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§ 20. Among the Apostolic Fathers, as those writers are called, who conversed either with the apostles themselves, or with their immediate disciples, the next after Clement is Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, a disciple and companion of the apostles. He suffered martyrdom under Trajan: being exposed to wild beasts, in the theatre at Rome. There are extant several epistles bearing his name; and concerning which the learned have had long and sharp contests. The seven, written while he was on his way to Rome, as published A. D. 1646, by Is. Vossius, from a Florentine MS., are accounted genuine ; most writers reject the others as forged. To this opinion I cheerfully accede; and yet I must acknowledge that the genuineness of the epistle to Polycarp, on account of its difference in style, appears to me very dubious; and indeed the whole subject of the Ignatian epistles in general is involved in much obscurity and perplexity.

discourses, and witnessed his combats, particularly with Simon Magus; and in private conversations with the apostles, every thing pertaining not only to Christianity, but to cosmogony, physics, pneumatology, &c., was fully explained to him. The three works often relate precisely the same things, and in the same words; but they not unfrequently differ in the fulness of their details, and in many of the minor points both of doctrine and of fact. The first is entitled Sti Clementis Romani Recognitiones. The original is lost; so that we have only the Latin translation of Rufinus. It is

divided into 10 books, and fills 111 large folio pages. The second is the Clementina (Tà KANμévtiva), first published, Gr. and Lat., by Cotelier. It fills 146 folio pages. It commences with an epistle of Peter, and another of Clement, addressed to the apostle James. The body of the work, instead of being divided into books and chapters, like the Recognitions, is thrown into 19 discourses, or homilies (uxía), as delivered by Peter, but committed to writing by Clement. The third is the Clementine Epitome, or abridged account of the acts, travels, and discourses of Peter, together with the epistle of Clement to James, Gr. and Lat., pp. 52, fol. This is, as its title implies, a mere abridgment of the two preceding works. Tr.]

3 See Seb. de Tillemont, Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de l'Eglise, tom. ii.

pt. ii. p. 42. 80. [Oudin thinks it likely that Ignatius never was martyred, but died quietly at Antioch. (De Scriptoribus Ecclesiæ Antiquis, i. 133.) Certainly, Eusebius does not speak of his martyrdom as ascertained, but merely as reported, λóyos exe. Eccl. Hist. iii, 36. Ed.]

In regard to these epistles, consult J. A. Fabricius, Biblioth. Græca, lib. v. cap. i. p. 38-47. [Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. iii. 36, makes very honourable mention of Ignatius and his epistles; and describes his conduct while on his way to Rome, the place of his martyrdom. The account of his martyrdom, which is printed along with his epistles, gives a still fuller account of this eminent father. It is clear that he suffered death in the reign of Trajan; but whether A. D. 107, or 116, is uncertain. Rome was the place of his martyrdom, and wild beasts his executioners. On his way from Antioch, he was enraptured with his prospect of dying a martyr, and wrote probably all his epistles. Eusebius says: "He confirmed the churches in every city through which he passed, by discourses and exhortations; warning them most especially to take heed of the heresies which then first sprang up and increased." From Smyrna (according to Eusebius) he wrote four of his epistles; namely, to the churches of Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, and Rome. The last of these was to entreat the Roman Christians not to interpose and prevent his mar

