ENMITY OF THEOPHILUS AGAINST ISIDORE.

379 the laws of the church, and at the consent of Theophilus; and referred to Isidore, as a witness to the truth of what he deposed. Isidore happened to be then at Rome; but, on his return, he testified that the assertions of Peter were true. Theophilus resented this avowal, and ejected both him and Peter from the church. Such is the account given by some persons of the transaction. I have, however, heard it alleged, by a man of undoubted veracity, who was very intimate with the monks above-mentioned, that the enmity of Theophilus towards Isidore originated from two causes. One of these

causes was indentical with that specified by Peter the presbyter, namely, that he had refused to attest the existence of a testament in which the inheritance was entailed on the sister of Theophilus: the other cause alleged by this individual was, that Isidore refused to give up certain monies that had been confided to him for the relief of the poor, and which Theophilus wished to appropiate to the erection of churches; and told his bishop, that it would be far better to apply the money to the relief of the bodies of the sick, which are the temples of God, than to the building of edifices. But from whatever cause the enmity of Theophilus might have originated, Isidore, immediately after his excommunication, joined his former companions, the monks at Scetis. Ammon, with a few others, then repaired to Theophilus, and entreated him to restore Isidore to communion. Theophilus readily promised to do as they requested; but as time passed away, and his promise still remained unfulfilled, they again repaired to him, renewed their entreaties, and pressed him to be faithful to his engagement. Instead of complying, Theophilus thrust one of the monks into prison, for the purpose of intimidating the others. Ammon and all the monks then went to the prison, into which they were readily admitted by the gaoler, who imagined that they had come to bring provisions to the prisoner; but having once obtained admission, they refused to leave the prison. When Theophilus heard of their voluntary confinement, he sent to desire them to come to him. They replied, that he ought to take them out of prison himself, for it was not just, after having been subjected to public indignity, that they should be privately released from confinement. At length, however, they yielded and went to him. Theophilus apologized for what had occurred, and dismissed them as if he had no further intention of

molesting them; but he retained in secret the utmost resent. ment against them, and studied the most efficient means of injuring them. He was in doubt, however, as to how he could ill-treat them, as they had no possessions, and despised everything but wisdom, until it occurred to him, to disturb the peace of their retirement. From his former intercourse with them he had gathered that they blamed those who believe that God has a human form, and that they adhered to the opinions of Origen; he therefore seized this pretext to set all the other monks, who maintained contrary doctrines, at variance with them.1 A furious dispute ensued among the monks; for instead of resorting to argument, and striving to convince each other of the truth, they mutually insulted each other, and gave the name of Origenists to those who maintained the incorporeality of the Deity, while those who held the opposite opinion were called Anthropomorphists.

CHAP. XIII.-THE MONKS REPAIR TO JOHN. HOSTILITY OF

THEOPHILUS AGAINST JOHN.

DIOSCORUS, Ammon, and the other monks, having discovered the machinations of Theophilus, retired to Jerusalem, and thence proceeded to Scythopolis, because this latter region abounded in palm trees, and the wood of these trees was wrought into various articles by the monks. Dioscorus and Ammon were accompanied hither by about eighty other monks. In the mean time, Theophilus sent messengers to Constantinople, to prefer complaints against them, and to oppose any petitions that they might lay before the emperor. On being informed of this fact, Ammon and the monks embarked for Constantinople, and took Isidore with them; and they requested that their cause might be tried in the presence of the emperor and of the bishop, for they imagined that the well-known boldness of John would be of assistance to them at this juncture. John, although he received them with kindness, and treated them with honour, and did not forbid them to pray in the church,

1 Socrates gives the same account; but, like Sozomen, he suppresses the reason: viz. that Theophilus had convened an episcopal synod at Alexandria, and had condemned Ammonius and his brethren as followers of Origen.

A. D. 402.]

PERVERSITY OF THEOPHILUS.

381

refused to admit them to participation in the mysteries until their cause had been decided. He wrote to Theophilus, desiring him to receive them back into communion, as their sentiments concerning the Divine nature were orthodox: requesting him, if he regarded their orthodoxy as doubtful, to send some one to act as their accuser. Theophilus returned no reply to this epistle. Some time subsequently, Ammon and his companions presented themselves before the wife of the emperor, and complained of the machinations of Theophilus against them. As she was well acquainted with the facts of the case, she stopped her chariot, inclined her head forwards, and said to them, "Pray for the emperor, for me, for our children, and for the empire. For my part, I shall shortly cause a council to be convened, to which Theophilus shall be summoned." A false report having been spread abroad in Alexandria, that John had received Dioscorus and his companions into communion, and had afforded them every aid and encouragement in his power, Theophilus began to reflect upon what measures it would be possible to adopt in order to eject John from the church.

CHAP. XIV.

