A new history of ecclesiastical writers containing an account of the authors of the several books of the Old and New Testament, of the lives and writings of the primitive fathers, an abridgement and catalogue of their works ... also a compendious history of the councils, with chronological tables of the whole / written in French by Lewis Ellies du Pin.

MARIUS MERCATOR.

THis Author remained a long time in obscurity. The ancient and modern▪ Composers of Bibliotheca's have spoken nothing of him. His Works have been but lately recovered. * 1.1 He began to write in S. Austin's Life-time, who assures us in his 193d. Letter, written in 418. That M. Mercator, to whom it is directed, had made a Treatise against the New Here∣ticks; that is to say, against the Pelagians. S. Austin speaks of him, as a Man of Worth and Learning. It is probable he was an Italian a 1.2, and he seems to have been but a meer Layman b 1.3.

This Man was one of the most zealous Adversaries of the Hereticks of his time, and especially of the Pelagians, whom he pursued vigorously, publishing Memoirs against them, and Collections of Pieces to discover their Errors, and bring them to Condemnation.

The first Work which he composed, was a Discourse against the Opinions of the Pelagians, in which he hath collected several Texts of Holy Scripture, as S. Austin tells us in his 193d. Letter. We have not this Work unless it be the Hypognosticon, which bears the name of S. Austin, as we have guessed in the first part of this Tome of our Bibliotheca, p. 256.

The Second is an Historical Commentary against Coelestius, which he first made in Greek to * 1.4 publish at Constantinople, and which he presented to the Emperor Theodosius, Anno 429 c 1.5 that he might inform the Eastern Christians of the Condemnation of Coelestius and his Follow∣ers. The Title of this Commentary discovers the time, occasion, and the effect of it. Thus it is expressed; A Copy of the Commentary, which Mercator published in Greek against Coele∣stius, and which he not only gave to the Church of Constantinople, and disposed to several Per∣sons of Piety, but also presented to the Emperor Theodosius in the Consulship of Florentius and Dionysius, and which he afterward translated out of the Greek into Latin; which Commentary having discovered the Errors of Coelestius, was the Cause that Julian, and his Companions who defended them, were banished from Constantinople as well as Coelestius, by the Emperor's Edict, and afterward condemned in the Council of Ephesus, by the Judgments of 275 Bishops.

This Commentary is an Abridgment of the History of the Condemnation of the Heresie of Pelagius. Mercator tells us therein, That Coelestius, a Scholar of Pelagius, being come from Rome, where he had been almost 20 years, went to Carthage, where he was accused by Pau∣linus a Deacon of S. Ambrose, of several Errors, contained in 6 Articles, which he transcribes; That the Bishops of Africk had condemned them in a Synod, and had enjoyned Coelestius to Anathematize them; That he thought it convenient to appeal to the Bishop of Rome, but neg∣lecting to prosecute the Appeal, he came to Ephesus, where he procured himself to be ordain'd Priest; That from thence he passed to Constantinople in the time of Atticus, but being known, he was driven from thence by that Bishop, who wrote circular Letters against him; That Coelestius seeing himself thus thrust out, went to Pope Zosimus, and pretending to condemn the Articles which were charged upon him, he obtained Letters in his favour directed to the Bishops of Africk. But these Bishops having given Zosimus information in writing of all that had passed, Coelestius, who would not perform what he had promised, durst not appear before Zosimus again, and so withdrew himself from Rome. Whereupon Zosimus condemned him by a long Writing, which contained the Articles of Coelestius, and all the Story of his Condem∣nation. Mercator next speaks of the Errors of Pelagius, Master of Coelestius, which he relates in the very words of Pelagius taken out of his Commentary upon S. Paul's Epistles. He adds, That these Errors having been condemned by Zosimus's Letter sent into all parts, and confirm∣ed by the Consent and Subscriptions of the Bishops of other Countries. Julian and his Asso∣ciates who would not sign them were banished out of Italy by the Imperial Law, and deposed by the decrees of the Synods, and that some of them having acknowledged their Error were received and confirmed by the Holy See.

