PRINCETON, N. J.
SAelf.
Sec/ion *.Vs
Number.
K..i..8.
)...a.83.
BR 162 .K5 1883
Killen, W. D. 1806-1902.
The ancient church: its
history, doctrine, worship^
THE / 2>^*^'
ANCIENT CHU
HISTORY, DOCTRINE, WORSHIP, AND
CONSTITUTION,
TRACED FOR THE FIRST THREE HUNDRED YEARS
BY
W. D.^KILLEN, D.D.,
PROFESSOR OF. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY AND PASTORAL THEOLOGY IN THE IRISH
ASSEMBLY'S COLLEGE, BELFAST, AND PRESIDENT OF THE FACULTY.
" Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God."
Psalm Ixxzvli. 3.
A NEW EDITION, CAREFULLY REVISED,
WITH A PREFACE
By JOHN HALL, D.D.,
Minister Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York.
NEW YORK:
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY,
900 Broadway, cor. 2oth Street.
y'^^-S
COPYRIGHT, 18S3, BY
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY.
NEW YORK:
EDWARD O. JENKINS, • ROBERT RUTTER,
Printer and Siereoty/ier, Binder^
20 North William St. xi6 and 118 East 14th Street.
PREFACE
It is not to be wondered at that in an age which busies itself
about the beginnings of things, there should be given rencAved
attention to the early history of the Christian Church, They
who deem religious life in a decaying state must find it diffi-
cult to reconcile with their view the amount of learning and of
mental activity devoted to this department of knowledge. If
the law of demand and supply works with the uniformity com-
monly ascribed to it, there never were so many persons as in
our time keenly interested in the Genesis of the Christian
Church. In England, in Germany, even in France, and in our
own country, the foremost minds are occupied with questions
regarding the institutions, the development, and the early
struggles of a community now making itself felt in every part
of the world where there is any intellectual life, or indeed any
human activity. It is not surely presumptuous to hope that
permanent good will come from so many minds being brought
again into contact with the Son of God on earth, and with His
apostles, at that crisis of human history when their words and
their deeds were the germs of permanent and blessed institu-
tions.
It is the special commendation of History, that it widens the
field of our observation, and enables us to see how great prin-
ciples— which, like great bodies, move slowly — work themselves
out in congenial results. It would have been difficult, proba-
bly, to convince a well-to-do young Hebrew in the later years
of Solomon's reign, when the precious metals were as stones
in the street, when foreign fashions were ruling society in Jeru-
salem, that God-fearing was essential to prosperity, and that
the religion of the fathers must be maintained in order to na-
tional dignity and prosperity. But it is only needful to glance
over the history of Solomon's successor to see how soon evil
seeds bring forth evil fruit, and how departure from God in-
(iii)
IV PREFACE.
volves the loss of the best social and national blessings. Just
so it may sometimes seem to a hasty reader of the Epistles, as
if little things attracted disproportionate attention from the
apostles — as for example, the eating of " things offered to
idols " — but a moderate study of the early Church's history
corrects the impression, and shows that a trifling trend in one
generation may be a decided and irresistible movement in the
next. A " false view " of a quarter of an inch at the muzzle
of the gun will mean the striking of the shot many feet from
the target.
For many reasons it is desirable that those who forego any
approach to an oligarchy in the Church, and who hold by a
Government at once independent of the State, and in the line
of popular civil self-government, should be acquainted with the
annals of the early Church. The foregoing description does
not by any means include Presbyterians only. The over-
whelming majority of the Protestant Christians of the United
States are agreed as to the parity of the clergy, and the seem-
ing exception in the Methodist Episcopal Church is more
apparent than real, for a bishop in that great and useful branch
of the Church is not much different in form and power from
the " superintendents " in whom Reformers in Scotland saw
no peril, indeed, not essentially different from synodical mis-
sionaries working in concert with Boards and Presbyteries in
the newer fields of the West.' Whatever may be guarded in
name from the appearance of legislative or executive authority,
in an "Association" among our Baptist and Congregational
brethren, any Presbyterian admitted thereto by courtesy finds
the substance of the action of his Presbytery reproduced, even
as the New England deacon is the exact counterpart of an old-
world Presbyterian Elder. Perhaps it is not the mere hope of
an eager partisan, that, as independent activity of mind makes
itself felt throughout the country, the moral influence of the
Association or the Presbytery will be found more and more
important to the preservation of such denominational unity as
renders close and comfortable organic co-operation possible.
But whether this hope be realized or not, whether or not it be
justifiable, every intelligent Presbyterian must be glad that in
' The Wesleyan Methodists of England, after much discussion, have admit-
ted others than ministers to the governing council of the denomination.
PREFACE. V
the working of the churches, the lines of his church govern-
ment are followed so closely by those who, like our Baptist
brethren, hold so much in common with him of the great Evan-
gelical system of truth.
The author whose A?icient Church herewith goes to a second
American edition, after a brief but remarkably useful pastoral
life, was called to the Professorship of Church History in
the Presbyterian College, Belfast, and a large proportion of
the clergy of the Irish Presbyterian Church have caught the
spirit of his Lectures on " Church History " and " Pastoral
Theology." The associate of Dr. Wilson, a clear writer on
Baptism, of Dr. Cooke, as earnest and evangelical as he was
eloquent, and of Dr. Murphy, who still lives to do the work of
a good teacher and an able commentator, and of others like-
minded, he has helped to train a body of ministers inferior to
none in Christendom, and to guide the counsels of a church
which, under many forms of social repression and political dis-
advantage, has made Ulster a vivid exception to the unrest
and the misery of the other three provinces of Ireland, and
from which no mean element of American Presbyterianism has
drawn its blood and its inspiration.
Dr. Killen is a pronounced Presbyterian, but not from mere
hereditary leaning ; but, as the lawyers say, " for cause." It
will be found, however, that the views here illustrated from
the early centuries of our era are not now confined to scholars
of his class. No more evangelical teacher ever preached and
wrote in the pale of the English Church than Dr. Thomas
Scott, whose Commentary combines in a high degree just inter-
pretation with devout feeling and moderation of judgment.
He did not hesitate, while a minister of the Anglican Estab-
lishment, to commit his Commentary to the truth, that among
Ephesian and Philippian Christians in Paul's time. Presbyter
and Bishop were names of the same church officer. Scott, in-
deed, was not recognized as a great scholar. Since the issue of
Dr. Killen's first edition of this work, however, a marked change
has taken place from a variety of causes, not among historians
only, but among critics. The language of the earlier tradi-
tions and chronicles — formulated when diocesan Episcopacy
had become as thoroughly established as the doctrines of
Rome, and which gave to every believing man mentioned in
vi PREFACE.
the New Testament a place as " Bishop " — this language had
been read without hesitation in the prelatic sense. The honest
admissions however of Ellicott, Lightfoot, and others of un-
doubted scholarship, in which Scott's viev/s are endorsed, and
prelacy in the Church is made to be post-apostolic, have entirely
changed the form of expression, and even in Great Britain,
where the Episcopal system is deeply rooted, and incorporated
with the State, have given some color to the suggestion, that
England would ultimately come to a modified Presbyterianism.
The opening sentence of Dean Stanley's chapter on " the
clergy" {Christian Institutions)^ expresses the received views of
scholars. " It is certain that throughout the first century, and
for the first years of the second, that is, through the later chap-
ters of the Acts, the Apostolical Epistles, and the writings of
Clement and Hermas, Bishop and Presbyter were convertible
terms, and that the body of men so called were the rulers — so
far as any permanent rulers existed of the early Church." And
while there is much in statement and in omission in this last
work of Dean Stanley, to grieve evangelical people who were
attracted by his genial character, there is timely truth in the
sentence :' " It is certain that in no instance before the begin-
ning of the third century, the title or function of the Pagan or
Jewish Priesthood is applied to Christian pastors." With much
learning, and with some natural desire to make the best show-
ing possible for modern "orders," Mr. Hatch, of Oxford, yet
shows that, "when the organization of the churches was more
complete, it is clear that the jurisdiction belonged to the coun-
cil of Presbyters." " So, " it is clear," he concludes, " that the
Presbyters of the primitive churches did not necessarily teach.
They were not debarred from teaching, but if they taught as
well as ruled, they combined two offices." Nor is it improper
to quote the following sentence from Mr. Hatch, as embody-
ing the very idea which Dr. Killen delights to illustrate.
" When the Episcopal system had established itself, there was
a bishop wherever in later times there would have been a par-
ish church. From the small province of Proconsular Asia,
which was about the size of Lincolnshire, forty-two bishops
' "Christian Institutes," p. 208.
* " The Organization of the Early Churches," Bampton Lecture, 1880.
PREFACE. vn
were present at an early council : in the only half-converted
province of North Africa, four hundred and seventy Episcopal
towns are known by name." * In other words the teaching
elder of each congregation was a bishop ; he had no earthly
superior. Hence Mr. Hatch justly adds : " It is therefore
reasonable to expect that the bishop, as the chief officer of the
community, presided wherever the community met together."
It is not only reasonable, it is certain. Just so the Reformed
Churches of the Presbyterian order have it until this day, in
Europe, Asia, and America. In the same line with Stanley,
Mr. Hatch says : " The names by which they (church officers)
are designated are various but interchangeable ; and their
variety is probably to be explained by the fact that the same
officer, or officers having equivalent rank, had various func-
tions." In the course of the second century indeed, one of the
names comes to be appropriated to a single officer. We are
now in the second century of American Independence. If in
future ages, we should in the matter of government, become
copyists of European monarchies, it will be enough surely for
the opponents of the policy to show the principles that ruled
us from 1776 to 1876, and to claim that model as the original
Republic, the primitive United States ; and their argument
would not be impaired by its being shown that undue power
was allowed to pass into single hands in the course of the sec-
ond, or the third century of our history.
It is not of course contended by Dr. Killen, or any other in-
telligent Presbyterian, that the Presbytery, with moderator,
clerk, and all minute details of arrangement, are set down in
the pastoral Epistles. All that is contended for is that princi-
ples are indicated, guarded, illustrated, and enforced, the de-
velopment of which in a body of Christian people, uninfluenced
by outside forces like the State, or by unspiritual aims like the
love of pre-eminence, or the desire to be like civil governments,
would imply parity of the ministry, plurality of elders in a
single congregation, and the representation of the people in
church courts. There is in the nature of the case in any commu-
nity a principle of evolution ; but it does not reverse element-
ary principles. There was no State-house, nor capitol at Wash-
ington, when the Thirteen States were constituted a Nation, but
' p. 78.
VlU PREFACE.
nothing since that time has been allowed to reverse the Con-
stitution of the Republic.
We venture to hope that Dr. Killen's book, as it is intel-
ligible by the ordinary capacity, will have an interested body
of readers outside the ranks of students and ministers. In-
telligent adhesion to a church is desirable. It is only by
intelligent adherents that the machinery and the aggressive
work of a church are likely to be sustained. Such adherence
to a denomination is a healthy tie to religion itself. The
men who can be counted upon as fit for important offices in
the church, are usually such as know wherefore they are in the
denomination, and have sympathy with its distinctive aims and
its honored traditions. They whose connection is only casual
and loose do not, commonly, add to a church's power ; and it is
not too much to say that information on subjects of this kind
does not narrow, but widen the sympathies. It is commonly
the ignorant and unreasoning who are afflicted with bigotry.
Nor is it entirely unworthy of notice that some connection
is commonly found between reverent loyalty to the word as
touching church-organization on the one hand, and deference
to it in the inculcation of doctrine on the other. A mistaken
view of the nature and history of the Church, is a fit prepara-
tion for the acceptance of error regarding the doctrines to be
believed. Let the people hold that the apostles appointed
three orders of ministers — bishops, priests, and deacons — who
always and everywhere trace their commission to the apostles ;
that God is pleased to forgive sins in the Church by the priests
of the Church ; that the Greek, Roman, and Anglican Churches
make up the Church Catholic ; that all outside these are sec-
taries cut off from the Catholic Church : and it will be easy
to believe in a sacrifice to God the Father in the Lord's Sup-
per ; in the cleansing efficacy of Baptism, in which the seed of
spiritual life is sown in the soul ; that there are other lesser
sacramental rites, namely, Confirmation, Holy Order, Absolu-
tion, and Holy Matrimony ; that the bishop takes the apos-
tles' place ; that ** the sects" were founded not by Jesus Christ,
but by erring men ; that apostolical succession is like the
meshes of a large net, but unbroken in the Greek, Anglican,
and Roman Churches ; and that the Protestant sects have
abandoned the Catliolic ministry and sacraments.'
PREFACE. ix
But the Presbyterian and allied Churches of America do not
mean to accept principles such as these ; and they do aim at
the instruction of the people in the truth of God's word, as it
justified the Reformers' separation from the Roman and Greek
Churches. They know the history of apostacy, and of the
Dark Ages. They know the conditions of populations given
up to sacerdotalism. They understand how ignorance, and
the reaction against priestly rule in the name of a " Catholic
Church," which all too often takes shape in infidelity, have
long contended for the minds of the nations of Europe. They
have high historic authority for the belief that the Protestant-
ism of Calvin and of the Puritans saved liberty to England,
and gave it a home in America ; and they mean to preserve an
independence of churches so corrupt that it was a duty to
leave them, which shall be as real and as secure as the inde-
pendence of the nation.
If the issue and the circulation of Dr. Killen's Ancient Chu7-ch^
with its fearless statement of historic fact and Scriptural prin-
ciple, should, through God's blessing, in any degree promote
these aims, the venerable author will rejoice with a joy which
the present writer — one of his grateful and appreciative stu-
dents— may be permitted to share. To many Christians in these
United States, Dr. Killen's work will recall memories of early
lessons, of parental convictions, and of church homes, in
which self-reliance as to any creature, and absolute depend-
ence upon the infinite power and grace of the Creator, were
inculcated ; and, possibly, tracing the prosperity God has given
them to these early teachings, they will renew their resolve to
transmit the same heritage of faith, and fearless doing of the
right for Christ's sake to their sons and daughters. So the
real links are kept bright and strong by which we are bound
to the true Church of the living God in all its members and
branches ; and so parents and children, pastors and people, in
the Church below are trained for the service and the happiness
of the Church triumphant.
John Hall,
Minister, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, N. Y.
Feb. 8, 1883.
' Every one of these statements is found in these words in a " Protestant "
catechism circulated in New York.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO THE PRESENT
EDITION.
Upwards of twenty years ago the following work appeared
contemporaneously in London and New York, These English
and American editions soon found their way into the hands of
readers ; and a second edition, undertaken by a firm in Great
Britain, has since been exhausted. The work has been for
some time out of print ; and, from various quarters, a desire
has been expressed for its republication. The present edition
has been carefully revised by the author, and twenty years ot
additional reading have enabled him to introduce into it con-
siderable improvements. The great facts and principles which
it originally enunciated remain unchanged, but several points
are illustrated in a somewhat different manner, and, through-
out, fresh confirmatory testimonies are subjoined.
College Park, Belfast, August, 1882,
(xi)
PREFATORY NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
When the First Edition of this Work appeared, the author
was not aware that his views respecting the Ignatian Epis-
tles had the support of Dr. Bentley. He has since been
dehghted to discover that he is, in this matter, sustained by
the authority of the greatest of English critics.
In two instances the writer has ventured to dispute the
accuracy of the textns receptus of the Acts of the Apostles
(Acts ix. 31, p. 224, and Acts xv. 23, p. 75). A communica-
tion, received some time ago from Dr. Tischendorf, informs
him that both the readings here adopted are those of the
recently-discovered Codex Sinaiticus.
The author has been much encouraged by Reviewers of
various denominations who have given this volume their ap-
proving testimony ; and he begs to call attention to the fact
that, though he has often left the path trodden by preceding
historians, no attempt has hitherto, been made to prove that
he has misled his readers.
Belfast, April ^o, 1861.
(xiii)
PREFACE TO THE ORIGINAL EDITION.
The appearance of another history of the early Church
requires some explanation. As the progress of the Christian
commonwealth for the first three hundred years has been re-
cently described by British, German, and American writers of
eminent ability, it may, perhaps, be thought that the subject
is now exhausted. No competent judge will pronounce such
an opinion. During the last quarter of a century, various
questions relating to the Ancient Church, which are almost,
if not altogether, ignored in existing histories, have been
earnestly discussed ; whilst several documents, lately dis-
covered, have thrown fresh light on its transactions. There
are, besides, points of view, disclosing unexplored fields for
thought, from which the ecclesiastical landscape has never yet
been contemplated. The following work is an attempt to ex-
hibit some of its features as seen from a new position.
The importance of this portion of the history of the Church
can scarcely be overestimated. Our attention is here directed
to the life of Christ, to the labors^f the apostles and evan-
gelists, to the doctrines which they taught, to the form of
worship which they sanctioned, to the organization of the
community which they founded, and to the indomitable con-
stancy with which its members suffered persecution. The
practical bearing of the topics thus brought under review
must be sufficiently obvious.
In the interval between the days of the apostles and the
conversion of Constantine, the Christian commonwealth
changed it aspect. The Bishop of Rome — a personage un-
(XV)
XVI PREFACE TO THE ORIGINAL EDITIOx^.
known to the writers of the New Testament — meanwhile rose
into prominence, and at length took precedence of all other
churchmen. Rites and ceremonies, of which neither Paul nor
Peter ever heard, crept silently into use, and then claimed the
rank of Divine institutions. Officers for whom the primitive
disciples could have found no place, and titles, which to them
would have been altogether unintelligible, began to challenge
attention, and to be named apostolic. It is the duty of the
historian to endeavor to point out the origin, and to trace the
progress of these innovations. A satisfactory account of them
must go far to settle more than one of our present contro-
versies. An attempt is here made to lay bare the causes which
produced these changes, and to mark the stages of the eccle-
siastical revolution. When treating of the rise and growth of
the hierarchy, several remarkable facts and testimonies which
have escaped the notice of preceding historians are particu-
larly noticed.
Some may, perhaps, consider that, in a work such as this,
undue prominence has been given to the discussion of the
question of the Ignatian Epistles. Those who have carefully
examined the subject will scarcely think so. If we accredit
these documents, the history of the early Church is thrown
into a state of hopeless confusion ; and men, taught and hon-
ored by the apostles themselves, have inculcated the most
dangerous errors. But if their claims vanish, when touched
by the wand of truthful criticism, many clouds which have
hitherto darkened the ecclesiastical atmosphere disappear;
and the progress of corruption can be traced on scientific prin-
ciples. The special attention of all interested in the Ignatian
controversy is invited to the two chapters of this work in
which the subject is investigated. Evidence is there produced
o prove that these Ignatian letters, even as edited by the very
arned and laborious Doctor Cureton, are utterly spurious;
and that they should be swept away from among the genuine
remains of early Church literature with the besom of scorn.
Throughout the work very decided views are expressed on
a variety of topics ; but it must surely be unnecessary to tender
an apology for the free utterance of these sentiments ; for,
PREFACE TO THE ORIGINAL EDITION. xvii
when recording the progress of a revolution affecting the
highest interests of man, the narrator can not be expected to
divest himself of his cherished convictions ; and very few will
venture to maintain that a writer, who feels no personal inter-
est in the great principles brought to light by the Gospel, is,
on that account, more competent to describe the faith, the
struggles, and the triumphs of the primitive Christians. I am
not aware that mere prejudice has ever been permitted to in-
fluence my narrative, or that any statement has been made
which does not rest upon solid evidence. Some of the views
here presented may not have been suggested by any previous
investigator, and they may be exceedingly damaging to certain
popular theories; but they should not, therefore, be summarily
condemned. Surely every honest effort to explain and recon-
cile the memorials of antiquity is entitled to a candid criti-
cism. Nor, from those whose opinion is really worthy of re-
spect, do I despair of a kindly reception for this volume. One
of the most hopeful signs of the times is the increasing charity
of evangelical Christians. There is a growing disposition to
discountenance the spirit of religious partisanship, and to bow
to the supremacy of TRUTH. I trust that those who are in
quest of the old paths trodden by the apostles and the mar-
tyrs will find some light to guide them in the following pages.
CONTENTS.
PERIOD I.
FROM THE BIRTH OF CHRIST TO THE DEATH OF THE
APOSTLE JOHN, A.D. lOO.
SECTION I.
HISTORY OF THE PLANTING AND GROWTH OF THE APOSTOLIC
CHURCH.
CHAPTER I.
THE ROMAN EMPIRE AT THE TIME OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.
The boundaries of the Empire, I
Its population, strength, and grandeur, .2
Its orators, poets, and philosophers 5
The influence of Rome upon the provinces, 6
The languages most extensively spoken, 6
The moral condition of the Empire, ....... 7
The influence of the philosophical sects — the Epicureans, the Stoics,
the Academics, and Plato 7
The influence of the current Polytheism, 8
Tfie state of the Jews — the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes, 9
Preparations for a great Deliverer, and expectation of His appearance, 9
CHAPTER II.
THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
The date of the Birth of Christ, II
The place of His Birth, 1 1
The visit of the angel to the shepherds 12
The visit of the Magi — the flight into Egypt — and the murder of the
infants at Bethlehem, 13
(xix)
XX CONTENTS.
The presentation in the Temple 13
The infancy and boyhood of Jesus, 14
His baptism and entrance upon His public ministry 15
His mysterious movements 16
The remarkable blanks in the accounts given of Him in the Gospels, . 16
His moral purity, 17
His doctrine and His mode of teaching, 18
His miracles, 19
The independence of His proceedings as a reformer 21
The length of His ministry, 22
The Sanhedrim and Pontius Pilate, 22
The Death of Christ, and its significance 23
His Resurrection, and His appearance afterward only to His own fol-
lowers 25
His Ascension, 26
His extraordinary character, 27
Supplementary Note on the year of the Birth of Christ, . 28-30
CHAPTER HI.
THE TWELVE AND THE SEVENTY.
Our Lord during His short ministry trained eighty-two preachers — the
Twelve and the Seventy, 3^
Various names of some of the Twelve, 32
Relationship of some of the parties, 34
Original condition of the Twelve, 34
Various characteristics of the Twelve, 34
Twelve, why called Apostles, 36
Typical meaning of the appointment of the Twelve and the Seventy, . 37
In what sense the Apostles founded the Church, .... 39
Why so little notice of the Seventy in the New Testament, . . 41
No account of ordinations of pastors or elders by the Twelve or the
Seventy, -42
No succession from the Twelve or Seventy can be traced, ... 42
In what sense the Twelve and Seventy have no successors, and in what
sense they have, 43-44
CHAPTER IV.
THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL FROM THE DEATH OF CHRIST TO THE
DEATH OF THE APOSTLE JAMES, THE BROTHER OF JOHN —
A.D. 31 TO A.D. 44.
The successful preaching of the Apostles in Jerusalem, ... 46
The disciples have all things common, 46
CONTENTS. Xxi
The appointment of the deacons, 47
The Apostles refuse to obey the rulers of the Jews, .... 48
The date of the martyrdom of Stephen, 49
The Gospel preached in Samaria, 50
The baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch, and of Cornelius the centurion, 51
The conversion of Saul, his character, position, and sufferings, . . 52
His visit to Jerusalem, and vision, 55
His ministry in Syria and Cilicia, 56
His appearance at Antioch, 56
Why the disciples were called Christians, 57
Paul and Barnabas sent from Antioch with relief to the poor saints in
Judea, 57
The Apostles leave Jerusalem — why no successor appointed on the
death of James, the brother of John, 58
Why Paul taken up to Paradise, 60
CHAPTER V.
THE ORDINATION OF PAUL AND BARNABAS ; THEIR MISSIONARY
TOUR IN ASIA MINOR; AND THE* COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM —
A.D. 44 TO A.D. 51.
Previous position of Paul and Barnabas, 62
Why now ordained, . 63
Import of ordination, 64
By whom Paul and Barnabas were ordained, ..... 65
They visit Cyprus, Perga, Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, and other
places, 6*6
Ordain elders in every Church . .67
Opposition of the Jews, and dangers of the missionaries, . . . 6S
Some insist on the circumcision of the Gentile converts, and are re-
sisted by Paul, 70
Why he objected to the proposal, 70
Deputation to Jerusalem about this question 71
Constituent members of the Council of Jerusalem, .... 72
Date of the meeting, . , 73
Not a popular assembly 73
In what capacity the Apostles here acted, 75
Why the Council said, " It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us," 76
The decision yy
Why the converts were required to abstain from blood and things
strangled, yy
Importance of the decision, y8
XXll CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VI.
THE INTRODUCTION OF THE GOSPEL INTO EUROPE, AND THE MINIS-
TRY OF PAUL AT PHILIPPI. — A.D. 52.
Date of Paul's first appearance in Europe, 80
History of Philippi, . .80
Jewish Oratory there 81
Conversion of Lydia, 81
The damsel with the spirit of divination, 81
Paul and Silas before the magistrates, 82
Causes of early persecutions, . . ; 83
Paul and Silas in prison 83
Earthquake and alarm of the jailer, 84
Remarkable conversion of the jailer, 85
Alarm of the magistrates, 87
Liberality of the Philippians, 88
CHAPTER Vn.
THE MINISTRY OF PAUL IN THESSALONICA, BEREA, ATHENS, AND
CORINTH. — A.D. 52 TO A.D. 54.
Thessalonica and its rulers, 89
The more noble Bereans, 91
Athens and its ancient glory, 92
Paul's appearance among the philosophers, 92
His speech on Mars' Hill 92
Altar to the unknown God, 92
The Epicureans and Stoics, 93
The resurrection of the body, a strange doctrine, .... 94
Conversion of Dionysius the Areopagite 95
Corinth in the first century, 95
Paul's success here, 9^
Works at the trade of a tent-maker 9^
Corinth a centre of missionary operation 99
The Corinthian Church, and its character 100
Opposition of Jews, and conduct of the Proconsul Gallio, . . . 100
Paul writes the First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians, . . 100
CHAPTER Vni.
THE CONVERSION OF APOLLOS ; HIS CHARACTER; AND THE MINISTRY
OF PAUL IN EPHESUS.— A.D. 54 TO A.D. 57.
Paul's first visit to Ephesus, 102
Aquila and Priscilla instruct ApoUos 102
CONTENTS. XXlU
Position of the Jews in Alexandria 102
Gifts of ApoUos, 103
Ministry of Apollos in Corinth, 103
Paul returns to Ephesus, and disputes in the school of Tyrannus, . 104
The Epistle to the Galatians, 105
Paul's visit to Crete, and perils in the sea 106
Churches founded at Colosse and elsewhere, 107
Temple of Diana at Ephesus, and the Elphesian letters, . . . 107
ApoUonius of Tyana, and Paul's miracles, 108
First Epistle to the Corinthians, 109
Demetrius and the craftsmen, 1 10
The Asiarchs and the town-clerk, ill
Progress of the Gospel in Ephesius, 112
CHAPTER IX.
PAUL'S EPISTLES; HIS COLLECTION FOR THE POOR SAINTS AT JERU-
SALEM ; HIS IMPRISONMENT THERE, AND AT C^SAREA
« AND ROME. — A.D. $7 TO A.D. 63.
Paul preaches in Macedonia and Illyricum, 114
Writes the First Epistle to Timothy, and the Second Epistle to the
Corinthians 114
Arrives in Corinth, and writes the Epistle to the Romans, . . .116
Sets out on his return to Jerusalem ; and, when at Miletus, sends to
Ephesus for the elders of the Church 117
The collection for the poor saints of Jerusalem carried by seven com-
missioners 118
Riot when Paul appeared in the Temple at Jerusalem, . . .119
Paul rescued by the chief captain and made a prisoner, . . .119
Paul before the Sanhedrim, 121
Removed to Cassarea 122
Paul before Felix and Festus, 122
Appeals to Cssar, 123
His defence before Agrippa, 124
His voyage to Rome, and shipwreck, 127
His arrival in Italy, 127
Greatness and luxury of Rome, 129
Paul preaches in his own hired house, 132
His zeal, labors, and success, 133
Writes to Philemon, to the Colossians, the Ephesians, and the Philip-
pians, 134
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X.
PAUL'S SECOND IMPRISONMENT, AND MARTYRDOM ; PETER, HIS
EPISTLES, HIS MARTYRDOM, AND THE ROMAN CHURCH,
Evidence of Paul's release from his first Roman imprisonment, . . 136
His visit to Spain, 136
Writes the Epistle to the Hebrews, 138
Revisits Jerusalem, and returns to Rome, 138
His second Roman imprisonment, 138
Writes Second Epistle to Timothy, 139
Date of his martyrdom, 139
Peter, and the Church of Rome, i . . 140
Peter writes his Second Epistle, 141
His testimony to the inspiration of Paul, 141
His martyrdom, 142
Circumstances which, at an early period, gave prominence to the
Church of Rome 142
Its remarkable history, 142
CHAPTER XI.
THE PERSECUTIONS OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH, AND ITS CONDITION
AT THE TERMINATION OF THE FIRST CENTURY.
The Jews at first the chief persecutors of the Church, . . .144
Their banishment from Rome by Claudius, 145
Martyrdom of James the Just, 146
Why Christians so much persecuted 146
Persecution of Nero, , I47
A general persecution, 148
Effect of the fall of Jerusalem 148
Persecution of Domitian 149
The grandchildren of Jude 150
Flavius Clemens and Flavia Domitilla, 150
John banished to Patmos 151
His last days, and death 152
State of the Christian interest toward the close of the first century, , 152
Spread of the Gospel I53
Practical power of Christianity, I54
CONTEl^TS. XXV
SECTION II.
THE LITERATURE AND THEOLOGY OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH.
CHAPTER I.
THE NEW TESTAMENT, ITS HISTORY, AND THE AUTHORITY OF ITS
VARIOUS PARTS.— THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT OF ROME.
Why our Lord wrote nothing Himself, 156
The order in which the Gospels appeared, 157
Internal marks of truthfulness and originality in the writings of the
Evangelists, 158
The Acts of the Apostles treat chiefly of the acts of Peter and Paul, . 159
On what principle the Epistles of Paul arranged in the New Testa-
ment 160
The titles of the sacred books not appended by the Apostles or Evan-
gelists, and the postscripts of the Epistles of Paul not added by
himself, and often not trustworthy, l6l
The dates of the Catholic Epistles, 161
The authenticity of the various parts of the New Testament, . . 162
Doubts respecting the Epistle to the Hebrews, and some of the smaller
Epistles, and the Apocalypse, 162
Division of the New Testament into chapters and verses, . . . 163
AH, in primitive times, were invited and required to study the Script-
ures, 164
The autographs of the sacred penmen not necessary to prove the in-
spiration of their writings 164
The Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians 165
The truth of the New Testament established by all the proper tests
which can be applied, 165
CHAPTER II.
THE DOCTRINE OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH.
Same system of doctrine in Old and New Testaments, . . . 167
The New Testament the complement of the Old, . . . . 167
The views of the Apostles at first obscure 168
New light received after the Resurrection 168
In the New Testament a full statement of apostolic doctrine, . . 169
Sufficiency and plenary inspiration of Scripture, 169
Slate of man by nature, 170
Faith and the Word 171
All the doctrines of the Bible form one system, 172
XXVI CONTENTS.
The Deity of Christ 172
The Incarnation and Atonement, 173
Predestination, 175
The Trinity, 175
Creeds, 176
Practical tendency of apostolic doctrine, 176
CHAPTER III.
THE HERESIES OF THE APOSTOLIC AGE.
Original meaning of the word //"(?r^^, 178
How the word came to signify something wrong 179
The Judaizers the earliest errorists, 179
Views of the Gnostics respecting the present world, the body of Christ,
and the resurrection of the body, .180
Simon Magus and other heretics mentioned in the New Testament, . 182
Carpocrates, Cerinthus, and Ebion, 183
The Nicolaitanes, • . . . . 183
Peculiarities of Jewish sectarianism 184
Unity of Apostolic Church not much affected by the heretics, . .185
Heresy convicted by its practical results, 186
SECTION III.
THE WORSHIP AND CONSTITUTION OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH.
CHAPTER I.
THE lord's day; THE WORSHIP OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH; ITS
SYMBOLIC ORDINANCES, AND ITS DISCIPLINE.
Christians assembled for worship on the first day of the week, . .187
Our Lord recognized the permanent obligation of the Fourth Com-
mandment, 188
Worship of the Church resembled, not that of the Temple, but that of
the Synagogue, 189
No Liturgies in the Apostolic Church, 191
No instrumental music 192
Scriptures read publicly '93
Worship in the vulgar tongue '93
Ministers had no official dress '94
CONTENTS.
Baptism administered to infants, ....
Mode of Baptism, ......
The Lord's Supper frequently administered,
The elements not believed to be transubstantiated,
Profane excluded from the Eucharist, .
Cases of discipline decided by Church rulers.
Case of the Corinthian fornicator.
Share of the people in Church discipline,
Significance of excommunication in the Apostolic Church,
Perversion of excommunication by the Church of Rome,
194
196
197
198
199
200
202
203
203
204
CHAPTER II.
THE EXTRAORDINARY TEACHERS OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH ; AND
ITS ORDINARY OFFICE-BEARERS, THEIR APPOINTMENT,
AND ORDINATION.
Enumeration of ecclesiastical functionaries in Ephesians iv. 11, 12, and
I Corinthians xii. 28, 206
Ordinary Church officers, teachers, rulers, and deacons, . . . 207
Elders, or bishops, the same as pastors and teachers, . . . 207
Different duties of elders and deacons, 208
All the primitive elders did not preach, 208
The office of the teaching elder most honorable, .... 209
Even the Apostles considered preaching their highest function, . .211
Timothy and Titus not diocesan bishops of Ephesus and Crete, . 214
The Pastoral Epistles inculcate all the duties of ministers of the
Word, 214
Ministers of the Word should exercise no lordship over each other, . 215
The members of the Apostolic Churches elected all their own office-
bearers, 216
Church officers ordained by the presbytery, 218
The office of deaconess, 220
All the members of the Apostolic Churches taught to contribute to
each other's edification, 221
CHAPTER III.
THE ORGANIZATION OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH.
Unity of the Church of Israel, 223
Christian Church also made up of associated congregations.
The Apostles act upon the principle of ecclesiastical confederation, .
Polity of the Christian Church borrowed from the institutions of the
Israelites,
Account of the Sanhedrim and inferior Jewish courts,
224
225
225
226
XXVlll CONTENTS.
Evidences of similar arrangements in the Christian Church, . . 227
How the meeting mentioned in the 15th chapter of the Acts differed
in its construction from the Sanhedrim 228
Why we have not a more particular account of the government of the
Christian Church in the New Testament 229
No higher and lower houses of convocation in the Apostolic Church, . 230
James not bishop of Jerusalem, ........ 230
Origin of the story, 230
Jerusalem for some time the stated place of meeting of the highest
court of the Christian Church, 231
Traces of provincial organization in Proconsular Asia, Galatia, and
other districts, amqng the Apostolic Churches, .... 232
Intercourse between Apostolic Churches by letters and deputations, . 233
How there were preachers in the Apostolic Church of whom the
Apostles disapproved, 234
The unity of the Apostolic Church — in what it consisted, to what it
may be compared, 235
/ CHAPTER IV.
THE ANGELS OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES.
The mysterious symbols of the Apocalypse, 237
The seven stars seven angels, 238
These angels not angelic beings, and not corporate bodies, but indi-
viduals, 239
The name angel probably not taken from that of an officer of the syna-
gogue, 239
The angel of the synagogue a congregational officer 239
The angels of the Churches not diocesan bishops 240
The stars, not attached to the candlesticks, but in the hand of Christ, 241
The angels of the Churches were their messengers sent to visit John
in Patmos 242
Why only seven angels named, 244
PERIOD II.
FROM THE DEATH OF THE APOSTLE JOHN TO THE CON-
VERSION OF CONSTANTINE. — A.D. lOO TO A.D. 3 12.
SECTION I.
THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.
CHAPTER I.
THE GROWTH OF THE CHURCH,
Prospects of the Church in the beginning- of the second century, . 249
Christianity recommended by its good fruits, 251
Diffusion of Scriptures and preparation of versions in other languages, 251
Doubtful character of the miracles attributed to this period, . . 253
Remarkable progress of the Gospel, ....... 254
Christianity propagated in Africa, France, Thrace, and Scotland, . 254
Testimonies to its success 255
Gains ground rapidly toward the close of the third century, , . 256
Its progress, how to be tested 256
CHAPTER II.
THE PERSECUTIONS OF THE CHURCH.
Spectators impressed by the sufferings of the Christians, . . . 258
The blood of the martyrs the seed of the Church, .... 258
Persecution j^romoted the purity of the Church, 259
Christian graces gloriously displayed in times of persecution, . . 260
Private sufferings of the Christians, 260
How far the Romans acted on a principle of toleration, . . . 261
Christianity opposed as a "new religion," 262
Correspondence between Pliny and Trajan, 262
Law of Trajan, 263
Martyrdom of Simeon of Jerusalem, 263
(xxix)
XXX CONTENTS.
Sufferings of Christians under Hadrian, 264
Hadrian's rescript 264
Marcus Aarelius a persecutor, 265
Justin and Polycarp martyred, 266
Persecution at Lyons and Vienne, 267
Absurd passion for martyrdom, 267
Treatment of the Christians by Septimius Severus, .... 269
The Libellatici and Tburificati, . 270
Perpetua and Felicitas martyred, . . . . . . . .271
Alexander Severus and Philip the Arabian favorable to the Chris-
tians, 272
Persecution under Decius 274
Persecution under Valerian, 274
Gallienus issues an edict of toleration, 275
State of the Church during the last forty years of the third century, . 275
Diocletian persecution, 276
The Traditors . , . . 277
Cruelties now practiced 277
Not ten general persecutions, 279
Deaths of the persecutors, 279
Causes of the persecutions, 280
The sufferings of the Christians did not teach them toleration, . . 281
CHAPTER HI.
FALSE BRETHREN AND FALSE PRINCIPLES IN THE CHURCH:
AND CHARACTER OF THE CHRISTIANS.
Piety of the early Christians not superior to that of all succeeding
ages
Covetous and immoral pastors in the ancient Church,
Asceticism and its pagan origin
The unmarried clergy and the virgins, ....
Paul and Antony the first hermits
Origin of the use of the sign of the cross, ....
Opposition of the Christians to image-worship, .
Image-makers condemned, .......
Objections of the Christians to the theatre, the gladiatorial show
other public spectacles,
SupiTior mor.ihty of the mass of the early Christians, .
How they treated the question of polygamy,
Condemned intermarriages with heathens
How they dealt with the question of slavery,
Influence of Christianity on ihe condition of the slave,
s, and
283
283
284
285
286
286
289
290
291
292
292
293
293
294
CONTENTS. XXXI
Brotherly love of the Christians 295
Their kindness to distressed heathens 296
Christianity fitted for all mankind, 297
CHAPTER IV.
THE CHURCH OF ROME IN THE SECOND CENTURY.
Weak historical foundation of Romanism, ...... 299
Church of Rome not founded by either Paul or Peter, . . .300
Its probable origin, 3°°
Little known of its primitive condition, 3°°
Its early episcopal succession a riddle, 3°^
Martyrdom of Telesphorus, 3°!
Heresiarchs in Rome 3^2
Its presiding presbyter called bishop, and invested with additional
power, ............ 302
Beginning of the Catholic system 3°2
Changes in the ecclesiastical constitution not accomplished without
opposition 3°3
Visit of Polycarp to Rome, '-303
Why so much deference so soon paid to the Roman Church, . . 304
Wealth and influence of its members, 3^5
Remarkable testimony of Irenaeus respecting it, 3°^
Under what circumstances given, ■ . 306
Victor's excommunication of the Asiatic Christians, .... 308
Extent of Victor's jurisdiction 3^9
Explanation of his arrogance, 3^9
First-fruits of the Catholic system, 3^1
CHAPTER V.
THE CHURCH OF ROME IN THE THIRD CENTUKY.
Genuine letters of the early bishops of Rome and false Decretal
epistles, . . . . . . . . . . .312
Discovery of the statue of Hippolytus and of his " Philosophumena," . 313
The Roman bishops Zephyrinus and Callistus, 314
Heresy of Zephyrinus, . 314
Extraordinary career and heresy of Callistus, ..... 315
The bishop of Rome not a metropolitan in the time of Hippolytus, . 317
Bishops of Rome chosen by the votes of clergy and people, . . 3'7
Remarkable election of Fabian, 318
Discovery of the catacombs, 318
Origin of the catacombs, and how used by the Christians of Rome, . 319
The testimony of their inscriptions, 320
XXxii CONTENTS.
The ancient Roman clergy married, 321
Severity of persecution at Rome about the middle of the third
century, 322
Four Roman bishops martyred, 322
Statistics of the Roman Church about this period, .... 323
Schism of Novatian 324
Controversy respecting rebaptism of heretics, and rashness of Stephen,
bishop of Rome, 324
Misinterpretation of Matt. xvi. 18 325
Increasing power of Roman bishop, ....... 327
The bishop of Rome becomes a metrspolitan, and is recognized by the
Emperor Aurelian 328
Early Roman bishops spoke and wrote in Greek, .... 328
Obscurity of their early annals, , 328
Advancement of their power during the second and third centuries, . 329
Causes of their remarkable progress, 330
SECTION II.
THE LITERATURE AND THEOLOGY OF THE CHURCH.
CHAPTER I.
THE ECCLESIASTICAL WRITERS.
The amount of their extant writings 331
The Epistle of Polycarp 332
Justin Martyr, his history and his works, 332
The Epistle to Diognetus, 334
Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, and Hermas 334
The Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas, . . . 334
Papias and Hegesippus, 335
Irenaeus and his Works, . 335
Tertullian, his character and writings, 336
Clement of Alexandria, 339
Hippolytus, . 340
Minucius F'elix, 341
Origen — his early history and remarkable career — his great learning —
his speculative spirit — liis treatise against Celsus and his " Hex-
apla " — his theological peculiarities 341
Cyprian — his training, character, and writings 346
Gregory Thaumaturgus, 349
CONTENTS. XXxiu
The value of the Fathers as ecclesiastical authorities, .... 349
Their erroneous and absurd expositions, 350
The excellency of Scripture, 352
CHAPTER II.
THE IGNATIAN EPISTLES AND THEIR CLAIMS— THE EXTERNAL EVI-
DENCE.
The journeys undertaken in search of the Ignatian Epistles, and the
amount of literature to which they have given birth, . . . 354
Why these letters have awakened such interest, 356
The story of Ignatius and its difficulties, 356
The Seven Epistles known to Eusebius and those which appeared
afterward, 358
The different recensions of the Seven Letters known to Eusebius, . 359
The discovery of the Syriac version 360
Diminished size of the Curetonian Letters, 360
The testimony of Eusebius considered, 362
The testimony of Origen, ......... 363
The Ignatian Epistles not recognized by Irenseus or Polycarp, . . 364
These letters not known to Tertullian, Hippolytus, and other early
writers, 365
The date of their fabrication. Their multiplication accounted for, . 372
Remarkable that spurious works are often found in more than one
edition, 374
CHAPTER III.
THE IGNATIAN EPISTLES AND THEIR CLAIMS— THE INTERNAL EVI-
DENCE.
The history of these epistles like the story of the Sibylline books, . 376
The three Curetonian Letters as objectionable as those formerly pub-
lished 377
The style suspicious, challenged by Ussher, 377
The Word of God strangely ignored in these letters, .... 378
Their chronological blunders betray their forgery, .... 380
Various words in them have a meaning which they did not acquire
until after the time of Ignatius, ....... 382
Their puerilities, vaporing, and mysticism betray their spuriousness, . 384
The anxiety for martyrdom displayed in them attests their forgery, . 385
The internal evidence confirms the view already taken of the date of
their fabrication, . ......... 387
Strange attachment of Episcopalians to these letters, .... 389
The sagacity of Calvin, 389
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
THE GNOSTICS, THE MONTANISTS, AND THE MANICH^ANS.
The early heresies numerous 391
The systems with which Christianity had to struggle, . . . 391
The leading peculiarities of Gnosticism, 392
The yEons, the Demiurge, and the Saviour, 394
Saturninus, Basilides, and Valentine, 395
Marcion and Carpocrates 395
Causes of the popularity of Gnosticism, and its defects, . . . 396
Montanus and his system, 397
His success and condemnation 398
Mani and his doctrine of the Two Principles, 399
The Elect and Hearers of the Manichasans, 400
Martyrdom of Mani, .......... 401
Peculiarities of the heretics gradually adopted by the Catholic Church, 401
Doctrine of Venial and Mortal Sins 401
Doctrine of Purgatory 402
Celibacy and Asceticism 404
CHAPTER V.
THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH.
Leading doctrines of the Gospel still acknowledged, .... 405
Meaning of theological terms not yet exactly defined, . . . 405
Scripture venerated and studied, 407
Extraordinary Scriptural acquirements of some of the early Christians, 407
Doctrine of Plenary Inspiration of Scripture taught, .... 409
The canon of the New Testament, 410
Spurious scriptures and tradition, 41 1
Human Depravity and Regeneration, 41 1
Christ worshipped by the early Christians, 411
Christ God and man, 412
The Ebionites, Theodotus, Artemon, and Paul of Samosata, . .412
Doctrine of the Trinity 413
Praxeas, Noctus, and Sabellius, 415
Doctrine of the Trinity not borrowed from Platonism, . . . 416
The Atonement and Justification by Faith, 4' 7
Grace and Predestination, 4' 7
Theological errors 418
Our knowledge of the Gospel does not depend on our proximity to the
days of the Apostles, 418
CONTENTS. XXXV
SECTION III.
THE WORSHIP AND CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH.
CHAPTER I.
THE WORSHIP OF THE CHURCH.
Splendor of the Pagan and Jewish worship — simplicity of Christian
worship, • 421
The places of worship of the early Christians 422
Psalmody of the Church 423
No instrumental music, ' . . 424
No forms of prayer used by the early pastors, 424
Congregation stood at prayer 425
Worship, how conducted 426
Scriptures read in public worship 426
The manner of preaching, 427
Deportment of the congregation, 428
Dress of ministers 428
Great change between this and the sixteenth century, . . . 428
CHAPTER n.
BAPTISM.
Polycarp probably baptized in infancy, 430
Testimony of Justin Martyr and Irenseus for Infant Baptism, . . 431
Testimony of Origen, 432
Objections of Tertullian examined 43a
Sponsors in Baptism, who they were 433
The Baptism of Blood 434
Infant Baptism universal in Africa in the days of Cyprian, . . . 436
The mode of Baptism not considered essential, 436
Errors respecting Baptism, and new rites added to the original insti-
tution, 437
The Baptismal Service the germ of a Church Liturgy, . . . 438
Evils connected with the corruption of the baptismal institute, . . 438
CHAPTER III.
THE lord's SUPPER.
Danger of changing any part of a typical ordinance 44c
How the Holy Supper was administered in Rome in the second
century, 441
XXXvi CONTENTS.
The posture of the communicants— sitting and standing, . . .442
The bread not unleavened, 442
Wine mixed with water 442
Bread not put into the mouth by the minister 442
Infant communion, 443
How often the Lord's Supper celebrated, 443
The words Sacrament and Transubstantiation 443
Bread and wine types or symbols 444
How Christ is present in the Eucharist, 444
Growth of superstition in regard to the Eucharist, .... 445
Danger of using language not warranted by Scripture, . . . 446
CHAPTER IV.
CONFESSION AND PENANCE.
Confession often made at Baptism by disciples of John the Baptist,
and of Christ, 447
The early converts forthwith baptized, 447
In the second century fasting preceded Baptism, .... 448
The exomologesis of penitents 44^
Influence of the mind on the body, and of the body on the mind, . 449
Fasting not an ordinary duty, 449
Fasts of the ancient Church, . • 45°
Fasting soon made a test of repentance, 45°
The ancient penitential discipline 45 ^
Establishment of a Penitentiary, 452
Different classes of penitents 452
Auricular confession now unknown, 452
Increasing spiritual darkness leads to confusion of terms, . . .453
CHAPTER V.
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH IN THE SECOND CENTURY.
Statement of Justin Martyr,
Great obscurity resting on the subject, ....
Illustrated by the Epistles of Clement and Polycarp, .
Circumstances which led to the writing of Clement's Epistle,
Churches of Corinth and Rome then governed by presbyters,
Churches of Smyrna and Philippi governed by presbyters, .
The presbyters had a chairman or president.
Traces of this in the apostolic age
Early catalogues of bishops— their origin and contradictions,
The senior presbyter the ancient president, ....
454
455
456
456
457
458
459
460
460
461
CONTExNTS. XXXvii
Testimony of Hilary confirmed by various proofs, .... 462
Ancient names of the president of the presbytery, .... 463
Great age of ancient bishops, 463
Great number of ancient bishops in a given period 464
Remarkable case of the Church of Jerusalem, 465
No parallel to it in more recent times, 466
Argument against heretics from the episcopal succession illustrated, . 467
The claims of seniority long respected in various ways, . . , 469
The power of the presiding presbyter limited, for the Church was still
governed by the common council of the presbyters, . . . 470
Change of the law of seniority 471
Change made about the end of the second century, .... 472
Singular that many episcopal lists stop at the end of the second cent-
ury 472
Before that date only one bishop in Egypt, 474
In some places another system set up earlier, 474
CHAPTER VI.
THE RISE OF THE HIERARCHY CONNECTED WITH THE SPREAD OF
HERESIES.
Eusebius. The defects of his Ecclesiastical History, .... 475
Superior erudition of Jerome . . 476
His account of the origin of Prelacy, 476
Prelacy originated after the apostolic age, 477
Suggested by the distractions of the Church 478
Formidable and vexatious character of the early heresies, . . . 483
Mode of appointing the president of the eldership changed. Popular
election of bishops, how introduced 484
The various statements of Jerome consistent, 485
The primitive moderator and the bishop contrasted, .... 486
How the decree relative to a change in the ecclesiastical constitution
adopted throughout the whole world, 487
CHAPTER VII.
PRELACY BEGINS IN ROME.
Comparative length of the lives of the early bishops of Rome, . . 489
Observations relative to a change in the organization of the Roman
Church in the time of Hyginus, 490
1. The statement of Hilary will account for the increased average in
the length of episcopal life 490
2. The testimony of Jerome can not otherwise be explained, . . 492
CONTENTS.
3. Hilary indicates that the constitution of the Church was changed
about this period, 493
4. At this time such an arrangement must naturally have suggested
itself to the Roman Christians,
5. The violent death of Telesphorus fitted to prepare the way for it,
6. The influence of Rome would recommend its adoption,
7. A vacancy which occurred after the death of Hyginus accords with
this view. Valentine a candidate for the Roman bishopric,
8. The letters of Pius to Justus corroborate this view,
9. It is sustained by the fact that the word bishop now began to be
applied to the presiding elder,
10. The Pontifical Book remarkably confirms it — Not strange that
history speaks so little of this change,
Little alteration at first apparent in the general aspect of the Church
in consequence of the adoption of the new principle, . . . 501
Facility with which the change could be accomplished, . . . 503
Polycarp probably dissatisfied with the new arrangements, . . 507
Change, in all likelihood, not much opposed, 507
Many presbyters, as well as the people, would be favorable to it, . 509
The new system gradually spread, 510
494
494
495
496
497
497
499
CHAPTER VHI.
THE CATHOLIC SYSTEM.
History of the word Catholic
Circumstances in which the system originated, .
The bishop the centre of unity for his district.
Principal or Apostolic Churches — their position.
The Church of Rome more potentially principal.
How communion maintained among the Churches,
Early jealousy toward the bishop of Rome, .
The Catholic system identified with Rome, .
Why the Apostle Peter everywhere so highly exalted,
Roman bishops sought to work out the idea of unity,
Theory of the Catholic system fallacious.
How Rome the antitype of Babylon, .
5"
512
515
515
516
517
517
518
519
520
521
522
CHAPTER IX.
PRIMITIVE EPISCOPACY AND PRESBYTERIAN ORDINATION.
Where Christians formed only a single congregation Episcopacy made
little change, 524
The bishop the parish minister 524
Every one who could might preach if the bishops permitted, . . 525
CONTENTS. 3
Bishops thickly planted — all of equal rank — the greatest had very limit
ed jurisdiction
Ecclesiastics often engaged in secular pursuits
The Alexandrian presbyters made their bishops,
When this practice ceased,
Alexandrian bishops not originally ordained by imposition of hands,
Roman presbyters and others made their bishops,
The bishop the presiding elder — early Roman bishops so called.
Bishops of the order of the presbytery,
All Christian ministers originally ordained by presbyters, .
A bishop ordained by a bishop and a presbyter
Difference between ancient and modern bishops, . . ,
526
527
528
529
530
531
531
533
534
534
535
CHAPTER X.
THE PROGRESS OF PRELACY.
Power of the president of a court, 537
Power of the ecclesiastical president increased when elected by the
people, 538
The superior wealth of the bishop added to his influence, . . . 538
Appointment of lectors, ^ub-deacons, acolyths, exorcists, and janitors, 539
These new offices first appeared in Rome, 540
Bishops began to appoint church officers without consulting the
people, 540
New canons relative to ordination 542
Presbyters ceased to inaugurate bishops, ...... 543
Presbyters continued to ordain presbyters and deacons, . . . 543
Country bishops deprived of the right to ordain 544
Account of their degradation, 544
Rise of metropolitans, 545
Circumstances which added to the power of the city bishops, . . 547
One bishop in each province at the head of the rest, .... 548
Jealousies and contentions of city bishops 548
Great change in the Church in two centuries, ..... 549
Reasons why the establishment of metropolitans so much opposed, . 550
CHAPTER XI.
SYNODS — THEIR HISTORY AND CONSTITUTION.
Apostles sought, first, the conversion of sinners, and then the edifica-
tion of their converts 552
No general union of Churches originally, 553
But intercourse in various ways mamtained 553
Synods did not commence about the hiiddle of the second century, . 555
Xl CONTENTS.
