ANTONINUS March), which was the very time at which the Jews ate
PIUS. their Passover; and on the third day after, whether it fell

upon a Sunday or not, they commemorated the resurrection
of Christ. But the Western Churches, citing Paul and
Peter as authors of their custom, put off their paschal
feast until the evening preceding the festal day sacred to
Christ's resurrection, which was the nearest Sunday to the
full moon of Nisan. The Asiatic custom gave much
offence to the Western Churches, who regarded it as in-
decent to interrupt the fast of "the great week," and to
commemorate the resurrection on any other day of the
week than that on which it actually took place. Great
inconvenience was likewise felt when an inhabitant of one
country visited another where a different practice prevailed,
for one was feasting and rejoicing, while another was fast-
ing. Considerable disturbance arose in the Church from
this difference with regard to Easter; and con-
A.D. 158.
sequently in the year 158, Anicetus, Bishop of
Rome, and Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, investigated the
subject at Rome. Their conference did not end the con-
troversy, but they parted upon friendly terms, and each
party adhered to its own custom. Towards the end of the
century, Victor, then Bishop of Rome, demanded from
the Eastern Churches a compliance with the ritual of the
West; and upon their resolute opposition, which was
headed by Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus, he assailed them
with anathemas and excommunications. The schism was
checked by Irenæus, but not finally healed until the Council

and Western Churches respecting Easter. By whom was the controversy respecting Easter carried on in the first three centuries? What was the conduct of the Bishop of Rome? What was the result of the conference between

of Nice, in 325, abolished the Eastern custom,* and con- ANTONINUS

firmed that of the West.t

Hegesippus.}

96. Hegesippus is stated by some writers to have flourished about this time. He was a converted Jew, who wrote an account of the principal occurrences in the Church from our Saviour's birth until the time of Anicetus, Bishop of Rome. Only a small part of his work remains, preserved by Eusebius.

Marcus Aurelius,
Seventeenth

Emperor of Rome.

PIUS.

MARCUS

97. Marcus Aurelius, the celebrated Stoic, succeeded to the empire in the AURELIUS. year 161. He was a Prince of admirable virtues and accomplishments, alloyed with much Pagan superstition. He A.D. 161. appears to have been solicited to persecute the Christians in order to appease the heathen deities, and prevent the recurrence of pestilence and earthquakes, which were attributed to the toleration of Christians. He declined, and issued an edict similar to that of his predecessor, requiring that the commission of some crime must be

*Those who retained the Eastern custom were called Quartodecimani, from quarta decima luna, because they kept Easter upon the 14th day after the appearance of the moon, the month of Nisan beginning at the new moon next to the vernal equinox.

The rule for finding Easter,

as laid down in the Book of Com-
mon Prayer, is this-"Easter-
day is always the first Sunday
after the full moon which happens
upon, or next after, the 21st day
of March; and if the full moon
happens upon a Sunday, Easter-
day is the Sunday after." This
accords with the practice of the
Western Church.

[Note.] [Note.] What is

Anicetus and Polycarp? What Council decided the controversy?
What do you understand by the term Quartodecimani?
the present practice of the Church of England with regard to Easter?
96. Who was Hegesippus, and when did he flourish? Does his work
remain ?

97. What was the conduct of Marcus Aurelius towards the Christians ? What was the nature of the edict which he issued? Did persecution prevali

AURELIUS.

MARCUS proved against any one before he could be punished, and denouncing capital punishment against the accuser of a Christian as such. Notwithstanding this edict, persecution prevailed extensively during the greater part of his reign, connived at, and probably encouraged, by this most philosophic of the Roman emperors.* Lardner assigns three reasons for this:-(1) The Christians refused to join in the common worship of the heathen deities, and reflected freely upon the philosophers: (2) They out-did the Stoics in patience under suffering: (3) The emperor was a bigot in religion and philosophy. We have already mentioned the deaths of Polycarp and Justin Martyr; and among others who suffered were a celebrated Christian of Rome, named Felicitas, and her seven sons.

Apologies of
Athenagoras,
Melito, &c.