Mercator adds, That Pelagius and Coelestius had been already condemned by Inn••cent, Zosi∣mus's Predecessor; and to prove it, he goes back to the Original of the cause of the Pelagians. Pelagius, saith he, retired into Palastine after the taking of Rome. His Writings falling into the Hands of some Bishops, they found many things in them contrary to the Catholick Faith, and they sent them into Africa, where they were read and examined in three Councils, who wrote them to the Holy See. The Bishop of Rome condemned these Books, and excommuni∣cated Pelagius and Coelestius. Pelagius was also accused to a Synod held at Jerusalem, but he escaped the Condemnation which he deserved by deceiving the Bishops with his Subtletics and Shifts. He was condemned in a second Synod, wherein Theodotus Bishop of Antioch was Pre∣sident, as the Letter written in the Name of this Bishop, and Prailus Bishop of Jerusalem, con∣vinces us. He then recites the particular Errors of Pelagius condemned in this Synod, and ends his Commentary with an earnest request to Julian and his Adherents to condemn Pelagius and Coelestius, who have been convicted of so many Errors.

The third Work of M. Mercator is another Commentary against the same Hereticks written after the death of S. Austin. In it he describes the Original of the Error of Pelagius, of which he makes some Syrians, and principally Theodorus of Mopsuesta, the Authors. He adds, That Rufinus who was a Syrian also, who brought it first to Rome, not daring to publish it there, taught it to Pelagius * 1.6 an English Monk, who inserted it in his Commentaries upon S. Paul. That Coelestius, a Person of Quality and Wit, but who was born an Eunuch, had joyned him∣self to Pelagius, and had comprized his Doctrine in 6 Articles, which he dispersed among the People. That altho' his Errors had been condemned, Julian had undertaken to defend them in large Books, to which S. Austin had opposed long and effectual Answers. That after he had read these Works, he had also made some short Observations upon the Writings of Julian, which he had collected and made publick to satisfie the desire of Pientius the Priest. He chiefly opposes 4 Errors of Julian in it. 1. That Concupiscence is not the consequent or effect of the Sin of the first Man, but it is natural to Man. 2. That Death entred into the World by the Sin of Adam, but that it passed upon other Men only, because they imitate the Sin of Adam. 3. That the Sin of the first Man hath not descended to his Posterity. 4. That Baptism pardons the Sins of those who have them; and as for Infants that have none, it per∣fects their Natures by the Gifts of Grace. M. Mercator recites the Passages of Julian, where he expresly lays down these Propositions, and then confutes them by close Notes, in which he mixes sharp and biting Expressions against Julian. He passes not over any suspicious Sen∣tence; and whereas he uses the word Innovation for Renovation, he blames him for it, tho' S. Austin hath made use of both. He observes, that the Orthodox do not assert, That Sin is natural to Man, but that Original Sin cleaves to the corrupted Nature of Man. He shews him, That he contradicts himself in saying, That Death passed upon all for Adam's Sin, and yet it hath Dominion over them only who imitate his Transgression. Lastly, he proves by all that is said in Holy Scripture concerning the Redemption of Jesus Christ and of Baptism, that it necessarily supposes, That all Men, yea, Infants themselves, are in Sin, before they are renewed and regenerated by that Sacrament.

M. Mercator is not contented to oppose the Authority of the Church against Julian and the Pelagians, but he also brings the Testimony of Nestorius against them, who received them so well, and wrote in their favour to Pope Coelestine, and sent a consolatory Letter to Coelestius. Next he produces with the 3 Letters of Nestorius written for them, the Extracts of 4 Ser∣mons preached by that Bishop in the presence of the Pelagians, wherein he affirmed, 1. That the fall of Adam hath been the cause of all the Miseries to which the nature of Man is subject, and of the bondage by which it hath been brought under the Tyranny of Satan. 2. That Jesus Christ is come to redeem Man from his Sins, to blot out the Hand-writing that was against him, and set him at liberty. 3. That it is by the Sacrament of Baptism that he works these things, and that Catechumens are always subject to the Curse of Sin, till they have received this Sacrament. The Third of these Sermons is in Greek among the Works of S. Chrysostom, of Savil's Edition, Tom. 7. And F. Garner hath caused it to be printed with the Extracts of Marius Mercator.

