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.

Saint GREGORY THAUMATURGUS.

SAint Gregory, whose Name at first was Theodorus, and afterwards Surnamed Thaumaturgus, that is to say, the Worker of Miracles, by reason of the great number of Miracles he is supposed to have wrought both in his Life-time, and after his Death, was born in the City of Neo-Caesarea in Pontus, descended of a Family that was very considerable as well for its Nobility, as for its great Pos∣sessions. He was educated in the Idolatrous Worship, having a Father who was extreamly bigotted to Paganism. After he had lost him at the Age of Fourteen years, his Mother would have him study Rhe∣toric to qualifie himself for the Bar. His Sister being married to a Lawyer, who was afterwards Go∣vernour of Palaestine, and being obliged to follow her Husband, Gregory and Athenodorus her Brothers went along with her, intending to go as far as Berytus, and there apply themselves to the Study of the Laws in a Celebrated School of that City. But being arrived at Caesarea in Palaestine, they there met Origen, who having exhorted them to study Philosophy, by little and little inspired into them the Principles of the Christian Faith, and soon after made them his Disciples. After they had been with him for the space of five years, Gregory being willing to testifie the great Obligations he had to Origen, and besides, to give him some publick Marks of his Acknowledgment, as he took his leave of him, composed a very eloquent Discourse, which he recited before a numerous Assembly invited to that So∣lemnity. After his return to Neo-Caesarea, he retired for some time, and lived a solitary Life, and was at last, contrary to his Inclinations, ordained Bishop of Neo-Caesarea by Phaedimus Bishop of Amasea, to∣wards the year of our Lord 240. At that time there were but very few Christians in that City, but the number of them was soon augmented by his vigilance and care, and by his Miracles, so that this Church became in a little time one of the most flourishing Churches in the World. Hs assisted at the first Council of Antioch held against Paulus Samosatenus, as Eusebius tells us in the Sixth Book of his History, ch. 23. and Died a little after in the Year 265. This is an Abridgment of this Bishop's Life, drawn out of his Discourse to Origen, out of Eusebius, St. Basil, St. Jerome and St. Gregory Nyssen in the relation that he gives of the Life of this great Saint.

The Works of this Father (part whereof of Zinus's Version were Printed at Venice in Latin in 1574, and at Rome in 1594.) were collected and Printed in Greek by Gerrard Vossius, at Mentz in Quarto 1604, and afterwards in Folio at Paris 1621, with some other smaller Fathers.

The first, as well as the most Eloquent Work he has composed, is the Harangue he made to thank Origen, which was separately Published by Hoeschelius at the end of his Edition of Origen against Cel∣sus in 1605. He begins his Exordium with the difficulty of commending Origen as he deserved. After∣wards he tells him in what a strange manner the Providence of God conducted him to Caesarea, the Conversations this great Man held with him and his Brother to exhort them to the Study of Philoso∣phy, and to possess them with a Veneration for the Holy Scriptures and the Christian Religion; and afterwards he testifies the Regret he had to be obliged to quit a Master whom he so tenderly loved. This Harangue is very Eloquent, and we may say it is one of the most consummate pieces of Rhetoric that are any where extant amongst the Ancients. It was printed under the name of Gregory Thauma∣turgus in Greek, and in Latin at Antwerp in 1613. in Octavo.

The Second Book mentioned by Eusebius and St. Jerome as well as the first, is his Paraphrase upon Ecclesiastes. It was Translated by Jaccbus Billius, who attributed it to St. Gregory Nazianzen upon the Credit of a Manuscript in the King's Library. But certain it is, that it belongs to Gregory Thau∣maturgus,

not only because we read in Eusebius, and in St. Jerome, that he composed a Book bearing that Name, which we are no where told of St. Gregory Nazianzen, but also because we find there word * 1.1 for word a long Passage cited by St. Ierome, upon the fourth Chapter of Ecclesiastes, as taken out of the Paraphrase upon Ecclesiastes, done by Gregory Bishop of Pontus. I have no more to say of this Book, but only that it is a Paraphrase which largely explains the Moral Reflexions in Ecclesiastes.

