These chiefs, then holding such games at Ephesus, out of friendly consideration for Paul, restrained him from appearing, as he proposed, in the theatre, during the sedition raised by Demetrius, the goldsmith, respect- ing Diana of Ephesus (Acts xix, 31). The considera- tion of these asiarchs for the Apostle Paul, during the tumult, is not only extremely honorable to his charac- ter and to theirs, but is also a strong confirmation of the remark made by the evangelist (ver. 10), that "all they who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks" (see Conybeare and Ilowson, ii, 86). It shows also in what light the tumult of De- metrius was beheld, since he took especial care to observe that "all Asia" worshipped their goddess. Yet were the very asiarchs, now engaged in this wor- ship, intent on saving the man whom Demetrius repre- sented as its most formidable enemy (Carstens, De Asiarchis Paulo quondam amicis, Lubee. 1744). See generally Salmas. ad SoL'n. 40, p. 566 ; Van Dale, Dis- sert, ad antiq. et marmor. p. 273 sq. ; Carstens, Meditat. gubseciv. spec, ii (Lubec. 1744); Ziebich, Observ. e nu- mis antiq. sacr. (Viteb. 1745), p. 36 sq. ; Smith's Diet. of ('hiss. Ant. s. v.; and the treatises De Asiarchis, of Boysen (Hal. 1716), Lintrup (Hafn. 1715), Siber (Viteb. 1683), Sontag (Altorf, 1712), and Wesseling (Utr. 1753).
Asiatic Brethren, a secret society greatly re- sembling the Kosicrucians (q. v.). It arose in Austria in 1780, spread throughout German}', applied itself chief]}' to cabalistics and theosophy, and occasioned many frauds. Baron Ecker von Eckhofen and one Boheman at Stockholm were the principal defenders of this order. See Die Bruder St. Johannis des Evany, aus Asien (Berl. 1830).
Asibi'as (Aatftiac, comp. Asebia, 1 Esdr. viii, 48), one of the Israelites who renounced his Gentile wife after the captivity (1 Esdr. ix, 26) ; doubtless a cor- ruption for the MalChijah (q. v.) of the genuine text (Ezra x, 25).
A'siel, the name of two men.
1. (Heb. AsieT, iK^fe)?, created by God; Sept. Ao-u'/X.) The father of Seraiah, and progenitor of one of the Simeonite chiefs that expelled the Hamite abo- rigines from the fertile valleys near Gedor in the time of Hezekiah (1 Chron. iv, 35). B.C. ante 712.
2. (Vulg. Asiel, for the Greek text is not extant.) The last named of the five scribes whom the divine voice is represented, in the fanciful vision of 2 Esdr.
xiv, 24, as directing Ezra to bring for the purpose of recording the revelation about to be communicated to him.
Asinaeus (AcnvaToc), a Jew during the captivity at Babylon, of whose exploits, in connection with his brother Anilseus ('AwAaioc), in raising himself from obscurity to the chief power in the province of Meso- potamia, and of whose reverses afterward in conse- quence of an idolatrous marriage, Josephus gives a de- tailed but apparently apocryphal account (Ant. xviii, 9).
As'ipha ('Ao-(0d), one of the family-heads of the "temple-servants" that returned from Babylon (1 Esdr. v, "29) ; evidently the Hasupha (q. v.) of the true text (Ezra ii, 43).
As'kelon (Judg. i, 18). See Ashkelon.
Askew, Anne (otherwise Ascough or Ascue), born in 1521, was second daughter of Sir Wm. Askew, of Lin- colnshire. By the study of the Scriptures she became a convert to the opinions of the Reformers, at which her husband, one Kyme, a papist, turned her out of doors. She came up to London to sue for a separation, and appears to have attracted the favorable notice of some ladies high at court. She was soon accused of heresy and committed to prison. Being examined before the Bishop of London and others, she is said to have re- plied boldly to the lord-mayor's question, "Whether the priests cannot make the body of Christ?" "I have read that God made man ; but that man can make God I never yet read" (Strype, Memorials, i, 387). Yet it is said by Burnet that "after much pains she set her hand to a recantation, by which she acknowl- edged that the natural body of Christ was present in the sacrament after the consecration, whether the priest were a good or an ill man ; and that, whether it was presently consumed or reserved in the pix, it was the true body of Christ" {Hist, of Reformation, bk. iii). Her recantation, however, was not effectual, for she was soon apprehended again ;.nd committed to New- gate, where she was again strictly questioned as to what ladies at court had shown her favor and encour- agement. She was placed on the rack and cruelly tortured in the sight, and, as Fox says, by the hand of the Lord Chancellor Wriothesly, whose eagerness in this matter is ascribed to his desire to gain some ground of offence against the Duchess of Suffolk, the ( lountess of Hertford, or some other ladies. But her patience and fortitude could not be shaken. She was burnt with four others at the stake in Smithfield, July 16, 1546. She wrote several works, one of which is en- titled Eraminationes piec. — Penny Cyclop, s. v. ; Fox, Book of Martyrs, p. 600-614 ; Burnet, Hist, of Reforma- tion, bk. i, p. 547.
Aslac, Conrad, a learned Danish divine, born at Bergen, in Norway, in 1564, studied at Copenhagen, and in the years 1593-99 travelled through Germany, Switzerland, France, England, and Ireland. He re- turned to Copenhagen in 1600, and professed the He- brew, Greek, and Latin languages, and theology. He died in 1624, leaving among other works : 1. A Treat- ise on Election (Danish, Copenhagen, 1612, 8vo) : — 2. Physica et Ethica Mosaica (Hanau, 1613) :— 3. De Di- j cendi et. Dissercndi Ratione, lib. iii (Copenhagen, 1612, 4to. This book is placed on the Roman Index'): — 4. De Christo vero Deo et Homine in una Indivisa, Persona, etc. (Frankfort, 1620, 8vo) :— 5. De Statu Christ! ante Incarnationem et in Incarwtione (Copenhagen, 1022, 4to) :— 6. Oratio de Statu Religionis in Dania, ab 1517 ad 1628 (Copenhagen, 1631, 4to) :— 7. De Religionis per Lutherum Plantatione in Daniam et Norvegiam (Copenhagen, 1620, 4to) ; besides many disputations, etc., on Free Will, Original Sin, the Creation, etc.