=56=: 7. =Heretical creed.= The Arians were followers of Arius of
Alexandria, who boldly denied the Divinity of Jesus Christ. The heresy
was condemned by the Council of Nice, 325 A.D., but its baneful effects
were widely felt for centuries.
=56=: 15. =Apocalypse.= Wonderful revelations made to St. John at Patmos
concerning the Church, the final judgment, the future life.
=57=: 21. =The Vandals.= A barbarian race of Southern Germany, who in
the fifth century ravaged Gaul, Spain, Italy, and Northern Africa.
=59=: 13. =Montanists.= A sect of the second century that believed in
Montanus as a prophet, and in the near advent of Christ to judge the
world.
=60=: 31. (_a_) =The prophet.= (_b_) =Jeroboam.= (_a_) Ahias. (_b_) The
first king of Israel after the separation of the tribes; a man perverse
and irreverent in his relations with God and subject.
=59= to =70=. =The argument.= The apology for flight in times of
religious persecution, made by Athanasius, the great bishop of
Alexandria, fourth century, and the cogent argument against it of
Tertullian, a celebrated writer of the second century, show how
circumstances, above all, Divine inspiration, justify opposite lines of
action. St. Augustine's letter, written in his strong and luminous
style, reconciles the two points of view.
=71= to =74=. =The misery of irreligion.= A profound analysis of the two
classes of men without religion,--the one distorted, brutalized, and
deadened; the other confused, wild, and hungering after what is to them
indefinable, yet alone satisfying. Compare in its source, tenor, and
effect the unhappiness of the "popular poet" Byron and that of
Augustine.
=76=: 8. =St. Monica.= One of the greatest women of all times; a model
of faith, constancy, and maternal love.
=79=: 23. =Christianity a philosophy.= Such it is accounted by many
modern thinkers who, in spite of clear, full evidences of its divinity,
affect to doubt or deny altogether the supernatural. These reduce the
Gospels to a code of ethics, and regard Christ as merely a teacher of
morality; the earnestness of Augustine would lead them by a short road
to recognize and worship God in Jesus Christ.