(formed from "highest, ") a sect of heretics in the fourth century; thus called from the profession they made of worshipping the Most High God. The doctrine of the Hypistarians was an assemblage of Paganism, Judaism, and Christianity.
They adored the Most High God with the Christians; but they also revered fire and lamps with the Heathens, and observed the sabbath, and the distinction of clean and unclean things, with the Jews. The Hypsistarii bore a near resemblance to the Euchites, or Messalians.
Despite a stated reliance on the plain meaning of the Bible and the dictates of common sense, Buck's Theological Dictionary, first published in London in 1802, seeks to provide a textual basis for the evangelical community. By combining brief essays on orthodox belief and practice with historical entries on various denominations, Buck provided an interpretive lens that allowed antebellum Protestants to see Christianity's almost two millennia as their own history.Wikipedia
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