Page images
PDF
EPUB
[blocks in formation]

though strict in their manner of life—abstemious, | man, for the testimony of his faith, frequent the laborious, devout, and holy, and seeking only what

is needful for bodily subsistence, living as men who are not of the world. But you, they say, lovers of the world, have peace with the world, because ye are in it. False apostles, who adulterate the word of God, seeking their own things, have misled you and your ancestors. Whereas, we and our fathers, having been born and brought up in the apostolic doctrine, have continued in the grace of Christ, and shall continue so to the end. By their fruits ye shall know them,' saith Christ; ' and our fruits are, walking in the footsteps of Christ.' They aflirm that the apostolic dignity is corrupted by engaging itself in secular affairs while it sits in St. Peter's chair. They do not hold with the baptism of infants, alleging that passage of the gospel-He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved.' They place no confidence in the intercession of saints; and all things observed in the church which have not been established by Christ himself, or his apostles, they pronounce to be superstitious. They do not admit of any purgatory fire after death, contending, that the souls of men, as soon as they depart out of the bodies, do enter into rest or punishment; proving it from the words of Solomon, 'Which way soever the tree falls, whether to the south or to the north, there it lies; by which means they make void all the prayers and oblations of the faithful for the deceased.

"We therefore beseech you, holy father, to employ your care and watchfulness against these manifold mischiefs; and that you would be pleased to direct your pen against those wild beasts of the roads; not thinking it sufficient to answer us, that the tower of David, to which we may betake ourselves for refuge, is sufficiently fortified with bulwarks that a thousand bucklers hang on the walls of it, all shields of mighty men. For we desire, father, for the sake of us simple ones, and who are slow of understanding, that you would be pleased, by your study, to gather all these arms into one place, that they might be the more readily found, and more powerful to resist these monsters. I must inform you also that those of them who have returned to our church, tell us that they had great numbers of their persuasion scattered almost everywhere; and that amongst them were many of our clergy and monks. And, as for those who were burnt, they, in the defence they made of themselves told us that this heresy had been concealed from the time of the martyrs; and that it had existed in Greece and other countries."

[ocr errors][merged small]

church, honour the elders, offer his gift, make his confession, receive the sacrament. What more like a Christian? As to life and manners he circumvents no mau, overreaches no man, does violence to no man. He fasts much, and eats not the bread of idleness; but works with his hands for his support."

Such testimony from contemporaries, who were themselves acquainted with the men of whom they speak, and who, being devoted Romanists, were not likely to have any strong prepossessions in favour of heretics, affords incontestable evidence of the high character, both for purity of doctrine and morals, which they maintained in the age and country in which they lived. “In their lives," says Claude, Romish archbishop of Turin, "they are perfect, irreproachable, and without reproach among men, addicting themselves with all their might to the service of God." These are the words of one who, with all his admiration of their character, nevertheless, because of their resistance to Rome, joined in persecuting and hunting them to the death. See CATHARI -PAULICIANS.

ALBORAC, the name of the white horse on which Mohammed rode in his journey from Mecca to Jerusalem. In the twelfth year of his mission, as the prophet informs us in his Koran, he made this journey, and was carried from Jerusalem to the highest heavens in one night. He was accompanied by the angel Gabriel, holding the bridle of Alborac, on which Mohammed was mounted. The Arabian authors are not agreed whether this journey was performed by Mohammed in his body or in his spirit. The horse Alborac is held in great repute by the Mohammedan doctors, some of whom teach that Abraham, Ishmael, and several of the prophets made use of this horse; that having been unemployed from the time of Jesus Christ to that of Mohammed, he had become restive, and would allow no one to mount him unless Gabriel sat behind the rider. Others, again, affirm that Mohammed had the sole privilege of training this horse at first, and that he intends to mount him again at the general resurrection. See MOHAMMED.

ALBUNEA, a prophetic nymph or sybil worshipped in the neighbourhood of Tibur, where a grove was consecrated to her, with a well and a temple. Lactantius regards her evidently as identi cal with the tenth Sybil. Her sortes or oracles were deposited in the Capitol. A small square temple, dedicated to Albunea, still exists at Tivoli. See SI

BYL.

