NECTARIUS
914
NEEDHAM
which the emperor bore to Nectarius. It was decreed that as Constantinople was Xew Rome, the bishop should he next in dignity to the bishop of liome, and hold the first place among the Kastern prelates. Tiiis, which at first was a mere mark of dignity, became a source of substantial power, embroiled Constantinople with Kome, and was pregnant with all those circumstances that have marked tliis important schism. Nectarius was the first who held the dignity of ex officio head of East- ern bishops as patriarch of Constantinople. These can- ons were signed July 9, 381. The zeal of Theodo- sius in the extirpation of Arianism led to the sum- moning of a council (not oecumenical) at Constanti- nople in July, 383. There assembled the chiefs of all the sects. By the ailvice of Sisinnius, afterwards a Novatian bishop, given through Nectarius, the emperor ensnared his opponents into an approval of the writings of the early fathers. He then required of each sect a confession of its faith, which, having read and consider- ed, he condemned them all, and followed up this con- demnation by the most stringent laws, for the purpose of entirely rooting them out. As might have been ex- pected, Nectarius was obnoxious to the Arians; and we find that in 388, while the emperor Theodosius was ab- sent in Italy opposing Maximus, a rumor that had falsely spread of ttie defeat and death of the prince excited their hopes, and they broke out in riot, in the course of which they set lire to the house of Nectarius. The most im- portant act of his office occurred in 390, when Nectarius, alarmed by the public odium which had been excited by the seduction of a woman of quality by a deacon, abolished the practice of confession which had been in- troduced into the Eastern Church — a penitential priest {presbi/ter pcenitentiarus) having been appointed, whose office it was to receive the confessions of those who had fallen into sin after baptism, and to prescribe for them acts t»f penitence previously to their being admitted to partake of the privileges of the Church. The oflicer of the confessional, while seeking to do his duty, pro- voked such scandal in the Church that it seemed ad- visable not to continue an office which was likely to do more harm than good (Neander, Ch. Hist, ii, 181 ; Schaff, <-h. Hist, iii, 357, 358). According to I3alsamon (Hardouin, Coiiril. i, 955), the last council (not oecumeni- cal) at which Nectarius presided was held in Constan- tinople in 394, regarding a dispute between Agapius and Bagadius in relation to the bishopric of Bostria, this council deciding that the consent of several bishops of a province is necessary to confirm the deposition of one of their number. Nectarius survived his patron, Theodosius, two years, dying Sept. 27, 397. He seems to have borne his honor meekly, and to have acted with great discretion. . In the subtle controversies that agitated the Church we learn that he avoided discus- sion himself, and was guided by the advice of men bet- ter skilled in the puzzling dialectics of the time. If the conjecture of Tillemont (^Ilistoire Ecclesiastique, ix, 4()G) be correct, Nectarius was married, and had one son. His brother, Arsatius, succeeded John Chrysostom as ])atriarch of Constantinojjle (comp. Fleury, llistoire Ec- clesiastique, vols, iv and v ; Socrates, IlistoHa Ecclesias- tica, v, 8, 13 ; Sozoraen, Hist. Eccles. vii, 8, 9, 14, IG ; viii, H, c. 23). Nectarius is said to have been the author (if a Ilomilia in Theodorum martiirem, which was first published among the discourses of Chrysostom (Paris, 1554), and has since been several times reprinted. The decision of the synod concerning Agapius and Bagadius is contained in Freher's In Jure Cnvcv- Romano, iv, 247. Sec Oudin, Comment, i, G8G; Tillemont, ix, 48G; Fabricius, Uibliulheca Hrwca (ed. Harl.\ ix, 309; x, «33; xii, 390; Cave, I/ist. Literal in, i, 277; Smith, JJict. ( J reck and Rom. Bioy. and Mythol. s. v. ; Edinb. Rev. 18G7 (July), p. 58.
2. The second Nectarius was patriarch of Jerusalem in the 17th century. Little is known of his historj-. According to Fabricius, he was born in Crete, educated at Athens under Theophilus Corydales, and while yet a
young man entered a convent of Mount Sinai. He suc- ceeded I'aisus as patriarch of Jerusalem. A strict par- tisan of Greek orthodoxy, he opposed both the other parties, and endorsed the Confession of Mogilas in 1GG2 {Conf. libr. sijmb. eccl. Or. [ed. Kinimel ] p. 45). During his patriarchate the Komish emissaries were verj' active in endeavoring to persuade the Greek Christians of Pal- estine, suffering under the yoke of the Turks, to unite with the Church of Kome ; among them a Franciscan, named Peter, was especially active in distributing five tracts in defence of the papal authority. These tracts Nectarius answered by the publication of another, enti- tled Kara ti^iq apxtK ^"^ Uainru (Jasii. 1G81; Lond. 1702, 8vo), which is a fair refutation of the five princi- ples laid down in the Koman Catholic tracts: 1st, of unity in the primitive Church ; 2d, of the harmony of the two principal divisions of the Church in the apos- tolic time; 3d, of the sole authenticity of the Cimrch of Kome; 4th, of the necessity of the monarchial govern- ment of the Church. To the first point Nectarius an- swers that the union of the Church means the unity between the members of the spiritual Church, which still exists, and this alone constitutes the true Church. To the second, he replies by historical documents show- ing that, though identical in pinnt of doctrine, the (ireek and the Latin churches differed in their form of worship and Church government in the 2d century. To the tliini, he answers by proving the alteration of the synil)ols in the Koman Church. Admitting the fourth in principle, he says that the king and head of the Church being Christ, there can be no other head, but naturally an aristocratic organization. He also wrote a work iu Greek against the doctrines of Luther and Calvin, which was translated into Latin by Kenaudot, who published it, together with Gennadius's Homilies on the Eucharist, etc. (Paris, 1709, 4to). Nectarius is said to have also written a history of the Egyptian empire down to sultan Selim. See Fabricius, JJibl. Grmca (ed. Harl.), ix, 310; Kimmel, 1. c. Pra-f. p. 75; Nic. Comncnus in prcenott. mystcifjog. respons. vi, sec. 2. (J. N. P.)