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APOLLINARIS
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APOLLINARIS


the Laodicean thought that Christ was safe, His substantial unity secure, His moral immutability guaranteed, and the infinite value of Redemption made self-evitient. And in confirmation of it all, he quoted from St. John, i, 14 "and the Word was made flesh"; St. Paul, Phil., ii, 7, "Being made in the likeness of men and in habit found as a man", and I Cor., xv, 47 "The second man, from heaven, heavenly".

Doctrine of the Church.—It is to be found m the seventh anathema of Pope Damasus in the Coun- cil of Rome, 381. " We pronounce anathema against them who say tliat the Word of God is in the human flesh in heu and place of the human rational and in- tellective soul. For, the Word of God is the Son Himself. Neither did He come in the flesh to replace, but rather to assume and preserve from sin and save the rational and intellective soul of man." In answer to Apollinaris's basic principles, the Fathers simply denied the second as Manichsan. As to the first, it should be remembered that the Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon had not yet formulated the doctrine of the Hypostatical Union. It will then appear why the Fathers contented themselves with offering arguments in rebuttal, e. g. : (1) Scripture holds that the Logos assumed all that is human — therefore the πνεῦμα also — sin alone excepted; that Jesus experienced joy and sadness, both being properties of the rational soul. (2) Christ without a rational soul is not a man; such an incongruous compound, as that imagined by Apollinaris, can neither be called God-man nor stand as the model of Christian life. (3) What Christ has not assumed He has not healed; thus the noblest portion of man is excluded from Redemption. They also pointed out the correct meaning of the Scriptural passages alleged by Apollinaris, remarking that the word σάρξ in St. John, as in other parts of Holy Writ, was used by sjTiecdoclie for the whole human nature, and that the true meaning of St. Paul (Philippians and I Corinthians) was determined by the clear teaching of the Pastoral Epistles. Some of them, however, incautiously insisted upon the hmitations of Jesus' knowleilge as proof positive that His mind was truly human. But when the heresiarch would have taken them farther afield into the very mystery of the Unity of Christ, they feared not to acknowledge their ignorance and gently derided Apollinaris's mathematical spirit and implicit reliance upon mere speculation and human reasoning. The Apollinarist controvensy, which nowadays appears somewhat childish, had its importance in the history of Christian dogma; it transferred the discussion from the Trinity into the Christological field; moreover, it opened that long hne of Christological debates which resulted in the Chalcedonian symbol.

Batiffoi., Litterature grecque (Paris. 1898); VoisiN, Revue d'hisloire eccl. (Louvain, 1901); Dhaseke, Appollinaris von Ldodicca (Leipzig, 1892); Hergenrother — KiRSCH, Kitchen- geechichle (Freiburg, 1902). I; Rainy. The Ancient Catholic Church (New York 1902); Hauck-Hehzog, Realencycl. f. Prot. Theol. u. Kirche (3cl ed.) I, 671—76. Denzingeh, £71- chiridion (Wurzburg, 1895); Petavhis, Dogmata Theologica (Paris, 1867); Turmel, Histoire de la théologie positive (Paris, 1904).

J. F. SOLLIER.

Apollinaris, Saint, was one of the first great martyrs of the Church. He was made Bishop of Ravenna by St. Peter himself. The miracles he wrought there soon attracted official attention, for they and his preaching won many converts to the Faith, while at the same time bringing upon him the fury of the idolaters, who beat liiin crucllv and drove him from the city. He was found half dead on the seashore, and kept in concc;ilmont by the ('hristians, but was captured again and compelled to walk on burning coaLs and a second time expelled. But he remained in the vicinity, and continued his work of evangelization. We find him then journeying in the province of ÆEmilia. A third time he returned to Ravenna. Again he was captured, hacked with knives, had scalding water poured over his wounds, was beaten in the mouth with stones because he persisted in preaching, and then, loaded with chains, was flung into a horrible dungeon to starve to death; but after four days he was put on board ship and sent to Greece. There the same course of preach- ings, and miracles, and sufferings continued; and when his very presence caused the oracles to be silent, he was, after a cruel beating, sent back to Italy. All this continued for three years, and a fourth time he returned to Ravenna. By this time Vespasian was Emperor, and he, in answer to the complaints of the pagans, issued a decree of banish- ment against the Christians. Apollinaris was kept concealed for some time, but as he was passing out of the gates of the city, was set upon and savagely beaten, probably at Classis, a suburb, but he lived for seven days, foretelling meantime that the persecutions would increase, but that the Church would ultimately triumph. It is not certain what was his native place, though it was probably Antioch. Nor is it sure that he was one of the seventy-two disciples of Christ, as has been suggested. The precise date of his consecration cannot be ascertained, but lie was Bishop of Ravenna for twenty-six years.

Acta SS., 5 July.

T. J. Campbell.

Apollinaris, Saint, the most illustrious of the Bishops of Valence, b. at Vienne, 453; d. 520. He lived in the time of the irruption of the barbarians, and unhappily Valence, which was the central see of the recently founded Kingdom of Burgundy, had been scandalized by the dissolute Bishop Maximus, and the see in consequence had been vacant for fifty years. Apollinaris was of a family of nobles and saints. He was little over twenty when he was or- dained priest. In 486, when he was thirty-three years old, he was made Bishop of the long vacant See of Valence, and under his zealous care it soon recovered its ancient glory. Abuses were corrected, and morals reformed. The Bishop was so beloved that the news of his first illness filled the city with consternation. His return to health was miraculous. He was present at the conference at Lyons, between the Arians and Catholics, which was held in presence of King Gondebaud. He distinguished himself there by his eloquence and learning.

A memorable contest in defence of marriage brought Apollinaris again into special prominence. Stephen, the treasurer of the kingdom, was living in incest. The four bishops of the province commanded him to separate from his companion, but he appealed to the King, who sustained his official and exiled the four bishops to Sardinia. As they refused to yield, the King relented, and after some time permitted them to return to their sees, with the exception of Apollinaris, who had rendered him- self particularly obnoxious, and was kept a close prisoner for a year. At last the King, stricken with a grievous malady, repented, and the Queen in person came to beg Apollinaris to go to the court, to restore the monarch to health. On his refusal, the Queen asked for his cloak to place on the sufferer. The request was granted, the King was cured, and came to beg absolution for his sin. Apollinaris was sixty-four years old when he returned from Sardinia to Valence, and his people received him with every demonstration of joy. He ilicd after an episcopate of thirty-four years, at the age of sixty-seven, his life ending, as it had begun, in the constant exercise of the most exalted holiness.

Acta SS., October, III.

T. J. Campbell.