ALBUS, a name given by Sidonius Apollinaris to the catalogue or roll in which the names of all the clergy were enrolled at an early period in the history of the Christian church. See CANON.

ALCIS (Gr. Alkis, The strong), a deity among the Naharvali, an ancient German tribe. A surname also of Athena, under which she was worshipped in Macedonia.

ALCORAN (Arab. The Koran.) See KORAN. ALDEBARAN, a star in the constellation Taurus, being that which is known as the Bull's Eye, and which, according to Pococke, was one of the heavenly bodies which had its worshippers and a temple among the ancient Arabians.

ALDER-TREE, sacred to Pan, the god of the woods, in heathen mythology.

ALDUS, or ALDEMIUS, the great god of Gaza among the ancient Philistines. It signifies a god

of time without end.

ALEA, a surname of Athena, under which she was worshipped at Alea, Mantincia, and Tegea. The temple at the last mentioned place was often resorted to as an asylum, or place of refuge. The priestess was always a maiden, who held office only until she had reached the age of puberty.

ALECTO. See EUMENIDES.

ALECTRYOMANCY (Gr. alector, a cock, and manteia, divination), a species of divination by means of a cock, which was practised among the ancient Greeks. The manner in which it was conducted was as follows: The twenty-four letters of the Greek alphabet having been written in the dust, a grain of wheat or barley was laid upon each of them, and a cock magically prepared was let loose among them. By putting together the letters out of which the cock picked the grains, the secret sought for was discovered. To give the proceeding a more mysterious and magical air, the letters were carefully arranged in a circle. See DIVINATION.

ALEMDAR, an officer of some distinction amongst the Emirs or descendants of Mohammed. He may be called the standard-bearer, as when the Sultan appears in public on any solemn occasion, the Alemdar carries Mohammed's green standard, on which is inscribed, Nazrum-min-Allah, Help from God. See EMIR.

ALETIDES (Gr. Alao, to wander), ancient sacrifices offered by the Athenians to Icarus and Erigone his daughter, who went in search of her father. Icarus had been slain by the shepherds of Attica, on a false suspicion of having poisoned them. Erigone, seeing her father's dead body, hanged herself for grief, and several Athenian maidens who loved her followed her example. In consequence of this melancholy event, the oracle of Apollo was consulted, and solemn sacrifices, called Aletides, were ordered to be offered to the shades of Icarus and Erigone.

ALEUROMANCY, divination by means of meal or flour, used by the Greeks in ancient times. It was also called Alphitomancy and Crithomancy. See ALECTRYOMANCY, DIVINATION.

ALEXANDER, a saint and martyr whose memory is celebrated by the Church of Rome on the 2d of June, along with the other martyrs of Lyons and Vienne, he having suffered martyrdom on that day, A. D. 177, under Marcus Aurelius, being devoured by wild beasts in the amphitheatre.-ALEXANDER, sur

1

named the Great, king of Macedonia, prompted by excessive vanity, aspired to a place among the heathen deities. When in Egypt he bribed the priests of the Egyptian god AMMON (which see), to declare him the son of Jupiter-Ammon. With the view of obtaining this honour he marched at the head of his army through the sandy desert till he arrived at the temple, where the most ancient of the priests declared kim the son of Jupiter, assuring him that his celestial father had destined him for the empire of the world; and from this time, in all his letters and orders, he assumed the title of Alexander, the King, son of Jupiter-Ammon. After his conquest of Persia he demanded to have his statue received among the number of the Olympian gods, and placed upon the same altar with them. This arrogant demand the Athenians, in a spirit of servility and flattery, readily complied with.

