SEVERUS. vanced to the mastership of the Catechetical school at Alexandria, the reputation of which he greatly extended. In the year 213 he paid a short visit to Rome; and upon his return to Alexandria associated his former pupil Heraclas with him in the school, so that he had more time to devote to theology and the exposition of the Scriptures. Being compelled in 215* by the persecution under Caracalla to flee from Alexandria, he retired to Cæsarea in Palestine, where, upon the occasion of a subsequent visit about 228, he was ordained presbyter by Theoctistus, Bishop of Cæsarea, and Alexander, Bishop of Jerusalem. Demetrius, Bishop of Alexandria, complained of the irregularity of foreign Bishops ordaining his layman, which complaint was met by the plea that Demetrius himself had furnished Origen with a commendatory letter. Controversy ensued, and in the year 230 Demetrius assembled two councils against Origen, the first of which banished him from Alexandria, and the second deprived him of his clerical office. He now settled at Cæsarea in Palestine for a time, but was driven from it to Cæsarea in Cappadocia by the persecution under Maximinus, in 235. Upon the death of Maximinus he returned to Palestine. In the Decian persecution he endured imprisonment and torture; and he died at length at Tyre, in the 69th year of his age, A.D. 253. The

We have proof of his extended fame about this time in the facts that an Arabian prince invited him to his court to impart Christian instruction, and that Mammæa, mother of the emperor Alexander Severus, sent for him

to Antioch to hear him preach.

This was the usual letter from a bishop, testifying to the soundness of faith, by which a Christian was admitted to communion with the Church in any country which he visited.

[Note.] Give proofs of his extended fame. What modification of the Grecian philosophy took place about his time, and what effect did it produce on Chris

character of Origen, although uncommonly exalted and SEVERUS. amiable, was not without its dark shades. Charmed with the subtleties of the Platonic philosophy, of which the Eclectic school (see note, par. 109,) sprung up in his time, he blended it with Christianity; and maintained that the Scriptures were not to be literally, but allegorically explained.* He threw out some crude opinions, for which in the next age he was considered heretical, and his works were condemned by Bishops and Councils. Charitable and generous to others, his rigour and self-denial were carried to an extreme which proved prejudicial to his constitution, and which in one instance in particular extended to absurdity. The number of his literary performances exceeded that of any Christian writer in the early ages. He composed Commentaries,§ Scholia, and Homilies upon the Bible, parts of which still exist; treatises upon prayer, and the principles of religion; and eight books in defence of Christianity against the attacks of Celsus, which are still extant. His most laborious work was his Hexapla, by which he undertook to remedy the mistakes that had crept

*The same system is observable in the works of his master, Clemens. With expositors of this school, every passage in Scripture contained three meanings-one, literal or historical; another, conveying a moral lesson; and a third, mystical or spiritual.

Although disposed to turn every thing in Scripture to allegory, he yet construed the passage

in Matt. xix. 12, literally, and
emasculated himself in order to
avoid temptation in his intercourse
with his female pupils.

From his laborious assiduity
he acquired the name of Ada-
mantius.

§ He was the first Christian writer who attempted a literal commentary of the sacred text.

tian doctrine? What was the peculiarity of Origen's method of interpreting Scripture? *[Note.] From what source did he derive it? [Note.] Why was he called Adamantius? What are the principal errors that have been ascribed

to him?

SRVEBUS into the text of the Septuagint. It consisted of the Septuagint; the three translations of Aquila,* Symmachus,† and Theodotion; and the Hebrew text in its original characters, and also in the Greek characters, arranged in six parallel columns. He subsequently added two other Greek translations, and the whole work was then called Octapla. The principal errors ascribed to him are derived from his four books πɛρí áрxwv, and are—(1) the preexistence of human souls, and their incarceration in material bodies, for offences committed in a former state of being: (2) the pre-existence of Christ's human soul, and its union with the Divine nature: (3) the transformation of our material bodies into etherial ones at the resurrection: and (4) the final recovery of all men, and even devils, through the mediation of Christ.

