Life of St Athanasius the Great and Account of Arianism

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128 Pages (Part I)

Page 30

In the one case His Personality is divine, in the other human. Now there is clear proof of a strong Modalist tendency [15] in the Roman Church at this time; this would manifest itself in especial zeal against the doctrine of such men as Theodotus the younger, and give some colour to the tale of Artemon. Both Tertullian and Hippolytus complain bitterly of the ignorance of those responsible for the ascendancy which this teaching acquired in Rome (Zephurinon andra idioten kai apeiron ton ekklesiastikon horon, Hipp. 'idiotes quisque aut perversus,' 'simplices, ne dicam imprudentes et idiotae.' Tert.). The utterances of Zephyrinus support this: 'I believe in one God, Jesus Christ' (Hipp., see above on the language of the sub-Apost. Church). The Monarchian influences were strengthened by the arrival of fresh teachers from Asia (Cleomenes and Epigonus, see note 2) and began to arouse lively opposition. This was headed by Hippolytus, the most learned of the Roman presbytery, and eventually bishop [16] in opposition to Callistus, the successor of Zephyrinus. The theology of Hippolytus was not unlike that of Tertullian, and was hotly charged by Callistus with 'Ditheism.' The position of Callistus himself, like that of his predecessor, was one of compromise between the two forms of Monarchianism, but somewhat more developed. A distinction was made between 'Christ' (the divine) and Jesus (the human); the latter suffered actually, the former indirectly ('filius patitur, pater vero compatitur.' (Tert.) ton Patera sumpeponthenai to hui& 254;, Hipp.; it is clear that under 'Praxeas' Tertullian is combating also the modified Praxeanism of Callistus. See adv. Prax. 27, 29; Hipp. ix. 7); not without reason does Hippolytus charge Callistus with combining the errors of Sabellius with those of Theodotus.

[15] . p. 608), and Cleomenes. Praxeas arrived in Rome under Victor (or earlier, Harnack, p. 610), and combined strong opposition to Montanism, with equally strong modalism in his theology. In both respects his influence told upon the heads of the Church. Montanism was expelled, Modalism tolerated, Theodotus excommunicated; 'Duo negotia diaboli Praxeas Romae procuravit: prophetiam expulit et haeresin intulit: Paracletum fugavit et Patrem crucifixit'. (Tert.) 'Praxeas haeresin introduxit quam Victor[inus] (perhaps a confusion with Zephyrinus) corroborare curavit' ('Tertullian' adv. Haer.)

[16] This point is still in debate. Against it, see Lightfoot, S. Clement of Rome (ed. 1890), for it, Doellinger Hipp. and Call., and Neumann, Der Roem. Staat u. d. Allg. Kirche (Leipz. 1890).

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