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server of the sacred rites, which his master Plotinus regarded very little. I have placed Amelius at the year 263, because Porphyry i intimates, that he published little or nothing before the tenth year of Gallienus, when he had been eighteen years with Plotinus. This will suffice for his history.

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11. Moreover,' says Eusebius, in his Evangelical Preparation, Amelius, a celebrated philosopher among the moderns, and a great admirer of the Platonic philosophy, though he has not mentioned the evangelist's name, bears testimony to his doctrine, saying, in these very words; And this plainly was the Word, by whom, he being him'self eternal, were made all things that are, as Heraclitus 'also would say; and by Jove the same, whom the barbarian affirms to have been in the place and dignity of a principal, and to be with God, and to be God; by whom all things were made, and in whom every thing that was 'made has its life and being. Who descending into body, and putting on flesh, took the form of man; though even then he gave proof of the majesty of his nature; nay, and ' after his dissolution he was deified again, and is God, the 'same he was before he descended into body, and flesh, • and man.'

I suppose that all will agree with Eusebius, and other ancient christian writers, that by the barbarian' Amelius intended the evangelist John, and that he here refers to his gospel. He calls him barbarian,' because, though he wrote in Greek, that was not his native language, and he was of Jewish or Hebrew extraction; or, as Cyril1 expresseth it, he was a Hebrew of Hebrews, and not a Greek.

This passage of Amelius is a testimony to St. John's whole gospel, which, I think, he had read.

1 Ibid. cap. 4. p. 99. Et conf. cap. 3. p. 98.

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* Εικότως δητα και των νεων φιλοσοφων διαφανης γεγονως Αμελιος, ει και μη επ' ονόματος ηξίωσε το ευαγγελιζε Ιωαννε μνημην ποιησασθαι, επιμαρτυρεί δ' εν όμως ταις αυτε φωναις, αυτα δε ταυτα προς ῥημα γραφων. Και ετος αρα ην ὁ Λογος, καθ' όν αιει οντα τα γινόμενα εγινετο, ώς αν και ὁ Ηρακλειτος αξιώσειε και νη Δι' ὁν ὁ βαρβαρος αξιοι εν τη της αρχης τάξει τε και αξια καθεςηκοτα προς Θεον ειναι δι' 8 πανθ' απλως γεγενησθαι εν ᾧ το γενομενον ζων και ζωην, και ον πεφυκεναι και εις σωματα πιπτειν, και σαρκα ενδυσάμενον, φανταζεσθαι ανθρωπον μετα και τ8 τηνικαυτα δεικνύειν της φυσεως το μεγαλειον αμέλει και αναλυθέντα παλιν αναθεεσθαι και Θεον ειναι οιος ην προ το εις σωμα, και την σαρκα, και τον ανθρωπον καταχθειναι. Euseb. Pr. Ev. L. xi. cap. 19. p. 540.

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Βαρβαρον εν, ὡς γε οιμαι, γλωττης ταχα πε το έτεροθρεν της Ελληνων χωρας τε και γης.

τον θεσπεσιον Ιωαννην αποκαλεί, διατοι της Εβραιος γαρ ην εξ ̔Εβραίων, και εκ απο γε Cyr. contr. Julian. 1. viii. p. 283.

1. That he refers to the beginning of St. John's gospel is manifest. See ch. i. 1-4, and ver. 14.

2. He also says, 'that the Word, after he had de'scended into body, and had put on flesh, even then he gave proof of the majesty of his nature.' Here Amelius must refer to the great works performed by our Lord, as related in the following parts of that gospel.

3. Finally, Amelius says, that after his dissolution he was deified again, and was the same that he was before he descended into body.' Here, I think, he had in his eye John xvii. 5, " And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thy own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." And ch. xvi. 5, " But now I go my way to him that sent me, and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?" Comp. ch. xiv. 4—8; and xx. 17; and other places.

Upon the whole I cannot but think, that Amelius had read over St. John's gospel from the beginning to the end. This same passage is also quoted at length bym Cyril of Alexandria, in his answer to the emperor Julian.

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It is likewise quoted by Theodoret in his work against the gentiles; he introduceth it in this manner; Plutarch" • also and Plotinus had heard of the sacred gospels. This ' is apparent from Amelius, who presided in the school of Porphyry; for he greatly admires the proëm to John's theology, saying, in these very words: "And this plainly was the Word."