A part of the original constitution of the Church, .... 555
At first held on a limited scale 556
Reason why we have no account of early Synods, .... 556
First notice of Synods, 557
Synods held respecting the Paschal controversy, . . . .557
Found in operation everywhere before the end of the second century, 557
TertuUian does not say that Synods commenced in Greece, . .558
Why he notices the Greek Synods, 559
Amphictyonic Council did not suggest the establishment of Synods, . 561
Synods originally met only once a year, ...... 561
Began to meet in fixed places in Greece and Asia Minor, . . . 562
Met twice a year in the beginning of the fourth century, . . . 562
Synods in third century respecting rebaptism, 563
Synods at Antioch respecting Paul of Samosata, .... 563
Early Synods composed of bishops and elders, 564
Deacons and laymen had no right of voting, 564
Churches not originally independent, 565
Utility of Synods, 566
Circumstances which led to a change in their constitution, . . . 566
Decline of primitive polity, 567
CHAPTER XII.
THE CEREMONIES AND DISCIPLINE OF THE CHURCH, AS ILLUSTRATED
BY CURRENT CONTROVERSIES AND DIVISIONS.
The rise of the Nazarenes 568
Lessons taught by their history, 569
The Paschal controversy and Victor's excommunication, . . . 570
Danger of dej)ending on tradition, . . . . . . . 572
Institution of Easter unnecessary, 573
The tickets of peace and the schism of Felicissimus 574
Schism of Novatian 575
Controversy respecting the baptism of heretics, and Stephen's excom-
munication, . 576
Uniformity in discipline and ceremonies not to be found in the ancient
Church, 577
Increasing intolerance of the dominant party in the Church, . . 578
CHAPTER XIII.
THE THEORY OF THE CHURCH, AND THE HISTORY OF ITS PERVER-
SION— CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.
The Church invisible and its attributes, 580
The visible Church and its defects, 581
CONTENTS. xli
The holy Catholic Church — what it meant, 582
Church visible and Church invisible confounded, .... 583
Evils of the Catholic system, 585
Establishment of an odious ecclesiastical monopoly, .... 585
Pastors began to be called priests, 587
Arrogant assumptions of bishops, 589
The Catholic system encouraged bigotry, 589
Its ungenerous spirit, . 590
The claims of the Word of God not properly recognized, . . . 591
Many corruptions already in the Church, 593
The establishment of the hierarchy a grand mistake, .... 595
Only promoted outward, not real unity, 595
Sad state of the Church when Catholicism was fully developed, . . 597
Evangelical unity — in what it consists, 598
PERIOD I.
FROM THE BIRTH OF CHRIST TO THE DEATH OF
THE APOSTLE JOHN, A.D. 100.
SECTION I.
HISTORY OF THE PLANTING AND GROWTH OF THE
APOSTOLIC CHURCH.
CHAPTER I.
THE ROMAN EMPIRE AT THE TIME OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.
Upwards of a quarter of a century before the Birth of
Christ, the grandnephew of Julius Caesar had become sole
master of the Roman world. Never at any former period had
so many human beings acknowledged the authority of a single
potentate. Some of the most powerful monarchies at present
in Europe extend over only a fraction of the territory which
Augustus governed. The Atlantic on the west, the Euphrates
on the east, the Danube and the Rhine on the north, and the
deserts of Africa on the south, were the boundaries of his
empire.
We do not adequately estimate the rank of Augustus among
contemporary sovereigns, when we consider merely the super-
ficial extent of the countries placed within the range of his
jurisdiction. His subjects formed more than one-third of the
entire population of the globe, and amounted to one hundred
millions of souls.' His empire embraced within its immense
circumference the best cultivated and the most civilized por-
* Mr. Merivale, in his " History of the Romans under the Empire " (vol.
iv., p. 450), estimates the population in the time of Augustus at eighty-five
millions, but in this reckoning he does not include Palestine, and perhaps
some of his calculations are rather low. Greswell computes the population
of Palestine at ten millions, and that of the whole empire at one hundred
and twenty millions. (" Dissertations upon an Harmony of the Gospels,"
vol. iv., p. II, 493.)
2 THE ROMAN EMPIRE AT
tions of the earth. The remains of its populous cities, its
great fortresses, its extensive aqueducts, and its stately tem-
ples, still exist as memorials of its grandeur. The capital was
connected with the most distant provinces by carefully con-
structed roads, along which the legions could march with ease
and promptitude, either to quell an internal insurrection, or to
encounter an invading enemy. And the military resources at
the command of Augustus were abundantly sufficient to main-
tain obedience among the myriads whom he governed. After
the victory of Actium he was at the head of upwards of forty
veteran legions ; and though some of these had been deci-
mated by war, yet, when recruited, and furnished with their
full complement of auxiliaries, they constituted a force of little
less than half a million of soldiers.
The arts of peace now flourished under the sunshine of im-
perial patronage. Augustus could boast, toward the end of
his reign, that he had converted Rome from a city of brick
huts into a city of marble palaces. The wealth of the nobility
was enormous ; and, excited by the example of the Emperor
and his friend Agrippa, they erected and decorated mansions
in a style of regal magnificence. The taste cherished in the
capital was soon widely diffused ; and, in a short period, many
new and gorgeous temples and cities appeared throughout the
empire. Herod the Great expended vast sums on architect-
ural improvements. The Temple of Jerusalem, rebuilt under
his administration, was one of the wonders of the world.
The century terminating with the death of Augustus claims
an undisputed pre-eminence in the history of Roman eloquence
and literature. Cicero, the prince of Latin orators, now deliv-
ered those addresses which perpetuate his fame ; Sallust and
Livy produced works still regarded as models of historic com-
position ; Horace, Virgil, and others, acquired celebrity as
gifted and accomplished poets. Among the subjects fitted to
exercise and expand the intellect, religion was not overlooked.
In the great cities of the empire many were to be found who
devoted themselves to metaphysical and ethical studies ; and
questions, bearing on the highest interests of man, were dis-
cussed in the schools of the philosophers.
THE TIME OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 3
The barbarous nations under the dominion of Augustus de-
rived many advantages from their connection with the Roman
empire. They had often reason to complain of the injustice
and rapacity of provincial governors ; but, on the whole, they
had a larger share of social comfort than they could have en-
joyed had they preserved their independence ; for their do-
mestic feuds were repressed by the presence of their powerful
rulers, and the imperial armies were at hand to protect them
against foreign aggression. By means of the constant inter-
course kept up with all its dependencies, the skill and infor-
mation of the metropolis of Italy were gradually imparted to
the rude tribes under its sway ; and thus the conquest of a
savage country by the Romans was an important step toward
its civilization. The union of so many nations in a great state
was otherwise beneficial to society. A Roman citizen could
travel without hindrance from Armenia to the British Channel ;
and as all the countries washed by the Mediterranean were
subject to the empire, their inhabitants carried on a regular
and prosperous traffic by availing themselves of the facilities
of navigation.
The conquests of Rome modified the vernacular dialects of
not a few of its subjugated provinces, and greatly promoted
the diffusion of Latin. That language, which had gradually
spread throughout Italy and the west of Europe, was at length
understood by persons of rank and education in most parts of
the empire. But in the time of Augustus, Greek was spoken
still more extensively. Several centuries before, it had been
planted in all the countries conquered by Alexander the
Great ; and it was now not only the most general, but also the
most fashionable medium of communication. Even Rome
swarmed with learned Greeks, who employed their native
tongue when giving instruction in the higher branches of edu-
cation. Greece itself, however, was considered the headquar-
ters of intellectual cultivation ; and the wealthier Romans were
wont to send their sons to its celebrated seats of learning, to
improve their acquaintance with philosophy and literature.
The Roman Empire in the time of Augustus presents to
the eye of contemplation a most interesting spectacle, whether
4 THE ROMAN EMPIRE AT
we survey its territorial magnitude, its political power, or its
intellectual activity. But when we look more minutely at its
condition, we discover many other strongly marked and less
inviting features. That stern patriotism, which imparted so
much dignity to the old Roman character, had disappeared,
and its place was occupied by ambition or covetousness. Ve-
nality reigned throughout every department of the public
administration. Those domestic virtues, which are at once
the ornaments and the strength of the community, were com-
paratively rare ; and the prevalence of luxury and licentious-
ness proclaimed the unsafe state of the social fabric. There
was a growing disposition to evade the responsibilities of mar-
riage, and a large portion of the citizens of Rome deliberately
preferred the system of concubinage to the state of wedlock.
The civil wars which had created such confusion and involved
such bloodshed, had passed away ; but the peace which fol-
lowed was rather the quietude of exhaustion than the repose
of contentment.
The state of the Roman Empire at the time of the birth of
Christ abundantly proves that there is no necessary connection
between intellectual refinement and social regeneration. The
cultivation of the arts and sciences in the reign of Augustus
was beneficial to a few, by diverting them from the pursuit of
vulgar pleasures, and opening up to them sources of more ra-
tional enjoyment ; but during the brightest period in the his-
tory of Roman literature, vice in every form was fast gaining
ground among almost all classes of the population. The
Greeks, though occupying a higher position as to mental ac-
complishments, were still more dissolute than the Latins.
Among them literature and sensuality appeared in revolting
combination, for their courtesans were the only females who
attended to the culture of the intellect.'
Nor is it strange that the Roman Empire at this period ex-
hibited such a scene of moral pollution. There was nothing
in either the philosophy or the religion of heathenism sufficient
to counteract the influence of man's native depravity. In
' See the article 'ETai/mi in Smith's " Dictionary of Greek and Roman
Antiquities."
THE TIME OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 5
many instances, the speculations of the pagan sages had a
tendency rather to weaken than to sustain the authority of
conscience. After unsetthng the foundations of the ancient
superstition, the mind was left in doubt and bewilderment ;
for the votaries of what was called wisdom entertained widely
different views even of its elementary principles. The Epi-
cureans, who formed a large section of the intellectual aris-
tocracy, denied the doctrine of Providence, and pronounced
pleasure to be the ultimate end of man ; the Academics en-
couraged a spirit of disputatious scepticism ; and the Stoics,
who taught that the practice of, what they vaguely designated,
virtue, involves its own reward, discarded the idea of a future
retribution. Plato had still a goodly number of disciples ; and
though his doctrines, containing not a few elements of sub-
limity and beauty, exercised a better influence, they consti-
tuted a most unsatisfactory system of cold and barren mysti-
cism. The ancient philosophers delivered many excellent
moral precepts ; but, as they wanted the light of revelation,
their arguments in support of duty were essentially defective,
and the lessons which they taught had often very little influ-
ence either on themselves or others." Their own conduct
seldom marked them out as greatly superior to those around
them, so that neither their instructions nor their example con-
tributed efficiently to elevate the character of their generation.
Though the philosophers fostered a spirit of inquiry, yet, as
they made little progress in the discovery of truth, they were
not qualified to act with the skill and energy of enlightened
reformers ; and, whatever may have been the amount of their
convictions, they made no open and resolute attack on the
popular mythology. A very superficial examination was, in-
deed, enough to shake the credit of the heathen worship.
The reflecting subjects of the Roman Empire might have re-
marked the very awkward contrast between the multiplicity
of their deities and the unity of their political government.
' " We despise," says an early Christian writer, " the supercilious looks
of philosophers, whom we have known to be the corrupters of innocence,
adulterers, and tyrants, and eloquent declaimers against vices of which they
themselves are guilty." — Octavius of Minucius Felix.
6 THE ROMAN EMPIRE AT
It was the common belief that every nation had its own divine
guardians, and that the rehgious rites of one country could be
fully acknowledged without impugning the claims of those of
another ; but still a thinking pagan might have been staggered
by the consideration that a human being had apparently more
extensive authority than some of his celestial overseers, and
that the jurisdiction of the Roman emperor was established
over a more ample territory than that which was assigned to
many of the immortal gods.
But the multitude of its divinities was by no means the
most offensive feature of heathenism. The gods of antiquity,
particularly those of Greece, were of infamous character.
Whilst they were represented by their votaries as excelling in
beauty and activity, strength and intelligence, they were also
described as envious and gluttonous, base, lustful, and revenge-
ful, Jupiter, the king of the gods, was deceitful and licen-
tious ; Juno, the queen of heaven, was cruel and tyrannical.
What could be expected from those who honored such deities?
Some of the wiser heathens, such as Plato,' condemned their
mythology as immoral — for the conduct of one or other of the
gods might have been quoted in vindication of every species
of transgression ; and had the Gentiles but followed the ex-
ample of their own heavenly hierarchy, they could have found
apologies for perpetrating the very worst forms of fraud, op-
pression, or profligacy.'
At the time of the birth of our Lord even the Jews had
sunk into a state of the grossest degeneracy. They were di-
vided into sects, two of which, the Pharisees and the Saddu-
cees, are frequently mentioned in the New Testament. The
Pharisees were the leading denomination, being by far the
most numerous and powerful. By adding to the written law
' " De Republ.," ii.
^ In the " Octavius of Minucius Felix " (c. 25), we meet with the follow-
ing startling challenge : " Where are there more bargains for debauchery
made, more assignations concerted, or more adultery devised than by the
priests amidst the altars and shrines of the gods } " This, of course, refers
to the state of things in the third century, but there is no reason to believe
that it was now much better. Tertullian speaks in the same manner
(" Apol.,'' c. 15). See also "Juvenal," sat. vi. 488, and ix. 23.
THE TIME OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. /
a mass of absurd or frivolous traditions, which, as they fool-
ishly alleged, were handed down from Moses, they subverted
the authority of the sacred record ; and changed the religion
of the patriarchs and prophets into a wearisome parade of
superstitious observances. The Sadducees were compara-
tively few, but as a large proportion of them were persons of
rank and wealth, they possessed considerable influence. It
has been said that they admitted the divine authority only of
the Pentateuch,' and though they may not have openly de-
nied the claims of all the other books of the Old Testament,
it is certain that they discarded the doctrine of the immortal-
ity of the soul,'^ and that they were disposed to self-indulgence
and scepticism. Another still smaller Jewish sect, that of the
Essenes, is not directly mentioned in the New Testament.
The members of this community resided chiefly in the neigh-
borhood of the Dead Sea ; and as our Lord seldom visited
that quarter of the country during the course of His public
ministry, He rarely or never came in contact with these relig-
ionists. Some of them were married, but the greater number
lived in celibacy, and spent much of their time in contempla-
tion. They are said to have had a common purse, and their
course of life closely resembled that of the monks of after-
times.
Though the Jews, as a nation, were sunk in sensuality or
superstition, some among them, such as Simeon and Anna,
noticed in the Gospel of Luke/ were taught of God, and ex-
hibited a spirit of vital piety. " The law of the Lord is per-
fect, converting the soul," and as the books of the Old Testa-
ment were committed to the keeping of the posterity of
Abraham, " hidden ones " here and there discovered the way
to heaven by the perusal of these " lively oracles." The Jews
were faithful conservators of the inspired volume, as Christ
uniformly takes for granted the accuracy of their " Script-
ures." * They did not admit into their canon the writings
' " Origen. Contra Celsum," lib. i., c. 49.
^ Matt. xxii. 23. ' Luke ii. 25, 36.
* See Matt. v. 18 ; John v. 39, and x. 35.
8 THE ROMAN EMPIRE AT
known as the Apocrypha.^ Nearly three hundred years before
the appearance of our Lord, the Old Testament had been
translated into the Greek language, and thus, at this period, the
educated portion of the population of the Roman Empire had
all an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the religion
of the chosen people. The Jews were scattered over the
earth, and as they erected synagogues in the cities where they
settled, the Gentile world had ample means of information in
reference to their faith and worship.
Whilst the dispersion of the Jews disseminated a knowledge
of their religion, it suggested the approaching dissolution of
the Mosaic economy — as it was apparent that their present
circumstances absolutely required another ritual. It was not
to be expected that individuals dwelling in distant countries
could meet three times in the year at Jerusalem to celebrate
the great festivals. The Israelites themselves had a presenti-
ment of coming changes, and anxiously awaited the appear-
ance of a Messiah. They were actuated by an extraordinary
zeal for proselytism," and though their scrupulous adherence
to a stern code of ceremonies often exposed them to much
obloquy, they succeeded, notwithstanding, in making many
converts in most of the places where they resided.^ A prom-
inent article of their creed was adopted in a quarter where
' See Josephus against Apion, i., § 8. Origen says that the Hebrews had
twenty-two sacred books corresponding to the number of letters \\\ their
alphabet. (Opera, ii. 528.) Jerome states that they reckoned in the fol-
lowing manner : they considered the Twelve Minor Prophets only one book ;
First and Second Samuel, one book ; First and Second Kings, one book ;
First and Second Chronicles, one book ; Ezra and Nehemiah, one book ;
Jeremiah and Lamentations, one book ; the Pentateuch, five books ; Judges
and Ruth, one book ; thus with the other ten books of Joshua, Esther, Job,
Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes^ Canticles, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, mak-
ing up twenty-two. The most learned Roman Catholic writers admit that
what are called the apocryphal books were never acknowledged by the Jew-
ish Church. See, for example, Dupin's " History of Ecclesiastical Writers,"
Preliminary Dissertation, section ii. See also Father Simon's " Critical
History of the Old Testament," book i., chap. viii.
* Matt, xxiii. 15.
• Many proofs of this occur in the Acts. See Acts x. 2, xiii. 43, xvi. 14,
xvii. 4.
THE TIME OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 9
their theology otherwise found no favor, for the Unity of the
Great First Cause was distinctly acknowledged in the schools
of the philosophers.'
From the preceding statements we see the peculiar signifi-
cance of the announcement that God sent forth His Son into
the world " when the fulness of the thne was come." ' Various
predictions ' pointed out this age as the period of the Mes-
siah's Advent ; and Gentiles, as well as Jews, had by some
means caught up the expectation that an extraordinary per-
sonage was about to present himself on the theatre of human
existence.* Providence had obviously prepared the way for
the labors of a religious reformer. The civil wars which had
convulsed the State were almost forgotten, and though the
hostile movements of the Germans and other barbarous tribes
on the confines of the empire occasionally created uneasiness
or alarm, the public mind was generally unoccupied by any
great topic of absorbing interest. In the populous cities the
multitude languished for excitement ; and sought to dissipate
time in the forum, the circus, or the amphitheatre. At such
a crisis the heralds of the most gracious message that ever
greeted the ears of men might hope for a patient hearing.
Even the consolidation of so many nations under one govern-
ment tended to " the furtherance of the Gospel "; for the
gigantic roads, which radiated from Rome to the distant re-
gions of the east and of the west, facilitated intercourse ; and
the messengers of the Prince of Peace travelled from country
to country without suspicion and without passports. Well
might the Son of God be called " The desire of all nations." *
Though the wisest of the pagan sages could not have described
the renovation which the human family required, and though,
when the Redeemer actually appeared, He was despised and
* See Cudworth's "Intellectual System," i. 318, etc. Edition, London,
1845, Warburton has adduced evidence to prove that this doctrine was
imparted to the initiated in the heathen mysteries. " Divine Legation of
Moses," i. 224. Edit., London, 1837.
* Gal. iv. 4. 5 Gen. xlix. 10 ; Dan. ix. 25 ; Haggai ii. 6, 7.
* Virgil, Ec. iv. Suetonius, Octavius, 94. Tacitus, Histor. v. 13.
^ Haggai ii. 7.
10 THE ROMAN EMPIRE AT THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.
rejected of men, there was, withal, a widespread conviction
that a Saviour was required, and there was a longing for de-
liverance from the evils which oppressed society. The ancient
superstitions were rapidly losing their hold on the affection
and confidence of the people, and whilst the light of philosophy
was sufficient to discover the absurdities of the prevailing
polytheism, it failed to reveal any more excellent way of pu-
rity and comfort. The ordinances of Judaism, "waxing old "
and " ready to vanish away," were types still unfulfilled ; and
though they pointed out the path to glory, they required an
interpreter to expound their import. This Great Teacher now
appeared. He was born in very humble circumstances, and
yet He was the heir of an empire beyond comparison more
illustrious than that of the Caesars. " There was given him
dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations,
and languages should serve him ; his dominion is an everlast-
ing dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom
that which shall not be destroyed." '
* Dan. vii. 14.
CHAPTER II.
THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
Nearly three years before the commencement of our era/.
Jesus Christ was born. The Holy Child was introduced into
the world under circumstances extremely humiliating. A de-
cree had gone forth from Csesar Augustus that all the Roman
Empire should be taxed, and the Jews, as a conquered people,
were obliged to submit to an arrangement which proclaimed
their national degradation. The reputed parents of Jesus re-
sided at Nazareth, a town of Galilee ; but, as they were " of
the house and lineage of David," they were obliged to repair
to Bethlehem, a village about six miles south of Jerusalem, to
be entered in their proper place in the imperial registry.
"And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were ac-
complished that Mary should be delivered, and she brought
forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes,
and laid him in a manger ; because there was no room for
them in the inn." "
This child of poverty and of a despised race, born in the
stable of the lodging-house of an insignificant town belonging
to a conquered province, did not enter upon life surrounded
by associations which betokened a career of earthly pros-
perity. But intimations were not wanting that the son of
Mary was regarded with the deepest interest by the inhabi-
tants of heaven. An angel had announced .the conception of
the individual who was the herald of His ministry;^ and
' See Supplementary Note at the end of this chapter on the year of
Christ's Birth.
"^ Luke ii. 6, 7. * Luke i. 11, 19.
(II)
12 THE WISE MEN FROM THE EAST.
another angel had given notice of the incarnation of this Great
DeHverer.' When He was born, the angel of the Lord com-
municated the tidings to shepherds in the plains of Bethle-
hem ; " and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of
the heavenly host, praising God and saying. Glory to God in
the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men," ' In-
animate nature called attention to the advent of the illustrious
babe, for a wonderful star made known to wise men from the
east the incarnation of the King of Israel ; and when they
came to Jerusalem " the star, which they saw in the east, went
before them, till it came and stood over where the young child
was." ' The history of these eastern sages can not now be ex-
plored, and we know not on what grounds they regarded the
star as the sign of the Messiah ; but they rightly interpreted
the appearance, and the narrative warrants us to infer that
they acted under the guidance of divine illumination. As
they were " warned of God in a dream " ' to return to their
own country another way, it may be that they were originally
directed by some similar communication to undertake the
journey. If, as is probable, they did not belong to the stock
of Abraham, their visit to the babe at Bethlehem was the har-
binger of the union of Jews and Gentiles under the new econ-
omy. The presence of these Orientals in Jerusalem attracted
the notice of the watchful and jealous tyrant who then oc-
cupied the throne of Judea. Their story filled him with alarm,
and his subjects anticipated some tremendous outbreak of his
suspicious and savage temper. " When Herod the king had
heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with
him." ' His rage soon vented itself in a terrible explosion.
Having ascertained from the chief priests and scribes of the
' Luke i. 26, 31. ^ Luke ii. 13, 14. ' Matt. ii. 9. * Matt. ii. 12.
' Matt. ii. 3. The evangelist does not positively assert that the wise
men met Herod af Jerusalem. On their arrival in the holy city he was
probably at Jericho — distant about a day's journey— for Josephus states that
he died there. (" Antiq." xvii. 6, § 5, and 8, §1.) We may infer, therefore,
that he " heard " of the strangers, on his sick-bed, and " privily called "
them to Jericho, The chief priests and scribes were, perhaps, summoned
to attend him at the same place.
THE HOLY CHILD. 1 3
people where Christ was to be born, he " sent forth and slew
all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts
thereof, from two years old and under." '
Joseph and Mary, in accordance with a message from heaven,
had meanwhile fled toward the border of Egypt, and thus the
holy infant escaped this carnage. The wise men, on the occa-
sion of their visit, had " opened their treasures," and had
" presented unto Him gifts, £;'o/d, . and frankincense, and
myrrh,"* so that the poor travellers had providentially ob-
tained means for defraying the expenses of their journey. The
slaughter of the babes of Bethlehem was one of the last acts
of the bloody reign of Herod ; and on his demise, the exiles
were divinely instructed to return, and the child was presented
in the temple. This ceremony evoked new testimonies to
His high mission. On His appearance in His Father's house,
the aged Simeon, moved by the Spirit from on high, embraced
Him as the promised Shiloh ; and Anna, the prophetess, like-
wise gave thanks to God, and " spake of Him to all them that
looked for redemption in Jerusalem." ' Thus, whilst the Old
Testament predictions pointed to Jesus as the Christ, living
' Matt. ii. 16. The estimates formed at a subsequent period of the num-
ber of infants in the village of Bethlehem and its precincts betray a strange
ignorance of statistics. " The Greek Church canonized the 14,000 inno-
cents," observes the Dean of St. Paul's, " and another notion, founded on
a misrepresentation of Revelation (xiv, 3), swelled the number to 144,000.
The former, at least, was the common belief of our church, though even in
our liturgy the latter has in some degree been sanctioned by retaining the
chapter of Revelation as the epistle for the day. Even later, Jeremy Tay-
lor, in his ' Life of Christ,' admits the 14,000 writhout scruple, or rather
without thought." — Milman's History of Christianity^ i. p. 113, note.
"^ Matt. ii. II.
' Luke ii. 38. It is a curious fact that in the year 751 of the city of
Rome, the year of the Birth of Christ according to the chronology adopted
in this volume, the passover was not celebrated as usual in Judea. The
disturbances which occurred on the death of Herod had become so serious
on the arrival of the pascal day, that Archelaus was obliged to disperse the
people by force of arms in the very midst of the sacrifices. So soon did
Christ begin to cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. See Gres-
well's " Dissertations," i. pp. 393, 394, note.
14 THE YOUTH OF JESUS.
prophets appeared to interpret these sacred oracles, and to
bear witness to the claims of the new-born Saviour.
Though the Son of Mary was beyond all comparison the
most extraordinary personage that ever appeared on earth, it
is remarkable that the sacred writers enter into scarcely any
details respecting the history of His infancy, His youth, or
His early manhood. They tell us that " the child grew and
waxed strong in spirit," ' and that He " increased in wisdom
and stature, and in favor with God and man ' V but they do
not minutely trace the progress of His mental development,
neither do they gratify any feeling of mere curiosity by giv-
ing us His infantile biography. In what is omitted by the
penmen of the New Testament, as well as in what is written,
we must acknowledge the guidance of inspiration ; and though
we would have perused with avidity a description of the pur-
suits of Jesus when a child, such a record has not been deemed
necessary for the illustration of the work of redemption. He
spent about thirty years on earth almost unnoticed and un-
known ; and He was meanwhile trained to the occupation of
a carpenter.* The obscurity of His early career was one part
of His humiliation. But the circumstances in which He was
placed enabled Him to exhibit more clearly the divinity of
His origin. He did not receive a liberal education, so that
when He came forward as a public teacher " the Jews mar-
velled, saying. How knoweth this man letters, liaving never
learned?'' "• When He was only twelve years old, He was
" found in the temple sitting in the midst of the doctors, both
hearing them, and asking them questions ; and all that heard
him were astonished at his understanding and answers." *
As He grew up, He was distinguished by His diligent attend-
ance in the house of God ; and He was in the habit of officiat-
ing at public worship by assisting in the reading of the law
and the prophets ; for, we are told that, shortly after the com-
mencement of His ministry, " He came to Nazarath, where he
had been brought up, and, as his custom was, he went into
the synagogue on the Sabbath-day, and stood up for to read." *
' Luke ii. 40. '^ Luke ii. 52. ' Mark vi. 3.
* John vii. 15. '' Luke ii. 46, 47. " Luke iv. 16.
JOHN THE BAPTIST. 1 5
When He was thirty years of age, and immediately before
His public appearance as a prophet, our Lord was baptized of
John in Jordan.' The Baptist did not preach longer than
six months;'' but during his imprisonment of considerably
upwards of a year, he still contributed to prepare the way of
Christ ; for, in the fortress of Machaerus in which he was in-
carcerated,* he was not kept in utter ignorance of passing
occurrences ; and when permitted to hold intercourse with his
friends, he doubtless directed their attention to the proceed-
ings of the Great Prophet. The claims of John, as a teacher
sent from God, were extensively acknowledged, and, therefore,
his recognition of our Lord as the promised Messiah, must
have impressed the minds of the Israelites. The miracles of
our Saviour corroborated the testimony of His forerunner,
and created a deep sensation. He healed " all manner of sick-
ness, and all manner of disease."* It was, consequently, not
strange that " his fame went throughout all Syria," and that
" there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee,
and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and
from beyond Jordan." ^
Even when the Most High reveals Himself there is some-
thing mysterious in the manifestation, so that as we ac-
knowledge the tokens of His presence, we may well exclaim,
" Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel,
the Saviour." " When He displayed His glory in the temple
of old. He filled it with thick darkness ;' when He delivered
the sure word of prophecy, He employed strange and misty
' Luke iii. 21-23. " It became Him, being in the likeness of sinful flesh,
to go through these appointed rites and purifications which belonged to
that flesh. There is no more strangeness in His having been baptized by
John, than in His keeping the Passover. The one rite, as the other, be-
longed to sinners, and among the transgressors He was numbered." — Al-
FORD, Greek Testatnent, note on Matt. iii. 13-17.
^ See Greswell's " Dissertations upon an Harmony of the Gospels," vol. i.
pp. 362, 363. John probably commenced his ministry about the Feast of
Tabernacles, A.D. 27.
' See Josephus, " Antiq." xviii. 5, § 2. " Matt. iv. 23.
' Matt. iv. 24, 25. " Isaiah xlv. 15. ' I Kings viii. 10-12.
l6 CHRIST'S FOOTSTErS NOT KNOWN.
language ; when He announced the Gospel itself, He uttered
some things hard to be understood. It might have been said
of the Son of God, when He appeared on earth, that His
"footsteps were not known." In early life He does not seem
to have arrested the attention of His own townsmen ; and
when He came forward to assert His claims as the Messiah,
He did not overawe or dazzle His countrymen by any sus-
tained demonstration of tremendous power or of overwhelm-
ing splendor. To-day the multitude beheld His miracles
with wonder, but to-morrow they could not tell where to
meet with Him ; ' ever and anon He appeared and disap-
peared ; and occasionally His own disciples found it difificult
to discover the place of His retirement. When He arrived in
a district, thousands often hastily gathered round Him ; "
but He never encouraged the attendance of vast assemblages
by giving general notice that, in a specified place and on an ap-
pointed day. He would deliver a public address, or perform a
new and unprecedented miracle. We here see the wisdom
of Him who " doeth all things well." Whilst the secrecy Avith
which He conducted His movements baffled any premature
attempts on the part of His enemies to effect His capture or
condemnation, it also checked that intense popular excite-
ment which a ministry so extraordinary awakened.
Four inspired writers have given separate accounts of the
life of Christ — all repeat many of His wonderful sayings — all
dwell with marked minuteness on the circumstances of His
death — and all attest the fact of His resurrection. Each
mentions some things which the others have omitted ; and
each apparently observes the order of time in the details of
his narrative. But when we combine and arrange their vari-
ous statements, so as to form the whole into one regular and
comprehensive testimony, we discover that there are not a
few periods of His life still left destitute of incidents; and
that there is no reference whatever to topics which we should
expect to find particularly noticed in the biography of so
' John V. 13, vi. 15, viii. 59, xii. 36 ; Mark 1. 45, vii. 24.
' Mark ii. 1,2; Matt. xiv. 13, 14, 21, xv. 32, 38, 39.
HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE. 1/
great a personage. After His appearance as a public teacher,
He not only made sudden transitions from place to place, but
otherwise often courted the shade ; and, instead of unfolding
the circumstances of His private history, the evangelists dwell
chiefly on His Discourses and His Miracles. During His
ministry, Capernaum was His headquarters ; ' but we can not
tell with whom He lodged; nor whether the twelve sojourned
under the same roof with Him ; nor how much time He spent
in it at any particular period. We can not point out the pre-
cise route which He pursued on any occasion when itinerating
throughout Galilee or Judea; neither are we sure that He al-
ways journeyed on foot, or that He adhered to a uniform mode
of travelling. It is most singular that the inspired writers
never throw out a hint on which an artist could seize as the
groundwork of a painting of Jesus. As if to teach us more
emphatically that we are to beware of a sensuous superstition,
and that we should direct our thoughts to the spiritual feat-
ures of His character, the New Testament never mentions
either the color of His hair, or the height of His stature, or
the cast of His countenance. How wonderful that even " the
beloved disciple," who was permitted to lean on the bosom of
the Son of man, and who had seen Him in the most trying
circumstances of His earthly history, never speaks of the tones
of His voice, or of the expression of His eye, or of any striking
peculiarity pertaining to His personal appearance ! The si-
lence of all the evangelists respecting matters of which at
least some of them must have retained a very vivid remem-
brance, and of which ordinary biographers would not have
failed to preserve a record, supplies an indirect and yet a most
powerful proof of the Divine origin of the Gospels.
' Matt. iv. 13. Hence it is said to have been "exalted unto heaven " in
the way of privilege. Matt. xi. 23; Luke x. 15. It was the residence as
well of Peter and Andrew (Matt. xvii. 24), as of James, John (Mark i. 21,
29), and Matthew (Mark ii. i, 14, 15), and there also dwelt the nobleman
whose son was healed by our Lord (John iv. 46). It was on the borders
of the sea of Galilee, so that by crossing- the water He could at once reach
the territory of another potentate, and withdraw Himself from the multi-
tudes drawn together by the fame of His miracles. See Milman's " His-
tory of Christianity," i. 188.
2
l8 THE TEACHING OF CHRIST.
But whilst the sacred writers enter so sparingly into per-
sonal details, they leave no doubt as to the perfect integrity
which marked every part of our Lord's proceedings. He was
born in a degenerate age, and brought up in a city of Galilee
so infamous that no good thing was expected to proceed from
it ; * and yet, like a ray of purest light shining into some den
of uncleanness, He contracted no defilement from the scenes
of pollution which He was obliged to witness. Even in boy-
hood, He uniformly acted with supreme discretion ; and
though His enemies from time to time gave vent to their
malignity in various accusations, they never sought to cast so
much as a solitary stain upon His youthful reputation. The
most malicious of the Jews failed to fasten on Him in after-
life any charge of immorality. Among those constantly ad-
mitted to His familiar intercourse, a traitor was found ; and
had Judas been able to detect anything in His private deport-
ment inconsistent with His public profession, he would doubt-
less have proclaimed it as an apology for his perfidy ; but the
keen eye of that close observer could not discover a single
blemish in the character of his Master ; and when, prompted
by covetousness, he betrayed Him to the chief priests, the
thought of having been accessory to the death of one so kind
and so holy, continued to torment him, until it drove him to
despair and to self-destruction.
The doctrine inculcated by our Lord commended itself by
the light of its own evidence. It was nothing more than a
lucid and comprehensive exposition of the theology of the
Old Testament ; and yet it presented such a new view of the
faith of patriarchs and prophets, that it had all the freshness
and interest of an original revelation. It discovered a most
intimate acquaintance with the mental constitution of man —
it appealed with mighty power to conscience — and it was felt
to be exactly adapted to the moral state and spiritual wants
of the human family. The disciples of Jesus did not require
to be told that He had "the key of knowledge," for they
were delighted and edified as " He opened " to them the
* John i. 46.
THE TEACHING OF CHRIST. I9
Scriptures.' He taught the multitude " as one having au-
thority "; ' and they were " astonished at His doctrine."
The discourses of the scribes, their most learned instructors,
were meagre and vapid — they were not calculated to enlarge
the mind or to move the affections — they consisted frequently
of doubtful disputations relating to the ceremonials of their
worship — and the very air with which they were delivered
betrayed the insignificance of the topics of discussion. But
Jesus spake with a dignity which commanded respect, and
with the seriousness of a great Teacher delivering to perish-
ing sinners the lessons of eternal truth.
There was something singularly beautiful and attractive, as
well as majestic and impressive, in the teaching of our Lord.
The Sermon on the Mount is a most pleasing specimen of His
method of conveying instruction. Whilst He gives utterance
to sentiments of exalted wisdom. He employs language so
simple, and imagery so chaste and natural, that even a child
is interested and delighted. He did not speak in parables for
a considerable time after He entered on His ministry.' By
these symbolical discourses He blinded the eyes of His ene-
mies, and furnished materials for profitable meditation to His
genuine disciples. The parables, like the light of prophecy,
are, to this very day, a beacon to the Church, and a stumbling-
block to unbelievers.
The claim of Jesus to be the Christ was decisively estab-
lished by the Divine power which He manifested. It had
been foretold that certain extraordinary recoveries from dis-
ease and infirmity should be witnessed in the days of the
Messiah ; and these predictions were literally fulfilled. The
eyes of the blind were opened, and the ears of the deaf un-
stopped ; the lame man leaped as an hart, and the tongue of
the dumb sang." Not a few of the cures of our Saviour were
' Luke xxiv. 32. ' Matt. vii. 29.
' According to Mr. Greswell, our Lord adopted this method of teaching
about eighteen months after the commencement of His ministry, and the
Parable of the Sower was the first delivered. " Exposition of the Parable,'
vol. i., p. 2.
* Isa. XXXV. 5, 6.
20 THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST.
wrought on individuals to whom He was personally unknown ;*
and many of His works of wonder were performed in the pres-
ence of friends and foes.'' Whilst His miracles exceeded in
number all those recorded in the Old Testament, they were
still more remarkable for their variety and excellence. By
His touch, or His word. He healed the most inveterate mala-
dies ; He fed the multitude by thousands out of a store of pro-
visions which a little boy could carry ; ' He walked upon the
waves of the sea, when it was agitated by a tempest ; * He
made the storm a calm, so that when the wind ceased to blow,
the surface of the deep reposed, at the same moment, in glassy
smoothness ; ^ He cast out devils ; and He restored life to the
dead. Well might the Pharisees be perplexed by the inquiry,
" How can a man that is a sinner do sucJi miracles ? " ° It
is quite possible that false prophets, by the help of Satan,
may accomplish feats fitted to excite astonishment ; and yet,
in such cases, the agents of the Wicked One will exhibit some
symptoms of his spirit and character. But nothing diabolical,
or of an evil tendency, appeared in the miracles of our Lord.
With the two exceptions of the cursing of the barren fig-tree,^
and the permitting the devils to enter into the swine," all His
displays of power were indicative of His goodness and His
mercy. No other than a true prophet could have so often
controlled the course of nature, in the production of results of
such utility, benignity, and grandeur.
The miracles of Christ illustrated, as well as confirmed. His
doctrines. When, for instance. He converted the water into
wine at the marriage in Cana of Galilee," He taught, not only
that He approved of wedlock, but also that, within proper
limits, we should exercise a generous hospitality. In some
cases He required faith in those whom He vouchsafed to
' See John v. 13, ix, i, 6, 25, 36, ' Mark ii. 6, 7, 10, 1 1, iii. 5, 22.
' John vi. 9. ■* Matt. xiv. 24, 25.
' Mark iv. 39 ; Matt. viii. 26, 27, " John ix. 16.
' Matt. xxi. 19. Neander has shown that this was a typical action point-
ing to the rejection of the Jews. See his " Life of Jesus Christ " by M'Clin-
tock and Blumcnthal, p. 357.
* Mark v. 13. ' Jolm ii. 9.
CHRIST A WONDER TO MANY. 21
cure/ thus distinctly suggesting the way of a sinner's salva-
tion. Many of His miracles were obviously of a typical char-
acter. When He acted as the physician of the body, He indi-
rectly gave evidence of His efificiency as the physician of the
soul ; when He restored sight to the blind, He indicated that
He can turn men from darkness to light ; when He raised the
dead, He virtually demonstrated His ability to quicken the
dead in trespasses and sins. Those who witnessed these exhi-
bitions of His power were prepared to listen with the deepest
interest to His words when He declared, " I am the light of
the world ; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness,
but shall have tJie light of life. '' ^
Though our Lord's conduct, as a public teacher, fully sus-
tained His claims as the Messiah, it was a complete enigma
to all classes of politicians. He did not seek to obtain power
by courting the favor of the great, neither did He attempt to
gain popularity by flattering the prejudices of the multitude.
He wounded the national pride by hinting at the destruction
of the temple ; He gave much offence by holding intercourse
with the odious publicans ; and with many. He forfeited all
credit, as a patriot, by refusing to affirm the unlawfulness of
paying tribute to the Roman emperor. The greatest human
characters have been occasionally swayed by personal predilec-
tions or antipathies, but, in the life of Christ, we can discover
no memorial of infirmity. Like a sage among children. He
did not permit Himself to be influenced by the petty parti-
alities, whims, or superstitions of His countrymen. He incul-
cated a theological system for which He could not expect the
support of any of the existing classes of religionists. He dif-
fered from the Essenes, as He did not adopt their ascetic
habits ; He displeased the Sadducees, by asserting the doc-
trine of the resurrection ; He provoked the Pharisees, by
declaring that they worshipped God in vain, teaching for doc-
trines the commandments of men ; and He incurred the hos-
tility of the whole tribe of Jewish zealots, by maintaining His
right to supersede the arrangements of the Mosaic economy.
* Matt. ix. 28, 29; Mark vi. 5, ix. 23, 24. ' John viii. 12.
22 THE LENGTH OF CHRIST S MINISTRY.
By pursuing this independent course He vindicated His title
to the character of a Divine lawgiver, but at the same time
He forfeited a vast amount of sympathy and aid on which He
might otherwise have calculated.
There has been considerable diversity of opinion regarding
the length of our Saviour's ministry.' We could approximate
very closely to a correct estimate could we tell the number of
passovers from its commencement to its close, but this point can
not be determined with absolute certainty. Four, apparently,
are mentioned^ by the evangelist John ; and if, as is probable,
they amounted to no more, our Lord's career, as a public teacher,
was of about three years' duration." The greater part of this
period was spent in Galilee ; and the sacred writers intimate that
He made several circuits, as a missionary, among the cities and
villages of that populous district." Matthew, Mark, and Luke
dwell chiefly upon this portion of His history. Toward the
termination of His course, Judea was the principal scene of
His ministrations. Jerusalem was the centre of Jewish power
and prejudice, and He had hitherto chiefly labored in remote
districts of the land, where He was comparatively free from
the annoyance of the Scribes and Pharisees; but, as His end
approached, He acted with greater publicity, and often taught
openly in the very courts of the temple. John supplements
the narratives of the other evangelists by recording our Lord's
proceedings in Judca.
A few members of the Sanhedrim, such as Nicodemus,'
' Several of the early fathers imagined that it continued only a year.
Some of them, such as Clemens Alexandrinus, drew this conclusion from
Isaiah Ixi. i, " To preach the acceptable year oi the Lord." See Kaye's
" Clement of Alexandria," p. 347.
" John ii. 13, V. 1, vi. 4, xii. i. Eusebius argues from the number of high-
priests that our Lord's ministry did not embrace four entire years. " Ecc.
Hist." i. c. X.
' He lived, therefore, about thirty-three years. According to IMalle Brua
(" Universal Geography," book xxii.), " the mean duration of human life ia
between thirty and forty years," and, in the same chapter, he computes it
at thirty-three years. It would thus appear that, at the time of His death,
our Lord was, in point of age, a fitting representative of the s])ecies.
* Luke iv. 44, viii. i ; IMalt. ix. 35. * John iii. i, 2.
THE CRUCIFIXION. 23
believed Jesus to be " a teacher come from God," but by far
the majority regarded Him with extreme aversion. They
could not imagine that the son of a carpenter was to be the
Saviour of their country, for they expected the Messiah to
appear surrounded with all the splendor of secular magnifi-
cence. They were hypocritical and selfish ; they had been
repeatedly rebuked by Christ for their impiety ; and, as they
marked His increasing favor with the multitude, their envy
and indignation beame ungovernable. They accordingly seized
Him at the time of the Passover, and, on the charge that He
said He was the Son of God, He was condemned as a blas-
phemer.' He suffered crucifixion — an ignominious form of
capital punishment from which the laws of the empire ex-
empted every Roman citizen — and, to add to His disgrace,
He was put to death between two thieves." But even Pon-
tius Pilate, then Procurator of Judea, and who, in that capacity,
endorsed the sentence, was constrained to acknowledge that
He was a "just person " in whom He could find " no fault."'
Pilate was a truckling time-server, and he acquiesced in the
decision, simply because he was afraid to exasperate the Jews
by rescuing from their grasp an innocent man whom they per-
secuted with unrelenting hatred."
The death of Christ, of which all the evangelists treat so
particularly, is the most awful and the most momentous event
in the history of the world. He, no doubt, fell a victim to
the malice of the rulers of the Jews ; but He was delivered
into their hands " by the determinate counsel and foreknowl-
edge of God";' and, if we discard the idea that He was of-
fered up as a vicarious sacrifice, it is impossible to give any-
thing like a satisfactory account of what occurred in Geth-
semane and at Calvary. The amount of physical suffering He
sustained from man did not exceed that endured by either of
the malefactors with whom He was associated ; and such was
His magnanimity and fortitude, that, had He been an ordinary
martyr, the prospect of crucifixion would not have been suffi-
> Matt. xxvi. 63-66. * Matt, xxvii. 38.
» Matt, xxvii, 24; John xviii. 38. " Mark xv. 10, 15. ^ Acts ii. 2^
24 THE CRUCIFIXION.
cient to make Him " exceeding sorrowful " and " sore amazed." '
His holy soul was wrung with no common agony when
" His sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling down
to the ground,"^ and when He cried out, " My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me?'" In that hour of " the power
of darkness " He was " smitten of God and afflicted," and
there was never sorrow like unto His sorrow, for upon Him
were laid "the iniquities of us all."
The incidents which accompanied the death of Jesus were
even more impressive than those which signalized His birth.
When He was in the garden of Gethsemane, there appeared
unto Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him.* Dur-
ing the three concluding hours of His intense anguish on the
cross, there was darkness over all the land," as if nature
mourned along with the illustrious sufferer. When He
bowed His head on Calvary and gave up the ghost, the event
was marked by notifications such as never announced the de-
mise of any of this world's great potentates, for " the veil of
the temple was rent in twain," and the rocks were cleft asun-
der, and the graves were opened, and the earth trembled."
" The centurion and they that were with him " in attendance
at the execution were Gentiles ; and, though they had heard
that Jesus claimed to be the Messiah of the Jews, they very
imperfectly understood what this implied ; but they were
forthwith overwhelmed with the conviction that He, whose
death they had just witnessed, had given a true account of
His mission and His dignity; for, when they "saw the earth-
quake and those things that were done, they feared greatly,
saying. Truly, this was the Son of God^ ''
The body of our Lord was committed to the grave on the
evening of Friday, and, early on the morning of the following
Sunday, He issued from the tomb. An ordinary individual
has no control over the duration of his existence, but Jesus
demonstrated that He had power to lay down His life, and
' Matt. xxvi. 38 ; Mark xiv. 33. " Luke xxii. 44. ' Matt, xxvii. 46.
* Luke xxii. 43. * Luke xxiii. 44 ; Mark xv. 33.
• Matt, xxvii. 51, 52. ' Matt, xxvii. 54.
THE RESURRECTION. 2$
that He had power to take it again.' Had He been a de-
ceiver, His delusions would have terminated with His death
so that His resurrection was His crowning miracle, or rather,
the affixing of the broad seal of Heaven to the truth of His
mission as the Messiah. It w^as, besides, the fulfilment of an
ancient prophecy;" a proof of His foreknowledge;' and a
pledge of the resurrection of His disciples.* Hence, in the
New Testament,^ it is so often mentioned with marked
emphasis.
There is no fact connected with the life of Christ better at-
tested than His resurrection. He was put to death by His
enemies, and His body was not removed from the cross until
they were fully satisfied that the vital spark had fled.' His
tomb was scooped out of a solid rock,^ the stone which
blocked up the entrance was sealed with all care, and a mili-
tary guard kept constant watch to prevent its violation ; *
but in due time an earthquake shook the cemetery — " The
angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and
rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it ; , . . .
and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead
men." ^ Our Lord meanwhile came forth from the grave,
and the sentinels, in consternation, hastened to the chief priests
and communicated the astounding intelligence.'" But these
infatuated men, instead of yielding to the force of this over-
whelming evidence, endeavored to conceal their infamy by the
base arts of bribery and falsehood. " They gave large money
unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye. His disciples came by night
and stole him away while we slept So they took the
money and did as they were taught." "
Jesus, as the first-born of Mary, was presented in the temple
forty days after His birth ; and, as *' the first-begotten of the
' John X. i8. 2 Ps, xvi. lo ; Acts ii. 31.
3 John ii. 19; Mark viii. 31 ; Luke xviii. 33.
* John xiv. 19 ; i Thess. iv. 14.
' Rom. i. 4 ; I Cor. xv. 14, 17 ; i Pet. i. 3 ; Rev. i. 18.
' John xix. 33, 34. ■' Matt, xxvii. 60. ® Matt, xxvii. 66.
» Matt, xxviii. 2, 4. '" Matt, xxviii. 11, " Matt, xxviii. I2, 13, 15.
26 JESUS AFTER HIS RESURRECTION.
dead," ' He presented Himself before His Father in the temple
above forty days after He had opened the womb of the grave.
During the interval He appeared only to His own followers."
Those who had so long and so wilfully rejected the testimony of
His teaching and His miracles, had certainly no reason to expect
any additional proofs of His Divine mission. But the Lord
manifests Himself to His Church, " and not unto the world," '
and to such as fear His name He is continually supplying new
'and interesting illustrations of His presence, His power, His
wisdom, and His mercy. Whilst He is a pillar of darkness to
His foes. He is a pillar of light to His people. Though Jesus
was now invisible to the Scribes and Pharisees, He admitted
His disciples to high and holy fellowship. Their hearts
burned within them as He spake to them " of the things per-
taining to the kingdom of God," ' and as " he expounded unto
them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself." '
Now, He doubtless pointed out to them how He was symbol-
ized in the types, exhibited in the promises, and described in
the prophecies. He explained to them more fully the ar-
rangements of His Church, and He commanded His apostles
to go and " teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." * Hav-
ing assured the twelve of His presence with His true servants
even unto the end of the world, and having led them out as
far as Bethany, a village a few furlongs from Jerusalem, ** he
lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass
while he blessed them, he was parted from them and carried
up into heaven." '
Thus closed the earthly career of Him who is both the
Son of man and the Son of God. Though He was sorely
tried by the privations of poverty, though He was exposed to
the most brutal and degrading insults, and though at last He
was forsaken by His friends and consigned to a death of
lingering agony. He never performed a single act or uttered a
' Rev. i. 5. ' Acts x. 40, 41.
' John xiv. 22. * Acts i. 3. ' Luke xxiv. 27.
• Matt, xxviii. 19. ' Luke xxiv. 50, 51.
THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST. 2/
single word unworthy of His exalted and blessed mission.
The narratives of the evangelists supply clear internal evi-
dence that, when they described the history of Jesus, they
copied from a living original ; for otherwise no four individuals,
certainly no four Jews, could have each furnished such a por-
trait of so great and so singular a personage. Combining the
highest respect for the institutions of Moses with a spirit
eminently catholic. He was at once a devout Israelite and a
large-hearted citizen of the world. Rising far superior to the
prejudices of His countrymen, He visited Samaria, and con-
versed freely with its population ; and, when declaring that
He was sent specially to the seed of Abraham, He was ready
to extend His sympathy to their bitterest enemies. Though
He took on Him the form of a servant, there was nothing
mean or servile in His behavior ; for, when He humbled
Himself, there was ever about Him an air of condescending
majesty. Whether He administers comfort to the mourner,
or walks upon the waves of the sea, or replies to the cavils of
the Pharisees, He is still the same calm, holy, and gracious
Saviour. When His passion was immediately in view. He
was as, kind and as considerate as ever, for, on the very night
in which He was betrayed, He was employed in the institution
of an ordinance which was to serve as a sign and a seal of
His grace throughout all generations. His character is as
sublime as it is original. It has no parallel in the history of
the human family. The impostor is cunning, the demagogue
is turbulent, and the fanatic is absurd ; but the conduct of
Jesus Christ is uniformly gentle and serene, candid, courteous,
and consistent. Well, indeed, may His name be called
Wonderful. " He was in the world, and the world was made
by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his
own, and his own received him not. But as marty as re-
ceived him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name." '
John
28 THE YEAR OF CHRIST'S BIRTH.
SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE TO CHAPTER II.
THE YEAR OF CHRIST'S BIRTH.
The Christian era commences on the ist of January of the year 754 of
the city of Rome. That our Lord was born about the time stated in the
text may appear from the following considerations:
The visit of the 'wise 7nen to Bethlehem must have taken place a very
few days after the birth of Jesus, a7id before His presentation in the temple.
Bethlehem was not the stated residence of Joseph and Mary, either before
or after the birth of the child (Luke i. 26, ii. 4, 39 ; Matt. ii. 2). They
were obliged to repair to the place on account of the taxing, and imme-
diately after the presentation in the temple, they returned to Nazareth and
dwelt there (Luke ii. 39). Had the visit of the wise men occurred, as some
think, six, or twelve, or eighteen months after the birth, the question of
Herod to " the chief priests and scribes of the people " where " Christ
should be born," would have been quite vain, as the infant might have
been removed long before to another part of the country. The wise men
manifestly expected to see a newly-born infant, and hence they asked,
" Where is he that is born King of the Jews ? " (Matt. ii. 2.) The evangelist
also states expressly that they came to Jerusalem "when Jesus was born "
(Matt. ii. i). At a subsequent period they would have found the Holy
Child, not at Bethlehem, but at Nazareth.
The only plausible objection to this view of the matter is derived from
the statement that Herod " sent forth and slew all the children that were
in Bethlehem and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and U7iiier,
according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men "
^Matt. ii. 16). The king had ascertained from these sages " what time the
star appeared " (Matt. ii. 7), and they seem to have informed him that it
had been visible a year before. A Jewish child was said to be two years
old whejt it had entered on its second year (see Greswell's " Dissertations,"
vol. ii., 136) ; and, to make sure of his prey, Herod murdered all the infants
in Bethlehem and the neighborhood under the age of thirteen months.
The wise men had not told him that the child was a year old — it was ob-
vious that they thought very differently — but the tyrant butchered all who
came within the range of suspicion. It is highly probable that the star
announced the appearance of the Messiah twelve months before he was
born. Such an intimation was given of the birth of Isaac, who was a re-
markable type of Christ. Gen. xvii. 21. See also 2 Kings iv. 16, and Dan.
iv. 29, 33.
