"what times haft thou reserved me, that I fhould hear fuch things."

;

The manner in which Polycarp inscribes his epiftle is that of an unitarian * Mercy unto you and peace, from God Almighty, and the Lord Jefus Chrift "our Saviour, be multiplied."

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I fhall confider the evidence for Hegefippus being an unitarian more particularly hereafter. But, in this place, to take all the writers in the order of time, or nearly fo, I fhall produce two extracts from his works, preferved by Eufebius, in which a variety of denominations of Gnoftics are mentioned as heretics, and fuch circumftances are added, as, exclufive of the confideration of his omitting the mention of the Ebionites, Nazarenes, or unitarians of any kind, clearly fhews that his idea was fixed to the Gnoftics only.

"Hegefippus," Eufebius says, "wrote the hiftory of the preaching of the apoftles in "five books. Converfing with many bishops "in his journey to Rome, he found the same

doctrine with them all.-The church

* Ελεος υμιν, και ειρήνη, παρά θες παντοκράτορος, και κυριε Ιησε Χρισε το σωτηρ ημων, πληθυνθειν. p. 184.

" of

"of Corinth continued in the right faith "till their bishop Primus.-Hitherto,” i. e. till the time of Simon, bishop of Jerufalem, « the church remained a virgin, for it was "not corrupted with abfurd doctrines. "But firft Thebuthis, because he was not * a bilhop, began to corrupt it, being one "of the feven herefies, himself being of the laity, of whom were the Simonians from « Simon, Cleobians from Cleobius, Dofi"theans from Dofitheus, Gorthæans from "Gorthæus, and the Mafbotheans.

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66

From

« them came the Menandrians, the Marcio" nites, the Carpocratians, the Valentini"ans, the Bafilideans, and the Saturnilians; "each of them preaching their different « doftrines. From them came falfe chrifts, "and false prophets, who divided the unity "of the church with corrupt doctrines

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against God, and against his Christ *."

What could this writer mean by thofe who divided the unity of the church (which, in his time, the Gnoftics only did, and the unitarians certainly did not) by the falfe Chrifts, and especially the doctrine against God, but the tenets of the Gnoftics only. Corrupt doctrine against Christ is a more ambiguous expreffion; but the false notions of the Gnoftics concerning Christ were as confpicuous as any of their doctrines, and are most particularly noticed by John.

The other extract from this writer is no lefs to my purpose. "Till this time," viz. the time of Trajan, Hegefippus fays, " that the church continued a virgin un"corrupted; thofe who corrupted its doc

trines, if they then exifted, concealing "themselves. But when the holy choir of "the apostles was dead, and all that gene

ων,

και αυτος ην εν τω λαω, αφ' ων Σιμων, οθεν οι Σιμωνιανοι· καὶ Κλεοβίος, σθεν Κλεοβιανοι· καὶ Δοσίθεος, οθεν Δοσίθιανοι· καὶ Γορθαίος, οθεν Γορθεωνοι, καὶ Μασβωθαιοι. οθεν απο τελων Μενανδριανίσαι, καὶ Μαρκιωεισαι, καὶ Καρποκραλιανοι· και Ουαλεντινιανοι, καὶ Βασιλειδιανοι. καὶ Σαλορ φιλιανοι· εκατος ιδίως και εἹερως ιδιαν δοξαν παρεισήγαγεν, απο τελων ψευδόχρισοι· ψευδοπροφηλαι· ψευδαποτολοι• οι τινες εμερίσαν την ενωσιν της εκκλησίας φθοριμαίοις λόγοις καλα τε Θε8 και καλα τε Χρισε als. Hift.lib. 4. cap. 24. p. 182, &c.

" ration

"ration who were favoured with their σε divine inftru&tions, then the fyftem of "atheistical error commenced, through the "deceits of the heterodox; who, when none « of the apoftles were remaining, with open • face undertook to oppofe their knowledge falfely fo called, to the preaching "of the truth *" What could be meant by atheistical errors and by knowledge falfely jo called, but the principles of the Gnoftics? No characters of any fect in ecclefiaftical history are more clearly marked than these. In later times, indeed, almoft every erroneous opinion was called atheistical; but it was not fo in that early age; and knowledge falfely fo called, is as descriptive of the Gnostics as if they had been mentioned by name,

+ Επι τέλους ο αυλος ανηρ διηγόμενος τα καλα τις δηλωμενες, επιλεγει ως αρα μεχρι των τότε χρονων παρθενος καθαρα κ αδιαφθορος Έμεινεν η εκκλησία εν αδήλω ως σκολει φωλευονίων εισεί τολε, των ει καὶ τινες υπήρχαν, παραφθείρειν επιχειρόντων τον υγιή κανόνα το σωτήριε κηρυγμαίος, ως δ' ο μέρος των Αποςόλων χορος διαφορον ειληφει το βιο τελος, παρεληλυθεί τε η γενεά εκείνη των αυλαις ακοαις της ενθεε σοφίας επάκεσαι καληξιωμένων, τηνικαύλα της αθες πλάνης την αρχήν ελάμβανεν η σύτασις, δια της των ετεροδιδασκαλων απάλης" οι και αλε μηδενος επι των Αποτόλων λειπομεν8. γυμνη λοιπον ηδη τη κεφαλη, τω της αλη θειας κηρυγματι την ψευδώνυμον γνωσιν ανλικηρυτΊειν επεχειρεν. febii Hill. Lib. 3. cap. 32. p. 128.

Eu

SEC

SECTION III.

Of Herefy according to Juftin Martyr.

COTEMPORARY with Hegefippus was Juftin Martyr, the firft writer that can be proved to have advanced the doctrine of the permanent perfonification of the logos, of which a full account will be given hereafter. He had occafion to mention both the unitarians and the Gnoftics. The former, as I shall shew in its proper place, he mentions with refpect, and a tacit apology for differing from them, even from those who believed that Chrift was the fort of Jofeph as well as of Mary. But the manner in which he speaks of the Gnostics is very different indeed from this. The apostle John himself does not express a greater abhorrence of their principles. He fpeaks of them as fulfilling our Saviour's prophecy, that there should be false chrifts and false prophets (the very language of Hegefippus above mentioned) who should

deceive