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| Chapter VII.
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Chapter VII.
For while many things in
his books which were extracted from them by the bishops were read to
show that they were written in opposition to the Catholic faith, that
passage especially excited bad feeling against him, in which we read in
his published works that the Lord Jesus, as he had come in the flesh
for the redemption of mankind, and suffering upon the cross for the
salvation of man, had tasted death to procure eternal life for the
human race, so he was, by the same course of suffering, even to render
the devil a partaker of redemption. He maintained this on the ground
that such a thing would be in harmony with his goodness and
beneficence, inasmuch as he who had restored fallen and ruined man,
would thus also set free an angel who had previously fallen. When these
and other things of a like nature were brought forward by the bishops,
a tumult arose owing to the zeal of the different parties; and when
this could not be quelled by the authority of the priests, the governor
of the city was called upon to regulate the discipline of the church by
a perverse precedent; and through the terror which he inspired, the
brethren were dispersed, while the monks took to flight in different
directions; so that, on the decrees being published, they were not
permitted to find lasting acceptance94
| 94 “in nulla
consistere sede sinerentur.” | in any place.
This fact influenced me greatly, that Hieronymus, a man truly Catholic
and most skillful in the holy law, was thought at first to have been a
follower of Origen, yet now, above most others, went the length of
condemning the whole of his writings. Assuredly, I am not inclined to
judge rashly in regard to any one; but even the most learned men were
said to hold different opinions in this controversy. However, whether
that opinion of Origen was simply an error, as I think, or whether it
was a heresy, as is generally supposed, it not only could not be
suppressed by multitudes of censures on the part of the priests, but it
never could have spread itself so far and wide, had it not gathered
strength from their contentions. Accordingly, when I came to
Alexandria, I found that city in a ferment from disturbances connected
with the matter in question. The Bishop, indeed, of that place received
me very kindly, and in a better spirit than I expected, and even
endeavored to retain me with him. But I was not at all inclined to
settle there, where a recent outbreak of ill-will had resulted in a
destruction of the brethren. For, although perhaps it may seem that
they ought to have obeyed the bishops, yet such a multitude of persons,
all living in an open confession of Christ, ought not for that reason
to have been persecuted, especially by bishops.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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