PG 10 · cols. 145–156
Asterius Urbanus, Fragmenta ex libris III contra Montanistas ad Abercium Marcellum
Editors' preface
Migne Reading Room
PG 10 · cols. 145–156
Editors' preface
(24) ‹anchor: Ἀουίρκιε Μάρκελλε› · call in col 145
Ἀουίρκιε Μάρκελλε. Rectius in codice Maz., Med. et Fuk. scribitur Ἀουίρκιε. Apud Nicephorum in lib. IV legitur Ἀβέρκιε. In Menologiis Graecorum ad diem 22 Octobris mentio fit τοῦ ἁγίου καὶ ἰσαποστόλου Ἀβερκίου ἐπισκόπου Ἱεραπόλεως, τοῦ θαυματουργοῦ. Cujus Vitam Graece edidit P. Halloixius in tom. II De illustribus orientalis Ecclesiae scriptoribus. Est autem id nomen Latinum, ut opinor, cum nullam habeat Graecae originis notam.
"Avircius Marcellus." It is more correctly written Ἀουίρκιε in the Mazarin, Medicean and Fuketian manuscripts. In Nicephorus, in book IV, the reading is Ἀβέρκιε. In the Menologies of the Greeks, at 22 October, mention is made "of the holy and equal-to-the-apostles Abercius, bishop of Hierapolis, the wonder-worker." His Life was edited in Greek by P. Halloix in volume II of "On the Illustrious Writers of the Eastern Church." The name, I think, is Latin, since it bears no mark of Greek origin.
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Τῶν κατὰ Μιλτιάδην. Nicephorus addit ἴσον δ' εἰπεῖν Μοντανόν, quod scholii vice a Nicephoro additum esse non dubito. Sed cur hic, quisquis est innominatus auctor, haeresim Cataphrygarum, Miltiadis potius quam Montani sectam appellaverit, obscurum est. Non enim hic Miltiadem illum intelligit, de quo Eusebius in sequenti capite loquitur. Is enim pro catholica veritate adversus Cataphrygas scripsit. Itaque Joannes Langus, vir doctissimus, qui Nicephorum interpretatus est, hoc loco Alcibiadem pro Miltiade emendavit. Certe Alcibiades inter praecipuos auctores sectae Cataphrygarum memoratur ab Eusebio supra in cap. 3 hujus libri. Aut igitur hic legendum est Alcibiades, aut illic scribendum Miltiades.
"Of those after Miltiades." Nicephorus adds "which is to say, Montanus," which I do not doubt was added by Nicephorus by way of a scholion. But why this author, whoever he is, unnamed as he is, should have called the heresy of the Cataphrygians the sect of Miltiades rather than of Montanus is obscure. For he does not mean here the Miltiades of whom Eusebius speaks in the following chapter, since that man wrote for the catholic truth against the Cataphrygians. And so Johannes Langus, a most learned man, who translated Nicephorus, emended Miltiades to Alcibiades at this place. Certainly Alcibiades is named among the chief authors of the sect of the Cataphrygians by Eusebius above, in chapter 3 of this book. Either, then, Alcibiades is to be read here, or Miltiades is to be written there.
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(26) ‹anchor: λεγομένην αἵρεσιν› · call in col 145
Εἰς τὴν τῶν κατὰ Μιλτιάδην . . . αἵρεσιν. Hujus loci versionem Valesianam notat Douwellus Dissert. 4 in Irenaeum, § 38, p. 370, ejusque censura probatur Fabricio Bibl. Gr. tom. V, p. 192. Caeterum Miltiadem quemdam haereticum nunc primum agnoscimus ex Fragmento Caii, ut videtur, Romani de Canone sacrarum Scripturarum, § 4, hujus tomi col. 35 relato.
"Into the heresy of those after Miltiades . . ." Dodwell, in Dissertation 4 on Irenaeus, § 38, p. 370, faults Valois's rendering of this passage, and his criticism is approved by Fabricius, Bibliotheca Graeca, vol. V, p. 192. For the rest, we now first learn of a certain heretic Miltiades from the Fragment, as it seems, of Caius of Rome on the Canon of the sacred Scriptures, § 4, given in column 35 of this volume.
