book is sufficient to solve the question. His arguments

against the practice of the Chaldean astrologers of predict- ing man's life from his horoscope at the time of his birth are drawn from the pages of the sceptical philosopher, Sextus Empiricus, whom he follows so closely that his editors are able to rectify his text by reference to the parallel passage in Sextus. We are therefore probably safe in assuming, especially in view of the resemblances to the Alexander of Lucian which have already been noted, that Hippolytus' attack on magic is also largely indebted to some classical work, possibly to that very treatise against magic by Celsus to which both Origen and Lucian refer, or perhaps to some account of apparatus with which to work marvels like Hero's Pneumatics.
Turning back now to the subject of the witch of Endor, Justin we find that some of the church fathers agree with Origen ^,^Y ^^ rather than Tertullian that the witch really invoked Samuel, others on Before Origen' s time Justin Martyr in The Dialogue zvitJi of Endor. Trypho ^ had mentioned as a proof of the immortality of the soul "the fact that the soul of Samuel was called up by the witch, as Saul demanded." Huet, who edited the writ- ings of Origen, lists other Christian authors ^ who agreed
^ Cap. 105. Anastasius Antiochenus, '05riy6s,
*Leo Allatius "in syntagmate" quaest., 112; "et eorum quos lau-
De engastrimytho, cap, 7 ; Sulpicius dat Bellarminus liber IV de
Severus, Historia sacra, liber I; C/imfo, cap. 11."
470 MAGIC AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE chap.
with Origen on this question, and further informs us that the ancient rabbis were wont to say that a soul invoked with- in a year after its death as Samuel's was, would be seen by the ventriloquist but not heard, and heard by the person consulting it but not seen, an observation which suggests that Saul was deceived by ventriloquism, while by others present the ghost would be neither seen nor heard. Gregory Two ecclesiastics of the fourth century composed spe-
° dE^-^ cial treatises upon the ventriloquist or witch of Endor in stathius which they took the opposite view from that of Origen. the ven- The briefer of these two treatises is by Gregory of Nyssa •"■ tnloquist. Y^i^Q states, without mentioning Origen by name, that some previous writers have contended that Samuel was truly in- voked by magic with divine permission in order that he might see his mistake in having called Saul the enemy of ven- triloquists. But Gregory believes that Samuel was already in paradise and hence could not be invoked from the in- fernal regions; but that it was a demon from the infernal regions who predicted to Saul, "To-morrow you and Jona- than shall be with me," The longer treatise of Eustathius of Antioch is a direct answer to Origen's argument as its title, Concerning the Ventriloquist against Origen,^ indi- cates. Eustathius holds that it was illegal to consult ven- triloquists in view of Saul's own previous action against them and other prohibitions in Scripture, and that Origen's remarks are to be deplored as tending to encourage simple men to resort to arts of divination. Eustathius contends that the witch did not invoke Samuel but only made Saul think that she did, and that Saul himself did not see Samuel. Pharaoh's magicians similarly deceived the imagination with shadows and specters when they pretended to turn rods into snakes and water into blood. Eustathius does not agree with Origen that Samuel was in hell. He holds that the predictions made by the pseudo-Samuel were not impossible for a demon to make, and indeed were not strictly accurate,
^HeplT^s 'eyya
107-14.
XX OTHER CHRISTIAN DISCUSSION 471
since Saul did not die the very next day but the day after it, and since not only Jonathan but his three sons were slain with him.^ Furthermore, David was already so prominent in public affairs that a demon might easily guess that he would succeed Saul.
Gregory of Nyssa also composed a treatise, entitled Gregory Against Fate," in the form of a disputation between a pagan Agams^ philosopher and himself at Constantinople in 382 A. D. His ■^"^^• opponent holds that the life of man is determined by the con- stellations at his nativity, upon whose decree even conver- sion to Christianity would thus be made dependent. Greg- ory assumes the position of one hitherto ignorant of the principles of the art of astrology, of which the philosopher has to inform him, but on general grounds it seems very unlikely that he really was as ignorant as this of such a wide- spread superstition. Furthermore, he is sufficiently read in the subject to incorporate some of Bardesanes' arguments, of whose treatise both Gregory's title and dialogue form are reminiscent. Some of Gregory's reasoning, however, might well be that of a tyro and is scarcely worth elaborating here.
