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Massalians

Charles Buck Theological Dictionary

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Charles Buck Dictionary
• Massalians
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McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia
• Massalians

Or MESSALIANS, a sect which sprung up about the year 361, in the reign of the emperor Constantinus, who maintained that men have two souls, a celestial and a diabolical; and that the latter is driven out by prayer. From those words of our Lord, "Labour not for the meat that perisheth, " it is said, that they concluded they ought not to do any work to bet their bread. We may suppose, says Dr. Jortin, that this sect did not last long; that these sluggards were soon starved out of the world; or, rather, that cold and hunger sharpened their wits, and taught them to be better interpreters of Scripture.