The presentation of the infant in the temple occurred after the death of
Herod. This follows as a corollary from what has been already advanced,
for if the wise mtn visited Bethlehem immediately after the birth, and if
the child was then hurried away to Egypt, the presentation could not have
taken place earlier. The ceremony was performed forty days after the
THE YEAR OF CHRIST'S BIRTH. 29
hirth (Luke ii. 22, and Lev. xii. 2, 3, 4), and as the flight and the return
might both have been accomplished in ten or twelve days, there was ample
time for a sojourn of two or three weeks in that part of Egypt which was
nearest to Palestine. Herod died during this brief exile, and yet his de-
mise happened so soon before the departure of the holy family on their
way home, that the intelligence had not meanwhile reached Joseph by the
voice of ordinary fame ; and until his arrival in the land of Israel, he did
not even know that Archelaus reigned in Judea (Matt. ii. 22). He inferred
from the dream that the dynasty of the Herodian family had been com-
pletely subverted, so that when he heard of the succession of Archelaus
" he was afraid " to enter his territory ; but, at this juncture, being
" counselled of God " in another dream, he took courage, proceeded on his
journey, and, after the presentation in the temple, " returned into the parts
of Galilee."
That the presentation in the temple took place after the death of Herod
is further manifest from the fact that the babe remained uninjured, though
his appearance in the sacred courts awakened uncommon interest, and
though Anna " spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in
Jerusalem " (Luke ii. 38). Herod had his spies in all quarters, and had he
been yet living, the intelligence of the presentation and of its extraordinary
accompaniments, must have soon reached his ears, and he would have made
some fresh attempt upon the life of the infant. But when the babe was
actually brought to the temple, the tyrant was no more. Jerusalem was
in a state of great political excitement, and Archelaus had, perhaps, already
set sail for Rome to secure from the emperor the confirmation of his title
to the kingdom (see Josephus' "Antiq." xvii. c. 9), so that it is not strange if
the declarations of Simeon and Anna did not attract any notice on the part
of the existing rulers.
Assuming, then, that Christ was born a very short time before the
death of Herod, we have now to ascertain the date of the demise of that
monarch. Josephus states ("Antiq." xiv. 14, § 5) that Herod was made king
by the Roman Senate in the 184th Olympiad, when Calvinus and Pollio
were consuls, that is, in the year of Rome 714; and that he reigned thirty-
seven years ("Antiq.'' xvii. 8, § i). We may infer, therefore, that his reign
terminated in the year 751 of the city of Rome. He died shortly before
the passover ; his disease was of a very lingering character ; and he appears
to have languished under it upwards of a year (Josephus' "Antiq." xvii. 6,
§§ 4, 5, and xvii. 9, §§ 2, 3). The passover of 751 fell on the 31st of March
(see Greswell's " Dissertations," vol. i., p. 331), and as our Lord was in all
likelihood born early in the month, the Jewish king probably ended his
days a week or two afterward, or about the time of the vernal equinox.
According to this computation the co7tccptio7i took place at the feast of
Pentecost, which fell, in 750, on the 31st of May.
This view is corroborated by Luke iii. i, where it is said that the word
30 THE YEAR OF CHRIST'S BIRTH.
of God came to John the Baptist " in the fifteenth year of the reig-n of
Tiberius Cesar." John's ministry had continued only a short time when
he was imprisoned, and then Jesus " began to he. about thirty ytzxs of age "
(Luke iii. 23). Augustus died in AugTJst 767, and this year 767, accord-
ing to a mode of recl-ioning then in use (see Hales' " Chronology," i. 49,
171, and Luke xxiv. 21), was X\\& first year of his successor, Tiberius. The
fifteenth year of Tiberius, according to the same mode of calculation, com-
menced on the ist of January, 781 of the city of Rome, and terminated on
the 1st of January, 782. If our Lord was born about the ist of Marchi
751 of Rome, and if the Baptist was imprisoned early in 781, Jesus then
" began to be about thirty years of age." This view is further confirmed
by the fact that Quirinius, or Cyrenius, mentioned in Luke ii. 2, was first
governor of Syria from the close of the year 750 of Rome to 753. (See
Merivale, iv., p. 457, note.) Our Lord was born under his administra-
tion, and according to the date we have assigned to the nativity, the
"taxing" at Bethlehem took place a few months after Cyrenius entered
into office.
This view of the date of the birth of Christ, which differs somewhat
from that of any writer with whom I am acquainted, meets all the difficul.
ties connected with this much-disputed question. It is based partly upon
the principle so ingeniously advocated by Whiston in his " Chronology,"
that the flight into Egypt took place before the presentation in the temple.
I have never yet met with any antagonist of that hypothesis able to give a
satisfactory explanation of the text on which it rests. Some other dates
assigned for the birth of Christ are quite inadmissible. In Judea shep-
herds are not found " abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock
by night" (Luke ii. 8) in November, December, January, or, perhaps,
February ; but in March, and especially in a mild season, such a thing is
quite common. (See Greswell's " Dissertations," vol. i., p. 391, and Robin-
son's " Biblical Researches," vol. ii., pp. 97, 98.) Hippolytus, one of the
earliest Christian writers who touches on the subject, indicates that our
Lord was born about the time of the passover. (See Greswell, i., 461,
463.)
CHAPTER III.
THE TWELVE AND THE SEVENTY.
It has often been remarked that the personal preaching of
our Lord was comparatively barren. The effects produced
were not what might have been expected from so wonderful
a ministry; but it had been predicted that the Messiah was
to be *' despised and rejected of men," ' and the unbelief of the
Jews constituted one of the trials He was ordained to suffer
during His abode on earth. " The Holy Ghost was not yet
given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified." " We have,
certainly, no evidence that any of His discourses made such
an impression as that which accompanied the address of Peter
on the day of Pentecost. Immediately after the outpouring
of the Spirit at that period an abundant blessing followed the
proclamation of the Gospel. But though Jesus often mourned
over the obduracy of His countrymen, and though the truth,
when preached by His disciples, was often more effective than
when uttered by Himself, it can not with propriety be said
that His own evangelical labors were quite unfruitful. The
one hundred and twenty, who met in an upper room during
the interval, between His Ascension and the day of Pente-
cost,' were but a portion of His followers. The fierce and
watchful opposition of the Sanhedrim had kept Him generally
at a distance from Jerusalem ; it was there specially dangerous
to profess an attachment to His cause ; and we may thus par-
tially account for the paucity of His adherents in the Jewish
metropolis. His converts were more numerous in Galilee ;
and it was, probably, in that district He appeared to the com-
pany of upwards of five hundred brethren who saw Him after
* Isa. liii. 3. ' John vii. 39. ' Acts i. 1 5.
(31)
32 THE TWELVE AND THE SEVENTY.
His resurrection.' He had itinerated extensively as a mission-
ary ; and, from some statements incidentally occurring in the
Gospels, we infer that individuals had imbibed His doctrines
in the cities and villages of almost all parts of Palestine.' In
a statistical point of view, His ministry was " the day of small
things "; and yet it was not absolutely barren : for, during the
three years of its duration. He enlisted and sent forth no less
than eighty-two preachers. Part of these have since been
known as " The Twelve," and the rest as " The Seventy."
The Twelve are frequently mentioned in the New Testa-
ment, and yet the information we possess respecting them is
exceedingly scanty. Of some we know little more than their
names. It is thought that a town called Kerioth,' or Karioth>
belonging to the tribe of Judah, was the birthplace of Judas,
the traitor;^ but all His colleagues were natives of Galilee.'
Some of them had various names ; and the consequent diver-
sity which the sacred catalogues present has frequently per-
plexed the reader of the evangelical narratives. Matthew was
also called Levi ; ° Nathanael was designated Bartholomew ; ^
and Jude had the two other names of Lebbjeus and Thad-
daeus.* Thomas was called Didymus," or t/ie twin, in refer-
ence to the circumstances of his birth ; James the son of
Alphaius was styled, perhaps by way of distinction, James
' I Cor. XV, 6. "^ See Matt. xv. 31 ; John ii. 23, vii. 31, viii. 30.
^ See Joshua xv. 25.
* Hence called Iscariot, that is, Ish Kerioth, or, a man of Kerioth. See
Alford, " Greek Test.," Matt. x. 4.
' Acts ii. 7.
° Compare Matt. ix. 9, 10, and Mark ii. 14, 15.
^ " As St. John never mentions Bartholomew in the number of the apos-
tles, so the other evangelists nevf r take notice of Nathanael, probably be-
cause the same person under two several names ; and as in John, Philip
and Nathanael are joined together in their coming to Christ, so in the rest
of the evangelists, Philip and Bartholomew are constantly put together
without the least variation." — Cave's Lives of the Apostles, Life of Barthol-
omew. Compare Matt. x. 3 ; Acts i. 13; and John i. 45, xxi. 2.
* Compare Matt. x. 3, and Acts i. 13.
" John xi. 16, xxi. 2.
THE TWELVE AND THE SEVENTY. 33
"the Less"' — in allusion to the inferiority of his stature; the
other James and John were surnamed Boanerges,''' or the sons
of thunder — a title indicative of the peculiar solemnity and
power of their ministrations ; and Simon stands at the head
of all the lists, and is expressly said to be " first " of the
Twelve,^ because whilst his advanced age warranted him to
claim precedence, his superior energy and promptitude enabled
him to occupy the most prominent position. The same indi-
vidual is called Cephas, or Peter, or Stone,'' on account of the
firmness of his character. His namesake, the other Simon, is
termed the Canaanite, and also Zelotes,^ or the zealot — a title
expressive of the zeal and earnestness with which he was wont
to carry out his principles. Our Lord sent forth the Twelve
"by two and two," ° but we are not told whether He observed
any general rule in the arrangement of those who travelled in
company. The relationship of the parties to each other, at
1 Mark xv. 40. According to some he was related to our Lord, and
hence called His brother (Gal. i. 19). But though Mary, the mother of our
Saviour, had evidently several sons (see Matt. i. 20, 25, compared with
Matt. xiii. 55 ; Mark vi. 3 ; Matt. xii. 46, 47), they were not disciples when
the apostles were appointed, and none of them consequently could have
been of the Twelve. (See John vii. 5.) The other sons of Mary, who were
all younger than Jesus, seem to have been converted about the time of the
resurrection. Hence they are found among the disciples before the day of
Pentecost (Acts 1. 14). On this subject see an able article in the Princeton
Review for January, 1865, pp. 1-53. See also Alford's " New Testament,"
iv., Prol. 89-97.
* Mark iii. 17. ^ Matt. x. 2. * John i. 42,
"Matt. x. 4; Mark iii. 18; Luke vi. 15; Acts i. 13. Some think that
Kanattites is equivalent to Zelotes, whilst others contend that it is derived
from a village called Canan, See Alford, " Greek Test.," Matt. x. 4 ; and
•Greswell's " Dissertations," vol. ii., p. 128. Some MSS. have l^avavaloq.
® Mark vi. 7. "Although no two of these catalogues (of the Twelve)
agree precisely in the order of the names, they may all be divided into three
quaternions, which are never interchanged, and the leading names of which
are the same in all. Thus the first is always Peter, the fifth Philip, the
ninth James the son of Alpheus, and the twelfth Judas Iscariot. An-
other difference is that Matthew and Luke's Gospel gives the names in
pairs, or two and two, while Mark enumerates them singly, and the list
before us (in the Acts) follows both these methods, one after the other." —
Alexander on the Acts, vol. i., p. 19.
3
34 THE APOSTLES NOT EXTREMELY POOR.
least in three instances, suggested a classification ; as Peter
and Andrew, James and John, James the Less and Judewere,
respectively, brothers. Some of the disciples, such as Andrew/
and John,* had previously been disciples of the Baptist ; but
their separation from their former master and adherence to
Jesus did not lead to any estrangement between our Lord and
His pious forerunner. As the Baptist contemplated the more
permanent and important character of the Messiah's mission,
he could cheerfully say, " He must increase, but I must de-
crease." '
All the Twelve, when enlisted as disciples of Christ, moved
in the humbler walks of life ; and yet we are not warranted in
asserting that they were extremely indigent. Peter, the fish-
erman, indicates that, in regard to worldly circumstances, he
had been a loser by obeying the call of Jesus.* Though James
and John were likewise fisherpien, the family had at least one
little vessel of their own, and they could afford to pay " hired
servants " to assist them in their business.' Matthew acted,
in a subordinate capacity, as a collector of imperial tribute ;
but though the Jews cordially hated a functionary who brought
so painfully to their recollection their condition as a conquered
people, the publican was engaged in a lucrative employment.
Zacchffius, a " chief among the publicans," ' was a rich man -^
and Matthew was able to give an entertainment in his own
house to a numerous company.* Still, however, tlie Twelve,
as a body, were qualified, neither by their education nor their
habits, for acting as popular instructors ; and had the Gospel
been a device of human wisdom, it could not have been pro-
moted by their advocacy. Individuals who had hitherto been
occupied in tilling the land, in fishing, and in mending nets,
or in sitting at the receipt of custom, were not fitted to make
any great impression as ecclesiastical reformers. Their posi-
' John i. 35, 40.
* From the great minuteness of the statements in the passage, it has been
inferred that the evangelist himself was the second of the two disciples
mentioned in John i. 35-37.
' John iii. 30. * Matt. xix. 27. ' Mark i. 20.
• Luke xix. 2. ' Luke xix. 2. ' Mark ii. 21.
THE APOSTLES NOT LEARNED. 35
tion in society gave them no influence ; their natural talents
were not particularly brilliant ; and even their dialect beto-
kened their connection with a district from which nothing
good or great was anticipated.' But God exalted these men
of low degree, and made them the spiritual illuminators of the
world.
Though the New Testament enters very sparingly into the
details of their personal history, it is plain that the Twelve
presented a considerable variety of character. Thomas, though
obstinate, was warm-hearted and manly. Once when, as he
imagined, his Master was going forward to certain death, he
chivalrously proposed to his brethren that they should all
perish along with Him ;* and though at first he doggedly re-
fused to credit the account of the resurrection,* yet, when his
doubts were removed, he gave vent to his feelings in one of
the most impressive testimonies ' to the power and godhead
of the Messiah to be found in the whole book of revelation.
Nathanael was frank and candid — " an Israelite indeed, in
whom was no guile." ^ Our Lord bestowed on Peter and the
two sons of Zebedee peculiar proofs of confidence and favor,
for they alone were permitted to witness some of the most re-
markable scenes in the history of the Man of Sorrows.'
Though these three brethren displayed such a congeniality of
disposition, they did not possess minds of the same mould,
but each had excellences of his own which threw a charm
around his character. Peter yielded to the impulse of the
moment and acted with promptitude and vigor; James be-
came the first of the apostolic martyrs, probably because by
his ability and boldness, as a preacher, he had provoked the
special enmity of Herod and the Jews '^ whilst the benevolent
John delighted to meditate on the "deep things of God," and
listened with profound emotion to his Master as He discoursed
1 John vii. 52. * John xi. 16. See also v. 8.
' John XX. 25. * John xx. 28.
* John i. 47. ' Mark v. 37, ix. 2 ; Matt. xxvi. 37.
' Acts xii. 2, 3. " It is remarkable that, so far as we know, one of these
inseparable brothers (James and John) was the first, and one the last, that
died of the apostles." — Alexander Ofi the Acts, i. 443.
36 VARIETY OF CHARACTER AMONG THE APOSTLES.
of the mystery of His Person, and of the peace of believers
abiding in His love. It has been conjectured that there was
some family relationship between the sons of Zebedee and
Jesus ; but of this there is no satisfactory evidence.* It was
simply, perhaps, the marked attention of our Saviour to James
and John which awakened the ambition of their mother, and
induced her to bespeak their promotion in the kingdom of the
Son of Man.'
Though none of the Twelve had received a liberal educa-
tion,^ it can not be said that they were literally " novices "
when invested with the ministerial commission. It is probable
that, before they were invited to follow Jesus, they had all seri-
ously turned their attention to the subject of religion ; some
of them had been previously instructed by the Baptist ; and
all, prior to their selection, had been about a year under the
tuition of our Lord himself. From that time till the end
of His ministry they lived with Him on terms of the most in.
timate familiarity. From earlier acquaintance, as well as from
closer and more confidential companionship, they had a bet-
ter opportunity of knowing His character and doctrines
than the rest of His disciples. When, about six or eight
months ' after their appointment, they were sent forth as mis-
sionaries, they were commanded neither to walk in " the way
of the Gentiles," nor to enter " into any city of the Samaritans,"
but to go " to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." ' Their
number, Tiuelve, corresponded to the number of the tribes ;
and they were called apostles, in allusion to a class of Jewish
functionaries who were so designated, for the High-Priest was
wont to send forth from Jerusalem into foreign countries cer-
' See Greswell's " Dissertations," vol. ii., p. 115.
" Matt. XX. 20, 21.
' Some writers have asserted that Philip and Nathanael were learned
men, but of this there is no good evidence. See Cave's " Lives of the
Apostles," Philip and Bartholomew.
* Greswell makes it nine months. See his " Harmonia Evangelica," pp.
xxiv. xxvi.
• Matt. X. 5, 6.
THE SEVENTY. 37
tain accredited agents, or messengers, styled apostles, on ec-
clesiastical errands.'
During the personal ministry of our Lord,. the Twelve were
employed by Him on only one missionary excursion. About
twelve months after that event ^ He " appointed other seventy
also " to preach His Gospel. Luke is the only evangelist who
mentions the designation of these additional missionaries ; and
though we have no reason to believe that their duties termina-
ted with the first tour in which they were engaged,^ they are
never subsequently noticed in the New Testament. Many of
the actions of our Lord had a typical meaning, and He de-
signed to inculcate an important truth by the appointment of
these Seventy new apostles. According to the ideas of the
Jews of that age there were seventy heathen nations ; * and it
is rather singular that, omitting Peleg, the progenitor of the
Israelites, the names of the posterity of Shem, Ham, and
Japheth, recorded in the loth chapter of Genesis, amount
exactly to seventy. " These," says the historian, " are the
families of the sons of Noah, after their gefieratio7is, in their
nations ; and by these were the nations divided in the earth after
the flood." ^ Every one who looks into the narrative will per-
ceive that the sacred writer does not propose to furnish a com-
plete catalogue of the descendants of Noah, for he passes over
in entire silence the posterity of the greater number of the
' See Vitringa, " De Synagoga Vetere," p. 577, and Mosheim's " Com-
mentaries," by Vidal, vol. i., 120-2, note.
^ This is the calculation of Greswell, " Harmonia Evangelica," pp. xxvi.,
xxxi. Robinson makes the interval considerably shorter. See his " Har-
mony of the Four Gospels in Greek."
' They received new powers at the close of their first missionary excur-
sion. See Luke x. 19.
* Selden, in his treatise " De Synedriis," supplies some curious informa-
tion on this subject. See lib. ii., cap. 9, § 3. See also some singular specu-
lations respecting it in Baumgarten's " TheologischerCommentar zum Pen-
tateuch," i. 153, 351. Some of the fathers speak of seventy-two disciples
and of seventy-two nations and tongues. See Stieren's " Irenasus," i., p. 544,
note, and Epiphanius, torn, i., p. 50, Edit. Colonic, 1682 ; compared with
Greswell's " Dissertations," ii., p. 7.
' Gen. X. 32.
38
THE SEVENTY.
patriarch's grandchildren ; he names only those who were the
founders of nations ; and thus it happens, that whilst, in a
variety of instances, he does not trace the line of succession*
he takes care, in others, to mention the father and many of his
sons,' The Jewish notion current in the time of our Lord as
' The following tabular view of the names of the descendants of Shem,
Ham, and Japheth, mentioned in the loth chapter of Genesis, will illustrate
this statement :
SHEM,
HAM.
Elam. Asshur. Arphaxad,
Lud.
Aram.
Gush,
Mizraim, Phut.
Canaan,
Sa]ah,
Uz,
Seba,
Ludim,
Sidon,
Eber,
Hul,
Havilah,
Anamim,
Heth,
Peleg,
Gether,
Sabtah,
Lehabim,
Jebusite,
Joktan,
Mash.
Raamah,
Naphtuhim,
Amorite,
Almodad,
Sabtecha,
Pathrusim,
Girgasite,
Sheleph,
Sheba,
Casluhim,
Hivite,
Hazarmaveth.
Dedan,
Gaphtorim,
Arkite,
Jerah,
Nimrod.
Fhilistim.
Sinite,
Hadoram,
Arvadite,
Uzal,
Zemarite,
Diklah,
Hamathite
Obal,
Abimael,
Sheba,
Ophir,
Havilah,
Jobab.
JAPH
ETH.
Gomer,
Magog.
Madai.
Javan,
Tubal, Meshech
Tiras.
Ashkenaz,
Elishah,
Riphath,
Tarshish,
Togarmah.
Kittim,
Dodanim.
It often happens that one branch of a family is exceedingly prolific, whilst
another is barren. So it was with the descendants of the three sons ot
Noah. Thus Elam, Asshur, and others, each founded only one nation,
whilst Arphaxad and his posterity founded eighteen. This view of the mat-
ter is sustained by the authority of Augustine. " Why," says he, " when
eight (seven ?) sons of Japheth are enumerated, are the descendants of two
of them only added ? And when six (five ?) sons of Shem are named, why
are the posterity of two only annexed ? Did the others remain without off-
spring ? This can not be believed ; hut they did not originate nations on
account of which they should be worthy of commemoration." City of God,
book xvi. c. 3. Augustine here reckons according to the Septuagint, which
assigns eight sons to Japheth and six to Shem.
THE SEVENTY. 39
to the existence of seventy heathen nations rested, therefore,
on a sound historical basis, inasmuch as, according to the
Mosaic statement, there were, besides Peleg, precisely seventy
individuals by whom " the nations were divided in the earth
after the flood." We may thus infer that our Lord meant to
convey a great moral lesson by the appointment alike of the
Twelve and of the Seventy. In the ordination of the Twelve
He evinced His regard for all the tribes of Israel ; in the or-
dination of the Seventy He intimated that His Gospel was de-
signed for all the nations of the earth. When the Twelve en-
tered on their first mission He required them to go only to the
Jews, but He sent forth the Seventy " two and two before
His face tnto every city and place zvhither He himself would
come!' ' Toward the commencement of His public career,
He had induced many of the Samaritans to believe on Him,^
whilst at a subsequent period His ministry had been blessed
to Gentiles in the coasts of Tyre and Sidon ; ' and there is no
evidence that in the missionary journey which He contem-
plated when He appointed the Seventy as His pioneers, He in-
tended to confine His labors to His kinsmen of the seed of
Abraham. It is highly probable that the Seventy were actual-
ly sent forth from Samaria,^ and the instructions given them
suggest that, in the circuit assigned to them, they were to
visit certain districts lying north of Galilee of the Gentiles."
The personal ministry of our Lord had respect primarily and
specially to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,' but His
conduct in this case symbolically indicated the catholic charac-
ter of His religion. He evinced His regard for the Jews by
sending no less than twelve apostles to that one nation, but
He did not Himself refuse to minister either to Samaritans
or Gentiles ; and to show that He was disposed to make pro-
vision for the general diffusion of His word. He " appointed
other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his
' Luke X. I. '^ John iv. 39. ^ Mark vii. 24, 26, 30, 31.
* This is the opinion of Dr. Robinson, See his " Harmony." See also
Luke ix. 51, 52, x. 33,
" Luke X. 13, 17, 18. ' Matt. xv. 24.
40 THE SEVENTY.
face into every city and place whither he himself would
come."
It is very clear that our Lord committed, in the first in-
stance, to the Twelve the organization of the ecclesiastical
commonwealth. The most ancient Christian church, that of
the metropolis of Palestine, was modelled under their super-
intendence ; and the earliest converts gathered into it, after
His ascension, were the fruits of their ministry. Hence, in
the Apocalypse, the wall of the " holy Jerusalem " is said to
have " twelve foundations, and in them the names of the
twelve apostles of the Lamb." ' But it does not follow that
others had no share in founding the spiritual structure. The
Seventy also received a commission from Christ, and doubt-
less, after the death of their Master, they pursued their mis-
sionary labors with renovated ardor. That they were called
apostles as well as the Twelve, can not be established by dis-
tinct testimony;' but it is certain that they were furnished
with supernatural endowments;' and they are not over-
looked in the description of the sacred writer when he repre-
sents the New Testament Church as " built upon the founda-
tion of \.\\Q apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief corner-stone." *
The appointment of the Seventy, like that of the Twelve,
was a typical act ; and it is not therefore extraordinary that
they are only once noticed in the sacred volume. Our Lord
never intended to constitute two permanent corporations,
limited, respectively, to twelve and seventy members, and
■ Rev. xxi. 14.
' It is certain that some were called apostles who were not of the number
of the Twelve. See Acts xiv. 4. In i Cor. xv. 5, 7, both " the Twelve,"
and "all the apostles," are mentioned, and it may be that the Seventy are
included under the latter designation. Such was the opinion of Origen—
kireiTa To'iq hffmtc nnpa Tohq 6cj(hKa anooTiiloiq nam, rnxa rolg i^thfii/KovTa.
" Contra Celsum." lib. ii. 65. See also " De Recta in Deum Fide," sec. i.,
Opera, torn i., p. 806.
" Luke X. 9, 16, 19, 24.
* Kph. ii. 20. See also Eph. iii. 5. It is evident, especially from the lat-
ter passage, that the prop/ie/s here spoken of belong to the New Testament
Church,
THE SEVENTY. 4I
empowered to transmit their authority to successors from
generation to generation. After His death the symbolical
meaning of the mission of the Seventy was explained, as the
Gospel was soon transmitted to all the ends of the earth ; and
thus it was no longer necessary to refer to these represent-
atives of the ministry of the universal Church. When the
Twelve turned to the Gentiles, their number lost its signifi-
cance, and from that date they accordingly ceased to fill up
vacancies occurring in their society ; and, as the Church as-
sumed a settled form, the apostles were disposed to insist less
and less on any special powers with which they had been
originally furnished, and rather to place themselves on a level
with the ordinary rulers of the ecclesiastical community.
Hence we find them sitting in church courts with these breth-
ren,' and desirous to be known not as apostles, but as elders.'
We possess little information respecting either their ofificial or
their personal history. A very equivocal, and sometimes con-
tradictory, tradition ' is the only guide which even professes
to point out to us where the greater number of them labored ;
and the same witness is the only voucher for the statements
which describe how most of them finished their career. It is an
instructive fact that no proof can be given from the sacred
record, of the ordination, either by the Twelve or by the
Seventy, of even one presbyter or pastor. With the excep-
tion of the laying on of hands upon the seven deacons,^ no
inspired writer mentions any act of the kind in which the
Twelve ever engaged. The deacons were not rulers in the
' Acts XV. 6, xxi. 18.
* I Pet. V. I ; 2 John, ver. i ; 3 John, ver. i. It is remarkable that Papias,
orie of the very earliest of the fathers, actually speaks of the apostles simply
as the elders. See Euseb., book iii., chap. 39.
' Thus, Simon Zelotes is said to have travelled into Egypt and thence
passed into Mesopotamia and Persia, where he suffered martyrdom ; whilst,
according to others, he travelled through Egypt to Mauritania, and thence
to Britain, where he was crucified. See Cave's " Lives of the Apostles,"
Life of Simon the Zealot. No weight can be attached to such legends.
Origen states that the apostle Thomas labored in Parthia, and Andrew in
Scythia. " In Genesim," Opera, tom. ii., p. 24.
* Acts vi. 6.
42 LITTLE KNOWN RESPECTLN'G THE APOSTLES.
Church, and therefore could not by ordination confer eccle-
siastical power on others.
There is much meaning in the silence of the sacred writers
respecting the official proceedings and the personal career of
the Twelve and the Seventy. It thus becomes impossible for
any one to make out a title to the ministry by tracing his
ecclesiastical descent ; for no contemporary records enable us
to prove a connection between the inspired founders of our
religion and those who were subsequently intrusted with the
government of the Church. At the critical point where, had
it been deemed necessary, we should have had the light of
inspiration, we are left to wander in total darkness. We are
thus shut up to the conclusion that the claims of those who
profess to be heralds of the Gospel are to be tested by some
other criterion than their ecclesiastical lineage. It is written,
^^ By their fruits ye shall know them.'" God alone can make
a true minister ;^ and he who attempts to establish his right
to feed the flock of Christ by appealing to his oflficial genealogy
miserably mistakes the source of his pastoral commission. It
would, indeed, avail nothing, though a minister could prove
his relationship to the Twelve or the Seventy by an unbroken
line of ordinations, for some who at the time may have been
able to deduce their descent from the apostles were amongst
the most dangerous of the early heretics.^ True religion is
sustained, not by any human agency, but by that Eternal
Spirit who quickens all the children of God, and who has pre-
served for them a pure Gospel in the writings of the apostles
and evangelists. The perpetuity of the Church no more de-
pends on the uninterrupted succession of its ministers than
does the perpetuity of a nation depend on the continuance of
the dynasty which may happen at a particular date to occupy
the throne. As plants possess powers of reproduction ena-
bling them, when a part decays, to throw it off, and to supply
' Matt. vii. i6. » Acts xxvi. i6 ; Luke x. 2 ; i Tim. i. 12.
' Such was Valentine, the most formidable of the Gnostic heresiarchs,
said to -be a disciple of Theodas, the companion of Paul. Clem. Alex.,
Strom, vii. Paul of Samosata and Arius were able to boast, at least as much
as their antagonists, of their apostolic descent.
APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION. 43
its place by a new and vigorous vegetation, so it is with the
Church — the spiritual vine which the Lord has planted. Its
government may degenerate into a corrupt tyranny by which
its most precious liberties may be invaded or destroyed, but
the freemen of the Lord are not bound to submit to any such
domination. Were even all the ecclesiastical rulers to become
traitors to the King of Zion, the Church would not therefore
perish. The living members of the body of Christ should then
repudiate the authority of their false overseers, and choose
among themselves faithful men, competent to teach and to
guide the spiritual community.^ The Divine Statute-book
clearly warrants the adoption of such an alternative. " Be-
loved," says the apostle John, " believe not every spirit, but
try the spirits whether they are of God We are of
God, he that knoweth God heareth us ; he that is not of God
heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the
spirit of error." ' " If there come any unto you, and bring not
•this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid
him God-speed ; for he that biddeth him God-speed is partaker
of his evil deeds."" Paul declares still more emphatically,
*' Though WE, or AN ANGEL FROM HEAVEN, preach any other
gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you,
let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If
atiy man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have
received, let him be accursed^ ^
In one sense neither the Twelve nor the Seventy had suc-
cessors. All of them were called to preach the Gospel by the
living voice of Christ himself ; all had " companied " with
Him during the period of His ministry ; all had listened to
His sermons ; all had been spectators of His works of won-
der ; all were empowered to perform miracles ; all seem to
have conversed with Him after His resurrection ; and all ap-
pear to have possessed the gift of inspired utterance.* But
in another sense every " good minister of Jesus Christ " is a
successor of these primitive preachers ; for every true pastor
is taught of God, and is moved by the Spirit to undertake the
' I John iv. I, 6. "2 John x. 11.
* Gal. i. 8, 9. * Luke x. 16.
44 SIGNS OF A DIVINE COMMISSION.
service in which he is engaged, and is warranted to expect
a blessing on the truth which he disseminates. As of old the
descent from heaven of fire on the altar testified the Divine
acceptance of the sacrifices, so now the descent of the Spirit,
as manifested in the conversion of souls to God, is a sure
token that the labors of the minister have the seal of the
Divine approbation. The great Apostle of the Gentiles did
not hesitate to rely on such a proof of his commission from
heaven. " Need we," says he to the Corinthians, " epistles of
commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you ?
Ye are our epistle written in^ our hearts, known and read of
all men ; forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the
epistle of Christ ministered by us, written, not with ink, but
with the Spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone, but
in the fleshy tables of the heart." ' No true pastor will be
left entirely destitute of such encouragement, and neither the
Twelve nor the Seventy could produce credentials more trust-
worthy or more intelligible.
' 2 Cor. iii. 1-3.
CHAPTER IV.
THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL FROM THE DEATH OF CHRIST
TO THE DEATH OF THE APOSTLE JAMES,
THE BROTHER OF JOHN.
A.D 31 TO A.D. 44.
When our Lord bowed His head on the cross and " gave
up the ghost,i' the work of atonement was complete. The
ceremonial law virtually expired when He explained, by His
death, its awful significance ; and the crisis of His passion
was the birthday of the Christian economy. At this date
the history of the New Testament Church properly com-
mences.
After His resurrection Jesus remained forty days on earth,^
and, during this interval. He often took occasion to point out
to His disciples the meaning of His wonderful career. He
said to them, " Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ
to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day, and that re-
pentance and remission of sins should be preached in his
name among all nations, beginning at Jeriisalenty ' The in-
spired narratives of the teaching and miracles of our Lord are
emphatically corroborated by the fact, that a large Christian
Church was established, almost immediately after His de-
cease, in the metropolis of Palestine. The Sanhedrim and
the Roman governor had concurred in His condemnation ;
and, on the night of His trial, even the intrepid Peter had
been so intimidated that he had been tempted to curse and to
swear as he averred that he knew not " The Man." It might
have been expected that the death of Jesus would be followed
' Acts i. 3. ' Luke xxiv. 46, 47.
(45)
46 THE COMMUNITY OF GOODS.
by a reign of terror, and that no attempt Avould be made, at
least in the place where the civil and ecclesiastical authorities
resided, to assert the Divine mission of Him whom they had
crucified as a malefactor. But perfect love casteth out fear.
In the very city where He suffered, and a few days after His
passion, His disciples ventured in the most public manner to
declare His innocence and to proclaim Him as the Messiah.
The result of their appeal was as wonderful as its boldness.
Though the imminent peril of confessing Christ was well
known, such was the strength of their convictions that multi-
tudes resolved, at all hazards, to enroll themselves among His
followers. The success which accompanied the preaching of
the apostolic missionaries at the feast of Pentecost was a sign
and a pledge of their future triumphs, for " the same day
there were added unto them about three thousand souls." '
The disinterested behavior of the converts betokened their
intense earnestness. "All that believed were together and
had all things common, and sold their possessions and goods
and parted them to all men, as every man had need." '
These early disciples were not, indeed, required, as a term of
communion, to deposit their property in a common stock-
purse ; but, in the overflowings of their first love, they spon-
taneously adopted the arrangement. On the part of the more
opulent members of the community residing in a place which
was the stronghold of Jewish prejudice and influence, this
course was as prudent as it was generous. By joining a pro-
scribed sect they put their lives, as well as their wealth, into
jeopardy ; but, by the sale of their effects, they displayed a
spirit of self-sacrifice which astonished and confounded their
adversaries. They thus anticipated all attempts at spoliation,
and gave a proof of their readiness to submit to any suffering
for the cause they had espoused. An inheritance, when
turned into money, was not easily sequestered ; and those
who were in want could obtain assistance out of the secreted
treasure. Still, even at this period, the principle of a com-
munity of goods was not carried out into universal opera-
' Acts ii. 41. ' Acts ii. 44, 45.
THE COMMUNITY OF GOODS. 47
tion ; for the foreign Jews converted to the faith, and " pos-
sessors of lands or houses " ' in distant countries, could neither
have found purchasers, nor negotiated transfers, in the holy
city. The first sales were obviously confined to those mem-
bers of the Church who were owners of property in Jerusalem
and its neighborhood.
The system of having all things common, suggested in a crisis
of extreme peril, was only a temporary expedient ; and it was
soon given up altogether, as unsuited to the ordinary circum-
stances of the Christian Church. But though, in a short time,
the disciples in general were left to depend on their own re-
sources, the community continued to provide a fund for the
help of the infirm and the destitute. At an early period com-
plaints were made respecting the distribution of this charity ;
and "there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the He-
brews because their widows were neglected in the daily minis-
tration."' The Grecians, or those converts from Judaism who
used the Greek language, were generally of foreign birth ; and
as the Hebrews, or the brethren who spoke the vernacular
tongue of Palestine, were natives of the country, there were
suspicions that local influence secured for their poor an undue
share of the public bounty. The expedient employed for the
removal of this " root of bitterness" seems to have been com-
pletely successful. " The twelve called the multitude of the
disciples unto them and said, It is not reason that we should
leave the word of God and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren,
look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the
Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this
business." '
Had the apostles been anxious for power they would them-
selves have nominated the deacons. They could have urged,
too, a very plausible apology for venturing upon such an exer-
cise of patronage. They might have pleaded that the disciples
were dissatisfied with each other — that the excitement of a
' See Acts iv. 34. Barnabas was probably obliged to go to Cyprus to com-
plete the sale.
'Acts vi. I. ^ Acts vi. 2, 3.
48 THE SEVEN DEACONS.
popular election was fitted to increase this feeling of alienation
— and that, under these circumstences, prudence required them
to take upon themselves the responsibility of the appointment.
But they were guided by a higher wisdom ; and their conduct
is a model for the imitation of ecclesiastical rulers in all suc-
ceeding generations. It was the will of the Great Lawgiver
that His Church should possess a free constitution ; and
accordingly, at the very outset, its members were intrusted
with the privilege of self-government. The community had
already been invited to choose an apostle in the room of Judas,*
and they were now required to name ofifice-bearers for the
management of their money transactions. But, whilst the
Twelve appealed to the suffrages of the Brotherhood, they re-
served to themselves the right of confirming the election ; and
they could, by withholding ordination, have refused to fiat an
improper appointment. Happily no such difficulty occurred.
In compliance with the instructions addressed to them, the
multitude chose seven of their number " whom they set before
the apostles ; and, when they had prayed, they laid their hands
on them."*
Prior to the election of the deacons, Peter and John had
been incarcerated. The Sanhedrim wished to extort from them
a pledge that they would '* not speak at all nor teach in the
name of Jesus," ^ but the prisoners nobly refused to consent to
any such compromise. They " answered and said unto them,
Whether it would be right in the sight of God to hearken
unto you more than unto God, judge ye." * The apostles
here disclaimed the doctrine of passive obedience, and asserted
principles which lie at the foundation of the true theory of re-
ligious freedom. They maintained that " God alone is Lord
of the conscience" — that His command overrides all human
regulations — and that, no matter what may be the penalties
which earthly rulers annex to the breach of the enactments of
their statute-book, the Christian is not bound to obey, when
the civil law requires him to violate his enlightened convic-
' Acis i. 15, 23. They selected two, and not knowing which to prefer,
they decided by lot.
^ Acts vi. 6. * Acts iv. 18. * Acts iv, 19.
THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN. 49
tlons. But the Sanhedrim despised such considerations. For
a time they were obHged to remain quiescent, as public feeling
ran strongly in favor of the new preachers ; but, soon after the
election of the deacons, they resumed the work of persecution.
The tide of popularity now began to turn ; and Stephen, one
of the Seven, particularly distinguished by his zeal, fell a vic-
tim to their intolerance.
The martyrdom of Stephen occurred about three years and
a half after the death of our Lord.' Daniel had foretold that
the Messiah should "confirm the covenant with many /or one
weck'"^ — an announcement which has been understood to in-
dicate that, at the time of his manifestation, the Gospel should
be preached with much success among his countrymen for seven
years — and if the prophetic week commenced with the ministry
of John the Baptist, it probably terminated with this bloody
tragedy.' The Christian cause had hitherto prospered in Jeru-
salem ; and, meanwhile, it had also made considerable progress
throughout all Palestine ; but at this date it is suddenly arrested
in its career of advancement. The Jewish multitude begin to
regard it with aversion ; and the Roman governor discovers
that he may, at any time, obtain the tribute of their applause
by oppressing its ablest and most fearless advocates.
After His resurrection our Lord commanded the apostles to
'That is, A.D. 34, dating the crucifixion A.D. 31. Tillemont, but on en-
tirely different grounds, assigns the same date to the martyrdom of Stephen.
See " Memoires pour servir k L'Histoire Ecclesiastique des Six Premiers
Siecles," tome prem. sec. par. p. 420. Stephen's martyrdom probably oc-
curred about the feast of Tabernacles.
''Daniel ix. 27. A day in prophetic language denotes a. year. Ezek. iv.
4, 5. A prophetic week, or seven days, is, therefore, equivalent to seven years.
" " The one week, or Passion-week, in the midst of which our Lord was
crucified, A.D. 31, began with His pubHc ministry, A.D. 28, and ended with
the martyrdom of Stephen, A.D. 34." — Hales Ckronohs^y, ii. p. 518. Faber
and others, who hold that the one week terminated with the crucifixion, are
obliged to adopt the untenable hypothesis that John the Baptist and our
Lord together preached seven years. The view here taken is corroborated by
the statement in Dan. ix. 27 : " In the midst of the week he shall cause the
sacrifice and the oblation to cease," as Christ by one sacrifice of Himself
" perfected forever them that are sanctified."
4
50 THE GOSPEL IN SAMARIA.
go and "teach all nations,'' ' and yet years rolled away before
they turned their thoughts toward the evangelization of the
Gentiles. The Jewish mind was slow to apprehend such an
idea, for the posterity of Abraham had been long accustomed
to regard themselves as the exclusive heirs of divine privi-
leges ; but the remarkable development of the kingdom of God
gradually led them to entertain more enlarged and more lib-
eral sentiments. The progress of the Gospel in Samaria im-
mediately after the death of Stephen, demonstrated that the
blessings of the new dispensation were not to be confined to
God's ancient people. Though many of the Samaritans ac-
knowledged the divine authority of the writings of Moses, they
did not belong to the Church of Israel ; and between them and
the Jews a bitter antipathy had hitherto existed. When Philip
appeared among them, and preached Jesus as the promised
Messiah, they listened most attentively to his appeals, and not
a few of them gladly received Christian baptism." It could
now no longer be said that the Jews had " no dealings with the
Samaritans," ' for the Gospel gathered both into the fold of a
common Saviour, and taught them to keep "the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace."
When the disciples were scattered abroad by tlie persecution
which arose after the martyrdom of Stephen, the apostles
still kept their post in the Jewish capital;' for Christ had
instructed them to begin their ministiy in that place : ' and
they perhaps conceived that, until authorized by some farther
intimation, they were bound to remain at Jerusalem. But the
conversion of the Samaritans reminded them that the sphere
of their labors was more extensive. Our Lord had said to
them, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and
in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the
earth,'' ' and events which were passing before their view were
continually throwing additional light on the meaning of this
announcement. The baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch,' about
this period, was calculated to enlarge their ideas ; and the
' Matt, xxviii. 19. " Acts viii. 6, 12. 'John iv. 9.
* Acts viii. I. ' Luke xxiv. 47; Acts i. 4.
' Acts i. 8. ' Acts viii. 27-38.
THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE GENTILES. 5 1
baptism of Cornelius pointed out, still more distinctly, the wide
range of their evangelical commission. The minuteness with
which the case of the devout centurion is described is a proof
of its importance as connected with this transition-stage in the
history of the Church. He had before known nothing of Peter ;
and, when they met at Caesarea, each could testify that he had
been prepared for the interview by a special revelation from
heaven.' Cornelius was " a centurion of the band called the
Italian band " "^ — he was a representative of that military
power which then ruled the world — and, in his baptism, we
see the Roman empire presenting, on the altar of Christianity,
the first-fruits of the Gentiles.
It was not, however, very obvious, from any of the cases
already enumerated, that the salvation of Christ was designed
for all classes and conditions of the human family. The Samar-
itans did not, indeed, worship at Jerusalem, but they claimed
some interest in " the promises made unto the fathers "; and
they conformed to many of the rites of Judaism. It does not
appear that the Ethiopian eunuch was of the seed of Abraham ;
but he acknowledged the inspiration of the Old Testament,
and he was disposed, at least to a certain extent, to observe
its institutions. Even the Roman centurion was what has
been called a proselyte of the gate, that is, he professed the
Jewish theology — "he feared God with all his house,"'
though he had not received circumcision, and had not
been admitted into the congregation of Israel. But the
time was approaching when the Church was to burst forth be-
yond the barriers within which it had been hitherto enclosed ;
and an individual now appeared upon the scene who was to
be the leader of this new movement. He is "a citizen of no
mean city," * — a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, a place famous for
its educational institutes' — and he is known, by way of dis-
tinction, as " an apostle of the nations!'' ^
The apostles were at first sent only to their own country-
men ; ^ and for some time after our Lord's death, they did not
' Acts X. 19, 30, 32. "^ Acts X. I.
' Acts X. 2. * Acts xxi. 39. * Strabo, xiv. p. 673.
* Rom. xi. 13 ; i Tim. ii. 7 ; 2 Tim. i. 1 1. ' Matt. x. 5, 6.
52 THE APOSTLE OF THE GENTILES.
contemplate any more comprehensive mission. When Peter
called on the disciples to appoint a successor to Judas, he
acted under the conviction that the company of the Twelve
was to be maintained in its integrity, and that it must still
exactly represent the number of the tribes of Israel. But the
Jews, after the death of Stephen, evinced an increasing aver-
sion to the Gospel ; and as the apostles were eventually induced
to direct their views elsewhere, they were also led to abandon
an arrangement which had a special reference to the sectional
divisions of the chosen people. Meanwhile, too, the manage-
ment of ecclesiastical affairs had partially fallen into other
hands ; new missions, in which the Twelve had no share, had
been undertaken ; and Paul henceforth becomes most conspic-
uous and successful in extending and organizing the Church.
Paul describes himself as " one born out of due time." '
He was converted to Christianity when his countrymen
seemed about to be consigned to judicial blindness ; and he
was " called to be an apostle " * when others had been labor-
ing for years in the same vocation. But he possessed pecul-
iar qualifications for the office. He was ardent, energetic,
and conscientious, as well as acute and eloquent. In his
native city. Tarsus, he had received a good elementary educa-
tion ; and afterward, " at the feet of Gamaliel," ' in Jerusalem,
he enjoyed the tuition of a Rabbi of unrivalled celebrity.
The apostles of the Gentiles had much the same religious ex-
perience as the father of the German Reformation ; for as
Luther, before he understood the doctrine of a free salvation,
attempted to earn a title to heaven by the austerities of mo-
nastic discipline, so Paul in early life was " taught according
to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers," * and " after
the strictest sect of his religion lived a Pharisee." ' His zeal
led him to become a persecutor; and when Stephen was
stoned, the witnesses required to take part in the execution
prepared themselves for the work of death by laying down
their upper garments at the feet of the " young man " Saul.
' I Cor. XV. 8. ' Rom. i. i. ' Acts xxii. 3.
* Acts xxii. 3. " Acts xxvi. 5. * Acts vii. 58.
PAUL. 53
He had established himself in the confidence of the Sanhedrim,
and he may have been a member of that influential judicatory,
for he tells us that he " shut up many of the saints in prison,"
and that, when they were put to death, " he gave his voice,
or his vote,"^ against them " — a statement implying that he
belonged to the court which pronounced the sentence of con-
demnation. As he was travelling to Damascus armed with
authority to seize any of the disciples whom he discovered in
that city, and to convey them bound to Jerusalem, ° the Lord
appeared to him in the way, and he was suddenly converted.'
After reaching the end of his journey, and boldly proclaiming
his attachment to the party he had been so recently endeavor-
ing to exterminate, he retired into Arabia,^ where he proba-
bly spent three years in the devout study of the Christian
theology. He then returned to Damascus, and entered, about
A.D. 37,' on those missionary labors, which he prosecuted with
so much efficiency and perseverance for upwards of a quarter
of a century.
Paul declares that he derived a knowledge of the Gospel
immediately from Christ ; " and though for many years he had
very little intercourse with the Twelve, he avers that he was
" not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles." ' Throughout
^ Acts xxvi. lo. ^ii(^ov. See Alford on Acts xxvi. lo, and Acts viii. i.
See also " The Life and Epistles of St. Paul," by Conybeare and Hovvson,
i. 85. Edit., London, 1852. Paul says that " all the Jews " knew his man-
ner o{X\{& frojn his youth — a declaration which implies that he was a per-
son of note. See Acts xxvi. 4. There is a tradition that he aspired to be
the son-in-law of the high-priest. Epiphanius, "Ad Haer," i, 2, § 16 and
§25.
* Acts ix. 2, and xxii. 5. ' Acts ix. 3-21. * Gal. i. 17, 18.
^ This date may be established thus : — Stephen, as has been shown, was
martyred A.D. 34. See note, p. 49 of this chapter. Paul was converted
in the same year, and therefore, if he returned to Damascus three years
afterward, he was in that city in A.D. 37. It would appear, from another
source of evidence, that this is the true date. The Emperor Tiberius died
A.D. 37, and Aretas immediately afterward obtained possession of Damas-
cus. He was in possession of it when Paul was there. See 2 Cor. xi. 32,
33. It is probable that he remained master of the place only a very short
time.
° Gal. i. 12. ^ 2 Cor. xi. 5.
54 PAUL.
life he was associated, not with them, but with others as his
fellow-laborers ; and he obviously occupied a distinct and in-
dependent position. When he was baptized, the ordinance
was administered by an individual who is not previously men-
tioned in the New Testament/ and when he was separated
to the work to which the Lord had called him," the ordainers
were " prophets and teachers," respecting whose own call to
the ministry the inspired historian supplies us with no infor-
mation. But they had, no doubt, been regularly introduced
into the places which they are represented as occupying ; they
are all described by the evangelist as receiving the same spec-
ial instructions from heaven ; and the tradition that, at least
some of them, were of the number of the Seventy,' is exceed-
ingly probable. And if, as has already been suggested, the
mission of the Seventy indicated the design of our Saviour to
diffuse the Gospel all over the world, we can see a peculiar
propriety in the arrangement that Paul was ushered into the
Church under the auspices of these ministers," It was most
fitting that he who was to be, by way of eminence, the apos-
tle of the Gentiles, should be baptized and ordained by men
whose own appointment was intended to symbolize the catho-
lic spirit of Christianity.
In the treatment of Paul by his unbelieving countrymen
we have a most melancholy illustration of the recklessness of
religious bigotry. These Jews knew that, in as far as secular
considerations were concerned, he had everything to lose by
turning into " the way which they called heresy "; they were
bound to acknowledge that, by connecting himself with an
odious sect, he at least demonstrated his sincerity and self-
' Acts ix. 17. 1 8. " Actsxiii. i, 2.
' Simeon or Niger, according to Epiphanius, was one of the Seventy.
" Hasres," 20, sec. 4. Luke, the writer of the Book of the Acts, is said to
have been one of the Seventy, and the same as Lucius of Cyrene, mentioned
Acts xiii. I.
* Ananias, by whom he was baptized, was, according to the Greek mar-
tyrologies, one of the Seventy. See Burton's " Lectures," i. 88, note. It is
evident that Ananias was a person of note among the Christians of Damas-
cus.
PAUL. 55
denial ; but they were so exasperated by his zeal that they
" took counsel to kill him." ' When, after his sojourn in Ara-
bia, he returned to Damascus, that city was in the hands of
Aretas, the king of Arabia Petraea ; " who contrived to gain
possession of it during the confusion which immediately fol-
lowed the death of the Emperor Tiberius. This petty sover-
eign courted the favor of the Jewish portion of the popula-
tion by permitting them to persecute the disciples ; ^ and the
apostle, at this crisis, would have fallen a victim to their ma-
lignity had not his friends let him down " through a window,
in a basket, by the wall," * and thus enabled him to escape a
premature martyrdom. He now repaired to Jerusalem, where
the brethren had not heard of his conversion, and where they
at first refused to acknowledge him as a member of their
society ; " for he had been obliged to leave Damascus with so
much precipitation that he had brought with him no commen-
datory letters ; but Barnabas, who is said to have been his
school-fellow," and who had in some way obtained informa-
tion respecting his subsequent career, made the leaders of the
Mother Church acquainted with the wonderful change which
had taken place in his sentiments and character, and induced
them to admit him to fellowship. During this visit to the
holy city, while he prayed in the temple, he was more fully
instructed respecting his future destination. In a trance, he
saw Jesus, who said to him, " Depart : for I will send theie
far hence unto the Gentiles." ' Even had he not received this
intimation, the murderous hostility of the Jews would have
obliged him to retire. ''When he spake boldly in the name
of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians, they
went about to slay him. Which, when the brethren knew,
they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to
Tarsus." ®
' Acts ix, 23, * See Josephus' " Antiquities," xviii. 5.
* See Burton's " Lectures," i. 116, 117.
* 2 Cor. xi. 32, 33, ^ Acts ix. 26, 27.
^ This statement rests on the authority of a monk of Cyprus, named
Alexander, a comparatively late writer. See Burton's " Lectures," i. 56,
note. '' Acts xxii. 21. * Acts ix. 29, 30.
56 PAUL AT ANTIOCH.
The apostle now labored for some years as a missionary in
" the regions of Syria and Cilicia." ' His native city and
its neighborhood probably enjoyed a large share of his minis-
trations, and his exertions seem to have been attended with
much success, for, soon afterward, the converts in these dis-
tricts attract particular notice.* Meanwhile the Gospel was
making rapid progress in the Syrian capital, and as Saul was
considered eminently qualified for conducting the mission in
that place, he was induced to proceed thither. " Then," says
the sacred historian, " Barnabas departed to Tarsus to seek
Saul, and when he had found him he brought him unto Anti-
och. And it came to pass that a whole year they assembled
themselves with the Church, and taught much people ; and
the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." '
The establishment of a Church in this city formed a new
era in the development of Christianity. Antioch was a great
commercial mart, with a large Jewish as well as Gentile popu-
lation. It was virtually the capital of the Roman empire in
the. East ; being the residence of the president or governor of
Syria. Its climate was delightful, and its citizens, enriched by
trade, were noted for their gayety and voluptuousness. In
this flourishing metropolis many proselytes from heathenism
were to be found in the synagogues of the Greek-speaking
Jews, and the Gospel soon made rapid progress among these
Hellenists. " Some of them (which were scattered abroad
upon the persecution that arose about Stephen) were men of
Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch,
spake unto the Grecians,* preaching the Lord Jesus. And
' Gal. i. 21. ' Acts XV. 23, 41. ' Acts xi. 25, 26.
* Griesbach, Lachmann, Alford, and other critics of great note, here pre-
fer "E'A>f]vac to 'lO'/f/viuTi'ic, but the common reading is quite as well sup-
ported by the authority of manuscripts, and more in accordance with Acts
xiv. 27, where Paul and Barnabas are represented long afterward as declar-
ing to the Church of Antioch how God " had opened the door of faith i/n/a
the Gentiles." See an excellent vindication of the icxtiis receptus in the
Journal of Sacred Literature for January, 1857, No. viii., p. 285, by the
Rev. W. Kay, M.A., Principal of Bi'shop's College. Calcutta. See, oh the
other side, Alford's Greek Test., vol. ii., Prolog. 29-31, late edition.