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Ἐφεκτικώτερον πῶς. In codice Regio ac Medicaeo πως accentum rejicit in ultimam syllabam antecedentis vocabuli. Quod ideo notare volui, quia ad marginem editionis Genevensis idipsum indicatur paulo obscurius. In codice quoque Maz. et Fuk. πως accentum rejicit in antecedentem vocem.
"Somewhat more guardedly." In the Royal and Medicean manuscripts πως throws its accent back onto the last syllable of the preceding word. I wished to note this because the same thing is indicated, rather obscurely, in the margin of the Geneva edition. In the Mazarin and Fuketian manuscripts too πως throws its accent back onto the preceding word.
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Τὴν κατὰ Πόντον Ἐκκλησίαν. Longe praeferenda est codicis Regii scriptura, quam confirmat etiam Nicephorus in lib. IV, cap. 23, τὴν κατὰ τόπον Ἐκκλησίαν, id est, Ecclesiam illius loci, ut habet Latinus interpres, Ancyrae scilicet. Sic in inscriptione epistolae Smyrnensium ad reliquas Ecclesias, καὶ πάσαις ταῖς κατὰ πάντα τόπον τῆς ἁγίας καθολικῆς Ἐκκλησίας παροικίαις. Et infra τῶν κατὰ τόπον πρεσβ.
"The Church in Pontus." The reading of the Royal manuscript, which Nicephorus also confirms in book IV, chapter 23, is far to be preferred: "the Church in the place," that is, the Church of that place, as the Latin translator has it, namely of Ancyra. So in the heading of the letter of the Smyrnaeans to the other Churches: "and to all the communities of the holy catholic Church in every place." And below: "of the presbyters in the place."
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Διατεθρυλλημένην. Id est personantem ac perstrepentem. Tota enim Ecclesia illius loci rumore novae prophetiae personabat, cum ob tantae rei novitatem cuncti de ea re loquerentur. Ex quo apparet donum prophetiae jam tum illis temporibus in Ecclesia rarum atque inusitatum fuisse, quippe cum exorta Montani prophetia tantos tumultus tunc temporis in Ecclesia excitaverit. Quod certe non contigisset, si solemne tunc ac pervulgatum in Ecclesia fuisset prophetiae donum. Porro διατεθρυλλημένην Langus vertit decantatam.
"Dinned through." That is, resounding and clamouring. For the whole Church of that place rang with the rumour of the new prophecy, since because of the novelty of so great a thing everyone was talking about it. From this it appears that the gift of prophecy was already in those times rare and unusual in the Church, seeing that the rise of Montanus's prophecy stirred up such great tumults in the Church at that time. That would certainly not have happened if the gift of prophecy had then been customary and common in the Church. Further, Langus renders διατεθρυλλημένην as "sung over" (decantatam).
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Ἑκαστά τε. Amplector emendationem Christophorsoni, qui ἑκάστοτε correxit, id est assidue, quotidie. Et sic Savilius ad oram libri sui emendavit.
"And each." I accept the emendation of Christophorson, who corrected it to ἑκάστοτε, that is, constantly, daily. Savile too made this emendation in the margin of his copy.
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Καὶ τοὺς ἀντιθέτους. Malim ἀντιθέους, ut legitur ad marginem editionis Genevensis. Cum enim jam dixerit τοὺς ἐξεναντίας ἀποκρουσθῆναι, ineptissima esset repetitio, si τοὺς ἀντιθέτους iterum nominaret. Verum ἀντιθέους, quod longe gravius est, appellat Montanistas, id est Dei adversarios, eo quod novum Paracletum inducerent. Atque ita in codice Fuk. et Savil. scriptum habetur. Si quis vero ἀντιθέτους retinere maluerit, non repugnabo. Infra enim dicuntur ἀντιδιατιθέμενοι, ut et apud Gregor. Nyssenum lib. I contra Eunomium, et Paulum in II ad Timoth.
"And the opponents." I would prefer ἀντιθέους ("the enemies of God"), as is read in the margin of the Geneva edition. For since he has already said "that those on the opposing side were repulsed," it would be a most inept repetition if he named "the opponents" again. Rather he calls the Montanists ἀντιθέους, which is far weightier, that is, adversaries of God, because they brought in a new Paraclete. And so it is written in the Fuketian manuscript and in Savile's. But if anyone prefers to keep ἀντιθέτους, I will not resist; for below they are called ἀντιδιατιθέμενοι ("those who set themselves against"), as also in Gregory of Nyssa, book I against Eunomius, and in Paul, 2 Timothy.