PERVERSITY OF THEOPHILUS. ARRIVAL OF ST. EPIPHANIUS AT CONSTANTINOPLE; HE EXCITES THE PEOPLE OF THAT CITY AGAINST JOHN.

THEOPHILUS kept his designs against John as secret as possible; and wrote to the bishops of every city, condemning the books of Origen.' It also occurred to him that it would be advantageous to enlist Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis, in Cyprus, on his side, because the eminent virtues of this prelate had secured him universal admiration; and he therefore formed a friendship with him, although he had formerly blamed him for asserting that God possessed a human form. As if repentant of having ever entertained any other sentiment, Theophilus wrote to Epiphanius to acquaint him, that he now held the same opinions as himself, and to condemn the works of Origen, whence he had drawn his former hypothesis. Epiphanius had long regarded the writings of Origen with pecuCompare Socrates, Eccl. Hist. vi. 10.

2 See Valesius' notes on Socrates (ubi supr.).

liar aversion, and was therefore easily led to attach credit to the epistle of Theophilus. He soon after assembled the bishops of Cyprus together, and prohibited the perusal of the books of Origen. He also wrote to the other bishops, and, among others, to the bishop of Constantinople, exhorting them to issue similar prohibitions. Theophilus, perceiving that there could be no danger in following the example of Epiphanius, whose exalted virtues were universally appreciated and reverenced, assembled the bishops of his province, and enacted a similar decree. John, on the other hand, paid little attention to the letters of Epiphanius and Theophilus. Those among the powerful and the clergy who were opposed to him, perceived that the designs of Theophilus tended to his ejection from the bishopric, and therefore endeavoured to procure the convention of a council in Constantinople, in order to carry this measure into execution. Theophilus exerted himself to the utmost in convening this council; he commanded the bishops of Egypt to repair by sea to Constantinople; he wrote to request Epiphanius and the other Eastern bishops to proceed to that city with as little delay as possible, and he himself set off on the journey thither by land. Epiphanius was the first to sail from Cyprus; he landed at Hebdoma, a suburb of Constantinople, and, after having prayed in the church erected at that place, he proceeded to enter the city. In order to do him honour, John went out with all his clergy to meet him. Epiphanius, however, evinced clearly by his conduct that he believed the disadvantageous report that had been spread against John, for he would not remain in his house, and avoided all intercourse with him. He also privately assembled all the bishops who were in Constantinople, and showed them the decrees that he had issued against the works of Origen. Some of the bishops approved of these decrees, while others objected to them. Theotimus, bishop of Scythia, strongly opposed the proceedings of Epiphanius, and told him that it was not right to cast insult on the memory of one who had long been numbered with the dead, nor to call into question the conclusion to which the ancients had arrived on the subject. While discoursing in this strain, he drew forth a work of Origen's which he had brought with him; and after reading aloud a passage conducive to the edification of the church, he remarked that those who condemned such

A. D. 402.] DISPUTE CONCERNING THE WORKS OF ORIGEN. 383

sentiments were guilty of manifest absurdity, and that while they were ridiculing the words of the author, they were evidently in danger of being tempted to ridicule the subjects themselves upon which he wrote. John manifested great respect towards Epiphanius, and invited him to join in the meetings of his church, and to dwell with him. But Epiphanius declared that he would neither reside with John, nor pray with him, unless he would denounce the works of Origen and expel Dioscorus and his companions from the city. Not considering it just to act in the manner proposed until judgment had been passed on the case, John tried to postpone the adoption of further measures to some future time. In the mean time his enemies met together, and arranged that on the day when the people would be assembled in the church of the apostles, Epiphanius should publicly pronounce condemnation on the works of Origen, and on Dioscorus and his companions as the partisans of this writer; and also denounce the bishop of the city as the abettor of Dioscorus. By this means, it was hoped, that the affections of the people would be alienated from their bishop. The following day, when Epiphanius was about entering the church, in order to carry his design into execution, he was stopped by Serapion, at the command of John, who had received intimation of the plot. Serapion proved to Epiphanius that while the project he had devised was unjust in itself, it could be of no personal advantage to him, for that, if it should excite a popular insurrection, he would be regarded as responsible for the outrages that might follow. By these arguments Epiphanius was induced to relinquish his designs.

66

CHAP. XV.-THE SON OF THE EMPRESS AND THE HOLY EPIPHANIUS. CONFERENCE BETWEEN THE GREAT BROTHERS" AND EPIPHANIUS, AND THE RETURN OF THIS LATTER ΤΟ CYPRUS. EPIPHANIUS AND JOHN.

ABOUT this time, the son of the empress was attacked by a dangerous illness, and the mother, apprehensive of consequences, sent to implore Epiphanius to pray for him. Epiphanius returned for answer, that her son would recover provided that