praises himself; and what he fays in one place fhould be compared with what he fays in another, and especially what he drops, as it were, accidentally, and when he was off his guard. As I faid before," their evidence in these cafes is not to be re"garded, unless they bring fome fufficient proof of "their affertions."

Had Tertullian, Origen, and others, thought more highly of the common people than they did, we should probably never have known from them what their opinions were. But happily for us, they thought meanly of them, and, without being aware of the ufe and value of the information, have given us fufficient lights into this very important circumstance in the hiftory of their times. But in this, as well as in several other refpects, you, Sir, have been led into feveral mistakes through your ignorance of human nature; the knowledge of which, and a due attention to it, would have been of much more fervice to you in these enquiries, than your knowledge of Greek, in which, however, I do not perceive that you greatly abound. This ignorance of human nature appears in your infifting, p. 174. that if I admit the evidence of Eufebius for the exiftence of the Ebionites in the time of the apoftles, I must admit his teftimony to their condemnation of them.

As Theodotus who appeared in the time of Tertullian is called a heretic in the appendix to Tertullian's book De Præfcriptione; I think it probable that, after his excommunication, he formed

!

F 4

a church

a church of pure unitarians, and might be the first who set up a separate place of worship on that account, and therefore was denominated an beretic in the original fenfe of that word; and this circumftance might give rife to the opinion that he was the first who taught the doctrine.

When Eufebius wrote fo as evidently to fuppofe that the Ebionites exifted in the time of the apostles, you fay, p. 173, "I confider it as an hafty affertion "of a writer over zealous to overwhelm his adverfary by authoritfes." I fufpect that he may have been guilty of fomething like this, when he said that Theodotus was excommunicated by Victor on account of his unitarian principles. That he was excommunicated I admit, but that his unitarian principles was the fole ground of his excommunication, I have fome doubt, confidering your own idea of the credit of the witness, which indeed is pretty much the fame as my own.

I am, &c.

LETTER

LETTER VIII.

Of Origen's idea of Herefy..

REV. SIR,

WE

HAT I have faid concerning Clemens Alexandrinus and Tertullian, is true also of Origen, and these writers may help to explain each other. No man took more pains to inculcate the doctrine of the logos than Origen, and he thought meanly of those chriftians who did not adopt it, confidering them as of an inferior rank; but I believe he never claffes them with heretics; and whenever he fpeaks of beretics in general, he, as well as all preceding writers, evidently had a view to the Gnoftics only. See his Commentary on Matt. vol. I. p. 156, 159, 212, 287, 475, and many other paffages in his writings,

In his treatise entitled Philofophumena, which is the first of his books against the heretics, it is evident that he confidered none in that light befides the Gnoftics, fee p. 6. 8. and 16. of that work, as published by Wolfius, at Hamburg, in 1706.

In one place he evidently confiders the unitarians and heretics feparately, as two distinct classes of men; but fuppofes that the unitarians confounded the perfons of the father and the fon, on which account they were called Patripaffians. But notwithstanding

withstanding the evil that he fays of them, he acknow. ledges that they adhered to their opinion as thinking that it did honour to Christ, as on other occafions he afcribes it to their regard to the one true God the Father. "We are not," fays he, "to confider "those as taking the part of Christ who think

'falfely concerning him, out of an idea of doing "him honour. Such are those who confound the "intellect of the Father and the Son, diftinguishing

their fubftance in idea and name only; and also "the beretics, who, out of a defire of speaking ་ magnificently concerning him, carry their blafphemy very high, even to the maker of the "world, are not on his fide*."

It is evident to me that in the time of Origen, viz. the beginning of the third century, the doctrine of the divinity of Chrift was fo far from being generally received, except by the bishops and the more learned of the clergy, that it was confidered as a fublime docrine, proper indeed for perfons who had made advances in divine knowledge, but not adapted to the vulgar, who were content with the plain doctrine of Jefus Chrift and him crucified,

Ο Moutsov yxp είναι υπέρ αυτό της τα ψευδή φρονώντας σπιρι αυτό φαντασία, το δοξάζειν αυτον, οποιοι εισιν συγκεό τες πατρος κι υἱς εννοιαν, και τη υποςάσει ένα δίδοντες είναι τον πατέρα και τον υιο", τι επι οια μονή, και τοις ονοματι, διαιρεσίες Το εν υποκεκάμενον . και οι από των αιρέσεων, φαντασία το μεγάλα περι αυτό φρονείν, αδικίαν εις το υψών λαγόντες, καὶ xaxas diyor?es for Sausseyor, on 2:51 UTеp 2018. Comment. in Matt. vol. I. p. 471.

looking

looking no farther than to his humanity, as it is delivered in the gofpels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. John's doctrine of the logos was thought to be too fublime for the generality of Chriftians.

"No one," fays Origen, " taught the divinity " of Christ so clearly as John, who presents him to us, faying, I am the light of the world, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; I am the "refurrection; I am the gate; I am the good

fhepherd; and in the Revelation, I am the a'pha "and omega, the beginning and the end, the first " and the last. We may therefore boldly fay, "that as the gospels are the first fruits (or moft "excellent part) of the fcriptures, fo the gospel "of John is the first fruits of the gospels; the "sense of which no perfon can conceive except "he who reclines on the breaft of Jefus, and who "can receive from Jefus his mother Mary, and "make her his own. He must be another John "who was fhewn by Jefus as another Jefus. For, "he who is perfect does not himself live, but "Chrift lives in him; and fince Chrift lives in "him, he fays to Mary concerning him, behold "thy fon, Christ himself*.”

"This,"

* Ουδείς γαρ εκείνων ακραίως εφανέρωσε αυτό την θεότητα ως Ιωάννης, παραςησας αυτόν λεγοντα, εγω ειμι το φως το κόσμο, εγω ειμι η οδος, και η αλήθεια, κι η ζωή. εγω ειμι η αναςασις. εγω ειμι η θύρα, εγω ειμι ο ποιμήν ο καλος εν τη αποκαλύψει, εγω ειμε το από το ω, η αρχή και το τέλος, ο πρώτος και ο ελα7ς. τολμήλιον τοιον είπείν απαρχήν

μεν