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Τοῦ Ὀτρηνοῦ. Male apud Nicephorum legitur Ὀστρηνοῦ. Distinguendus autem videtur hic Zoticus Otrenus a Zotico Comanensi episcopo, cujus infra meminit hic auctor. Nam et Comanensis ille antiquior fuit.
"Of Otrous." In Nicephorus the reading Ὀστρηνοῦ is wrong. This Zoticus of Otrous seems, however, to be distinguished from Zoticus bishop of Comana, whom this author mentions below; for the one of Comana was also older.
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Ἐν τῇ κατὰ τὴν Φρυγίαν Μυσίᾳ. Rufinus vertit: Vicus quidam esse dicitur apud Phrygiam Mysiae civitatem: ineptissime. Nec melius Musculus et Christophorsonus interpretantur, apud Mysiam Phrygiae. Quid enim, amabo, sibi vult Mysia Phrygiae? Duplex olim fuit Mysia, sicut et Phrygia, teste Strabone in libro XII. Alia major, quam Olympenem vocat Strabo; alia minor, quam Hellespontiam vocat Ptolemaeus. Utraque porro Phrygiae contermina fuit. Unde natum proverbium apud Graecos, Χωρὶς τὰ Μυσῶν. Fuit et altera Mysia in Europa, Thraciae contributa, quam Latini quidem Moesiam vocant, Graeci vero semper Μυσίαν. Ad hujus ergo distinctionem, ἡ κατὰ Φρυγίαν Μυσία hic dicitur Mysia Phrygiae contermina, seu Asiatica. Porro vicus iste in codice Maz. dicitur Ἀρδαβάβ.
"In the Mysia that borders on Phrygia." Rufinus renders: "A certain village is said to be near Phrygia, a city of Mysia": most ineptly. Nor do Musculus and Christophorson translate better, "in Mysia of Phrygia." For what, pray, does "Mysia of Phrygia" mean? There were of old two Mysias, as also two Phrygias, on the testimony of Strabo in book XII: one the greater, which Strabo calls Olympene; the other the lesser, which Ptolemy calls Hellespontine. Both, moreover, bordered on Phrygia; hence the proverb arose among the Greeks, "The Mysians' affairs are apart." There was also another Mysia in Europe, attached to Thrace, which the Latins call Moesia but the Greeks always Μυσία. To distinguish it from this one, then, "the Mysia by Phrygia" here means the Mysia bordering on Phrygia, that is, the Asiatic one. Further, in the Mazarin manuscript that village is called Ardabab.
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(34) ‹anchor: τὴν κατὰ τῶν παρηκόων› · call in col 147
Κατὰ τῶν παρηκόων. Rufinus indisciplinatos vertit, Musculus immorigeros, non male. Intelliguntur enim ii qui praeceptum Domini, quo praemoniti fuerant ut a falsis prophetis caverent, negligebant; τῆς διαστολῆς τοῦ Κυρίου ἐπιλανθανόμενοι, ut supra loquitur hic innominatus scriptor. Pessime Christophorsonus.
"Against the disobedient." Rufinus renders "the undisciplined," Musculus "the unruly," not badly. For those are meant who neglected the Lord's command, by which they had been forewarned to beware of false prophets; "forgetting the Lord's distinction," as this unnamed writer puts it above. Christophorson renders it very badly.
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(35) ‹anchor: αὐτῶν τὴν ἀποκεκοιμημένην› · call in col 147
Τὴν ἀποκεκοιμημένην. Metaphora est a mulieribus, quae relicto mariti toro furtim ad moechum transeunt. Nam κοιμᾶσθαι, seu dormire, de hujusmodi adulteriis dici solet, ut in libris sacris occurrit non semel. Quod cum non intelligeret Christophorsonus, erroris somno consopitam vertit.
"That had gone off to lie elsewhere." The metaphor is from women who leave their husband's bed and pass secretly to an adulterer. For κοιμᾶσθαι, or "to sleep," is commonly said of adulteries of this kind, as occurs more than once in the sacred books. Not understanding this, Christophorson rendered it "lulled in the sleep of error."
