EUSTATHIANS were also a sect of heretics in the fourth century, who derived their name from their founder Eustathius, a monk, who was so foolishly fond of his own profession, that he condemned all other conditions of life. But whether this Eustathius was the same with the bishop of Sebastia and the chief of the Semi-Arians, is not easy to determine.
Eustathius excluded married people from salvation, prohibited his followers from praying in their houses, and obliged them to quit all they had, as incompatible with the hopes of heaven. He drew them out of the other assemblies of Christians, to hold secret meetings with him, and made them wear a particular habit; he ordained them to fast on Sundays; and he taught them, that the ordinary fasts of the church were needless, after they had attained to a certain degree of purity which he pretended to. He evinced great horror of chapels built in honour of martyrs, and of the assemblies held therein. Several women, seduced by his reasoning, forsook their husbands, and abundance of slaves deserted their masters' houses. He was condemned at the council of Gangra in Paphlagonia, which was held between the years 326 and 341.