20. The letter to Basilides on several points of ecclesiastical order
(the larger portion of which is given on pp. 76 ff.) is a model of what
such episcopal utterances should be: it definitely states which is the
highest and best course, but leaves the decision to the individual
conscience. But it is to the general correspondence (pp. 35 ff.) that the
bulk of English readers will probably turn, and that deals with a large
variety of subjects: in some cases theological matters like Novatianism
and the baptism of heretics are discussed; in others there are
descriptions of the martyrdoms of his time at Alexandria and his own
personal experiences under persecution, all told with a vividness and a
sobriety eminently characteristic of the man: others are addressed to
persons or districts in his province, especially at Eastertide, treating
of matters of local and temporary importance, while one or two incidents
which he records are of much value as illustrating church customs and
manners of the period (_e. g._ the case of Sarapion on p. 42, prayers for
the Emperors on p. 47, matters connected with the celebration of Holy
Baptism and Holy Communion on p. 59).
In his controversy with the Sabellians, as we have already remarked, some
of the expressions and figures employed were insufficiently guarded or
explained and so laid Dionysius open to criticism: but we must remember
how much more easy it is for us, who have the benefit of subsequent
history and experience, to see this and to correct it, than it was for
him and for his contemporaries to grope their way, as they slowly but
surely did, under the Divine guidance to a fuller knowledge and a more
accurate statement of the truth.
21. It is further to be noticed how very seldom, if ever, Dionysius
offends against the principles of good taste either when attacking
opponents, or when describing horrors, or when dealing with the mysteries
of the Faith. In controversy he always displays an admirable moderation
and sweetness of tone, which is the more remarkable because his
convictions were strong and definite. This is especially to be observed
in his treatment of Novatianus the intruder (see p. 50), in his criticism
of the deceased Nepos of Arsenoe (see p. 82), and to a less extent in his
defence of himself against the charges of Germanus (see p. 43). Even when
he has to speak of one whom he believes to have done him wrong, like the
Prefect Æmilianus (p. 48), or of one whom his soul abhors like Macrianus
(p. 68), his language is mild in comparison with that of many in similar
circumstances. So, too, when he takes upon himself to describe the
tortures and deaths of the martyrs (pp. 35 f.), or the ravages of
pestilence (p. 74), he indulges in but few ghastly or revolting details,
though his narrative is always lively and thrilling. And once more when
he deals with such a subject as the Eternal Sonship of our Lord, or, if
the passage (not here given) be authentic, His Death and Passion, the
same good taste and restraint of language is to be observed.
22. Dionysius's literary style is excellent for the age in which he
lived, and so far confirms the truth of the statement that he had been a
master of rhetoric before his conversion. He gives evidence of having
read widely and to good purpose both in classical and in religious
literature. As to the former, he actually quotes from or refers to Homer,
Hesiod, Thucydides, Aristotle, and Democritus: but his language is really
saturated with classical uses, and a large number of the words and
phrases which he employs recall the best writers of antiquity. His
compositions exhibit signs of much care in production, notably the
treatise _On Nature_ ({peri Physeôs}) and the two Easter letters, to the
Alexandrians and to Hierax (pp. 70 and 73). Here, and to a somewhat less
degree in the letter to Hermammon (pp. 65 ff.), he writes in a more
rhetorical and elaborate manner than in most of the other fragments which
are extant, but even in these passages he is seldom fantastic, or
stilted, or obscure; whilst in pure narrative or simple description (_e.
g._ in the letters which record his own or others' sufferings and in the
treatise _On the Promises_ ({peri Epangeliôn})), his language could
hardly be more unaffected or better chosen.