When the writer of the Gospel according to Matthew Astrology included the story of the wise men from the east who had birth of seen the star, there can be little or no doubt that he in- ^^nst. serted it and that it had been formulated in the first place, not merely in order to satisfy the ordinary, unlearned reader with portents connected with the birth of Jesus, but to secure the appearance of support for the kingship of Jesus from that art or science of astrology which so many persons then held in high esteem. To an age whose sublimest science was star-gazing it would seem fitting and almost inevitable that God should have announced the coming of the Prince of Peace in this manner, and the account in the Gospel of Mat- thew is in a sense an attempt to present the birth of Christ in a way to comply with the most searching tests of contem-
^ The King James version, First be with me," instead of "thou and Samuel, XXVIII, 19, reads, "and Jonathan." to morrow shalt thou and thy sons ^ Migne, PG, XII, 143-74.
472 MAGIC AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE chap.
porary science. But the early Christians were relatively rude and unlettered, and this effort to construct a royal horo- scope for Jesus is a crude and faulty one from the astrologi- cal standpoint. For this, however, the author of the Gos- pel and not the art of astrology is obviously responsible. As a result, however, of the Gnostic reaction against astrologi- cal fatalism or of an orthodox Christian opposition to both Gnostics and astrologers, most of the early fathers of the church denied that this passage implied any recognition of the truth of astrology and attempted to explain away its obvious meaning. In doing this they often made the crude and imperfect astrology of the Gospel a criterion for criti- cizing the art of astrology itself. Chrysos- Of patristic commentaries upon the passage in the Gos-
star of P^^ ^^ Matthew dealing with the Magi and the star of Beth- the Magi, lehem one of the fullest and most frequently cited by me- dieval writers is that attributed to Chrysostom. I say ''at- tributed," because in addition to his genuine sixth homily upon Matthew ^ there was generally ascribed to Chrysostom in the middle ages another homily which is extant only in Latin ^ and has been thought to be the work of some Arian. The famous St. John Chrysostom was born at Antioch about 347 A. D. and there studied rhetoric under the noted sophist Libanius. From 398 to 404 he held the office of patriarch of Constantinople; then he was exiled to Cappa- docia where he died in 407. One detail of his boyhood may be noted because of its connection with magic. When he was a lad, the tyrants in the city became suspicious of plots against them and sent soldiers to search for books of magic and sorcery. One of the men who was arrested and put. to death had tried to rid himself of the damaging possession of a book of magic by throwing it into the river. Chrysos- tom and a playmate later unsuspectingly fished an object out of the water which turned out to be this very book, and
* Migne, PG, LVI, 61, et seq. nomine circumfertur." Ibid., 602,
* Migne, PG, LVI, 637, et seq. et seq., for opinions of various Homily II, "Opus imperfectum in past writers as to its authenticity. Matthacum quod Chrysostonii
XX
OTHER CHRISTIAN DISCUSSION
473
when a soldier happened to pass by just then, they were very frightened lest he should see what they had and they should be severely punished for it.^
In his sixth homily upon Matthew Chrysostom recog- nizes the difficulties presented by the Scriptural account of the Magi and the star, and approaches the task of expound- ing it with prayers to God for aid. Some, he informs us, take the passage as an admission of the truth of astrology. It is this opinion which he is concerned to refute. He ar- gues that it is not the function of astronomy to learn from the stars who are being born but merely to predict from the hour of birth what is going to happen, which seems a quite fallacious distinction upon his part. He also criticizes the Magi for calling Jesus the king of the Jews, when as Christ told Pilate His kingdom was not of this world. He further criticizes them for coming to Christ's birthplace when they might have known that it would cause difficulties with Herod, the existing king, and for coming, making trouble, and then immediately going back home again. But these shortcomings would seem to be those of the Scriptural nar- rative rather than of the art of astrology, although of course Chrysostom is trying to make the point that the Magi had not foreseen what would happen to themselves. He fur- ther argues that the star of Bethlehem was not like other stars nor even a star at all," as was proved by its peculiar itinerary, its shining by day, its rare intelligence in hiding itself at the right time, and its miraculous ability in stand- ing over the head of the child. Chrysostom therefore con-
^Migne. PG, LX, 274-5, in the 38th homily on the Book of Acts.
