Bad Advertisement?
Are you a Christian?
Online Store:Visit Our Store
| Apollonius.
PREVIOUS SECTION - NEXT SECTION - HELP 
Apollonius.3796
| 3796 Routh,
Rel. Sac., vol. i. pp. 465–485. |
[a.d. 211.] He was a
most eloquent man, according to St. Jerome; and his writings against
Montanism were so forcible as to call forth Tertullian himself, to
confute him, if possible. He flourished under Commodus and
Severus, and probably until the times of Caracalla. He bears
testimony to the existence of a canon of Scripture,3797
| 3797 Westcott,
Canon, p. 433. | and to its inspired authority as the
rule of faith and practice; and he witnesses, by citation, to the
Gospel of St. Matthew. The Revelation of St. John also, according
to Eusebius, was employed by him in his works; and he preserves a
tradition that our Lord bade the Apostles continue in Jerusalem for the
space of twelve years. We cannot affirm that he was invested with
any office in the Church.
Concerning Montanism.3798
| 3798 In
Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., v. 18. |
I.
But who is this new
teacher? His works and teaching inform us. This is
he who taught the dissolution of marriage; who inculcated fasting; who
called Peruga and Tymius, small towns of Phrygia, Jerusalem, because he
wished to collect thither people from all parts; who set up exactors of
money; who craftily contrives the taking of gifts under the name of
voluntary offerings; who grants stipends to those who publish abroad
his doctrine, that by means of gluttony the teaching of the doctrine
may prevail.
II.
We declare to you, then, that these first prophetesses,
as soon as they were filled with the spirit, left their husbands.
Of what falsehood, then, were they guilty in calling Prisca a
maiden! Do you not think that
all Scripture forbids a prophet to receive gifts and money? When,
therefore, I see that the prophetess has received gold and silver and
expensive articles of dress, how can I avoid treating her with
disapproval?
III.
Moreover, Themison also, who was clothed in a garb
of plausible3799
covetousness,
who declined to bear the sign of confessorship, but by a large sum of
money put away from him the chains of martyrdom, although after
such conduct it was his duty to conduct himself with humility, yet had
the hardihood to boast that he was a martyr, and, in imitation of the
apostle, to compose a general epistle, in which he attempted to
instruct3800
in the elements
of the faith those who had believed to better purpose than he, and
defended the doctrines of the new-fangled teaching,3801
| 3801 συναγωνίζεσθαι
τοῖς τῆς
καινοφωνίας
λόγοις. | and moreover uttered blasphemy against
the Lord and the apostles and the holy Church.
IV.
But, not to dwell further on these matters, let
the prophetess tell us concerning Alexander, who calls himself a
martyr, with whom she joins in banqueting; who himself also is
worshipped by many;3802
| 3802 Or, “whom
many of them (the Montanists—reading αὐτῶν for αὐτῷ, worship.” | whose
robberies and other deeds of daring, for which he has been punished, it
is not necessary for us to speak of, since the treasury3803
has him in keeping. Which of
them, then, condones the sins of the other? The prophet the
robberies of the martyr, or the martyr the covetousness of the
prophet? For whereas the Lord has said, “Provide not gold,
nor silver, nor two coats a-piece,”3804
these men have, on the flat contrary,
transgressed the command by the acquisition of these forbidden
things. For we shall show that those who are called among them
prophets and martyrs obtain money not only from the rich, but also from
the poor, from orphans and widows. And if they are confident
that they are right in so doing, let them stand forward
and discuss the point, in order that, if they be refuted, they
may cease for the future so to transgress. For the fruits of the
prophet must needs be brought to the test: for “from its
fruit is the tree known.”3805
But
that those that desire it may become acquainted with what relates to
Alexander, he was condemned by Æmilius Frontinus, proconsul at
Ephesus, not on account of the name of Christ, but for the
daring robberies he committed when he was already a
transgressor.3806
| 3806 παραβάτης,
here meaning an apostate. |
Afterwards, when he had spoken falsely of the name of the Lord, he was
released, having deceived the faithful there;3807
| 3807 This is
explained by Rufinus to mean: “When certain brethren who
had influence with the judge interceded for him, he pretended that he
was suffering for the name of Christ, and by this means he was
released.” | and even the brethren of his
own district,3808
from which
he came, did not receive him, because he was a robber. Thus,
those who wish to learn what he is, have the public treasury of Asia to
go to. And yet the prophet, although he spent many years with
him, knows forsooth nothing about him! By convicting
“him,” we by his means clearly convict of
misrepresentation3809
| 3809 ὐπόστασιν, from
ὐφίστημι,
probably in the sense of substituting one thing for
another. | the prophet
likewise. We are able to prove the like in the case of many
others besides. And if they are confident of their
innocence, let them abide the test.
V.
If they deny that their prophets have taken gifts,
let them confess thus much, that if they be convicted of having taken
them, they are not prophets; and we will adduce ten thousand proofs
that they have. It is proper, too, that all the fruits of
a prophet should be examined. Tell me: does a prophet dye
his hair? Does a prophet use stibium on his
eyes? Is a prophet fond of dress? Does a prophet play
at gaming-tables and dice? Does a prophet lend money on
interest?3810
Let them
confess whether these things are allowable or not. For my part, I
will prove that these practices have occurred among them.
————————————
E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
|
