by Sabellius., His party continued to subsist in Rome for a considerable time afterwards,[1] and withstood Calixtus as an unscrupulous apostate. In the West, however, the influence of Sabellius seems never to have been important; in the East, on the other hand, after the middle of the 3rd century his doctrine found much acceptance, first in the Pentapolis and afterwards in other provinces [2] It was violently controverted by the bishops, notably by Dionysius of Alexandria, and the development in the East of the philosophical doctrine of the Trinity after Origen (from 260 to 320) was very powerfully influenced by the opposition to Sabellianism. Thus, for example, at the great synod held in Antioch in 268 the word δμοονσιος was rejected, as seeming to favour Unitarianism. The Sabellian doctrine itself, however, during the decades above mentioned underwent many changes in the East and received a philosophical dress. In the 4th century this and the allied doctrine of Marcellus of Ancyra were frequently confounded, so that it is exceedingly difficult 'to arrive at a clear account of it in its genuine form. Sabellianism, in fact, became a collective name for all those Unitarian doctrines in which the divine nature of Christ was acknowledged. The teaching of Sabellius himself was very closely allied to the older Modalism (“Patripassianism”) of Noetus and Praxeas, but was distinguished from it by its more careful theological elaboration and 7 by the account it took of the Holy Spirit. His central proposition was to the effect that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the same person, three names thus being attached to one and the same being, What weighed most with Sabellius was the monotheistic interest. The One Being was also named by him νίοπάτωρ—an expression purposely chosen to obviate ambiguity. To explain how one and the same being could have various, forms of manifestation, he pointed to the tripartite nature of man (body, soul, spirit), and to the sun, which manifests itself as a heavenly body, as a source of light and also as a source of warmth. He further maintained that God is not at one and the same time Father, Son and Spirit, but, on the contrary, has been active in three apparently consecutive manifestations or energies-first in the 1rp6aw1rov of the Father as Creator and Lawgiver, then in the 1rp6<rw1rav of the Son as Redeemer, and lastly in the 1rp6¢1o, nrov of the Spirit as the Giver of Life. It is by this doctrine of the succession of the 1rp6ow1ra that Sabellius is distinguished from the older Modalists. In particular it is significant, in conjunction with the reference to the Holy Spirit, that Sabellius regards the Father also as merely a form of manifestation of the one Godin other words, has formally put Him in a position of complete equality with theother Persons. This view prepares the way for Augustine's doctrine of the Trinity. Sabellius himself appears to have made use of Stoical formulas (1r)a.Ti9veo'0at, ¢1vUré))ecr0at), but he chiefly relied upon Scripture, especially such passages as Deut. vi. 4; Exod. xx. 3; Isa. xliv. 6; John x. 38. Of his later history nothing is known; his followers died out in the course of the 4th century.
The sources of our knowledge of Sabellianism are Hipolytus (Philos. bk. ix.), Epiphanius (Haer. lxii.) and Dionys. Alex. (3E{>p.); also various passages in Athanasius and the other fathers of the 4th century. For modern discussions of the subject see Schleiermacher (Theol. Ztschr. 1822, Hft. 3);~Lange (Ztschr. f. hist. Theol. 1832, ii. 2); Dollin er (Hippolyt u. Kallist. 1853), Zahn (Marcell v. Ancyra, 1867); R. L. gttley, The, Doctrine of the Incarnation (1896); various histories of Dogma, and Harnack (s.v. " Monarchianismus, " in " Herzog-Hauck, Realencyk. ffzf pmt. Theol. 'und Kirche, xiii. 303). (A. HA.)
