andria in particular was affected; it was likewise a busy and active period, on account of the controversies about Novatianism, the Millennium, the baptism of heretics, and the doctrine of the Trinity in all which Dionysius had some concern, and signalized himself by his learning, zeal, moderation, and prudence. This is a summary account of the life of the bishop of Alexandria; but his eminent merit, and the time in which he flourished, require of us a more particular history."*

There was a persecution raised against the church in Alexandria in the year 248, at a time when other churches had rest; it lasted a whole year, and terminated in a seditious and tumultuous proceeding among the Pagan inhabitants of the place. Numbers of the Christians, however, suffered martyrdom in that popular persecution, while many others had their houses broken open and plundered. Dionysius, describing this matter in a letter to Fabius, bishop of Antioch, says, "Nor had we a safe passage any where, through high streets or narrow lanes; either by night, or by day; but continually, and every where, the people were universally crying out "If any one refuse to prenounce (such or such impious words) let him be immediately taken and cast into the fire." In this way things went on, till a sedition among themselves, and a civil war, returned this cruelty upon their own heads. The Christians had then a little breathing time; but the death of the reigning emperor (Philip), whose reign had, upon the whole, been favourable, filled them with forebodings of an impending storm, which was soon realized.

In the year 250, the edict of the emperor Decius, for a persecution of the Christians, was published at Alexandria; on which occasion, Dionysius was apprehended and banished to Taposyris, a small town between Alexandria and Canopus. While there he was rescued in a very unexpected manner, and without his own consent; but, not thinking it prudent to return to Alexandria, he retired and lived privately in a desert part of Lybia, till the storm blew over, which took place in the year 251. He did not escape so favourably in the persecution which the emperor Valerian commenced against the Christians, in the year 257; for then he was hurried off in the midst of a dangerous illness, and banished to a place called Cephro, in Lybia, a desert and

* Lardner's Works, vol, ii. p. 644.

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uncultivated region, where he was prohibited from holding any assemblies for public worship, and in that terrible situation he continued for three years. At this time Gallienus, the son of Valerian, issued an edict of toleration to the Christians, on which Dionysius returned to Alexandria, and applied himself diligently to the duties of his pastoral office.

His repose, however, seems to have been of short duration; for we learn from Eusebius that, not long after his return, the city of Alexandria was visited with the sorest judgments of heaven, -war, pestilence, and famine, accompanied by tremendous earthquakes. At a crisis so trying as this, the Christian religion had an opportunity of displaying its superior influence by the exemplary conduct of its professors. Their resignation to the will of God, and their unwearied benevolence towards the distressed, exerted at the hazard of their own lives, and manifested by the most endearing attentions that the tenderest compassion could dictate, are described in a letter which Dionysius wrote to Hierax, the elder of a sister church in Egypt, in a manner so pathetic and striking as necessarily to impress the mind with a deep sense of the power of that religion which nourishes the gentler qualities of the human heart, and soothes its more amiable feelings, at the same time that it arms the breast with a more than common fortitude. In this letter Dionysius expatiates on the different behaviour of the heathen, who abandoned their dearest friends the moment they perceived them to be infected by the plague, and left the wretched to perish without relief.*

With regard to the controversies in which Dionysius was called to engage in defence of the truth, I may particularly notice that which respected the Millennium. It appears that, in his day, there were many Christians in the district of Arsinoe, in Egypt, who were captivated with notions of the Millennium primarily propagated by Papias, bishop of Hierapolis; but more recently inculcated by one Nepos, the presbyter of a church in Egypt, in a work entitled a "Confutation of the Allegorists." According to this hypothesis, the Millennium was to be a scene of sensual delights. Finding that a number of churches were carried away

* Eusebius, L.vii. cap. 22. There is also another Letter to Domitius and Didymus, to the same effect, L. vii. cap. 6.

with this carnal notion of the subject, Dionysius paid a visit to those in that district, and with the view of investigating the subject, and correcting this popular delusion, he convened a meeting of the elders and teachers of the churches, admitting likewise as many of the brethren as were disposed to attend. His manner of conducting this investigation furnishes us with a signal instance of his prudence and discretion. When the assembly had met, the book of Nepos was brought forward as an armoury and an unanswerable performance, containing all that could be said upon the subject. The chief advocate in favour of the doctrine of Nepos was one Coracion. The conference continued for three whole days in succession, during which time Dionysius sat with them from morning to evening. When the conference commenced, Dionysius did not begin with reproaches, or contemptuous language, or with indulging in any invectives against Nepos ; on the contrary, he declared that he very much esteemed and loved him, and that he held him in high veneration for his faith and diligence and knowledge of the Scriptures: praising him for such things as had been rightly and judiciously advanced by him. But, as nothing was more valuable to a good man than truth, Dionysius took the liberty of examining and correcting those things in his writings in which he considered him to have departed from the Scriptures. In the account which Dionysius has left us of this celebrated disputation, he passes a high encomium on the orderly manner, as well as on the moderation and good temper, with which it was conducted. "They neither laboured," says he, "by any means pertinaciously to maintain what they had once stated, when its falsity was exposed, nor, on the other hand, to conceal contradictions, but were ready to change their sentiments and acknowledge the truth when convinced of it by an appeal to the sacred scriptures. The issue of the discussion fully corresponded with the wishes and prayers of Dionysius; for, in the sequel, Coracion, the most eminent and strenuous champion of the doctrine, not only submitted, confessing himself overcome by the force of truth, but also, in the hearing of all the brethren that were present, solemnly promised that he would never, from that time forward, make mention of this opinion, the vanity of which he had discovered by the opposite arguments. The manner in