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Καὶ τοὺς μὲν χαίροντας. Haec periodus connectenda est cum illa sequenti, τὴν δὲ καθόλου, etc. Sic enim sensus integer absolvitur, quod interpretes non animadverterunt. Tamen acumen interpretis in hoc praecipue elucet, ut verborum ac sensus ἀκολουθίαν diligentissime consectetur. Porro hic locus in codice Maz., Med., Fuk. et Savil. ita legitur, καὶ τοὺς μὲν χαίροντας καὶ χαυνουμένους ὑπ' αὐτῶν, etc.
"And those rejoicing." This sentence is to be joined with the following one, "but the whole," etc. For so the sense is completed whole, which the translators did not notice. Yet a translator's acuteness shows chiefly in this, that he follows the sequence of the words and of the sense most carefully. Further, in the Mazarin, Medicean, Fuketian and Savile manuscripts this passage reads: "and those rejoicing and puffed up by them," etc.
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Ἵνα καὶ ἐλεγκτικόν. Sciebat Montanus, seu daemon qui per Montani os loquebatur, olim a Domino praedictum fuisse, fore ut Spiritus Dei in adventu suo mundum argueret de peccato. Itaque daemon ille, ut verum Dei Spiritum se esse auditoribus confirmaret, eos interdum arguebat et objurgabat. Vide Ambrosium in Epist. ad Thessal. cap. V, cujus verba hic merentur ascribi: Hinc est, unde et Joannis apostoli Epistola: « Nolite, inquit, omni spiritui credere, sed probate spiritus, si ex Deo sunt: » quia si multa bona dicat, in aliquo autem quod fidei adversum est, promat, sciatur non esse Spiritus sanctus. Nihil enim erroris in Spiritu sancto poterit reperiri. Sed aut per exercitium eloquii quaedam spiritalia, quaedam vero carnalia, quia omnis error carni deputatur; aut certe commento quodam astutiae bona fingit, ut his inserat mala, sicut supra memoravi: quemadmodum in Montano et Priscilla et Maximilla prophetis Cataphrygarum spiritus mundi imitationem boni simulabat, ut per multa verisimilia, nec non et vera, mentiretur se esse Spiritum sanctum.
"So that it might also seem to rebuke." Montanus knew, or rather the demon that spoke through Montanus's mouth knew, that it had once been foretold by the Lord that the Spirit of God at his coming would convict the world of sin. And so that demon, to assure his hearers that he was the true Spirit of God, sometimes rebuked and scolded them. See Ambrose on the Epistle to the Thessalonians, chapter V, whose words deserve to be quoted here: "Hence it is that the Epistle of John the apostle says: 'Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God'; because if it says many good things, but in some point puts forth what is against the faith, let it be known that it is not the Holy Spirit. For nothing of error can be found in the Holy Spirit. But either through practice in speaking it says some things spiritual and some carnal, since all error is reckoned to the flesh; or else by some device of cunning it feigns good things, so as to insert evil among them, as I mentioned above: just as in Montanus and Priscilla and Maximilla, the prophets of the Cataphrygians, the spirit of the world feigned an imitation of the good, so that through many plausible things, and some true ones too, it might falsely claim to be the Holy Spirit."
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Εἰς τοῦτο συνελθόντων. Christophorsonus legisse videtur εἰς ταὐτό.
"Having come together for this." Christophorson seems to have read εἰς ταὐτό ("to the same place").
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(39) ‹anchor: τοὺς ἀμετροφώνους› · call in col 150
Ἀμετροφώνους. Alludit ad epithetum illud, quo Homerus in Iliade Thersitem affecit, ἀμετροεπής, quod idem est ac falsiloquus. Nam qui mentiuntur, nullum in dicendo modum servare solent.
"Unmeasured in speech." He alludes to the epithet with which Homer in the Iliad marked Thersites, ἀμετροεπής ("of unmeasured words"), which is the same as "speaking falsely." For those who lie are wont to keep no measure in speaking.
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(40) ‹anchor: ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος› · call in col 150
Ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος. In Nicephoro legitur, ὑπὲρ τοῦ νόμου, quod non probo; subauditur enim τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ut Rufinus et Christophorsonus supplevit. Sic apud Eusebium lib. V, cap. 18, loquitur Apollonius, ubi de Alexandro.
"For the name." In Nicephorus the reading is "for the law," which I do not approve; for "of Christ" is understood, as Rufinus and Christophorson supplied. So Apollonius speaks in Eusebius, book V, chapter 18, where he treats of Alexander.