St. Gregory Nyssen in his Life of this Father, takes notice of a Creed which, as he pretends, this Saint received from St. John in a Vision which he saw in the Night, and which was still preserved, being, as he says, written by the hand of Gregory Thaumaturgus. This Profession of Faith is as follows:

There is only One God the Father, who is the Father of the Living Word, his essential Wisdom, his Power, and his eternal Image; it is he who being Soveraignly perfect, has begotten a Son Soveraignly perfect as himself. He is the Father of the only Son. There is only one Lord, the only Son of the only Father, God begotten of God, the Character and Image of the Divinity, the efficacious Word by which all Creatures were formed, the true Son of the true Father, the invisible Son of the invisible Fa∣ther, the incorruptible of the Incorruptible, the Immortal of the Immortal, the eternal Son of him who is from all Eternity; and there is only one Holy Ghost, who proceeds from God, and was given to Men by the Son he is the Image of the Son, and a perfect Image of him that is perfect. He is Life, and the Principle of Life to those that Live; He is the Holy Spring, Holiness it self, and the Author of Sanctifica∣tion. By him God the Father is made manifest, who is above all things, and in all things, and God the Son, who is equally in all things. This is the perfect Trinity, which is not divided but is One in Glory, in Sovereignty and Eternity.

The following Words, which some Persons do still attribute to Gregory Thaumaturgus, belong to St. Gre∣gory Nyssen, who draws this Conclusion from the above-mentioned Profession.

There is therefore no created Person or dependent Being in the Trinity, it admits into it nothing that is Forreign, nothing that has been out of it during a time, or which afterwards began to be there; the Father was never without the Son, nor the Son without the Holy Ghost, but the Trinity has ever been immovable and invariable.

There is likewise attributed to St. Gregory Thaumaturgus another Exposition of Faith, much longer, and translated by Turrianus, which some People might believe to be that which is cited by St. Basil, in his Sixty Fourth Epistle, directed to one whose Name was Aelian. But it is manifest, that this is diffe∣rent from that mentioned by St. Basil, and that it could not be composed by St. Gregory Thaumaturgus: For, in the first place, it is different from that St. Basil speaks of, which was addressed to Aelian, and made in form of a Dispute, wherein he says, That the Father and Son were one in Hypostasis, and only distinguished by abstraction of the Mind, the words which the Sabellians abused; whereas in this which is neither addressed to Aelian, nor composed after the manner of a Dispute, the Error of Sabellius is clearly rejected; and it is formally said, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are Three Persons, and Three Hypostases. In the second place, it cannot be of the time of St. Gregory Thaumatargus; for the Author expresly refutes the Arians, saying, That those who affirm, that the Son is created of nothing, are Enemies to the Faith of the Church, and that those who reject the Word Consubstantial, are out of the Church. Besides, when he explains the Mystery of the Incarnation, he speaks after a manner which makes it credible, that he had the Nestorians and Eutychians in view. Canisius attributes this Profession of Faith to Apollinarius, but it too plainly refutes the Error of that Heretick to be ever his. However it be, it was composed after the time of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus. We ought to pass the same Judg∣ment upon the twelve Anathema's, which follow this Exposition, and are likewise composed out of the Errors of the Nestorians and Eutychians.

No body doubts of the Canonical Epistle of this Saint, which is cited in the sixth Council, and is set down by Balsamon. It has all the Characters of Antiquity, which any one can desire in such Monu∣ments. It was written after the Goths had ravag'd Asia, under Galienus, and it is directed to a Bishop, whose Name we know not, to instruct him how he was to prescribe Pennance to those who had fallen into any scandalous Crimes, during the Inundations of the Barbarians. In the first Canon he says, that those who having been taken Prisoners by the Barbarians, had eaten the Food which was given them, ought not upon that account to suffer Penance, as well because the Barbarians did not sacrifice any Vi∣ctims to Idols, as also because that which defiles the Man is not the Meat which enters into the Man, but that which goes out of the Man. That for the same reason those Captive Women who had been forcibly carried away by the Barbarians, were not to be blamed; but nevertheless, that those who had lived dissolute Lives before their Captivity, were not easily to be admitted to Communion.

