But when once Christianity was settled by the laws of the empire, and the bishops free to act as they pleased, without any fear of public enemies to disturb and oppress them, they fell into more shameful and violent quarrels, upon account of their differences concerning the nature and dignity of Christ.[75] The controversy first began between Alexander bishop of Alexandria, and [L]Arius,[76] one of his presbyters, and soon spread itself into other churches, enflaming bishops against bishops, who out of a pretence to support divine truth excited tumults, and entertained irreconcileable hatreds towards one another. These divisions of the prelates set the Christian people together by the ears, as they happened to favour their different leaders and heads of parties; and the dispute was managed with such violence, that it soon reached the whole Christian world, and gave occasion to the heathens in several places to ridicule the Christian religion upon their public theatres.[77] How different were the tempers of the bishops and clergy of these times from the excellent spirit of Dionysius bishop of Alexandria, in the reign of Decius, who writing to Novatus upon account of the disturbance he had raised in the church of Rome, by the severity of his doctrine, in not admitting those who lapsed into idolatry in times of persecution ever more to communion, though they gave all the marks of a true repentance and conversion, tells him, “one ought to suffer any thing in the world rather than divide the church of God.” ----- Footnote 75: De vit. Const. l. 2. c. 61. Footnote L: See note [L] at the end of the volume. Footnote 76: Soc. E. H. l. 1. c. 6. Footnote 77: Euseb. l. 6. c. 45. -----