98. Athenagoras,t a philosopher of Athens, and teacher of the Catechetical schools at Alexandria, presented an Apology to Marcus Aurelius about the year 166. It was entitled, An Embassy in behalf of the Christians. He set forth the injustice of persecnting the Christians, especially as they were peaceable and loyal citizens, and refuted the three principal calumnies against them; namely, (1) that they were Atheists, (2) that they ate human flesh, and (3) that they committed horrible

A.D. 166.

* As the laws did not sanction the execution of Christians not convicted of crime, he allowed the judges to put them to torture, and thus confessions of crime

were sometimes wrung from them.

It is related of him that he began to read the Scriptures with a view to confute the Christians, and ended by becoming a convert.

in his reign? What reasons may be assigned for persecution? What practices did he allow the judges to adopt towards the Christians? Name some of the principal martyrs in this reign.

98. Who was Athenagoras? To whom did he address an Apology What

AURELIUS.

crimes in their assemblies. Athenagoras was also the MARCUS author of another work, On the Resurrection of the Dead. Melito, Bishop of Sardis, also presented an Apology to Marcus Aurelius soon after that of Athenagoras, A.D. 167. in which, as we learn from the fragment preserved by Eusebius, he showed that Christianity was not inimical to the progress of the Roman empire, and pointed out that it was persecuted only by wicked emperors, such as Nero and Domitian. We learn from this work that the property of convicted Christians was adjudged to their Other Apologies were presented a year or two later, by Miltiades, a rhetorician, and Apollinarius, Bishop of Hierapolis, but they have not come down to us.

accusers.

Theophilus of Antioch, and Dionysius of Corinth.

99. This was a remarkable sea-
son for learned Christian writers,
among whom were Theophilus,
sixth Bishop of Antioch, and
Theophilus wrote against
Materialist; but his only

Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth.
Marcion and Hermogenes, the
extant work consists of three books ad Autolychum, a
learned heathen writer, from which we learn that he was
born a heathen and converted by reading the Scriptures.
Dionysius wrote seven Catholic Epistles, which he sent to
many Churches, and of which we have only some fragments
remaining in Eusebius.

was its title and nature? Did he write any other work? Who was Melito? What was the nature of his Apology? What do we learn from it concerning the property of convicted Christians? Enumerate the early Apologists; and what was the intention of their writings, and to whom were they addressed? [See also par. 86]

99. Give a brief account of Theophilus of Antioch, and Dionysius of Corinth, and of their writings.

H

MARCUS AURELIUS.

Tatian, and

the Encratites.

A.D. 166.

}

100. Tatian was another eminent writer in this reign. He was a native of Assyria, converted by reading the books of the Old Testament. Irenæus says he was a pupil of

Justin Martyr, after whose death he kept up the same school at Rome, for the benefit of the Christians. He wrote many works, but the only one extant is An Oration against the Greeks, in which he shows that they borrowed their knowledge of science from the barbarians, and asserts the superior antiquity and excellence of Christianity in comparison with heathenism. Some time after Justin's death, Tatian fell from his orthodox principles; and having left Rome, joined several of the errors of Saturninus, Marcion, and Valentinus with his own, and formed a new sect called Encratites,* or Continents, because they condemned the lawfulness of marriage, and the use of wine and various sorts of meat, pretending to lead a sober and austere life. They celebrated the Sacrament with water, for which they were sometimes called Hydroparastates, or Aquarii. There were several branches of the Encratites, particularly the Severians, founded by Severus, Tatian's successor, who rejected the Acts and Paul's Epistles; and the Apotactites and Cathares, who renounced the riches and conveniences of this world. When Tatian had become heretical, he wrote a Diatessaron,† or Harmony of the Gospels, in which he omitted the genea

* From éукрaтns. temperate. From diά, and Téσσapa, four.

100. Who was Tatian? What work of his is extant, and what is the nature of it? When did he fall from his orthodox principles? What sect did he form? Whence did they derive their name? What other names had they? Did Tatian write any work after he became heretical?