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298 Credibility of the Gospel History.
St. Chrysostom observes of the Manichees, that' they had
an appearance of modesty, but they hid the wolf under
sheep's clothing.
It appears, from divers things said by St. Jerom, that the*
Man icli€es were great fasters, and that they had among them
many virgins, persons who professed to live a chaste and
single life. The gay ladies of his time endeavoured many
ways to put a good face upon their luxurious course of life :
sometimes they" said: " To the pure all things are pure."
And if at any time they met a woman who looked pale and
sad, they would say :
' Ah child, thou art a nun, or a
' miserable Manichee, I suppose.'
Jerom, commenting upon Amos iii. 15, " And I will smite
the Avinter-house Avitli the summer-house," says, that ' by
' the" winter-house may be understood those heretics that
' mortified themselves with fasting and abstinence, who fared
' hard and lodged hard, such as Tatian, and Mani, and their
' followers : the summer-house may denote the Nicolaitanes
' and other heretics, who indulged their appetites, and lived
' in all manner of excess.' And upon Joel i. 14, " Sanctify
' ye a fast," he has these words :
' Mani" and Tatian, and
' many other heretics fast, but their fasting is worse than
' gluttony and drunkenness.' Once more the same ancient
and learned writer declares :
' Virgins, such'' as are said to
' be among divers heretics, and even among the impure
' Manichees, are to be esteemed whores, not virgins.' Such
is the unhappiness of heresy which turns virtues into vices!
It is true, however, that the Manichees fasted and lived
chastely ; but their great abstinence and virginal chastity
were of no value.
Chrysostom expresseth hmiself in the like manner. He
* Kai yap oi Mavixaioi— to ffxVf*« /''f iiriStiKvvvrai tTruiKiag,— /cat Kara-
KpvTTTHai TT] Sopu Ts TTpofiaTH Tov XwKOv. Ill Gen. SeriTi. 7. p. 680. B. ed.
Buned. ' Attjue utinain oinni tempore jujimare possimiis,
Ncc tamen Manichsene haereseos accusandi sunt, r|uuni carnalis cibus prieferri
non debuerit spirituali. Ad Lucin. Ep. 52. [al. 28.] T. 4. p. 579.
" Istae sunt, qua; solent diceie : Omnia munda raundis.—Et quam viderint
pallentem atque tristem, miseram monacham, et Manichaeam vocaat. De
Custod. Virt,^ Ep. 18. [al. 22,] p. 32. f.
' Et percutiet domum hiemalem ; eos haereticos, qui laborant continentia
et jejuniis, xerophagiis, chamteeuniis, e quibus Tatianus et Manichaeus. Et
domum !e>tivam, ut Nicolaitas,— qui, propter ventris ingluviem, omnem recipiunt
voluptatem. In Amos 1. i. T. 3. p. 139G. in.
* Jejunat Manichaeus, et multi haeretici, maximeque Encratitae, quorum
princeps Tatianus. Sed hoc jejunium saturitate et ebrietate deterius est. In
" Caeterum virgines, quales apud
Joel. cap. i. ib. p. 1345. f.
diversas haereses, et quales apud impurissimum Manichajum esse dicuntur,
scorta sunt aestimandao, non virgines. De Custod. Virg Ep. 18. T. 4. p. 47.
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