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Here is some inaccuracy. Amelius did not preside in the school of Porphyry; but he was an eminent man of the school of Plotinus, where Porphyry was also in great repute.

Theodoret from this passage of Amelius concluded, that • Plutarch and Plotinus were acquainted with our gospels.' It is, I suppose, no more than a probable supposition. Theodoret might be hence led to think as much of Plutarch; but we cannot affirm it. We see no proofs of it in his works; nor can we certainly say, that Plotinus was acquainted with our gospels, or had read them. But I suppose it may be reckoned certain, that he had heard of the christians, and had some knowledge of them. It is manifest from a passage of Porphyry, in his life of Plotinus,° which will be alleged in the chapter of Porphyry.

m Cont. Jul. 1. viii. p. 283. Και μεν δη και των θείων ευαγγελιων οτε Πλεταρχος και ο Πλωτινος ὑπηκεσάτην. Δηλοι δε τετο σαφως ὁ Αμελιος, της Πορφυρις πρώτευσας διατριβης. Υπεραγαται γαρ το της Ιωανν Geras y or Xeyr. K. λ. Theod. Gr. Att. Serm. 2. p. 500. T. iv Porphyr. de Vitâ Plotin. cap. xvi. p. 118. ubi supra.

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And it may be reckoned somewhat remarkable, that from the school of Plotinus we have so many testimonies to christianity. One of his disciples was Porphyry, who wrote so learnedly and so bitterly against the christians. Amelius, just quoted, who had read St. John's gospel, was another of the same school. And Longinus, from whom we shall also have a testimony, was well acquainted with those two disciples, and their master Plotinus. I think it may be hence concluded, that the learned men of that time had some knowledge of the christians. Their reading and considering the sacred books of the christians, depended upon their inquisitiveness, and openness to conviction, in things of religion.

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Augustine speaks of a Platonic philosopher, who 'greatly admired the beginning of St. John's gospel, and said, "It deserved to be written in letters of gold, and to be set up in the most conspicuous place in every church." Whether that Platonic philosopher was Amelius, or another, we cannot say certainly.

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Basil, in a homily upon the beginning of St. John's gospel, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," says, 'I have known 'many, who are aliens from the word of truth, and boast themselves of their worldly wisdom, who have admired this text, and have also dared to insert it in their own writings.' Basil does not name them, and therefore we cannot say who they were.

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Quod initium sancti evangelii, cui nomen est Secundum Joannem, quidam Platonicus, sicut a sancto sene Simpliciano, qui postea Mediolanensis ecclesiæ præsedit episcopus, solebamus audire, aureis literis conscribendum, et per omnes ecclesias in locis eminentissimis proponendum esse dicebat. De Civ. Dei, 1. x. cap. 29.

4 Ταυτα οιδα πολλες και των εξω τε λογο της αληθειας μεγα φρονέντων επι σοφις κοσμική, και θαυμασαντας, και τοις ἑαυτων συνταγμασιν εγκαταλέξαι Toλμŋσavras. Basil. hom. 16. in illud, in Principio erat Verbum. Tom. ii. p. 134. A. B. Edit. Bened. 1722.

CHAP. XXXIV.

LONGINUS.

I. His time and character. II. His testimony to the scriptures, with a curious observation upon a fragment ascribed to him.

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I. SAYS Suidas; Longinusa Cassius, a philosopher, 'master of Porphyry the philosopher, a man of great learning and exact judgment in things of literature. He flourished in the time of the emperor Aurelian, by whom 'he was put to death, as an accomplice with Zenobia wife ' of Odunatus.' After which Suidas mentions the titles of several of his works, and says, he wrote many others.

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Longinus Cassius. He is generally called Dionysius Longinus.

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Suidas says, he lived in the time of Aurelian, who did not begin to reign before the year of Christ 270, and by whom Longinus was put to death. Tanaquil Faber says, that Suidas would have expressed himself more accurately if he had said, that Longinus flourished under Gordian, Decius, Valerian, Gallienus, and Claudius.' For, indeed, the reigns of most of the Roman emperors about that time were very short. Tanaquil Faber adds: And thereforc Longinus was contemporary with Origen:' which also is another just observation. Photius says, that Longinus flourished in the time of Claudius, whose reign began in the year 268. I place him at the year of Christ 264, the twelfth of Gallienus; for he did not die before the year 273; and he could not then be young, as may be concluded from the number of his works; and he is always reckoned one of Porphyry's masters.