^ On the other hand, D. Fried- rich Miinter, Der Stern der Wei- sen: Untersuchungen iiber das Geburtsjahr Christi, Kopenhagen, 1827, adopted the astrological theory that the star of Bethlehem was really a major conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in Pisces, which Jewish tradition, too, seems to have regarded as the sign of the Messiah, and that therefore Jesus was born in 6 B. C. This
view had already been advanced by Kepler, but recent writers seem to prefer a conjunction in Aries: see H. G. Voigt, Die Geschichte Jesu und die Astrologie, Leipzig, 191 1 ; Kritzinger, Der Stern der Weisen, Giitersloh, 191 1; von Oefele, Die Angaben der Berliner Planetcntafel P827g verglichen mit der GebiirtsgeschicJite Christi im Berichte des Matthdus, Berlin, 1903, in Mitteil. d. V orderasiati- schen Gesellschaft.
Sixth homily on Matthew.
474 MAGIC AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE chap.
eludes that some invisible virtue put on the form of a star. He thinks that the star appeared to the Magi as a reflection upon the Jews, who had rejected prophet after prophet, whereas the apparition of a single star was sufficient to bring barbarian Magi to the feet of Christ. At the same time he believes that God especially favored the Magi in vouchsafing them a star, a sign to which they were accustomed, as the mode of announcement. Thus he comes dangerously near to admitting tacitly what he has just been denying, namely, that the stars are signs of the future and that there is some- thing in the art of astrology. In short, the star appeared to the Magi because they as astrologers would comprehend its meaning. Chrysostom denies this openly and does his best to think up arguments against it, but he cannot rid his subconscious thought of the idea. The The other homily ascribed to Chrysostom repeats some
spurious q£ |-j^g points made in the genuine homily, but adds others. The preacher has read somewhere, perhaps in Origen where we have already met the suggestion, that the Magi had learned that the star would appear from the books of the diviner Balaam, "whose divination is also put into the Old Testament : *A star shall arise from Jacob and a man shall come forth from Israel, and he shall rule all nations.' " But the preacher does not state why it is any better to have such a prediction made by a diviner than by an astrologer. The preacher has also heard some cite a writing, which is not surely authentic but yet is not destructive to the Faith and rather pleasing, to the effect that in the extreme east on the shores of the ocean live a people who possess a writing inscribed with the name of Seth and dealing with the ap- pearance of this star and the gifts to be offered. This writing was handed down from father to son through suc- cessive generations, and twelve of the most studious men of their number were chosen to watch for the coming of the star, and whenever one died, another was chosen in his place. They were called Magi in their language because they glorified God silently. Every year after the threshing
XX OTHER CHRISTIAN DISCUSSION 475
of the harvest they climbed a mountain to a cave with de- lightful springs shaded by carefully selected trees. There they washed themselves and for three days in silence prayed and praised God. Finally one year the star appeared in the form of a little child with the likeness of a cross above it; and it spoke with them and taught them and instructeji them to set out for Judea.^ When they had set out, it went before them for two years, during which time food and drink were never lacking in their wallets. On their return they worshiped and glorified God more sedulously than ever and preached to their people. Finally, after the resur- rection, the apostle Thomas visited that region and they were baptized by him and were made his assistant preachers. This tale is indeed pleasing enough, and it saves the Magi from all imputation of magic arts and employment of demons and even denies that they were astrologers. But as a device to escape the natural inference from the Gospel story that the birth of Christ was announced by the stars and in a way which astronomers could comprehend it is cer- tainly far-fetched, and shows how Christian theologians were put to it to find a way out of the difficulty. The homily goes on to advance some of the usual arguments against astrology, such as that the stars cannot cause evil, that the human will is free, and that a science of individual horoscopes cannot account for all men worshiping idols before Christ and abandoning idolatry and other ancient customs thereafter, or for the perishing in the deluge of all men except the family of Noah, or for national customs such as circumcision among the Jews and incest among the Persians. Here we again probably see the influence of Bardesanes.
We have already noted that Origen seems to have been the first of the fathers to state the number of the Magi as
* Male, Religious Art in France, in the thirteenth century. We
1913, p. 208, was not able to trace shall, however, find it mentioned
the legend that the star of the in the twelfth century by Abelard,
Magi appeared with the face of a who derived it from this spurious
child beyond The Golden Legend homily of Chrysostom. compiled by James of Voragine
476
MAGIC AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE chap.
