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| Of Marcellus Bishop of Ancyra, and Asterius the Sophist.
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Chapter XXXVI.—Of
Marcellus Bishop of Ancyra, and Asterius the Sophist.
The bishops assembled at
Constantinople deposed also Marcellus bishop of Ancyra, a city of
Galatia Minor, on this account. A certain rhetorician of Cappadocia
named Asterius having abandoned his art, and professed himself a
convert to Christianity, undertook the composition of some treatises,
which are still extant, in which he commended the dogmas of Arius;
asserting that Christ is the power of God, in the same sense as the
locust and the palmer-worm are said by Moses to be the power of
God,253
with other similar utterances. Now Asterius was in constant association
with the bishops, and especially with those of their number who did not
discountenance the Arian doctrine: he also attended their Synods, in
the hope of insinuating himself into the bishopric of some city: but he
failed to obtain ordination, in consequence of having sacrificed during
the persecution.254
| 254In the persecution under Decius (249 a.d.), those who yielded so far as to perform the heathen
rites were branded with the title of ‘the lapsed’; and a
controversy arose later on the manner in which they should be treated.
One of the consequences of lapsing was disqualification for high office
in the church. See Neander, Hist. of Christ. Ch. Vol. I. p. 226
seq.
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Going therefore throughout the cities of Syria, he read in public the
books which he had composed. Marcellus being informed of this, and
wishing to counteract his influence, in his over-anxiety to confute
him, fell into the diametrically opposite error; for he dared to say,
as the Samosatene255
| 255Paul of Samosata, who has been surnamed in modern
times the Socinus of the third century, was deposed in 269 a.d. by a council held at Antioch for unchristian
character and unsound views. His peculiarity in the latter respect was
his denial of the divinity of Jesus Christ. For fuller information, see
Eus. H. E. VII. 30; Epiphan. Hær. LXVII.; Neander,
Hist. of the Christ. Ch. Vol. I, 602 seq.; Gieselee, Hist. of
the Ch. Vol. I. 201; Smith and Wace Dict. of Christ.
Biog.
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had done, that Christ was a mere man. When the bishops then convened at
Jerusalem had intelligence of these things, they took no notice of
Asterius, because he was not enrolled even in the catalogue of ordained
priests; but they insisted that Marcellus, as a priest, should give an
account of the book which he had written. Finding that he entertained
Paul of Samosata’s sentiments, they required him to retract his
opinion; and he being thoroughly
ashamed of himself, promised to burn his book. But the convention of
bishops being hastily dissolved by the emperor’s summoning them
to Constantinople, the Eusebians on their arrival at that city, again
took the case of Marcellus into consideration; and as Marcellus refused
to fulfil his promise of burning his untimely book, those present
deposed him, and sent Basil into Ancyra in his stead. Moreover Eusebius
wrote a refutation of this work in three books, in which he exposed its
erroneous doctrine. Marcellus however was afterwards reinstated256
in his bishopric by the Synod at Sardica, on his assurance that his
book had been misunderstood, and that on that account he was supposed
to favor the Samosatene’s views. But of this we shall speak more
fully in its proper place.
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