ALEXANDRIAN SCHOOL. This expression is usually employed to designate that succession of philosophers who, from the third down to the end of the fifth century of the Christian era, endeavoured to unite the Oriental philosophy to the Grecian. Attempts of a similar kind had been already made by Jewish philosophers of Alexandria, more especially by Philo, in the first century, who, having embraced the doctrines of Plato, sought to blend them with Oriental ideas, especially those of Persia and Egypt. These two systems of philosophical thinking he sought to harmonise by means of the doctrines of the Old Testament, which he was disposed to interpret in the allegorical rather than the literal sense. It was chiefly, however, from the Alexandrian School, founded in the third century by Plotinus, that a union was effected between Orientalism and Hellenism. The peculiar mode of thinking introduced by this school was of great importance, from its connection with the early introduction of the Christian faith, and the reciprocal influence which philosophy and religion exercised upon each other. At the period when this philosophical sect, which has often been termed the Eclectic and Neo-Platonic, arose, the world was distracted by two opposing and mutually repulsive forces,-the Grecian systems of philosophy and the polytheistic worship of Paganism. These two it was necessary to unite into one harmonious whole. But Grecian philosophy was divided into hostile systems; polytheistic ritualism into hostile worships. Ammonius Saccas, who lived about the end of the second century, and who appears to have been an apostate from the Christian faith, had opened an eclectic school, of which the principal object was to blend together Platonism and Aristotelianism. The founder, properly speaking, of the Neo-Platonic school, was Plotinus, the disciple of Ammonius Saccas. The principal representatives of this school after him were Porphyry, Jamblichus. Hierocles, and Proclus.

The two leading doctrines of the Alexandrian School, and those which more especially modified

ALEXANOR-ALI.

the views of Christian writers of that period, were the doctrine of the Alexandrian Trinity and that of the Emanations. The metaphysical doctrine of the Trinity, as taught by this school, is as follows: God is of a threefold nature, and at the same time but one. His essence contains three distinct elements, substances, or persons, and these three constitute One Being. These three distinct persons or substances have also distinct and individual attributes. The first is Unity; the second, Intelligence; and the third, the Universal Soul, or the vivifying principle of life and motion. Plotinus opposed this triad to the Christian Trinity. Some of the Alexandrians, and Proclus in particular, modified this doctrine to harmonize more nearly with the Christian doctrine, of which they felt the superiority. They maintained the primeval unity to have developed itself in three decreasing emanations: Being, which produced Intelligence; Intelligence, which produced the Soul; and the Soul, which produced all other beings. The doctrine of Emanations was intimately connected in the Alexandrian system with their notions as to the doctrine of the Trinity. The human soul is identified in this philosophy with the Infinite; and the world and every thing in it is an emanation from this great First Cause. The world is, therefore, only a great soul giving form to matter, by the ideas or souls which it produces. All souls born of the supreme soul, have descended from the intellectual to the lower world. Souls in the intellectual world have no bodies: they are clothed with bodies only at their entrance into the intellectual world. The Alexandrians admitted two souls: the one derived from the intellectual world is independent of nature; the other is produced in man by the circular motion of the celestial world; it is dependent in its actions upon the revolutions of the stars. Souls, which are emanations from the great soul, are like it, indivisible, indestructible, imperishable. Their tendency is to ascend to their primitive state, to be absorbed in the Divine essence. Those who have degraded themselves below even the sensitive life, will after death be born again to the vegetative life of plants. Those who have lived only a sensitive life will be born again under the form of animals. Those who have lived a merely human life will take again a human body. Those only who have developed in themselves the divine life will return to God. Virtue consists in simplification by more or less perfect union with the Divine na

ture.

The grand error of the Alexandrian school consisted in mistaking the abstraction of the mind for the reality of existence. Abstract or absolute existence was the highest point to which their thoughts could reach. Next they blended their own consciousness with the abstraction they had formed, and then they regarded their own thoughts as equivalent to actual being. These are the very errors to be found at this day pervading the philosophy of Ger

59

many, and this confounding of consciousness with reality, has given rise to the absurdities and blasphemies which mark the philosophical systems of Fichté and Schelling. It is curious to observe how closely in its first principles this system approaches to that of Hinduism. The first being of the Alexandrians seems to coincide almost entirely with the first being of the Hindus; and the Triad of the one corresponds very closely with the Triad of the other.

