Porchet, Joseph, a converted Jew. flourished in the 1 Ith century in Spain, and by his learning rendered greal service to the Church of Christ in that day. Be was acquainted with Martini ( q. v.), the author of Pugio Fidei, and transcribed a great part of it into a work which he himself composed under the title oi Victoria adversus Hebrceos (1520), and which is one of the ablest polemics of the Christian Church against Judaism. See M'Crie, Hist.oftfo Reft rmatit « in >']><iiir. p. 66.
Porcius Festus. See Fesi i -.
Porcq, Jean le, a French < Iratorian, was born near Boulogne -sur-Mer in 1636. Professor of theology for fifty years al the school founded at Saumur by the ( >ra- torians, he was one of the most active adversaries of the Jansenists, and published against them Les Sentiments dt Saint- Augustim svrlaGrdct (Lyons, 1682, 1700, Ho). Although he abstains from all personalities, his adver- saries spoke <>f it with the utmost contempt. Abbe Goujel acknowledges Porcq's piety, and says that he always carefully avoided anything that was akin to sectarianism, but thai he wrote against Jansenism be- cause be considered it wrong. He wrote as a true po- lemic against doctrines, and no) persons. See Unpin. BibL des Ant. Eccles. du \.8ienu Steele, ii, 385.
Porcupine. See Bitti rn.
Pordage, John, an English mystic, who, with Jane Leade and Thomas Bromley, founded the so -called " 1'hiladelphian" society, was horn in London in 1608. He studied theology and medicine at Oxford, and be- came a curate at Reading; but. after a short pastorate, was settled ai Bradfield, in Berkshire. From the works
0( Bohme, which Charles I had caused to he published
in English, Pordage derived the germs of his strange
and ii, coherent mysticism. A time of such sudden veering from the extreme of churchliucss to the mildest
independentism as was the case under Charles 1 and Cromwell is very favorable to sporadic outbursts of fa-
Christehurch I Hants), and in parish churches used as a t
Bel L-room or a chaplains' or watchers' dormitory. Pla-
cenlia. Parma, and Modeiia have porches of two stories. In the foreign examples pilgrims or penitents were mar-hailed on the ground-floor in order to hear an ad- dress from the pulpit, or mass said al the upper altar. while those who came from a distance found shelter in these vaulted porches, jusl a- the country people on the eves of great festivals pass the night under the porticos of St. Peter's al Rome. Ai Paulinzelle, cir. 1160, there is, and at Sherborne there was, a large parochial ante- church. At Glastonbury and Durham the Lady-chapel was placed in a similar position.
II.
'ordae
very susceptible in
lis direction, ii was not Long until he found himself the centre of a group of disciples. The effect ot asso- ciation was io intensify his delusion and to brighten his imagination. 'Ibis culminated in a scries of the wild- est pretendedly supernatural visions. In the nighl of
Jan.:!. 1651, he assumed to have had lime ol ihcse.
The fust was that of a being wiih clothes, beard, and hat, who drew hack hi- bed-curtains, and linn in\-le-
riou-ly vanished. Hardly had Pordage fallen asleep again when he saw a giant with an uprooted tree on
his shoulder and a sword in his hand. He threw the tree to the earth, and iheii began to wrestle with Por- dage, but wa- successfully rcsi-ted by the latter with
PORDENONE
41!
spiritual weapons. The third vision was that of an im- mense dragon, which vomited fire upon him, and left him exhausted upon the floor. On occasion of such visions a session of the " Philadelphians" was held. Those in attendance also now fell into a state of ecstasy, and had visions of the heavenly and of the infernal world. As these visions continued for a period of three weeks, day and night, Pordage affirmed that they could not be mere fanatical imaginations, but were a heavenly admonition to them to break off from the world, and to enter upon a life of complete devotion to God. But their meetings called for the intervention of the police. The matter was investigated, but led to no other serious result than the deposition of Pordage from his priestly office. A very venomous book was now written against Pordage — Bcemonium Meridiunum (Lond. 1055) — by one Fowler, a preacher in Reading. Pordage defended himself in hmocency Appearing. Thereupon Fowler retorted, with fresh accusations, in a new volume (1C5G). Meantime the enthusiasts had gone to London, but, driven away by the plague, they returned to Bradfield. On the death of Mrs. Pordage, in 1070, they went again to London. It was now that, in accordance with a vision granted to Jane Leade, the "Philadelphians" became an organized society. The members of the society were to live according to the laws of Paradise. Pordage opened to the society his own house in London. The membership reached near a hundred. Upon these the frequent visions of Pordage and Leade exerted a mag- netic effect. In the close of 1071 Pordage fell into a trance, in which he affirmed that his spirit, breaking loose from his soul and body, was translated to the mountain of eternity. There he saw heavenly and eternal things with direct, naked vision.
Pordage lavs claim to three degrees of revelation : (1) Visions placed before the human spirit by the Holy Ghost; (2) Illuminations shed directly by the Holy Spirit into the immortal part of man, making him to see the thoughts of the Spirit; (3) Translations of the mortal spirit into the very heart of the Deity, whereby it is enabled to behold and read the secret mysteries of the Trinity itself. The voluminous writings of Pordage contain a very elaborate and fantastic system of mystical theology. Throughout he claims to be in harmony with the Scriptures; he simply penetrates below the letter, and unveils their deeper meaning. Among the curios- ities of his teaching are the following: The immortal spirits of men have a cylindrical form, and resemble a transparent whiff of mist; their movements are as rapid as thought; they can traverse mountains, rocks, ocean, earth, and have about the size and contour of a human body. Angels are sexless, or rather they are man and woman entirely merged into one person — the spirit being the male, and the soul the female element. Adam was also primarily a man-woman, and bore within himself the faculty of procreation. Christian perfection is a State of absolute celibacy, in which the soul is married to the heavenly sopkia.