THE BRETHREN, WHY CALLED CHRISTIANS. 5/
the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number be-
lieved and turned unto the Lord." ' The followers of Jesus
at this time received a new designation. They had hitherto
called themselves "brethren" or "disciples" or "believers,"
but now they " were called Christians " by some of the inhab-
itants of the Syrian capital. As the unconverted Jews did
not admit that Jesus was the Christ, they were obviously not
the authors of this appellation, and, in contempt, they prob-
ably styled the party Nazarenes or Galileans ; but it is easy to
understand how the name was suggested to the pagans as
most descriptive and appropriate. No one could be long in
company with the new religionists without perceiving that
Christ was " the end of their conversation." They delighted
to tell of His mighty miracles, of His holy life, of the extraor-
dinary circumstances which accompanied His death, and of
His resurrection and ascension. Out of the fulness of their
hearts they discoursed of His condescension and His meek-
ness, of His wonderful wisdom, of His sublime theology, and
of His unutterable love to a world lying in wickedness. When
they prayed, they prayed to Christ ; when they sang, they sang
praise to Christ ; when they preached, they preached Christ.
Well then might the heathen multitude agree with one voice
to call them Christians. The inventor of the title may have
meant it as a nickname, but, if so, He who overruled the way-
wardness of Pilate, so that he wrote on the cross a faithful in-
scription,'' also caused this mocker of His servants to stumble
on a most truthful and complimentary designation.
From his first appearance in Antioch, Paul occupied a very
influential position among his brethren. In that refined and
opulent city, his learning, his dialectic skill, his prudence, and
his pious ardor were all calculated to make his ministry most
effective. About a year after his arrival there, he was deputed
in company with a friend to visit Palestine on an errand of
love. " In those days came prophets from Jerusalem unto
Antioch. And there stood up one of them named Agabus,
and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth
' Acts xi. 20. " John xix. 19-22.
58 PAUL AT ANTIOCH.
throughout all the world ; which came to pass in the days of
Claudius Cesar. Then the disciples, every man according to
his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren which
dwelt in Judea. Which also they did, and sent it to the el-
ders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul." '
This narrative attests that the principle of a community of
goods was not recognized in the Church of Antioch ; for the
aid administered was supplied, not out of a general fund, but
by " every man according to his ability." There was here no
"murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews," as, in the
spirit of true brotherhood, the wealthy Hellenists of Antioch
cheerfully contributed to the relief of the poor Hebrews of
their fatherland. It is not stated that " the elders," in whose
hands the money was deposited, were all ofifice-bearers con-
nected with the Church of Jerusalem. These, of course, re-
ceived no small share of the donations, but as the assistance
was designed for the " brethren which dwelt in jfudea" and
not merely for the disciples in the holy city, we may infer that
it was distributed among the elders of all the Churches now
scattered over the southern part of Palestine." Neither did
Barnabas and Paul require to make a tour throughout the dis-
trict to visit these various communities. All the elders of
Judea still continued to observe the Mosaic law ; and as the
deputies from Antioch were in Jerusalem at the time of the
Passover,' they found their brethren in attendance upon the
festival.
It is reported by several ancient writers that the apostles
were instructed to remain at Jerusalem for twelve years after
the crucifixion of our Lord ; * and if the tradition is correct,
the holy city continued to be their stated residence till
shortly before the arrival of these deputies from the Syrian
capital. The time of this visit can be pretty accurately ascer-
tained, and there is no point connected with the history of
' Acts xi. 27-30.
'It is obvious from Acts ix. 31, xxvi. 20, and Gal. i. 22, that such
Churches now existed.
' Acts xii. 3, 24, 25.
* Ckm. Alex., Strom, vi., p. 742, note; Edit. Potter. Eusebius, v. 18.
BARNABAS AND PAUL GO TO JERUSALEM. 59
the book of the Acts respecting which there is such a close
approximation to unanimity among chronologists ; for, as Jo-
sephus notices/ both the sudden death of Herod Agrippa,
grandson of Herod the Great, which now occurred,' and the
famine against which this contribution was intended to pro-
vide, it is apparent from the date which he assigns to them
that Barnabas and Saul reached Jerusalem about A.D. 44.'
At this juncture at least two of the apostles — James the
brother of John, and Peter — were in the Jewish capital, and
all the rest had not yet finally taken their departure. The
Twelve did not set out on distant missions until they were
thoroughly convinced that they had ceased to make progress
in the conversion of their countrymen in the land of their fa-
thers. And it is no trivial evidence, at once of the strength
of their convictions and of the truth of the evangelical his-
tory, that they continued so long and so efficiently to pro-
claim the Gospel in the chief city of Palestine. Had they
not acted under an overwhelming sense of duty, they would
not have remained in a place where their lives were in perpet-
ual jeopardy ; and, had they not been faithful witnesses, they
could not have induced so many of all classes of society to
believe statements which, if unfounded, would have been con-
tradicted on the spot. The apostles were known to many in
Jerusalem as the companions of our Lord ; for, during His
public ministry, they had often been seen with Him in the
city and the temple ; and, therefore, peculiar importance was
attached to their testimony respecting His doctrines and His
miracles. Their preaching in the headquarters of Judaism
was fitted to exert an immense influence — as that metropolis
itself contained a vast population, and as it was, besides, the
resort of strangers from all parts of the world. And so long
* " Antiquities," xix. c. 8, § 2, xx. c, 2, § 5. " Acts xii. 20-23.
' From the comparative table of chronology appended to Wieseler's
" Chronologic des apostolischen Zeitalters," it appears that the date given
in the text is adopted by no less than twenty of the highest chronological
authorities, including Ussher, Pearson, Spanheim, Tillemont, Michaelis,
Hug, and De Wette. It is also adopted by Burton. Wieseler himself, on
insufficient grounds, adopts A.D. 45.
60 THE APOSTLES LEAVE JERUSALEM.
as the apostles ministered in Jerusalem or in Palestine only to
the house of Israel, it was expedient that their number, which
was an index of the Divine regard for the whole of the twelve
tribes, should be maintained in its integrity. But when, after
preaching twelve years among their countrymen at home, they
found their labors becoming comparatively barren ; and when,
driven by persecution from Judea, they proceeded on distant
missions, their position was quite altered. Their number had
at least partially ' lost its original significance ; and hence,
when an apostle died, the survivors no longer deemed it nec-
essary to take steps for the appointment of a successor. We
find accordingly that when Herod " killed James, the brother
of John, with the sword,"* no other individual was selected
to occupy the vacant apostleship.
It has been already stated that when Paul was in Jerusalem
for the first time after his conversion, he received, when pray-
ing in the temple, a divine communication informing him of
his mission to the heathen.' During his present visit, as the
bearer of the contributions from Antioch, he seems to have
been favored with another revelation. In his Second Epistle
to the Corinthians he refers to this most comfortable, yet mys-
terious, manifestation. " I know," ' says he, " a man in Christ
fourteen years ago ' (whether in the body, I can not tell, or
whether out of the body, I can not tell ; God knoweth) such
an one caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a
' Though Peter was taught by the case of Cornelius that "God also to
the Gentiles had granted repentance unto life" (Acts xi. i8), and, though
he doubtless felt himself a debtor, both to the Greeks and to the Jews, yet
still he continued to cherish the conviction that his njission was primarily to
his kinsmen according to the flesh. James and John had the same impres-
sion. See Gal. ii. 9 ; James i. i ; i Pet. i. i.
' Acts xii. 2. ' Acts xxii. 17-21.
* I here partially adopt the translation of Conybeare and Howson. Their
work is one of the most valuable contributions to sacred literature of the
present century. The revised version of the New Testament has much the
same reading.
* The Second Epistle to the Corinthians was written about fourteen years
after this, or toward the close of a.d. 57. See Chap. LX. of this Section.
The Jews often reckoned current time as if it were complete.
PAUL'S VISION. 6l
man (whether in the body, or out of the body, I can not tell ;
God knoweth) that he was caught up into paradise, and heard
unspeakable words which it is not lawful for man to utter." '
The present position of the apostle explains the design of
this sublime and delightful vision. As Moses was encouraged
to undertake the deliverance of his countrymen when God
appeared to him in the burning bush,'' and as Isaiah was em-
boldened to go forth, as the messenger of the Lord of hosts,
when he saw Jehovah sitting upon His throne attended by
the seraphim,' so Paul was stirred up by an equally impressive
revelation to gird himself for the labors of a new appointment.
He was about to commence a more extensive missionary
career, and before entering upon so great and so perilous an
undertaking, the King of kings condescended to encourage
him by admitting him to a gracious audience, and by per-
mitting him to enjoy some glimpses of the glory of those
realms of light where " they that be wise shall shine as the
brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to
righteousness as the stars forever and ever."
' 2 Cor. xii. 2-4. 2 Exodus iii. 2-10. ' Isaiah vi. i, 2, 8, 9.
CHAPTER V.
THE ORDINATION OF PAUL AND BARNABAS ; THEIR MISSION-
ARY TOUR IN ASIA MINOR ; AND THE COUNCIL
OF JERUSALEM.
A.D. 44 to A.D. 51.
Soon after returning from Jerusalem to Antioch, Paul was
formally invested with his new commission. His fellow-
deputy, Barnabas, was appointed as his coadjutor in this im-
portant service. " Now," says the evangelist, " there were in
the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers,
as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of
Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod
the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and
fasted, the Holy Ghost said. Separate me Barnabas and Saul
for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they
had fasted, and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they
sent them away." '
Ten years had now elapsed since the conversion of Paul ;
and during the greater part of this period, he had been busily
engaged in the dissemination of the Gospel. In the days of his
Judaism the learned Pharisee had been accustomed to act as
a teacher in the synagogues ; and, when he became obedient
to the faith, he was permitted to expound his new theology in
the Christian assemblies. Barnabas, his companion, was a
Levite ;' and as his tribe was specially charged with the duty
of public instruction,' he too had probably been a preacher
before his conversion. Both these men were called of God to
labor as evangelists, and the Head of the Church had already
' Acts xiii. 1-3. * Acts iv. 36. * Deut. xxxiii. lo.
(62)
ORDINATION OF PAUL AND BARNABAS. 63
abundantly honored their ministrations ; but hitherto neither
of them had been clothed with pastoral authority by any
regular ordination. Their constant presence in Antioch was
now no longer necessaiy, so that they were thus left at liberty
to prosecute their missionary operations in the great field of
heathendom; and at this juncture they were designated, in
due form, to their " ministry and apostleship." ''The Holy
Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work
whereunto I have called them." When we consider the pres-
ent circumstances of these two brethren, we may see, not only
why these instructions were given, but also why their observ-
ance has been so distinctly registered.
It is apparent that Barnabas and Saul were now called to a
position of higher responsibility than that which they had pre-
viously occupied. They had heretofore acted simply as preach-
ers of the Christian doctrine. Prompted by love to their
common Master, and by a sense of individual obligation, they
had endeavored to diffuse all around them a knowledge of
the Redeemer. They taught in the name of Jesus, just be-
cause they possessed the gifts and the graces required for such
a service ; and, as their labors were acknowledged of God,
they were encouraged to persevere. But they were now to go
forth, as a solemn deputation, under the sanction of the
Church ; and not only to proclaim the truth, but also to bap-
tize converts, to organize Christian congregations, and to
ordain Christian ministers. It was, therefore, proper that, on
this occasion, they should be regularly invested with the eccle-
siastical commission.
On other grounds it was desirable that the mission of Bar-
nabas and Paul should be thus inaugurated. Though the
apostles had been lately driven from Jerusalem, and though
the Jews were exhibiting increasing aversion to the Gospel,
the Church was, notwithstanding, about to expand with ex-
traordinary vigor by the ingathering of the Gentiles. In
reference to these new members Paul and Barnabas pursued a
bold and independent course, advocating views which many
regarded as dangerous, latitudinarian, and profane ; for they
maintained that the ceremonial law was not binding on the
64 ORDINATION OF PAUL AND BARN \BAS.
converts from heathenism. Their adoption of this principle
exposed them to much suspicion and obloqu)'- ; and because
of the tenacity with which they persisted in its vindication,
not a few were disposed to question their credentials as ex-
positors of the Christian faith. It was, therefore, expedient
that their right to perform all the apostolic functions should
be placed above challenge. In some way, not particu-
larly described, their appointment by the Spirit of God was
accordingly made known to the Church at Antioch ; and thus
all the remaining prophets and teachers, who officiated there,
could distinctly testify that these two brethren had received a
call from heaven to engage in the work to which they were
now designated. Their ordination, in obedience to this divine
communication, was a decisive recognition of their spiritual
authority. The Holy Ghost had attested their commission,
and the ministers of Antioch, by the laying on of hands, set
their seal to the truth of the oracle. Their title to act as
founders of the Church was thus authenticated by evidence
which could not be legitimately disputed. Paul himself ob-
viously attached considerable importance to this transaction,
and he afterward refers to it in language of marked emphasis,
when, in the beginning of the Epistle to the Romans, he in-
troduces himself as "a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an
apostle, separated unto the Gospel of God.'' '
In the circumstantial record of this proceeding, to be found
in the Acts of the Apostles, we have a proof of the wisdom of
the Author of Revelation. He foresaw that the rite of " the
laying on of hands " would be sadly abused ; and that, repre-
sented as possessing something like a magic potency, it was to
be at lenc^th converted, by a small class of ministers, into an
ecclesiastical monopoly. He has, therefore, supplied us with
an antidote against delusion, by permitting us, in this simple
narrative, to scan its exact import. And what was the virtue
of the ordination here described ? Did it furnish Paul and
Barnabas with a title to the ministry? Not at all. God him-
self had already called them to the work, and they could re-
' Rom. i, I.
ORDINATION OF PAUL AND BARNABAS. 6$
ceive no higher authorization. Did it necessarily add any-
thing to the eloquence, or the prudence, or the knowledge, or
the piety of the missionaries? No results of the kind were to
be produced by any such ceremony. What, then, was its
meaning? The evangelist himself furnishes an answer. The
Holy Ghost required that Barnabas and Saul should be sepa-
rated to the work to which the Lord had called them, and the
laying on of hands was the mode, ox form, in which they were
set apart, or designated, to the office. This rite, to an Israelite,
suggested grave and hallowed associations. When a Jewish
father invoked a benediction on any of his family, he laid his
hand upon the head of the child ;' when a Jewish priest de-
voted an animal in sacrifice, he laid his hand upon the head of
the victim ;" and when a Jewish ruler invested another with
office, he laid his hand upon the head of the new functionary.'
The ordination of these brethren possessed all this significance.
By the laying on of hands the ministers of Antioch implored
a blessing on Barnabas and Saul, and announced their separa-
tion, or dedication, to the work of the Gospel, and intimated
their investiture with ecclesiastical authority.
It is worthy of note that the parties who acted as ordainers
were not dignitaries, planted here and there throughout the
Church, and selected for this service on account of their of-
ficial pre-eminence. They were all, at the time, connected
with the Christian community assembling in the city which
was the scene of the inauguration. No individual among them
claimed the precedence; all engaged on equal terms in the
performance of this interesting ceremony. We can not mistake
the official standing of these brethren if we only mark the
nature of the duties in which they were ordinarily occupied.
They were " prophets and teachers "; they were sound script-
ural expositors ; some of them were endowed with the gift of
prophetic interpretation ; and they were all employed in im-
parting theological instruction. Though the name is not here
expressly given to them, they were, at least virtually, " the
elders who labored in the word and doctrine." * Paul, there-
'Gen. xlviii. 13-15. ^ Lev. viii. 18, and iv. 4.
' Num. xxvii. 18. * i Tim. v. 17.
66 PAUL AND BARNABAS IN CYPRUS.
fore, was ordained by the laying on of the hands of the Presby'
tery of Antioch.*
If the narrative of Luke was designed to illustrate the ques-
tion of ministerial ordination, it plainly suggests that the
power of Church rulers is very circumscribed. They have no
right to refuse the laying on of hands to those whom God has
called to the work of the Gospel, and who, by their gifts and
graces, give credible evidences of their holy vocation ; and
they are not at liberty to admit the irreligious or incompetent
to ecclesiastical offices. In the sight of the Most High the or-
dination to the pastorate of an individual morally and mentally
disqualified is invalid and impious.
Immediately after their ordination Paul and Barnabas en-
tered on their apostolic mission. Leaving Antioch they
quickly reached Seleucia ' — a city distant about twelve miles
— and from thence passed on to Cyprus," the native country of
Barnabas.* They probably spent a considerable time in that
large island. It contained several towns of note ; it was the
residence of great numbers of Jews ; and the degraded state
of its heathen inhabitants may be inferred from the fact that
Venus was their tutelar^' goddess. The preaching of the
apostles in this place created an immense sensation ; their fame
at length attracted the attention of persons of the highest dis-
tinction, and the heart of Paul was cheered by the accession of
no less illustrious a convert than Sergius Paulus,^ the Roman
proconsul. Departing from Cyprus, Paul and Barnabas now set
' This portion of the apostolic history may illustrate i Tim. iv. 14, for
Paul had official authority conferred on him " by prophecy," or in conse-
quence of a revelation made, perhaps, through one of the prophets of An-
tioch, "with the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery." Something
similar, probably, occurred in the case of Timothy. But, in ordinary cir-
cumstances, the rulers of the Church must judge of a divine call to the min-
istry' from the gifts and graces of the candidate for ordination.
" Acts xiii. 4. • Acts xiii. 4. * Acts iv. 36.
' Until this date we read of " Barnabas and Saul," now of " Paul and
Barnabas." Paul was the Roman, and Saul the Hebrew name of the great
apostle. His superior qualifications had now full scope for development,
and accordingly, as he takes the lead, he is henceforth generally named be-
fore Barnabas.
PAUL AND BARNABAS IN ASIA MINOR. 6/
sail for Asia Minor, where they landed at Perga, in Pamphylia.
Here John Mark, the nephew of Barnabas, by whom they had
been hitherto accompanied, refused to proceed further. He
seems to have been intimidated by the prospect of accumulat-
ing difficulties. From many, on religious grounds, they had
reason to anticipate a most discouraging reception ; and the
land journey now before them was otherwise beset with dan-
gers. Whilst engaged in it, Paul experienced those " perils of
waters," or of " rivers," ' and " perils of robbers," which he aft-
erward mentions; for the highlands of Asia Minor were in-
fested with banditti, and the mountain streams often rose with
frightful rapidity, and swept away the unwary stranger. John
Mark returned to Jerusalem, and, at a subsequent period, we
find Paul refusing, in consequence, to receive him as a travel-
ling companion." But though Barnabas was then dissatisfied
because the apostle continued to be distrustful of his relative,
and though " the contention was so sharp " between these two
eminent heralds of the cross that " they departed asunder one
from the other," ' the return of this young minister from Per-
ga led to no change in their present arrangements. Continu-
ing their journey into the interior of the country, they
preached in Antioch of Pisidia, in Iconium, in " Lystra and
Derbe, cities of Lycaonia," and in " the region thait lieth round
about."* When they had proceeded thus far, they began to
retrace their steps, and again visited the places where they had
previously succeeded in collecting congregations. They now
supplied their converts with a settled ministry. When they
had presided in every church at an appointment of elders,^ in
which the choice was determined by popular suffrage," and
when they had prayed with fasting, they laid their hands on
the elected office-bearers, and in this form " commended
* 2 Cor. xi. 26, — nora/xciv. * Acts XV. 38.
'Acts XV. 39. * Acts xiv. 6. * Acts xiv. 23.
° XeipoTov^aavreg 6e avrolg Kar' tKKXrja'tav npea^vTepovQ. — The interpretation
given in the text is sanctified by the highest authorities. See Rothe's
Anfange der Christlichen Kirche," p. 150; Alford on Acts xiv. 23; Bur-
ton's " Lectures," i. 150; Baumgarten's "Acts of the Apostles," Acts xiv.
23 ; Litton's " Church of Christ," p. 595.
68 PAUL AND BARNABAS IN ASIA MINOR.
them to the Lord on whom they beheved." Having thus
planted the Gospel in many districts which had never before
been trodden by the feet of a Christian missionary, they re-
turned to Antioch in Syria to rehearse " all that God had done
with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the
Gentiles." '
Paul and Barnabas spent about six years in this first tour;"
and, occasionally, when their ministrations were likely to exert
a wide and permanent influence, remained long in particular
localities. The account of their designation, and of their labors
in Cyprus, Pamphylia, Lycaonia, and the surrounding regions,
occupies two whole chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. The
importance of their mission may be estimated from this length-
ened notice. Christianity greatly extended its base of opera-
tions, and shook paganism in some of its strongholds. In every
place which they visited, the apostles observed a uniform plan
of procedure. In the first instance, they made their appeal to
the seed of Abraham ; as they were themselves learned Israel-
ites, they were generally permitted, on their arrival in a town,
to set forth the claims of Jesus of Nazareth in the synagogue ;
and not until the Jews had exhibited a spirit of unbelief, did
they turn to the heathen population. In the end, by far the
majority of their converts were reclaimed idolaters. " The
Gentiles were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord, and as
many as were ordained to eternal life, believed." ' Astonished
at the mighty miracles exhibited by the two missionaries, the
pagans imagined that " the gods " had come down to them
" in the likeness of men " ; and at Lystra the priest of Jupiter
" brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have
done sacrifice with the people";* but the Jews looked on in
sullen incredulity, and kept alive an active and implacable op-
position. At Cyprus, the apostles had to contend against the
craft of a Jewish conjuror;^ at Antioch, "the Jews stirred up
the devout and honorable women, and the chief men of the
' Acts xiv. 27.
' They set out on the mission probably in A.D. 44, and returned to Antioch
in A.D. 50. The Council of Jerusalem took place the year following.
'Acts xiii. 48. *Actsxiv. 13. ° Acts xiii. 6-8.
PAUL AND BARNABAS IN ASIA MINOR. 69
city, and raised persecution " against them, " and expelled them
out of their coasts "; * at Iconium, the Jews again " stirred up
the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the
brethren";" and at Lystra the same parties "persuaded the
people, and having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, sup-
posing he had been- dead." ' .The trials through which he now
passed made an indelible impression on the mind of the great
apostle, and in the last of his epistles, written many years after-
ward, he refers to them as among the most formidable he en-
countered in his perilous career. Timothy, who at this time
was a mere boy, witnessed some of these ebullitions of
Jewish malignity, and marked with admiration the heroic
spirit of the heralds of the Cross. Paul, when about to
be decapitated by the sword of Nero, could, therefore, appeal
to the evangelist, and could fearlessly declare that, twenty
years before, when his life was often at stake, he had not quailed
before the terrors of martyrdom. " Thou," says he, " hast fully
known my long-suffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflic-
tions, which came unto me at Antiock, at Iconium, at Lystra,
what persecutions I endured ; but out of them all the Lord
delivered me." *
The hostile efforts of the Jews did not arrest the Gospel in
its triumphant career. The truth prevailed mightily among
the Gentiles, and the great influx of converts began to impart
an entirely new aspect to the Christian community. At first
the Church consisted exclusively of Israelites by birth, and all
who entered it still continued to observe the institution of
Moses. But the number of its Gentile adherents soon pre-
ponderated, and ere long the keeping of the typical law be-
came the peculiarity of a minority of its members. Many of
the converted Jews were by no means prepared for such an
alternative. They prided themselves on their divinely-instituted
worship ; and, misled by the fallacy that whatever is appointed
by God can never become obsolete, they conceived that the
spread of Christianity must be connected with the extension
'Acts xiii. 50. '^Acts xiv. 2.
3 Acts xiv. 19. * 2 Tim. iii. 10, 1 1.
70 THE CIRCUMCISION CONTROVERSY.
of their national ceremonies. They accordingly asserted that
the commandment relative to the initiatory ordinance of Juda-
ism was binding upon all admitted to Christian fellowship.
"Certain men which came down from Judea" to Antioch,
" taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after
the manner of Moses, ye can not be saved." '
Paul was eminently qualified to deal with such errorists.
He had once valued himself on his Pharisaic strictness, but
when God revealed to him His glory in the face of Jesus
Christ, he was taught to distinguish between a living faith and
a dead formalism. He still maintained his social status, as one
of the " chosen people," by the keeping of the law ; but he
knew that it merely prefigured the great redemption, and that
its types and shadows must quickly disappear before the light
of the Gospel. He saw, too, that the arguments urged for cir-
cumcision could also be employed in behalf of all the Leviti-
cal arrangements," and that the tendency of the teaching of
these " men which came down from Judea" was to encumber
the disciples with the weight of a superannuated ritual. Nor
was this all. The apostle felt that the spirit which animated
these Judaizing zealots was a spirit of self-righteousness.
When they " taught the brethren and said. Except ye be cir-
cumcised after the manner of Moses, ye can not be saved," they
subverted the doctrine of justification by faith alone.^ A sin-
ner is saved as soon as he believes on the Lord Jesus Christ,'
and he requires neither circumcision, nor any other ordinance,
to complete his pardon. Baptism is, indeed, the sign by which
believers solemnly declare their acceptance of the Gospel, and
the seal by which God is graciously pleased to recognize them
as heirs of the righteousness of faith ; and yet even baptism is
not essential to salvation, for the penitent thief, though un-
baptizcd, was admitted into Paradise.^ But circumcision is no
part of Christianity at all ; it docs not so much as indicate that
the individual who submits to it is a believer in Jesus. Faith
' Acts XV. I.
'This inference was indeed admitted. See Acts xv. 5, 24.
'Gal. V. 2-4, vi. 13, 14. 'Acts xvi. 31 ; John iii. 36.
' Luke xxiii. 43.
THE CIRCUMCISION CONTROVERSY. 71
in the Saviour is the only and the perfect way of justification.
" Blessed are all they that put their trust in him," ' for Christ
will, without fail, conduct to glory all who commit themselves
to His guidance and protection. Those who trust in Him can
not but love Him, and those who love Him can not but de-
light to do His will ; and as faith is the root of holiness and
happiness, so unbelief is the fountain of sin and misery. But
though the way of salvation by faith can only be spiritually
discerned, many seek to make it palpable by connecting it with
certain visible institutions. Faith looks to Jesus as the only
way to heaven ; superstition looks to some outward observ-
ance, such as baptism or circumcision (which is only a finger-
post on the way), and confounds it with the way itself. Faith
is satisfied with a very simple ritual ; superstition wearies itself
with the multiplicity of its minute observances. Faith holds
communion with the Saviour in all His appointments, and re-
joices in Him with joy unspeakable ; superstition leans on forms
and ceremonies, and is in bondage to these beggarly elements.
No wonder then that the attempt to impose on the converted
Gentiles the rites of both Christianity and Judaism encountered
such resolute opposition. Paul and Barnabas at once withstood
its abettors, and had " no small dissension and disputation with
them." " It was felt, however, that a matter of such grave im-
portance merited the consideration of the collective wisdom
of the Church, and it was accordingly agreed to send these
two brethren, " and certain other of them," " to Jerusalem un-
to the apostles and elders about this question.'
It is not stated that the Judaizing teachers confined their in-
terference to Antioch, and the subsequent narrative indicates
that the deputation to Jerusalem acted on behalf of all the
Churches in Syria and Cilicia.* The Christian societies scat-
tered throughout Pamphylia, Lycaonia, and some other dis-
tricts of Asia Minor, were not directly concerned in sending
forward the commissioners ; but as these communities had
been collected and organized by Paul and Barnabas, they con-
sidered that they were represented by their founders, and they
'Ps. ii. 12. ^ Acts XV. 2. 'Acts XV. 2. ■* Acts xv. 23, 24, 41.
72 THE COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM.
at once acceded to the decision of the assembly which met in
the Jewish metropohs.' That assembly approached more
closely than any ecclesiastical convention ever since held, to
the character of a general council. It is clear that its deliber-
ations took place at the time of one of the great annual
festivals ; for, seven or eight years before, the apostles had
commenced their travels as missionaries, and except at the
season of the Passover or of Pentecost, the Syrian deputation
could not have reckoned on finding them in the holy city. It
is not said that the officials to be consulted belonged exclu-
sively to Jerusalem.' They included the elders throughout
Palestine who usually repaired to the capital to celebrate the
national solemnities. This meeting, therefore, was constructed
on a broader basis than what a superficial reading of the nar-
rative might suggest. Among its members were the older
apostles, as well as Barnabas and Paul, so that it contained
the principal founders of the Jewish and Gentile Churches;
there were also present the elders of Jerusalem, and deputies
from Antioch, that is, the representatives of the two most exten-
sive and influential Christian societies in existence ; whilst com-
missioners from the Churches of Syria and Cilicia, and elders
from various districts of the holy land, were likewise in attend-
ance. The Universal Church was thus fairly represented in
this memorable Synod.
* Acts xvi. 4.
* Paul and Barnabas, with the other deputies, were sent " to Jerusalem
unto the apostles and elders " (Acts xv. 2) ; " when they were come to Jeru-
salem they were received of the Church, even of the apostles and elders "
(Acts XV. 4) ; and the decrees were ordained " of the apostles and elders
which were at Jerusalem " (Acts xvi. 4) ; but not one of these statements
necessarily implies that these rulers were exclusively elders of the Church of
Jerusalem. I here venture to deviate a little from our authorized translation
of Acts XV. 4. The word church seems in this place to mean — not the whole
multitude of the disciples, but the apostles and elders. Paul and Barnabas,
and their fellow-deputies, were " received of the chjirch CT.'en (or, that is or
both) of the apostles and elders." The visit seems to have been of a pri-
vate nature. See Gal. ii. 2. It was expedient, under the circumstances,
that there should be no public reception. That a:'" has occasionally the
meanin}^ here indicated we may see by a reference to Rom. xi. 33 ; Matt.
xxi. 5, and other passages.
THE COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM. 73
The meeting was held A.D. 51, and Paul, exactly fourteen
years before/ had visited Jerusalem for the first time after his
conversion." So little was then known of his remarkable his-
tory, even in the chief city of Judea, that when he *' essayed
to join himself to the disciples, they were all afraid of him,
and believed not th^t he was a disciple";' but now his position
was completely changed, and he was felt to be one of the
most influential personages who took part in the proceedings
of this important convention. Some have maintained that
the whole multitude of believers in the Jewish capital deliber-
ated and voted on the question in dispute, but there is cer-
tainly nothing in the statement of the evangelist to warrant
such an inference. It is very evident that the disciples in the
holy city were not prepared to approve unaninwusly of the
decision which was actually adopted, for long afterward they
were " all zealous of the law," * and they looked with extreme
suspicion on Paul himself, because of the lax; principles, in
reference to its obligation, which he was understood to patron-
ize.* When he arrived in Jerusalem on this mission he found
there a party determined to insist on the circumcision of the
converts from heathenism ;" he complains of the opposition
he now encountered from these *' false brethren unawares
brought in " ;' and, when he returned to Antioch, he was fol-
' It has been argued by Burton (" Lectures," vol. i., p. 122), that the first
visit of Paul to Jerusalem after his conversion took place about the time of
one of the great festivals, as he is said, on the occasion, to have " disputed
against the Grecians " (Acts ix. 29), who were likely then to have been very
numerous in the city. If he arrived now at the time of the same festival,
the interval was precisely fourteen years.
* Gal. ii. I. Some make these fourteen years to include the three years
mentioned Gal. i. 18, but this interpretation does violence to the language
of the apostle. The system of chronology here adopted requires no such
forced expositions. Paul came to Jerusalem three years after his conversion,
that is, in A.D. 37 ; and fourteen years after, that is, in A.D. 51, he was at
this Synod.
' Acts ix. 26. * Acts xxi. 20. ° Acts xxi. 21. ° Acts xv. 5.
' Gal. i.i. 4. It is here taken for granted that the visit to Jerusalem men-
tioned in the second chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians, is the same
as that described in the fifteenth of Acts. Paul says that he went up
" by revelation " (Gal. ii. 2), — a statement from which it appears that he
was divinely instructed to adopt this method of settling the question.
74 THE COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM.
lowed by emissaries from the same bigoted and persevering
faction.* It is quite clear, then, that the finding of the meet-
ing, mentioned in the fifteenth chapter of the Acts, did not
please all the members of the church of the metropolis. The
apostle says expressly that he communicated " privately " on
the subject with "them which were of reputation," ' and in
the present state of feeling, especially in the headquarters of
Judaism, Paul recoiled from the discussion of a question of
such delicacy before a promiscuous congregation. The resolu-
tion now agreed upon, when subsequently mentioned, is set
forth as the act, not of the whole body of the disciples, but
of " the apostles and elders," ^ and as they were the arbiters to
whom the appeal was made, they were obviously the only
parties competent to pronounce a deliverance.
Two or three expressions of doubtful import, which occur
in connection with the history of the meeting, have induced
some to infer that all the members of the Church of Jerusalem
were consulted on this occasion. It is said that " all the
multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and
Paul "; ^ that it " pleased the apostles and elders with the
whole church to send chosen men of their own company to
Antioch ";' and, according to our current text, that the epistle
intrusted to the care of these commissioners, proceeded from
"the apostles and elders and brethren!"' But "the whole
church," and " all the multitude," merely signify the whole as-
sembly present, and do not necessarily imply even a very nu-
merous congregation.' Some at least of the "certain other"
deputies' sent with Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, were, we
may presume, disposed to doubt or dispute their views ; as it
is not probable that a distracted constituency consented to the
appointment of commissioners, all of whom were already com-
'Gal. ii. 12. »Gal. ii. 2. » Acts xvi. 4, xxi. 25.
* Acts XV. 12. ■* Acts XV. 22. • Acts XV. 23.
' The expression here used—" the jnultitude " (jh 7r?.;';yW)— is repeatedly
applied in the New Testament to the Sanhedrim, a court consisting of not
more than seventy-two members. See Luke xxii. i ; Acts xxiii. 7. There
were probably more individuals present at this meeting.
• Acts XV. 2.
THE COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM. 75 '
mitted to the same sentiments. When, therefore, the evan-
gehst reports that the proposal made by James " pleased the
apostles and elders with the whole Church^' he thus designs to
intimate that it met the universal approval of the meeting,
including the deputies on both sides. There were prophets
and others possessed of extraordinary endowments, in the
early Church,' and, as some of these were connected with Jeru-
salem," we can scarcely suppose that they were not permitted
to be present in this deiiberative assembly. If we adopt the re-
ceived reading of the superscription of the circular letter,'
the " brethren " who are there distinguished from " the
apostles and elders," were, in all likelihood, these gifted mem-
bers.^ But according to the testimony of by far the best and
most ancient manuscripts, the true reading of this encyclical
epistle is, " The apostles and elders^ bretJireu.^ As the Syrian
deputies were commissioned to consult, not the general body
* I Cor. xii. 28 ; Eph. iv. 11.
' In Acts xi. 27, we read of " prophets " who came " from Jerusalem unto
Antioch."
' Acts XV. 23. " The apostles, and elders, and brethren."
* The context may appear to be favorable to this interpretation, for the
two deputies now chosen — " Judas surnamed Barnabas, and Silas " — who
were " chief men among the brethren " (ver. 22), are likewise described as
"prophets also themselves " (ver. 32). In Acts xviii. 27, " the brethren "
appear to be distinguished from " the disciples."
* This reading, which is adopted by Mill in the Prolegomena to his New
Testament, as well as by Lachmann, Neander, Alford, and Tregelles, is
supported by the authority of the Codex Vaticanus, the Codex Alexandri-
nus, the Codex Ephrsemi, and the Codex Bezae. It is to be found in by far
the most valuable cursive MS. yet known. It is confirmed also by the early
testimony of Irenseus, and by the Latin of the Codex Bezae, a version more
ancient than the Vulgate, as well as by the Vulgate itself It is likewise
the original reading of the Codex Sinaiticus — the uncial MS. recently brought
to light by Dr. Tischendorf, and, as it would appear, the most ancient and
valuable in existence. Dr. Tischendorf informs me in a letter, dated Leip-
sic, 15th August, i860, that in this MS. a later hand has inserted naX ol
before u6EA(pol. The reading given above may now, therefore, be considered
as conclusively established. The reading in the texius receptics may be ac-
counted for by the growth of the doctrine of apostolical succession ; as,
when the hierarchy was in its glory, transcribers could not understand ho\V
the apostles and elders could be fellow-presbyters.
•^6 THE COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM.
of Christians at Jerusalem, but the apostles and elders, this
reading, now recognized as genuine by the highest critical au-
thorities, is sustained by the whole tenor of the narrative.
The same parties who " came together to consider of this
matter " also framed the decree. The apostles and elders,
brethren, were the only individuals officially concerned in this
important transaction.'
In this council the apostles acted, not as men oracularly
pronouncing the will of the Eternal, but as ordinary church
rulers, proceeding, after careful inquiry, to adopt the sugges-
tions of an enlightened judgment. One passage of the Syn-
odical epistle has been supposed to countenance a different
conclusion, for those assembled " to consider of this matter "
are represented as saying to the Syrian and Cilician Churches,
" // seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay upon you
no greater burden " ^ than the restrictions which are presently
enumerated. But it is to be observed that this is the lan-
guage of " the elders, brethren," as well as of the apostles, so
that it was used by many who made no pretensions to inspira-
tion ; and it is apparent from the context that the council
here merely reproduces an argument against the Judaizers
which had been always felt to be irresistible. The Gentiles
had received the Spirit " by the hearing of faith," ' and not by
the ordinance of circumscision ; and hence it was contended
that the Holy Ghost himself had decided the question. Peter,
therefore, says to the meeting held at Jerusalem, "God,
which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them
the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us ; and put no difference
between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now,
therefore, zvhy tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of
the disciples, which neither our fathers, nor we, were able to
bear?"* He had employed the same reasoning long before,
in defence of the baptism of Cornelius and his friends. "The
Ho'y Ghost," said he, " fell on them Forasmuch, then,
' It is worthy of note that Peter, fourteen or fifteen years afterward,
speaks in the style here indicated. Thus he says, " The ciders which are
among you, I exhort, who am also an elder " {avuKjnaii'vTfixx^ — (i IVt. v. i.)
" Acts XV. 28. ' Gal. iii. 2. * Acts xv. 8-io.
THE COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM. *]>]
as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed
on the Lord Jesus Q\\x\'~X, ivhat was I that I could tvitJistand
God? " ' When, then, the members of the council here de-
clared, " It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us," ' they
thus simply intimated that they were shut up to the arrange-
ment which they now announced — that God himself, by im-
parting His Spirit to those who had not received the rite of
circumcision, had already settled the controversy — and that,
as it had seemed good to the Holy Ghost not to impose the
ceremonial law upon the Gentiles, so it also seemed good to
" the apostles and elders, brethren."
But whilst the abundant outpouring of the Spirit on the
Gentiles demonstrated that they were sanctified and saved
without circumcision, and whilst the Most High had thus pro-
claimed their freedom from the yoke of the Jewish ritual, it
is plain that, in regard to this point, as well as other matters
noticed in the letter, the writers speak as the accredited inter-
preters of the will of Jehovah. They state that it seemed
good to the Holy Ghost and to them to require the converts
from paganism " to abstain from meats offered to idols, and
from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication." '
And yet, without any special revelation, they might have felt
themselves warranted to give such instructions in such lan-
guage, for surely they were at liberty to say that tjie Holy
Ghost had interdicted fornication; and, as the expounders of
the doctrine of Christian expediency,* their views may have
been so clear that they could speak with equal confidence as
to the duty of the disciples under present circumstances to
abstain from blood, and from things strangled, and from
meats offered to idols. If they possessed " the full assurance
of understanding " as to the course- to be pursued, they
deemed it right to signify to their correspondents that the
decision which they now promulgated was, not any arbitrary
or hasty deliverance, but the very *' mind of the Spirit "
* Acts xi. 15, 17.
"^ This style of speaking was used by councils in after-ages, and often in
cases when it was singularly inappropriate.
' Acts XV. 29. ^ See i Cor. x. 23, 31, 32.
78 THE COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM.
either expressly communicated in the Word, or deduced from
it by good and necessary inference. In this way they aimed
to reach the conscience, and they knew that they thus fur-
nished the most potential argument for submission.
It may at first sight appear strange that whilst the apostles,
and those who acted with them at this meeting, condemned
the doctrine of the Judaizers, and affirmed that circumcision
was not obligatory on the Gentiles, they, at the same time,
required the converts from paganism to observe a part of the
Hebrew ritual ; and it may seem quite as extraordinary that,
in a letter which was the fruit of so much deliberation, they
placed an immoral act, and a number of merely ceremonial
usages, in the same catalogue. But, on reflection, we may
recognize their tact and Christian prudence in these features
of their communication. Fornication was one of the crying
sins of Gentilism, and, except when it interfered with social
arrangements, the heathen did not even acknowledge its crim-
inality. When, therefore, the new converts were furnished
with the welcome intelligence that they were not obliged to
submit to the painful rite of circumcision, it was well, at the
same time, to remind them that there were lusts of the flesh
which they were bound to mortify ; and it was expedient that,
whilst a vice so prevalent as fornication should be specified,
they should be distinctly warned to beware of its pollutions.
For another reason they were directed to abstain from " meats
offered to idols." It often happened that what had been
presented at the shrine of a false god was afterward exposed
for sale, and the council cautioned the disciples against par-
taking of such food, as they might thus appear to give a
species of sanction to idolatry, as well as tempt weak brethren
to go a step further, and directly countenance the supersti-
tions of the heathen worship.' The meeting also instructed the
faithful in Syria and Cilicia to abstain from " blood and from
things strangled," because the Jewish converts had been ac-
' " Since the eating of such food, as Paul expressly teaches (i Cor. x. 19,
33), was not sinful in itself, and yet to be avoided out of tenderness to those
who thought it so, the abstinence here recommended must be understood in
the same manner." — Alexander on the Acts, ii. 84.
THE COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM. 79
customed from infancy to regard aliment of this description
with abhorrence, and they could scarcely be expected to sit at
meat with parties who partook of such dishes. Though the
use of them might be lawful, it was, at least for the present,
not expedient ; and on the principle that, whether we eat, or
drink, or whatever we do, we should do all to the glory of
God, the Gentile converts were admonished to remove them
from their tables, that no barrier might be raised against
social or ecclesiastical communion with their brethren of the
seed of Abraham.
It was high time for the authoritative settlement of a ques-
tion at once so perplexing and so delicate. It already threat-
ened to create a schism in the Church ; and the agitation,
which had commenced before the meeting of the council, was
not immediately quieted. When Peter visited Antioch shortly
afterward, he at first triumphed so far over his prejudices as
to sit at meat with the converts from paganism ; but when
certain sticklers for the law arrived from Jerusalem, " he with-
drew, and separated himself, fearing them which were of the
circumcision." ' The " decree " of the apostles and elders un-
doubtedly implied the lawfulness of eating with the Gentiles,
but it contained no express injunction on the subject, and
Peter, who was now about to " go unto the circumcision," *
and who was, therefore, most anxious to conciliate the Jews,
may have pleaded this technical objection in defence of his
inconsistency. It is said that others, from whom better things
might have been expected, followed his example, " insomuch
that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimula-
tion." ' But, on this critical occasion, Paul stood firm ; and
his bold and energetic remonstrances appear to have had the
efifect of preventing a division which must have been most
detrimental to the interests of infant Christianity.
' Gal. ii. 12. " Gal. ii. 9. ' Gal. ii. 13.
CHAPTER VI.
THE INTRODUCTION OF THE GOSPEL INTO EUROPE, AND
THE MINISTRY OF PAUL AT PHILIPPI.
After the Council of Jerusalem, the Gospel continued it?
prosperous career. When Paul had remained for some time
at Antioch, where he returned with the deputation, he set out
to visit the Churches of Syria and Cilicia ; and then travelled
through Lycaonia, Galatia, and some other portions of Asia
Minor. He was now directed, by a vision,' to pass over into
Greece; and about the spring of A.D. 52, or twenty-one years
after the crucifixion, Europe was entered, for the first time,
by the Apostle of the Gentiles. Paul commenced his minis-
try in this new sphere of labor by announcing the great salva-
tion to the inhabitants of Philippi, a city of Macedonia, and a
Roman colony.*
Nearly a century before, two powerful factions, contending
for the government of the Roman world, had converted this
district into a theatre of war; and two famous battles, which
issued in the overthrow of the Republic, had been fought in
the neighborhood. The victor had rewarded some of his
veterans by giving them possessions at Philippi. The Chris-
tian missionary entered, as it were, the suburbs of the great
metropolis of the West, when he made his appearance in this
military colony ; for, it had the same privileges as the towns
of Italy,' and its inhabitants enjoyed the status of Roman
' Acts xvi. 9. ' Acts xvi. 12.
* " The Jus Italicitm raised provincial land to the same state of immu-
nity from taxation which belonged to land in Italy." — Conybeare and
Howson, i. 302, note.
(80)
PAUL AT PHILIPPI. 8 1
citizens. Here he now originated a spiritual revolution which
eventually changed the face of Europe. The Jews had no
synagogue in Philippi ; but, in places such as this, where their
numbers were few, they were wont, on the Sabbath, to meet
for worship by the side of some river in which they could con-
veniently perform their ablutions ; and Paul accordingly re-
paired to the banks of the Gangitas,' where he expected to
find them assembled for devotional exercises. A small ora-
tory, or house of prayer, seems to have been erected on the
spot ; but the little society connected with it must have been
particularly apathetic, as the apostle found only a few females
in attendance. One of these was, however, the first-fruits of
his mission to the Western continent. Lydia, a native of
Thyatira, and a seller of purple, — a species of dye for which
her birthplace had acquired celebrity, — was the name of the
convert ; and though the Gospel may already have made some
progress in Rome, yet so far as direct historical testimony is
concerned, this woman has the best claim to be recognized as
the mother of European Christianity. It is said that she
" worshipped God," ' that is, though a Gentile, she had been
proselyted to the Jewish faith ; and the history of her conver-
sion is given by the evangelist with remarkable clearness and
simplicity. " The Lord opened her heart that she attended
unto the things that were spoken of Paul." ' When she and
her family were baptized, she entreated the missionaries to
" come into her house and abide there " during their sojourn
in the place ; and, after some hesitation, they accepted the
proffered hospitality.
Another female acts a conspicuous part in connection with
this apostolic visit. " It came to pass," says Luke, " as we
went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of div-
ination met us, which brought her masters much gain by
soothsaying : the same followed Paul and us, and cried, say-
ing. These men are the servants of the Most High God,
which show unto us the way of salvation. And this did she
many days." * Daemons may have the power of discerning
' Not the Strymon. See Conybeare and Howson, i. 316.
' Acts xvi. 14. ' Acts xvi. 14. ^ Acts xvi.i6-i8.
6
82. PAUL AT PHILIPPI.
certain classes of future events with the quickness of intui-
tion ;' and if, as the Scriptures testify, they have sometimes
entered into human bodies, we can well understand how the
individuals thus possessed have obtained credit for divination.
In this way the damsel mentioned by the evangelist may have
acquired her celebrity. We can not explain how disembodied
spirits maintain intercourse ; but it is certain that they pos-
sess means of mutual recognition, and that they can be im-
pressed by the presence of higher and holier intelligences.
And as the approach of a mighty conqueror spreads dismay
throughout the territory he invades, so when the Son of God
appeared on earth, the devils were troubled at His presence,
and, in the agony of their terror, proclaimed His dignity.^
Some influence of an analogous character operated on this
Pythoness. The arrival of the missionaries in Philippi alarmed
the powers of darkness, and the damsel, under the pressure of
an impulse which she found it impossible to resist, told their
commission. But neither the apostles, nor our Lord, cared
for credentials of such equivocal value. As this female fol-
lowed the strangers through the streets, and in a loud voice
announced their errand to the city, " Paul being grieved,
turned and said to the Spirit, I command thee, in the name
of Jesus Christ, to come out of her, and he came out the same
hour."*
The unbelieving Jews had hitherto been the great perse-
cutors of the Church ; but now, for the first time, the apostles
encountered opposition from another quarter ; and the expul-
sion of the spirit from the damsel evoked the hostility of this
new advcrssir)\ When the masters of the Pythoness " saw
that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and
Silas, and drew them into the market-place unto the rulers."*
We here discover one great cause of the sufferings afterward
' They may have perceptive powers of which we can form no conception,
and may thus discern the apjjroach of particular events as distinctly as we
can now calculate the ebb and flow of the tides, or the eclipses of the sun
and moon.
' Matt. viii. 28, 29; Mark i. 24, 25 ; Luke iv. 34, 35.
• Acts xvi. 18. * Acts xvi. 19.
PAUL AT PHILIPPI. 83
endured by the disciples of our Lord under the government of
the pagan emperors. The Jews were prompted by mere
bigotry to display hatred to the Gospel, but the Gentiles were
generally guided by the still more ignoble principle of selfish-
ness. Many of the heathen multitude cared little for their
idolatrous worship ; but all who depended for subsistence on
the prevalence of superstition, such as the image-makers, the
jugglers, the fortune-tellers, and a considerable number of the
priests,' were dismayed and driven to desperation by the prog-
ress of Christianity. They saw that, with its success, " the
hope of their gains was gone "; and, under pretence of zeal
for the public interest, and for the maintenance of the " law-
ful " ceremonies, they labored to intimidate and oppress the
adherents of the new doctrine.
The appearance of the missionaries at Philippi must have
created a profound sensation, as otherwise it is impossible to
account for the tumult which occurred. The " masters " of
the damsel possessed of the " spirit of divination," no doubt,
took the initiatory step in the movement ; but had not the
public mind been in some degree prepared for their appeals,
they could not have induced all classes of their fellow-citizens
so soon to join in the persecution. " The multitude rose up
together " at their call ; the duumviri, or magistrates, rent off
the clothes of the apostles with their own hands, and com-
manded them to be scourged ; the lictors " laid many stripes
upon them "; they were ordered to be kept in close confine-
ment ; and the jailer exceeded the exact letter of his instruc-
tions by thrusting them '' into the inner prison," and by mak-
ing " their feet fast in the stocks." ^ The power of Imperial
Rome arrayed itself against the preachers of the Gospel, and
distinctly gave note of warning of the approach of that long
night of affliction throughout which the Church was yet to
struggle.
If the proceedings of the missionaries, before their commit-
' In some parts of the empire magistrates and men of rank acted gratui-
tously, but a large portion of the priests subsisted on the emoluments of
office.
^ Acts xvi. 24.
84 PAUL AT PHILIPPI.
tal to prison, produced ^ ferment, it is clear that the circum-
stances attending their incarceration were not calculated to
abate the excitement. It soon appeared that they had sources
of enjoyment which no human authority could either destroy
or disturb ; for as they lay in the pitchy darkness of their
dungeon with their feet compressed in the stocks, their hearts
overflowed with divine comfort. " At midnight Paul and
Silas prayed, and sang praises imto God: and the prisoners
heard them." ' What was the wonder of the other inmates of
the jail, as these sounds fell upon their ears ! Instead of a cry
of distress issuing from " the inner prison," there was the
cheerful voice of thanksgiving ! The apostles rejoiced that
they were counted worthy to suffer in the service of Christ.
The King of the Church sympathized with His oppressed
saints, and speedily vouchsafed to them most wonderful
tokens of encouragement. Scarcely had they finished their
song of praise when it was answered by a very significant re-
sponse, proclaiming that they were supported by a power
which could crush the might of Rome. " Suddenly there was
a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were
shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and every
one's bands were loosed."
It is not improbable that the mind of the jailer had already
been ill at ease. He must have heard of the extraordinary
history of the damsel with the spirit of divination who an-
nounced that his prisoners were the servants of the Most High
God, and that they showed unto men the way of salvation.
Rumor had supplied him with some information in reference
to their doctrines ; and during even his short intercourse with
Paul and Silas in the jail, he may have been impressed by
much that he noticed in their spirit and deportment. But he
had meanwhile gone to rest, and he remained asleep until
roused by the noise and tremor of the earthquake. When he
awoke and saw " the prison doors open," he was in a paroxysm
of alarm ; and concluding that the prisoners had escaped, and
that he might expect to be punished capitally for neglect of
duty, he resolved to anticipate such a fate, and snatched his
' Acts xvi. 25. ' Acts xvi. 26.
PAUL AT PHILIPPI. 85
sword to commit suicide. At this moment, a voice issuing
from the dungeon where the missionaries were confined, dis-
pelled his fears as to the prisoners, and arrested him almost in
the very act of self-murder. " Paul cried with a loud voice,
saying. Do thyself no harm, for we are all here." ' These
words instantaneously directed the thoughts of the unhappy
man into another channel, and awakened feelings which had
hitherto been comparatively dormant. The conviction flashed
upon his conscience that the strangers whom he had so re-
cently thrust into the inner prison were no impostors ; that
they had, as they alleged, authority to treat of matters infi-
nitely more important than any of the passing interests of
time ; that they had, verily, a commission from Heaven to
teach the way of eternal salvation ; and that he and others,
who had taken part in their imprisonment, had acted most
iniquitously. For what could be more evident than that the
apostles were the servants of the Most High God ? When
everything around them was enveloped in the gloom of mid-
night, they were able to tell what was passing all over the
prison. How strange that, when the jailer was about to kill
himself, a voice should issue from a different apartment, say-
ing, " Do thyself no harm ! " How strange that the very man
whose feet, a few hours before, had been made fast in the
stocks, should be the giver of this friendly counsel ! And
how extraordinary that, during the very first night of his im-
prisonment, the bands of all the inmates were loosed, and that
the building was made to rock to its foundations ! Did not
the earthquake indicate that He, whom the apostles served,
was able to save and to destroy? When the jailer thought on
these things, well might he be paralyzed with fear, and be-
lieving that the apostles alone could tell him how to obtain
relief from the anxiety which oppressed his spirit, no wonder
that " he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling,
' Acts xvi. 28. " By a singular historical coincidence, this very city ot
Philippi, or its neighborhood, had been signaHzed within a hundred years,
not only by the great defeat of Brutus and Cassius, but by the suicide of
both, and by a sort of wholesale self-destruction on the part of their adher-
ents."— Alexander on the Acts, ii. 122, 123.
