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| Transactions of that Period, and Progress of Christian Doctrine through the Joint Efforts of Emperors and Arch-Priests.
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Chapter
XVII.—Transactions of that Period, and Progress of
Christian Doctrine through the Joint Efforts of Emperors and
Arch-Priests.
Those who presided over the
churches at this period were noted for personal conduct, and, as might
be expected, the people whom they governed were earnestly attached to
the worship of Christ.1268
| 1268This chapter is an independent view, and also groups
the laws under Constantius. Cf. Cod. Theod.
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Religion daily progressed, by the zeal, virtue, and wonderful works of
the priests, and of the ecclesiastical philosophers, who attracted the
attention of the pagans, and led them to renounce their superstitions.
The emperors who then occupied the throne were as zealous as was their
father in protecting the churches, and they granted honors and tax
exemptions to the clergy, their children, and their slaves. They
confirmed the laws enacted by their father, and enforced new ones
prohibiting the offering of sacrifice, the worship of images, or any
other pagan observance. They commanded that all temples, whether in
cities or in the country, should be closed. Some of these temples were
presented to the churches, when either the ground they stood on or the
materials for building were required. The greatest possible care was
bestowed upon the houses of prayer, those which had been defaced by
time were repaired, and others were erected from the foundations in a
style of extraordinary magnificence. The church of Emesa is one most
worthy to see and famous for its beauty. The Jews were strictly
forbidden to purchase a slave belonging to any other heresy than their
own. If they transgressed this law, the slave was confiscated1269
| 1269δημόσιον
οἰκέτην
εἶναὶ. The early interpreters
understood these words as referring to the Jewish offender, and not to
the slave. But the law itself is extant in Cod. Theod. xvi. 91,
2, and is entitled Ne Christianum Mancipium Judæus habeat.
The second law begins: Si aliquis Judæorum, mancipium sectæ
alterius seu nationis crediderit comparandum, mancipium fisco
protenus vindicetur.
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to the public; but if they administered to him the Jewish rite of
circumcision, the penalties were death and total confiscation of
property. For, as the emperors were desirous of promoting by every
means the spread of Christianity, they deemed it necessary to prevent
the Jews from proselyting those whose ancestors were of another
religion, and those who were holding the hope of professing
Christianity were carefully reserved for the Church; for it was from
the pagan multitudes that the Christian religion increased.
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