In the second Canon, and the three following, which to speak properly are only one Canon, he de∣tests the Avarice and Injustice of those Persons, who took the advantage of the Captivity of these mi∣serable Creatures to plunder them of their Goods. He shews, that they are obliged to make Restitu∣tion, and that they cannot keep in their Possession the Goods of other Men. In the sixth, he endeavours to shew with what Horror the World ought to look upon the Cruelty of those Persons, who detained as Captives those who had freed themselves out of the hands of the Barbarians. In the seventh he or∣dains, that such Offenders should not be received so much as into the number of Hearers, (this was the first Degree of Penance) who joyning themselves with the Barbarians, had fallen upon the Christians, either by Murdering them, or shewing the Infidels where they were fled for shelter. In the eighth, he decrees the same Punishment against those who should be convicted to have broken open any ones House during the Ravage of the Barbarians; but then he moderates this Rig••ur in favour of those

who should make a voluntary Confession, and these he places in the third degree of Penitents. 'Tis also under this Class, that in the ninth Canon he ranges those who kept back the things which belong∣ed to others, which they found in the midst of the Field, or in their Houses, as soon as they were con∣victed of it: But if they confessed the Fact, he believed them not to be unworthy to communicate at Prayers, which was the last degree of Penance. In the tenth, he exhorts those that were willing to restore their Neighbours Goods, to do it without making any sordid Gain, by exacting any thing for what they had discovered, kept or found, or for any other reason whatever it might be. The last Canon is an Explication of the different degrees of Penance. Weeping and Groaning, says he, consist in standing without the Church Porch, where the Sinner ought to beg earnestly of those who go in to pray to God for him, and this is the first degree. The second degree is that of Hearers, and is per∣formed in the Church-Porch, where the Sinner is to tarry with the Catechumens, and go out with them, after having heard the Holy Scripture, as being unworthy of Prayer. In the Substration, which is the third degree, the Party offending is admitted into the Body of the Church, but must go out with the Catechumens. Lastly, the fourth degree is that of standing up when the Person may tarry in the Church with the Faithful, without being obliged to go out of it with the Catechumens; and this is followed with the participation of the Sacraments. Morinus questions whether this last Canon belongs to Gre∣gory Thaumaturgus, and conjectures, that it has been added by one of the Modern Greeks, to explain the Letter of this Saint. This Conjecture seems to be well grounded.

There goes likewise, under the name of this Father, a Discourse about the Soul, addressed to one Tatian, which contains the Decision of several Questions concerning the Nature of the Soul, and follows the Principles of the Peripatetics, but in truth it has not the least resemblance of St. Gregory's Style; and besides, it seems to be the product of the following Age, when Aristotle's Philosophy began to be in some Reputation. To be short, it is rather the work of a Philospher, than of a Bishop.

I am no less satisfied, that the Sermons which carry the name of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, do really belong to another Author; for besides; that none of the Ancients have ever mentioned them, they are altogether of a different Style, which is so far from approaching the Elegance and Politeness so familiar to St. Gregory, that it is mean and childish. Secondly, The Author of these Sermons speaks of the My∣steries of the Trinity and Incarnation, in such terms as shew, that he lived after the rise of the Heresies of the a 1.2 Axians and Nestorians. He often affects to make use of the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 when he speaks of the Virgin Mary, and bestows excessive Praises upon her, which were not customary till after the Coun∣cil of Ephesus. Lastly, it is evident, that these Homilies were composed when the Church enjoy'd Peace, and celebrated it's Festivals with great Solemnity.

The three Sermons upon the Annunciation resemble the Style of Proclus of Constantinople, as it has been observed by him, who has made some Notes upon the Homilies of that Author. The last of the three has also been attributed to St. Chrysostome, but the difference of the Style shews that it is not his.

The fourth Sermon is upon the Baptism of JESUS CHRIST, which Festival was anciently celebrated on the day of Epiphany; it is more eloquent than the three preceding ones, and appears to be composed by another Author, who nevertheless was not St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, for the very same reason we have offered before; there we find the term 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and that of Consubstantial.

Notes

• * 1.1

  St. Gregory Thouma∣turgus.
• a 1.2

  The Arians and Nestorians.] For Example, in the first of these Homilies, it is said, that JE∣SUS CHRIST is born of the Virgin, that he is God and Man without Confusion, and without Change, perfect in the Divinity, and the Huma∣nity, like his Father in all, and consubstantial to us. In the second, there are extraordinary Praises of the Virgin, whom he calls 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which was not begun to be commonly practised till after the Synod of Ephesus. The Trinity is there called Consubstantial.