Number, names, and home of the Magi.
three, whereas the homily just considered imphes that there were twelve of them. Their representation in art as three in number did not become general until the fourth century,^ while the depiction of them as kings was also a gradual and, according to Kehrer, later growth.^ Bouche-Leclercq, citing an earlier monograph,^ states that the royalty of the Magi was invented towards the sixth century to show the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies,^ and that Bede is the first who knows their names. But Male says, "Their mysterious names are first found in a Greek chronicle of the beginning of the sixth century translated into Latin by a Merovingian monk," and are "Bithisarea, Melichior, Gathaspa." ^ The provenance of the Magi was variously stated by the Christian fathers : ® Arabia according to Justin Martyr, Epiphanius, and Tertullian or Pseudo-Tertullian; Persia according to Clement of Alexandria, Basil, and Cyril; Persia or Chaldea according to Chrysostom and Diodorus of Tarsus ; Chaldea according to Jerome and Augustine and the philosopher Chalcidius in his commentary upon Plato's Timaeus.'^ The homily which we were just considering gave the impression that they came from India.
In the middle ages the Magi appeared in liturgical drama
as well as in art. An early instance is a tenth century
lectionary from Compiegne, now preserved at Paris, ^ where
^ They are twice so represented creche {sic! see Luke, II, 12 and
on the elaborately carved Chris- tian sarcophagus in the museum at Syracuse, Sicily, where also the manger, ox, and ass are shown (compare note 4 below).
^ Hugo Kehrer, Die Heiligen drei Konige in Litlcratiir und Kunst, Leipzig, 1908, 2 vols. An earlier work on the three Magi is Inchofer, Tres Magi Evangelici, Rome, 1639.
*J. C. Thilo, Eusebii Alexan- drini oratio Hfpl iLarpovonoiv (prae- missa de magis et stclla qtiacs- tione) e Cod. Reg. Par. primum edita, Progr. Halae, 1834.
* A. Bouche-Leclercq, L'As- trologie grecque, 1899, p. 611, "La royaute des Mages fut inventee (vers le Vie siecle), comme la
16), le boeuf et I'ane pour mpn- trer I'accomplissement des prophe- ties."
" Religious Art in France, 1913, p. 214 note, following, I presume, Kehrer's work, as he does on p. 213.
° For detailed references see M (inter, Der Stern der Weisen, 1827, p. 15; and Bouche-Leclercq, 1S99, p. 61 r, where they are stated somewhat differently.
^ Comm. in Platonis Timaeum, II, vi, 125; quoted by Miinter (1827), pp. 27-8.
*BN 16819, fol. 49r. Corpus Christi 134, early 12th century, fol. I v., has a brief "Magorum trium qui Domino Infanti aurum obtulore nomina ct descriptio."
XX
OTHER CHRISTIAN DISCUSSION
A77
after homilies by various fathers there is added in a hand only slightly later the liturgical drama of the adoration of the Magi. In the later middle ages there came into exist- ence the History or Deeds of the Three Kings of Cologne, as the Magi came to be called from the supposed transla- tion of their relics to that city. Their bodies were said to have been brought by the empress Helena from India to Constantinople, whence they were transferred to Milan, and after its destruction by Barbarossa, to Cologne. This "fabulous narration," as it has well been entitled,^ also has much to say of the miracles of the apostle Thomas in India and of Prester John, to whom we shall devote a later chap- ter. It asserts that the three kings reached Jerusalem on the thirteenth day after Christ's birth by a miraculously rapid transit by day and by night of themselves and their armies to the marvel of the inhabitants of the towns through which they passed, or rather, flew.^ After they had re- turned home and had successively migrated to Christ above, another apparition of a star marked this fact.^ The treatise exists in many manuscripts ■* and was printed more than once before 1500.
'Cotton Galba E, VIII, isth century, fols. 3-28, Fabulosa nar- ratio de tribus magis qui Chris- tum adorarunt sive de tribus regibus Coloniensibus.
^ Cap. 12 in the 1478 edition.
^ Ibid., cap. 34.