Persecution
at Rome.

}

118. The persecuting edict of Severus was issued during the emperor's absence from Rome; but he sent to the capital an order for bringing before the prefect all persons attending illegal meetings, under which term Christian assemblies were made to rank. In 203 the emperor returned to Rome, and celebrated a triumph with great magnificence

A.D. 203.

* A native of Pontus, who became a Jewish proselyte after having been converted to Christianity. His translation was very close, and was highly esteemed by the Jews.

+First a Samaritan, then a Jew, then an Ebionite. His translation, which M. Tillemont places

about 169, takes considerable liberties with the original.

A disciple of Tatian, and subsequently aJew,. His translation is supposed to have been made about 185. It holds a middle rank between the servile closeness of Aquila and the freedom of Symmachus.

118. What was the state of the Christians at Rome during the reign of Severus? What was the nature of the order sent by the Emperor in his

for his successes over the nations he had subdued in his
recent expeditions. In the following year he chose to cele-
brate the Secular games* out of their regular
A.D. 204.
course. These spectacles and solemnities were
attended with their usual consequences to the Christians,
who were unwilling to join in them, and there is but little
doubt that the cruelty exercised against them was terrible.
Zephyrinus was Bishop of Rome at this time.

Defence of Minutius Felix.

119. About the year 210, an eminent Christian lawyer of Rome, Minutius Felix, wrote an excellent and elegant Defence of the Christian religion, in the form of a dialogue between a Christian called Octavius, and a Heathen called Cecilius, who was converted by the full and convincing A.D. 210. answers given to his arguments and reproaches of the Christian religion, and the recital of the noble triumphs of the Christians in their innumerable sufferings. 120. The Emperor Severus died at York, A.D. 211, after a residence of two years in Britain. He was succeeded by his son Caracalla, who was

Rapid Succession

of Roman
Emperors.

slain in 217, after a barbarous reign of six years. Macri

*These games gave occasion to Tertullian to write his piece de Spectaculis, in which he earnestly dissuaded the Christians from being present.

+ We have no means of forming an opinion as to the presecution in this island during the emperor's residence here.

SEVERUS.

CARACALLA.

absence? # [Note.] What work did Tertullian write upon the subject of the Secular Games, and what was his advice to the Christians? Who was Bishop of Rome during the persecution under Severus?

119. Give an account of Minutius Felix and his work. What effect was produced by his Defence?

120. Where did Severus die? What was there that was favourable to Christianity after his death?

MACRINUS. nus succeeded to the imperial purple, but was slain in 218; whereupon Elagabalus obtained the vacant eminence, and ELAGABALUS. he too was slain in the year 222, after a reign of less than four years. This quick succession of Roman Emperors was favourable to the diffusion of Christianity. The events attending their lives and deaths and the artifices of candidates for the diadem naturally engaged mnch public attention, and suspended the execution of those sanguinary edicts intended for the destruction of the Christians.

ALEXANDER Alexander Severus,

SEVERUS.

twenty-fifth Emperor of Rome.

121. Upon the death of Elagabalus in 222, Alexander Severus was acknowledged emperor. He was an excellent and virtuous prince. The laws against the Christians were A.D. 222. not repealed by him, so that in his vast empire instances occur of Christians suffering death in his reign; yet from the influence of his mother, Mammæa, he showed kind feelings towards them in various ways, and was indeed the first Roman emperor by whom they were expressly tolerated. It is said that he had an image of Christ in his chamber, where he performed his daily devotions ; but, as a blind man without full knowledge, he placed Christ with Orpheus, Apollonius of Tyana, and his other deities. He adopted the custom of the Christians in their ecclesiastical appointments, by publishing the names of intended governors of provinces and cities, and inviting objections against their fitness. Moreover, he inscribed upon his palace and public buildings the Christian command, do not that to another, which you would not have another do

121. What was the disposition of Alexander Severus to the Christians? Was there any persecution during his reign? Give instances of his favour