SEMIS
522
SEMLER
Aquitania (q. v.); while on their side we find certain i great names, especially Vincentius of Leriiis (q. v.). His Commoniliirium was directed princijially against, the doctrinal development tif Angustine as being un- supported by tlie Catholic tradition of the Church (Voss, Hist. I\lii;i. i, 10). In tliis work he brought for- ward his three famous tests of the truth of a doctrine. viz. antiquity, universality, and general consent. An appeal to Celestine, the Homan bisliop, against the Semi-Pelagians having been unsuccessful, Prosper pub- lished several writings in refutation of their doctrines; and upon the death of Celestine, he endeavored to pre- vail upon Sixtus, his successor, to repress the Semi-Pe- lagians. Failing in this. Prosper wrote several tracts on behalf of Augustinian doctrine. Shortly after the middle of the .Tth century, a ipiestion arose between Luciilus, a presbyter, and Faustus, bishop of Eiez, in Provence. The bishop admonished Luciihis in person, and afterwards wrote iiim a letter, setting forth in brief terms his own view of the doctrine of grace. By the advice of the council held at Aries (475 ), he pid)lished a work on the disputed points, I)e Gratia et Hiimaim Jlentis Libera A rbitrio. The book was answered half a century later by Csesarius of Aries in a treatise of sim- ilar title, [>(' Gratia et lAlx'ro A rbitrio, which, however, is lost. In 520 some .Scythian monks assailed the work of Faustus, and presented their confession of faith to the legates of pope Hormisdas in Constantinople, in which they affirmed their belief that the will of man was powerless for any other object than to "discern and desire carnal and worldly matters,'" etc. They met with a cold reception from the legates, and fared no better with Hormis<las, to whom they appealed. A council was held at Aransio (Orange), in France, Jidy 3, 529, at which twenty -live arlicles concerning grace and free will, and tiirected against the Semi-Pelagian doctrine, were drawn up, and sidjseqiiently confirmed by Boniface II. A similar expression of doctrine was made by a council at Valence, in the province ofVienne. but the problem remained unsolved how to reconcile the oppos- ing motives — powers of grace and freewill. Augustine continued to be regarded as the great light of the West- ern Church, although in the INIidille Ages there was an occasional tendency to dis[)ute his authority. See Ha- penbach, IJi.ft. of Doctrines (see Index); M tiller, in Herzog's Real- Kncyklop. s. v.; Neander, Kirchewjesch. (2d ed. Hamb. 1H47), ii, 1173-1217; (iardner, Faithi^ of the World, s. v. ; Blunt, Did. of Theology, s. v. See Pk-
I-AGIANIS.M.
Se'mis (Sf/i/r, v. r. ^entig, Sfi'o-f/'c), a Graecized form (1 Esdr. ix, 23) of the name Shimki (q. v.) the Levite after the return from Babylon (Ezra x, 23).
Semi-separatists, a name given to certain per- sons in the 17ili century who woidd listen to the ser- mons of the ('hiirch of England clergymen, l)ut not to the common j)rayer. They would remain outside ()f the churches until the prayers were done, and then rush in and hear the sermon. See Pagitt, Ueresiography (ed. IGC2), p. 94.— Blunt, Diet, of Sects, s. v.
Semitic Languages. See Siii;mitic Lan- GUA(;i:s.
Semi-Universalists, an appellation given by I^Iosheim to those Dutcli divines of the Heformeil Church in the I7th century who maintained tiiat (iod indeed wislies to make all men liapjiy, but only on tlie condition of their l)elieving; and lliat this faith origi- nates from the sovereign and irresistible o|)eration of (iod, or from the free, uncondilional eleclion of (Jod. These are sometimes callc(l //i/pdlhilical or ('(imlilinnal Umnersal'ists, and scarcely dill'er, exce|it in words, from InfraUipsurians (q. v.). — Gardner, Faiths of the World, ». V.
Semler, .Toiiann Salomo. a derman theologian in the latter Iialfof tiie IHth century, who became notori- ous as the founder of llie modern school of so -called
historical critics of the Bible. He was born in 1725 at Saalfeld, where his father held the office of deacon; and from his earliest childhood came under the influ- ence of ilie pietism of Halle. In obedience to its urgent exhortations, lie formed the habit of earnest prayer. His student life at Halle, where he matriculated in 1743, was spent amid similar surroundings; but he fail- ed to obtain peace of mind. He was specially attracted towards Baumgarten (then professor) on account of his massive learning, but appears to have been even too little influenced by the WoKian logical schematism of that scholar. He devoured books without digesting them, and obtained, as a principal result of his studies, a sus|iicion which subsequently became the fundament- al idea in his theology — namely, that a difference exists betiveen theology and i-eligion. In 1750 he was made a master, and soon afterwards began the congenial work of editing the gazette of his native town ; but in the following year he was called to the chair of history at Altorf, and six months later to a theological chair at Halle. He delivered lectures on hermeneutics and Church history; and ere long reached the conclusion that "the historical interpretation really belongs to the first century as representing the sum and contents of the conceptions of that age, and must be distinguished from the present application of Scripture, as correctly interpreted, to the instruction of Cliristians of to-day." His discoveries were submitted to Baimigarten, who en- couraged hitii to contiiuied independence of thought, but warned him that he would thereby arouse the op- position of a class of people who might work material injury to his prospects.