4. Next comes Apollinarius, who is no less a
cause of sorrow to the Churches. With his facility of writing,
and a tongue ready to argue on any subject, he has filled the world
with his works, in disregard of the advice of him who said,
“Beware of making many books.”
Ecc. xii. 12, LXX.
cf. Ep. ccxliv. p. 286. In their multitude there are certainly
many errors. How is it possible to avoid sin in a multitude of
words? cf.
Prov. x. 19. And the
theological works of Apollinarius are founded on Scriptural proof,
but are based on a human origin. He has written about the
resurrection, from a mythical, or rather Jewish, point of view;
urging that we shall return again to the worship of the Law, be
circumcised, keep the Sabbath, abstain from meats, offer
sacrifices to God, worship in the Temple at Jerusalem, and be
altogether turned from Christians into Jews. What could be
more ridiculous? Or, rather, what could be more contrary to
the doctrines of the Gospel? Then, further, he has made such
confusion among the brethren about the incarnation, that few of
his readers preserve the old mark of true religion; but the more
part, in their eagerness for novelty, have been diverted into
investigations and quarrelsome discussions of his unprofitable
treatises.