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(41) ‹anchor: οἷον ἐπίτροπον› · call in col 150
Οἷον ἐπίτροπον. Rufinus haec verba non agnoscit. Sic enim vertit, veluti primogenitum prophetiae ipsorum, Theodotum nomine. Omnes tamen codices et Nicephorus hanc vocem agnoscunt. Erat (continues)
"As a kind of steward." Rufinus does not recognize these words, for he renders: "as it were the first-born of their prophecy, Theodotus by name." Yet all the manuscripts and Nicephorus recognize this word. He was (continues)
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Πολὺς αἱρεῖ λόγος. In codice Med., Maz. et Fuk. legitur ἐρεῖ. Apud Eusebium tamen in lib. VIII, his ita scribitur, ut hoc loco scriptum vides, πολὺς αἱρεῖ λόγος, ubi αἱρεῖ idem valet ac κρατεῖ.
"Much report holds." In the Medicean, Mazarin and Fuketian manuscripts the reading is ἐρεῖ ("will say"). Yet in Eusebius, book VIII, it is written twice just as you see it written here, πολὺς αἱρεῖ λόγος, where αἱρεῖ means the same as κρατεῖ ("prevails").
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Παρεκστῆναι. Male interpretes omnes hunc locum cepere: παρεκστῆναι est falso mentis excessu abripi. Sic παρέκστασις supra sumitur, id est falsa ecstasis. Sunt enim verae ecstases in Ecclesia, cujusmodi fuit Petri apostoli in Actibus cap. X et XI, ubi Petrus vidisse dicitur in ecstasi visionem. Talis item fuit ecstasis Pauli apostoli, cum ad tertium usque coelum abreptus est. Puerorum quoque ecstases in testimonium adducuntur a Cypriano in epistola 9. Sunt item falsae ecstases apud haereticos, quae παρεκστάσεις eleganter dicuntur ab hoc scriptore. Eodem modo, quo παραδιορθώσεις falsae emendationes dicuntur a Porphyrio in Quaestionibus Homericis. Et hae quidem falsae ecstases propius ad furorem accedunt, utpote a daemone procuratae. Illae vero quae a divino Spiritu immittuntur, placidae sunt, nec statum mentis ullo modo perturbant, ut docet Epiphanius in haeresi Cataphrygarum, et hic auctor innominatus. Quare fallitur Nicolaus Rigaltius, qui in Notis suis ad epistolam 9 Cypriani ecstases furorem et alienationem mentis interpretatus est. Non ita Hieronymus, cujus haec sunt verba ad Suniam et Fretelam: Aliter enim Latinus sermo ἔκστασιν exprimere non potest, nisi mentis excessum. Ita etiam Tertullianus in libro De anima, cap. 45: Hanc vim ecstasim dicimus, excessum, sensus et amentiae instar. Idem tamen ecstasim absolute amentiam interpretatur, atque spiritalem esse vim, qua constat prophetia. Sic in libro De anima, cap. 21, et in libro IV Contra Marcionem, cap. 22. Verum haec a Tertulliano scripta sunt, Montani erroribus jam decepto.
"To be carried into false ecstasy." All the translators have taken this passage wrongly: παρεκστῆναι means to be carried off in a false excess of mind. So παρέκστασις is used above, that is, false ecstasy. For there are true ecstasies in the Church, such as that of the apostle Peter in Acts chapters 10 and 11, where Peter is said to have seen a vision in ecstasy. Such too was the ecstasy of the apostle Paul, when he was caught up to the third heaven. The ecstasies of boys, too, are brought forward in testimony by Cyprian in letter 9. There are likewise false ecstasies among heretics, which this writer elegantly calls παρεκστάσεις, in the same way as false emendations are called παραδιορθώσεις by Porphyry in the Homeric Questions. And these false ecstasies come nearer to madness, being brought about by a demon; but those sent by the divine Spirit are calm, and in no way disturb the state of the mind, as Epiphanius teaches in the heresy of the Cataphrygians, and this unnamed author too. Nicolas Rigault is therefore mistaken, who in his Notes on Cyprian's letter 9 interpreted ecstasies as madness and derangement of mind. Not so Jerome, whose words to Sunnias and Fretela are these: "For the Latin tongue cannot express ἔκστασις otherwise than as excess of mind." So too Tertullian in the book On the Soul, chapter 45: "This power we call ecstasy, an excess of the senses and a likeness of madness." Yet the same writer interprets ecstasy outright as madness, and as the spiritual power in which prophecy consists: so in the book On the Soul, chapter 21, and in book IV Against Marcion, chapter 22. But these things were written by Tertullian when he had already been deceived by the errors of Montanus.
