The sun., 1909-02-07


brought from Ephesus was Thiladelphia'
We know from Pliny the Younger that In
the carly part OF the second century
A. D. there were a good many Christians
in the province OF Pontus- Bithynia. That
many converts had been made by Pau
In Galatia we know from his Epistlo tc
the Galatians. There were Jewish
churches also In Ciliois, but no missionary
work seems to have been done by Paul
in Cappadocia.
VI.
The article on st. Augustine. which ID
one Of the most interesting in the first
volume Of this encyclopaedia, was written
by DR.. F. A. Loofs. professor OF church
history in the University Of Halle. The
writer points out that Augustine is the
first ecclesiastical author tho whole
course Of whose development can be
clearly traced-thanks mainly 70 his
autobiography. His father. Patricius.
seems to have been lively. sensual. hot
tempered person. fairly taken UP with his
worldly concerns. and unfriendly to Chris
tianity until the close Of his life; no be-
came q catechumen, however, shortly
before Augustine reached his sixteenth
year "a. d. 38e). To his mother. Mon
nioa, Augustine believed that he owed
what he became. OF Augustine as boy
his parents were intensely proud. He
received his early education at Thagaste.
a town in proconsular Numidia. where
his father was a member Of the municipal
council. There he learned to read and
write. as we'll as the rudiments OF Greek
and Latin literature. Subsequently he
was sent TO Madaura. and still later be-
gan the study Of rhetoric at Carthage.
There 10 no doubt that here he indulged
in sensual pleasures, but his ambition
prevented him from allowing his dissi-
pations to interfere with his work. Prof.
Loofs thinks that to speak as Mommsen
does OF Augustine's frantic dissipations'
10 TO attach too much weight to his own
later expressions Of self-reproach. He
seems, as a matter OF fact. to have been
known TO Carthage not as roysterer but
as a quiet. honorable student. 1t is GER
tain, however. that he was internally
dissatisfied with his life. For time his
pride OF intellect held him back from en-
bracing Christianity; the Scriptures, he
thought, could not bear comparison with
Cicero; he sought Tor wisdom, not for
humble submission to authority. In this
frame OF mind he was ready to be affected
by the Manichean propaganda, which
was then being carried on actively in
Africa. Augustine held firmly to Mani
cheanism for nine years.
Having finished his studies he returned
10 Thagaste, where he began TO teach
grammar, but about year later a desire
for a wider field moved him to return 70
Carthage as a teacher Of rhetoric. After
his Manichean convictions began to break
down he left Carthage for Rome. whence
he proceeded TO Milan. where he listened
regularly to the sermons Of st. Ambrose.
He was not definitely converted 10 ortho-
dox Christianity. however. until A. ID.
3ss. When presently he returned 10
Africa he was a very different man from
the Augustine who had left it five years
before. About the beginning Of SOL he
cooperated with friend to found monss-
terry in Hippo and was ordained pres
byter in response 10 a general demand.
Four years later he was made Bishop
Coadjutor Of Hippo. A complete account
OF Augustine's doings during the thirty
Ave years in which he was the glory OF
his small diocese would require history
Of the African, almost Of the whole West
ern church. Prof. Loofs attempts TO do
no moro than briefly TO discuss some
things which constitute his Importance
to later Christianity and to mention q
few salient biographical facts.
There is no doubt that Augustines
writings have continued to exert an infiu-
ence by no means confined to the time OF
the early Church. nor to African soil, such
ss no other father before or since has ever
exercised. II is true that Catholicism has
never officially accepted his doctrine OF
grace in its entirety. but DR.. Loofs deems
this feet Of relatively slight Importance
when we think Of the colossal influence
which his writings have had upon the
gradual shaping Of the Church's doc
trine as a whole There is. indeed
scarcely a single Roman Catholic dogma
which is historically intelligible without
reference 10 his teachings. Nor is II
only the dogmas OF the Western Church
over which Augustine has ererted an un-
paralleled influence; its hierarchioal and
its scientific developments were to large
extent shaped by him. THE great strug-
gle between the rival chiefs Of medieval
Christendon,. the Pope and the Emperor,
is explicable in its deepest meaning and
Ineligible in it's course only by means OF
his De Civitste Del When mediaval
theology was most active, then il was most
under his influence; and the scholastic
movement was determined not only in
it's speculations but in it's very methods
by him" Then again. although the effect
Of his teaching in the East has been but
slight and indirect. the Protestant Re-
formers mcde en- ally Of him. The char
ecteristic notes OF what are specifically
called the Reformed Churches in contra
distinction TO the Lutheran are especially
founded upon Augustinisn traditions
an the history Of philosophy. too. he has
been q force far beyond the Middle Ages
in both Descertes and SpinoZa his voice
may be heard distinctly"
VII.
The articles on Assyria and Babylonis
have been written for this encyclopedias
by Mr.. George William Gilmore, formerly
lecturer on comparative religion in Ban
gor Theological Seminary. They may
fairly be said to havc been brought down
to date. As Mr.. Gilmore says, 1t seems
at frat sisht inconseuuent that excava.
tions in Syria and Babylonia should be
the result Of the discovery and partial
decipherment Of inscriptions from a local