5. A freed-man of Pompey, who rebuOt, at his re- quest, the city of Gadara, of which he was a Datiye (Josephus, Ant, xiv, 4, 4).
6. An Alexandrian Jew and alabarch, who married Harianme (formerly the wife of Archelans), by whom she had a son Agrippinus (Josephus, AnL xx, 7, 8).
7. A silversmith at Ephesus, who, being alarmed at the progress of the GUtspel under the preaching of Paul, assembled his fellow-craftsmen, and excited a tumult by haranguing them on the danger that threat- ened the worship of the great goddess Diana, and con- sequently their own craft as silversmiths. A.D. 62. Their employment was to make ** silver shrines for Diana" (Acts xix, 24) ; and it is now generally agreed that these "shrines'* (yaoi) were silver models of the temple, or of its adytum or chapel, in wliich perhaps a little image of the goddess was placed. These, it seems, were purchased by foreigners, who either could not perfonp their devotions at the temple itself, or who, after having done so, carried them away as me- morials, or for purposes of worship, or as charms. The continual resort of foreigners to Ephesus fh>m all parts, on account of the singular veneration in which the image of the goddess was held, must have rendered this manufacture very profitable, and suflSdently ex- plains the anxiety of Demetrius and his fellow-crafts- men. See Diana.
8. A Christian, mentioned with tommendation in 8 John 12. A.D. ch-. 90. From the connection of the apostle John with Ephesus at the time the epistle was written, some have supposed that this Demetrius is the same as the preceding, and that he had been converted to Christianity. But this is a mere conjecture, ren- dered the more uncertain by the commonness of the name.— Kitto, s. v.
DemetrloB, bishop of Alexandria, is said to have succeeded Julian in that see A.D. 189 (Eusebius, II. E. V, 22). He was at first the friend of Origen, and committed the instructions in the school of Alexandria entirely to him (Eusebius vi, 3) ; but he afterwards, ** overcome by human infirmity" (Euseb. vi, 8) seems to have become envious of Origen, and his enemy. When Origen (A.D. 228) was ordained presbyter at CiBsarea, Demetrius excluded him fh)m the Church— an act which was not recognized by the churches gen- erally. Demetrius died about 248.— Mosheim, Com- mentaries, cent, iii, § 80. See Origen.
Demetrius, Ctdoxius, a theologian of the Greek Church, lived in the second half of the 14th century. He was bom at Thessalonica or Byzantium, and prob- ably received his surname from the circumstance that he lived at Cydone in Crete. The emperor John Cantacnzenus, who was greatly attached to him, raised him to the highest posts of honor in the state. When
'^ prince thought of embracing monastic life, Deme- 1
trios deterttined to leave the world alsts aaibsA a tered the same convent m 18&5. Snbeeqac&tk i went to Italy to study the theology of tke \ Church, and while there became * tnteod. ef T Aquinas and other prominent Latin Cheologiaas. lu year of his death is not known ; the latest jabtei^ his life is a letter addressed in 1384 to the e^ Manuel PaUeologua, on the occaMnn of the faorfe- cending the throne. He is the antbor of a laif» !al ber of works, and the translator of ouuiy Lata vr^ into Greek. Most of his works have nevo* bea jn ed. His woriL, n(p< rov Kara^povu^ tot 3«Dvn« e(mtenmemia wtorte, on eomieamimp deatky. was paU* ed by B. Seller (Basel, 1553), and by Kniiioel (Lapa. 1786). A selection of his letters was pafatehe. w Matthsd (Moscow 1776, and Drewien, 178S). F«. list of his writings and their varions pditiom,sBeHi mann, BibtioffrapMsckes Lexikom^ i, 499; Fstnoa BibUotMeca Graca^ i, 498; see also Hoefier, BMyv** C^iSniro^ xiii, 558.
Demission, the name in Scotch Presbrtea churches for the act by which a minister nsi^ b charge. He can only resign it into the bands d^ presbytery, as they ordained him. The cont jodpa of the grounds of demission, and may r^nse «r t«» ply. An old form in the Church of Scotland w* follows : ** I, Mr. A. B., minister at C, lor sock aB» demit my ministry at the said parish of C^ podrn simply into the hands of the presbyteij of D^<^eii^ ing that, for my part, the said parish ahall be Md i> cant, and that it shall be free to the parish asd pte^ tery, after due intimation hereof^ by wamal (4tf presbytery, to call and plant another minbtcr tin- in ; and consent that this be recorded in the pra*^ tery books, adjutvram rei memoriam, io vsae»
whereof I have subscribed these presents at ^ Hl'
The demission bemg accepted, the chordi b dcdA vacant. — Eadie, Ecd, Dictionanf, s. v.
Demitirge (Greek, Stjfuovpyoc^ from fv«c,P pie, and Ipycj, obe. / work; a warher far At /ww, hence, a worbnumy erajtmnan) was the name givn ^. the Gnostics to the mysterious being by whan Gads supposed to have created the univeme. The Qttitse^ believed that the Supreme Being dwelt in a fUaeif^ pleroma) of inaccessible light ; that be had cnn^ other beings, called SBons, or emanations ; tkitftv these other aoons were descended ; and frsm tk» a inferior order of spirits were derived, among wboa w called the I>emiurge had created the worid, tad W rebelled against the Supreme Being. He xsmk» ^ of matter the visible world, and roles over it He *« considered as the God of the Jews. *Mn the faitkir development of the idea the Gnostic systeoif (iiftr: the anti-Jewish Gnostics, Marcion and the O^ate. represent the Demiurge as an insolent being, res^ the purposes of God, while the Jndairini; Gna^ Basilides and Valentine, make him a restricted. »■ conscious instrument of God to prepare the w^^rf* demption."— Schaff, HiM, ofCkrUtitm C*»T*,i.p; Mosheim, Commentaries (Murdoch's transUtaoa. i, ^ 461 ; ii, 831). See Gnosticism.