on it, which were published by J. Meursius, Lugd. Bat. 1617, 4to. Dr. Mosheim's opinion of his religious faith is farther developed in his Diss. de turbata per recentiores Platonicos Ecclesia, § 31, and in his notes on Cudworth's Intellectual System, vol. i. p. 732, &c.

J. A. Fabricius, (in his notes on Chalcidius, passim; and in his Biblioth. Latina, 1. iii. c. 7, p. 557, &c.) and some others, hold that Chalcidius was a pagan.-Brucker (Hist. Crit. Philos. tom. iii. p. 472, &c.) makes him a Christian, though infected with the new Platonism of his age. Tr.]

[Themistius, a Greek philosopher of Paphlagonia, called Euphrades, (the fine speaker,) from his eloquent and commanding delivery, was made a Roman senator, and enjoyed the favour of Constantius, Julian, and the succeeding emperors, down to Theodosius the Great, who made him prefect of Constantinople, and appointed him tutor to his son Arcadius. He wrote, when young, some commentaries on Aristotle, fragments of which are still extant, and 33 of his Orations. His works are best edited by Harduin, Paris, 1684, fol. He was a strenuous advocate for the free toleration of all religions, as being all good, and tending to the same result by different ways. Concerning him and his religious views, see Brucker's Historia Crit. Philos. tom. ii. p. 484, &c. Tr.]

that Christ was neither to be contemned, nor to be honoured to the exclusion of the pagan deities.1

2

19. As Constantine the Great, with his sons and successors, took much pains to enlarge the Christian church, it is not strange that many nations, before barbarous and uncivilised, became subject to Christ. Several circumstances make it probable, that the light of Christianity cast some of its rays into both Armenias, the greater and the less, soon after the establishment of the Christian church.3 But the Armenian church first received due organization and firm establishment in this century; in the beginning of which, Gregory, the son of Anax, commonly called the Illuminator, because he dispelled the mists of superstition which beclouded the minds of the Armenians, first persuaded some private individuals, and afterwards Tiridates, the king of the Armenians, as well as his nobles, to embrace the Christian religion. He was, therefore, ordained the first bishop of Armenia, by Leontius, bishop of Cappadocia, and gradually diffused the principles of Christianity throughout that country.

§ 20. In the middle of this century, one Frumentius proceeded from Egypt into the neighbouring country of Abyssinia or Ethiopia, the inhabitants of which were called Auxumite, from their capital city Auxuma, and baptized both the king of the country, and very many of the nobles. Afterwards returning to Egypt, he was consecrated by St. Athanasius, first bishop of the Auxumitæ. From this circumstance, the Ethiopic church, even to this day, is dependent on that of Alexandria,

[This favourite opinion of Dr. Mosheim he defends more at length, in his Diss. de turbata per recentiores Platonicos Ecclesia, § 30-32; among his Dissert. ad Hist. Eccles. pertinentes, vol. i. p. 85 -216, Altonæ, 1733.-But it seems not necessary to adopt this hypothesis, which has but slender support from argument; because the Eclectic or new Platonic philosophy might easily lead its votaries to speak in terms of moderation, and even of commendation, of the Christian religion, especially in an age when it prevailed almost universally, and was the religion of the state and of the imperial court. Tr.]

2 Gaudentius. Vita Philastrii, § iii. Philastrius, de Hares. Præf. p. 5, ed. Fabricii. Socrates, Hist. Eccles. I. i. c. 19.

Georgius Cedrenus, Chronograph. p. 234. ed. Paris; and others.

3

[For Eusebius (Hist. Eccles. 1. vi. c. 46,) informs us that Dionysius of Alexandria, about the year 260, "wrote concerning penance, to the Brethren of Armenia, over whom Meruzanes was bishop; and, according to the Acta Martyrum, some Armenians suffered martyrdom in the persecution under Decius, (A. D. 250,) and Diocletian, (A. D. 304.) Tr.]

4 See Narratio de Rebus Armenia, in Fr. Combefis, Auctarium Biblioth. Patr. Græcor. tom. ii. p. 287, &c. Mich. Le Quien, Oriens Christianus, tom. i. p. 419 and 1356. J. J. Schröderi Thesaur. Lingua Armenica, p. 149, &c.

and receives its bishop from it.5 In Iberia, a province of Asia which is now called Georgia, a Christian woman who had $ been carried captive into that country, partly by the sanctity of her life, and partly by miracles, induced the king and his queen to renounce idolatry and embrace Christ, and also to send for priests from Constantinople, from whom they and their people might gain a more accurate and complete knowledge of the Christian religion.6

