LYSCZYNSKI
590
LYSIAS
"when Josephiis says some part of the house or posses- sion of Zemdonis was allotted to Philip, he thereby de- clares that the larger part of it belonged to another. Tliis other was Lysanias, whom Luke mentions" (see also Krebsius, Observat. p. 112).
4. It is not irrelevant to state that other writers be- sides Strauss and his party have held the identity of Luke's Lysanias with Josephus's son of Ptolemy, and have also believed that Josephus mentioned but one Ly- sanias. But (unlike Strauss) they resorted to a great shift rather than assail the veracity of the evangelist. Yalcsius (on Eusebius, I/ist. Eccles. i, 10), and, more re- cently, Paulus {Comment, ad loc), suggested an altera- tion of Luke's text, either by an erasure of rfrpapx"^"^" TOQ after 'A/SiXryv/jc, or retaining the participle and making it agree with ^iXinirov as its subject (getting rill of Avaaviov as a leading word by reducing it to a mere genitive of designation by its transposition with Ti]c — q. d. r/}c Avaaviov 'Al5iXt]viig TerpapxovvTOc), as if PhUip had been called by the evangelist " tetrarch of Itursa, Trachonitis, and the Abilene of Lysanias." This expedient, however, of saving Luke's veracity by the mutilation of his words is untenable, not having any support from MS. authoritj-.
5. Still others think it probable that the Lysanias men- tioned b}^ Josephus in the second instance is actually the prince referred to by Luke. Thus, instead of a con- tradiction, we obtain from the Jewish historian a con- firmation of the evangelist; and the argument becomes very decisive if, as some think, Abilene is to be excluded from the territory mentioned in the story which has reference to Cleopatra.
Li conclusion, it is worth adding, that in modern times a coin lias been discovered bearing the inscription Av- oaviov Ttrpdpxov Kal apxupiMf;, and Pococke also found an inscription on the remains of a Doric temple, called Nebi Abel, the ancient Abila, fifteen English miles from Damascus, which makes mention of Lysanias, tetrarch of A hilene. Both the coin and the inscription refer to a period subsequent to the death of Herod (Pococke's De- scription of the East, IT, i, 115, 116; and Sestini, Lettere et Dissertationi numismatiche, vi, 101, tab. 2, as quoted by Wieseler, Chronolog. Synops. p. 183). Similarly, the ge- ographer Ptolemj' mentions an " Abila which bears the surname of Lysanias," " AfiiKa tinKXri^tXaa Aimaviov (v, 18). See Davidson's Introduct. to N. T. p. 218.— Kitto ; Smith. See Abilene.
Lysczynski, Casimir, a martyr of philosophical atheism, descended from a noble family of Lithuania, was educated in the Jesuit college of Wilna, where he greatly distinguished himself by his talents, but from whence he was finally expelled on account of his singu- lar religious views. He then commenced to study law, and in IGSO was appointed one of the judges of Brzeski, in Lithuania. He now turned his attention again to theology, and Avrote, in the form of remarks on AJstedt's Natural Theolofiy, a lengthy refutation of the proofs of the existence of God. He used in his arguments some incautious expressions, and on a journey to Warsaw he ■was arrested, Oct. .31, 1G88, on the plea that, by denying the existence of (iod, the author of all law, Lysczynski had become an outlaw. An ecclesiastical tribunal, pre- sided over by the bishop of Livonia, was appointed to try his case. A former friend of Lysczynski appeared as his accuser, and, after the incriminating books had been examined, he was sent before the diet to be pun- ished. The states went again over the whole case. Brszeska repeated his charges, maintaining, among oth- er things, that in using in his works the expression " ita non athei credimus," Lysczynski had declared himself an atheist, and denied the existence of God by asserting tliat (iod did not create man, but that man invented God. Lysczynski answereii that he had intended his works as an examination of the prrwifs of the existence of (Jod, mentioning the fun<iamental objections of im- believers only as a preliminary argument, and that he meant to live and die in the communion of the Church
in which he was brought up. His defence, however, was not deemed satisfactorj', and the senate condemned him to suffer death at tlie stake. The royal verdict was that Lysczynski's MSS. should be publicly burned by the executioner along witli himself, and that the house in which he wrote his works should be torn do\^^l. The sentence was afterwards altered, and he was be- headed before being burned, March 31, 1G89. See C. F. Ammon, C. Lysczynski, ein Beitrag z. Gesch. d. ideulen A theismus (Getting. 1802) ; Herzog, Real-Encykloj). viii, 628. (J. N. P.)
Lyser (also Leiser or Leyser), an eminent Luther- an theologian, was born at AVinnenden, in Wtirtemberg, March 18, 1552, and was educated at the University of Tubingen. In 1573 he became pastor at Gellersdorf, in Austria, where he soon distinguished himself as a preach- er. He often preached also in Vienna, and thus became acquainted with the emperor Maximilian II. He was made D.D. by the Universitj' of Tubingen July 16, 1576, being then under 25 years old. After remaining for two years at the court of the elector August of Saxony, he became pastor and professor at Wittenberg. After the adoption of the •' Formula Concordia^," he and J. Andrea devised a new organization for the university; he was also commissioned to revise the text of the Lutheran translation of the Bible, etc. After the death of the elector August in 1586, Calvinism began to regain the ascendency in Saxony, and Lyser left Wittenberg, gen- erally regretted by the universitj' and the community, to accept a call to Brunswick as coadjutor or vice-super- intendent. He, however, returned to Wittenberg in 1592, and shortly after became preacher at the court of Dresden. Here he continued in the faithful discharge of his arduous duties, honored not only by the prince, but also by the emperor Rudolph. He died February 22, 1610. His principal works are a continuation of Chem- nitz's Hai-monia IV Evangelistarum (which was com- pleted by John Gerhard), Erlduterunyen it. drei Fragen (1598), and a number oi Predigten, particularly VierLund- tags-predigten (1605). See Polyc. Leyser III, Officium, jrietatis, quod C. D. Polyc. Leysej-o dthuit et peisolvit pro- nepos (Lpz. 1706) ; Gleich, Anncdes ecclesiustici ; Adami, Vit. iheoL; ii\>ize\, Tempi, hon.; ETdma.ni\s, Ltltnsheschr, d. Wittenh. Theol. etc. ; Herzog, Real-Encyld. viii, 628 sq. Lys'ias {Avaiac, a common Greek name), the name of two men mentioned, one in the Apocrypha, and the other in the New Testament.