Mercator. His three dialogues against the Eutychians, he entitled
Polymorphus, (_i.e._ of many shapes,) and Eranistes, that is, the
Beggar, because the Eutychian error was gathered from the various
heresies of Marcian, Valentin, Arius, and Apollinaris. The first
dialogue he calls the Unchangeable, because in it he shows that the
divine Word suffered no change by becoming man. The second is
entitled The Inconfused, from the subject, which is to prove that in
Christ, after the Incarnation, the divine and human nature remain
really distinct. The third is called, The Impassible, because in it
the author demonstrates that the divinity neither did nor could
suffer; the same is the purport of his Demonstration by syllogisms.
The dialogues were written about the year 447; for the author
clearly confutes Eutyches, though he never names him; and it appears
that St. Cyril was then dead, the author reckoning him in the end
among the Catholic doctors, who had formerly flourished in the
church, and among the stars which had enlightened the world. (Dial.
2. p. 86, and 111.)

Theodoret's ten sermons On Providence, is a work never yet
paralleled by any other writer, ancient or modern, on that sublime
subject; whether we consider the matter and the choice of thoughts,
or the author's sincere piety, or his extensive knowledge, and the
depth of his philosophical inquiries, or the strength and solidity
of his reasoning, or the noble sublimity of the expression, and the
elegance and perspicuity of the diction. It was the love of God
which engaged him to undertake, in this task, the defence of the
cause of our best Father and supreme Lord, as he modestly assures
us, (p. 320,) and this motive animated him with fresh life and
uncommon vigor in exerting and displaying the strength and beauty of
his genius on so great a subject.

His twelve discourses On healing the Prejudices of the Greeks, are
an excellent apology for our faith against the pagans; a performance
which falls little short of the former. In it we meet with many
curious anecdotes relating to the heathenish theology of the
ancients, and the impiety and vices with which their philosophers
disgraced their profession. In the eighth of these discourses, which
is entitled, On the Martyrs, he clearly demonstrates that the
veneration which Ch