Chapter VIII.—Blastus, Two Theodoti, Praxeas.

In addition to all these, there is likewise Blastus, who would latently introduce Judaism. For he says the passover is not to be kept otherwise than according to the law of Moses, on the fourteenth of the month. But who would fail to see that evangelical grace is escheated if he recalls Christ to the Law?

Add to these Theodotus the Byzantine, who, after being apprehended for Christ’s Name, and apostatizing,82    Negavit. See de Idol. c. xxiii. note 1. ceased not to blaspheme against Christ.  For he introduced a doctrine by which to affirm that Christ was merely a human being, but deny His deity; teaching that He was born of the Holy Spirit indeed of a virgin, but was a solitary and bare human being,83    Hominem solitarium atque nudum. The words seems to mean, destitute of anything superhuman. with no pre-eminence above the rest (of mankind), but only that of righteousness.

After him brake out a second heretical Theodotus, who again himself introduced a sister-sect, and says that the human being Christ Himself84    Et ipsum hominem Christum tantummodo. I rather incline to read, as in the preceding sentence, “et ipse”: “and himself affirms Christ to have been merely human, conceived alike,” etc. was merely conceived alike, and born, of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, but that He was inferior to Melchizedek; because it is said of Christ, “Thou art a priest unto eternity, after the order of Melchizedek.”85    See Ps. cx. 4, and the references there. For that Melchizedek, he says, was a heavenly Virtue of pre-eminent grace; in that Christ acts for human beings, being made their Deprecator and Advocate:  Melchizedek does so86    The Latin here is very careless, unless, with Routh, we suggest “et” for “eo,” and render: “and that what Christ does,” etc., “Melchizedek does,” etc. for heavenly angels and Virtues. For to such a degree, he says, is he better than Christ, that he is ἀπάτωρ (fatherless), ἀμήτωρ (motherless), ἀγενεαλογητον (without genealogy), of whom neither the beginning nor the end has been comprehended, nor can be comprehended.87    See Heb. vii. 1–3.

But after all these, again, one Praxeas introduced a heresy which Victorinus88    Who he is, no one knows. Oehler (following the lead of Fabricius on Philaster, cap. 49, p. 102) believes the name to be a mistake for Victor, a bishop of Rome, who (see Adv. Prax. c. i.) had held the episcopate when Praxeas was there. His successor was Zephyrinus; and it is an ingenious conjecture of Oehler, that these two names, the one written as a correction of the other, may have been confused: thus, Victor/Zephrynus; and thus of the two may have been made Victorinus. was careful to corroborate. He asserts that Jesus Christ is God the Father Almighty.  Him he contends to have been crucified, and suffered, and died; beside which, with a profane and sacrilegious temerity, he maintains the proposition that He is Himself sitting at His own right hand.89    The form and order of the words here used are certainly remarkably similar to the expressions and order of the “Apostles’ Creed.”

VIII.

Denique Blastum, Theodotum utrumque, Praxean et Victorinum.

Privatam autem blasphemiam illi qui sunt κατὰ Aeschinem, hanc habent, qua adjiciunt etiam hoc, ut dicant Christum ipsum esse Filium et Patrem. Est praeterea his omnibus etiam Blastus accedens, qui latenter judaismum vult introducere. Pascha enim dicit non aliter custodiendum esse, nisi secundum legem Moysi, XIV. mensis. Quis autem nesciat, quoniam evangelica gratia evacuatur, si ad legem Christum rediget? Accedit his Theodotus haereticus 0072C byzantius: qui posteaquam Christi pro nomine comprehensus negavit, in Christum blasphemare non destitit. Doctrinam enim introduxit, qua Christum hominem tantummodo diceret, Deum autem illum negaret; ex Spiritu quidem Sancto natum ex virgine, sed hominem solitarium, atque nudum, nulla alia prae caeteris, nisi sola justitiae auctoritate. Alter post hunc Theodotus haereticus erupit, qui et ipse introduxit alteram sectam, et ipsum hominem Christum tantummodo dicit ex Spiritu Sancto, ex virgine Maria conceptum pariter et natum; sed hunc inferiorem esse 0073A quam Melchisedech, eo quod dictum sit de Christo: Tu es sacerdos in aeternum secundum ordinem Melchisedech (Ps. CIX, 4). Nam illum Melchisedech praecipuae gratiae coelestem esse virtutem: eo quod agat Christus pro hominibus, deprecator et advocatus ipsorum factus. Melchisedech facere pro coelestibus angelis atque virtutibus, nam esse illum usque adeo Christo meliorem, ut apator sit, ametor sit, agenealogetus sit, 0074A cujus neque initium, neque finis comprehensus sit aut comprehendi possit. Sed post hos omnes etiam Praxeas quidam haeresim introduxit, quam Victorinus corroborare curavit. Hic Deum Patrem omnipotentem Jesum Christum esse dicit; hunc crucifixum passumque contendit et mortuum: praeterea seipsum sibi sedere ad dexteram suam, cum prophana et sacrilega temeritate proponit .