The Galatian soil to their growth. whole lump' 'There be some that trouble you? It would even seem that there was a ringleader among the Judaizing teachers, marked out either by his superior position or his greater activity: 'He that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be". But howsoever they were disseminated, these errors found congenial in Galatia a congenial soil. The corruption took the direction which might have been expected from the religious education of the people. A passionate and striking ritualism expressing itself in bodily mortifications of the most terrible kind had been supplanted by the simple spiritual teaching of the Gospel. For a time the pure morality and lofty sanctions of the new faith appealed not in vain to their higher instincts, but they soon began to yearn after a creed which suited their material cravings better, and was more allied to the system they had abandoned. This end they attained by overlaying the simplicity of the Gospel with Judaic observances. This new phase of their religious life is ascribed by St Paul himself to the temper which their old heathen education had fostered. It was a return to the 'weak and beggarly elements' which they had outgrown, a renewed subjection to the 'yoke of bondage' which they had thrown off in Christ. They had escaped from one ritualistic system only to bow before another. The innate failing of a race 'excessive in its devotion to external observances" was here reasserting itself. To check these errors, which were already spreading fast, the Apostle wrote his Epistle to the Galatians. What effect his remonstrance had upon them can only be conjectured, for from this time forward the Galatian Church may be said to disappear from the Apostolic history. If we could be sure that the mission of Crescens, mentioned in the latest of St Paul's 1 Gal. V. 9. $ Gal. v. 10. See also iv. 17, vi. 12. 4 Gal. iv. 9 πῶς ἐπιστρέφετε πάλιν ἐπὶ τὰ ἀσθενῆ καὶ πτωχὰ στοιχεῖα οἷς πάλιν ἄνωθεν δουλεύειν θέλετε, and epistles, refers to the Asiatic settlement, there would be some ground for assuming that the Apostle maintained a friendly intercourse with his Galatian converts to the close of his life; Effect of the epistle but it is at least as likely that the mother country of the uncertain. Gauls is there meant'. Neither from the epistles of St Peter can any facts be elicited; for as they are addressed to all the great Churches of Asia Minor alike, no inference can be drawn as to the condition of the Galatian Church in particular. In the absence of all information, we would gladly believe that here, as at Corinth, the Apostle's rebuke was successful, that his authority was restored, the offenders were denounced, and the whole Church, overwhelmed with shame, returned to its allegiance. The cases however are not parallel. The severity of tone is more sustained in this instance, the personal appeals are fewer, the remonstrances more indignant and less affectionate. One ray of hope indeed seems to break through the dark cloud, but we must not build too much on a single expression of confidence', dictated it may be by a generous and politic charity which 'believeth all things.' 1 It is not idle, as it might seem at first sight, to follow the 2 Tim. iv. 10. 'Galatia' in this passage was traditionally interpreted of European Gaul. It is explained thus by Euseb. H. E. iii. 4, Epiphan. adv. Haeres. li. 11, p. 433, Jerome (?) Op. II. p. 960 (ed. Vallarsi), and by Theodore of Mopsuestia and Theodoret commenting on the passage. It is so taken also by those мss which read Talav for Γαλατίαν, for the former reading may be regarded as a gloss. Churches of Vienne and Mayence both claimed Crescens as their founder. The passage in the Apost. Const. vii. 46 Κρήσκης τῶν κατὰ Γαλατίαν ἐκκλησιῶν perhaps points to Asiatic Gaul, but is ambiguous. Later writers made Crescens visit both the European and the Asiatic country. A curious coincidence of names occurs in Boeckh Inscr. no. The 3888 Κρήσκεντα ἐπίτροπον Λουγδούνου 2 Gal. v. 10. Later heresies of the Galatian Church. stream of history beyond the horizon of the Apostolic age. The fragmentary notices of its subsequent career reflect some light on the temper and disposition of the Galatian Church in St Paul's day. To Catholic writers of a later date indeed the failings of its infancy seemed to be so faithfully reproduced in its mature age, that they invested the Apostle's rebuke with a prophetic import'. Asia Minor was the nursery of heresy, and of all the Asiatic Churches it was nowhere so rife as in Galatia. The Galatian capital was the stronghold of the Montanist revival, which lingered on for more than two centuries, splitting into diverse sects, each distinguished by some fantastic gesture or minute ritual observance. Here too were to be found 1 Euseb. c. Marcell. 1. p. 7 A woжep yаp θεσπίζων τὸ μέλλον αὐτοῖς Γαλάταις τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐξηκρίβου θεολογίαν, κ.τ.λ., Hieron, ad Gal. ii. praef. (vI. p. 427, ed. Vallarsi) ...quomodo apostolus unamquamqueprovinciam suis proprietatibus denotarit? Usque hodie eadem vel virtutum vestigia permanent vel errorum.' 2 An anonymous writer quoted by Euseb. H. E. v. 16. 3. Comp. Epiphan. Haer. xlviii. 14, p. 416. Hieron. 1. c. p. 430 'Scit mecum qui vidit Ancyram metropolim Galatiae civitatem, quot nunc usque schismatibus dilacerata sit, quot dogmatum varietatibus constuprata. Omitto Cataphrygas, Ophitas, Borboritas, et Manichaeos; nota enim jam haec humanae calamitatis vocabula sunt. Quis unquam Passalorynchitas et Ascodrobos et Artotyritas et caetera magis portenta quam nomina in aliqua parte Romani orbis audivit?' The Passalorynchites and Artotyrites were off-shoots of Montanism, the one so called from their placing the forefinger on the nose when praying, the other from their offering bread and cheese at the Eucharist: Epiph. Haeres. xlviii. 