86 PAUL AT PHILIPPI.
and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out,
and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved ? " '
The missionaries were prepared with a decisive reply to this
earnest inquiry, and no doubt their answer took the jailer by
surprise. He expected to be called upon to do something,
either to propitiate the apostles themselves, or to turn away
the wrath of the God of the apostles. It is obvious, from the
spirit which he manifested, that, to obtain peace of conscience,
he was ready to go very far in the way of self-sacrifice — to
part with his property, or to imperil his life, or, perhaps, to
give " the fruit of his body for the sin of his soul." What,
then, was his astonishment when he found that the divine
mercy so far transcended anything he could have possibly an-
ticipated ! With what satisfaction did he listen to the assur-
ance that an atonement had already been made, and that the
sinner is safe as soon as he lays the hand of faith on the head
of the great Sacrifice ! What was his delight when informed
that unbelief alone could shut him out from heaven ; that the
Son of God had died, the just for the unjust ; and that this
almighty Saviour waited to be gracious to — himself ! How
must the words of the apostles have thrilled through his soul,
as he heard them repeating the invitation, " Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." '
The jailer joyfully accepted the proffered Deliverer; and
felt that, resting on this Rock of Salvation, he had peace.
Though well aware that, by openly embracing the Gospel, he
exposed himself to considerable danger, he did not shrink
from the position of a confessor. The love of Christ had ob-
tained full possession of his soul, and he was quite prepared to
suffer in the service of his Divine Master. He took Paul and
Silas " the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes,
and was baptized, he and all his, straightway ; and when he
had brought them into his house, he set meat before them,
and rejoiced, believing in God, with all his house." '
It is highly probable that the shock of the earthquake was
felt beyond the precincts of the jail, and that the events which
' Acts xvi. 29. 30. « Acts xvi. 31. » Acts xvi. 33, 34,
PAUL AT PHILIPPI. 87
had occurred there had soon been communicated to the city
authorities. We can thus best account for the fact that
" when it was day, the magistrates sent the sergeants, saying,
Let those men go." * As it is not stated that the apostles had
previously entered into any vindication of their conduct, it
has been thought singular that they declined to leave the
prison without receiving an apology for the violation of their
privileges as Roman citizens. But this matter presents no
real difficulty. The magistrates had yielded to the clamor of
an infuriated mob ; and, instead of giving Paul and Silas a fair
opportunity of defence or explanation, had summarily con-
signed them to the custody of the jailer. These functionaries
were now prepared to listen to remonstrance ; and Paul deemed
it due to himself, and to the interests of the Christian Church,
to complain of the illegal character of the proceedings from
which he had suffered. He had been punished, without a
trial ; and scourged, though a Roman citizen.^ Hence, when
informed that the duumviri had given orders for the liberation
of himself and his companion, the apostle exclaimed : '' They
have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have
cast us into prison, and now do they thrust us out privily ?
Nay, verily, but let them come themselves, and fetch us out." *
These words, which were immediately reported by the sergeants,
or lictors, inspired the magistrates with apprehension, and sug-
gested to them the expediency of conciliation. "And they
came " to the prison to the apostles, " and besought them, and
brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the
city." * The missionaries did not, however, leave Philippi
until they had another opportunity of meeting with their con-
verts. " They went out of the prison, and entered into the
house of Lydia, and when they had seen the brethren, they
comforted them and departed." ^
' Acts xvi. 35.
"^ Paul says that he was " free bom " (Acts xxii. 28). It was unlawful to
scourge a Roman citizen, or even, except in extraordinary cases, to im-
prison him without trial. He had also the privilege of appeal to the Em-
peror.
' Acts xvi, 37. * Acts xvi. 39. ^ Acts xvi. 40.
88 PAUL AT PHILIPPI.
On the whole, Paul and Silas had reason to thank God and
take courage, when they reviewed their progress in the first
European city which they visited. Though they had met
with much opposition, their ministry had been greatly blessed ;
and, in the end, the magistrates, who had treated them with
such severity, had felt it necessary to apologize. The extra-
ordinary circumstances accompanying their imprisonment had
made their case known to the whole body of the citizens, and
secured a degree of attention to their preaching which could
not have been otherwise expected. The Church, now estab-
lished at Philippi, contained a number of most generous mem-
bers, and Paul afterward gratefully acknowledged the assist-
ance he received from them. " Ye have well done," said
he, '' that ye did communicate with my afifliction. Now, ye
Philippians, know also, that in the beginning of the Gospel,
when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated
with me, as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.
For, even in Thessalonica, ye sent once and again unto my
necessity." '
' Phil. iv. 14-16.
CHAPTER VII.
THE MINISTRY OF PAUL IN THESSALONICA, BEREA, ATHENS,
AND CORINTH.
A.D. 52 TO A.D. 54.
After leaving Philippi, and passing through Amphipolis
and ApoUonia, Paul made his way to Thessalonica. In this
city there was a Jewish synagogue where he was permitted, for
three successive Sabbaths, to address the congregation. His
discourses produced a powerful impression ; as some of the
seed of Abraham believed, " and, of the devout Greeks, a great
multitude, and of the chief women, not a few."^ The unbe-
lieving Jews attempted to create annoyance by representing
the missionaries as acting " contrary to the decrees of Caesar,
saying, that there is another king, one Jesus 'V but though
they contrived to trouble " the rulers " ' and to " set all the city
in an uproar," they did not succeed in preventing the formation
of a flourishing Christian community. Paul appeared next in
Berea, and, when reporting his success here, the sacred his-
torian bears a remarkable testimony to the right of the laity
' Acts xvii. 4. ^ Acts xvii. 7.
' Acts xvii. 8, krapa^av — rovg Tzalaapxag. The name here given to the
magistrates {politarchs), does not occur in ancient literature ; but a Greek
inscription, on an arch still to be seen at this place, demonstrates the ac-
curacy of the sacred historian. This arch supplies evidence that it was
erected about the time when the Republic was passing into the Empire,
and that it was in existence when Paul preached there. It appears from it
that the magistrates of Thessalonica were called politarchs, and that they
were seven in number. What is almost equally striking is that three of the
names in the inscription are Sopater, Gaius, and Sccundus, the same as
those of three of Paul's friends in this district. Conybeare and Howson,
i. 360.
(89)
go PAUL AT ATHENS.
to judge for themselves as to the meaning of the Book of In-
spiration ; for he states that the Jews of this place " were more
noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word
with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily " '
to ascertain the truth of the apostolic doctrine. Paul was now
" sent to go as it were to the sea," and soon afterward arrived
at Athens.
The ancient capital of Attica had long been the literary
metropolis of heathendom. Its citizens could boast that they
were sprung from a race of heroes ; as their forefathers had
nobly struggled for freedom on many a bloody battle-field,
and, by prodigies of valor, had maintained their independence
against all the might of Persia. Minerva, the goddess of wis-
dom, was their tutelary deity. The Athenians, from time im-
memorial, had been noted for their intellectual elevation ; and
a brilliant array of poets, legislators, historians, philosophers,
and orators had crowned their community with immortal
fame. Every spot connected with their city was classic
ground. Here it was that Socrates had discoursed so sagely ;
that Plato had illustrated, with so much felicity and genius,
the precepts of his great master ; and that Demosthenes, by
addresses of unrivalled eloquence, had roused and agitated
the assemblies of his countrymen. As the stranger passed
through Athens, artistic productions of superior excellence
everywhere met his eye. Its statues, its public monuments,
and its temples were models alike of tasteful design and of
beautiful workmanship. But there may be much intellectual
culture where there is no spiritual enlightenment, and Athens,
though so far advanced in civilization and refinement, was one
of the high places of pagan superstition. Amidst the splendor
of its architectural decorations, as well as surrounded with
proofs of its scientific and literary eminence, the apostle
mourned over its religious destitution, and " his spirit was
stirred in him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry."'
On this new scene Paul exhibited his usual activity and
earnestness. " He disputed in the synagogue with the Jews,
■ Acts xvii. 1 1. " Acts xvii. i6.
PAUL AT ATHENS.
91
and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with
them that met with him."' The Christian preacher soon be-
came an object of no Httle curiosity. He was of diminutive
stature ; ' he labored under the disadvantages of imperfect vis-
ion ; ' and his Palestinian Greek sounded harshly in the ears
of those who were accustomed to speak their mother tongue
in its Attic purity. But, though his " bodily presence was
weak,"^ he speedily convinced those who came in contact with
him, that the frail earthly tabernacle was the habitation of a
master mind ; and though mere connoisseurs in idioms and
pronunciation might designate "his speech contemptible,"^
he riveted the attention of his hearers by the force and im-
pressiveness of his oratory. The presence of this extraordi-
nary stranger did not remain long unknown to the Athenian
literati ; but, when they entered into conversation with him,
some of them attempted to ridicule him as an idle talker,
whilst others were inclined to denounce him as a dangerous
innovator. " Certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of
the Stoics encountered him ; and some said. What will this
babbler say? other some. He seemeth to be a setter forth of
strange gods, because he preached unto them Jesus and the
resurrection." ° Upwards of four hundred years before, Soc-
rates had been condemned to death by the Athenians as " a
setter forth of strange gods,"' and perhaps some of these
philosophers hoped to intimidate the apostle by hinting that
he was open to the same indictment. But they could not have
seriously contemplated a prosecution, as they had themselves
no faith in the pagan mythology. They were quite ready to
employ their wit to turn the heathen worship into scorn ; and
yet they were unable to point out a "more excellent way" of
religious service. In Athens, philosophy had demonstrated its
utter impotence to do anything effective for the reformation
' Acts xvii. 17, * See Conybeare and Howson, i. 241.
^ See Alford on Acts xiii. 9, and xxiii. i. In a recent publication — Dr.
Brown's Horoe Siibsecivce, p. loi — the reader will find some exceedingly
ingenious observations on this subject.
* 2 Cor. x. 10. ' 2 Cor. x, 10. « Acts xvii. 18.
'' 'AdiKfiZ IiUKpuTTjg srepa 6e aaiva daijiovia dacpepuv. — Xefi. A/em. i, 1.
92 PAUL AT ATHENS.
of the popular theology ; and its professors had settled down
into the conviction that, as the current superstition exercised
an immense influence over the minds of the multitude, it was
inexpedient for wise men to withhold from it the tribute of
outward reverence. The discourses of Paul were very far from
complimentary to parties who valued themselves so highly on
their intellectual advancement ; for he quietly ignored all their
speculations as so much folly ; and, whilst he propounded his
own system with the utmost confidence, he supported it by
arguments which they were determined to reject, but unable
to overturn. It is clear that they were to some extent under
the influence of pique and irritation when they noticed his
deviations from the established faith, and applied to him the
epithet of "babbler"; but Paul was not the man to be put
down either by irony or insult ; and at length it was found
necessary to allow him a fair opportunity of explaining his
principles. It is accordingly stated that " they took him and
brought him unto Mars' Hill, saying, May we know what this
new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is, for thou bringest cer-
tain strange things to our ears? we would know, therefore,
what these things mean," '
The speech delivered by Paul on this memorable occasion
has been often admired for its tact, vigor, depth, and fidelity.
Whilst giving the Athenians full credit for their devotional
feeling, and avoiding any pointed and sarcastic attack on the
absurdities of their religious ritual, he contrives to present
such an outline of the prominent features of the Christian rev-
elation, as must have convinced any candid and intelligent au-
ditor of its incomparable superiority, as well to the doctrines
of the philosophers as to the fables of heathenism. In the
very commencement of his observations he displays no little
address. " Ye men of Athens," said he, " I perceive that in
every point of view ye are carrying your religious reverence
very far; for, as I passed by and observed the objects of your
worship. I found an altar with this inscription : To the un-
known God — whom, therefore, ye worship, though ye know
' Acts xvii. 19, 20, It is very evident that he was not arraigned before
the court of Areopagus, as our English translation indicates.
PAUL AT ATHENS. 93
him not, him declare I unto you." ' The existence in this
city of inscriptions, such as that here given, is attested by sev-
eral other ancient witnesses " as well as Paul ; and the altars
thus distinguished were erected when the place was afflicted
by certain strange and unprecedented calamities which the
deities, already recognized, were admitted to be unable to re-
move. The auditors of the apostle could not well be dissatis-
fied with the statement that they carried their " religious rev-
erence very far," and yet they were scarcely prepared for the
reference to this altar by which the observation was illustra-
ted ; for the inscription which he quoted contained a most
humiliating confession of their ignorance, and furnished him
with an excellent apology for proposing to act as their theo-
logical instructor.
His discourse, which treats of the Being and Attributes of
God, was well fitted to win the attention of the polite and in-
telligent Athenians. Its reasoning is plain, pertinent, and
powerful ; and, whilst adopting a didactic tone and avoiding
the language and spirit of controversy, the apostle in every
sentence comes into direct collision either with the errors of
polytheism or the dogmas of the Grecian philosophy. The
Stoics were Pantheists and held the doctrine of the eternity
of matter; ' the Epicureans maintained that the universe arose
out of a fortuitous concurrence of atoms ; " and, therefore,
Paul announced his opposition to both these sects when he
declared that " God made the world and all things therein." '
The Athenians boasted that they were of nobler descent than
the rest of their countrymen;" and the heathen generally be-
' Acts xvii. 22, 23. This translation obviously conveys the meaning of
the original more distinctly than our English version. See Alford, ii. 178;
and Conybeare and Howson, i. 406.
Mt is a curious fact that the impostor Apollonius, of Tyana, who was the
contemporary of the apostle, speaks of Athens as a place " where altars are
raised to the rcnknow7t Gods." " Life," by Philostratus, book vi., c. 3. See
also Pausanias, Attic, i. 4.
' See Cudworth's " Intellectual System," with Notes by Mosheim, i. 513,
III. Edition, London, 1845.
* See Mosheim's " Commentaries on the Affairs of the Christians before
Constantine," by Vidal, i. 42.
^ Acts xvii. 24. * See Alford on Acts xvii. 26.
94 PAUL AT ATHENS.
lieved that each nation belonged to a distinct stock and was
under the guardianship of its own pecuHar deities ; but the
apostle afifirmed that " God hath made of one blood all nations
of men to dwell on all the face of the earth." ' The Epicure-
ans asserted that the gods did not interfere in the concerns of
the human family, and that they were destitute of foreknowl-
edge; but Paul here assured them that the great Creator
" giveth to all life and breath and all things," and " hath de-
termined the times before appointed and the bounds of their
habitation."^ The heathen imagined that the gods inhabited
their images ; but, whilst Paul was ready to acknowledge the
excellence as works of art of the statues which he saw all
around him, he distinctly intimated that these dead pieces of
material mechanism could never even faintly represent the
glory of the invisible First Cause, and that they were unwor-
thy the homage of living and intellectual beings. " As we
are the offspring of God," said he, "we ought not to think
that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver or stone, graven
by art and man's device." ' After having thus borne testi-
mony to the spirituality of the I AM THAT I AM, and as-
serted His authority as the Maker and Preserver of the world,
Paul proceeded to point out His claims as its righteous Gov-
ernor. " He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath or-
dained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that
he hath raised him from the dead." '
The pleasure-loving Epicureans refused to believe in a fut-
ure state of rewards and punishments, and concurred with the
Stoics in denying the immortality of the soul.' Both these
parties were prepared to reject the doctrine of a general judg-
ment. The idea of the resurrection of the body was quite
novel to almost all classes of the Gentiles ; and, when at first
propounded to the Athenians, was received by many with
doubt and by some with ridicule. " When they heard of the
' Acts xvii. 26. '•' Acts xvii. 25, 26.
" Acts xvii. 29. * Acts xvii. 31.
' Cudworth, with Notes by Mosheim, ii. 120, and Mosheim's "Commen-
taries," by Vidal, i. 42.
PAUL AT CORINTH. 95
resurrection of the dead, some mocked and others said, We
will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from
among them." '
The frivolous spirit cherished by the citizens of the ancient
capital of Attica was exceedingly unfavorable to the progress
of the earnest faith of Christianity. " All the Athenians, and
strangers which were there, spent their time in nothing else
but either to tell or to hear some new thing." ° Though they
had acquired a world-wide reputation for literary culture, their
city continued for several centuries afterward to be one of the
strongholds of Gentile superstition. But the labors of Paul
were not entirely unproductive. " Certain men clave unto
him and believed, among the which was Dionysius the Areop-
agite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them." ^
The court of Areopagus, long the highest judicial tribunal in
the place, had not even yet 'entirely lost its celebrity ; and the
circumstance that Dionysius was connected with it is a proof
that this Christian convert was a respectable and influential
citizen. He occupied a very high place among the primitive
disciples, and the number of spurious writings ascribed to him*
show that his name was deemed a tower of strength to the
cause with which it was associated. He was long at the head
of the Athenian presbyteiy, and survived his conversion forty
years, or till the time of the Domitian persecution. ^
From Athens Paul directed his steps to Corinth, where he
arrived in the autumn of A.D. 52. Nearly two hundred years
before, this city had been completely destroyed ; but after a
century of desolation it had been rebuilt ; and, having since
rapidly increased, it was now flourishing and populous. As a
place of trade, its position near an isthmus of the same name
gave it immense advantages ; for it had a harbor on each side,
so that it was the central depot of the commerce of the East
and West. Its inhabitants valued themselves much on their
> Acts xvii. 32. ^ Acts xvii. 21. ' Acts xvii. 34.
* These writings, which made their appearance not earlier than the
fourth or fifth century, were held in great reputation, particularly by the
Mystics, in the Middle Ages.
' Burton's " Lectures," i. 183.
96 PAUL AT CORINTH.
attainments in philosophy and general literature ; but, whilst
by traffic they had succeeded in acquiring wealth, they had
given way to the temptations of luxury and licentiousness.
Corinth was at this time one of the most dissolute cities of
the Empire. It was the capital of the large province of
Achaia, and the residence of the Roman proconsul.
Paul, when at Athens, adapted his style of instruction to the
character of his auditors, and was thus obliged to occupy much
of his time in discussing the principles of natural religion. He
endeavored to gain over the citizens by showing them that
their views of the Godhead could not stand the test of a vig-
orous and discriminating logic, and that Christianity alone
rested on a sound philosophical foundation. But the exposi-
tion of a pure system of theism had comparatively little in-
fluence on the hearts and consciences of these system-builders.
Considering the time and skill devoted to its culture, Athens
had yielded less spiritual fruit than any field of labor on which
he had yet operated. When he arrived in Corinth, he re-
solved, therefore, to avoid, as much as possible, mere meta-
physical argumentation, and sought rather to stir up sinners
to flee from the wrath to come, by pressing home upon them
earnestly the peculiar doctrines of revelation. In the first
epistle, addressed subsequently to the Church established in
this place, he thus describes the spirit in which he conducted
his apostolical ministrations. "And I, brethren," says he,
" when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or
of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God, for I
determined not to know anything among you save Jesus
Christ aiid him crucified; and my speech and my preaching
was, not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demon-
stration of the Spirit and of power ; that your faith should
not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." *
The result demonstrated that the apostle thus pursued the
most effective mode of advancing the Christian cause. It
might, indeed, have been thought that Corinth was a very
ungenial soil for the Gospel, as Venus was the favorite deity
' I Cor. ii. I, 2, 4, 5.
PAUL AT CORINTH. 9/
of the place ; and a thousand priestesses, or, in other words,
a thousand prostitutes, were employed in the celebration of
her orgies.' The inhabitants generally were sunk in the very
depths of moral pollution. But the preaching of the Cross
produced a powerful impression even in this hotbed of in-
iquity. Notwithstanding the enmity of the Jews, who *' op-
posed themselves and blasphemed," ^ Paul succeeded in col-
lecting here a large and prosperous congregation. " Many
of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized." '
Most of the converts were in very humble circumstances, and
hence the apostle says to them in his first epistle, " Ye see
your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called "; * but
still a few persons of distinction united themselves to the
despised community. Erastus, the chamberlain, or treasurer,
of the city, was among the disciples.^ This civic functionary
may have joined the Church at a later date ; but, even now,
Paul was encouraged by the accession of some remarkable
converts. Of these the most conspicuous was Crispus, " the
chief ruler of the synagogue/' who, "with all his house," sub-
mitted to baptism." About the same time Gaius, an opulent
citizen, who rendered good service to the common cause by
his Christian hospitality,' openly embraced the Gospel. Two
other converts, who are often honorably mentioned in the
New Testament, were now likewise added to the infant
Church. These were Aquila and Priscilla.' Some have, in-
deed, maintained that this couple had been already baptized ;
but, on the arrival of Paul in Corinth, Aquila is represented
as a Jew'' — a designation not descriptive of his position had he
been previously a believer — and therefore the conversion of
himself and his excellent partner must have occurred at this
period.
' Strabo, lib. viii. vol. i., p. 549 ; Edit. Oxon. 1807.
^ Acts xviii. 6. ' Acts xviii. 8. ' i Cor. i. 26.
^ Rom. xvi. 23. This epistle was written from Corinth.
« Acts xviii. 8. ' i Cor. i. 14 ; Rom. xvi. 23.
" Acts xviii. 2, 26 ; Rom. xvi. 3 ; i Cor. xvi. 19 ; 2 Tim. iv. 19.
' Acts xviii. 2.
7
98 PAUL AT CORINTH.
In this city, as well as in many other places, the apostle
supported himself by the labor of his own hands. It was cus-
tomary, even for Israelites in easy circumstances, to train up
their children to some mechanical employment, so that should
they sink into penury, they could still, by manual industry,
procure a livelihood.' Paul had been taught the trade of a
tent-maker, or manufacturer of awnings of haircloth — articles
much used in the East as a protection against the rays of the
sun, by travellers and mariners. It was in connection with
this occupation that he became acquainted with Aquila and
Priscilla. " Because he was of the same craft, he abode with
them, and wrought.'"' The Jew and his wife had probably a
large manufactory, and thus could furnish the apostle with
remunerative employment. When under their roof, he did
not neglect the opportunities he enjoyed of presenting the
Gospel to their attention, and both soon became his ardent
and energetic coadjutors in missionary service.
The conduct of Paul in working with his own hands, when
engaged in the dissemination of the Gospel, is a noble exam-
ple of Christian self-denial. He could, it appears, expect lit-
tle assistance from the mother church of Antioch ; and had
he, in the first instance, demanded support from those to
whom he ministered, he exposed himself and his cause to the
utmost suspicion. In a commercial city, such as Corinth, he
would have been regarded by many as a mere adventurer who
had resorted to a new species of speculation in the hope of
obtaining a maintenance. His disinterested behavior placed
him at once beyond the reach of this imputation ; and his in-
tense love to Christ prepared him to make the sacrifice, which
the course he thus adopted required. And what a proof of
the humility of Paul that he cheerfully labored for his daily
bread at the trade of a tent-maker! The Rabbi once admired
for his genius and his learning by the most distinguished of
' " Rabbi Judah saith, ' He that teacheth not his son a trade, doth the
same as if he taught him to be a thief; and Rablian Gamaliel sTiith, ' He
that hath a trade in his hand, to what is he like ? He is like a vineyard
that is fenced.' "—See Alfordon Acts, xviii. 3.
" Acts xviii. 3.
PAUL AT CORINTH. 99
his countrymen — who had sat among the members of the
great Sanhedrim — and who might have legitimately aspired
to be the son-in-law of the High-Priest of Israel ' — was now
content to toil "night and day" at a menial occupation, sit-
ting among the workmen of Aquila and Priscilla ! How like
to Him who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became
poor, that we, through His poverty, might be rich !
Paul was well aware of the importance of Corinth as a cen-
tre of missionary influence. Strangers from the East passed
through it on their way to Rome, and travellers from the
Western metropolis stopped here on their way to Asia Minor,
Palestine, or Syria, so that it was one of the greatest thor-
oughfares in the Empire ; and, as a commercial mart, it was
second to very few cities in the world. The apostle therefore
saw that if a Church could be firmly planted in this busy cap-
ital, it would scatter the seeds of truth to all the ends of the
earth. " We may thus understand why he remained in Corinth
so much longer than in any other place he had yet visited
since his departure from Antioch. " He continued there a
year and six months, teaching the Word of God among them." ^
He was encouraged by a special communication from Heaven
to prosecute his labors with zeal and diligence. " The Lord
spake to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but
speak, and hold not thy peace : for I am with thee, and no
man shall set on thee to hurt thee, for I have much people in
this city." '
Though the ministry of the apostle was attended with such
remarkable success, his converts did not all continue to walk
worthy of their profession. But if in the Church of this flour-
ishing mercantile metropolis there were greater disorders than
in perhaps any other of the early Christian communities,' the
explanation is obvious. Even in a degenerate age Corinth
was notorious for its profligacy; and it would have been
indeed marvellous if ex^cesses had not been occasionally
committed by some of the members of a religious soci-
' Epiphanius, "Haer," xxx. 16. "^ Acts xviii. 11. ^ Acts xviii 9, 10
* See I Cor. i. 11, and xi, 20, 21 : and 2 Cor. xii. 21 : and xiii. 2.
100 PAUL AT CORINTH.
ety composed, to a considerable extent, of reclaimed lib-
ertines.'
The success of the Gospel in Corinth roused the unbelieving
Jews to opposition ; and here, as elsewhere, they endeavored
to avail themselves of the aid of the civil power ; but in this in-
stance, their appeal to the Roman magistrate was signally un-
successful. Gallio, brother of the celebrated Seneca, the phi-
losopher, was '' the deputy of Achaia "; ^ and when the bigoted
and incensed Israelites " made insurrection with one accord
against Paul, and brought him to the judgment-seat, saying,
This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the
law" ^ the proconsul turned a deaf ear to the accusation.
When the apostle was about to enter on his defence, Gallio in-
timated that such a proceeding was quite unnecessary, as the
affair did not come within the range of his jurisdiction. " If,"
said he, " it were a matter of wrong, or wicked lewdness, O ye
Jews, reason would that I should bear with you ; but if it
be a question of words and names and of your /aw, look ye to
it, for I will be no judge of such matters. And he drave them
from the judgment-seat."'' On this occasion, for the first time
since the arrival of Paul and his brethren in Europe, the mob
was on the side of the missionaries, and under the very eye of
the proconsul, and without any effort on his part to interfere
and arrest their violence, the most prominent of the plaintiffs
was somewhat roughly handled. " Then all the Greeks took
Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him be-
fore the judgment-seat. And Gallio cared for none of these
things." ^
When Paul was at Corinth, and probably in A.l). 53, he wrote
his two earliest letters; that is, the First and Second Epistles
to the Thessalonians. These communications were, therefore,
drawn up about twelve months after the original formation of
the religious community to which they are addressed. The
Thessalonian Church was already fully organized, as the apos-
tle here points out to the disciples their duties to those who
' See I Cor. vi. 9-1 1. ^ Acts xviii. 12. ^ Acts xviii. 13.
*Acts xviii. 14-16. 'Acts -wiii. 17.
PAUL AT CORINTH. lOI
labored among them and who were over them in the Lord.'
Sev^eral errors had gained currency ; and a letter, announc-
ing that the day of Christ was at hand, and purporting to have
been penned by Paul himself, had thrown the brethren into
great consternation.' The apostle accordingly deemed it nec-
essary to interpose, and to point out the dangerous character
of the doctrines which had been so industriously promulgated.
He now, too, delivered his famous prophecy announcing the
revelation of the " Man of Sin" before the second coming of
the Redeemer.' Almost all the members of the Thessalonian
Church were converted Gentiles," who were still but little ac-
quainted with the Jewish Scriptures ; and this is, perhaps, the
reason why there is no quotation from the Old Testament in
either of these letters. Even the Gospels were not yet written,
and hence Paul exhorts the brethren " to hold fast the tradi-
tions," or rather " ordinances," ' which they had been taught,
"whether by word or his epistle." °
' I Thess. V. 12, 13. '2 Thess. ii. 2. '2 Thess. ii. 3-12.
* I Thess. i. 9. ^ Taf Trapadoaeig.
*2 Thess. ii. 15. Paul is here speaking, not of what had been handed
down from preceding- generations, but of what had been established by his
own apostolic authority, so that the rendering "traditions " in our English
version is a peculiarly unhappy translation.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE CONVERSION OF APOLLOS, HIS CHARACTER, AND THE
MINISTRY OF PAUL IN EPHESUS.
A.D. 54 TO A.D. 57.
The apostle " took his leave " ' of the Corinthian brethren
in the spring of A.D. 54, and embarking at the port of Cenchrea,
about eight or nine miles distant, set sail for Ephesus. The
navigation among the islands of the Archipelago was some-
what intricate ; and the voyage not unfrequently occupied
from ten to fifteen days."* At Ephesus Paul "■ entered into the
synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.'" His statements
produced a favorable impression, and he was solicited to pro-
long his visit ; but as he was on his way to Jerusalem, and anx-
ious to be present at the approaching feast of Pentecost, he
could only assure them of his intention to return, and then bid
them farewell. He left behind him, however, in this great city
his two Corinthian converts, Aquila and Priscilla, who carried
on with industry and success the work which he had com-
menced so auspiciously. Among the first-fruits of their pious
care for the spread of Christianity was the famous Apolios, an
Alexandrian Jew, who now arrived in the metropolis of the
Proconsular Asia.
The seed of Abraham in the birthplace of Apolios spoke the
Greek language, and occupied a peculiar position. They were
free from some of the prejudices of the Jews in Palestine; and,
though living in the midst of a heathen population, had advan-
tages enjoyed by very few of their brethren scattered elsewhere
among the Gentiles. At Alexandria their sumptuous syna-
' Acts xviii. 18. "See Conybeare and Howson, i. 454. ' Acts xviii. 19
(102)
APOLLOS. 103
gogues were unequivocal evidences of their wealth ; they con-
stituted a large and influential section of the inhabitants ; they
had much political power; and, whilst their study of the Greek
philosophy had modified their habits of thought, they had ac-
quired a taste for the cultivation of eloquence and literature.
Apollos, the Jew, "born at Alexandria,'" who became ac-
quainted with Aquila and Priscilla, was an educated and accom-
plished man. He " was instructed in the way of the Lord, and
being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the
things of the Lord, knozving only the baptism of John y^ The
influence of the preaching of the Baptist is seen in this inci-
dental notice ; for though the forerunner of our Saviour had
finished his career a quarter of a century, the Alexandrian Jew
was only one of many still living witnesses to testify that he
had not ministered in vain. In this case John had indeed " pre-
pared the way " of his Master, as, under the tuition of Aquila
and Priscilla, Apollos was led without difficulty to embrace the
Christian doctrine. This pious couple " took him unto them,
and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly." ^
Priscilla was no less distinguished than her husband * for intel-
ligence and zeal ; and though she was prevented, as much by
her native modesty, as by the constitution of the Church,"
from officiating as a public instructor, she was " apt to teach ";
and there must have been something most interesting and im-
pressive in her private conversation. How remarkable that
one of the ablest preachers of the apostolic age was largely in-
debted to a female for his acquaintance with Christian theology !
The accession, at this juncture, of such a convert as Apollos
contributed greatly to advance the evangelical cause. The
Church of Corinth, in the absence of Paul, much required the
services of a minister of superior ability ; and the learned
Alexandrian was eminently qualified to promote its edification.
He was "an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures."'
After sojourning some time at Ephesus, it occurred to him
' Acts xviii. 24. 'Acts xviii. 25. ^ Acts xviii. 26.
* She is named before Aquila in Acts xviii. 18 ; Rom. xvi. 3 ; and 2 Tim.
iv. 19.
^ I Cor. xiv. 34, 35 ; i Tim. ii. 12. * Acts xviii. 24.
104 PAUL AT EPHESUS.
that he should have a more extensive sphere of usefuhiess at
Corinth ; and " when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the
brethren wrote exhorting the disciples to receive him." ' His
friends in Asia had formed no exaggerated idea of his gifts
and acquirements. When he reached the Greek capital, he
" helped them much which had believed through grace ; for
he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, showing
by the Scriptures that Jesus was Christ."'' His surpassing
rhetorical ability soon proved a snare to some of the hyper-
critical Corinthians and tempted them to institute invidious
comparison between him and their great apostle. Hence in
the first epistle addressed to them, the writer finds it neces
sary to rebuke them for their folly and fastidiousness.
*' While one saith I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos,
are ye," says he, " not carnal ? Who then is Paul, and who is
Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord
gave to every man ? I have planted, Apollos watered, but
God gave the increase." '
When Aquila and Priscilla were at Ephesus expounding
*'the way of God more perfectly" to the Jew of Alexandria,
Paul was travelling to Jerusalem. Three years before, he had
been there to confer with the apostles and elders concerning
the circumcision of the Gentiles ; and he had not since visited
the holy city. His present stay was short — apparently not
extending beyond a few days at the time of the feast of Pen-
tecost,— and giving him a very brief opportunity of inter-
course with his brethren of the Jewish capital. He then
" went down to Antioch " * — a place with which from the
commencement of his missionary career he had been more in-
timately associated. " After he had spent some time there,
he departed and went over all the country of Galatia and
Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples." " On a
former occasion, after he had passed through the same dis-
tricts, he had been " forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach
the word in (the Proconsular) Asia"; ' but, at this time, the
restriction was removed, and in accordance with the promise
' Acts xviii. 27. " Acts xviii. 27, 28. ' i Cor. iii. 4-5.
* Acts xviii. 22. ' Acts xviii. 23. ' Acts xvi. 6.
PAUL AT EPHESUS. 10$
made to the Jews at Ephesus in the preceding spring, he now-
resumed his evangelical labors in that far-famed metropolis.
There must have been a strong disposition on the part of
many of the seed of Abraham in the place to attend to his
instructions, as he was permitted " for the space of three
months'' to occupy the synagogue, '' disputing and persuading
the things concerning the kingdom of God." ' At length,
however, he began to meet with so much opposition that he
found it expedient to discontinue his addresses in the Jewish
meeting-house. " When divers were hardened and believed
not. but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he de-
parted from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily
in the school of one Tyrannus." "^ This Tyrannus was, prob-
ably, a Gentile convert, and a teacher of rhetoric — a depart-
ment of education very much cultivated at that period by all
youths anxious to attain social distinction. What is here
called his " school," was a spacious lecture-room sufficient to
accommodate a numerous auditory.
About this time the Epistle to the Galatians was written.
The Galatians, as their name indicated, were the descendants
of a colony of Gauls settled in Asia Minor several centuries
before; and, like the French of the present day, were distin-
guished by their lively and mercurial temperament. Paul had
recently visited their country for the second time,^ and had
been received by them with the warmest demonstrations of
regard ; but meanwhile Judaizing zealots had appeared among
them, and had been only too successful in their efforts to in-
duce them to observe the Mosaic ceremonies. The apostle,
at Antioch, and at the synod of Jerusalem, had already pro-
tested against these attempts ; and subsequent reflection had
only more thoroughly convinced him of their danger. Hence
he here addresses the Galatians in terms of unusual severity.
' Acts xix. 8. '•' Acts xix. 9.
' That this epistle was written after the second visit appears from Gal. iv.
13. Mr. Ellicott asserts that " the first time " is here the preferable transla-
tion of ro wpoTepov, and yet, rather inconsistently, adds, that " no historical
conclusions can safely be drawn from this expression alone." See his
"Critical and Grammatical Commentary on Galatians," iv. 13.
I06 PAUL AT EPHESUS.
" I mangel," he exclaims, " that ye are so soon removed from
him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gos-
pel " — " O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that ye
should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ
hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you ? " ' At
the same time he proves that the sinner is saved by faith
alone; that the Mosaic institutions- were designed merely for
the childhood of the Church ; and that the disciples of Jesus
should refuse to be " entangled " with any such " yoke of
bondage."* His epistle throughout is a most emphatic testi-
mony to the doctrine of a free justification.
Some time after Paul reached Ephesus, on his return from
Jerusalem, he made a short visit to Corinth.' He encoun.
tered a variety of dangers of which no record is to be found
in the Acts of the Apostles ; ' and it is probable that many of
these disasters were experienced at this period. Thus, not
long after this date, he says, " Thrice I suffered shipwreck, a
night and a day I have been in the deep." ^ There are good
grounds for believing that he now visited Crete, as well as
Corinth ; and that these voyages exposed him to the " perils
in the sea " which he enumerates among his trials." On his
departure from Crete he left Titus behind him to " set in
order the things that were wanting, and to ordain elders in
every city "; ' and in the spring of A.D. 57 he wrote to the
evangelist that brief epistle in which he points out, with so
much fidelity and wisdom, the duties of the pastoral office."
The silence of Luke respecting this visit to Crete is the less
remarkable, as the name of Titus does not once occur in the
' Gal. i. 6, iii. i. * Gal. ii. i6, iv. 1-4, v. i.
' I Cor. xvi. 7 ; 2 Cor. xii. 14, xiii. i.
* The Acts take no notice of various parts of his early career as a preacher.
Compare Acts ix. 20-26 with Gal. i. 17.
' 2 Cor. xi. 25. " 2 Cor. xi. 26. ' Titus i. 5.
* See Titus i. 6-1 1, ii. i, 7, 8, 15, iii. 8-1 1. The reasons assij,Mied in sup-
port of a later date for the writing of this epistle arc not at all satisfactory.
Paul directs the evanj,'elist (Titus iii. 12) to come to him to Nicopolis, for
he had "determined there to winter." This Nicopolis was in Greece, in
the province of Achaia, and we know that Paul wintered there A.D. 57-
58, Acts XX. 2, 3. Sec Schaff's " Apostolic Church," i. 390.
PAUL AT EPHESUS. I07
book of the Acts, though there is distinct evidence that he
was deeply interested in some of the most important transac-
tions which are there narrated.'
Paul, two years before, had been prevented, as has "been
stated, by a divine intimation, from preaching in the district
called Asia ; but when he now commenced his ministra-
tions in Ephesus, its capital, he continued in that city and
its neighborhood longer than in any other place he had yet
visited. After withdrawing from the synagogue and resum-
ing his labors in the school of Tyrannus, he remained there
" by the space of tivo years ; so that all they which dwelt
in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and
Greeks." ' Meanwhile the churches of Laodicea, Colosse, and
Hierapolis were founded.' The importance of Ephesus gave
it a special claim to the attention it now received. Being the
metropolis of the district, and the greatest commercial city in
the whole of Asia Minor, it was connected by convenient
roads with all parts of the interior, and visited by trading ves-
sels from the various harbors of the Mediterranean. But, in
another point of view, it presented a peculiarly interesting
field of missionary labor; for it was, perhaps, the most cele-
brated of all the high places of Eastern superstition. Its
temple of Artemis, or Diana, was one of the wonders of the
world. This gorgeous structure, covering an area of upwards
of two acres,* was ornamented with columns, one hundred and
twenty-seven in number, each sixty feet high, and each the gift
of a king.' Though nearly all open to the sky, part of it was
covered and roofed with cedar. The image of the goddess oc-
cupied a comparatively small apartment within the magnifi-
cent enclosure. This image, said to have fallen down from
Jupiter," was not like one of those pieces of beautiful sculpture
' 2 Cor. ii. 13, vii. 6, 13, viii. 6, 16, 23, xii. 18 ; Gal. ii. i, 3.
"^ Acts xix. 10.
"See Col. iv. 13, 15, 16. These churches were not, however, founded by
Paul. See Col. ii. i.
* " This was the largest of the Greek temples. The area of the Parthenon
at Athens was 7toi one-fourth of that of the temple of Ephesus." — SmitJis
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, Art. Ephesus.
^ Conybeare and Howson, ii. 72. ' Acts xix. 35.
I08 PAUL AT EPHESUS.
which adorned the Acropolis of Athens, but rather resembled
an Indian idol, being an unsightly female form with many
breasts, made of wood, and terminating below in a shapeless
block:' On several parts of it were engraved mysterious sym-
bols, called " Ephesian letters." ^ These letters, when pro-
noimced, were believed to operate as charms, and, when writ-
ten, were carried about as amulets. To those who sought an
acquaintance with the Ephesian magic, they constituted an
elaborate study, and many books were composed to expound
their significance, and point out their application.
About this time the famous Apollonius of Tyana^ was at-
tracting uncommon attention by his tricks as a conjuror, and
it is not improbable that he now met Paul in Ephesus. If so,
we can assign at least one reason why the apostle was prevent-
ed from making his appearance at an earlier date in the Asiat-
ic metropolis. Men had thus an opportunity of comparing
the wonders of the greatest of magicians with the miracles of
the Gospel, and of marking the contrast between the vainglory
of an impostor, and the humility of a servant of Jesus. The
attentive reader of Scripture may observe that some of the
most extraordinary of the mighty works recorded in the New
Testament were performed at this period, and it is not un-
reasonable to conclude that, in a city so much given to jug-
glery and superstition, these genuine displays of the power of
Omnipotence were exhibited for the express purpose of dem-
onstrating the incomparable superiority of the Author of
Christianity. " God wrought special miracles by the hands of
Paul, so that from his body were brought unto the sick hand-
kerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and
the evil spirits went out of them." * The disastrous conse-
quences of an attempt, on the part of the sons of a Jewish
' Conybeare and Howson, ii. 73. Minucius Felix, in his Octavius, speaks
of Diana as represented " at Ephesus with many distended breasts ranged
in tiers."
"Conybeare and Howson, ii. 13.
^His Life, written by Philostratus about A.D. 210, is full of lying wonders.
His biographer mentions his visit to Ephesus, book iv. I.
* Acts xix. II, 12.
PAUL AT EPHESUS.
109
priest, to heal the afflicted by using the name of the Lord
Jesus as a charm, alarmed the entire tribe of exorcists and
magicians. " The man, in whom the evil spirit was, leaped
on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so
that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this
was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephe-
sus, 3.nd fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus
was magnified." ' The visit of Paul told upon the whole pop-
ulation, and tended greatly to discourage the study of the
" Ephesian letters." " Many of them also, which used curious
arts, brought their books together and burned them before all
men ; and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty
thousand pieces of silver.^ So mightily grew the word of God
and prevailed." ^
Some time before the departure of Paul from Ephesus, he
wrote the First Epistle to the Corinthians. The latter con-
tains internal evidence that it was dictated in the spring of
A.D. 57.' The circumstances of the Corinthian disciples at this
juncture imperatively required the interference of the apostle.
Divisions had sprung up in their community f the flagrant
conduct of one member had brought dishonor on the whole
Christian name ;" and various forms of error had been making
their appearance.' Paul therefore felt it right to address to
them a lengthened and energetic remonstrance. This letter is
more diversified in its contents than any of his other epistles ;
and presents us with a very interesting view of the daily life of
the primitive Christians in a great commercial city. It fur-
^ Acts xix. 16, 17.
^ The piece of silver here mentioned was worth about tenpence, s» that
the estimated value of the books burned was nearly $10,000.
^ Acts xix. 19, 20.
* It was written not long before Paul left Ephesus, and probably about
the time of the Passover, i Cor. v. 7, xvi. 5-8.
^ I Cor. i. T I . " I Cor. v. i .
^ I Cor. XV. 12. This passage supplies evidence that errorists very soon
made their appearance in the Christian Church, and furnishes an answer to
those chronologists who date all the Pastoral Epistles after Paul's release
from his first imprisonment, on the ground that the Gnostics had no exist-
ence at an earlier period.
no PAUL AT EPHESUS.
nishes conclusive evidence that the Apostolic Church of Corinth
was — not the paragon of excellence which the ardent and un-
reflecting have often pictured in their imaginations — but a
community compassed with infirmities, and certainly not ele-
vated, in point of spiritual worth, above some of the more
healthy Christian congregations of the nineteenth century.
Shortly after this letter was transmitted to its destination,
Ephesus was thrown into a ferment by the riotous proceedings
of certain parties who had an interest in the maintenance of
the pagan superstition. Among those who derived a subsist-
ence from the idolatry of its celebrated temple were a class of
workmen Avho "made silver shrines for Diana/" that is, who
manufactured little models of the sanctuary and of the image
which it contained. These models were carried about by the
devotees of the goddess in processions, and set up, in private
dwellings, as household deities.'' The impression produced by
the Christian missionaries in the Asiatic metropolis had affect-
ed the traffic in such articles, and those who were engaged in
it began to apprehend that their trade would be ultimately
ruined. An individual, named Demetrius, who appears to
have been a master-manufacturer, did not find it difficult, un-
der these circumstances, to collect a mob, and to disturb the
peace of the city. Calling together the operatives of his own
establishment, " with the workmen of like occupation," ' he said
to them, " Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our
wealth. Moreover, ye see and know that not alone at Ephe-
sus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded
and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods
which are made with hands — so that not only this our craft is
in danger to be set at nought, but also that the temple of the
great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence
should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship-
peth." * This address did not fail to produce the effect con-
templated. A strong current of indignation was turned against
the missionaries, and the craftsmen, with shouts of uproar,
supported the credit of their tutelary guardian. They were
' Acts xix. 24. ^ Conybeare and Hovvson, ii. 74.
' Acts xix, 25. ♦ Acts. xix. 25-27.
PAUL AT EPHESUS. Ill
" full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the
Ephesians." ' This proceeding took place in the month of
May, and at a time when public games were celebrated in
honor of the Ephesian goddess,^ so that a large concourse of
strangers now thronged the metropolis. An immense crowd
rapidly collected ; the whole city was filled with confusion ;
and the lives of the Christian preachers were in danger ; for
the mob caught " Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia,
Paul's companions in travel," and " rushed with one accord into
the theatre." ^ This edifice, the largest of the kind in Asia
Minor, was capable of containing thirty thousand persons.*
As it was sufificiently capacious to accommodate the multitudi-
nous assemblage, and the building in which public meetings of
the citizens were usually convened, it was now quickly occu-
pied. Paul was at first prompted to enter it, and to plead his
cause before the excited throng ; but some of the magistrates,
or, as they are called by the evangelist, " certain of the chief of
Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that
he would not adventure himself " in such a position. * These
Asiarchs were persons of exalted rank who presided at the
celebration of the public spectacles. The apostle was in very
humble circumstances, for even in Ephesus he continued to
work at the occupation of a tent-maker ; * and it is no mean
testimony to his worth that he had secured the esteem of such
high functionaries. It was quickly manifest that any attempt
to appease the crowd must be in vain. A Jew, named Alex-
ander, who seems to have been one of the craftsmen, and, per-
haps, the same who is elsewhere distinguished as the " copper-
' Acts xix. 28.
* See Conybeare and Howson, ii. 79-81. ' Acts xix. 29.
* See Hackett's "Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles," p. 273.
^ Acts xix. 31.
« Acts XX. 34. The Asiarchs " derived their title from the name of the
province, as the corresponding officers in Cyprus, Syria, and Lydia, were
called Cypriarchs, Syriarchs, Lydiarchs. Those of Asia are said to have
been ten in number As the games and sacrifices over which these
Asiarchs presided, were provided at their own expense, they were always
chosen from the richest class, and may be said to represent the highest rank
of the comvc\\xn\\-^ ." —Alexander on the Acts, ii. 210.
112 PAUL AT EPHESUS.
smith," ' made an effort to address them, probably with the view
of showing that his co-religionists were not identified with
Paul ; but when the mob perceived that he was of the seed of
Abraham, they took it for granted that he was no friend to
the manufacture of their silver shrines ; and his appearance
was the signal for increased uproar. " When they knew that he
was a Jew, all with one voice, about tJte space of two hours,
cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.'" At length the
town-clerk, or recorder, of Ephesus, contrived to obtain a
hearing ; and, by his prudence and address, succeeded in put-
ting an end to this scene of confusion. He told his fellow-
townsmen that, if Paul and his companions had transgressed
the law, they were amenable to punishment ; but that, as their
own attachment to the worship of Diana could not be dispu-
ted, their present tumultuary proceedings only injured their
reputation as orderly and loyal citizens. " We are in danger,"
said he, " to be called in question for this day's uproar, there
being no cause whereby we may give an account of this con-
course." ^ The authority of the speaker imparted additional
weight to his suggestions, the multitude quietly dispersed,
and the missionaries escaped unscathed.
Even this tumult supplies evidence that the Christian
preachers had already produced an immense impression in the
Asiatic metropolis. No more decisive test of their success
could be adduced than that here furnished by Demetrius and
his craftsmen ; for a lucrative trade connected with the estab-
lished superstition was beginning to languish. The silver-
smiths, and other interested operatives, were obviously the
instigators of all the uproar; and yet they could not reckon
upon the undivided sympathy even of the crowd they had
congregated. " Some cried one thing, and some another, for
the assembly was confused, and the more part knew not where-
' 2 Tim. iv. 14.
' Acts xix. 34. According to the ideas of the heathen, this unintermitted
cry was, in itself, an act of worship ; and hence we may understand why it
was so long continued, but it is surely a notable example of " vain repeti-
tions." See Hackett, p. 275.
^ Acts xix. 40.
PAUL AT EPHESUS.
113
fore they were come together." ' A number of the Asiarchs
were decidedly favorable to the apostle and his brethren ; and
when the town-clerk referred to their proceedings his tone was
apologetic and exculpatory. '* Ye have," said he, " brought
hither these men who are neither profaners of temples,^ nor
yet blasphemers of your goddess." ^ But here we see the
real cause of much of that bitter persecution which the
Christians endured for the greater part of three centuries.
The craft of the image-makers was in danger; the income of
the pagan priests was at stake ; the secular interests of many
other parties were more or less affected ; and hence the new
religion encountered such a cruel and obstinate opposition.
' Acts xix. 32.
2 Our English version, " robbers of churches," is obviously incorrect. The
Revised version of the New Testament reads, " robbers of temples."
* Acts xix. 2)7 • It is plain from this passage that the apostle, when refer-
ring to the Gentile worship, avoided the use of language calculated to give
unnecessary offence.
CHAPTER IX.
PAUL'S EPISTLES; HIS COLLECTION FOR THE POOR SAINTS
AT JERUSALEM ; HIS IMPRISONMENT THERE
AND AT C^SAREA AND ROME.
A.D. 57 to A.D. 63.
Paul had determined to leave Ephesus at Pentecost/ and
as the secular games, at which the Asiarchs presided, took
place during the month of May, the disorderly proceedings
of Demetrius and the craftsmen, which occurred at the same
period, did not greatly accelerate his removal. Soon after-
ward, however, he " called unto him the disciples, and em-
braced them, and departed to go into Macedonia." ' When he
reached that district, he was induced to enter on new scenes
of missionary enterprise ; and now, " round about unto Illyri-
cum," he " fully preached the Gospel of Christ." ' Shortly
before, Timothy had returned from Greece to Ephesus,' and
when the apostle took leave of his friends in that metropolis,
he left the evangelist behind him to protect the infant Church
against the seductions of false teachers.'' He now addressed the
first epistle to his " own son in the faith," * and thus also sup-
plied to the ministers of all succeeding generations the most
precious instructions on pastoral theology.' Soon afterward
' I Cor. xvi. 8. ^ Acts xx. i. ° Rom. xv. 19.
' See Acts xix. 22. ° i Tim. i. 3. " i Tim. i. 2.
' According to the chronology adopted in our English Bible, all the Pas-
toral Epistles were written after Paul's release from his first imprisonment,
and this theory has recently been strenuously advocated by Conybeare and
Howson, Alford, and Ellicott ; but their reasonings are exceedingly unsatis-
factory. For, I. The statement of Conybeare and Howson that " the three
(114)
PAUL'S EPISTLES. II5
he wrote the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. This letter
throws much light on the private character of Paul, and en-
ables us to understand how he contrived to maintain such a
firm hold on the affections of those among whom he minis-
tered. Though he uniformly acted with great decision, he
was singularly amiable and gentle, as well as generous and
warm-hearted. No one could doubt his sincerity ; no one
could question his disinterestedness ; no one could fairly com-
plain that he was harsh or unkind. In his First Epistle to
the Corinthians he had been obliged to employ strong language
when rebuking them for their irregularities; but now they ex-
hibited evidences of repentance, and he is most willing to
forget and forgive. In his Second Epistle to them he enters
into many details of his personal history unnoticed elsewhere
in the New Testament,' and throughout displays a most loving
and conciliatory spirit. He states that, when he dictated his
former letter, it was far from his intention to wound their
epistles were nearly contemporaneous with each other " is a mere assertion
resting on no solid foundation ; as resemblance in style, especially when all
the letters were dictated by the same individual, can be no evidence as to
date. n. There is direct evidence that heresies, such as those described in
these epistles, existed in the Church long before Paul's first imprisonment.
See I Cor. iii. 18, 19, xv. 12 ; 2 Cor. xi. 4, 13-15, 22, compared with i Tim_
i. 3, 7. in. The early Churches were very soon organized, as appears from
Acts xiv. 23 ; I Thess. v. 12, 13 ; so that the state of ecclesiastical organi-
zation described in the First Epistle to Timothy and the Epistle to Titus is
no proof of the late date of these letters. IV. But the grand argument in
support of the early date, and one with which the advocates of the later
chronology have never fairly grappled, is derived from the fact that Paul
never was in Ephesus after the time mentioned in Acts xx. When he wrote
to Timothy he intended shortly to return thither. See i Tim. i. 3, iii. 14,
15. It is evident that when the apostle addressed the elders of Ephesus
(Acts XX. 25) and told them they should "see his face no more," he con-
sidered himself as speaking prophetically. It is clear, too, that his words
were so understood by his auditors (Acts xx. 38), and that the evangelist
who wrote them down several years afterward was still under the same
impression. I agree, therefore, with Wieseler, and others, in assigning an
early date to the First Epistle to Timothy and the Epistle to Titus.
1 2 Cor. xi. 9, 24-28, 32, 33, xii. 2, 7-9. The Second Epistle to the Co-
rinthians was written late in a.d. 57.
Il6 PAUL'S EPISTLES.
feelings, and that it was with the utmost pain he had sent
them such a communication. " Out of much affliction, and
anguish of heart,'' said he, " I wrote unto you tinth many tears,
not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the
love which I have more abundantly unto you." ' The Corin-
thians could not have well resented an advice from such a
correspondent.
When Paul had itinerated throughout Macedonia and Illy-
ricum " he came into Greece,* and there abode three months." '
He now visited Corinth for the third time; and, during his
stay in that city, dictated the Epistle to the Romans.'' At
this date, a Church " spoken of throughout the whole world " '
had been formed in the great metropolis ; some of its mem-
bers were the relatives of the apostle ;° and others, such as
Priscilla and Aquila,' had been converted under his ministry.
As he himself contemplated an early visit to the far-famed
city,^ he sent this letter before him, to announce his intentions,
and to supply the place of his personal instructions. The
Epistle to the Romans is a precious epitome of Christian
theology. It is more systematic in its structure than any
other of the writings of Paul ; and being a very lucid expo-
sition of the leading truths taught by the inspired heralds of
the Gospel, it remains an emphatic testimony to the doctrinal
defections of the religious community now bearing the name
of the Church to which it was originally addressed.