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Λογγινος ὁ Κασσιος, φιλοσοφος, διδασκαλος Πορφυριε τε φιλοσοφε, πολυμαθης και κριτικος γενόμενος. Ην δε επι Αυρηλιανε τε Καισαρος, και ανηρεθη ὑπ' αυτ8, ὡς συμπνες Ζηνοβία, τη Οδυνατε γυναικι. Suid.

b Tanaquilli Fabr. notæ ad Suidæ testimonium. Vid. Longin. ex editione Jac. Tollii.

• Itaque Origeni σvyxpovos fuit Longinus. Fab. ibid. And Longinus is reckoned by Porphyry among the other gentile writers, which had been read and studied by Origen. Vid. Euseb. H. E. 1. vi. cap. 19. p. 220. C.

d -επι Κλαυδιο δε ετος ηκμαξε. Phot. cod. 265. p. 1470.

His father's name is not known. • His

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mother was

Frontonis, sister of Fronto, of Emesa, the orator, who was ' at Rome in the time of the emperor Severus, and afterwards ' taught rhetoric at Athens; where he died when he was about sixty years of age, leaving f Longinus the critic his So says Suidas. Nevertheless Longinus did not lose his parents whilst very young; they accompanied him in his travels; as we learn from a letter of his to Marcellus, a part of which is preserved in Porphyry's Life of Plotinus ; whom he saw, and continued some while with Ammonius and Origen, probably meaning Ammonius Saccus, and our Origen, called Adamantius.

Learned men are not agreed about the place of his nativity. Some think he was an Athenian; others think it more likely, that he was born at Emesa in Syria, the place of his uncle's, and probably of his mother's nativity. His connexions with Zenobia, to whom he was master in the Greek language, and privy-counsellor, are proofs of his being in that part of the world in the latter part of his life; and there is a letter of his written to Porphyry, when in Sicily, desiring him to come to him in Phoenicia. In his excellent remaining work, Of the Sublime, he reckons himself among the Greeks; and so he might do, and be born in Syria; the people of that country being often called Greeks by ancient writers.

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Eunapius says, thatm Longinus was esteemed a living library, and walking museum. He had a kind of estab'lished authority to judge of ancient authors. If any man presumed to remark upon an ancient author, his sentence was not allowed of till the judgment of Longinus was known.' Porphyry° and Zosimus extol Longinus in the like manner.

e Suid. V. Φροντων, Εμισηνος.

f Και αδελφης Φροντωνιδος παιδα

οντα Λογγινον τον κριτικόν κληρονομον κατελιπεν. Suid. ut supr.

g ---8ς άπαντας μεν ὑπῆρξεν ιδειν ήμιν, δια την εκ παιδων επι πολλες τοπες άμα τοις γονευσιν επιδημιαν. De Vit. Plot. cap. 20. p. 127.

h Vid. ib. p. 128. i De patriâ Longini inter doctos multum disputatur; sed mihi quidem placet J. Jonsii conjectura, qui eum Atheniensem censet fuisse. Z. Pearce de Vitâ et Scriptis Longini, p. 1.

k Αξιων γαρ με απο της Σικελίας κατιέναι προς αυτόν εις την Φοινικην. κ. λ. Porph. de Vit. Plotin. cap. 19. p. 123. — — ει και ἡμιν ὡς

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'EXλnow εpeitai ti yivwokɛiv. K. λ. De Sublim. cap. xii, 6. p. 92. Tollii. Λογγινος δε κατα τον χρονον εκεινον βιβλιοθηκη τις ην εμψυχος, και περιπατεν μεσειον" και κρινειν γε τες παλαιες επετέτακτο. Eunap. de Vit. Porph. p. 16. - Και ει τις κατεγνω τινος των παλαιων, 8 το δοξασθεν εκράτει προτερον, αλλ' η Λογγινε παντως εκρατει κρίσις. Ib. p. 17. • Porph. de Vit. Plotin. cap. 14. p. 116. Cap. 21. p. 135.

» Zos. lib. i. p. 659.

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