But because Julian might brag, That Theodorus of Mopsuesta Bishop of Cilicia was for him, M. Mercator undertakes to shew, That this Bishop had Heretical Opinions about the Incarna∣tion. And to prove it, he translates a Creed attributed to Theodorus of Mopsuesta; and at the end annexes an Observation, shewing, That the Doctrine contained in that Creed is Hereti∣cal; and that it supposed, That Jesus Christ is made of two Natures, and not of two Na∣tures united in one and the same Person. He confutes that Error, and proves the Doctrine of the Church by Texts of Holy Scripture.

He demonstrates also in another Writing the agreement there is between the Error of Ne∣storius and of Paulus Samosatenus.

And for the more full Conviction of Nestorius and his Followers, he rehearses long Extracts of Nestorius's 5 Sermons, a Letter to S. Cyril, and the Extracts of his Books, and he opposes to them the two Letters of S. Cyril to Nestorius, and a third Letter of the same Person to the Clergy of Constantinople.

He also examines the Aphorisms of Nestorius opposed to S. Cyril's, and when he hath con∣suted them in order, he delivers briefly the Faith of the Church concerning the Incarnation, and discovers the different Errors of those that have opposed it. For the confirmation of what he was about to propound, he produces out of the Acts of the Council of Ephesus, whatsoever is most direct and convincing against the Heresie of Nestorius. He joyns to this a Transla∣tion of S. Cyril's two Apologies made for the defence of his Anathema against the Orientals. He endeavours to render the Doctrine and Person of Theodoret odious, by reciting the Extracts of his Treatises and Letters. He treats him as an Heretick and a wicked Man, altho'he owns, That he did at last approve of S. Cyril's Doctrine, tho'he would not condemn Nestorins. He relates a Fragment of the Council against Domnus of Antioch, where Theodoret is accused to have spoken against the Memory of S. Cyril, saying, That the Aegyptian Heresie was buried with him. And from hence he concludes, That Theodoret ought to be condemned as well as Theodorus and Nestotius. And to convince Theodorus of Error and Heresie, he recites some Fragments of his Books against S. Austin, to which he joyns some Extracts out of his Master Diodorus. He accuseth Ibas Bishop of Edessa to have published this Blasphemy; I do not envy Jesus Christ his Divinity, because I can become so as well as he, for he is of the same nature with my self. He quotes a Passage taken out of a Sermon of this Author, which contains nothing like it. He adds to all this, an Extract of a Sermon of Eutherius Bishop of Tyana, which he affirms to have been of the same Judgment with Nestorius, and concludes this Colle∣ction with a Reflection against the Nestorians and Eutychians, which are two contrary Here∣sies equally rejected by the Orthodox. He hath brought against both of them some Testimo∣nies taken out of the Sermons of John Bishop of Tomi, a Province of Scythia, but they are not to be found at present in the Collection of Mercator's Works. This Conclusion discovers, That this Collection of Pieces was made after the Heresie of the Eutychians was known by that Name, i. e. after the Council of Chalcedon, which was held in 451. Nevertheless the reproachful manner, after which he speaks of Theodoret, who was received in that Council, would make us believe, That this Collection was compiled some time before, but that we know that there were always some Persons, who would never forgive Theodoret for quarrelling with S. Cyril.

There is also at the end of Marius a Translation of these following Pieces. The Letter of Nestorius to S. Coelestine, a Synodical Letter of S. Cyril against Nestorius, and the Scholia of the same Father upon the Incarnation against Nestorius. These Pieces ought to be joyned to the preceeding.

M. Mercator is no very eloquent Author, nor indeed does such Works as he composed require much Eloquence: It is enough in such sort of Memoirs and Collections, that they be exact and faithful. He translated the Greek elegantly and faithfully. His Style is not intri∣cate, but hath nothing noble or lofty, and degenerates into Childishness, when he undertakes to confute others of his own Head. His Collection hath been of great Use in the Latin Church; and we see that Facundus and Pelagius the Second have used his Translation.