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Ἀλλὰ μὴν ἄνευ. In codice Regio, Maz., Fuk., Savil. et Med. scriptum reperi, ἀλλὰ μή. Quam lectionem veriorem esse existimo; eamque secutus est Musculus. At Christophorsonus haec per interrogationem dici existimavit.
"But indeed without." In the Royal, Mazarin, Fuketian, Savile and Medicean manuscripts I found written ἀλλὰ μή ("but not"). I judge this reading the truer, and Musculus followed it. Christophorson, however, thought these words were spoken as a question.
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Ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ λόγῳ κατὰ Ἀστέριον Οὐρβανόν. Haec verba scholion esse mihi videntur, quod vetus quidam scholiastes, seu Eusebius ipse, ad marginem libri sui adnotaverat ad verba quae paulo ante praecesserunt, αὖθις δὲ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ φησὶ λόγῳ. Porro ex his verbis elicitur, Asterium Urbanum auctorem esse horum trium librorum adversus Cataphrygas: non autem Apollinarem, ut credidit Rufinus et Christophorsonus.
"In the same book, according to Asterius Urbanus." These words seem to me to be a scholion, which some old scholiast, or Eusebius himself, had noted in the margin of his copy against the words that came a little before, "and again in the same book he says." Further, from these words it is gathered that Asterius Urbanus is the author of these three books against the Cataphrygians, and not Apollinaris, as Rufinus and Christophorson believed.
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Κομάνης. Oppidum videtur fuisse Pamphyliae. Certe Ephesius episcopus Comaneus memoratur in epistola episcoporum Pamphyliae provinciae ad Leonem Augustum, quae refertur in parte tertia concilii Chalcedonensis, pag. 591.
"Of Comana." It seems to have been a town of Pamphylia. Certainly Ephesius, bishop of Comana, is mentioned in the letter of the bishops of the province of Pamphylia to the Emperor Leo, which is given in the third part of the Council of Chalcedon, page 591.
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Οἱ περὶ Θεμίσωνα. Illustris hic fuit inter Montanistas, qui se confessorem et martyrem jactabat ausus que est epistolam catholicam exemplo Apostoli scribere ad Ecclesias, ut novam prophetiam commendaret. De hoc multa Apollonius apud Eusebium Hist. eccl. lib. V, cap. 23.
"Themiso and his followers." He was prominent among the Montanists; he boasted himself a confessor and martyr, and dared to write a catholic epistle to the Churches after the Apostle's example, to commend the new prophecy. Apollonius says much of him in Eusebius, Church History, book V, chapter 23 (the chapter numeral is blurred in the scan and may be 25; Apollonius on Themiso is V.18 in the standard numbering, the chapter note 40 cites).
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Τῷ Ἀλκιβιάδου τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ συγγράμματι. Nescio quo fato Alcibiadis nomen pro Miltiade et Miltiadis pro Alcibiade substitutum est. Nam superiore quidem capite Miltiadis vocabulum pro Alcibiade positum esse observavimus. Hic contra, Alcibiades pro Miltiade irrepsit. Certe apud Nicephorum Μιλτιάδου legitur, quanquam nec Nicephorus nec Christophorsonus hunc locum intellexit.
"Against the treatise of the brother Alcibiades." By what chance I know not, the name of Alcibiades has been put for Miltiades, and that of Miltiades for Alcibiades. For in the preceding chapter we observed that the name Miltiades had been set in place of Alcibiades; here, on the contrary, Alcibiades has crept in for Miltiades. Certainly in Nicephorus "of Miltiades" is read, although neither Nicephorus nor Christophorson understood this passage.