The apostle had been recently making arrangements for
another visit to Jerusalem ; and he accordingly left Greece
in the spring of A.D. 58 ; but the malignity of his enemies
obliged him to change his plan of travelling. " When the
Jews laid wait for him as he was about to sail " from Cen-
chrea, the port of Corinth, " into Syria," he found it expedi-
ent "to return through Macedonia."' Proceeding, therefore,
to Philippi,'" the city in which he had commenced his Euro-
' 2 Cor. ii. 4. ' ur rr]v 'Y.'k'kMa, i.e., Achaia.
' Acts XX. 2, 3. * Rom. xvi. i, 2, 23.
' Rom. i. 8. " Rom. xvi. 7, 1 1.
' Rom. xvi. 3. ' Acts xix. 21 ; Rom, i. 10, 11, xv. 23, 24.
• Ads XX. 3. '" Acts XX. 6,
PAULS JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM. 11/
pean ministry, he passed over to Troas ; ' and then continued
his journey along the coast of Asia Minor. On his arrival at
Miletus " he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the
Church ; and when they were come to him " he delivered to
them a very pathetic pastoral address, and bade them farewell.'
At the conclusion, " he kneeled down and prayed with them
all, and they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed
him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake
that they should see his face no more : and they accom-
panied him unto the ship." ^ He now pursued his course to
Jerusalem, and after various delays, arrived at Caesarea.
There, says Luke, " we entered into the house of Philip, the
evangelist, which was one of the seven, and abode with him."*
In Caesarea, as in other cities through which he had already
passed, he was told that bonds and af^ictions awaited him in
the place of his destination ;' but he was not thus deterred
from pursuing his journey. " When he would not be per-
suaded," says the sacred historian, " we ceased, saying. The
will of the Lord be done, and after those days, having packed
up, ° we went up to Jerusalem." ' The apostle and his com-
panions reached the holy city about the time of the feast of
Pentecost.
Paul was well aware that there were not a few, even among
the Christians of Palestine, by whom he was regarded with
jealousy or dislike ; and he had reason to believe that the
agitation for the observance of the ceremonial law, which had
disturbed the Churches of Galatia, had been promoted by the
zealots of the Hebrew metropolis. But he had a strong at-
tachment to the land of his fathers ; and he felt deeply inter-
ested in the well-being of his brethren in Judea. They were
generally in indigent circumstances ; for, after the crucifixion,
' Acts XX. 6. ' Acts XX. 17-35. ^ Acts xx. 36-38.
* Acts xxi. 8. '' Acts xx. 23, xxi. 10, 11.
^ kTriGKEvaaafiEvoi. — the reading adopted by Lachmann and others. The
word " carriages " used in the authorized version for baggage or luggage, is
now unintelligible to the English reader. The word " carriage " is also
used in our translation in Judges xviii. 21, and I Sam. xvii. 22, for something
to be carried. ' Acts xxi. 15.
Il3 THE COLLECTION FOR THE POOR SAINTS.
when the Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost, those
of them who had property " sold their possessions and goods,
and parted them to all men, as every man had need "; ' and,
ever since, they had been harassed and persecuted by their
unbelieving countrymen. *' The poor saints " in Jerusalem *
had, therefore, peculiar claims on the kind consideration of
the disciples in other lands ; and Paul had been making col-
lections for their benefit among their richer co-religionists in
Greece and Asia Minor. A considerable sum had been thus
provided ; and that there might be no misgivings as to its
right appropriation, individuals chosen by the contributors
had been appointed to travel with the apostle, and to convey
it to Jerusalem.' The number of the deputies was seven,
namely, " Sopater of Berea ; and of the Thessalonians, Aris-
tarchus and Secundus ; and Gains of Derbe, and Timotheus ;
and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus." ^ The apostle knew
that he had enemies waiting for his halting ; and as they
would willingly have seized on any apology for accusing him
of tampering with this collection, he deemed it prudent to put
it into other hands, and thus place himself above challenge.
But he had a farther reason for suggesting the appointment
of these commissioners. He was desirous to present before
his brethren in Judea a specimen of the men who constituted
" the first-fruits of the Gentiles "; and as all the deputies se-
lected to accompany him to Jerusalem were persons of an
excellent spirit, he reckoned that their wise and winning
behavior would do much to disarm the hostility of those who
had hitherto contended so strenuously for the observance of
the Mosaic ceremonies. Solomon has said that " a man's gift
makcth room for him "; ' and if Gentile converts could ever
expect a welcome reception from those who were zealous for
the law, it was surely when they appeared as the bearers of
the liberality of the Gentile Churches.
When the apostle and his companions reached the Jewish
capital, " the brethren received them gladly." " Paul was,
' Acts ii. 45. " Rom. xv. 26. ' i Cor. x.i. 3 ; 2 Cor. viii. 19.
* Acts XX. 4. ' Prov. xviii. 16. " Acts xxi. 17.
PAUL AT JERUSALEM. II9
however, given to understand that, as he was charged with
encouraging the neglect of the Mosaic ceremonies, he must be
prepared to meet a large amount of prejudice ; and he was
accordingly recommended to endeavor to pacify the multitude
by giving some public proof that he himself " walked orderly
and kept the law." ' Acting on this advice, he joined with
four men who had on them a Nazaritic vow ; ^ and, " purifying
himself with them, entered into the temple." ^ When there,
he was observed by certain Jews from Asia Minor, who had
become acquainted with his personal appearance during his
residence in Ephesus ; and as they had before seen him in the
city with Trophimus, one of the seven deputies and a convert
from paganism, whom they also knew,* they immediately con.
eluded that he had now some Gentile companions along with
him, and that he was encouraging the uncircumcised to pollute
with their presence the sacred court of the Israelites. A tu-
mult forthwith ensued ; the report of the defilement of the
holy place quickly circulated through the crowd ; " all the city
was moved ";' the people ran together ; and Paul was seized
and dragged out of the temple.* The apostle would have
fallen a victim to popular fury had it not been for the prompt
interference of the officer who had the command of the Roman
garrison in the tower of Antonia. This stronghold overlooked
the courts of the sanctuary ; and, some of the sentinels on duty
' Acts xxi. 24.
* *' It was customary among the Jews for those who had received deliv-
erance from any great peril, or who from other causes desired publicly to
testify their dedication to God, to take upon themselves the vow of a Naz-
arite No rule is laid down (Numb, vi.) as to the time during which
this life of ascetic rigor was to continue ; but we learn from the Talmud
and Josephus that thirty days was at least a customary period. During
this time the Nazarite was bound to abstain from wine, and to suffer his
hair to grow uncut. At the termination of the period, he was bound to
present himself in the temple, with certain offerings, and his hair was tiien
cut off and burnt lapon the altar. The offerings required were beyond the
means of the very poor, and consequently it was thought an act of piety for
a rich man to pay the necessary expenses, and thus enable his poorer coun-
trymen to complete their vow." — Conybeare and Hmvson, ii. 250, 251.
^ Acts xxi. 26. ^ Acts xxi. 29. ^ Acts xxi. 30. * Acts xxi. 30.
120 PAUL AT JERUSALEM.
immediately gave notice of the commotion. The chief cap-
tain, whose name was Claudius Lysias,' " took soldiers and
centurions," and running down to the rioters, arrived in time
to prevent a fatal termination of the affray ; for, as soon as the
military made their appearance, the assailants " left beating of
Paul."' "Then the chief captain came near, and took him,
and commanded him to be bound with two chains, and de-
manded who he was, and what he had done. And some cried
one thing, some another, among the multitude, and when he
could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded
him to be carried into the castle."^ In proceeding thus, the
commanding officer acted illegally ; for, as Paul was a Roman
citizen, he should not, without a trial, have been deprived of
his liberty, and put in irons. But Lysias, in the hurry and
confusion of the moment deceived by false information, had
been led to believe that his prisoner was an Egyptian, a noto-
rious outlaw, who, " before these days," had created much
alarm by leading " out into the wilderness four thousand men
that were murderers." ' He was astonished to find that the
individual whom he had rescued from such imminent danger
was a citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia who could speak Greek ; and
as it was now evident that there existed much misapprehen-
sion, the apostle was permitted to stand on the stairs of the
fortress, and address the multitude. When they saw him pre-
paring to make some statement, the noise subsided ; and,
" when they heard that he spake to them in the Hebrew
tongue " — that is, in the Aramaic, the current language of the
country — " they kept the more silence." '' Paul accordingly
proceeded to give an account of his early life, of the remarka-
ble circumstances of his conversion, and of his subsequent
' Acts xxiii. 26. " Acts xxi. 32.
3 Acts xxi. 33, 34. There were barracks in the tower of Antonia.
* Acts xxi. 38. "Assassins is in the original a Greek inflection of the
Latin word Sicarii, so called from Sica, a short sword or daj^^ger, and de-
scribed by Josephus as a kind of robbers who concealed sliort swords be-
neath their garments, and infested Judea in the period preceding the de-
struction of Jerusalem." — Alexander on the Acts, ii. 289.
' Acts xxii. 2.
PAUL AT C^SAREA. 121
career ; but, when he mentioned his mission to the Gentiles,
it was at once apparent that the topic was most unpopular,
for his auditors lost all patience. " They gave him audience
unto this word, and then lifted up their voices and said. Away
with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he
should live. And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes,
and threw dust into the air, the chief captain commanded him
to be brought into the castle." '
The confinement of Paul, which commenced at the feast of
Pentecost in A.D. 58, continued about five years. It may be
enough to notice the mere outline of his history during this
tedious bondage. In the first place, for the purpose of ascer-
taining the exact nature of the charge against him, he was
confronted with the Sanhedrim ; but when he informed them
that " of the hope and resurrection of the dead he was called
in question," ' there " arose a dissension between the Pharisees
and the Sadducees " ' constituting the council ; and the chief
captain, fearing lest his prisoner " should have been pulled in
pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to
take him by force from among them, and to bring him into
the castle."* Certain of the Jews, about forty in number,
now entered into a conspiracy, binding themselves " under a
curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they
had killed Paul ";' and it was arranged that the bloody vow
should be executed when, under pretence of a new examina-
tion, he was brought again before the Sanhedrim ; but their
proceedings meanwhile became known to the apostle's nephew ;
the chief captain received timely information ; and the scheme
thus miscarried." Paul, protected by a strong military escort,
was now sent away by night to Caesarea ; and, when there,
was repeatedly examined before Felix, the Roman magistrate
who at this time, under the title of Procurator, had the gov-
ernment of Judea. The historian Tacitus says of this im-
perial functionary that " in the practice of all kinds of cruelty
and lust, he exercised the power of a king with the mind of a
■ Acts xxii. 22-24. 2 Acts xxiii. 6. » Acts xxiii. 7.
^ Acts xxiii. 10, ^ Acts xxiii. 12, 21. ^ Acts xxiii. 16, 23, 30.
• 122 PAUL AT C/ESAREA.
slave "; ' and it is a remarkable proof, as well of the intrepid
faithfulness, as of the eloquence of the apostle, that he suc-
ceeded in arresting the attention, and in alarming the fears of
this worthless profligate. Drusilla, his wife, a woman who
had deserted her former husband,' was a Jewess ; and, as she
was desirous to see and hear the great Christian preacher who
had been laboring with so much zeal to propagate his prin-
ciples throughout the Empire, Paul, to satisfy her curiosity,
was brought into her presence. But an interview, designed
merely for the amusement of the Procurator and his partner,
soon assumed an appearance of the deepest solemnity. As
the grave and earnest orator went on to expound the faith of
the Gospel, and " as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance,
and judgment to come, Felix trembled." ^ His apprehen-
sions, however, soon passed away, and though he was fully
convinced that Paul had not incurred any legal penalty, he
continued to keep him in confinement, basely expecting to
obtain a bribe for his liberation. When disappointed in this
hope, he still perversely refused to set him at liberty. Thus,
" after two years," when " Porcius Festus came into Felix's
room," the ex-Procurator, "willing to show the Jews a pleas-
ure, left Paul bound." '
The apostle was soon required to appear before the new
Governor. Festus has left behind him the reputation of an
equitable judge ; ' and though he was most desirous to secure
the good opinion of the Jews, he could not be induced by
them to act with palpable injustice. After he had brought
them down to Caesarea, and listened to their complaints
against the prisoner, he perceived that they could convict him
of no violation of the law ; but he proposed to gratify them
so far as to have the case reheard in the holy city. Paul,
however, well knew that they only sought such an oppor-
tunity to compass his assassination, and therefore peremp-
> " Per omnem SEevitam ac libidinem jus regium servili ingenio exercuit."
— Hist. V. 9.
* Josephus' " Antiq." xx. c. 7, §§ i, 2.
« Acts xxiv. 25. " Acts xxiv. 27.
* See some account of him in Josephus' " Antiq." xx. c. 8, §§ 9, 10.
PAUL AT C^SAREA. 1 23
torily refused to consent to the arrangement. "I stand,"
said he, " at Caesar's judgment-seat, where I ought to be
judged. To the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very
well knowest. For if I be an offender, or have committed
anything worthy of death, I refuse not to die ; but if there be
none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may
deliver me unto them. I appeal unto CcEsary ^
The right of appeal from the decision of an inferior tri-
bunal to the Emperor himself was one of the great privileges
of a Roman citizen ; and no magistrate could refuse to recog-
nize it without exposing himself to condign punishment.
There were, indeed, a few exceptional cases of a flagrant char-
acter in which such an appeal could not be received ; and
Festus here consulted with his assessors to ascertain in what
light the law contemplated that of the apostle. They de-
cided, however, that he was at perfect liberty to demand a
hearing before the tribunal of Nero. " Then," says the
evangelist, " when Festus had conferred with the council, he
answered, Hast thou appealed unto Caesar ? Unto Caesar
shalt thou go." "^
The Procurator was placed in an awkward position; for,
when sending Paul to Rome, he was required at the same
time to report the crimes imputed to the prisoner ; but the
charges were so novel and so frivolous, that he did not well
know how to embody them in an intelligible document.
Meanwhile King Agrippa and his sister Bernice came to
Caesarea *' to salute Festus," ' that is, to congratulate the
new Governor on his arrival in the country;. and the royal
party expressed a desire to hear what the apostle had to
say in his vindication. Agrippa was great-grandson of that
Herod who reigned in Judea when Jesus was born in Bethle-
hem, and the son of the monarch of the same name whose
sudden and awful death is recorded in the twelfth chapter
of the Acts. On the demise of his father in A.D. 44, he
' Acts XXV. II. ^ Acts XXV. 12.
' Acts XXV. 13. Festus appears to have been Procurator from the be-
ginning of the autumn of A.D. 60 to the summer of A.D. 62. FeHx was re-
called A.D. 60. See Conybeare and Howson, Appendix ii. note (C).
124 PAUL AT C.ESAREA.
was only seventeen years of age ; and Judea, which was then
reduced into the form of a Roman province with Caesarea
for its capital, had remained ever since under the gov-
ernment of Procurators. But though Agrippa had not
been permitted to succeed to the dominions of his father,
he had received various proofs of imperial favor; for he
had obtained the government, first of the principality of
Chalcis, and then of several other districts ; and he had
been honored with the title of King.' The Gentile Procura-
tors were seldom acquainted with the ritual and polity of
Israel ; but as Agrippa was a Jew, and consequently familiar
with the customs and sentiments of the native population, he
had been intrusted with the care of the temple and its treas-
ures, as well as with the appointment of the high-priest.
Festus felt that, in the case of Paul, the advice of this visitor
should be solicited ; and hoped to obtain from Agrippa some
suggestion to relieve him out of his present perplexity. It was
accordingly arranged that the apostle should plead his cause
in the hearing of the Jewish monarch. The affair created un-
usual interest ; the public were partially admitted on the occa-
sion ; and rarely or, perhaps, never before, had Paul enjoyed
an opportunity of addressing such an influential and brilliant
auditory. "Agrippa came, and Bernice, with great pomp, and
entered into the place of hearing, with the chief captains, and
principal men of the city."' Paul, still in bonds, made his ap-
pearance before this courtly throng ; and though a two years'
confinement might well have broken the spirit of the prisoner,
he displayed powers of argument and eloquence which aston-
ished and confounded his judges. The Procurator was quite
bewildered by his reasoning, for he appealed to "the promise
made unto the fathers," ' and to things which " Moses and the
prophets did say should come "; * and as Festus could not ap-
preciate the lofty enthusiasm of the Christian orator (for he
had never, when at Rome, been accustomed to hear the advo-
cates of heathenism plead so earnestly in its defence), he " said
with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learn-
' Joscphus' " Wars," ii. c. 12, § 8 ; " Antiq." xx. c. 5, § 2.
"Acts XXV. 23. "Acts xxvi. 6. * Acts xxvi. 22.
PAUL AT C^SAREA. 1 25
ing doth make thee mad." ' But the apostle's self-possession
was in nowise shaken by this blunt charge. " I am not mad,
most noble Festus," he replied, " but speak forth the words of
truth and soberness "; and then, turning to the royal stranger,
vigorously pressed home his argument. " King Agrippa," he
exclaimed, " believest thou the prophets? I know that thou
believest." ^ The King, thus challenged, was a libertine ; and
at this very time was believed to be living in incestuous inter-
course with his sister Bernice; and yet he seems to have
been staggered by Paul's solemn and pointed interrogatory.
"Almost," said he, " thou persuadest me to be a Christian." "
It has been thought by some that these words were uttered
with a sneer ; but whatever may have been the frivolity of the
Jewish King, they elicited from the apostle one of the noblest
rejoinders that ever issued from human lips, " And Paul said, I
would to God that riot only thou, but also all that hear me this
day, were both almost and altogether such as I am, except
these bonds." '
The singularly able defence made by the apostle convinced
his judges of the futility of the charges preferred against him
by the Sanhedrim. But at this stage of the proceedings it was
no longer practicable to quash the prosecution. When Paul
concluded his address " the king rose up, and the governor, and
Bernice, and they that sat with them. And when they were
gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying. This man
doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds. Then said Agrippa
unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he
had not appealed unto Caesar." ^
At first sight it appears extraordinary that so eminent a mis-
sionary in the meridian of his usefulness was subjected to so
long an imprisonment. But " God's ways are not as our ways,
nor his thoughts as our thoughts." When thus, to a great
extent, laid aside from official duty, he had ample time to
1 Acts xxiv. 24. * Acts xxvi. 27.
' Acts xxvi. 28. Some translate h oXtyu " in short," instead of " almost."
The revised English version reads, " With but little persuasion thou wouldest
fain make me a Christian."
* Acts xxvi. 29. ^ Acts xxvi. 30-32.
126 PAUL'S IMPRISONMENT.
commune with his own heart, and to trace out with adoring
wonder the glorious grace and the manifold wisdom of the
work of redemption. Having himself partaken largely of afflic-
tion, and experienced the sustaining power of the Gospel so
abundantly, he was the better prepared to comfort the dis-
tressed ; and hence his letters, written at this period, are so
full of consolation.' And apart from other considerations, we
may here recognize the fulfilment of a prophetic announce-
ment. When Paul was converted, the Lord said to Ananias :
" He is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the
Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel, for I will show
him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.'"
During his protracted confinement he exhibited alike to Jew
and Gentile an illustrious specimen of faith and constancy;
and called attention to the truth in many quarters where other-
wise it might have remained unknown. Though he was chained
to a soldier, he was not kept in very rigorous custody, so that
he had frequent opportunities of proclaiming the great salva-
tion. He was peculiarly fitted by his education and his geni-
us for expounding Christianity to persons moving in the upper
circles of society ; and had he remained at liberty he could
have gained access very rarely to such auditors. But already,
as a prisoner, he had pleaded the claims of the Gospel before
no inconsiderable portion of the aristocracy of Palestine. He
had been heard by the chief captain in command of the garri-
son in the castle of Antonia, by the Sanhedrim, by Felix and
Drusilla, by Festus, by King Agrippa and his sister Bernice,
and by "the principal men" of both Caesarea and Jerusalem.
In criminal cases the appeals of Roman citizens were heard by
the Emperor himself, so that the apostle was about to appear
as an ambassador for Christ in the presence of the greatest of
earth's potentates. Who can tell but that some of that splen-
did assembly of senators and nobles who surrounded Nero,
when Paul was brought before his judgment-seat, will have
' Eph. vi. 22 ; Phil. ii. 1,2; Col. i. 24, iv. 8 ; Philcm. 7, compared with 2
Cor. i. 3, 4-
"Acts ix. 15, 16.
PAUL'S SHIPWRECK. 12/
reason throughout all eternity to remember the occasion as the
birthday of their blessedness !
The apostle and "certain other prisoners" embarked for
Rome in the autumn of A.D. 60. The compass was then un-
known ; in weather, " when neither sun nor stars in many
days appeared," ' the mariner was without a guide ; and, late
in the season, navigation was peculiarly dangerous. The voy-
age proved disastrous ; after passing into a second vessel at
Myra,* a city of Lycia, Paul and his companions were wrecked
on the coast of the island of Malta ; ' when they had remained
there three months, they set sail once more in a corn ship of
Alexandria, the Castor and Pollux ;'' and at length, in the early
part of A.D. 61, reached the harbor of Puteoli," then the great
shipping port of Italy.
The account of the voyage from Csesarea to Puteoli, as
given in the Acts of the Apostles, is one of the most curious
passages to be found in the whole of the sacred volume.
Some may think it strange that the inspired historian
enters so much into details, and the nautical terms which
he employs puzzle not a few readers ; but these features of
his narrative attest its authenticity and genuineness. No
one, who had not himself shared the perils of the scene,
could have described with so much accuracy the circumstances
of the shipwreck. After the lapse of eighteen hundred years,
the references of the evangelist to prevailing winds and cur-
' Acts xxvii. This part of the history of the apostle has been illustrated
with singular ability by James Smith, Esq., of Jordanhill, in his " Voyage and
Shipwreck of St. Paul."
-Acts xxvii. 5, 6.
'Acts xxviii. i. That Melita is Malta has been conclusively established
by Smith in his " Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul." " Dissertation," ii.
■• Acts xxviii. 11. " With regard to the dimensions of the ships of the an-
cients, some of them must have been quite equal to the largest merchant-
men of the present day. The ship of St. Paul had, in passengers and crew,
276 persons on board, besides her cargo of wheat, and as they were carried
on by another ship of the same class, she must also have been of great size.
The ship in which Josephus was wrecked contained 600 people." — Smith's
"Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul," p. 147.
^Acts xxviii. 13.
128 PAULS SHIPWRECK.
rents, to the indentations of the coast, to islands, bays, and
harbors, may still be exactly verified. Recent investigators
have demonstrated that the sailors, in the midst of danger,
displayed no little ability, and that their conduct in " under-
girding the ship," ' and in casting " four anchors out of the
stern,"" evidenced their skilful seamanship. Luke states that,
after a long period of anxiety and abstinence, " about mid-
night the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some
country," ^ The headland they were approaching is very low,
and in a stormy night is said to be invisible even at the dis-
tance of a quarter of a mile ; * but the sailors detect the shore
by other indications. Even in a storm t/ie roar of breakers
can be distinguished from other sounds by the practiced ear
of a mariner ; ^ and it can be shown that, with such a gale as
was then blowing, the sea still dashes with amazing violence
against the very same point of land off which Paul and his
companions were that night laboring. In the depth of the
water at the place there is another most remarkable coinci-
dence. The sailors " sounded and found it tiventy fathoms,
and when they had gone a little farther, they sounded, and
found it fifteen fathoms."'^ "But what," observes a modern
writer, " are the soundings at this point } They are now tiventy
fathoms. If we proceed a little farther we ^ndi fifteen fathoms.
It may be said that this, in itself, is nothing remarkable. But
if we add that the fifteen-fathom depth is in the direction of
the vessel's drift (W. by N.) from the twenty-fathom depth,
the coincidence is startling." ' It may be stated also that the
' Acts xxvii. 17.
" Acts xxvii. 29. " The ancient vessels did not carry, in general, so large
anchors as those which we employ; and hence they had often a greater
number of them. Athenasus mentions a ship which had eight iron anchors."
— Hackett, p. 372.
* Acts xxvii. 27.
* " When the Lively, frigate, unexpectedly fell in with this very point, the
quartermaster on the look-out, who first observed it, states, in his evidence
at the court-martial, that, at the distance of a quarter of a vtile, the land
could not be seen." — Smith's Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul, pp. 89. 90.
■* Hackett, p. 371. ' Acts xxvii. ' Conybeare and Hovvson, ii. 351.
Paul's shipwreck. 129
" creek with a shore"' or sandy beach, and the " place where
two seas met,'" and where " they ran the ship aground," may
still be recognized in what is now called St. Paul's Bay at
Malta.^ Even in the nature of the submarine strata we have
a most striking confirmation of the truth of the inspired his-
tory. It appears that the four anchors cast out of the stern
retained their hold, and it is well known that the ground in
St. Paul's Bay is remarkably firm ; for in our English sailing
directions it is mentioned that " while the cables hold, there is
no danger, as the anchors will never start."* Luke reports
that when the ship ran aground, " the forepart stuck fast and
remained unmovable"* — a statement which is corroborated
by the fact that " the bottom is mud graduating into tenacious
clay " ' — exactly the species of deposit from which such a
result might be anticipated.
When Paul landed at Puteoli, he must have contemplated
with deep emotion the prospect of his arrival in Rome. The
city to which he now approached contained, perhaps, upwards
of a million of human beings.' But the amount of its inhab-
itants was one of the least remarkable of its extraordinary dis-
tinctions. It was the capital of the mightiest empire that had
ever yet existed ; one hundred races speaking one hundred
languages were under its dominion;* and the sceptre which
ruled so many subject provinces was wielded by an absolute
potentate. This great autocrat was the high-priest of heathen-
ism— thus combining the grandeur of temporal majesty with
the sacredness of religious elevation. Senators and generals,
' Acts xxvii. 39. " Acts xxvii. 41.
' Smith's " Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul," p. 102.
* Smith's "Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul," p. 92.
' Acts xxvii. 41.
^ Smith's " Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul," p. 104.
' Conybeare and Howson make the population more than 2,000,000 (li.
376). Merivale reduces it to something less than 700,000 (iv. 520). In
Smith's " Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography " it is stated as up-
wards of 2,000,000. GresweU makes it about 1,000,000 (" Dissertations,"
iv. 46.) Dean Milman reckons it from 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 ("History of
Latin Christianity," i. 23).
* Merivale, iv. 391.
9
130 THE CITY OF ROME.
petty kings and provincial governors, were all obliged to bow
obsequiously to his mandates. In this vast metropolis might
be found natives of almost every clime ; some engaged in its
trade ; some who had travelled to it from distant countries to
solicit the imperial favor ; some, like Paul., conveyed to it as
prisoners ; some stimulated to visit it by curiosity ; and some
attracted to it by the vague hope of bettering their condition.
The city of the Caesars has well been described as " sitting
upon many waters "; ' for, though fourteen or fifteen miles
from the mouth of the Tiber, the mistress of the world was
placed on a peninsula stretching out into the middle of a great
inland sea over which she reigned without a rival. In the
summer months almost every part of every country along the
shores of the Mediterranean sent forth vessels freighted with
cargoes for the merchants of Rome." The fleet from Alex-
andria laden with wheat for the supply of the city was treated
with peculiar honor ; for its ships alone were permitted to
hoist their topsails as they approached the shore ; a deputation
of senators awaited its arrival ; and, as soon as it appeared,
the whole surrounding population streamed to the pier, and
observed the day as a general jubilee. But an endless supply
of other articles in which the poor were less interested found
their way to Rome. The mines of Spain furnished the great
capital with gold and silver, whilst its sheep yielded wool of
superior excellence ; and, in those times of Roman conquest,
slaves were often transported from the shores of Britain. The
horses and chariots and fine linen of Egypt, the gums and
spices and silk and ivory and pearls of India, the Chian and
the Lesbian wines, and the beautiful marble of Greece and
Asia Minor, all met with purchasers in the mighty metrop-
olis.' As John surveyed in vision the fall of Rome, and as
he thought of the almost countless commodities which minis-
tered to her insatiable luxury, well might he represent the
world's traffic as destroyed by the catastrophe ; and well might
he speak of the merchants of the earth as weeping and mourn-
' Rev. xvii. i. * Merivale, iv. 412. ^ Merivale, iv. 414-420.
PAUL AT ROME.
131
ing over her, because " no man buyeth their merchandise any
more." '
Paul had often desired to prosecute his ministry in the im-
perial city; for he knew that if Christianity obtained a firm
footing in that great centre of civilization and of power, its
influence would soon be transmitted to the ends of the earth ;
but he appeared there under circumstances equally painful and
discouraging. And yet even in this embarrassing position he
was not overwhelmed with despondency. At Puteoli he
" found brethren,'"' and through the indulgence of Julius, the
centurion to whose care he was committed, he was courteously
allowed to spend a week' with the little Church of which they
were members. He now set out on his way to the metropolis ;
but the intelligence of his arrival had travelled before him, and
after crossing the Pomptine marshes, he was delighted to find
a number of Christian friends from Rome assembled at Appii
Forum to tender to him the assurances of their sympathy and
affection. The place was twenty-seven miles from the capital ;
and yet, at a time when travelling was so tedious and so irk-
some, they had undertaken this lengthened journey to visit
the poor, weather-beaten, and tempest-tossed prisoner. At the
Three Taverns, ten miles nearer to the city, he met another
party of disciples* anxious to testify their attachment to so
distinguished a servant of their Divine Master. These tokens
of respect and love made a deep impression on the susceptible
mind of the apostle; and when he saw the brethren, "he
thanked God and took courage." '
The important services he had been able to render on the
voyage gave him a claim to particular indulgence ; and accord-
ingly, when he reached Rome, and when the centurion deliv-
ered the prisoners to the Praetorian Prefect, or the command-
er-in-chief of the Praetorian guards,' " Paul was suffered to
' Rev. xviii. 11. ^ Acts xxviii. 14. =* Acts xxviii. 14.
* Acts xxviii. 15. ^ Acts xxviii. 15.
^ Called in our English version, " the captain of the guard." The cele-
brated Burrus was at this time (a.d. 61) the Praetorian Prefect. Wieseler,
p. 393, See also Greswell's "Dissertations," iv. p. 199.
13 2 PAUL AT ROME.
dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him." ' But though
he enjoyed this comparative liberty, he was chained to his
military care-taker, so that his position was still very far from
comfortable. And yet even thus he continued his ministry
with as much ardor as if he had been without restraint, and
as if he had been cheered on by the applause of his genera-
tion. Three days after his arrival in the city he " called the
chief of the Jews together," * and gave them an account of the
circumstances of his committal, and of his appeal to the im-
perial tribunal. They informed him that his case had not
been reported to them by their brethren in Judea, and then
expressed a desire to hear from him a statement of the claims
of Christianity. " And when they had appointed him a day,
there came many to him into his lodging, to whom he ex-
pounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them
concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and out of the
prophets, from morning till evening." * His appeals produced
a favorable impression on only a part of his audience. " Some
believed the things which were spoken and some believed not."*
Several years prior to this date a Christian Church existed
in the Western metropolis, and at this time there were prob-
ably several ministers in the city ; but the apostle now en-
tered on a field of labor which had not hitherto been occu-
pied. He " dwelt two whole years in his own hired house,
and received all that came in unto him — preaching the king-
dom of God, and teaching those things which concern the
Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding
him." ' All this time Paul's right hand was chained to the
left hand of a soldier, who was responsible for the safe keeping
of his prisoner. The soldiers relieved each other in this duty.*
Paul's chain was relaxed at meal-times, and perhaps he was
occasionally granted some little additional indulgence; but
day and night he and his care-taker remained in close proxim-
ity, as the life of the soldier was forfeited should his ward es-
cape. We can well conceive that the very appearance of the
' Acts xxviii. i6. ' Acts xxviii. 17. ' Acts xxviii. 23.
* Acts xxviii. 24. ' Acts xxviii. 31. " Conybeare and Howson, ii. 296.
PAUL AT ROME. 1 33
preacher at this period invited special attention to his minis-
trations. He was " Paul the aged." ' He had perhaps passed
the verge of three-score years ; and though his detractors had
formerly objected to " his bodily presence as weak," ' all would
at this time have probably admitted that his aspect was ven-
erable. His life had been a career of unabated exertion ; and,
though worn down by toils and hardships and imprisonments,
his zeal burned with unquenched ardor. As the soldier who
kept him belonged to the Praetorian guards, the apostle spent
much of his time in the neighborhood of their quarters on the
Palatine hill";' and as he was now so conversant with military
sights and sounds, we may account for some of the allusions
to be found in his epistles written during this confinement.
Thus, he speaks of Archippus and Epaphroditus as his " fel-
low soldiers "; * and he exhorts his brethren to " put on the
whole armor of God," including " the breast-plate of right-
eousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the
sword of the Spirit." ' As the indefatigable old man, with the
soldier who had charge of him, passed from house to house in-
viting attendance on his services, the very appearance of such
"yoke-fellows"' created some interest; and, when the con-
gregation assembled, who could remain unmoved as the apos-
tle stretched forth his chained hand ' and proceeded to ex-
pound his message ! The preacher himself thought that the
position which he occupied, as " the prisoner of the Lord," "
imparted somewhat to the power of his testimony. Hence
we find him saying: "I would ye should understand, breth-
ren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out
rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel, so that my bonds in
Christ are manifest in all the Praetorium," and in all other
' Philem. 9. "^ 2 Cor. x. 10. ^ See Conybeare and Howson, ii. 428.
* Phil. ii. 25 ; Philem. 2. ^ Eph. vi. 13, 14, 16, 17.
* PhiL iv. 3. When speaking of a "true yoke-fellow," he may here refer
to the way in which he was himself unequally yoked.
^ See Acts xxvi. i, 29. * Eph. iv. i.
" kv o?i(fj Tifj TTpaircjplu — " We never find the word employed for the Im-
perial house at- Rome ; and we believe the truer view to be that it denotes
here, not the palace itself, but the quarters of that part of the Imperial
guardii which was in immediate attendance on the Emperor." — Conybeare
and Howson, ii. 428.
134 PAULS EPISTLES.
places ; and many of the brethren in the Lord waxing confi-
dent by my bonds are much more bold to speak the word
without fear." '
During this imprisonment at Rome Paul dictated a number
of his epistles. Of these the letter to Philemon, a Christian
of Colosse, seems to have been first written. The bearer of
this communication was Onesimus, who had at one time been
a slave in the service of the individual to whom it is ad-
dressed ; and who, after robbing his master, had left the coun-
try. The thi-ef made his way to Rome, where he was con-
verted under the ministry of the apostle, and where he had
since greatly recommended himself as a zealous and trustwor-
thy disciple. He was now sent back to Colosse with this
Epistle to Philemon, in which the writer undertakes to be ac-
countable for the property pilfered,^ and entreats his corre-
spondent to give a kindly reception to the penitent fugitive.
Onesimus, when conveying the letter to his old master, was
accompanied by Tychicus, described as " a beloved brother
and a faithful minister and fellow-servant in the Lord," " who
was intrusted with the Epistle to the Colossians. Error, in
the form of false philosophy and Judaizing superstition, had
been creeping into the Colossian Church,^ and the apostle in
this letter exhorts his brethren to beware of its encroach-
ments. At the same time Paul wrote the Epistle to the
Ephesians, and Tychicus was also the bearer of this communi-
cation.' Unlike most of the other epistles, it has no saluta-
tions at the close ; it is addressed, not only " to the saints
which are at Ephesus " in particular, but also " to the faith-
ful in Christ Jesus"' in general; and, as its very superscription
thus bears evidence that it was originally intended to be a cir-
cular letter, it is probably "the epistle from Laodicea " men-
tioned in the Epistle to the Colossians." The first division of
it is eminently distinguished by the profound and comprehen-
sive views of the Christian system it exhibits ; whilst the lat-
ter portion is no less remarkable for the variety, pertinency,
' Phil. i. 12-14. ' Philem. 18, 19. ' Col. iv. 7.
* Col. ii. 8, 16, 18, 23. ' Eph. vi. 21, 22. " Eph. i. i. ' Col. iv. 16.
PAUL S EPISTLES.
135
and wisdom of its practical admonitions. The Epistle to the
Philippians was likewise written about this period. Paul al-
ways took a deep interest in the well-being of his earliest Eu-
ropean converts, and here he speaks in most hopeful terms of
their spiritual condition.' They were less disturbed by di-
visions and heresies than perhaps any other of the Apostolic
Churches.
• Phil. i. 3-7.
CHAPTER X.
PAUL'S SECOND IMPRISONMENT AND MARTYRDOM; PETER,
HIS EPISTLES, HIS MARTYRDOM, AND THE
ROMAN CHURCH.
The Book of the Acts terminates abruptly ; and the sub-
sequent history of Paul is involved in much obscurity. Some
contend that the apostle was never released from his first im-
prisonment at Rome, and that he was one of the earliest
Christian martyrs who suffered under the Emperor Nero.
But this theory is encumbered with insuperable difificulties.
In his letters from Rome, Paul evidently anticipates his liber-
ation ;' and in some of them he apparently speaks propheti-
cally. Thus, he says to the Philippians, " I am in a strait
betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ,
which is far better — nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more
needful for you — and having this confidence, / know that I
shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and
joy of faith." ° The apostle had long cherished a desire to
visit Spain ;' and there is evidence that he actually preached
the Gospel in that country ; for Clemens Romanus, his con-
temporary and fellow-laborer, positively affirms that he travelled
" to the extremity of the west." * Clemens is said to have
been himself a native of the great metropolis;' and as he
makes the statement just quoted in a letter written from
» Phil, ii 24; Philem. 22. " Phil. i. 23-25. ' Rom. xv. 24, 28.
* £tt\ t() Ttpun TT/f iVvaeur — Epist. to the Corinthians v. Clement in the
same place mentions that Paul was seven times in bonds. See also Gres-
well, " Dissertations," vol. iv., pp. 225-228.
' See Cave's " Fathers." i. 147. O.xford, 1840.
(13O)
PAULS SECOND IMPRISONMENT. I37
Rome, it can not be supposed that, under such circum-
stances, he described Italy as the boundary of the earth. The
Second Epistle to Timothy, written immediately before Paul's
death, contains several passages which indicate that the author
had been very recently at liberty. Thus, he says, " The
cloak ' (or, as some render it, the case^) that I left at Troas,
with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the
books, but especially the parchments."" These words suggest
that the apostle had lately visited Troas, on the coast of Asia
Minor. Again, he remarks, " Erastus abode at Corinth, but
Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick." * Any ordinary
reader would infer from this that the writer had just been at
Miletum.^ The language of the concluding verses of the Acts
warrants the impression that Paul's confinement ended some
time before the history was completed ; for had the apostle
been still in bondage, it would not have been said that, when
a prisoner, he dwelt for two whole years in his own hired
house — thereby implying that the period of his residence, at
least in that abode, had terminated. And if Paul was re-
leased at the expiration of these two years, we can well under-
stand why the sacred historian did not give an account of his
liberation. The subjects of Rome at that time were literally
living under a reign of terror ; and if Paul, as Peter once
before," was miraculously delivered, prudence required the
1 Tov (peMvTjv. Some think that he wished for the cloak to protect him
against the cold of winter. See 2 Tim. iv. 21.
^ In the " Life of St. Columba " by Adamnan (Dublin, 1857), the editor,
Dr. Reeves, has given an interesting account of an ancient leather book-
case in his own possession. See " Life of St. Columba," p. 115. If Paul re-
ferred to a case, it was probably to one of a larger description.
^ 2 Tim. iv. 13. In the anticipation of his death, he perhaps wished to
give the documents as a legacy to some of his friends. Among them may
have been Scripture autographs.
^ 2 Tim. iv. 20. antltnov. The translation "they left," instead of"/
left," is given up even by Dr. Davidson, though he rejects the idea of a
second imprisonment. See his " Introduction to the New Testament,"
iii. 53.
^ Miletum, or Miletus, in Crete, is mentioned by Homer, " Iliad," ii. 647.
® Acts xii. 6-9.
138 PAUL'S SECOND IMPRISONMENT.
concealment of his subsequent movements. Or, the history
of his release may have been so mixed up with the freaks of
the tyrant who then oppressed the Roman world, that its pub-
lication would have brought down the imperial vengeance on
the head of the evangelist.
We have seen that Paul arrived in Rome as a prisoner in
the beginning of A.D. 61 ; and if at this time his confinement
continued only two years, he was liberated in the early part of
A.D. 63. Nero had not yet commenced his memorable perse-
cution of the Church ; for the burning of the city took place
in the summer of A.D. 64; and, till that date, the disciples
were not singled out as the special objects of his cruelty. It
is probable that Paul, after his release, accomplished his inten-
tion of visiting the Spanish Peninsula ;' and that, on his return
to Italy, he wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews.' The destruc-
tion of Jerusalem was now approaching ; and as the apostle
demonstrates in this letter that the law was fulfilled in Christ,
he thus prepares the Jewish Christians for the extinction of
the Mosaic ritual. He once more visited Jerusalem, travelling
to Corinth,' Philippi,'' and Troas,* where he left for the use of
Carpus the case with the books and parchments which he
mentions in his Second Epistle to Timothy. Passing on to
Colosse," he perhaps visited Antioch in Pisidia and other cities
of Asia Minor, the scenes of his early ministrations ; and
reached Jerusalem' byway of Antioch in Syria. He returned
from Palestine to Rome by sea, leaving Trophimus sick * at
Miletum in Crete. The journey did not occupy much time ;
and, on his return to Italy, h^ was immediately incarcerated.
His condition was now very different from what it had been
during his former confinement ; for he was deserted by his
' See Euseb. ii. 22.
" Heb. xiii. 23, 24. In this epistle he apparently refers to his late im-
prisonment, Heb. X. 34 ; but the reading of the textus recepfus is here
rejected by many of our highest critical authorities, such as Griesbach,
Lachmann, Tischendorf, and Scholz. Respecting the second imprison-
ment, see also Eusebius, ii. c. 22.
* 2 Tim. iv. 20. 'Phil. ii. 24. ' 3 Tim. iv. 13,
* Philem. 22. ' Heb. xiii. 23. ' 2 Tim. iv. 20.
PAUL'S MARTYRDOM. I39
friends and treated as a malefactor.' When he wrote to
Timothy he had already been brought before the judgment-
seat, and had narrowly escaped martyrdom. " At my first
answer," says he, " no man stood with me, but all men forsook
me. I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.
Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me and strengthened
me, that by me the preaching might be fully known, and
that all the Gentiles might hear ;'' and I was delivered out of
the mouth of the lion." ^ The prospect, however, still con-
tinued gloomy ; and he had no hope of ultimate escape. In
the anticipation of his condemnation, he wrote those words
so full of Christian faith and heroism, " I am now ready to be
offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have
fought a good fight — I have finished my course — I have kept
the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give
me in that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also
that love his appearing." ■*
Paul was martyred about A.D. 66. Tradition reports that
he was beheaded f and as he was a Roman citizen, he could
not have been legally condemned to any more ignominious
fate. About the third or fourth century, a statement ap-
peared to the effect that he and Peter were put to death at
Rome on the same day f but all the early documentary evi-
dence we possess is quite opposed to such a representation.
If Peter really finished his career in the Western metropolis
at the same time as the Apostle of the Gentiles, it is strange
that Paul makes no reference, in any of his writings, to the
presence of such a fellow-laborer in the capital of the Empire.
In the Epistle to the Romans, containing so many salutations
to the brethren in the great city, the name of Peter is not
found ; and in none of the letters written from Rome is he
1 2 Tim. iv. 16, ii. 9.
^ This refers to some powerful defence of Christianity which he had made
before the Gentile tribunal of Nero.
3 2 Tim. iv. 16, 17. * 2 Tim. iv. 6-8. ' Euseb. "Hist."ii. 25.
' Euseb ii. 25. See the Note of Valesius on the words Kara rbv ahrbv
Kaipov. See also Davidson's " Introduction to the New Testament." iii. 361.
I40 PETER.
ever mentioned. In the last of his Epistles — the Second to
Timothy — the writer says, " only Luke is with me " * — and
had Peter then been in the place, Paul would not have thus
ignored the existence of the apostle of the circumcision.
Though Rome has been so long known in ecclesiastical
annals as " the see of Peter," it is remarkable that the New
Testament nowhere reports the presence of the apostle of
the circumcision in the Western capital. The legend that he
was crucified there with his head downwards "^ at his own re-
quest— as a mode of suffering more painful and ignominious
than the doom of his Master ^ — is evidently the invention of
an age when the pure light of evangelical religion was greatly
obscured ; for the apostle was too well acquainted with the
truth to believe that he was at liberty to inflict on himself
any unnecessary suffering. The story that he was the first
bisliop of Rome is a stupid fable. We know, from the Epis-
tle of Clemens Romanus, that episcopal government was not
established in the great city until long afterward. The allega-
tion, that he occupied the see for five and twenty years, is a
monstrous fabrication which the plainest historical testimony
totally discredits. We have -every reason to believe that he
suffered martyrdom ; ' but the place of his death must per-
haps forever remain a mystery.' According to a tradition of
high antiquity, it occurred at Rome ; but the statements re-
lating to it are so unsatisfactory, so mixed up with incredible
details, and presented under such suspicious circumstances,
'2 Tim iv. II.
' Reported by Eusebius iii. I,
^ The idea, that crucifixion with the head downwards aggravates the
suffering, is unfounded. It vastly diminishes it by speedily causing death.
But it was once considered a more dreadful form of torture, and hence we
find persons thus put to death. .See Euseb. viii. 8.
* Our Lord apparently refers to the violent death of the apostle in John
xxi. 1 8, 19.
' Caius, a Roman presbyter who flourished in the early part of the third
centur>', refers to the Vatican and the Ostian Way as the places where
Peter and Paul suffered (Routh's " Reliquia^," ii. p. 127) ; but this writer lived
nearly a century and a half after the demise of the apostles, and almost
every tale told respecting them then obtained ready credence.
PETER. 141
that, in relation to them, we can not safely adopt any very
definite conclusion.
The Second Epistle of Peter was written soon after the first,
and was addressed to the same Churches.' The author now
contemplated the near approach of death, so that the advices
he here gives may be regarded as his dying instructions. " I
think it meet," says he, "as long as I am in this tabernacle,^
to stir you up by putting you in remembrance — knowing that
shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord
Jesus Christ hath showed me." ' It deserves notice that in
this second epistle, Peter bears emphatic testimony to the
character and inspiration of Paul. The Judaizing party were
in the habit of pleading that they were supported by the au-
thority of the apostle of the circumcision ; and as many of
these zealots were to be found in the Churches of Asia Minor, *
such a recognition of the claims of the Apostle of the Gen-
tiles was calculated to exert a most salutary influence. " The
strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia," * were thus given to understand that all
the true heralds of the Gospel had but " one faith"; and that
any attempt to create divisions in the Church, by representing
the doctrine of one inspired teacher as opposed to the doc-
trine of another, was most unwarrantable. The reference to
Paul, to be found in the Second Epistle of Peter, is favorable
to the supposition that the Apostle of the Gentiles was now
dead ; as, had he been still living to correct such misinterpre-
tations, it would scarcely have been said that in all his epistles
were things ''hard to be understood " which " the unlearned
and unstable" wrested "unto their own destruction."* It
would seem, too, that Peter here alludes particularly to the
Epistle to the Hebrews — a letter, as we have seen, addressed
to Jewish Christians, and written after Paul's liberation from
his first Roman imprisonment. This letter contains passages ^
' 2 Pet. i. 12, iii. i.
* These words suggest, that the preceding letter was written not long be-
fore,
' 2 Pet. i. 13, 14. * Gal. iv. 17, 21, vi. 12 ; Col. ii. 16-18.
' I Pet. i. I. ° 2 Pet. iii. 16. 'As Heb. vi. 4-6, vii. 1-3, ix. 17.
142 PETER AND PAUL.
which have often proved perplexing to interpreters ; but, not-
withstanding, it bears the impress of a divine original ; and
Peter, who maintains that all the writings of Paul were dic-
tated by unerring wisdom, places them upon a level with " the
other Scriptures, " ' either of the evangelists or of the Old
Testament.
In the New Testament it is impossible to find a trace of
either the primacy of Peter, or the supremacy of the Pope ;
but the facts already stated throw some light on the history
of that great spiritual despotism whose seat of government
has been so long established in the city of the Csesars. At a
very early period various circumstances contributed to give
prominence to the Church of Rome. The epistle addressed
to it contains a more complete exhibition of Christian doc-
trine than any other of the apostolical letters ; and, in that
remarkable communication, Paul expresses an earnest desire
to visit a community already celebrated all over the world.
Five or six of his letters, forming part of the inspired canon,
were dictated in the capital of the Empire. There is every
reason to believe that the Book of the Acts was written at
Rome, and that the great city was also the birthplace of the
Gospels of Mark and Luke. Thus, a large portion of the New
Testament issued from the seat of Empire. Rome boasts that
it was for some time the residence of apostles, and Paul was
there for at least two years as a prisoner. Some of the most
illustrious of the early converts were members of the Church
of Rome ; for in the days of the Apostle of the Gentiles there
were disciples in " Caesar's household." ^ And when Nero sig-
nalized himself as the first Imperial persecutor of the Chris-
tians, the Church of Rome suffered terribly from his insane
and savage cruelty. Even the historian Tacitus acknowledges
that the tortures to which its adherents were exposed excited
the commiseration of the heathen multitude. Paul and others
were cut off in his reign ; and the soil of Rome absorbed the
blood of many martyrs. It was not strange, therefore, that
the Roman Church was soon regarded with peculiar respect
by all the disciples throughout the Empire. As time passed
' 2 Pet. iii. 1 6. '^ Phil. iv. 22.
THE CHURCH OF ROME. I43
on, it increased rapidly in numbers and in affluence ; and cir-
cumstances, which properly possessed nothing more than an
historic interest, began to be urged as arguments in favor of
its claims to pre-eminence. At first these claims assumed no
very definite form ; and, at the termination of a century after
the days of Paul, they amounted simply to the recognition of
something like an honorary precedence. At that period it
was deemed equally imprudent and ungracious to quarrel with
its pretensions, especially as the community by which they
were advanced was distributing its bounty all around, and was
itself nobly sustaining the brunt of almost every persecution.
In the course of time, the Church of Rome proceeded to chal-
lenge a substantial supremacy ; and then the facts of its early
history were misstated and exaggerated in accommodation to
the demands of its growing ambition. It was said at first that
" its faith was spoken of throughout the whole world "; it
was at length contended that its creed should be universally
adopted. It was admitted at an early period that, as it had
enjoyed the ministrations of Paul, it should be considered an
apostolic church ; it was soon reported that Peter also was one
of its teachers ; and it was at length asserted that, as an apos-
tle was entitled to deference from ordinary pastors, a church
instructed by two of the most eminent apostles had a claim to
the obedience of other churches. In process of time it was
discovered that Paul was rather an inconvenient companion
for the apostle of the circumcision ; and Peter alone then
began to be spoken of as the founder and first bishop of the
Church of Rome. Strange to say, a system founded on a fic-
tion has since sustained the shocks of many centuries. One
of the greatest marvels of this '' mystery of iniquity " is its te-
nacity of life ; and did not the sure word of prophecy announce
that the time should come when it would be able to boast of
its antiquity, and did we not know that paganism can plead a
more remote origin, we might be perplexed by its longevity.
But " the vision is yet for an appointed time — at the end it
shall speak and not lie. Though it tarry, wait for it, because
?t will surely come, it will not tarry." '
' Hab. ii. 3.
CHAPTER XI.
THE PERSECUTIONS OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH, AND ITS
CONDITION AT THE TERMINATION OF THE
FIRST CENTURY.
Jesus Christ was a Jew, and it might have been expected
that the advent of the most illustrious of His race, in the
character of the Prophet announced by Moses, would be
hailed with enthusiasm by His countrymen. But the result
was far otherwise. " He came unto his own, and his own
received him not."* The Jews cried, "Away with him,
away with him, crucify him "; "^ and He suffered the fate of
the vilest criminal. The enmity of the posterity of Abraham
to our Lord did not terminate with His death ; they long
maintained the bad pre-eminence of being the most inveterate
of the persecutors of His early followers. When the awful
portents of the Passion, and the marvels of the day of Pente-
cost were still fresh in public recollection, their chief priests
and elders threw the apostles into prison ; ^ and soon after-
ward the pious and intrepid Stephen fell a victim to their
malignity. Their infatuation was extreme ; and yet it was
not unaccountable. They looked, not for a crucified, but for
a conquering Messiah. They imagined that the Saviour, after
breaking their Roman yoke, would make Jerusalem the capi-
tal of a prosperous and powerful empire ; and that all the
ends of the earth would celebrate the glory of the chosen peo-
ple. Their vexation, therefore, was intense when they dis-
covered that so many of the seed of Jacob acknowledged the
son of a carpenter as the Christ, and made light of the dis-
tinction between Jew and Gentile. In their case the natural
1 John i, 1 1. ^ John xix, 1 5. « Acts iv. 3, v. 18.
(144)
JEWISH PERSECUTION. I45
aversion of the heart to a pure and spiritual reHgion was in-
flamed by national pride combined with mortified bigotry ;
and the fiendish spirit which they so frequently exhibited in
their attempts to exterminate the infant Church thus admit
of the most satisfactory explanation.
Many instances of their antipathy to the new sect have al-
ready been noticed. In almost every town where the mission-
aries of the cross appeared, the Jews " opposed themselves and
blasphemed "; and magistrates speedily discovered that in no
way could they more easily gain the favor of the populace
than by inflicting sufferings on the Christians. Hence, as we
have seen, at the time of Paul's second visit to Jerusalem after
his conversion, Herod, the grandson of Herod the Great,
"killed James, the brother of John, with the sword ; and, be-
cause he saw \\. pleased the jfeivs, he proceeded further to take
Peter also." ' The apostle of the circumcision was delivered
by a miracle from his grasp ; but it is probable that other in-
dividuals of less note felt the efTects of his severity. Even in
countries far remote from their native land, the posterity of
Abraham were the most bitter opponents of Christianity.^ As
there was much intercourse between Palestine and Italy, the
Gospel soon found its way to the seat of government, and it
would appear that some civic disturbance created in the great
metropolis by the adherents of the synagogue, and intended
to annoy and intimidate the new sect, prompted the Emperor
Claudius, about A.D. 53, to interfere in the manner described
by Luke, and to command "all Jews to depart from Rome." '
But the hostility of the Israelites was most formidable in their
• Acts xii. 2, 3. ° See Acts xvii. 5, xviii. 12.