There are Two Manuscripts of the Works of this Author, the one in the Vatican, the other in the Library of the Church of * 1.7 Beauvais. F. Labbe printed the Historical Commentary of M. Mercator first, in his Edition of the Councils [Tom. 2.]. and designed to have pub∣lished the rest of the Works of that Author; But dying before he had performed his Promise, F. Garner, his Fellow-Jesuit, publish'd them [with his own large and learned Commentaries, at Paris] in 1673. But he has changed the Order, in which his Works were put, in the Two Manuscripts, hath added many other Pieces to them, and increased the Bulk of the Volume much, by long Notes, and a great number of Dissertations upon the History of the Pelagian's and Nestorians.

At the same Time F. Gerberon, a Benedictine, put out, under the borrowed Name of Rig∣berius, the Commentary against Julian, the Translation of † 1.8 the Sermon of Theodorus of Mop∣suesta, with his Preface, the two Letters against Nestorius; and the Treatise of a Nestorian, he did not put in the First Historical Memoir, because it was printed already in the Second Tome of the Councils, by F. Labbe. This Edition of M. Mercator is very small, in Twelves, Printed at Brussels in 1673. His Notes are not so long as F. Garner's, but they are full as useful and learned.

It is easy to see that these Editions were defective, for F. Garner's was not so much an Edition of M. Mercator, as a great Commentary upon the History of the Pelagians and Nestorians; F. Gerberon's contained but a small part of his Works: Besides, neither of them had consulted the Manuscripts exactly, F. Garner contenting himself to follow that of Beauvais, and F. Gerberon that of the Vatican. These Reasons induced M. Baluzius, who hath taken so much Pains all his Life-time, to clear and restore the Ecclesiastical Antiquities, to publish a new Edition of Mercator's Works, in which he printed the Text, as it is in these two Manuscripts before-mentioned, and explains, by short Notes, those Places which have any Difficulty in them, without digressing into common Places upon the History or Doctrine of the Hereticks, which are spoken of in M. Mercator's Works. This Edition was put out at Paris in 1684. by Francis Mugvet, in Octavo.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Marius Mercator.
• a 1.2

  An Italian.] F. Garner was of that Opinion, but the conjecture upon which it was grounded, was weak. F. Gerberon thought he was an African, and M. Baluzius was of this Mind. The whole Letter of S. Austin, publish'd by the Benedictins, clears the Matter. For it appears by the begin∣ning that M. Mercator lived at Rome with S. Sixtus and Coelestine, to whom S. Austin wrote at the same time the two foregoing Letters, which he sent with this last by the same Bearer.
• b 1.3

  A meer Lay-man.] He was neither Bishop nor Priest when S. Austin writ his Letter to him, for he gives him no Title of Honour, tho' he calls him his Son. Nor was he any thing more when he presented his Memoir to the Council of Ephe∣sus. Lastly, in his Book to the Priest Pientius, he speaks as a Man inferior to him to whom he wrote. Tu quoque, venerande Presbyter Pienti, jussisti, parui imperatis. Thou also, O Reverend Priest Pientius, hast commanded, and I have obeyed.
• * 1.4

  Commoni∣torium super nomen C••le∣st••i. Dr. Cave.
• c 1.5

  Anno 429.] ▪All this is taken from the Title of this Memoir. Nevertheless there is a doubt concerning the year, for it is not manifest whether it were in 429. that this Memoir was pre∣sented or translated. But he speaks in the Body of the Work of Theodoret Bishop of Antioch, who died in 428. as a Bishop deceased; and in the Ti∣tle it self he speaks of the condemnation of Coele∣stius in the Council of Ephesus, as a thing done; which proves plainly, that he translated it in the year 431.
• * 1.6

  [A Welch-Man.]
• * 1.7

  Caesaroma∣gus, Bello∣vacum, a City of Picardy in France.
• † 1.8

  Creed, Dr. Cave.