§ 21. Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, suffered martyrdom at an extreme age, in the middle of the second century. The epistle addressed to the Philippians, which is ascribed to him, is by some accounted genuine, and by others spurious; which of these are in the right, it is difficult to determine.5 The Epistle of Barnabas, as it is called, was, in my judgment, the production of some Jewish Christian who lived in this century, a man undoubtedly by no means bad, but possessed of little genius, and spoilt by Jewish fables. He was clearly a different person from Barnabas, the companion of St. Paul. The Shepherd of Lutherans, are disposed to admit the genuineness of the epistles in their shorter form; but to regard them as interpolated and altered. An English translation of them and of the martyrdom of Ignatius, may be seen in archbishop Wake's Genuine Epistles of the Apostolic Fathers. Tr.] [Among a great mass of very ancient MSS. purchased from an Egyptian monastery for the British Museum, which reached England in 1843, were Syriac versions of the Ignatian epistles to Polycarp, the Ephesians, and the Romans. These Mr. Cureton has published with an English translation and notes. They are less full than the Greek versions of these three epistles, but contain the passages from them found in Irenæus and Origen, the earliest authorities for the existence of any Ignatian remains. The questions, therefore, arise, Did Ignatius leave any epistles besides these three; and is not every thing wanting in the Syriac version of them, an interpolation? Ed.]

tyrdom. From Troas he wrote three other epistles; namely, to the churches of Philadelphia and of Smyrna, and to his friend Polycarp. Of these seven epistles, there are duplicate copies still extant; that is, copies of a larger and of a smaller size. The latter are those which many suppose to be genuine. Besides these, there are extant five other Greek epistles, and as many more in Latin; which are now universally rejected namely, ad Mariam Cassibolitam, ad Tarsenses, ad Antiochenos, ad Heronem Antiochenum diaconem, ad Philippenses; also one in Latin, from the Virgin Mary to Ignatius, and his reply; two from Ignatius to St. John; and one of Maria Cassibolita to Ignatius. It is the singular fortune of the seven first epistles of Ignatius, to have become the subject of sectarian controversy among Protestants. In these epistles, the dignity and authority of bishops are exalted higher than in any other writings of this age. Hence, the strenuous advocates for the apostolic origin of episcopacy, prize and defend these epistles with no ordinary interest; while the reformed divines, and especially those of Holland, France, and Switzerland, assail them with equal ardour. The most prominent champions are Bishop Pearson, in his Vindicia epistolarum Ignatii, Cantab. 1672, 4to, and John Daillé, de Scriptis que sub Dionysii Areop. et Ignati Antioch, nominibus circumferuntur, Geneva, 1666, 4to. But each of these is supported by a host of able polemics. The truth is, that the external evidence or that from ancient testimony, makes much for the genuineness of these epistles, though equally for the larger as for the smaller. The internal evidence is divided, and of course affords ground for arguments on both sides. Moderate men of various sects, and especially

5 Concerning Polycarp and his epistle, see Tillemont, Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de l'Eglise, tom. ii. pt. ii. p. 287, and J. A. Fabricius, Biblioth. Gr. lib. v. cap. p. 47. [Also W. Cave, Life of Polycarp, in his Apostolici; or Lives of the Primitive Fathers, Lond. 1677, fol. The epistle of Polycarp, (the genuineness of which, if not certain, is highly probable,) and the epistle of the church of Smyrna, concerning the martyrdom of Polycarp, (which none now call in question,) are given in English, in archbishop Wake's Genuine Epistles, &c. Tr.]

6 Concerning Barnabas, see Tillemont, Mémoires, &c. tom. i. pt. iii. p. 1043. Thom. Ittig, Select. Historia eccles. capita, sec. i. cap. i. § 14, p. 20; and J. A. Fabricius, Biblioth. Gr. lib. iv. cap. v. § 14. p. 173, and lib. v. cap.

Hermas, as it is called, because an angel, acting and apparelled like a shepherd, plays the first part in it, was composed in the second century by Hermas, the brother of Pius, the Roman bishop. It seems to have been written by a man scarcely sane, since he has thought himself at liberty to invent conversations between God and the angels, for the sake of giving precepts which he considered salutary, a more ready entrance into the minds of his readers. But celestial spirits with him talk greater nonsense than hedgers and ditchers, or porters do among ourselves.8

§ 22. None of those who gave their minds to writing while the Christian state was yet in its infancy, were powerful from learning, genius, or eloquence; but in their simple and unpolished manner, they express elevated piety." And this is honourable, rather than reproachful, to the Christian cause. For, that a large part of the human race should have been drawn over to the worship of our Saviour by men of slender

i. § 4, p. 3, and various others. [This

ancient monument of the Christian church, is likewise translated by archbishop Wake, Genuine Epistles, &c. Tr].