' Acts xviii. 2. Suetonius in Claud, (c. 25), says, " Judaeos impulsore
Chresto assidue tumultuantes Roma expulit." The words Christus and
Chrestus were often confounded, and it is probable that the historian here
refers to some riotous proceedings among the Jews in Rome arising out of
discussions relative to Christianity. * These disturbances took place about
A.D. 53. Even in the beginning of the third century the Christians were
sometimes called Chrestiani. Hence, TertuUian says, " Sed et cum per-
peram Chrestianus pronunciatur a vobis, nam nee nominis certa est notitia
penes vos, de suavitate vel benignitate compositum est." " Apol." c. iii.
See also " Ad Nationes," lib. i. c. 3.
10
146 JEWISH TERSECUTION.
own country, and for this, as well as other reasons, " the breth-
ren which dwelt in Judea " specially required the sympathy of
their fellow-believers throughout the Empire. When Paul ap-
peared in the temple at the feast of Pentecost in A.D. 58, the
Jews, as already related, made an attempt on his life ; and
when the apostle was rescued by the Roman soldiers, a con-
spiracy was formed for his assassination. Four years after-
ward, or in A.D. 62,' another apostle, James, surnamed the
Just, who resided chiefly in Jerusalem, finished his career by
martyrdom. Having, on a great public occasion, proclaimed
Jesus to be the true Messiah, his fellow-citizens were so indig-
nant that they threw him from a pinnacle of the temple. As
he was still alive when he reached the ground, he was forth-
with assailed with a shower of stones, and beaten to pieces
with the club of a fuller."
As the Christians were at first confounded with the Jews,
the administrators of the Roman law, for upwards of thirty
years after our Lord's death, conceded to them the religious
toleration enjoyed by the seed of Abraham. But, from the ^
beginning, " the sect of the Nazarenes " enjoyed very little of
the favor of the heathen multitude. Paganism had set its
mark upon all the relations of life, and had erected an idol
wherever the eye could turn. It had a god of War. and a god
of Peace ; a god of the Sea and a god of the Wind ; a god of
the River, and a god of the Fountain ; a god of the Field, and
a god of the Barn Floor; a god of the Hearth, and a god of
the Threshold ; a god of the Door, and a god of the Hinges.'
When we consider its power and prevalence in the apostolic
age, we need not wonder at the declaration of Paul, " All that
will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." *
' See Gresvvell's " Dissertations," iv. p. 233. ^ Eusebius, ii. 23.
3 " Certi enim esse debemus, si quos latet per ignorantiam literatura^ secu-
laris, etiam ostiorum deos apud Romanos, Cardeam a cardinibus appella-
tam, et Forculum a foribus, et Limentinum a limine, et ipsum Janum a
janua." Tertuliian, " De Idololatria," c. 15. See also the same writer " Ad
Nationes," ii. c. 10, 15; and " Dc Corona," 13; and Augustine's "City of
God," iv. 8.
*2 Tim. iii. 12. Cyprian touches on the same sul)ject in his Treatise on
the " Vanity of Idols," c. 2.
PERSECUTION BY NERO. I47
Whether the believer entered any social circle, or any place of
public concourse, he was constrained in some way to protest
against dominant errors ; and almost exactly in proportion to
his consistency and conscientiousness, he was sure to incur the
dislike of the more zealous votaries of idolatry. Hence it was
that the members of the Church were so soon regarded by the
pagans as a morose generation instinct with hatred to the
human race. In A.D. 64, when Nero, in a fit of recklessness,
set fire to his capital, he soon discovered that he had, to a dan-
gerous extent, provoked the wrath of the Roman citizens, and
he attempted, in consequence, to divert the torrent of public in-
dignation from himself by imputing the mischief to the Chris-
tians. They were already odious" as the propagators of what
was considered *' a pernicious superstition," and the tyrant
reckoned that the mob of the metropolis were prepared to be-
lieve any report to the discredit of these sectaries. But even
the pagan historian who records the commencement of this
first imperial persecution, and who was deeply prejudiced
against the disciples of our Lord, bears testimony to the false-
hood of the accusation. Nero, says Tacitus, " found wretches
who were induced to confess what they were, and, on their
evidence, a great multitude of Christians were convicted, not,
indeed, on clear proof of their having set the city oil fire, but
rather on account of their hatred of the human race.' They
were put to death amidst insults and derision. Some were
covered with the skins of wild beasts, and left to be torn to
pieces by dogs ; others were nailed to the cross ; and some,
'The Christians were famiHar with the idea of the conflagration of the
world, and there is much plausibiHty in the conjecture that, as they gazed
on the burning city, they gave utterance to expressions which were misun-
derstood, and which awakened suspicion. " Some," says Dean Milman,
" in the first instance, apprehended and examined, may have made ac-
knowledgments before a passionate and astonished tribunal, which would
lead to the conclusion that, in the hour of general destruction, they had
some trust, some security, denied to the rest of mankind ; and this exemp-
tion from common misery, if it would not mark them out, in some dark man-
ner, as the authors of the conflagration, at all events would convict them
of that hatred of the human race so often advanced against tlie Jews," —
Milman s History of Christianity, ii. 37, 38.
148 FALL OF JERUSALEM.
covered over with inflammable matter, were lighted up, when
the day declined, to serve as torches during the night. The
Emperor lent his own gardens for the exhibition. He added
the sports of the circus, and assisted in person, sometimes
driving a curicle, and occasionally mixing with the rabble in
his coachman's dress. At length these proceedings excited a
feeling of compassion, as it was evident that the Christians
were destroyed, not for the public good, but as a sacrifice to
the cruelty of a single individual." '
Some writers have maintained that the persecution under
Nero was confined to Rome ; but various testimonies concur
to prove that it extended to the provinces. Paul contem-
plates its spread throughout the Empire when he tells the
.Hebrews that they had '■'■ not yet resisted imto blood, strWmg
against sin," ^ and when he exhorts them not to forsake the
assembling of themselves together as they " see the day ap-
proaching!'' ' Peter, also, as has been stated in a preceding
chapter, refers to the same circumstance in his letter to the
brethren " scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia," when he announces " the fiery trial "
which was "to try " them," and when he tells them of "judg-
ment " beginning " at the house of God." ^ If Nero enacted
that the profession of Christianity was a capital offence, his
law was in force throughout the Roman world ; and an early
ecclesiastical writer positively afifirms that he was the author
of such sanguinary legislation." The horror with which his
name was so long regarded by members of the Church in all
parts of the Empire ' strongly corroborates the statement that
the attack on the disciples in the capital was only the signal
for the commencement of a general persecution.
Nero died A.D. 68, and the war which involved the destruc-
tion of Jerusalem and of upwards of a million of the Jews, was
already in progress. The holy city fell A.D. 70 ; and the Mo-
saic economy, which had been virtually abolished by the death
' Tacitus, " Annal." xv. 44. '^ Heb xii. 4. ' Heb. x. 25.
* I Pet. iv. 12. 'I Pet. iv. 17. •Tcrtullian. " Ad Nationes," i. 7.
'See "De Mortibus Persecutorum," c. 2, and Sulpitius Severus, lib. ii.,
p. 139; Edit. Leyden, 1635.
PERSECUTION BY DOMITIAN. I49
of Christ, now reached its practical termination. At the same
period the prophecy of Daniel was literally fulfilled ; for " the
sacrifice and the oblation " were made to cease,' as the demoli-
tion of the temple and the dispersion of the priests put an end
to the celebration of the Levitical worship. The overthrow of
the metropolis of Palestine contributed in various ways to the
advancement of the Christian cause. Judaism, no longer able
to provide for the maintenance of its ritual, was exhibited to
the world as a defunct system ; its institutions, more narrowly
examined by the spiritual eye, were discovered to be but types
of the blessings of a more glorious dispensation ; and many
believers, who had hitherto adhered to the ceremonial law,
discontinued its observances. Christ, forty years before, had
predicted the siege and desolation of Jerusalem;'' and the re-
markable verification of a prophecy, delivered at a time when
the catastrophe was exceedingly improbable, induced not a
few to think more favorably of the credentials of the Gospel.
In another point of view the ruin of the ancient capital of Judea
proved advantageous to the Church. In the subversion of
their chief city the power of the Jews sustained a shock from
which it has never since recovered ; and the disciples were
partially delivered from the attacks of their most restless and
implacable persecutors.
Much obscurity rests upon the history of the period which
immediately follows the destruction of Jerusalem. Though
Philip and John," and perhaps one or two more of the apostles,
still survived, we know almost nothing of their proceedings.
After the death of Nero the Church enjoyed a season of re-
pose, but when Domitian, in A.D. 81, succeeded to the govern-
ment, the work of persecution recommenced. The new sov-
ereign, who was of a gloomy and suspicious temper, encouraged
a system of espionage ; and as he imagined that the Christians
fostered dangerous political designs, he treated them with the
greater harshness. The Jewish calumny, that they aimed at
' Dan. ix. 27.
"^ Matt. xxiv. 2, 15, 16, 34; Mark xii. 2, 14, 30; Luke xxi, 6, 20, 21, 24, 32.
*See Euseb. iii. 31.
150 PERSECUTION BY DOMITIAN.
temporal dominion, and that they sought to set up " another
king, one Jesus," ' had obviously produced an impression on
his mind ; and he accordingly sought out the nearest kinsmen
of the Messiah, that he might remove these heirs of the rival
dynasty. But when the two grandchildren of Jude,° called
the brother of our Lord,' were conducted to Rome, and
brought to his tribunal, he discovered the groundlessness of
his apprehensions. The individuals who had inspired the
Emperor with such anxiety, were the joint proprietors of a
small farm in Palestine, which they cultivated with their own
hands ; and the jealous monarch at once saw that when his
fears had been excited by reports of the treasonable designs of
such simple and illiterate husbandmen, he had been miserably
befooled. After a single interview, these poor peasants met
with no farther molestation from Domitian.
Had all the disciples been in such circumstances as the
grandchildren of Jude, the Gospel might have been identified
with poverty and ignorance ; and it would have been said that
it was fitted to make way only among the dregs of the popu-
lation. But it was never fairly open to this objection. Fcom
the very first it reckoned among its adherents at least a sprin-
kling of the wealthy, the influential, and the educated. Joseph
of Arimathea, one of the primitive followers of our Lord, was
" a rich man " and an " honorable counsellor";* Paul himself,
as a scholar, stood high among his countrymen, for he had
been brought up at the feet of Gamaliel ; and Sergius Paulus,
one of the first-fruits of the mission to the Gentiles, was a
Roman Proconsul." In the reign of Nero the Church could
boast of some illustrious converts ; and the saints of " Caesar's
household " are found addressing their Christian salutations
to their brethren at Philippi." In the reign of Domitian the
Gospel still continued to have friends among the Roman no-
bility. Flavins Clemens, a person of consular dignity, and the
cousin of the Emperor, was put to death for his attachment
'Actsxvii. 7. ^ Euseb. iii. 20.
*Matt. xiii. 55. See Greswell's "Dissertations," ii. 114, 121, 122.
* Matt, xxvii. 57 ; Mark xv. 43. * Acts xiii. 7. " Phil. iv. 22.
THE APOSTLE JOHN. 151
to the cause of Christ ; ' and his near relative, Flavia Domi-
tilla, for the same reason, was banished with many others to
Pontia,'' a small island off the coast of Italy used for the con-
finement of State prisoners.
Domitian governed the Empire fifteen years, but his perse-
cution of the Christians was limited to the latter part of his
reign. About this time the Apostle John, " for the word of God
and for the testimony of Jesus Christ," ^ was sent as an exile
into Patmos, a small rocky island in the JEgxan Sea not far
from the coast of Asia Minor. The tradition that he had pre-
viously issued unhurt from a caldron of boiling oil into which
he had been plunged in Rome by order of the Emperor — a
story for which a writer who flourished about a century after-
ward is the earliest voucher* — has been challenged as apocry-
phal.* We have no means of ascertaining the length of time
during which he remained in banishment ; ° and all we know
of this portion of his life is, that he had now those sublime
and mysterious visions to be found in the Apocalypse. After
1 Dio Cassius, Ixvii. 14. * Euseb. iii. 18. ' Rev. i. 9.
* Tertullian, " De Prasscrip. Haeret.," c. 36.
^ See Mosheim, Cent, i., part i., ch. 5.
* According to Boronius (" Annal," ad. an. 92, 98) John was six years in
Patmos, or from A.D. 92 to A.D. 98. Other writers think that he was set at
liberty some time before the death of Domitian, or about A.D. 95. Accord-
ing to this reckoning, had he been six years in exile, he was banished A.D.
89. This conclusion derives some countenance from the " Chronicon " of
Eusebius, which represents the tyrant in the eighth and ninth years of his
reign, or about a.d. 89, as proscribing and putting to death very many of
his subjects. If the visions of the Apocalypse were vouchsafed to John in
A.D. 89, the interval between their revelation and the establishment of the
Pope as a temporal prince is found to be 755 — 89, or exactly 666 years.
See Rev. xiii. 18. There is another very curious coincidence in this case ;
for the interval between the fall of the Western Empire and the establish-
ment of the Bishop of Rome as a temporal prince is 755 — 476 = 279 com-
plete, or 280 current years, that is, 40 prophetic weeks. But it so happens
that the period of human gestation is 40 weeks, and this would lead to the
inference that the Man of Sin was conceived as soon as the Western Em-
pire fell. See 2 Thess. ii. 7, 8. I am not aware that these remarkable
coincidences have yet been noticed, and I therefore submit them to the
consideration of the students of prophecy.
152 THE APOSTLE JOHN.
the fall of Jerusalem, as well as after he was permitted to
leave Patmos, he appears to have resided chiefly in the metrop-
olis of the Proconsular Asia ; and hence some ancient writers,
who flourished when the episcopal system was established,
have designated him " Bishop of Ephesus." ' But the apostle,
when advanced in life, chose to be known simply by the title
of " the elder "; ^ and though by far the most influential minis-
ter of the district where he sojourned, he admitted his brethren
to a share in the government of the Christian community.
Like Peter and Paul before him, he acknowledged the other
ciders as his " fellow-presbyters,'' ' and, as became his age and
apostolic character, he doubtless exhorted them to take heed
unto themselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy
Ghost had made them overseers.'
John was the last survivor of the apostles. He reached the
advanced age of one hundred, and died about the close of the
first century. He was a " Son of Thunder" ' who long main-
tained the reputation of a powerful and impressive preacher ;
but when his strength began to give way beneath the pressure
of increasing infirmities, he ceased to deliver lengthened dis-
courses. When he addressed the congregation in extreme old
age, he is reported to have simply repeated the exhortation,
" Children, love one another"; and when asked why he always
confined himself to the same brief admonition, he replied that
" no more was necessary." " Such a narrative is certainly quite
in harmony with the character of the beloved disciple, for he
knew that love is the " bond of pcrfectncss " and the " fulfil-
ling of the law."
It has been thought that, toward the close of the first cent-
ury, the Christian interest was in a, languishing condition ; '
and the tone of the letters addressed to the Seven Churches
in Asia is calculated to confirm this impression. The Church
of Laodicca is described as " neither cold nor hot "; * the
Church of Sardis is admonished to " strengthen the things
• See Burton's " Lectures," i. 361. " 2 John i ; 3 John i.
• I Pet. V. I ; Philem. i. * Acts xx. 28. " iVIark iii. 17.
'• Jerome, " Comment, on Galatians," vi. 10.
' See Vitringa, " Observationts SacriK," lib. iv., c. 7, 8. * Rev. iii. 16.
EXTENSION OF CHRISTIANITY.
153
which remain that are ready to die "; ' and the Church of
Ephesus is exhorted to " remember from whence she has
fallen, and repent, and do the first works." ' When it was
known that Christianity was under the ban of a legal proscrip-
tion, it was not strange that " the love of many " waxed cold ;
and the persecutions of Nero and Domitian had a most dis-
couraging influence. But though the Church had to encounter
the withering blasts of popular odium and imperial intoler-
ance, it struggled through an ungenial spring ; and, in almost
every part of the Roman Empire, it had taken root and was
beginning to exhibit tokens of a steady and vigorous growth
as early as the close of the first century. The Acts and the
apostolical epistles speak of the preaching of the Gospel in
Palestine, Syria, Cyprus, Asia Minor, Greece, Illyricum, and
Italy ; and, according to traditions which we have no reason
to discredit, the way of salvation was proclaimed, before the
death of John, in various other countries. It is probable that
Paul himself assisted in laying the foundations of the Church
in Spain ; at an early date there were disciples in Gaul ; and,
before the close of the first century, the new faith had been
planted even on the distant shores of Britain.' Mark labored
successfully as an evangelist in Alexandria, the metropolis of
Egypt ; ^ and Christians were soon to be found in " the parts
of Libya about Cyrene," ^ for the Jews from that district who
were converted at Jerusalem by Peter's famous sermon on the
day of Pentecost, did not fail, on their return home, to dis-
seminate the precious truths by which they had been quick-
ened and comforted. Thus, too, the Gospel soon found its
way into Parthia, Media, Persia, Arabia, and Mesopotamia.^
Various traditions ' attest that several of the apostles travelled
eastward, after their departure from the capital of Palestine.
Whilst Christianity, in the face of much obloquy, was gradu-
1 Rev. iii. 2. 2 Rgy n 5.
' Claudia, the wife of Puclens, supposed to be mentioned 2 Tim. iv. 21, is
said to have been a Briton by birth. See Fuller's " Church History of Brit-
ain," vol. i., p. II ; Edit. London, 1837,
* Euseb. ii. 16. ^ Acts ii. 10. " Acts ii. 9, 11.
' See in Cave's " Fathers," Bartholomew, Matthew, and Thomas.
154 PRACTICAL INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY.
ally attracting more and more attention, it was at the same
time nobly demonstrating its power as the great regenerator
of society. The religion of pagan Rome could not satisfy the
wants of the soul ; it could neither improve the heart nor in-
vigorate the intellect ; and it was now rapidly losing its hold
on the consciences of the multitude. The high places of
idolatrous worship often exercised a most demoralizing influ-
ence, as their rites were not unfrequently a wretched mixture
of brutality, levity, imposture, and prostitution. Philosophy
had completely failed to ameliorate the condition of man. The
vices of some of its most distinguished professors were notori-
ous ; its votaries were pretty generally regarded as a class of
scheming speculators ; and they, enjoyed neither the confi-
dence nor the respect of the mass of the people. But, even
under the most unpromising circumstances, Christianity accom-
plished social and spiritual changes of a very extraordinary
character. The Church of Corinth was one of the least exem-
plary of the early Christian communities, and yet it stood on a
moral eminence far above the surrounding population ; and,
from the roll of its own membership, it could produce cases of
conversion to which nothing parallel was found in the whole
history of heathendom. Paul could say to it : " Neither forni-
cators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abus-
ers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the king-
dom of God, and such were some of you ; but ye are washed,
but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of God." ' Nor was this all.
The Gospel proved itself sufficient to meet the highest aspira-
tions of man. It revealed to him a Friend in heaven who
"sticketh closer than a brother";' and, as it assured him of
eternal happiness in the enjoyment of fellowship with God, it
imparted to him a " peace that passeth all understanding."
The Roman people witnessed a new spectacle when they saw
the primitive followers of Christ expiring in the fires of mar-
tyrdom. The pagans did not so value their superstitions ; but
' 1 Cor. vi. 9-1 1, ^Prov. .wiii. 24.
PRACTICAL INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 1 55
here was a religion which was accounted " better than Hfe."
Well then might the flames which illuminated the gardens of
Nero supply some spiritual light to the crowds who were pres-
ent at the sad scene ; and, in the indomitable spirit of the first
sufferers, the thoughtful citizen recognized a system which was
destined yet to subdue the world.
SECTION II.
THE LITERATURE AND THEOLOGY OF THE APOSTOLIC
CHURCH.
CHAPTER I.
THE NEW TESTAMENT, ITS HISTORY, AND THE AUTHORITY
OF ITS VARIOUS PARTS. THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT
OF ROME.
The conduct of our Lord, as a religious teacher, betokened
that He was more than man. Mohammed dictated the Koran,
and left it behind him as a sacred book for the guidance of his
followers ; many others, who have established sects, have also
founded a literature for their disciples ; but Jesus Christ wrote
nothing. The Son of God was not obliged to condescend to
become His own biographer, and thus to testify of Himself.
He had at His disposal the hearts and the pens of others ; and
He knew that His words and actions would be accurately re-
ported to the latest generations. During His personal minis-
try, even His apostles were only imperfectly acquainted with
His theology; but, shortly before His death. He promised in
due time to disclose more fully the nature and extent of the
great salvation. He said to them: "The Comforter, which is
the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he
shall teach you all things,- and bring all things to your remem-
brance, whatsoever I have said unto you.' .... He will guide
you into all truth. " ^
The resurrection poured a flood of light into the minds of
'John xiv. 26. 'John xvi. 13.
(156)
THE GOSPELS. 1 5/
the apostles, and they forthwith commenced with unwonted
boldness to proclaim the truth in all its purity and power; but
no part of the evangelical history was written until upwards
of twenty years after the death of our Saviour.' According to
tradition, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke then ap-
peared in the order in which they are now presented in our
authorized version." All these narratives were published sev-
eral years before the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70; and as each
contains our Lord's announcement of its speedy catastrophe,
the exact fulfilment of so remarkable a prophecy led many to
acknowledge the divine origin of the Christian religion. The
Gospel of John is of a much later date, as it was written to-
ward the conclusion of the century.
Two of the evangelists, Matthew and John, were apostles;
and the other two, Mark and Luke, appear to have been of
the number of the Seventy.' All were, therefore, fully
competent to bear testimony to the facts which they record,
for the Seventy had " companied " with the Twelve " all the
time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among" them,*
and all " were from the beginning eye-witnesses and ministers
of the word." ^ These writers mention many miracles per-
' See Ireneeus, " Adv. Hasres," iii. i ; and Euseb. vi. 14.
* It is probable that these three Gospels were written nearly at the same
time. See Luke i. 3, 4, and Euseb. vi. 14.
^Origen, "Dial, de Recta in Deum Fide," sec. i., torn, i., p. 806; Edit.
Delarue. Paris, 1733. See Whitby's "Preface to Luke." There is good
reason to believe that the " young man " mentioned Mark xiv. 51, 52, was no
other than Mark himself (Davidson's " Introduction to the New Testament,"
i. 139) ; and if so, we have thus additional evidence that the evangehst had
enjoyed the advantages of our Lord's ministry. He had always been reputed
the founder of the Church of Alexandria, and the testimony of Origen to the
fact that he was one of the Seventy is therefore of special value ; as the
Alexandrian presbyter was well acquainted with the traditions of the Church
of the Egyptian metropolis. The genealogies of Matthew and Luke singu-
larly corroborate what is stated in a preceding chapter respecting the Twelve
and the Seventy. Bengel remarks that Matthew "begins with Adra/mm,"
but Luke " makes a full recapitulation and summary of the lineage of M^
w/io/e human race, and exhibits with that lineage the Saviour's consanguin-
ity to all Gentiles, as v^ell as Jews." Gnomon on Matt. i. 16.
*' Acts i. 21. ^ Luke i. 2.
158 THE GOSPELS.
formed by Christ, and at least three of the Gospels were in
general circulation whilst multitudes were still alive who are
described in them as either the spectators or the subjects of
His works of wonder ; and yet, though the evangelists often
enter most minutely into details, so that their statements, if
capable of contradiction, could have been at once challenged
and exposedj we do not find that any attempt was mean-
while made to impeach their accuracy. Their manner of re-
cording the acts of the Great Teacher is characterized by re-
markable simplicity; and the most acute reader in vain seeks
to detect in it the slightest trace of concealment or exaggera-
tion. Matthew artlessly confesses that he belonged to the
odious class of publicans ; ' Mark tells how Peter, his friend
and companion, " began to curse and to swear," and to de-
clare that he knew not the Man ; "^ Luke, who wds probably
one of the two brethren who journeyed to Emmaus, informs
us how Jesus drew near to them on the way and upbraided
them as " fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the
prophets had spoken "; ' and John honestly repudiates the
pretended prediction setting forth that he himself was not to
die." Each evangelist mentions incidents unnoticed by the
others, and thus supplies proof that he is entitled to the
credit of an original and independent witness. Matthew
alone gives the formula of baptism " in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost "; ' Mark
alone speaks of the great amazement of the people as they
beheld the face of Christ on His descent from the Mount of
Transfiguration ; * Luke alone announces the appointment of
the Seventy;' and John alone records some of those sublime
discourses in which our Lord treats of the doctrine of His
Sonship, of the mission of the Comforter, and of the mysteri-
ous union between Himself and His people." All the evan-
gelists direct our special attention to the scene of the cruci-
fixion. As they proceed to describe it, they obviously feel
that they are dealing with a transaction of awful import ; and
' Matt. ix. 9. X. 3. ^ Mark xiv. 71. ' Lukt- xxiv. 25.
* John xxi. 23. •■' Matt, xxviii. 19. " Mark ix. 15.
' Luke x. I. • John xiv., xv., xvi., xvii.
THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 1 59
they accordingly become more impressive and circumstantial.
Their statements, when combined, furnish a complete and
consistent narrative of the sore travail, the deep humiliation,
and the dying utterances of the illustrious sufferer.
If the appointment of the Seventy indicated our Lord's in-
tention of sending the glad tidings of salvation to the ends of
the earth, there was a peculiar propriety in the selection of an
individual of their number as the historian of the earliest mis-
sionary triumphs. When Luke records the wonderful suc-
cess of Christianity among the Gentiles, he takes care to point
out the peculiar features of the new economy ; and thus it is
that his narrative abounds with passages in which the doc-
trine, polity, and worship of the primitive disciples are illus-
trated or explained. It is well known that the titles of the
several parts of the New Testament were prefixed to them,
not by their authors, but at a subsequent period by parties
who had no claim to inspiration ; ' and the book called " The
Acts of the Apostles " has not been very correctly designated.
It is confined almost exclusively to the acts of Peter and Paul,
and it sketches only a portion of their proceedings. As its
narrative terminates at the end of Paul's second year's impris-
onment at Rome, it was probably written about that period.
Superficial readers have objected to its information as curt
and fragmentary ; but the careful investigator will discover
that it marks with great distinctness the most important
stages in the early development of the Church.' It shows
how Christianity spread rapidly among the Jews from the
day of Pentecost to the martyrdom of Stephen ; it points out
how it then took root among the Gentiles ; and it continues
to trace its dissemination from Judea westward, till it was
firmly planted by the apostle of the uncircumcision in the
metropolis of the Empire.
It would appear that some of the fourteen epistles of
Paul were written before any other portion of the New Testa-
ment, for we have already seen ^ that the greater number ol
' See Home's " Introduction," ii. 173. Sixth Edition.
^ See Baumgarten on Acts vii., viii., ix., xiii.
* Period !., see., i., chap. 7, 8, 9. «
l6o THE EPISTLES OF PAUL.
them were transmitted to the parties to whom they are ad-
dressed during the time over which the Acts of the Apostles
extend ; but though Luke makes no mention of these letters,
his account of the travels of their, author throws considerable
light on the question of their chronology. Guided by state-
ments which he supplies, and by evidence contained in the
documents themselves, we have endeavored to point out the
order of their composition. They are not placed chronologi-
cally in the New Testament. The present arrangement is,
however, of great antiquity, as it can be traced to the begin-
ning of the fourth century ;' and it is made on the principle
that the Churches addressed should be classed according to
their relative importance. The Church of Rome at an early
period was recognized as the most influential, and hence the
Epistle to the Romans stands at the head of the collection.
The Church of Corinth ranked next, and accordingly the
Epistles to the Corinthians occupy the second place. The
letters to the Churches are followed by those to individuals,
that is, to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon ; and the Epistle to
the Hebrews is put last, because it is anonymous. Some
have contended that this letter was composed by Barnabas ;
others have ascribed it to Clement, or Luke, or Silas, or Apol-
los ; but, though Paul has not announced his name, the ex-
ternal and internal evidences concur to prove that he was its
author.^
" Every word of God is pure," ' but the word of man is
often deceitful ; and nowhere are his faUibility and ignorance
revealed more conspicuously than in his appendages to Script-
ure. Even the titles prefixed to the writings of the apostles
and evangelists are redolent of superstition; for no satisfac-
tory reason can be given why the designation of saint ^ has
' Home, iv. 359.
' See Wordsworth "On the Canon," Lectures viii. ix. ' Prov. xxx. 5.
* This designation is not found in the most ancient manuscripts. Thus,
in the very ancient " Recension of the Four Gospels in Syriac," recently
edited by Dr. Cureton, we have simply — "Gospel of Mark " — " Gospel of
John," etc. See p. 6, Preface. See also any ordinary edition of the Greek
Testament.
THE GENERAL EPISTLES. l6l
been bestowed on Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, when it
is withheld, not only from Moses and Isaiah, but also from
such eminently holy ministers as Timothy and Titus. The
postscripts to the epistles of Paul have been added by tran-
scribers, and are also calculated to mislead. Thus, the Epistle
to the Galatians is said to have been " written from Rome,"
though it is now generally acknowledged that Paul was not
in the capital of the Empire till after that letter was dictated.
The first Epistle to Timothy is dated " from Laodicea, which
is the chiefest city of Phrygia Pacatiana"; but it is well
known that Phrygia was not divided into Phrygia Prima, or
Pacatiana, and Phrygia Secunda until the fourth century.' It
is stated at the end of another epistle that it was " written to
Titus, ordained the first Bishop of the Church of the Cre-
tians "; but, as the letter itself demonstrates, Paul did not
intend that Titus should remain permanently in Crete," and
it can be shown that, for centuries afterward, such a digni-
tary as " the Bishop of the Church of the Cretians " was
utterly unknown.
The seven letters written by James, Peter, Jude, and John,
are called General or Catholic epistles. The Epistle of James
was addressed " to the twelve tribes scattered abroad " prob-
ably in A.D. 6i, and its author survived its publication little
more than twelve months.' Peter, as we have seen, wrote his
two epistles only a short time before his martyrdom." The
Epistle of Jude is the production of a later period, as it con-
tains quotations from the Second Epistle of Peter.^ The exact
dates of the Epistles of John can not now be discovered, but
they supply internal proof that they were written toward the
close of the first century."
According to some, the Apocalypse, or Revelation of John,
was drawn up before the destruction of Jerusalem, and in the
' Home, ii. 174. ^ Titus iii. 12.
'Some, however, assign to it a much earlier date. See Davidson's " In-
troduction to the New Testament," iii. 320.
*See Period i„ sec. i., chap. 10, p. 143.
* See Wordsworth " On the Canon," p. 273.
'See Davidson's " Introduction," iii. 464, 491.
II
1 62 THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON.
time of the Emperor Nero ; but the arguments in support of
so early an origin are very unsatisfactory. Ancient writers '
attest that it was written in the reign of Domitian toward the
close of the first century, and the truth of this statement is
established by various collateral evidences.
The divine authority of the four Gospels and of the Acts
of the Apostles was, from their first appearance, universally
acknowledged in the ancient Church/ These books were
publicly read in the religious assemblies of the primitive
Christians, and were placed on a level with the Old Testament
Scriptures.' The epistles of Paul occupied an equally honor-
able position.* In the second and third centuries the Epistle
to the Hebrews was not, indeed, received among the sacred
books by the Church of Rome ; ^ but at an earlier period its
inspiration was acknowledged by the Christians of the great
city, for it is quoted as the genuine work of the Apostle Paul
by an eminent Roman pastor who flourished in the first cent-
ury." The authority of two of the most considerable of the
Catholic epistles — the First Epistle of Peter and the First
Epistle of John — was never questioned;' but, for a time,
there were churches which doubted the claims of the five oth-
ers to be ranked amongst "the Scriptures.'" The multitude
of spurious writings which were then abroad suggested to the
disciples the necessity of caution, and hence suspicions arose
in certain cases where they were destitute of foundation. But
these suspicions, which never were entertained by more than
a minority of the churches, gradually passed away ; and at
'Irericeus, r. 30. Euseb. iii. 18.
' See Wordsworth "On the Canon," pp. 157, 160, 249 ; and Euseb. iii. 25.
'-Justin Martyr, ap. i. 67. " 2 Pet. iii. 16.
"Wordsworth " On the Canon," p. 205.
° " The allusions to the Epistle to the Hebrews are so numerous that it is
not too much to say that it was wholly transfused into Clement's mind." —
Wesfco/t on the Cano>t, p. 32. See also Euseb. iii. 38.
' Wordsworth "On the Canon," p. 249.
*"The word {ypai^li) translated Scripture, which properly means simply a
•writing, occurs fifty times in the New Testament ; and in all these fifty
places, it is applied to the writings of the Old and New Testament, and to
no other." — Wordsworth, pp. 185, 186.
THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON. 163
length, toward the close of the fourth century the whole of
what are now called the Catholic epistles were received, by
unanimous consent, as inspired documents.' The Apocalypse
was acknowledged to be a divine revelation as soon as it ap-
peared ; and its credit remained unimpeached till the question
of the Millennium began to create discussion. Its authentici-
ty was then challenged by some parties who took an interest
in the controversy ; but it still continued to be regarded as a
part of Holy Scripture by the majority of Christians, and there-
is no book of the New Testament in behalf of which a title to
a divine original can be established by more conclusive and
ample evidence.^
We thus see that, with the exception of a few short epistles
which some hesitated to accredit, the New Testament, in
the first century, was acknowledged as the Word of God by
all the Apostohcal Churches. Its various parts were not
then included in a single volume ; and as a considerable time
elapsed before copies of every one of them were universally
disseminated, it is not to be thought extraordinary if the ap-
pearance of a letter, several years after it was written, and in
quarters where it had been previously unknown, awakened
suspicion or scepticism. But the slender objections, advanced
under such circumstances, gradually vanished before the light
of additional evidence ; and it may safely be asserted that the
whole of the documents, now known as the Scriptures of the
New Testament, were received, as parts of a divine revelation,
by an overwhelming majority of the early Christians. The
present division into chapters and verses was introduced at
a period comparatively recent ; ' but stated portions of the
'Wordsworth, pp. 249, 250.
"See Davidson's "Introduction," iii. 540-550.
^ See Home's "Introduction," ii. 168. The author of the present di-
vision into chapters is said to have been Hugo de Sancto Caro, a learned
writer who flourished about the middle of the thirteenth century. The
New Testament was first divided into verses by Robert Stephens in 1551.
The Geneva New Testament, published in 1557, was the first English ver-
sion into which these divisions of Stephens were introduced. The Church
of Rome has adopted this Protestant arrangement. Stephens died at
Geneva in 1559.
l64 THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON.
writings of the apostles and evangelists were read by the
primitive disciples at their religious meetings, and for the di-
rection of the reader, as well as for the facility of reference,
the arrangement was soon notified in the manuscripts by cer-
tain marks of distinction,' It is well known that in the
ancient Churches persons of all classes and conditions were
encouraged and required to apply themselves to the study of
the sacred records ; that even children were made acquainted
with the Scriptures ; '' and that the private perusal of the in-
spired testimonies was considered an important means of
individual edification. All were invited and stimulated by
special promises to meditate upon the mysterious, as well as
the plain, passages of the book of Revelation. " Blessed,"
says the Apostle John, " is he that readeth, and t/iey that hear
the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are
written therein." '
The original manuscripts of the New Testament, which
from the first were accessible to comparatively few, have all long
since disappeared ; and it is now impossible to tell whether
they were worn away by the corroding tooth of time, or
destroyed in seasons of persecution. Copies of them were
rapidly multiplied ; and though heathen adversaries displayed
no small amount of malice and activity, it was soon found im-
possible to effect their annihilation. It was not necessary that
the apostolic autographs ^ should be preserved forever, as the
records, when transcribed, still retained the best and clearest
proofs of their inspiration. They did not require even the
imprimatur of the Church, for they exhibited in every page
the stamp of divinity; and as soon as they were published,
they commended themselves by the internal tokens of their
heavenly lineage to the acceptance of the faithful. " The
Word of God is quick and powerful," and every one who pe-
ruses the New Testament in a right spirit feels that it has
emanated from the Searcher of hearts. It speaks to the con-
' Home ii. 169. ' John v. 39 ; 2 Tim. iii. 15.
' Rev. i. 3. See also 2 Peter i. 19.
* Paul's epistles were often written with the hand of another. See Rom
xvi. 22 ; 2 Thcss. iii. 17.
THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT. 165
science ; it has all the simplicity and majesty of a divine com-
munication; it enlightens the understanding; and it converts
the soul. No mere man could have invented such a character
as the Saviour it reveals ; no mere man could have contrived
such a system of mercy as that which it announces. The
New Testament is always on the side of whatsoever is just,
and honest, and lovely, and of good report ; it glorifies God ;
it alarms the sinner ; it comforts the saint. " The words of
the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth
purified seven times." '
The excellence of the New Testament is displayed to sin-
gular advantage when contrasted with those uninspired pro-
ductions of nearly the same date which emanated from the
companions of the apostles. The only genuine document of
this nature which has come down to us, and which belongs to
the first century," is an epistle to the Corinthians. It was
prepared immediately after the Domitian persecution, or about
A.D. 96,^ with a view to heal certain divisions which had
sprung up in the religious community to which it is addressed ;
and, though written in the name of the Church of Rome,
there is no reason to doubt that it is the composition of
Clement, who was then at the head of the Roman presbytery.
The advice which it administers is most judicious ; and the
whole letter breathes the peaceful spirit of a devoted Chris-
tian pastor. But it contains passages which furnish conclusive
evidence that it has no claims whatever to inspiration ; and
its illustration of the doctrine of the resurrection is in itself
more than sufificient to demonstrate that it could not have
been dictated under any supernatural guidance. " There is,"
says Clement,* " a certain bird called the phoenix. Of this
there is never but one at a time, and that lives five hundred
' Ps. xii. 6.
^ The epistle to Diognetus may have been written in the first century,
but it is commonly referred to a later date.
* He speaks of the Church of Corinth at the time as " most ancient "
(§ 47), and refers to the Domitian persecution. See Euseb. iii. 15, 16.
* TertuUian also illustrates the resurrection by the story of the phoenix,
" De Resurrec. Cam." c. 13.
l66 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT.
years: and when the time of its dissolution draws near that
it must die, it makes itself a nest of frankincense, and myrrh,
and other spices, into which, when its time is fulfilled, it enters
and dies. But its flesh putrefying breeds a certain worm
which, being nourished with the juice of the dead bird, brings
forth feathers ; and when it is grown to a perfect state, it
takes up the nest in which the bones of its parent are, and
carries it from Arabia into Egypt to a city called Heliopolis ;
and flying in open day, in the sight of all men, lays it upon
the altar of the Sun, and so returns from whence it came.
The priests then search into the records of the time, and find
that it returned precisely at the end of five hundred years." '
In point of education the authors of the New Testament
did not generally enjoy higher advantages than Clement ; and
yet, writing " as they were moved by the Holy Ghost," they
were prevented from giving currency, even ir a single in-
stance, to such a story as this fable of the phcenix. All
their statements will be found to be true, whether tried
by the standard of mental or of moral science, of geography,
or of natural history. The theology which they teach is at
once sound and genial ; and those by whom it is appreciated
can testify that whilst it invigorates and elevates the intellect,
it also pacifies the conscience and purifies the heart.
' Clement's " Epistle to the Corinthians," § 25. The fragment of the
second epistle is not generally considered genuine.
CHAPTER 11.
THE DOCTRINE OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH.
The same system of doctrine is inculcated throughout the
whole of the sacred volume. Though upwards of fifteen hun-
dred years elapsed between the commencement and the com-
pletion of the canon of Scripture ; though its authors were
variously educated ; though they were distinguished as well
by their tastes as by their temperaments ; and though they
lived in different countries and in different ages, all the parts
of the volume called the Bible exhibit the clearest indications
of unity of design. Each writer testifies to the "one faith,"
and each contributes something to its illustration. Thus it is
that even at the present day every book in the canon is " good
to the use of edifying." The announcements made to our
first parents will continue to impart spiritual refreshment to
their posterity of the latest generations ; and the believer can
now give utterance to his devotional feelings in the language
of the Psalms, as appropriately as did the worshipper of old,
when surrounded by all the types and shadows of the Leviti-
cal ceremonial.
The Old Testament is related to the New as the dawn to
the day, or the prophecy to its accomplishment. Jesus ap-
peared merely to consummate the Redemption which " the
promises made to the fathers " had announced. " Think not,"
said He, " that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets,
I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." ' The mission of our
Lord explained many things which had long remained myste-
rious ; and, in allusion to the great amount of fresh informa-
' Matt. V. 17.
(167)
l68 JESUS THE CHRIST.
tion thus communicated, He is said to have " brought Hfe and
immortality to light through the Gospel." i
When the apostles first became disciples of the Son of
Mary, their views were certainly very indefinite and circum-
scribed. Acting under the influence of strong attachment to
the Wonderful Personage who exhibited such wisdom and
performed so many mighty works, they promptly obeyed the
invitation to come and follow Him ; and yet, when required
to tell who was this Great Teacher to whom they were at-
tached by the charm of such a holy yet mysterious fascina-
tion, they could do little more than declare their conviction
that Jesus was the Christ.' They knew, indeed, that the
Messiah, or the Great Prophet, was to be a Redeemer and a
King ; ' but they did not understand how their lowly Master
was to establish His title to such high offices.* Though they
"looked for redemption" and "waited for the kingdom of
God,"^ there was much that was vague as well as much that
was visionary in their notions of the Redemption and the
Kingdom. We may well suppose that the views of the mul-
titude were still less correct and perspicuous. Some expected
Christ as a prophet, to decide the ecclesiastical controversies
of the age ; ' others anticipated that, as Redeemer, He would
deliver His countrymen from Roman domination;' whilst
others again cherished the hope that, as a King, He would
erect in Judea a mighty monarchy." The expectation of the
establishment of His temporal dominion was long entertained
even by those who had been taught to regard Him as a spir-
itual Saviour.*
During the interval between the resurrection and ascension
the apostles profited greatly by the teaching of our Lord.
" Then opened he their understanding that they might un-
derstand the Scriptures," '" showing that all things were " fuK
filled which were written in the law of Moses, and in th(;
' 2 Tim. i. lo. '■' Matt. xvi. i6 ; John i. 41.
« Luke xxiv. 19, 21 ; John i. 49. * Matt. xvi. 21, 22 ; John xii. 34.
* Mark xv, 43 ; Luke ii. 38. * John iv. 20-25.
'John xix. 12. ' Matt. ii. 2, 3, xx. 21 ; John vi. 15.
• Acts i. 6. '" Luke xxiv. 45.
THE WRITTEN WORD. 169
Prophets, and in the Psalms " ^ concerning Him. The true
nature of Christ's Kingdom was now fully disclosed to them ;
they saw that the history of Jesus was embodied in the an-
cient predictions ; and their ideas were brought into harmony
with the revelations of the Old Testament. On the day of
Pentecost they received additional illumination ; and thus,
maturely qualified for the duties of their apostleship, they be-
gan to publish the great salvation. Even afterward their
knowledge continued to expand ; for they had yet to be
taught that the Gentiles also were heirs of the Kingdom of
Heaven ;^ that uncircumcised believers were to be admitted to
all the privileges of ecclesiastical fellowship ; ' and that the cere-
monial law had ceased to be obligatory.^
We do not require, however, to trace the progress of en-
lightenment in the minds of the original heralds of the Gos-
pel, that we may ascertain the doctrine of the Apostolic
Church ; for in the New Testament we have a complete and
unerring exposition of the faith delivered to the saints. We
have seen that, with a few comparatively trivial exceptions,
all the documents dictated by the apostles and evangelists
were at once recognized as inspired ; ' so that in them, com-
bined with the Jewish Scriptures, we have a perfect ecclesi-
astical statute-book. The doctrine set forth in the New Tes-
tament was cordially embraced in the first centuiy by all gen-
uine believers. And it can not be too emphatically inculcated
that the written Word was of paramount authority among the
primitive Christians. The Israelites had traditions which they
professed to have received from Moses, but our Lord repudi-
ated these fables and asserted the supremacy of the Book of
Inspiration." In His own discourses He honored the Script-
ures by continually quoting from them,' and He commanded
the Jews to refer to them as the only sure arbiters of His pre-
tensions.' The apostles followed His example. More than
one-half of the sermon preached by Peter on the day of Pen-
' Luke xxiv. 44. = Acts x. 34, 35. = Acts xi. 3, 17.
■* Heb. X. I, 14, 18. ' Period i., sec. ii., chap. i. * Mark vii. 7-9.
' Matt. iv. i-io, xii. 3, 5, 7 ; Mark xii. 26. 'John v. 39.
I/O THE WRITTEN WORD.
tecost consisted of passages selected from the Old Testament.'
The Scriptures, too, inculcate not only their claims as stand-
ards of ultimate appeal, but also their sufificiency to meet all
the wants of the faithful ; for they profess to be " able to
make wise unto salvation,'"" and to be "profitable for doc-
trine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteous-
ness; that the man of God may h^ perfect, thoroughly fur-
nished iinto all good works'' ^ The sacred records teach, with
equal clearness, their own plenary inspiration. Each writer
has peculiarities of style, and yet each uses language which
the Holy Spirit dictates. In the New Testament a single
word is more than once made the basis of an argument,' and
doctrines are repeatedly established by a critical examination
of particular forms of expression.^ When statements ad-
vanced by Moses or David or Isaiah are adduced, they are
often prefaced with the intimation that thus " the Holy
Ghost saith," ' or thus " it is spoken of the Lord." ' The
apostles plainly aver that they employ language of infallible
authority. " We speak," says Paul, " in the zvords which the
Holy Ghost teacheth." ' "All Scripture is given by inspira-
tion of God."'
It is of unutterable importance to know that the Scriptures
are the very word of the Lord, for they relate to our highest
interests ; and were they of less authority, they could not com-
mand our entire confidence. The momentous truths which
they reveal are in every way worthy to be recorded in memo-
rials given by inspiration of God. Under the ancient econo-
my the sinner was assured of a Redeemer;'" and intimations
were not wanting that his deliverance would be wrought out
in a way fitted to excite the wonder of the whole intelligent
creation ; " but the New Testament lifts the veil, and sheds a
glorious radiance over the revelation of mercy. According to
the doctrine of the Apostolic Church the human race are at
* Acts ii. 14-36. "^ 2 Tim. iii. 15. ^ 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.
* Matt. xxii. 43, 45 ; Gal. iii. 16 ; Heb. ii. 8, 1 1."
•John X. 34, 35 ; Heb. viii. 13. ° Acts xxviii. 25 ; Heb. iii. 7.
' Heb. i. 1,2; Matt. i. 22, ii. 15. ' i Cor. ii. 13. ° 2 Tim. iii. 16.
" Gen. iii. 15 ; Ps. cxxx. 7, 8 ; Dan. ix. 24. " Ps. xcviii. 1-4 ■ Isa. ix. 6,
FAITH IN CHRIST. I7I
once " guilty before God," ' and " dead in trespasses and
sins";" and as Christ in the days of His flesh called forth
Lazarus from the tomb, and made him a monument of His
wonder-working power, so by His word He still awakens dead
sinners and calls them with an holy calling, that they may be
trophies of His grace throughout all eternity. And as the
restoration of hearing is an evidence of the restoration of life,
so the reception of the word by faith is a sure token of spir-
itual vitality. "He that heareth -my word^' said Christ, " and
believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall
not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto
lifer'
Faith is to the soul of the believer what the living organs
are to his body. It is the ear, the eye, the hand, and the
palate of the spiritual man. By faith he hears the voice of
the Son of God;* by faith he sees Him who is invisible;' by
faith he looks unto Jesus;* by faith he lays hold upon the
Hope set before him ; ' and by faith he tastes that the Lord is
gracious.* All the promises are addressed to faith ; and by
faith they are appropriated and enjoyed. By faith the believer
is pardoned," sanctified,'" sustained," and comforted.'* Faith is
the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen ; '^ for it enables us to anticipate the happiness of
heaven, and to realize the truth of God.
The word of the Lord is to the faith of the Christian what
the material world is to his bodily senses. As the eye gazes
with delight on the magnificent scenery of creation, the eye
of faith contemplates with joy unspeakable the exceedingly
great and precious promises. And as the eye can look with
pleasure only on those objects which it sees, faith can rest
with satisfaction only on those things which are written in the
book of God's testimony. It has been "written that we might
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that
beheving we might have life through his name." '*
' Rom. iii. 19. "^ Eph. ii. i. ' John v. 24. * Rev. iii. 20.
^ Heb. xi. 27. « Heb. xii. 2. ' Heb. vi. 18. « i Pet. ii. 3.
" Rom. V. I. " Acts XV. 9. " i John v. 4.
*'^ Rom. v. 2. " Heb. xi. i. " John xx. 31.
172 THE DEITY OF CHRIST.
The Scriptures are not to be regarded as a storehouse of
facts, promises, and precepts, without relation or dependency ;
but a volume containing a collection of glorious truths, all
forming one great and well-balanced system. Every part of
revelation refers to. the Redeemer; and His earthly history is
the key by means of which its various announcements may
be illustrated and harmonized. In the theology of the New
Testament Christ is indeed the ''All in all." In addition to
many other illustrious titles which He bears, He is represented
as " the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the
world,"' "the End of the Law for righteousness to every
one that believeth,"* " the Head of the Church,"^ "the King
of kings,"* and "the Hope of glory."' During His public
ministry He performed miracles such as had been previously
understood to mark the peculiar energy of Omnipotence ; for
He opened the eyes of the blind;" He walked upon the
waves of the sea;' He made the storm a calm;' and he de-
clared to man what was His thought." In his capacity of
Saviour He exercises attributes which are essentially divine ;
as He redeems from all iniquity,'" and pardons sin," and sanc-
tifies the Church,'" and opens the heart,'^ and searches the
reins." Had Jesus of Nazareth failed to assert His divine
dignity, the credentials of His mission would have been in-
complete, for the Messiah of the Old Testament is no other
than the Monarch of the universe. Nothing can be more
obvious than that the ancient prophets invest Him with the
various titles and attributes of Deity. He is called " the
Lord,"" "Jehovah,"'" and "God";" He is represented as
the object of worship;" He is set forth as the King's Son
' John i. 29. ' Rom. x. 4. ' Eph. v. 23. * Rev. xvii. 14.
* Col. i. 27. " Ps. cxlvi. 8, compared with John ix. 32, 33.
' Job ix. 8, compared with Matt. xiv. 25.
* Ps. cvii. 29, compared with Luke viii. 24.
* Amos iv. 13, compared with Matt. xii. 25, and John ii. 24, 25.
'" Tit. ii. 14. " Mark ii. 5-10. •'- Eph. v. 26.
" Acts xvi. 14 ; Luke xxiv. 45 " Rev. ii. 23. " Mai. iii. 1.
" Isa. xl. 3, and vi. i, compared with John xii. 38-41.
" Isa. xl. 3, 9; Ps, xlv. 5. '" Ps. ii. 12.
THE DEITY OF CHRIST. I73
who shall daily be praised;" and He is exhibited as an Al-
mighty and Eternal Friend in whom all that put their trust
are blessed.''
During the public ministry of our Lord the Twelve were
not altogether ignorant of His exalted dignity ; ' and yet the
most decisive attestations to His Godhead occur after His
resurrection.* When the apostles surveyed the humble indi-
vidual with whom they were in daily intercourse, it is not
extraordinary that their faith faltered, and that their powers
of apprehension failed, as they pondered the prophecies relat-
ing to His advent. When they attempted closely to grapple
with the amazing truths there presented to their contempla-
tion, and thought of " the Word made flesh," well might they
be overwhelmed with a feeling of giddy and dubious wonder.
Even after the resurrection had illustrated so marvellously the
announcements of the Old Testament, the disciples still con-
tinued to regard them with a species of bewilderment ; and
our Saviour himself found it necessary to point out in detail
their meaning and their fulfilment. " Beginning at Moses and
all the prophets he expounded to them in all the Scriptures
the things concerning himself."^ The whole truth as to the
glory of His person now flashed upon their minds, and hence-
forth they do not scruple to apply to Him all the lofty titles
bestowed of old on the Messiah. The writers of the New
Testament say expressly that "Jesus is the Lord,'" and "God
blessed forever";' they describe believers as trusting in Him,*
as serving Him," and as calhng upon His name ; '" and they
tell of saints and angels uniting in the celebration of His
praise.'' Such testimonies amply illustrate their ideas of His
dignity.
1 Ps. Ixxii. 15.
* Ps. ii. 12, compared with Ps. cxlvi. 3, 5, and Isa. xxvi. 4.
^ John i. 49; Matt. xvi. 16, 17. * Such as John xx. 28, xxi. 17.
' Luke xxiv. 27. ° i Cor. xii. 3. ' Rom. ix. 5.
» Eph. i. 12, 13 ; Matt. xii. 21. ° Col. iii. 24.
1° Acts ix. 14; I Cor. i. 2.
•' Rev. V. 1 1-13. Though modern criticism has shaken the credit of some
passages usually quoted in support of the Deity of Christ, such as i Tim. iii,
16, it has discovered others equally strong not now in the received text.
174 THE ATONEMENT.
Divine incarnations were recognized in the heathen myth-
ology, so that the Gentiles could not well object to the doc-
trine of the assumption of our nature by the Son of God ;
but Christianity asserts its immense superiority to pagan-
ism in its account of the design of the union of humanity and
Deity in the person of the Redeemer. According to the
poets of Greece and Rome, the gods often adopted material
forms for the vilest of purposes : but the Lord of glory was
made partaker of our flesh and blood,' to satisfy the claims of
eternal justice, and purchase for us a happy and immortal in-
heritance. In the cross of Christ sin appears " exceedingly
sinful," and the divine law has been more signally honored by
His sufferings than if all men of all generations had forever
groaned under its chastisements. The Jewish ritual made the
apostles perfectly familiar with the doctrine of atonement ;
but they were " slow of heart to believe " that their Master
was Himself the Mighty Sacrifice represented in the types of
the Mosaic ceremonial.^ The evangelist informs us that He
expounded this subject after His resurrection, showing them
that " thus it behoved Christ to suffer." ' Still the crucifix-
ion of the Saviour was to multitudes a " rock of offence."