§ 21. A part of the Goths, inhabiting Thrace, Moesia and Dacia, had embraced Christianity before the commencement of this century; and Theophilus their bishop was present at the Nicene council. Constantine the Great, after having vanquished them and the Sarmatians, engaged great numbers of them to become Christians. But still a large part of the nation remained estranged from Christ, until the times of the emperor Valens, who permitted them to pass the river Ister 2 and to inhabit Dacia, Moesia, and Thrace, on condition that they would be subject to the Roman laws, and would embrace Christianity; to which condition their king Fritigern consented.3 The bishop of the Goths inhabiting Moesia in this century, was the much celebrated Ulphilas; who, among other laudable deeds, gave his countrymen an alphabet of his own invention, and translated the Bible for them into the Gothic language.1

5 Athanasius, Apologia ad Constantium, Opp. tom. i. pt. ii. p. 315, ed. Benedict. Socrates, Hist. Eccles. lib. i. c. 49. Sozomen, Hist. Eccles. 1. ii. c. 24. Theodoret, Hist. Eccles. 1. i. c. 23. Job Ludolf, Comment. ad Histor. Ethiopic. p. 281. Jerome Lobo, Voyage d'Abissinie, tom. ii. p. 13, &c. Justus Fontanius, Historia Litterar. Aquileia, p. 174.

Rufinus, Hist. Eccles. 1. i. c. 10. Sozomen, Hist. Eccles. 1. ii. c. 7. Le Quien, Oriens Christianus, tom. i. p. 1333, &c. [Now the north-east part of Rumelia, with Bulgaria and Wallachia, on the Danube. Tr.]

7

8

[Philostorgius, Hist. Eccles. 1. ii. c. 5.

Schl.]

4 Joh. Jac. Mascovii Historia Germanor. tom. i. p. 317, tom. ii. Note, p. 49. Acta Sanctor. March, vol. iii. p. 619. Eric Benzel, loc. cit. cap. viii. p. xxx. [J. C. Zahn, Einleitung in Ulfilas Bibelübersetzung, p. 4, &c. ed. Weissenfels, 1805, 4to, where is condensed all that is stated of Ulphilas, and his translation, by the ancients, viz. Philostorgius, H. Eccl. 1. ii. c. 5. Socrates, H. Eccl. 1. ii. c. 41, and 1. iv. c. 33. Sozomen, H. Eccl. 1. iv. c. 24, 1. vi. c. 37. Theodoret, H. Eccl. 1. iv. c. 37, and others. Ulphilas (or Ulfila, Urphilas, Gilfulas, &c. but should, according to Jornandes, be written Wulfila, i. e. Wölflein, diminutive of Wulf or Wolf, a wolf,) is said, by Philostorgius, to have descended from Christian Greeks of Sadagoltina in Cappadocia, who were carried into captivity by the Goths in the year 266. Others suppose, from his name, that he was of Gothic extract. Philostorgius also makes him first bishop of the Goths, and says he was ordained by the Arian. Eusebius of Nicomedia, in the reign of ConstanX

§ 22. In the European provinces of the Roman empire, there still remained a vast number of idolaters; and though the Christian bishops endeavoured to convert them to Christ, the business went on but slowly. In Gaul the great Martin, bishop of Tours, was not unsuccessful in this work; for travelling through the provinces of Gaul, he, by his discourses and by his miracles, (if we may believe Sulpitius Severus,) every where persuaded many to renounce their idols and embrace Christ; he destroyed also the temples of the Gods, and threw down their statues.5 He therefore merited the title of the Apostle of the Gauls.

§ 23. It is very evident that not only the victories of Constantine the Great, but also fear of punishment, and desire to please the Roman emperors, served for arguments with whole nations, as well as individuals, in embracing the Christian religion. Yet

tine the Great. Others make him to have succeeded Theophilus, and to have flourished from the year 360 to 380. He was a man of talents and learning, an Arian, (at least in the latter part of his life,) and possessed vast and salutary influence among the Goths in Dacia, Moesia, and Thrace. He was at the Arian synod of Constantinople, in the year 359; and was twice sent on embassies by the nation to the imperial court. His last embassy was in the reign of Valens, A. D. 376, to obtain permission for the Goths to pass the Danube and settle in Mosia. He was successful; and 200,000 Goths were admitted into the Roman empire, on conditions of obeying the Roman laws and joining the Arian interest. It is not known when he died; but some time in the reign of Theodosius the Great (A. D. 379-395); he was succeeded in his episcopal office by Theotimus, or, as some report, by Selinas. He was author of a translation of the whole Bible, except the books of Kings, from Greek into the language of the Goths of Moesia. The books of Kings were omitted by him, lest their history of wars and battles should inflame the already too great thirst of the Goths for war and carnage. The alphabet he used was of his own devising, and formed chiefly from the Greek and Latin. Nothing remains of this translation, except a single copy, somewhat mutilated, of the four Gospels, called the Codex Argenteus, because written in letters of silver, now at Upsal in Swe

