Rabulas of Edessa, an Eastern pr< late who flour- ished near the opening of the 5th century, was a stu- dent ol Hieodorus of Mopsuestia, and, in 131, was prom- inently identified with the Antiochites at the council in Ephesus. In the following year, however, t'yril of Alexandria succeeded in gaining Babulas to his Bide; and after this we bear of bim as a devoul orthodox. lie energetically opposed Nestorius, and greatly weak- ened the BTestorians. He condemned the bishop of Edessa, the writings ofDiodorus of Tarsus and of The- odoras of Mopsuestia, banished and drove off the teach- ers from the school at Edessa who were reputed favor- able to their doctrines, and thus became an unwilling instrument in the founding of the school at Nisibis by Barsumas and in the spread of Nestorianism in t he East. lie died in 436. His successor at Edessa was [baa I q.v. >. Under the name of Rabulas there is extant an old ca- nonical collection of the Syrian Church, pieces of which are contained in the edition of the Nomoncanon of ISar- Hebraeus by Mai (Script.Vet. Nov. Coll. vol. x).
Rabnsson, Paul, a French monastic, was bom Sept 5, 1634, at Gannat After having entered monas- tic lite among the Clugniacs, be taughl theology in the abbeys of St. Martial at Avignon, and St. Martin des Champs at Paris. He was also made twice the general of hi- order i 1693 1705, 1708 14). He died at Paris. Oct 23, 1717. He wrote works of interest only to the student of his order. See Nice'ron, Memoires, vol. i. — Hoefer, Now, I log. Generale,s.v.
Ra'ca ('IWrti.a term of reproach nsed by the Jews of our Saviour's age (Mattv,22). Critics an that it is but the Greek form of the Chaldee term X~"~. reyka' (the terminal N being the definite arti- cle, used in a VOCaHve sense), with the Sense of - worth- less;" but they differ as to win tber this term should lie connected with the root p5)*!, conveying the notion of emptiness (Gesen. Thesaur. p. 1279), or with one of the cognate roots pjr~ (Tholuck) or ~~~ (Ewt veying the notion of thinness (Olshausen, De W. tte, ">/ Matt. p,22). The lir.-t of these views i- probably cor- rect. Wo may compare the use of p--. •• vain," in Judg. ix. I ; xi. .".. n!.. and of c, v'i in .lain.- ii. 20. J< BUS, contrasting the law of Moses, which could only take notice ofoverl act-. «itb his own, which rcinU rs man amenable for his motives and feelings, says in effect: "Whosoever i- rashly angry with his brother La liable to the judgment of God; whosoever call- his brother raca i- liable to the judgment of the Sanhedrim; but
Whosoever call- bim fool (jllitpt) becomes liable to the
judgment of Gehenna." To apprehend the higher criminality hero attached to the term fool, which may nol at first seem very obvious, it is necessary to observe
RACCHEI
873
RACE
that while "raca" denotes a certain looseness of life and manners, "fool" denotes a wicked and reprobate person : foolishness being in Scripture opposed to spiritual wis- dom (Lightfoot, llor. llebr. ad toe.). See Fool.
Racchei is the name sometimes given by mistake to the Zacckei (q. v.).
Racci, Matteo, a noted Jesuit missionary of the 16th century, is closely identified with the Romanizing work of that asra in the Chinese empire. The very year which marks the death of Xavier (1552), marks the occurrence of an event which opened China to the Europeans. A party of Jesuit missionaries, at whose head was Racci, in that year landed stealthily at Ma- cao. These missionaries of Rome had determined to win over the Chinese to Christianity by stratagem. They had studied mathematics and natural science, with a view to astonish the natives by their exhibitions. Some objects, common enough in Europe, but unheard of in China, were prepared as presents for the manda- rins and others. A clock that showed the rising and setting of the sun and moon; a prism that by the emis- sion of its rainbow-rays was mistaken for a fragment of the celestial hemisphere, and maps which exhibited the world of barbarians, with China filling the east and Europe in the remote west, produced sensations of won- der such as had never before stirred the placid spirit of the viceroy of Canton. Instead of driving them away from the country, as they feared, he actually detained the Jesuits to exhibit and explain their wonders; for only they had the secret of keeping that curious ma- chine in action, and only they could manage the spec- trum, and expound the new system of geography. Lit- erary men crowded the palace to see the Jesuits and to hear their wisdom, and the missionaries thus gained an influence which they knew well how to utilize. The popularity thus acquired by Racci, Ruggiero, and others was truly astonishing; and by virtue of an imperial edict, Racci took up his residence near the royal palace. and enjoyed the highest reputation for learning. He courted the literati; withheld from their knowledge such parts of the sacred history and doctrine as were likely to offend their prejudices or wound their pride; by his influence at court secured the protection of his brethren in the provinces; and by extreme sagacity surrounded himself with a considerable number of per- sons who might be variously described as pupils, parti- sans, converts, or novices. In a secret chapel he dis- closed to the more favored symbols of his worship, yet so shaped as not to be repugnant to their heathen no- tions, and intermingled with other symbols from the religion of Confucius. Racci died in 1G10, and was honored with a solemn funeral. The remains of a for- eigner never before had such a distinction. It is said that both mandarins and the people saluted with a mournful admiration the corpse of the Jesuit as it was taken to the grave by a company of Christians, with a splendid cross going before it ; and that it was interred, by the order of the emperor, in a temple dedicated to the true God.