This is now manifest from the very ancient Fragment of a Treatise on the Canon of the Holy Scriptures, published a few years ago by Lud. Antony Muratori, (from an ancient MS. found at Milan,) in his Antiq. Italicar. medii ævi, tom. iii. diss. xliii. p. 853, &c. [But the genuineness and authority of this treatise itself are now very much questioned by the learned; so that the true author of the Shepherd of Hermas is still unknown. Tr.]

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[For the best edition of Hermas, we are indebted to J. A. Fabricius, who subjoined it to the third vol. of his Coder Apocryph. N. T. He also treats of this writer, in his Biblioth. Græca, l. v. cap. ix. 9, p. 7. See also Thos. Ittig, de Patribus Apostolicis, § 55, p. 184, &c. and in his Select historia eccles. capita, 1, p. 65, 155-179. The Shepherd of Hermas is translated by Archbishop Wake, Genuine Epistles, &c., and though wild and fanciful, yet from the pious spirit which it breathes, and the insight it gives us into the speculations of the early Christians, it is not a useless book. Tr.]

The writers above named, are denominated the Apostolic Fathers; and they are often published together. The

best editions are by J. Bapt. Cotelier, Paris, 1672, re-edited by J. le Clerc. Antw. 1698, and again Amsterd. 1724, 2 vols. fol. with numerous notes by both the editors and others. [This last and best edition, Gr. and Lat., contains all that has been ascribed to the Apostolic Fathers, whether truly or falsely. The portions which archbishop Wake regarded as genuine, he translated and published with a preliminary discourse of 136 pages, 2nd ed. Lond. 1710, 8vo.

-The value of the genuine works of these fathers, is, to learned theology, very small; but as affording us acquaintance with the true spirit and sentiments and reasonings of Christians in the very first age after the apostles, they are of inestimable value. If any one wishes to know what was the simplicity and godly sincerity of that first and infantile age of the church, let him read the Apostolic Fathers. Tr." The remarkable difference between the writings of the apostles and those of the apostolical fathers, who are yet so close upon the former in point of time, is a remarkable phenomenon of its kind. While in other cases such a transition is usually quite gradual, in this case we find a sudden one. Here there is no gradual transition, but a sudden spring a remark which is calculated to lead us to a recognition of the peculiar activity of the Divine Spirit in the souls of the apostles." Rose's Neander, ii. 329. Ed.]

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attainments and abilities, proves that the propagation of Christianity must be ascribed, not to human talents and appliances, but to the power of God.

CHAPTER III.

HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES AND RELIGION.

§ 1. The nature and the standard of the Christian religion.-§ 2. Interpretation of the Scriptures.-§ 3. Mode of teaching Christianity.-§ 4. The Apostles' Creed. -§ 5. Distinction between catechumens and the faithful.-§ 6. Mode of instructing catechumens. -§ 7. Instruction of children; schools and academies.--§ 8. Secret doctrine.§ 9. Lives and characters of Christians.—§ 10. Excommunication.-§ 11. Controversies among Christians.—§ 12. Contest about the terms of salvation. -§ 13. Judaizing Christians.

§ 1. THE whole Christian religion is comprehended in two parts; one of which teaches what is to be believed upon Divine subjects; the other, how we ought to live. The apostles ordinarily call the former the mystery, or the truth, the latter godliness. The standard and rule of both are, those books which God dictated to certain individuals, chosen for the purpose, either before or after the birth of Christ. These books it has long been the custom to denominate the Old and New Testaments.

