48 Church-Hiftory of Bijhops and S. 3. But I muff not conceal from the Reader that Baronets and Dion,' Petavius fay, that Epiphanius is deceived in all this Hiftory, and maketh the cafeof the Meletians better than it was; and that fome Meletian-Itnave beguiled him : But, t They give us.no proof of any fuch knaves beguiling him at all Z. And hethat was fo apt to over-do in fufpeEtingand aggra- vating Herefies, (as inOr.gen's and Chryfoflome'sCafe,) was not likely to make the Cafe here fo muchbetter than it was : 3. And howmuch nearer was Epiphanius in time and place, than Baronies and Petavius ? and how carte was it then for him to have true noticeof fuch publick things ? q.. And if they make Epiphanius fo fallacious in fuch a ftory as this, fo near him, what a shake doth it give to the Credit ofhis copious Hiftory of the ma- nyother Herefies, which he had lefsopportunity toknow : and confequent- ly to the Credit ofmuch ofChurch-Hiftory? Yet I confefs, that the man feemeth not to be very accurate in his Difputes, nor all his Narratives; But rather by far tobe fuppe fed of making things worfe than they were, thanbetter. And I believe that force paflàges in this Hiftory are miftaken by him (asthat the Melerians joynedwith the Arians before thedeath of Alexander:)but that maketh their Cafe thebetter. Petavius faith alto, p. 286. Animad. in Epiph. Multum in Hiflora Meletii lapfam effe fsrprd vidimut ; Largias in ArianeFiarefas defcriptione peccavit vir alioqui diligentiffimu.s. And in his inftance of the time of Arias death it's undeniable. But if in fuch famous Hiftories, we inuft read him with fuch fufpicion and allowance, how much more in the many little ones that were more obfcure? S. 4. As to the Arians Herefie, the two Epiftles of Arius recorded by Epiphanius tell usmuch of the truthofhis miftake : And the Arians Argu- ments byhim are atlarge recorded and anfwered. He that denyeth the Deityof Chrift, denyeth his EfThnce : And he that denyeth hisEffence,de- nyeth Chrift, and is noChriftian. But the Samofarenians, the Photinians, and our lateSócinians, are far more pernicioufly Heretical than theArians. For the Arians maintained, that Tresflint hypoflafes, Pater, Filius & Spiritus Sanfless; and that God did ante fempiterna temporAunigenitum faliumgignere, per VIM! Ca fucu!a tr reliqua procreavit amnia; viz, fubfiflentem ilium fuapte voluntate condidi(fe, ejufmodi ut neque converti :segue matari pofJt, perfellam Dei creaturam, fed non tanquam rerum creatarum aliguam ; fatum itidem, fed non tanquam anum é cateris. They thought that before God made the reft of the creatures , he made one fuper-angelical perfec`ì Spirit, by which he made all the raft, and that this is Chrift; and that he received no other foul but a body only at his Incarnation, and this fuper angelical fpirit was his foul. Thiswas thedangerousherefie of Arius. §. 5. Dion. Petavius truly telleth us, that his great advantage was, that many of the Fathers of that Church hadfpoken in tech kind ofwords before him, theControverlebeing not then well confldered : p 285. ad Haref. 6q. having fpokenof Lucian, theMartyr's giving advantageto.A- rias, he addeth, Osumi idem plerifque vcterumPatrum cam in hoc negatio, tam in a!iis fides Chr f iana capitibas lift vent, ut ante errorum atque harefeon, qui- bus
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