FIJI ISLANDS
558 FILIOQUE CONTROVERSY
obtained a knowledge of Christianity in the Friendly Ishnids. The chief, being only a tributary chief, ap- peared unwilling to take any step in favor of Chris- tianity until he knew the minds of the more powerful chiefs of Fiji, and even threatened and persecuted the converts. In the course of a few years, the missiona- ries, with the aid of native teachers and preachers, some of whom came from the Vavau Islands, intro- duced the (iospel into various other islands of the Fiji group besides Lakembu, as Kewa, Vewa, Bua, Nandv, and some others of minor importance. They were fa- vorably received by a number of the chiefs and the people, in some instances, however, from motives of a secular character. In 1845 and the following year there was a great religious movement in the islands of Vewa, which extended also to other islands, and re- sulted in large additions to the Christian churches. Among the most remarkable fruits of the movement was the conversion of a chief whose name was Varin, and who had long acted as the human butcher of Seru, I being called the Napoleon of Fiji.
In 1M54, the chief king of the islands, king Thakom- bau, who occupied several of the smaller islands and the eastern coast of Yiti-Levu, together with his tribe, embraced Christianit}'. Since this time the prosperitj' of the islands has rapidly-increased, and thej' are now partially civilized. A number of whites have settled on the island, and have developed to a considerable ex- tent the natural resources of the soil. A great part of the territory of Thakoml;au is now mapped off into cotton and sugar plantations, most of the planters be- ing Australians. There is also in the island of Levu- ka, now the head-quarters of the king and his seat of government, a flourishing little town called Ovalau, whicli has ii hotel and a number of stores, all of them kept by whites. There is a British consul also sta- tioned in this island, and in 18G8 an agent of the Amer- ican government was sent there from Sidney. About the sam3 time that king Thakombau embraced Chris- ti.mity, the crews of two American whalers were mur- dered l)y his subjects. The American government preferred a claim for comiiensation, and it was iiU'.- mately agreed that $45,000 should be paid by the Fiji- ans in reparation for the outrage committed. Ihe king, (inding it difficult to raise the sum agreed upon, offered in 1858 his entire territory to the English gor\'- e; nment, by which it was, however, declined. In 1808 the king's prime minister, C. II. Hare (an English- man), proposed that the American government should not onl}' take possession of the three islands which had been mortgaged to it, but that it should also purchase all the other islands of the group. As the government of the United States was disinclined to buj- the islands, an offer was accepted from a company in INIelbourne, the Fiji Trading and Banking Company, which nnder- took to pay the amount due to the U. States, and in re- turn received very extensive rights and privileges.
Christianity is now the predc minant religion in the Fiji Islands. In the Wes!ej/an Methodist Calendar for ]S()!), the stitistics of the mission are reported as fol- lows: circuits,!); chapels, 453; other preaching-places, Si30 ; missionaries and assistant missionaries, 58 ; sub- ordinate paid and unpaid agents, 4051 ; members, 17,83G; on trial for membership, 4(109; scholars in schools, 35,G17 ; attendants on public worship, 109,088. The Christianization of tlie whole group makes rapid progress. One heathen island was visited in 1867 for the first time. In the same j'oar the Rev. ]\Ir. Baker, a AVeslej-an missionary, also a native assistant mis- sionary, a native catechist, and six native students, were murdered by the jieojde in the interior of Viti- Levu. See Newcomb, Ci/clopwdin of Misxhrns, p. 720; Brown's Bi<l07-i/ of Missions, vol. i ; J. Hunt's 'Life of Mr. Cross; "Walter Eawry, Missions in Ton<jfl and Fiji; G. R. Rowc, Lif>- cfJohn Hunt; T. Williiims and James Cjlvert, Fiji and the Fijiuns (London, 2d edit. 1808, 2 vols.). (A. J. S.)
File is the incorrect rendering in the Eng. Bible of the expression 3^3 iTliriQ (jxtsirah' jnm, found only in 1 Sam. xiii, 21), which literally signifies a notching of ihe mouth or edr/e of tools, i. e, bluntness or dulness of the agricultural instruments, in consequence of the want of smiths to sharpen them by welding out the point.
Piliation (of Son of God). The state of rela- tionship in which the Second Person of the Godhead stands to the First, as the Son of the I<"ather. See Christology; F'ather; Son of God; Sonship; Trinity.
Filioqvie Controversy, a historical question as to the introduction of the words Kai tK tov v'loii (flio- que, and from the Son) into the Nicene Creed, to de- note the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Son as well as from the Father. The Western churches ad- mit the JiKoque ; the Eastern deny it; and this is the chief doctrinal point of division between the Greek and Latin churches.
1. The original Kicene Creed (A.D. 325), it is ad- mitted on all hands, does not contain the filioque. The simple statement there made is, " we believe also in the Holy Ghost" (^Kai iic rl) Yli'ti<na to o-jioi'). See Creed, vol. ii, p. 562. The Nica;no-Constantinopoli- tan Creed (A.D. 381) adds the phrase ro iic Toi< iza- Tpi)Q fKTTopfi'ojufj'Oj', who procecdeth from the Father; but saj''s nothing about "the Son" (Creed, vol. ii, p. 562). The Council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451) made certain modifications of the language of the creed [see Chalcedon, vol. ii, p. 190], but left the passage relat- ing to the Holy Ghost unchanged. Xor has any change cm this point ever been authorized bj' anj' gen- eral council recognised as such either by tlie Eastern or A^'estern churches. To this day the creed is recited and used throughout the East in the original form. But the Roman Church, and also the Reformed church- es, used it with the words "and from the Son." The I'.istorical question is, AVhen and how did this intei-po- lation take place.''