*At Munich all the following MSS are 15th century: CLM 18621, fol. 135, Liber tritim regum, fol. 215, Legenda trium regum ex- cerpta ex praccedenti; 19544, fols. 314-49, and 26688, fols. 157-92, Laudcs et gesta trium regum, etc.; 21627, fols. 212-31, Historia de tribus regibus; 23839, fols. 112-37, and 24571, fols. 50-104, Gesta trium regumr,' 25073, fols. 260-83, de nativiiate domini et de tribus regibus. At Berlin MSS 799 and 800, both of the iSth century, have the Gesta trium regum ascribed to John of Hildesheim. So Wolfen- btittel 3266, anno 1461. The printed edition of 1478 in 46
chapters and about 30 folios is also ascribed to John of Hildes- heim. We read on the binding, "loannis Hildeshemensis Liber de trium regum translatione." The Incipit is : "Reverendissimo in Christo patri ac domino domino florencio de weuelkouen divina providencia monasteriensis ec- clesie episcopo dignissimo." The colophon is : "Liber de gestis ac trina beatissimorum trium regum translacione . . . per me Johan- nem guldenschoff de moguncia." Some other MSS, also of the 15th century, are : Vatic. Palat. Lat. 859, de gestis et translationibus trium regum, and at Oxford, Uni- versity College 2>2), Liber collectus de gestis et translationibus sanc- torum trium regum de Colonia; Laud Misc., 658, The history of the three kings of Cologne, in forty-one chapters with a preface. It is thus seen that the number of
Liturgical drama of the Magi: The Three Kings of Cologne.
478
MAGIC AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE chap.
Another homily on the Magi.
Priscil- lianists answered.
Finally we may note the contents of the homily on the Magi which immediately precedes the liturgical drama con- cerning them in the above mentioned tenth century lection- ary,^ The Magi are said to have come on the thirteenth day of Christ's nativity. That they came from the Orient was fitting since they sought one of whom it had been written, Ecce vir oriens. It was also fitting that Christ's coming should be announced to shepherds of Israel by a rational angel, to Gentile Magi by an irrational star. This star appeared neither in the starry heaven nor on earth but in the air ; it had not existed before and ceased to exist after it had fulfilled its function. Although he has just said that the star appeared in the air and not in the sky, the preacher now adds that when a new man was bom in the world it was fitting that a new star should appear in the sky. He also, in pointing out how all the elements recognized that their Creator had come into the world, states that the sky sent a star, the sea allowed Him to walk upon it, the sun was darkened, stones were broken and the earth quaked when He died.
Since the heretics known as Priscillianists have adduced the star at Christ's birth to prove that every man is born under the fates of the stars, the preacher endeavors to answer them. He holds that since the star came to where Jesus lay He controlled it rather than vice versa. Then follow the usual arguments against genethlialogy that many men born under the sign Aquarius are not fishermen, that sons of serfs are born at the same time as princes, and the
chapters varies. Coxe's catalogue of the Laud MSS states that the Latin original was printed at Cologne in quarto in 1481, and that it is very different from the version printed by Wynkyn de Worde. "The Story of the Magi," in Bodleian (Bernard) 2325, covers only folio 68. At Amiens is a MS which the catalogue dates in the 14th century and ascribes to John of Hildesheim, and its Incipit is practically that of the printed edition : Amiens 481, f ols.
1-58, "Reverendissimo in Christo Patri ac domino domino Floren- tino de Wovellonem (sic) divina providencia Monasteriensis ec- clesie episcopo dignissimo. Cum venerandissimorum triuni Ma- gorum, ymo verius trium Regum." The work ends in the MS with the words, ". . . summi Regis servant legem incole Colonic. Amen. Explicit hystoria."
^ BN 16819, lOth century, fols. 46r-49r.
XX OTHER CHRISTIAN DISCUSSION 479
case of Jacob and Esau. The star was merely a sign to the Magi and by its twinkhng illuminated their minds to seek the new-born babe. It seems scarcely consistent that a star which the preacher has called irrational should illuminate minds.
The homily goes on to say that opinions differ as to Number who the Magi were and whence they came. Owing to ^ the '^^ the prophecy that the kings of Tarsus and the isles offer Magi again. presents, the kings of the Arabs and Sheba bring gifts, some regard Tarsus, Arabia, and Sheba as the homes of the Magi. Others call them Persians or Chaldeans, since Chal- deans are skilled in astronomy. Others say that they were descendants of Balaam. At any rate they were the first Gentiles to seek Christ and they are well said to have been three, symbolizing faith in the Trinity, the three virtues, faith, hope and charity, the three safeguards against evil thoughts, words and works, and the three Gentile contribu- tions to the Faith of physics, ethics, and logic, or natural, moral, and rational philosophy. The preacher then indulges in further allegorical interpretation anent Herod and what was typified by the gifts of the Magi.^
* Marco Polo (I, 13-14, ed. Yule See also F. W. K. Miiller,
and Cordier, 1903, vol. I, 78-81), Uigurica, I, i, Die Anbetung der
who _ located the Magi in Saba, Magier, ein Christliches Bruch-
Persia, _ recounts further legends stuck , Berlin, 1908. concerning them and their gifts.