The pernicious consequences of the introduction of this strange blending of light with darkness were soon apparent, in so far as Christianity was concerned. Many, deceived by the plausibilities of this human system of thought and opinion, were alienated from the divine religion of Christ, and even among Christians and Christian teachers there were rapidly apparent, both in their writings and oral instructions, in place of the pure and sublime doctrines of the gospel, an unseemly mixture of Platonism and Christianity.

ALEXANOR, a son of Machaon, and grandson of Esculapius, who built a temple in honour of his sire at Titane, in the territory of Sicyon. He himself, also, was worshipped there, and sacrifices were offered to him after sunset only.

ALEXIANS. See CELLITES.

ALEXICACUS (Gr. averter of evil), a surname given by the Greeks to Zeus, as warding off from mortals many calamities. The Athenians also worshipped Apollo under this name, because he was believed to have stopped the plague which raged at Athens during the Peloponnesian war. This surname was applied besides to Heracles and Neptune.

ALFADIR (All-Father) one of the names given to Odin, the Supreme Deity of the Scandinavians, in their poetical Edda. See Opin.

ALFAQUES, or ALFAQUINS, the term generally used among the Moors to signify their clergy, or those who give instruction in the Mohammedan religion.

ALFORCAN (Arab. distinction), a name given by the Mohammedans to the Koran, because, as they imagine, it distinguishes truth from falsehood, and what is just from what is unjust. Perhaps this name has been applied to the Koran as being a book distinct or separate, in their estimation, from every other book. See KORAN.

ALI, the son-in-law, and, in a certain sense, the successor of Mohammed. At an early age he embraced the doctrines of the Prophet, who invested him in the tenth year of the Hegira with the dignity of a missionary, and giving him a standard and putting a turban on his head, sent him forth to Yemen or Arabia Felix. Ali went at the head of three hundred men, defeated the idolaters, and converted them by the sword. From that time he continued to aid Mohammed in the conquest of the infidels, and to propagate, both by his eloquence and valorous achievements, the doctrines of the Koran. So successful, indeed, was he in his exploits

righteousness; others hold him in such veneration, that they may be said to deify him. The more mo derate among them say, that though he is not a divine being, he is the most exalted of human beings. The family of Ali was cursed by a long series of the Ommiades, who held the caliphate down to Omar, the son of Abdalig, who suppressed the malediction. Multitudes of the Mussulmans belong to the sect of Ali wherever Mohammedanism prevails; but particularly in Persia, and among the Persian portion of the Usbec Tartars. Some of the Indian sovereigns are of the sect of Ali. The descendants of Ali still continue to be distinguished by a green turban. See METAWILAH, MOHAMMEDANS, SCHIITES, SON

that he received the surname of the "Lion of God, always victorious." So high was the esteem in which the Prophet held Ali, that he gave him his daughter, Fatima, in marriage. Thus Ali was raised to high honour. He succeeded to the chief dignity of the house of Hashem, and was hereditary guardian of the city and temple of Mecca. He was present at the death of Mohammed, and, according to his previous instructions, embalmed his body. While the attendants were performing upon the dead body the ablution called WODHU (which see), Ali dipped some cloths in the water with which the body had been washed; and these cloths, which had imbibed the virtue of the water, he kept and wore, thus receiving, as he endeavoured to persuade the people, those remarkable qualities which characterized his father-in-law. It was, no doubt, the intention of Mohammed that Ali should succeed him in the government; but this wish was not immediately ful-purpose, except in cases of absolute necessity (See filled, as Abubeker, Omar, and Othman reigned before him. At length, however, he was proclaimed caliph, by the chiefs of the tribes and the companions of the Prophet, in the year of the Hegira 35, corresponding to A. d. 657.

The succession of Ali to the caliphate was opposed by Ayesha, the widow of Mohammed, who instigated Telha and Zobeir, two influential chiefs, to raise the standard of rebellion against the new caliph. Ali, however, obtained a complete conquest over the rebel chiefs, and having taken Ayesha prisoner, treated her with the utmost forbearance, and sent her back to the tomb of the Prophet.

