LUCIAN, St, a learned presbyter of Antioch, said to have been born at Samosata, the birthplace of the celebrated satirist of the same name, about the middle of the second century after Christ. Among the old ecclesiastical writers we find him assigned a distinguished place for his
learning and piety. Eusebius (Hist. Eccles., viii. 13) speaks admiringly of his "unblemished character," and Jerome (De Viris Illust., cap. lxxvii.) bears a similar testimony. The latter writer refers to him as "laborious in the study of the Scriptures;" so much so, that not only was his revised edition of the Septuagint used by the churches from Constantinople to Antioch, but this corrected version of the Old Testament was known by the name of Lucian. Jerome also speaks of him as the author of several epistles and theological tracts; and we find in Socrates (Hist. Eccles., lib. ii., c. 10) an extant confession of faith drawn up by Lucian's hand. He died a martyr in the reign of Diocletian, A.D. 311, and was buried at Helenopolis, in Bithynia.
There is not a little obscurity, and a great deal of consequent dispute, respecting the views held by Lucian on the doctrine of the Trinity. Some have maintained that the absence of any allusion to his opinions on this point by Jerome and Athanasius, and the respect in which he was held by the Trinitarian fathers, afford a sufficient refutation of the charge of heterodoxy brought against the martyr of Antioch. Others, again, on the strength of the testimony of Epiphanius and Philostorgius, who allege that Arianism and Lucianism were all but synonymous, are inclined to hold that the presbyter was a heretic. There are those, again, who maintain a middle course, and favour the opinion that Lucian's views were not quite orthodox, inasmuch as Alexander (in Theodoret, Hist. Eccles., lib. i., c. 4) says that three successive bishops of the Catholic Church excluded him for advocating the doctrines of Paul of Samosata. It is, however, generally believed that he returned to the bosom of the church before his death.
A great deal of confusion respecting the opinions of this eminent scholar and truly pious man has obviously arisen by confounding him with another Lucian, a follower of Marcion, and the author of numerous forgeries, such as the History of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary; the Proterangelion, or Gospel of James; the Gospel of Nicodemus, &c. This individual is termed by Epiphanius, Lucian the Elder (Hist. Eccles., xliii., c. 1). Some call him Lucan, others Lucius and Leucius, &c. That the creed of the latter Lucian was heretical there is no doubt; but how far he has been confounded with his namesake of better reputation it is impossible to determine.