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(49) ‹anchor: ψευδοπροφήτης ἐν παρεκστάσει› · call in col 154
Ἀλλ' ὅ γε ψευδοπροφήτης ἐν παρεκστάσει. Male Rufinus et Baronius haec verba ex Miltiadis libro desumpta esse existimarunt. Neque enim hic innominatus auctor quidquam citat ex Miltiadis libro, sed tantum ex responsione Cataphrygarum adversus Miltiadis librum; quod non animadverterunt interpretes. Est autem hic hujus loci sensus, magnum esse discrimen inter veros prophetas et falsos. Veri enim prophetae qui Spiritu Dei repleti erant, quieto ac tranquillo animo praedicebant futura. Pseudoprophetae vero, qualis erat Montanus, cum furore et insania loquebantur. Certe Catholici hoc praecipue objiciebant Montanistis, qui se prophetico spiritu plenos esse jactabant, quod in ecstasi prophetarent: cum tamen nec in Novo, nec in Vetere Testamento prophetas in ecstasi unquam prophetasse legamus. Itaque Miltiades librum adversus eos scripsit hoc titulo: Περὶ τοῦ μὴ δεῖν προφήτην ἐν ἐκστάσει λαλεῖν. Et Epiphanius adversus haeresim Montanistarum cap. 2: Ὅσα γὰρ οἱ προφῆται εἰρήκασι, μετὰ συνέσεως παρακολουθοῦντες ἐφθέγγοντο, et cap. 4, ac sequentibus, hanc verae ac spiritalis prophetiae certissimam notam esse dicit, ut mentis suae compotes sint, qui futura praedicunt. Similiter Joannes Chrysostomus homilia 29 in Epistolam I ad Corinthios, ubi discrimen affert inter divinationem, et prophetiam: Hoc enim, inquit, proprium est vatis seu divinatoris, emotae esse mentis, pelli, trahi, raptari tanquam furentem, Propheta vero non ita: sed mente sobria, et cum modesta ac temperata animi constitutione; et quae loquitur intelligens, dicit omnia. His adde Hieronymum in Praefatione Commentariorum in Nahum: Non enim loquitur in ἐκστάσει, ut Montanus et Prisca Maximillaque delirant; sed quod prophetat, liber est visionis intelligentis universa quae loquitur. Idem in praefatione Commentariorum in Habacuc. Idem in libro secundo Commentariorum in Epist. ad Ephesios: An igitur juxta Montanum, patriarchas et prophetas in ecstasi locutos accipiendum, et nescisse quae dixerint? Aut si hoc impium est (spiritus quippe prophetarum prophetis subjectus est), intellexerunt utique quae locuti sunt, etc. Porro notandum est hunc anonymum scriptorem nunquam ecstases appellare vanos illos mentis excessus Montanistarum, sed semper parecstases, ob eam rationem quam supra dixi. Quippe ecstases fere in bonam partem sumuntur a Cypriano et Tertulliano, et viris sanctis immissae leguntur a Deo, ut Adamo et Petro apostolo. At parecstasis semper in malam partem accipitur.
"But the false prophet, in false ecstasy." Rufinus and Baronius wrongly thought these words were taken from the book of Miltiades. For this unnamed author quotes nothing from Miltiades's book, but only from the Cataphrygians' reply to Miltiades's book, which the translators did not notice. The sense of the passage is this: that there is a great difference between true prophets and false. For the true prophets, who were filled with the Spirit of God, foretold the future with a quiet and tranquil mind; but false prophets, such as Montanus was, spoke with frenzy and madness. Certainly the Catholics chiefly objected this against the Montanists, who boasted that they were full of the prophetic spirit: that they prophesied in ecstasy, whereas we never read, in either the New or the Old Testament, that prophets prophesied in ecstasy. And so Miltiades wrote a book against them with this title: "That a prophet ought not to speak in ecstasy." And Epiphanius, against the heresy of the Montanists, chapter 2: "For whatever the prophets said, they uttered following it with understanding"; and in chapter 4 and those following he says that this is the surest mark of true and spiritual prophecy, that those who foretell the future are in possession of their minds. Likewise John Chrysostom, homily 29 on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, where he sets out the difference between divination and prophecy: "For this," he says, "is the mark of the soothsayer or diviner, to be out of his mind, to be driven, dragged, swept along like a madman. But the prophet is not so: with a sober mind, and in a modest and temperate state of soul, understanding what he speaks, he says all things." Add to these Jerome in the Preface to his Commentaries on Nahum: "For he does not speak in ecstasy, as Montanus and Prisca and Maximilla rave; but what he prophesies is the book of a vision that understands all that it speaks." The same in the preface to his Commentaries on Habakkuk. The same in the second book of his Commentaries on the Epistle to the Ephesians: "Are we then to accept, with Montanus, that the patriarchs and prophets spoke in ecstasy and did not know what they had said? Or if this is impious (for the spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets), they surely understood what they spoke," etc. Further, it is to be noted that this anonymous writer never calls those empty excesses of mind of the Montanists ecstasies, but always parecstases, for the reason I gave above. For ecstasies are generally taken in a good sense by Cyprian and Tertullian, and are read as sent by God to holy men, as to Adam and to the apostle Peter; but parecstasis is always taken in a bad sense.