NITES.

ALIENATION. Among the Jews it was understood, that whatever was dedicated to the service of God could not be alienated from that to any other

CORBAN). The same principle was adhered to in the early Christian church. The goods or revenues which were once given to the church, were always esteemed devoted to God, and, therefore, were only to be employed in his service, and not to be alienated to any other use, unless some extraordinary case of charity required it. Ambrose melted down the communionplate of the church of Milan to redeem some captives, who would have otherwise been doomed to perpetual slavery, and when the Arians charged him with having alienated sacred things to other than sacred purposes, he wrote a most conclusive defence of his conduct. Acacius, bishop of Amida, did the same for the redemption of seven thousand Persian slaves from the hands of the Roman soldiers. Deogratius, also, bishop of Carthage, sold the communion-plate to redeem the Roman soldiers who had been taken prisoners in war with the Vandals. This was so far from being regarded as sacrilege or unjust alienation, that the laws against sacrilege excepted this case alone. Thus the laws of Justinian forbid the selling or pawning the church plate, or vestments, or any other gifts, except in case of captivity or famine, to redeem slaves or relieve the poor, because in such cases the lives or souls of men were to be preferred before any vessels or vestments whatsoever. The poverty of the clergy was also a case in which the goods of the church might be alienated; so that if the annual income of the church would not maintain them, and there was no other source of provision whatever, in that case the council of Carthage allowed the bishop to alienate or sell certain goods of the church, that a present maintenance for the clergy might be raised. The alienation of lands for the use of convents is called MORTMAIN (which see). ALILAT (Arab. Halilah, the night). Herodotus

Although this first outburst of the rebellious spirit had been effectually quelled, the right of Ali to the caliphate was still disputed, and chiefly in consequence of his own imprudence. He had unhappily signalized the commencement of his reign by the removal of all governors from their offices. As might have been anticipated, a large and powerful faction arose, who pretended summarily to set aside the claims of Ali, and proclaimed Moawiyah caliph in his room. A war between the two opposing factions commenced without delay, and when the armies entered the field together, Ali proposed that the point in dispute should be settled by single combat; but Moawiyah declined the proposal. Several skirmishes took place, in which the loss on both sides was considerable. The contest for a long time raged between the two Mohammedan sects or factions, and although both the rival caliphs were assassinated A. D. 660, the two sects are to this day bitterly opposed to each other. The one called the Schiites in Persia, and the Metawilah in Syria, hold the imamship or pontificate of Ali as the heir and rightful successor of Mohammed; and the other, called the Sonnites, including the Turks and Arabs of Syria, maintain the legiti-informs us, that the Arabians anciently worshipped inacy of the first three caliphs, Abubeker, Omar, and Othman. Some of the followers of Ali believe that he is still alive, and that he will come at the end of the world in the clouds, and fill the earth with

|

the moon by this name, as being the queen of night. It has sometimes been alleged, and not without some probability, that the Mohammedans adopted the crescent as their favourite sign from the ancient re

ALIZUTH-ALLEGORISTS.

ligion of the Arabians, who worshipped the moon, and not from the circumstance that Mohammed fled from Medina to Mecca during the new moon. ALITTA, a goddess worshipped among the ancient Arabians, and identical with Mithra, the principal fire-goddess among the ancient Persians.

AL-JAHEDH, the founder of a sect among the Mohammedans, which maintained the Koran to be an animated being, sometimes a man, sometimes a beast. This opinion has been sometimes supposed to be an allegory, signifying that the Koran becomes good or bad according to the true or false exposition of it, and in this sense the most orthodox Mussulmans often say, that the Koran has two faces, that of a man, and that of a beast, meaning thereby the literal and spiritual sense.