SABIANS. -The Sabians (os-Sdbi'12n) who are first mentioned
in the Koran (ii. 59, v. 73, xxii. 17) were a semi-Christian-sect of Babylonia, the Elkesaites, closely resembling the Mandaeans or
so-called “ Christians of St John the Baptist, ” but not identical
withthem. Their name is probably derived from the, Aramaic
822, dialectical form of 9214, and signifies “ those whofwash
themselves ”; the term al-mughtasila, which is sometimes applied
to them by Arab writers, has the same meaning, and they were
also known as 'f;p, epoBa1r'r¢o'1'ai. How Mahomet understood the
term “ Sabians ” is uncertain, but he mentions them .together
with .the lews and Christians. The older Mahommedan theologians
were agreed that they possessed a written revelation and
were entitled accordingly to enjoy a toleration not granted to
mere heathen. Curiously enough, the name “ Sabian ” was used
by the Meccanidolaters to denote Mahomet himself and his Moslem
converts, apparently on account of the frequent ceremonial
ablutions which formed a striking feature of the new religion.
From these true Sahians the pseudo-Sabians of Harran
(Carrhae) in Mesopotamia must be carefully distinguished. In A.D. 830 the Caliph Ma'mun, while marching against the, Byzantines,
received a deputation of the inhabitants of Hart-an.
Astonished by the sight of their long hair and extraordinary
costume, he inquired what religion they professed, and getting
no satisfactory 'answer threatened to exterminate them, unless
by the time of his return from the war they should have embraced
either Islam, or one 'of the creeds tolerated in the Koran. Consequently,
acting on the advice of a Mahommedan jurist, the
Harranians declared' themselves to be “ Sabians, ” a name which
shielded them from persecution in virtue of its Koranic authority
and was so vague that it enabled them to maintain their ancient
beliefs undisturbed. There is no doubt as to the general nature
of the religious beliefs and practices which they sought to mask.
Since the epoch of Alexander the Great 'Harran had. been a
famous centre of pagan and Hellenistic culture; its people were
Syrian heathens, star-worshippers versed in astrology and
magic. In their temples the planetary powers were propitiated
by blood-offerings, and it is probable that human victims were
occasionally sacrificed even as late as the 9th century of our era.
The more enlightened Harranians, however, adopted a religious
philosophy strongly tinged with Neoplatonic and Christian
elements. ' They produced a brilliant succession of eminent
scholars and scientists who transmitted to the 'Moslems the
results of Babylonian civilisation and Greek learning, and their
influence at the court of Baghdad secured more or less toleration
for Sabianism, although in' the reign of Harfin al-Rashid the
Harranians had already found it necessary to establish a fund by
means of which the conscientious scruples of Moslem officials
might be overcome. Accounts of these false Sabians reached
the West through Maimonides, and then through Arabic sources,
long before it was understood that the narne in this application
wasonly a disguise. Hence the utmost confusion prevailed in
allEuropean accounts of them till Chwolsohn published in 1856
his Ssabier und der Ssabismus, in which the authorities for the
history and belief of the Harranians in the middle agesiare
collected and discussed.
See also “ Nouveaux documents pour l'étude de la religion des Harraniens, ” by Dozy and De Goeje, in the Actes of the sixth Oriental congress, ii. 281 f. (Leiden, 1885).
(R. A. N.)
SABICU WOOD is the produce of a large leguminous tree,
Lysiloma Sabicu, a native of Cuba. The wood has a rich mahogany
colour; it is exceedingly heavy, hard and durable, and
therefore most valuable for shipbuilding. Sabicu, on account of
its durability, was selected for the stairs of the Great Exhibition
(London) of 1851, and, notwithstanding the enormous traffic
which passed over them, the wood at the end was found to be
little affected by wear.
SABINE, SIR EDWARD (1788–1883), English astronomer and geodesist, was born in Dublin on the 14th of October 1788, a scion of a family said to be of Italian origin. He was educated at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and obtained a commission in the royal artillery at the age of fifteen, attaining the rank of major-general in 1859. His only experience of warfare seems to have been at the siege of Fort Erie (Canada) in 1814. In early life he devoted himself to astronomy and physical geography, and in consequence he was appointed astronomer to various expeditions, among others that of Sir J. Ross (1818) in search of the North-West Passage, and that of Sir E. Parry soon afterwards. Later, he spent long periods on the inter-tropical coasts of Africa and America, and again among the snows of Spitzbergen. He was associated with Henry Williams Chisholm and others as a member of the Royal Commission of