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which the discussion had been carried on, together with its happy termination, was a source of rejoicing to all the brethren, who approved the conduct of Coracion, and united with him in abandoning this unfounded notion of the Millennium.*

But the Millennial controversy was not the only one in which Dionysius was called to take an active part. The heresy of the Sabellians was rapidly gaining ground in his day, and he published four volumes in confutation of it. This heresy was first broached by Sabellius, a native of Ptolemais, a city of Pentapolis, about the year 255, or 6, and was answered by Dionysius, about the year 260. It consists in denying the revealed distinction in Deity to be a distinction of persons, or personal subsistents, and resolving the whole into a distinction of names or offices. Though we might not approve of all the arguments and modes of expression which Dionysius makes use of, yet it is due to him to say that his efforts to refute this heresy were duly appreciated by the greater part of the churches in his day, and are still spoken of by the learned in respectful terms.

A little before the death of Dionysius, a new heresy was

* The following extract from Dr. Whitby's Treatise on the Millennium, subjoined to his Commentary on the New Testament, will sufficiently explain to the reader that view of the subject which Papias had advanced, and which Nepos and his followers were at this time advocating :

:

"As for the pretended tradition from the apostle John, touching this doctrine, it is only mentioned by Irenæus as received from Papias; and the words in which it is delivered are sufficient to demonstrate the incredibility, and the apparent folly of it; for these elders pretend to have received from the apostle John these romantic words: 'The day shall come in which there shall be vines which shall severally have ten thousand branches, and every of those branches shall have ten thousand lesser branches, and every of those branches shall have ten thousand twigs, and every one of these twigs shall have ten thousand clusters of grapes, and every one of these grapes, being pressed, shall have twenty-five metretas (two hundred and seventy-five gallons) of wine; and when one shall take hold of one of these sacred branches, another shall cry out, I am a better bunch, take me, and by me bless the Lord.'

"To omit what he says from the same tradition of every grain of wheat, and of apples, seeds, and herbs,-now, can any man be so wholly bereft of sense, as to imagine this stuff could ever come out of the mouth of an apostle ? Certainly not : he had it only from the converted Jews, in whose writings, some learned persons have informed me, the words cited by Irenæus and Papias are to be found. As for Papias, the only voucher of this tradition, Eusebius informs us he was a man of very slender judgment." So far Dr. Whitby.

This carnal notion of the Millennium has undergone various modifications since the times of Dionysius, but it continues to find advocates, under one form or other, even in our own day.

broached by one Paul of Samosata, a bishop of Antioch, regarding the doctrine of the Trinity. This heresy bore considerable affinity to the opinions of our Socinians; for it contended that Christ was a mere man, and called the "Son of God" on account of the wonderful works he performed, and the “Word” because he spoke to us instead of the Father. The author of this heresy is represented to have been a vain man, very indulgent to himself and his clerical brethren, and is further said to have verged into this heresy to gratify one Zenobia, a renowned princess of that time. To stem the torrent of this new and strange doctrine, a Synod was convened at Antioch, and Dionysius invited to attend it, but he was prevented from appearing by reason of his advanced age and infirmities. He nevertheless addressed a letter to the church in Antioch, in which he explained his own views of the doctrine in question, and refuted those of Paul of Samosata, whom he thought so very blameable, for propagating such an error, that he would not condescend even to mention his name. Dionysius died in the year 267. Eusebius, in his work entitled the Evangelical Preparation, has introduced numerous extracts from the writings of Dionysius, which Lardner terms "large and noble fragments concerning Nature, that show," says he, "the author's capacity, and his great learning, and intimate acquaintance with the Greek poets and philosophers, as well as with the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. If there were nothing else remaining, this fragment alone would be sufficient to show that Dionysius was a fine writer."*

I shall close this Lecture by subjoining Dr. Lardner's character of this luminary of the Chrstian church. "I scarcely need to say," are the Doctor's words, "that according to Jerome he was equally admirable for secular learning and the knowledge of the Scriptures. Theodoret terms him a man illustrious for his learning;' and certainly this part of his character is justified by the remaining fragments of his works, though, in all probability, his learning would be much more conspicuous, if his works were extant entire. The many epistles sent by him to so many different persons in several and remote parts of the world, upon the various points in question at the time, assure us

*Lardner's Works. vol. ii. p. 683.