§ 2. Provision, therefore, was early made, both by the apostles and their disciples, that these books should be in the hands of all Christians; that they should be publicly read in their assemblies; and be applied as well to enlighten their minds with truth, as to advance them in piety. Those who expounded the Scriptures, studied simplicity and plainness. Yet it is not to be denied, that even in this century the perverse Jewish custom of obscuring the plain language of Scripture by forced and frigid allegories, and of diverting words from their natural and proper meanings, in order to extort from them some recondite senses, found admirers and imitators among Christians. Besides others, let Barnabas, whose epistle is yet extant, be a proof of this.

1 Τὸ μυστήριον τῆς πίστεως, 1 Tim. iii. 9. Κατ ̓ εὐσέβειαν διδασκαλία, vi. 3.

Ἐπίγνωσις ἀληθείᾳ τῆς κατ' εὐσέβειαν,
Tit. i. 1.

§ 3. The manner of teaching religious truths was perfectly simple, and remote from all the rules of the philosophers, and all the precepts of human art. This is manifest, not only from the epistles of the apostles, but also from all the monuments of this century which have come down to us. Nor did any apostle, or any one of their immediate disciples, collect and arrange the principal doctrines of Christianity in a scientific or regular system. The circumstances of the times did not require this; those who followed Christ had no other wish than to exhibit the religion that they had embraced by their turn of mind and way of life. They had no thought of recommending it by ingenious explanations and philosophic arrangements.

§ 4. There is indeed extant, a brief summary of Christian doctrines, which is called the Apostles' Creed; and which, from the fourth century onward, was attributed to our Saviour's ambassadors themselves. But at this day, all who have any knowledge of antiquity, confess unanimously, that this opinion is a mistake, and has no foundation. Those judge far more wisely and rationally, who think that this creed arose from small beginnings, and was gradually enlarged, as occasions required, in order to exclude new errors from the church.3

See J. Fr. Buddeus, Isagoge in Theologiam, 1. ii. c. ii. § ii. p. 441, and J. G. Walch, Introduct. in libros symbolicos, 1. i. cap. ii. p. 87, &c.

3 This is shown, with no less learning than ingenuity, by Peter King, History of the Apostles' Creed; which G. Olearius translated into Latin, and published, Lips. 1704, 8vo. But those who read this book should be apprised, that the noble author [he was eventually baron of Ockham, and lord chancellor. Ed.] often gives us conjectures instead of arguments; and that his conjectures do not always deserve to be implicitly received. [Although the Apostles' Creed was not composed in a council of Apostles, as was supposed in the days of Rufinus, (Ruf. de Symbolo; subjoined to Cypriani Opera,) yet it appears to have been the general Creed of the Christian church, from, at least, the close of the second century, down to the Reformation.

Nor did it undergo any very great or material change, as appears from comparing the formulæ of faith given by Irenæus, A. D. 175, (adv. Hær. i. 10, and iii. 4,) and by Tertullian, A. D. 192, (de

Virgin. veland. cap. i.—contra Praxeam, cap. ii. Præscriptt. adv. Haret. cap. xiii.) with the forms of the Creed, in all subsequent writers, down to the present time. See these forms, collected by C. G. F. Walch, in his Bibliotheca symbolica vetus, Lemgo, 1770, 8vo. Yet there were some variations in its form, as used by different churches; and additions were made to it from time to time. - Besides serving as the general test of Christian orthodoxy, the principal use of this creed, in the third and following centuries, was to guide catechists in training and instructing the catechumens in the principles of Christianity. See Cyril of Jerusalem, (Catechesis, passim,) Rufinus, (de Symbolo,) and Augustine, (Sermo I. ad Catechum. Opp. tom. vi. p. 399-405, ed. Benedict.) It is a most valuable monument of the church, because it shows what in the early ages were considered as the great, the peculiar, and the essential doctrines of the gospel; viz. those all-important facts which are summarily recounted in this Creed. The common form of it in the fourth century, as used in most churches

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