AL-KADHA, a term used by the Mohammedans to denote the visit of consummation or accomplishment, and pilgrimage to Mecca, which Mohammed and his followers performed in the seventh year of the Hegira. At the distance of six miles from the town, they all took an oath to perform religiously all the ceremonies and rites prescribed in that visit. Leaving their arms and baggage outside, they entered the holy city in triumph, devoutly kissed the black stone or the Ka'aba, and went seven times round the temple. The three first rounds they made running, jumping, and shaking their shoulders, to show that they were still vigorous notwithstanding the fatigue of their journey. The other four rounds they walked sedately, not to exhaust themselves. This custom is kept up to this day. Having finished their seven rounds, prayer was proclaimed, and the Prophet, mounted on a camel, rode seven times between two hills, in which were to be seen at that time two idols of the Koraishites. The Mussulmans were shocked at the sight, but they were reconciled to it by a passage of the Koran, sent from heaven, in which God declared that these two hills were a memorial of him, and that the pilgrims who should visit them, should not be looked upon as guilty of any sin. The whole concluded with a sacrifice of seventy camels, and the Mussulmans shaved themselves. The custom of performing a pilgrimage to Mecca is still in use amongst the Arabs, who allege it to be as ancient as their ancestor Ishmael, and look upon it as a part of the religious worship practised by Abraham. See PILGRIMAGES.

AL-KELAM (Arab. the knowledge of the word), the scholastic and metaphysical theology of the Mohammedans. It treats of speculative points, such as the attributes of God, and is full of subtleties in reference to abstract notions and terms. This kind of theology was not much esteemed in the early history of Mohammedanism, till an Arabian began to teach that any doctor who should neglect the Koran or the Sonna, that is tradition, to apply himself to scholastic divinity or controversial wranglings, deserved to be impaled and carried about the town as a terror to others.

61

The Mohammedan scholastic theology is divided into four heads. The first treats of the nature and attributes of God. The second discusses predestination, free will, and other kindred subjects. The third contains the questions about faith and its efficacy, repentance, and other doctrines. The fourth inquires into the evidence of history and reason, the nature and force of religious belief, the office and mission of prophets, the duty of the Imains, the beauty of virtue, the turpitude of vice, and other kindred topics. The various disputes which have from time to time arisen on all the different points of their scholastic theology, have given rise to a large number of different sects and parties, all of whom adhere to the Koran as the standard of their faith. Among these may be enumerated the Ascharians, the Keranians, the Motazales, the Cadharians, the Nadhamians, the Giabarians, and the Morgians, all of which will be explained under separate articles. There are five principal sects of Mohammedans, which will also be described, viz., the Hanafees, the Shafees, the Malikees, the Hambalees, and the Wahabees. There are also two orthodox subdivisions, the Sonnites and the Schiites. See MOHAMMEDANS.

AL-KITAB (Arab. the book), a name given to the Koran, as the book, by way of eminence, superior to all other books. In the same way we speak of the sacred scriptures, as the Bible or Book.

ALLAH (Arab. God), the name of the Divine Being, corresponding to the Elohim and Adonai of the Hebrews, and derived from the Arabic verb alah, to adore. Mohammed, when asked by the Jews, idolaters, and Christians, what was the God he worshipped and preached to others, answered: Allah, the one only God, self-existent, from whom all other creatures derive their being, who begets not, nor is begotten, and whom nothing resembles in the whole extent of beings."

ALLAT, an idol of the ancient Arabians, before the time of Mohammed. It was destroyed by order of the Prophet, in the ninth year of the Hegira, notwithstanding the earnest entreaties of the inhabitants of Tayef, by whom it was worshipped, that it might be spared for a time. See MOHAMMED.

ALLEGORISTS, a class of interpreters of sacred scripture, who attach more importance to the spiritual than to the literal sense. There can be no doubt that within certain limits the allegorical sense is to be admitted. Thus, in Gal. iv. 24. we are expressly told of particular historical facts to which the apostle refers, that they are an allegory, that is, under the veil of the literal sense they farther contain a spiritual or mystical sense. We must not for a moment suppose, however, that Paul made the facts in question allegorical, but that he found them so. The distinction is important, and on this subject Bishop Marsh makes the following judicious remarks. "There are two different modes, in which Scripture history has been thus allegorized. According

« PreviousContinue »