14 sq., p. 416 sq., Philastr. Haeres. lxxiv, lxxvi. In the word Ascodrobi there is perhaps some corruption. Theodoret, Haeret. Fab. i. 10, speaks of the Ascodrupi or Ascodrupitae, as a Marcosian (Gnostic) sect. Epiphanius, l.c., mentions Tascodrugitae as a barbarous equivalent to Passalorynchitae. Jerome however seems to have had in view the sect called Ascodrogitae by Philastrius, Haeres. lxxv. The account of Philastrius well exhibits the general temper of Galatian heresy: 'Alii sunt Ascodrogitae in Galatia, qui utrem inflatum ponunt et cooperiunt in sua ecclesia et circumeunt eum insanientes potibus et bacchantes, sicut pagani Libero patri...Et cum suis caecitatibus properant inservire, alieni modis omnibus Christianae salutis reperiuntur, cum apostolus dejiciat justificationem illam Judaicam carnalemque vanitatem.' After all allowance made for the exaggerations of orthodox writers, the orgiastic character of the worship of these sects is very apparent. The apostasy of St Paul's converts is still further illustrated by Philastrius' account of the Quartodecimani, lxxxvii; 'Alia est haeresis quae adserit cum Judaeis debere fieri pascha. Isti in Galatia et Syria et Phrygia commorantur, et Hierosolymis; et cum Judaeos sequantur, simili cum eis errore depereunt.' Ophites, Manichæans, sectarians of all kinds. Hence during the great controversies of the fourth century issued two successive bishops, who disturbed the peace of the Church, swerving or seeming to swerve from Catholic truth in opposite directions, the one on the side of Sabellian, the other of Arian error1. A Christian father of this period denounces 'the folly of the Galatians, who abound in many impious denominations".' A harsher critic, likewise a contemporary, affirms that whole villages in Galatia were depopulated by the Christians in their intestine quarrels3. From these painful scenes of discord it is a relief to turn to Final struggle a nobler contest in which the Galatian Christians bore their with Papart gallantly. A sketch of their final struggle with and victory ganism. over heathendom will fitly close this account of the first preaching of the Gospel among them. The Galatian Churches furnished their quota to the army of martyrs in the Diocletian persecution, and the oldest existing church in the capital still bears the name of its bishop Clement, who perished during this reign of terror. The struggle over 1 Marcellus and Basilius; Le Quien Oriens Christianus 1. p. 458. Eusebius wrote two elaborate treatises against Marcellus, which are extant. On the other hand, his orthodoxy was defended at one time by several of his Catholic contemporaries, but his reputation suffered from the more decided Sabellianism of his pupil the hæresiarch Photinus, likewise a Galatian. Basilius presided at the semi-Arian Synod of Ancyra, held in 358. See Hefele Conciliengesch. I. p. 655. 2 Greg. Naz. Orat. xxii. (1. p. 422 A ed. Ben.) ή Γαλατῶν ἄνοια πλουτούνα των ἐν πολλοῖς τῆς ἀσεβείας ὀνόμασι, doubtless alluding to St Paul's ȧvóŋroi Talára. Compare Basil. Epist. 237 (1. p. 365, sq. ed. Garnier), Hilar. de Trin. vii. 3 (11. p. 176, ed. Ben.). 3 The Emperor Julian's language (Epist. 52, speaking of Galatia and cer tain neighbouring districts) άρδην ἀνα- 4 Texier Asie Mineure i. pp. 195, Julian and peace restored, a famous council was held at Ancyra, a court-martial of the Church, for the purpose of restoring discipline and pronouncing upon those who had faltered or deserted in the combat'. When the contest was renewed under Julian, the forces of paganism were concentrated upon Galatia, as a key to the heathen position, in one of their last desperate struggles to retrieve the day. The once popular worship of the mother of the gods, which issuing from Pessinus had spread throughout the Greek and Roman world, was a fit rallying point for the broken ranks of heathendom. In this part of the Efforts of field, as at Antioch, Julian appeared in person. He stimulated the zeal of the heathen worshippers by his own example, visiting the ancient shrine of Cybele, and offering costly gifts and sacrifices there. He distributed special largesses among the poor who attended at the temples. He wrote a scolding letter to the pontiff of Galatia, rebuking the priests for their careless living, and promising aid to Pessinus on condition that they took more pains to propitiate the goddess. The Christians met these measures for the most part in an attitude of defied by fierce defiance. At Ancyra one Basil, a presbyter of the church, fearlessly braving the imperial anger, won for himself a martyr's crown. Going about from place to place, he denounced all participation in the polluting rites of heathen sacrifice, and warned his Christian brethren against bartering their hopes of heaven for such transitory honours as an earthly monarch could confer. At length brought before the provincial governor, he was tortured, condemned, and put to death. At Pessinus the Chris tians. 1 About the year 314; Hefele Conciliengesch. 1. p. 188. See the note on Gal. v. 20. 2 Ammian. xxii. 9, Liban. Or. xii, 1. p. 398, xvii. 1. p. 513 (Reiske). 3 Julian Epist. 49 ̓Αρσακίῳ ἀρχιερεῖ Talarías, preserved in Sozom. v. 16. The 'high priest' is mentioned in the Galatian inscriptions, Boeckh nos. 4016, 4020, 4026. Julian seems to have taken the worship of the mother of the gods under his special protection. An elaborate oration of his (Orat. 3) is devoted to this subject. Comp. Gregor. Naz. 1. p. 109 (ed. Ben.). 4 Sozom. v. II. The Acts of the Martyrdom of St Basil of Ancyra (Ruinart Acta Mart. Sinc. p. 510) are less exaggerated than most, and perhaps entitled to respect. |