THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
notion that Amos borrows his similes chiefly from his early mode of life, ana thus betrays his extraction, is generally accepted; but it is hardly well founded when the variety of them is observed (cf. ii. 13; hi. 4, 5, 8, 12; vi. 12; viii. 8; ix. 5; and the visions of vii. 1 and viii. 1). On the other hand, the Hebrew of Amos is abnormal, but it is uncertain how much belongs to the author himself. The integrity and genuineness of the book are generally acknowledged; only i. 9-11; ii. 4, 5; iii. 14b; iv. 13; v. 8, 9; viii. 6,*8, 11, 12; ix. 5, 6, 8-15, partly on account of the contents, partly on account of the connection, have been regarded as glosses by modern critics (Duhm, Stade, Giesebrecht, Cornill, Schwally, Smend, Wellhausen).
The modern school of Biblical scholars regard the Book of Amos as the oldest written testimony to that activity of the prophets of Its Im- the eighth century b.c. whereby the portance. religion of Israel was given a more ethical and spiritual character. It is therefore important to note its contents and presuppositions. Two evils in the moral and religious conditions of the Northern Kingdom receive the prophet's severe condemnation, viz., the reprehensible conduct of the high and mighty' (ii. 6-7a; hi. 10; iv. 1; v. 7, 11-12; viii. 4-6), and the perverted religious forms and observances (ii. 7b-8; v. 26; viii. 14). The latter, with their idolatrous representations of the deity, were specially offensive to a pious Judean, who believed that Yahweh dwelt on Zion and not in visible form. Reliance upon the offerings, gifts, feasts, and processions of Beth-el and the other sanctuaries as a means of securing Yahweh's favor was a terrible mistake, which could only bring the most direful consequences (iv. 4-13; v. 4—6, 21-24; ix. 1-8). The true way to serve Yahweh was to become like him and to practise goodness and righteousness (v. 14, 24). The prophet makes no claim to new ideas concerning Yahweh or his relations to the world in general and to Israel in particular. What he has to say upon these topics is all assumed as already known to the pious. It is the idolatrous worship, with its attendant evils, which he reprobates and wishes to correct. (A. KoHLERf.) Bibliography: Besides the works mentioned in the article Minor Prophets, consult: W. R. Harper, Amos and Hosea, in International Critical Commentary, New York, 1905 (gives a full list of the important literature, clxxviii.clxxxix.); G. Baur, Der Prophet Amos erkldrt, Giessen, 1847; J. H. Gunning, De godspraken van Amos, Leyden, 1885; K. Hartung, Der Prophet Amos nach dem Grundtexte erkldrt, in Biblische Studien, iii., Freiburg, 1898; H. G. Mitchell, Amos, an Essay in Exegesis, Boston, 1893, 1900; J. J. P. Valeton, Amos en Hosea, Nijmwegen, 1894 (Germ, transl., Giessen, 1898, an excellent work); S. R. Driver, Joel and Amos, in Cambridge Bible, 1897; S. Oettli, Amos und Hosea, zwei Zeugen gegen die Anwendung der Evolutionstheorie auf die Religion Israels, in Bcitrage zur Forderung Christlichen Theologie, v. 4, Gutersloh, 1901.
AMPHILOCHIUS, am"fi-l6'ki-Tjs, SAINT : Apparently a cousin of Gregory Nazianzen, and closely associated with him and with Basil the Great in directing the policy of the Church at the time of the defeat of Arianism. He was originally a lawyer, but retired to a life of devotion and asceticism. In 373 he was chosen bishop of Iconium, the metropolitan see of Lycaonia. The year of
his death is uncertain; but Jerome includes him, as still living, in his De viris illustribus (392), and he appears as taking part in a synod at Constantinople in 394. Of the numerous works ascribed to him byCombefis (ci.MPG, xxxix.),not afeware doubtless not genuine. Late investigation, however, has brought to light other genuine works of Amphilochius. The Epistola synodica in defense of the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity (376), and the Iambi ad Seleucum., ascribed to Gregory Nazianzen (MPG, xxxvii.), not without importance for the history of the canon, are not the only works of Amphilochius which are still extant. (F. Loofs.)
Bibliography: Fabricius-Harles, Bibliotheca Grceca, viii. 373-381, Hamburg, 1802; DCB, i. 103-107 (quite exhaustive); J. Fessler, Institutiones patrologim, i. 600-604, Innsbruck, 1900; K. Holl, Amphilochius von Ikonium, Tubingen, 1904; G. Ficker, Amphilochiana, part i., Leipsic, 1906.
AMPULLAE, am-pul'li or -le: [Flasks or vials for holding liquids. In ecclesiastical usage they have been employed for the water and wine of the mass and for the consecrated oil used in baptism, confirmation, and extreme unction. Such vessels were sometimes of considerable size and were made of gold, silver, crystal, onyx, or glass. Specimens are preserved at Paris, Cologne, Venice, and elsewhere; and there is one at Reims said to have been miraculously provided for the baptism of Clovis in 496.] Deserving of most notice are the so-called ampullae sanguinolentai, phiolm cruentm or rubricate (" blood-ampullae "), glass flasks "which contain a reddish sediment and are alleged to have once held the blood of martyrs. They have been found almost exclusively in the graves of the catacombs, near the slab with which the grave was sealed or fastened to it by mortar. They are first mentioned by Antonio Bosio, the explorer of the Roman catacombs, who relates that in certain graves as well as in glass or clay vessels, he found blood congealed and dried, which, when moistened with water, assumed its natural color (Roma sotterranea, Rome, 1632, p. 197). Soon afterward a certain Landucci discovered such vessels with a watery or milky fluid which, when shaken, assumed the color of blood (De Rossi, 619). The discovery of a phiola rubricata came to be regarded as certain proof of a martyr's grave, and the Congregation of the Sacred Rites decided accordingly in 1668 when doubts were raised concerning the indicia martyrii at the removal of relics from the catacombs. Doubts continued, however, and a Jesuit, Victor de Buck, made the strongest presentation of the case of the skeptics, arguing on scientific grounds (De phiolis rubricatis, Brussels, 1855). After a new find in the cemetery of S. Saturnino in 1872 a papal commission undertook an exact microscopical investigation, which was believed to establish the presence of blood. Roman Catholic archeologists and theologians had generally conceded a possibility that the claims might be well founded, while opposing the unsystematic and unscientific assumption that all red sediment was blood, and demanding an adequate investigation in each case.
The following weighty and conclusive objections, however, are made even to the possibility: (1) There