MELETIANS

There were in the fourth century two schisms called Meletian . 1. The Meletians of Egypt had their name from Meletius, a bishop of Lycopolis, the second of the Egyptian sees in dignity. It has been most commonly supposed that Meletius sacrificed to the heathen gods in a persecution about the year 301, or perhaps in the last general persecution a few years later. But there seems to be reason for supposing that the occasion of his schism was of an opposite kind—that he objected to the lenity with which Peter, bishop of Alexandria, treated those who had lapsed in the persecution; and this explanation agrees better with the character of the sect, who rejected all from their communion, who in time of persecution fell from Christ , though they afterwards repented. Meletius proceeded to ordain bishops, and at one time had nearly thirty of these in his communion. He was prohibited for ever to ordain by the Council of Nice, but his followers were admitted to communion without re-ordination. He submitted to this at first, but afterwards resumed his practice of schismatical ordinations. The Arians attempted to draw the Meletians into a connexion with them, on the ground of their common enmity to the orthodox bishops of Alexandria; and thus the schismatics whose original difference with the Church had been limited to questions of discipline, became infected with heresy. 2. The Meletians of Antioch were so called from Meletius, who in 360 was appointed to the bishopric of that city. Although he owed his appointment to the Arians, he soon showed that he was orthodox; whereupon he was deposed and banished. He afterwards recovered his see, but the adherents of Eustathius, who had been deposed by the Arians many years before, refused to communicate with him; and Lucifer, bishop of Cagliari, by ordaining Paul in us in opposition to him, contributed to exasperate the differences of the orthodox. The schism of Antioch was not finally healed until the year 415.