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The Ancient History of Universalism; From the Time of the Apostles, to Its Condemnation in the Fifth General Council, A.d. 553
The Ancient History of Universalism From the Time of the Apostles to Its Condemnation in the Fifth General Council Ad 553 Author:Hosea Ballou General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1829 Original Publisher: Marsh and Capen Subjects: Universalism History / General Religion / History Religion / Christianity / Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) Religion / Reference Religion / Christian Theology / Soteriology Notes: This is a bl... more »ack and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER II. [From A. D. 150, to A. D. 190.] A. D. 150. I. Heresies had now multiplied to such a number, and spread to such an extent, as to become troublesomea to the regular and approved churches; and several sects had . established separate communities, in distinction from the common body. Most of these were of the Gnostic kind, already described ; but there was one which, though small, deserves particular mention, as consisting of that part of the original church at Jerusalem, which continued to adhere, with unyielding tenacity, to the practice of the Mosaic rituals. This was the Nazarene, or Ebionite, sect, which is said to have held the simple humanity of Jesus Christ. But from the heretics, of all kinds, we return to a view of the doctrine and character of the orthodox. Many of the vulgar superstitions of the Gentiles began to prevail among them, concerning magic, the demons, and the poetical regions. of the infernal world ; and the Greek philosophy, which had begun to mingle with the doctrine of Christ, was rapidly modifying his religion to its own perverse genius. The credulity of this age was rank, and the learning of the day, at least that ofthe fathers, was too superficial to prove either a preventive or remedy. Apostolical tradition also began to be urged as proof, when it was so far lost or corrupted, that even they who had been disciples of the ...« less