their Councils abridged. 51 "men of a dilfolute life : And therefore he underwent the greateft con- " tumefies, being exagitated by the hatred and malicious words of them all. "Buthe being thus toffed about, and beaten and reproached, did bear it "all with an equal mind ; and thus long continued in the Communion of the Church ; Till fome that were more vehemently offendedwith him for " thefe Caufes, caft him out : But yet he patiently bore all this, but being "more earneftly intent for the promoting ofthe Truth, he fä11kudied not "to be drawn away fromthe Conjun&ion and Society of the Catholick "Church. But when he and his fries -ids were Rill beaten, and fuffered un- " worthy ufage, groaning under thefe evils, he took Counfel ofthevio- ' fence of thefe calamities and contumelies : And fo he feparated himfelf 4 from the Church, and many fallingawaywith him, a new Divorce was "hereby made. For he did not in any thing depart from the right faith, "buthe with his partakers held inall things fincere Religion. Though in "one (mall matter they are to ítiff. About the Father, Son, and Holy "Ghoft they judg excellently, and as the Catholick Church, and fwervenot "a jot : and the reft of the order of their Lives is truly molt excellent "andadmirable; fo that notonly He himfelf, but even the Bifhops,Priefts, "and all the reft ofthem, liveby the labour oftheir hands. Indeed they had a conceit that theBody didpartakeofthe Image ofGod, and they thoughtthat to pleafe Conftantine, the NiceneCouncil hadaltered the Cuftom andTraditionof theChurch about Eafler : Butthefe were not the caufes of their departure from the Church, but the violence ofdiffolutt Bifhops, that caft them out, as being impatient of their ftriltnefs andop pofitionto their fin. §. 8. AboutEafler, faith Epiphanius, p. 821. Neque eruditis ignotum eft, painPapediverfis temporibus de dims fefli celebritate van i Eccleftaflica difci- plina tumultus ac contentiones obortrefint : prafertimPolycarpi an ViEtoris relate, ehm Orientalesab Occidentalibus divulfi, tacifleas Rfe invicem literasnullai acci. perent. guildidem & aliis temporibus accidit : velut Alexandri Epifcopi A- lexandriniCl- Crefcentii quemadmodum contra fe mutts() fcripferint - acerri- mepugnaverint. .Qua animorum opinionuonque diflraflio, ex quo femel;poft Epif copos i/os qui ex circumcifione ac fudaorum fella ad Chriflum fe converterant, agitari capit, adnoftra ufque tempora eodem eft tenore perduEta. Bywhich we fee, r. With what caution Tradition muff be trufted: 2. How early Bi_ (hops began todivide theChurch about things indifferent. S. 9. Thatmen that all, inthe main, fear God, Ihould thuscontend, a- bufe, and perfecuteone another, is fad, and bath even been ahardening oflnfidels : But, alas, the remnant of corruption in the beft.will fomewhat corrupt their converfations. It is a fad noteofEpiphanies,, ib. p. 816. f" I "have known force of the Confeffours, who delivered up Body andSoul "for their Lord, and perfeveringin confefCionand chaftity, obtainedgreat- " eft fincerity offaith, and excelledinpiety, humanity,, and Religion, and "were continual in faftings, arid ina word, did flourifh in all honeftyand "virtue : yet the fame men wereblemifhed with force vice ; as either they H z "were
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