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(1) ‹anchor: Pontianus› · call in col 155
Pontianus. Post interregnum 30 dierum, octavo Kalend. Julii, anno Christi 233, Alexandri imperatoris 10, Pontianus Urbano subrogatur. Sub hoc pontifice Origenes Caesareae philosophiam docens, Gregorium Magnum, cognomento Thaumaturgum, discipulum habuit. Hoc pontifice sexta persecutio Christianorum, et maxime praesulum Ecclesiae, a Maximino imperatore publico edicto promulgata est, propterea quod dii gentiles, ut spargebant, Christianorum moribus et religione contempti, ideoque ad iracundiam ac vindictam provocati, universam orientalem plagam gravissimis terrae motibus acerbissime exagitassent. Hac eadem persecutione Pontianus, jussu Alexandri in Sardiniam relegatus, Maximini imperatoris mandato fustibus verberatus, martyrium ibidem consummavit 19 die mensis Novembris, anno Christi nati 237. Corpus illius postea a Fabiano papa Romam translatum, in coemeterio Callisti sepultum est. Baron. praedicto anno, n. 5, 6 et 10. Sev. Bin.
"Pontianus." After an interregnum of 30 days, on the eighth day before the Kalends of July, in the year of Christ 233, the tenth of the emperor Alexander, Pontianus was put in Urban's place. Under this pontiff Origen, teaching philosophy at Caesarea, had as his pupil Gregory the Great, surnamed the Wonder-worker. Under this pontiff the sixth persecution of the Christians, and above all of the prelates of the Church, was proclaimed by public edict of the emperor Maximinus, because, as they spread abroad, the gods of the Gentiles, scorned by the ways and religion of the Christians and so provoked to anger and vengeance, had most bitterly shaken the whole eastern region with very severe earthquakes. In this same persecution Pontianus, banished to Sardinia by Alexander's order and beaten with clubs at the command of the emperor Maximinus, completed his martyrdom there on the 19th day of November, in the year 237 from the birth of Christ. His body was afterwards brought to Rome by Pope Fabian and buried in the cemetery of Callistus. Baronius, at the year named, nos. 5, 6 and 10. Severinus Binius.
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(50*) ‹anchor: οὐκ ἂν ἔχοιεν δεῖξαι› · call in col 156 Aliquid deesse videtur. Ed. Patrol.
Something seems to be missing. The editor of the Patrologia.
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(2) ‹anchor: menses 5, dies 2› · call in col 156
Sedit annos 9, menses 5, dies 2. Annos 4, menses 4, dies 25, sedisse ex die ingressus et obitus colligitur. Id.
"He sat 9 years, 5 months, 2 days." From the day of his accession and of his death it is gathered that he sat 4 years, 4 months, 25 days. The same (Binius).
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(3) ‹anchor: exsilio ab Alexandro› · call in col 156
Eodem tempore Pontianus, etc., in exsilio ab Alexandro. Quod non tam religionis causa, quam aliqua potius calumnia a gentilibus circumventum Pontianum Alexander relegaverit, ipsius erga Christianos affectus, et familia Christianis hominibus referta indicat. Euseb., lib. VI Hist., c. 21. Ob quod facinus, Deo vindice, a militibus Alexandrum imperatorem occisum esse, non vana conjectura dici poterit. Baron. anno 237, n. 1. Id.
"At the same time Pontianus," etc., "into exile by Alexander." That Alexander banished Pontianus not so much for religion's sake as because he had been ensnared by some slander of the Gentiles is shown by Alexander's own goodwill towards the Christians, and by his household, which was full of Christians: Eusebius, Church History, book VI, chapter 21. For this crime, it may be said by no idle conjecture, the emperor Alexander was slain by his soldiers, God avenging it. Baronius, year 237, no. 1. The same (Binius).
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