AQUARIANS

AQUARIANS, Aquarii, a kind of Heretics in the third Century, so called from the Latin, aqua, Water; because they used nothing but Water in the Sacrament. See EUCHARIST.
It is said the Occasion of the Abuse was owing to the Persecution which prevailed in those Times: For the Christians being then obliged to celebrate the Sacrament in the Night; found it necessary to make use of Water, lest the smell of the Wine should betray them to the Heathens. But they afterwards went further, and actually forbade the use of Wine in the Eucharist, even when it might be used with safety. Epiphanius tells us, the Aquarians were the Followers of Tatian; and were so called, because they abstained wholly from Wine, and did not use it even in the Eucharist. See ANOMOEANS.