RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Henschen Herbelot
As characteristic of the German Reformed Church, he notes (1) the absolute authority of the divine word of Scripture over every ecclesiastical institution- and (2) the Melanchthonian-Calvinistic doctrine of the Lord's Supper. The Lutheranism of the Formula of Concord is thus decidedly rejected.
Heppe treated the same theme in a series of greater and lesser writings, particularly in his Geschichte des deutschen Protestantismus in den Jahren 1555-1581 (4 vols., Marburg, 1853-59), and his Dogmatik des deutschen Protestantismus im 16. Jahrhundert (3 vols., Gotha, 1857). In this connection occurred, in the years after 1850, the vehement controversy between Heppe and A. F. C. Vilmar (q.v.), consistorial councilor at Cassel, over the confessional character of the Church of Electoral Hesse. Vilmar asserted that the Church of Hesse was originally Lutheran, and was so still, even though it regarded itself as Reformed, and was thus regarded. The two disputants came to an open feud when Vilmar sought to introduce his theory into the practical life of the Church. Some twenty tracts in rapid succession bear witness to the bitterness of the dispute.
Heppe also published an important Geschichte des deutschen Volksschulwesens (5 vols., Gotha, 1857-59). Church history, however, was the proper field of his scholastic labor. His Kirchengeschichte beider Hessen (2 vols., Marburg, 1876-78) was the most favorably received of his works, and is not only an excellent historical study, but also a work of piety toward his much-loved Hessian country. Lastly, he gave attention to two peculiar manifestations of devotion — Quietistic mysticism in the Roman Church, and Pietism in the Reformed Church, especially of the Netherlands. The central figure of his Geschichte der quietistischen Mystik in der katholischen Kirche (Berlin, 1875) is Madame Guyon, whom he had originally intended to treat in a monograph. By this work Heppe brought to light a domain of church history which till then had lain wholly in the dark. At the close he speaks of similar manifestations in the Evangelical Church, of Labadism and Pietism in the Netherlandish Church, and thus prepares the way for his Geschichte des Pietismus und der Mystik in der reformierten Kirche, namentlich der Niederlande (Leyden, 1879). Heppe's literary activity is the more praiseworthy in that, as university instructor, he occupied the field of systematic theology and delivered carefully elaborated lectures. His lectures on ethics were issued by the writer of this article after Heppe's death (Elberfeld, 1882), and were also translated into Dutch. Heppe likewise took an active part in the practical tasks of the Church, and promoted the founding of a Hessian deaconesses' house, which now exists in Cassel in great prosperity. A. Kuhneet.
Bibliography: Wolff and Ranke, Zur Erinnerung an H. Heppe, Marburg, 1879; Supplement to Augsburg. Allgemeine Zeitung, no. 226, 1879; Annalen der Universitat Marburg, Marburg, 1879.
HERACLAS: Bishop of Alexandria from 231 or 232 to 247 or 248. There is no reason to suppose that he was an author, but his successor, Dionysius, cites a canon of " our blessed father Heraclas." The Copto-Arabic Synaxarium (ed. F. Wtistenfeld,
ii., Gotha, 1879, p. 160) says that he was the son of pagan parents, who had him taught the ancient philosophy, and after their conversion, the Christian also; that he was ordained priest by the holy Demetrius, whose successor he became; that he converted many, pagans, and chose Dionysius to assist him in administration, keeping the teaching office to himself. Origen (in Eusebius, Hist eccl., VI., xix. 13) justifies his own interest in profane learning by the example of Pantamus and Heraclas, " who is now a member of the presbyterium at Alexandria. I found him with the teacher of philosophical learning [Ammonius], with whom he had already continued five years before I began to hear lectures on those subjects " — so that Heraclas must have been born not long after 170. Origen himself made such an impression upon Heraclas that he and his brother were among the first auditors of the youthful teacher. At this time he became a Christian, and soon distinguished himself as a theologian. Origen entrusted to him the direction of the preparatory department of the catechetical shool. He refused to support Origen in his contest with Demetrius, and after he went to Cffisarea succeeded him as head of the school, and about a year later became bishop of Alexandria. When Origen returned to Egypt, Heraclas excommunicated him once more, and deposed Bishop Ammonius of Themuis because he allowed him to preach in his church. Probably until the beginning of the third century the bishop of Alexandria was the only bishop in Egypt. Eutychius of Alexandria (q.v.) says (i. 332) that Demetrius consecrated three others and Heraclas twenty, and that he was the first to be called patriarch.
(Adolf Harnack.)
Bibliography: ASB, July, iii. 645-647; M. Le Quien, Oriens Christianus, ii. 392, Paris, 1740; Harnack, Geschichte, i. 332, ii. 2, pp. 24-25 et passim; Neander, Christian Church, i. 698, 700, 712; DNB, ii. 897.
HERACLEON. See Valentinus and His School.
HERACLITUS, her"a-clai'tus: According to Eusebius (Hist eccl., v. 27), the author of a lost work " On the Apostle " (probably a commentary on Paul's epistles), and a contemporary of Commodus.
Bibliography: Harnack, Litteratur, i. 758-759, ii. 1, p. 701; Kruger, History, p. 224.
HERBELOT, ar"blo', DE MOLAINVILLE, BAR- THlSLEMY D': French Orientalist; b. in Paris Dec. 4, 1625; d. there Dec. 8, 1695. He studied at the University of Paris, where he devoted himself particularly to Oriental languages. Subsequently he spent a year and a half in Italy, going there to establish relations with people from the Orient. On his return to France he received the patronage of Fouquet and a pension of 1,500 livres. Of this last, however, he was deprived on the fall of his patron in 1661, but was then appointed secretary and interpreter of Oriental languages to the king. On a second visit to Italy in 1666, Ferdinand II. of Tuscany presented him with many valuable Eastern manuscripts, and sought to retain him at his court. Recalled to Paris by Colbert, he was granted a pension by Louis XIV.; and in 1692 he was appointed the successor of J. d'Auvergne in the chair
Herben Herder