den; and a few fragments of the Epistle to the Romans, recovered from an erasure of a MS. of the 8th or 9th century. Ulphilas's Gospels were first published by Fr. Junius, Dort, 1665, 2 vols. 4to; afterwards at Stockholm, 1671, 4to; and very learnedly, Oxford, 1750, fol.; and lastly, in a very convenient German edition, by J. C. Zahn, Weissenfels, 1805, 4to, with a complete Apparatus in the German language. Tr.-Some further fragments have been lately discovered among the codices rescripti of Italy. Ed.]

5 See Sulpitius Severus, Dial. i. de Vita Martini, c. 13. 15. 17. Dial. ii. p. 106, &c. ed. Hier. a Prato, Verona, 1741, fol.-[This Martin was born in Sabaria in Pannonia, and brought up at Pavia in Italy. He embraced Christianity contrary to the will of his parents; and served in the army, following the occupation of his father. He afterwards left the military life, and committed himself to the instruction of Hilary of Poitiers. From the Arians he suffered much persecution; and he was principally instrumental in the introduction of monasticism among the Gauls. was ordained bishop of Tours, A. D. 374, and died in the year 397, aged 81.] For other particulars of his life, see his biographer, Sulpitius Severus; also Tillemont, Mémoires pour servir à l'Histoire de l'Eglise, tome x.; and the Histoire Littéraire de la France, tom. i. pt. ii. p. 413. Schl.-The English reader may consult Milner's Church History, cent. iv. ch. 14. Tr.]

[He

no person well informed in the history of this period, will ascribe the extension of Christianity wholly to these causes.

For it is manifest, that the untiring zeal of the bishops and other holy men, the pure and devout lives which many of the Christians exhibited, the translations of the sacred volume, and the excellence of the Christian religion, were as efficient motives with many persons, as the arguments from worldly advantage and disadvantage were with some others. As for miracles, I cheerfully unite with those who look with contempt on the wonders ascribed to Paul, Antony, and Martin. I also grant that many events were inconsiderately regarded as miracles, which are according to the laws of nature; not to mention likewise pious frauds. Still I cannot join with such as believe that, in this age, God did never manifest his power by any extraordinary sign among Christians.7

§ 24. Although, from the time of Constantine the Great, no heavier calamity befel the Christian church within the Roman empire, than the commotion of Licinius, and Julian's brief reign, yet a slight storm sometimes beat upon it in particular places. Athanaric, for instance, king of the Goths, fiercely assailed for a time that portion of the Gothic nation which had embraced Christianity. In the more remote provinces also, the adherents to idolatry often defended their hereditary superstitions with the sword, and murdered the Christians, who, in propagating their religion, were not always as gentle or as prudent as they ought to have been. Beyond the limits of the Roman empire, Sapor II. surnamed Longævus, king of Persia, waged three bloody wars against the Christians in his

6 Hieron. a Prato, in his preface to Sulpitius Severus, p. xiii. &c. contends zealously for the miracles of Martin and the others in this century. [An account of the miracles of St. Martin may be found in Sulpit. Sever. Vita Martini; and Epistles i.-iii. and Dialogues ii. iii. The miracles of some contemporary monks of Egypt and the East, are the subject of dialogue i. For the history of Paul, see Jerome, de Vita Sti Pauli Eremita, in his Opp. tom. i. and for that of Antony, see Athanasius, de Vita Sti Antonii Eremitæ, in his Opp. tom. ii. ed. Paris, 1627. Tr.]

7 See Eusebius, Liber contra Hieroclem, c. iv. p. 431, ed. Olearii; Henr. Dodwell, Diss. II. in Irenæum, § lv. p. 195,

[also Dr. Conyers Middleton's Free Inquiry into the Miraculous Powers which are said to have subsisted in the Christian Church, &c. Lond. 1747, 4to; and in defence of miracles, Dr. Wm. Dodwell's Answer to Dr. Middleton's Free Inquiry, &c. 1751, 8vo. and Church's Vindication of the Miraculous Power, in answer to Middleton, 1750, 8vo, likewise Dr. J. Jortin's Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. i. ed. Lond. 1805. Tr.]

8 See Theod. Ruinart, Acta Martyrum sincera ; and among these, the Acta Sti Sabæ, p. 598, &c.

See Ambrose, de Officiis, lib. i. c. xlii. § 17; where is a noticeable state

ment.