Amelius a Platonic philosopher of the 3d century, was born in Etruria. In the year 246 he went to Rome, where he attended for twenty-four years the lectures of the Neo-Platonist Plotinus, whose most famous pupil he became, as well as his apologist. Like all Neo-Platonists Amelius tried to save heathenism, which was already on the wane. He was not only a pious heathen, but also attacked Christianity, especially Gnosticism, on the one hand, while, on the other, he perused the beginning of the Gospel of St. John, especially the Johannean doctrine of the Logos, in defence of Platonic philosophy. His writings, with the exception of the fragment, in which he makes reference to the beginning of the Gospel of St. John, are all lost. He died at Apamea, in Syria. See Eusebius, Preparatio Evangel. 2, 19; Theodoret, Graec. Affict. lib. 2; Cyrillus Alexandrinus, In Julianum, lib. 8; Hefele, in Wetzer und Welters Kirchen-Lexikon. s.v.; Smith, Dict. of Class. Biog. s.v. (B. P.)
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More