The ambitious Israelite, who expected the Messiah to go forth
conquering and to conquer, and make Palestine the seat of
universal empire, could not brook the thought that the Great
Deliverer was to die ; and the learned Greek, who looked upon
all religion with leering scepticism, was prepared to ridicule
the idea of the burial of the Son of God ; but the very circum-
stance which aroused such prejudices, suggested to those pos-
sessed of spiritual discernment discoveries of stupendous
grandeur. Justice demands the punishment of transgressors;
mercy pleads for their forgiveness ; holiness requires the ex-
ecution of God's threatenings ; goodness insists on the fulfil-
ment of His promises ; and all these attributes arc harmonized
See Lachmann's text of Col. ii. 2, and i Pet. iii. 15; and Trefrelles on John
i. 18, and his " Additions" to the 4th vol. of Home's " introduction," pp.
780-81, Loh.lon, i860. See also the Revised version of the New Testa-
ment.
' Heb. ii. 14. ^ Matt. xvi. 22. ' Luke xxiv. 46.
PREDESTINATION AND THE TRINITY. 1 75
in the doctrine of a Saviour sacrificed. God is " just, and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."' The Son of Man
"by His own blood obtained eternal redemption"^ for His
Church ; " mercy and truth meet together" in His expiation;
and His death is thus the central point to which the eye of
faith is now directed. Hence Paul says, " We preach Christ
crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the
Greeks foolishness ; but unto them which are called, both
Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God." '
The doctrine of the Apostolic Church is simple and con-
sistent, as well as spiritual and sublime. The way of redemp-
tion it discloses is not an extempore provision of Supreme
benevolence called forth by an unforeseen contingency, but a
plan devised from eternity, and fitted to display all the divine
perfections in most impressive combination. Whilst it recog-
nizes the voluntary agency of man, it upholds the sovereignty
of God. Jehovah graciously secures the salvation of every
heir of the promises by both contriving and carrying out all
the arrangements of the " well-ordered covenant." His
Spirit quickens the dead soul, and works in us " to will and to
do of his good pleasure." ^ " The Father hath chosen us in
Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and without blame before him in love ; having predes-
tinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us ac-
cepted in the Beloved." ^
The theological term Trinity was not in use in the days of
the apostles, but it does not follow that the doctrine so desig-
nated was then unknown ; for the New Testament clearly in-
dicates that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost exist in
the unity of the Godhead." Neither can it be inferred from
the absence of any fixed formula of doctrine that the early
followers of our Lord did not all profess the same sentiments,
for they had " one Lord, one faith, one baptism." ' The docu-
' Rom. iii. 26. "^ Heb. 'x. 12. ^ i Cor. i. 24, ■• Phil. ii. 13.
^ Eph. i. 4-6. " Matt, xxviii. 19 ; John x. 30, xv. 26. ' Eph. iv. 5.
1/6 BLESSEDNESS OF THE RIGHTEOUS.
ment commonly called " the Apostles' Creed " is certainly of
very great antiquity, but no part of it proceeded from those to
whom it is attributed by its title ; ' and its rather bald and
dry detail of facts and principles obviously betokens a decline
from the simple and earnest spirit of primitive Christianity.
Though the early converts, before baptism, made a declaration
of their faith,* there is in the sacred volume no authorized
summary of doctrinal belief; and in this fact we have a proof
of the far-seeing wisdom by which the New Testament was
dictated ; as heresy is ever changing its features, and a test
of orthodoxy, suited to the wants of one age, would not ex-
clude the errorists of another. It has been left to the exist-
ing rulers of the Church to frame such ecclesiastical symbols
as circumstances require ; and they are bound to search the
Scriptures that they may be prepared to grapple successfully
with errors as they appear.
It may be added that the doctrine of the Apostolic Church
is eminently practical. The great object of the mission of
Jesus was to ** save his people from their sins "; ' and the
tendency of all the teachings of the New Testament is to
promote sanctification. But the holiness of the Gospel is not
a shy asceticism which sits in a cloister in moody melancholy,
so that its light never shines before men ; but a generous con-
secration of the heart to God, which leads us to confess
Christ in the presence of gainsayers, and which prompts us to
delight in works of benevolence. The true Christian should
be happy as well as holy ; for the knowledge of the highest
truth is connected with the purest enjoyment. This "wisdom
is better than rubies, and all the things that maybe desired are
not to be compared to it."* The Apostle Paul, when a
prisoner at Rome, had comforts to which Nero was an utter
stranger. Even then he could say, " I have learned in what-
soever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how
to be abased, and I know how to abound ; everywhere and in
all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry
' See Bingham, iii. 323-327. * Acts viii. 37 ; i Pet. iii. 21.
* Matt. i. 21. * Prov. viii. 11.
BLESSEDNESS OF THE RIGHTEOUS. I//
both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through
Christ which strengtheneth me." ' When all around the be-
liever is dark and discouraging, there is sunshine in his soul.
There are no joys comparable to the joys of a Christian.
They are the gifts of the Spirit of God, and the first-fruits of
eternal blessedness ; they are serene and heavenly, solid and
satisfying.
' Phil. iv. 11-14.
CHAPTER III.
THE HERESIES OF THE APOSTOLIC AGE.
The Greek word translated heresy ^ in our authorized ver-
sion of the New Testament, did not primarily convey an un-
favorable idea. It simply denoted a choice or preference. It
was often employed to indicate the adoption of a particular
class of philosophical sentiments ; and thus it came to signify
a sect or doiomination. Hence we find ancient writers speak-
ing of the heresy of the Stoics, the heresy of the Epicureans,
and the heresy of the Academics. The Jews who used the
Greek language did not consider that the word necessarily
reflected on the party it was intended to describe ; and Jose-
phus, who was himself a Pharisee, accordingly discourses of
the three heresies of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the
Essenes.'' The Apostle Paul, when speaking of his own his-
tory prior to his conversion, says, that "after the strictest
heresy " of his religion he lived a Pharisee.* We learn, too,
from the book of the Acts, that the early Christians were
known as " the heresy of the Nazarenes." " But very soon
the word began .to be employed to denote something which
the Gospel could not sanction ; and accordingly, in the Epis-
tle to the Galatians, heresies are enumerated among the works
of the ilesh." It is not difficult to explain why Christian
writers at an early date were led to attach such a meaning to
a term which had hitherto been understood to imply nothing
' " Kifnaiq autem GraecC, ab electione dicitur : qu6cl scilicet earn sibi unus-
quisque eligat disciplinam, quam putat esse meliorem." — Hicrotiymus in
Epist. ad Galat. c. 5. See also TertuUian, " De Prsescrip." c. 6.
" " Life," § 2 ; " Antiq." xiii. 5, 9. ' Acts xxvi. 5.
* Acts xxiv. 5. ' Gal. v. 20.
(17S)
EARLY HERETICS. 1/9
reprehensible. The New Testament teaches us to regard an
erroneous theology as sinful, and traces every deviation from
" the one faith " of the Gospel to the corruption of a darkened
intellect.' It declares, *' He that believeth not is condemned
already^ because he hath not believed in the name of the only-
begotten Son of God ; and this is the condemnation, that
light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather
than light, because their deeds were evil.'' ^ The most ancient
ecclesiastical authors described all classes of unbelievers, scep-
tics, and innovators, under the general name of heretics. Per-
sons who in matters of religion made a false choice, of what-
ever kind, were viewed as " vainly puffed up by a fleshly
mind," or as under the influence of some species of mental
depravity.
Heresy, in the first century, denoted every deviation from
the Christian faith. Pagans and Jews, as well as professors
of apocryphal forms of the Gospel, were called heretics.' But
in the New Testament our attention is directed chiefly to
errorists who in some way disturbed the Church, and adulter-
ated the doctrine taught by our Lord and His apostles. Paul
refers to such characters when he says, " A man that is an her-
etic, after the first and second admonition, reject "; * and Peter
also alludes to them when he speaks of false teachers who
were to appear and " privily bring in damnable heresies." '
The earliest corrupters of the Gospel were unquestionably
those who endeavored to impose the observance of the Mosaic
law on the converted Gentiles. Their proceedings were con-
demned in the Council of Jerusalem, mentioned in the fifteenth
chapter of the Acts of the Apostles ; and Paul, in his letter to
the Galatians, subsequently exposed their infatuation. But
evangelical truth had more to fear from dilution with the
speculations of the Jewish and pagan literati.* The apostle
' Eph. iv. 17, 18; Col. i. 13. ' John iii. 18, 19.
' Mosheim has overlooked this fact, and has, in consequence, been be-
trayed into some false criticism when treating on this subject.
" Titus iii. 10. ' 2 Pet. ii. i.
* Every one acquainted with the works of Philo Judseus is aware that
Jewish literature was now largely impregnated with pagan philosophy.
I80 GNOSTICISM.
had this evil in view when he said to the Colossians, " Beware,
lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit,
after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the worlds
and not after Christ." ' He likewise emphatically attested
the danger to be apprehended from it when he addressed to
his own son in the faith the impassioned admonition, " O Tim-
othy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding pro-
fane and vain babblings, and oppositions of scicjice falsely so
called." ^
There is no reason to doubt that the ''science " or " phi-
losophy " of which Paul was so anxious that the disciples
.should beware, was the same which was afterward so well
known by the designation of Gnosticism. The second century
was the period of its most vigorous development ; and it then,
for a time, almost engrossed the attention of the Church ; but
it was already beginning to exert a pernicious influence, and
it is therefore noticed by the vigilant apostle. Whilst it ac-
knowledged, to a certain extent, the authority of the Christian
revelation, it also borrowed largely from Platonism ; and, in a
spirit of accommodation to the system of the Athenian sage,
it rejected some of the leading doctrines of the Gospel. Plato
never entertained the sublime conception of the creation of
all things out of nothing by the word of the Most High. He
held that matter is essentially evil, and that it is contaminat-
ing.' The false teachers who disturbed the Church in the
apostolic age adopted both these views ; and the errors which
they propagated, and of which the New Testament takes no-
tice, flowed from their unsound philosophy by direct and
necessary consequence. As a right understanding of certain
passages of Scripture depends on an acquaintance with their
system, it will here be expedient to advert somewhat more
particularly to a few of its pecuhar features.
The Gnostics alleged that the present world owes neither
its origin nor its arrangement to the Supreme God. They
maintained that its constituent parts have been always in ex-
' Col. ii. 8. ' I Tim. vi. 20.
' See Burton's " Inquiry into the Heresies of the Apostolic Age," pp. 314,
315. Also Mosheim's " Dissertation " appended to Cudworth, iii. 171.
GNOSTICISM. l8l
istence ; and that, as the great Father of Lights would have
been contaminated by contact with corrupt matter, the visible
frame of things was fashioned, without His knowledge, by an
inferior Intelligence. These principles derogated from the
glory of Jehovah. By ascribing to matter an independent and
eternal existence they impugned the doctrine of God's Omnip-
otent Sovereignty; and by representing it as regulated with-
out His sanction by a spiritual agent of a lower rank, they
denied His Universal Providence. The apostle, therefore,
felt it necessary to enter his protest against all such cosmogo-
nies. He declared that Jehovah alone, as Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost, existed from eternity ; and that all things spirit-
ual and material arose out of nothing in obedience to the
word of the second person of the Godhead, " By him," says
he, " were all things created, that are in heaven and that are in
earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or domin-
ions or principalities or powers ; all things were created by
him and for him, and he is before all things, and by him
all things consist T '
The philosophical system of the Gnostics also led them to
adopt false views respecting the body of Christ. As, accord-
ing to their theory, the Messiah came to deliver men from
the bondage of evil matter, they could not consistently ac-
knowledge that He himself inhabited an earthly tabernacle.
They refused to admit that our Lord was born of a human
parent ; and, as they asserted that He had a body only in ap-
pearance, or that His visible form as man was in reality a
phantom, they were at length known by the title of Docetae.
The Apostle John repeatedly attests the folly and the dan-
ger of such speculations. " The Word," says he, " was made
flesh and dwelt among us." .... Every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God." ....
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon,
and our hands have handled of the Word of Life, .... de-
clare we unto you." .... Many deceivers are entered into
' Col. i. 1 6, 17. '^ From (Ww, I appear.
' John i. 14. * I John iv. 3. =" i John i. 1-3.
1 82 DENIAL OF THE RESURRECTION.
the world who confess not that j^csus Christ is come in the
flesh." '
Reasoning from the prhiciple that evil is inherent in matter,
the Gnostics believed the union of the soul and the body to be
a calamity. According to their views the spiritual being can
never attain the perfection of which he is susceptible so long
as he remains connected with his present corporeal organiza-
tion. Hence they rejected the doctrine of the resurrection of
the body. When Paul asks the Corinthians, " How say some
among you that there is no resurrectfon of the dead ? " ' he
alludes to the Gnostic denial of this article of the Christian
theology. He also refers to the same circumstance when he
denounces the "profane and vain babblings" of those who
** concerning the truth " had erred, " saying that the resurrec-
tion is past already." ^ These heretics maintained that an in-
troduction to their Gliosis, or knowledge, was the only genuine
deliverance from the dominion of death ; and argued accord-
ingly that, in the case of those who had been initiated into the
mysteries of their system, the resurrection was " past already."
The ancient Christian writers concur in stating that Simon,
mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles," and commonly called
Simon Magus, was the father of the sects of the Gnostics.' He
was a Samaritan by birth, and after the rebuke he received
from Peter,' he is reported to have withdrawn from the Church
and to have concocted a theology of his own, into which he
imported some elements borrowed from Christianity. At a
subsequent period he travelled to Rome, where he attracted
attention by the novelty of his creed and the boldness of his
pretensions. Prior to his baptism by Philip, he "had used
sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that
himself was some great one "; ' and subsequently he pursued
a similar career. According to a very early authority, nearly
all the inhabitants of his native country, and a few persons in
other districts, worshipped him as the first or supreme God.'
'2 John 7. ''I Cor. XV. 12. » 2 Tim. ii. 16-18.
'Acts viii. 9. " Irenaeus, i. 23 ; Eusebius, ii. 13.
' Acts viii. 20-23. . ' Acts viii. 9.
•Justin Martyr, " Apol." ii. 69. Edit. Paris, 161 5.
TENDENCY OF GNOSTICISM. 1 83
There is, probably, some exaggeration in this statement ; but
there is no reason to doubt that he laid claim -to extraordinary-
powers, maintaining that the same spirit which had been im-
parted to Jesus, had descended on himself. He denied that
our Lord had a real body. Some, who did not enroll them-
selves under his standard, soon partially adopted his principles ;
and Hymenaeus, Philetus, Alexander, Phygellus, and Hermog-
enes, mentioned in the New Testament,' were all more or
less tinctured with the spirit of Gnosticism. Other heresiarchs,
not named in the sacred record, are known to have flourished
toward the close of the first century. Of these the most
famous were Carpocrates, Cerinthus, and Ebion." It is stated
that John's testimony to the dignity of the Word, in the be-
ginning of his Gospel, was designed as an antidote to the
errors of Cerinthus.^
When the Gospel exerts its proper influence on the charac-
ter it produces an enlightened, genial, and consistent piety;
but a false faith is apt to lead, in practice, to one of two ex-
tremes, either the asceticism of the Essene, or the sensualism
of the Sadducee. Gnosticism developed itself in both these
directions. Some of its advocates maintained that, as matter
is essentially evil, the corrupt propensities of the body should
be kept in constant subjection by a life of rigorous mortifica-
tion ; others held that, as the principle of evil is inherent in
the corporeal frame, the malady is beyond the reach of cure,
and that, therefore, the animal nature should be permitted
freely to indulge its peculiar appetites. To the latter party,
as some think, belonged the Nicolaitanes noticed by John in
the Apocalypse.* They are said to have derived their name
from Nicolas, one of the seven deacons ordained by the apos-
' I Tim. i. 20; 2 Tim. i. 15, ii. 17, iv. 14.
* Irenaeus, i. 25, 26 ; Tertullian, " De Praescrip. Haeret." 33 ; Epiphanius,
" Hasr." XXX. 2, Ixix. 23.
^ Irenaeus, iii. 11. The story that John, on meeting Cerinthus in a bath at
Ephesus, fled out of the place lest the building should fall on him, is a legend
unworthy the eharacter of the "Son of Thunder." Cerinthus was one of
the earliest millenarians. See Euseb. iii. 28.
*Rev. ii. 6, 15.
1 84 CONDEMNATION OF GNOSTICISM.
ties ; ' and to have been a class of Gnostics noted for their
licentiousness. The origin of the designation may admit of
some dispute ; but those to whom it was applied were alike
lax in principle and dissolute in practice, for the Spirit of God
has declared His abhorrence as well of the ^^ doctrine," as of
" the deeds of the Nicolaitanes." *
Though the Jews, in the time of our Lord, were so much
divided in sentiment, and though the Pharisees, the Saddu-
cees, and the Essenes had each their theological peculiarities,
their sectarianism did not involve any complete severance or
separation. Notwithstanding their differences of creed, the
Pharisees and Sadducees sat together in the Sanhedrim,' and
worshipped together in the temple. All the seed of Abraham
constituted one Church, and congregated in the same sacred
courts to celebrate the great festivals. In the Christian Church,
in the days of the apostles, there was something approaching
to the same outward unity. Though, for instance, there were
so many parties among the Corinthians — though one said, I
am of Paul, and another I am of Apollos, and another I am of
Cephas, and another I am of Christ — all assembled in the same
place to join in the same worship, and to partake of the same
Eucharist. Those who withdrew from the disciples with whom
they had been previously associated, generally relinquished
altogether the profession of Christianity.* Some, at least, of
the Gnostics acted very differently. When danger appeared
they were inclined to temporize, and to discontinue their at-
tendance on the worship of the Church ; but they were desir-
ous to remain still nominally connected with the great body of
believers.' Any form of alliance with such errorists was, however,
considered a cause of scandal ; and the inspired teachers of the
Gospel insisted on their exclusion from ecclesiastical fellow-
' Acts vi. 5. Others conceive, however, that the name Nicolaitanes is
equivalent to Balaamiles (as Balaam in Hebrew is nearly equivalent to Nicolas
in Greek, each word signifying Ruler, or Conqueror of the people), and that
the apostle does not here refer to any party already known by this designa-
tion, but to all who, like Balaam, were seducers o( God's people. See Ne-
ander, "General History," ii. 159. Edinburgh edition, 1847.
■■' Rev. ii. 6, 15. ^Acts x.xiii. t, 6.
M John ii. 19. 'Compare Judc 19, -I'ld Hcb. x. 25.
THE GOSPEL THE PUREST WISDOM. 1 85
ship. Hence Paul declares that he had delivered Hymenaeus
and Alexander " unto Satan," that they might learn " not to
blaspheme";' and John upbraids the Church in Pergamos be-
cause it retained in its communion " them that held the doc-
trine of the Nicolaitanes." ' During the first century the
Gnostics seem to have been unable to create anything like a
schism among those who had embraced Christianity. Whilst
the apostles lived, the " science, falsely so called," could not
pretend to a divine sanction ; and though here and there they
displayed considerable activity in the dissemination of their
principles, they were sternly and effectually discountenanced.
It is accordingly stated by one of the earliest ecclesiastical
writers that, in the time of Simeon of Jerusalem, who finished
his career in the beginning of the second century, " they called
the Church as yet a virgin, inasmuch as it was not yet corrupted
by vain discourses." ' Other writers concur in bearing testi-
mony to the fact that, whilst the apostles were on earth, false
teachers failed "to divide the unity " of the Christian common-
wealth, "by the introduction of corrupt doctrines."*
The Gospel affords scope for the healthful and vigorous
exercise of the human understanding, and it is itself the high-
est and purest wisdom. It likewise supplies a test for ascer-
taining the state of the heart. Those who receive it with faith
unfeigned will delight to meditate on its wonderful discover-
ies ; but those who are unrenewed in the spirit of their minds
will render to it only a doubtful submission, and will pervert its
plainest announcements. The apostle therefore says, "There
must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved
may be made manifest among you." ^ The heretic is made
manifest alike by his deviations from the doctrines and the
precepts of revelation. His creed does not exhibit the con-
> I Tim. i. 20. ''Rev. ii. 15.
'^ Hegesippus in Euseb. iv. 22. * Eusebius, iv. 22.
^i Cor. xi. 19. Augustine, after quoting this text, adds: "There are
many things pertaining to the catholic faith which, that we may defend
against the heretics who are restlessly and furiously discussing them, are at
once studied more diligently, understood more clearly, and preached more
zealously." — Ct/j of Cod, xvi. 2.
1 86 THE GOSPEL THE PUREST WISDOM.
sistency of truth, and his life fails to display the beauty of
holiness. Bible Christianity is neither superstitious nor scepti-
cal, neither austere nor sensual. " The wisdom that is from
above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be en-
treated, full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and
without hypocrisy." *
'James iii. 17.
SECTION III.
THE WORSHIP AND CONSTITUTION OF THE APOSTOLIC
CHURCH.
CHAPTER I.
THE lord's day — THE WORSHIP OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH
— ITS SYMBOLIC ORDINANCES AND ITS DISCIPLINE.
To the primitive disciples the day on which our Lord rose
from the grave was a crisis of intense excitement. The cru-
cifixion had cast a dismal cloud over their prospects ; for, im-
mediately before, when Jesus entered Jerusalem amidst the
hosannas of the multitude, they probably anticipated the es-
tablishment of His sovereignty as the Messiah : yet, when
His body was committed to the tomb, they did not at once
sink into despair ; and, though filled with anxiety, they vent-
ured to indulge a hope that the third day after His demise
would be signalized by some new revelation.' The report of
those who were early at the sepulchre at first inspired the res-
idue of the disciples with wonder and perplexity ; ^ but, as the
proofs of His resurrection multiplied, they became confident
and joyful. Ever afterward the first day of the week was
observed by them as the season of holy convocation." Those
members of the Apostolic Church who had been originally
Jews, continued for some time to meet together also on the
Saturday ; but what was called " The Lord's Day," * was re-
garded by all as sacred to Christ.
' Luke xxiv. 21. '' Luke xxiv, 17, 22, 23. ' Acts xx. 7.
* Rev. i, 10, f/ KvpLaKTi Tjjiepa. The day was ever afterward distinguished
by this designation. See a letter from Dionysius of Corinth in Eusebius,
(187)
I 88 TPIE SABBATH.
It has often been asserted that, during His own ministry,
our Saviour encouraged His disciples to violate the Sabbath,
and thus prepared the way for its abolition. But this theory
is as destitute of foundation as it is dangerous to morality.
Even the ceremonial law continued binding till Jesus expired
upon the cross ; and He felt it to be His duty to attend to every
jot and tittle of its appointments.' Thus it became Him " to
fulfil all righteousness." ' He is at pains to show that the acts
of which the Pharisees complained as breaches of the Sab-
bath could be vindicated by Old Testament authority;' and
that these formalists " condemned the guiltless^' ' when they
denounced the disciples as doing that which was unlawful.
Jesus never transgressed either the letter or the spirit of any
commandment pertaining to the holy rest ; but superstition
had added to the written law a multitude of minute observ-
ances ; and every Israelite was at perfect liberty to neglect
any or all of these frivolous regulations.
The Great Teacher never intimated that the Sabbath was a
ceremonial ordinance to cease with the Mosaic ritual. ^ It was
instituted when our first parents were in Paradise ; ^ and the
precept enjoining its remembrance, being a portion of the
Decalogue,' is of perpetual obligation. Hence, instead of re-
garding it as a merely Jewish institution, Christ declares that
it " was made for MAN," ' or, in other words, that it was de-
signed for the benefit of the whole human family. Instead of
anticipating its extinction along with the ceremonial law, He
speaks of its existence after the downfall of Jerusalem. When
He announces the calamities connected with the ruin of the
holy city. He instructs His followers to pray that the urgency
of the catastrophe may not deprive them of the comfort of the
ordinances of the sacred rest. " Pray ye," said he, " that your
iv. 23. See also Kaye's " Clement of Alexandria," p, 418. The first day of
the week is called "the Christian Sabbath " in the Ethinpic version of the
" Apostolical Constitutions." See Piatt's " Didascalia," p. 99. But these
Constitutions are of comparatively late origin,
' Matt. V. 17-19. 5 Matt. iii. 15.
' Matt. xii. 3-5 ; Mark ii. 25, 26. * Matt. xii. 7.
• Gen. ii. 3. • Exod. xx. 1-17. ' Mark ii. 27.
THE lord's day. 1 89
flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath-day." ' And
the prophet Isaiah, when describing the ingathering of the
Gentiles and the glory of the Church in the times of the Gos-
pel, mentions the keeping of the Sabbath as characteristic of
the children of God. " The sons of the stranger," says he,
" that join themselves to the Lord to serve him, and to love
the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keep-
eth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my cov-
enant— even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and
make them joyful in my house of prayer ; their burnt-offer-
ings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar :^
for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all
peopled '
But when Jesus declared that " the Son of Man is Lord also
of the Sabbath,"^ He unquestionably asserted His right to
alter the circumstantials of its observance. He accordingly
abolished its ceremonial worship, gave it a new name, and
changed the day of its celebration. He signalized the first
day of the week by then appearing once and again to His dis-
ciples after His resurrection,* and by that Pentecostal outpour-
ing of the Spirit ° which marks the commencement of a new
era in the history of redemption. As the Lord's day was
' Matt. xxiv. 20. 2 See Heb. xiii. 10, 15, 16 ; Ps. li. 17.
* Isa. Ivi. 6, 7. Compare with Isa. ii. 2. * Mark ii. 28.
■* John XX. 19, 26. According to the current style of speaking, " after
eight days " means iAe eighth day after. See Matt, xxvii. 63.
° Acts ii. I. That the day of Pentecost was the first day of the week
appears from Lev. xxiii. 11, 15. The same inference may be drawn from
John xviii. 28, and xix. 31, compared with Lev. xxiii. 5, 6. See also SchafT's
" History of the Apostolic Church," i. p. 230, note, and the authorities there
quoted. " The day of Pentecost, on whatever day of the week it fell, was
a Sabbath, Lev. xxiii. 21. So here, on the very day of the commemoration
or the promulgation of the old law, we have also the promulgation of the
new, which v^'e may consider as the virtual repeal of the temporary part of
the old — as the substitution of the new for the old dispensation — here, on
this very day, we have the Lord's Day and the Sabbath combined togeth-
er." " Scripture Account of the Sabbath," by Archdeacon Stopford, p.
220. London, 1837.
IQO THE LORD S DAY.
consecrated to the Lord's service/ the disciples did not now
neglect the assembling of themselves together ;" and the apos-
tle commanded them at this holy season to set apart a portion
of their gains for religious purposes.' It was most fitting that
the first day of the week should be thus distinguished under
the new economy ; for the deliverance of the Church is a
more illustrious achievement than the formation of the world ;*
and as the primeval Sabbath commemorated the rest of the
Creator, the Christian Sabbath reminds us of the completion
of the work of the Redeemer. " There remaineth, therefore,
the keeping of a Sabbath ' to the people of God, for he that
is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own
works, as God did from his." °
As many of the converts from Judaism urged the circum-
cision of their Gentile brethren, they were likewise disposed
to insist on their observance of the Hebrew festivals. The
apostles, at least for a considerable time, did not deem it ex-
pedient positively to forbid the keeping of such days ; but
they required that, in matters of this nature, every one should
be left to his own discretion. "One man," says Paul, " es-
teemeth one day above another; another esteemeth every
day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own
mind."' The Lord's day is not included in this compromise;
for from the morning of the resurrection there was no dispute
as to its claims, and its very title attests the general recogni-
tion of its authority. The apostle can refer only to days
which were typical and ceremonial. Hence he says elsewhere,
" Let no man judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect
' In the same way the Eucharist is called the Lord's Supper : KvpioK^
6fiKvni' (i Cor. xi. 20). Thus also we speak of the Lord's house and the
Lord's people.
» Heb. X. 25. ^ I Cor. xvi. i, 2. * Isa. Ixv. 17, 18.
* lafifiaTta/dg. See Owen " On the Hebrews," iv. 9.
• Heb. iv. 9, 10. " As that rest, which all the world was to observe, was
founded in the works and rest of Him who built or made the world, and all
things in it; so the rest of the Church of the Gospel is to be founded in the
works and rest of Him by whom the Church itself was built, that is, Jesus
Christ." — Given.
' Rom. xiv. 5.
WORSHIP OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH. I91
of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days —
which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ!' *
Though the New Testament furnishes no full and circum-
stantial description of the worship of the Christian Church, it
makes such incidental allusions to its various parts as enable
us to form a pretty accurate idea of its general character.
Like the worship of the synagogue,'^ it consisted of prayer,
praise, reading the Scriptures, and expounding or preaching.
Those who joined the Church, for several years after it was
first organized, were almost exclusively converts from Juda-
ism, and when they embraced the Christian faith, they retained
the order of religious service to which they had been hitherto
accustomed ; but by the recognition of Jesus Christ as the
Messiah of whom the law and the prophets testified, their old
forms were inspired with new life and significance. At first
the heathen did not challenge the distinction between the
worship of the synagogue and the Church ; and thus it was,
as has already been intimated, that for a considerable portion
of the first century, the Christians and the Jews were frequently
confounded.
It has often been asserted that the Jews had a liturgy when
our Lord ministered in their synagogues; but the proof ad-
duced in support of this statement is far from satisfactory;
and their prayers, which are still extant, and which are said to
have been then in use, must obviously have been written after
the destruction of Jerusalem." It is, however, certain that the
» Col. ii. 16, 17.
2 The ordinary temple service was peculiar. It was, to a great extent,
ceremonial and typical, consisting largely of sacrificing, burning incense,
and offering various oblations. The worshippers often prayed apart. See
Luke i. 10, xviii. 10, 11. But all the ordinances of the temple — such as the
reading of the law — were not ceremonial.
^ See these eighteen prayers in Prideaux's " Connexions," i. 375, and note.
Bingham admits (Grig. iv. 194) that these words were their " most ancient "
forms of devotion ; and, of course, if they were written after the fall of Jeru-
salem, it follows that the Jews had no liturgy in the days of our Lord. Had
they then been limited to fixed forms. He would scarcely have upbraided
the Scribes and Pharisees for hypocritically "making long prayer." Matt,
xxiii. 14.
192 PRAYER.
Christians in the apostolic age were not restricted to any par-
ticular forms of devotion. The liturgies ascribed to Mark,
James, and others, are unquestionably the fabrications of later
times ;' and had any of the inspired teachers of the Gospel
composed a book of common prayer, it would have been re-
ceived into the canon of the New Testament. Our Lord
taught His disciples to pray, and supplied them with a model
to guide them in their devotional exercises f but there is no
evidence whatever that, in their stated services, they constantly
employed the language of that beautiful and comprehensive
formulary. The very idea of a liturgy was altogether alien to
the spirit of the primitive believers. They were commanded
to give thanks " in everything," ' to pray " always wii/z all
prayer and supplication in the spirit,"^ and to watch thereunto
" with all perseverance and supplication for all saints "/ ' and
had they been limited to a form, they would have found it
impossible to comply with these admonitions. ' Their prayers
were dictated by the occasion, and varied according to pass-
ing circumstances. Some of them which have been recorded,'
had a special reference to the occurrences of the day, and
could not have well admitted of repetition. In the apostolic
age, when the Spirit was poured out in such rich effusion on the
Church, the gift, as well as the grace, of prayer was imparted
abundantly, so that a liturgy would have been superfluous, if
not directly calculated to freeze the genial current of devo-
tion.
Singing, in which — as some contend — none but Levites
were permitted to unite, ^ and which was accompanied by in-
strumental music, constituted, at least from the days of David,
a part of the ritual of Jewish worship. The singers occupied
an elevated platform adjoining the court of the priests;* and
the sounds of cymbals, psalteries, and harps, mingled with
' See Palmer's " Origines Liturgicas," i. pp. 44-92 ; and Clarkson's "Dis-
course concerning Liturgies "; " Select Works," p. 342.
« Matt. vi. 9-13. M Thess. v. 18. * Eph. vi. 18.
• Eph. vi. 18. • Acts i. 24, 25, iv. 24-30.
'' See Lightfoot's '•' Temple Service," ch. vii., sec. i, " Works," ix. 56.
• Lightfoot's "Prospect of the Temple," ch. xxxiiii., " Works," ix. 384.
THE SCRIPTURES AND THE GIFT OF TONGUES. I93
their well-trained voices, must have exercised a thrilling influ-
ence,' But the early Christians — constantly depressed by per-
secution, and often obliged to hold their religious assemblies
in some secluded spot at dead of night — could not think of at-
tempting to emulate such a magnificent service of praise.
These were the days of darkness, predicted by the Great
Bridegroom,'' when they were to fast and mourn, and when
they could make no provision for the embellishments of artis-
tic melody. It is not, therefore, strange that instrumental
music was not heard in their congregational services.
The Jews divided the Pentateuch and the writings of the
Prophets into sections, one of which was read every Sabbath
in the synagogue ; ^ and thus, in the place set apart to the serv-
ice of the God of Israel, His own will was constantly pro-
claimed. The Christians bestowed equal honor on the holy
oracles ; for in their solemn assemblies, the reading of the
Scriptures of the Old and New Testament formed part of their
stated worship.' At the close of this exercise, one or more of
the elders edified the congregation, either by giving a general
exposition of the passage read, or by insisting particularly on
some point of doctrine or duty which it obviously inculcated.
If a prophet was present, he, too, had an opportunity of ad-
dressing the auditory.^
As apostolic Christianity aimed to impart light to the un-
derstanding, its worship was uniformly conducted in the lan-
guage of the people. It, indeed, attested its divine origin by
miracles, and it accordingly enabled some to speak in tongues
in which they had never been instructed ; but it permitted
such individuals to exercise their gifts in the church, only when
interpreters were present to translate their communications."
' The Rabbins report that the sound of the temple service could be heard
at Jericho ; but this is obviously an absurd exaggeration.
'^ Mark ii. 20. » Luke iv. 16, 17. " Col. iv, 16 ; i Thess. v. 27.
* I Cor. xiv. 29. Only two or three persons were permitted to speak at a
meeting. By him that"sitteth by" (verse 30), a doctor or teacher is
meant. See Vitringa, " De Synagoga," p. 600, and Matt. v. i.
' I Cor. xiv. 27. The gift of" interpretation of tongues" (i Cor. xii. 10)
was quite as wonderful as the gift of "divers kinds of tongues " (i Cor.
xii. 10).
13
194 INFANT BAPTISM.
Whilst the gift of tongues, possessed by so many of the
primitive disciples, attracted the attention of the Gentile
as well as of the Jewish literati, it also made a powerful
impression on the popular mind, especially in large cities ; for
in such places there were always foreigners to whom these
strange utterances were perfectly intelligible, and for whom
a discourse delivered in the speech of their native country had
peculiar charms. But in the worship of the primitive Chris-
tians, the arrangements were of the most simple character. In
their depressed condition, they often conducted their services
under circumstances of extreme discomfort. For the whole
of the first century they celebrated their religious ordinances
in private houses,' and their ministers officiated in their ordi-
nary costume. John, the forerunner of our Saviour, " had his
raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins ";'
but perhaps few of the early Christian preachers were arrayed
in such coarse canonicals.
The Founder of the Christian religion instituted only two
symbolic ordinances — Baptism and the Lord's Supper.' It is
universally admitted that, in the apostolic age, baptism was
dispensed to all who embraced the Gospel ; but it has been
much disputed whether it was also administered to the infant
children of the converts. The testimony of Scripture on the
subject is not very explicit, for, as the ordinance was in com-
mon use among the Jews,* a minute description of its mode
and subjects was deemed unnecessary by the apostles and
evangelists. When an adult heathen was received into the
Church of Israel, it is well known that the little children of
' I Cor. xvi. 19; Col. iv. 15; Philem. 2. " Matt. iii. 4.
^ The rite of confirmation, as now practiced, has no sanction in the New
Testament. The " baptisms " and " laying on of hands," mentioned Heb.
vi. 2, are obviously the "divers washings" of the Jews, and the imposition of
hands ott the heads of victims. The laying on of the apostles' hands con-
ferred miraculous gifts. Had the apostle referred to Christian baptism in
Heb. vi. 2, he would have used the singular number.
^ Lightfoot affirms that the use of baptism among the Israelites was as
ancient as the days of Jacob. He appeals in support of this view to Gen
XXXV. 2. " Works," iv. 278.
INFANT BAPTISM. I95
the proselyte were admitted along with him ; ' and as the
Christian Scriptures noxvhcre forbid the dispensation of the
rite to infants, it may be presumed that the same practice was
observed by the primitive ministers of the Gospel. This in-
ference is emphatically corroborated by the fact that, of the
comparatively small number of passages in the New Testa-
ment which treat of its administration, no less than five refer
to the baptism of whole households." These five cases are not
mentioned as rare or peculiar, but as ordinary specimens of
the niethod of apostolic procedure. It is not, indeed, abso-
lutely certain that there was an infant in any of these five
households ; but it is, unquestionably, much more probable
that they contained a fair proportion of little children, than
that every individual in each of them had arrived at years of
maturity, and that all these adults, without exception, at once
participated in the faith of the head of the family, and became
candidates for baptism.
In the New Testament faith is represented as the grand
qualification for baptism ; ' but this principle obviously applies
only to all who are capable of believing; for, in the Word of
God, faith is also represented as necessary to salvation,* and
yet it is generally conceded that little children may be saved.
Under the Jewish dispensation infants were circumcised, and
were thus recognized as interested in the divine favor, so that,
if they be excluded from the rite of baptism, it follows that
they occupy a worse position under a milder and more glorious
economy. But the New Testament forbids us to adopt such
an inference. It declares that infants should be " suffered to
come " to the Saviour ; ' it indicates that baptism supplies the
place of circumcision, for it connects the Gospel institution
' Lightfoot's "Works," iv. 409, 410. Edit. London, 1822.
^ Acts X. 2, 44-48, xvi. 15, 33, xviii. 8 ; I Cor. i. 16.
' Acts viii. 37. * Mark xvi. 16 ; John iii. 18.
^Matt. xix. 14; Luke xviii. 15. In the New Testament children are de-
scribed as uniting with their Christian parents in prayer (Acts xxi. 5).
Were not these children baptized ? They were, no doubt, brought up " in
the tmrture and admonition of the Lord " (Eph. vi. 4).
196 MODE OF BAPTISM.
with "the circumcision of Christ";' it speaks of children as
" saints," and as " in the Lord," ' and, therefore, as having re-
ceived some visible token of Church membership ; and it as-
sures them that their sins are forgiven them " for His name's
sake." ' The New Testament does not record a single case in
which the offspring of Christian parents were admitted to bap-
tism on arriving at years of intelligence ; but it tells of the
apostles exhorting the men of Judea to repent and to submit
to the ordinance, inasmuch as it was a privilege proffered to
them and to their children!' Nay, more, Paul plainly teaches
that the seed of the righteous are entitled to the recognition
of saintship, and that, even when only one of the parents is a
Christian, the offspring do not on that account forfeit their ec-
clesiastical inheritance. " The unbelieving husband," says he,
" is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sancti-
fied by the husband, else were your children unclean, but noiv
are they holyT * This passage demonstrates that the Apostolic
Church recognized the holiness of infants, or, in other words,
that it admitted them to baptism.
The Scriptures furnish no very specific instructions as to the
mode of baptism, and, in its administration, the primitive
heralds of the Gospel did not adhere to a system of rigid uni-
formity." Some have asserted that the Greek word translated
baptise,'' in our authorized version, always signifies immerse,
but it has been clearly shown * that this statement is inaccu-
' Col. ii. II, 12, 13. ' Col. i. 2, iii. 20; Eph. vi. i, 4.
•i John ii. 12. *Acts ii. 38, 39.
* I Cor. vii, 14. The absurdity of the interpretation according to which
holy is here made to signify te_e;itimate, is well exposed by Dr. Wilson in
his treatise on " Infant Baptism," p. 513. London, 1848. Such passages
as Levit. xxl. 7-9, and xxii. 11, 12, illustrate the meaning of the words
quoted in the text,
'This would, indeed, have been almost, if not altogether, impossible.
They would act differently at the river Jordan and in such a place as
the jail at Philippi. ' Ba^rWC'.'.
" Dr. Wilson has demonstrated the incorrectness of Dr. Carson's state-
ments on this subject. See his " Infant Baptism," p. 96. If, as some think,
when the apostle speaks of those " baptized for the dead " (l Cor. xv. 29),
he refers to those defiled by coming in contact with a dead body or a grave
(see lumbers xiv.), and sprinkled, in order to purification, with the ashes
of the red heifer, he makes sprinkling to be a form of baptism.
THE lord's supper. I97
rate, and that baptism does not necessarily imply dipping. In
ancient times, and in the lands where the apostles labored,
bathing was as frequently performed hy affusion as immersion,'
and the apostles varied their method of baptizing according to
circumstances." The ordinance was intended to convey the
idea of washing or purifying, and it is obvious that water may
be applied, in many ways, as the means of ablution. In the
sacred volume sprinkling is often spoken of as equivalent to
washing^
As baptism was designed to supersede the Jewish circum-
cision, the Lord's Supper was intended to occupy the place of
the Jewish Passover.* The Paschal lamb could be sacrificed
nowhere except in the temple of Jerusalem, and the Passover
was kept only once a year ; but the Eucharist could be dis-
pensed wherever a Christian congregation was collected ; and at
this period it seems to have been often observed on the first
day of the week, at least by the more zealous and devout wor-
shippers.^ The wine, as well as the other element, was given
to all who joined in its celebration ; and the title of the " Break-
ing of Bread^' ' one of the names by which the ordinance was
originally distinguished, supplies evidence that the doctrine of
transubstantiation was utterly unknown. The word Sacra-
ment, as applied to Baptism and the Holy Supper, was not in
use in the days of the apostles, and the subsequent introduc-
' Wilson's "Infant Baptism," p. 157. In Titus iii. 5, 6, there is some-
thing like a reference to this mode of baptism : " The washing of regenera-
tion and renewing of the Holy Ghost which he shed (or poured out) on us
abundantly." Ob h^kxeev k(f r/fiag ■kTiovoluq. Many of the ancient baths were
adapted only for affusion. The " Baptisterium is not a bath sufficiently
large to immerse the whole body, but a vessel or labrum containing cold
water for pouring on the head." — Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman
Antiquities. Art. Baths. The name of this vessel demonstrates that, in
ancient times, baptizing did not necessarily imply dipping or immersion.
See, also, Muir's "Life of Mahomet," iv. 261.
■^ In some cases, as at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, they had not
the means of immersing their converts. See also Acts x. 47. The text,
John iii. 23, indicates the difficulty of baptizing by dipping.
^ Isa. Hi. 15 : Ezek. xxxvi. 25 ; i Pet. i. 2 ; fieb. ix. 10, 21, 22 ; Rev. i. 5.
* I Cor. V. 7, 8. ^ Acts xx. 7. * Acts xx. 7 ; i Cor. x. 16.
iqS the lord's supper.
tion of a new nomenclature/ contributed to throw an air of
mystery around these institutions. The primitive disciples
considered the elements employed in them simply as signs and
seals of spiritual blessings ; and they had no more idea of re-
garding the bread in the Eucharist as the real body of our
Saviour, than they had of believing that the water of baptism
is the very blood in which He washed His people from their
sins. They knew that they enjoyed the light of His counte-
nance* in prayer, in meditation, and in the hearing of His
Word, and that He was only spiritually present in these sym-
bolic ordinances.
Whilst, in the Lord's Supper, believers hold fellowship with
Christ, they also maintain and exhibit their communion with
each other. " We, being many," says Paul, " are one bread
and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread." *
Those who joined together in the observance of this holy in-
stitution were thereby pledged to mutual love ; but every one
who acted in such a way as to bring reproach upon the Chris-
tian name, was no longer admitted to the sacred table. Paul
refers to exclusion from this ordinance, as well as from inti-
mate civil intercourse, when he says to the Corinthians, " I
have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that
is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater,
or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner ; with such an one
no not to eat." ^
In the synagogue all cases of discipline were decided by the
bench of elders ; ' and it is plain, from the New Testament,
that those who occupied a corresponding position in the
Christian Church, exercised similar authority. They are de-
scribed as having the oversight of the flock,' as bearing rule,*
as watching for souls,' and as taking care of the Church of
' It was in use before the end of the second century. See Kaye's " Ter-
tullian," pp. 431,451.
- I Cor. X. 17. ' I Cor. v. 1 1.
* See Lightfoot's "Works," iii. 242, and xi. 179. Vitringa, " De Syna-
goga." p. 550.
' Acts XX. 28. ' Heb. xiii. 17. ' Heb. xiii. 17.
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. I99
God.' They are instructed how to deal with offenders," and
they are said to be entitled to obedience.^ Such representa-
tions imply that they were intrusted with the administration
of ecclesiastical discipline.
This account of the functions of the spiritual rulers has by
some been considered inconsistent with several statements in
the apostolic epistles. It has been alleged that, according to
these letters, the administration of discipline was vested in
the whole body of the people ; and that originally the mem-
bers of the Church, in their collective capacity, exercised the
right of excommunication. The language of Paul, in reference
to a case of scandal which occurred among the Christians of
Corinth, has been often quoted in proof of the democratic
character of their ecclesiastical constitution. " It is reported
commonly," says the apostle, " that there is fornication among
you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among
the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife
Therefore/?// azvay from among yourselves that ivicked pcrsony *
The admonition was obeyed, and the application of discipline
produced a most salutary impression on the mind of the of-
fender. In his next letter the apostle accordingly alludes to
this circumstance, and observes : " Sufficient to such a man is
this punishment, which was inflicted of many." ^ These words
have been frequently adduced to show that the government
of the Corinthian Church was administered by the whole body
of the communicants.
The various statements of Scripture, if rightly understood,
exactly harmonize, and a closer investigation of the case of
this transgressor is all that is required to prove that he was
not tried and condemned by a tribunal composed of the whole
mass of the members of the Church of Corinth. His true his-
tory reveals facts of a very different character. For reasons
which it would, perhaps, be now in vain to hope fully to ex-
plore, he was a favorite among his fellow-disciples ; many of
them, prior to their conversion, had been grossly licentious ;
' I Tim. iii. 5. * i Tim. v. 19, 20, ^ Heb. xiii. 17.
* I Cor. V. I, 13. '2 Cor. ii. 6.
200 CHURCH DISCIPLIxVE.
and they continued to regard certain lusts of the flesh with an
eye of comparative indulgence/ Some of them probably con-
sidered the conduct of this offender as only a legitimate exer-
cise of his Christian liberty ; and manifested a strong inclina-
tion to shield him from ecclesiastical censure. Paul, therefore,
felt it necessary to address them in the language of indignant
expostulation. " Ve arc puffed up,'' says he, " and have not
rather mourned that he that hath done this deed might be
taken away from among you Your glorying is not good.
Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump } " *
At the same time, as an apostle bound to vindicate the repu-
tation of the Church, and to enforce the rules of ecclesiastical
discipline, he solemnly announces his determination to have
the offender excommunicated. " I verily," says he, " as absent
in body, but present in spirit, have judged AtQdidy as though I
were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, whett ye are gathered to-
gether, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
to deliver such an o?ie unto Satan for the destruction of the
flesh, that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord
Jesus." ' To deliver any one to Satan is to expel him from
the Church — for whoever is not in the Church is in the wor d,
and " the whole world lieth in the Wicked one." * This dis-
cipline was designed to teach the fornicator to mortify his
lusts, and it thus aimed at the promotion of his highest inter-
ests ; or, as the apostle expresses it, he was to be excommuni-
cated " for the destruction of the flesh,' that the spirit might
be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."
The Church of Corinth was now in a state of great disorder.
' See Period I., section i., chap v., p. 78. " i Cor. v. 2, 6.
' I Cor. V. 3-5. ■* I John v. 19, ' r*;; novr^p^
" In the above passage respecting delivering unto Satan there is, per-
haps, a reference to Job. ii. 6, 7, and it may be that some bodily affliction
rested on the offender. In that case there was here an exercise of super-
natural power on the part of Paul. According to Terluilian, to deliver to
Satan was simply to excommunicate. " De ceteris dixit qui illis traditis
Satanas, id est, extra ecclesiam projectis, erudiri habcrent blasi)licmandum
non esse." — De Pudicitia, c. xiii.
CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 201
A partisan spirit had crept in among its members ; * and it is
probable that those elders* who were anxious to maintain
wholesome discipline were opposed and overborne. The for-
nicator had in some way contrived to make himself so popular
that an attempt at his expulsion would, it was feared, throw
the whole society into hopeless confusion. Under these cir-
cumstances Paul felt it necessary to interpose, to assert his
apostolic authority, and to insist on the maintenance of eccle-
siastical order. Instead, however, of consulting the people as
to the course to be pursued, he peremptorily delivers \{\'s,judg-
ment, and requires them to hold a solemn assembly that they
may listen to the public announcement ' of a sentence of ex-
communication. He, of course, expected that their rulers
would concur with him in this decision, and that one of them
would officially publish it when they were " gathered together."
When the case is thus stated, it is easy to understand why
the apostle required all the disciples to '' put away " from
among themselves " that wicked person." Had they continued
to cherish the spirit they had recently displayed, they might
either have encouraged the fornicator to refuse submission to
the sentence, or have rendered it comparatively powerless.
He therefore reminds them that they too should seek to pro-
mote the purity of ecclesiastical fellowship; and that they
were bound to co-operate in carrying out a righteous disci-
pline. They were to cease to recognize this fallen disciple as
a servant of Christ ; to withdraw themselves from his society ;
to decline to meet him on the same terms, as heretofore, in
' I Cor. i. II, 12.
^ That the Church of Corinth at this time was organized in the same way
as other Christian communities is evident from various allusions in the first
epistle. See i Cor. iv. 15, vi. 5, xii. 27, 28. Crispus, mentioned Acts xviii.
8, was, no doubt, one of the eldership. There is a reference to the elders
in I Cor. xiv. 30. See Vitringa, " De Synagoga," p. 600.
^ In the apostolic age, censures were pronounced in presence of the whole
church. See i Tim. v. 20. It is to be noted that Paul himself does not
excommunicate the offender. He merely delivers his apostolic judgment
that the thing should be done, and calls upon the Corinthians to do it ; but
he expects them to proceed in due order, the rulers and the people perform-
ing their respective parts. •
202 CHURCH DISCIPLINE.
social intercourse ; and not even to eat in his company. Thus
would the reputation of the Church be vindicated ; for in this
way it would be immediately known to all who were without
that he was no longer considered a member of the brotherhood.
The Corinthians were awakened to a sense of duty by this
apostolic letter, and acted up to its instructions. The result
was most satisfactory. When the offender saw that he was
cut off from the Church, and that its members avoided his so-
ciety, he was completely humbled. The sentence of the apos-
tle, or the eldership, if opposed or neglected by the people,
might have produced little impression ; but " the punishment
which was inflicted of many " — the immediate and entire
abandonment of all connection with him by the disciples at
Corinth— overwhelmed him with shame and terror. He felt
as a man smitten by the judgment of God ; he renounced his
sin ; and exhibited the most unequivocal tokens of genuine
contrition. In due time he was restored to Church fellowship ;
and the apostle then exhorted his brethren to readmit him to
intercourse, and to treat him with kindness and confidence.
" Ye ought," says he, " rather to forgive him and comfort him,
lest perhaps such an one should be swallowed up with over-
much sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you that ye would con-
firm your love toward him." '
This case of the Corinthian fornicator has been recorded for
the admonition and guidance of believers in all generations.
It teaches that every member of a Christian Church is bound
to use his best endeavors to promote a pure communion ;
and that he is not guiltless if, prompted by mistaken charity
or considerations of selfishness, he is not p.epared to co-oper-
ate in the exclusion of false brethren. Many an immoral
minister has maintained his position, and has thus continued
^ * 2 Cor. ii. 7, 8. The mode of proceeding here indicated is illustrated by
what took place in the Church of Rome about the middle of the third cent-
ury. There certain penitents first appeared before the presbytery to ex-
press their contrition, and then it was arranged that " this whole proceeding
should be communicated to the people, that they might see tliose established
in the Church, whom they had so long seen and mourned wandering and
straying." — Cyprian, Epist, .xlvi., p. 136. Edit. Baluzius, Venice, 1728.
EXCOMMUNICATION. 20$
to bring discredit on the Gospel, simply because those who had
witnessed his misconduct were induced to suppress their testi-
mony ; and many a church court has been prevented from
enforcing discipline by the clamors or intimidation of an ig-
norant and excited congregation. The command, " Put away
from among yourselves that wicked person," is addressed to
the people, as well as to the ministry ; and all Christ's disciples
should feel that, in vindicating the honor of His name, they
have a common interest, and share a common responsibility.
Every one can not be a member of a church court ; but every
one can aid in the preservation of church discipline. He may
supply information, or give evidence, or encourage a healthy
tone of public sentiment, or assist, by petition or remon-
strance, in quickening the zeal of lukewarm judicatories.
And discipline is never so influential as when it is known to
be sustained by the approving verdict of a pious and intelli-
gent community. The punishment " inflicted of many" — the
withdrawal of the confidence and countenance of a whole
church — is a most impressive admonition to a proud sinner.
In the apostolic age the sentence of excommunication had
a very different significance from that which was attached to
it at a subsequent period. Our Lord pointed out its import
with equal precision and brevity when He said, " If thy
brother .... neglect to hear the church,' let him be unto
thee as an heathen man and a publican." ' The Israelites
could have no religious fellowship with heathens, or the
worshippers of false gods ; and they could have no personal
respect for publicans, or Roman tax-gatherers, who were re-
garded as odious representatives of the oppressors of their
country. To be " unto them as an heathen " was to be exclu-
ded from the privileges of their church ; and to be " unto them
as a publican " was to be shut put from their society in the
way of domestic intercourse. When the apostle says, " Now
Ave command you, brethren, that ye withdraw yourselves from
every brother that walketh disorderly and not after the ordi-
* That " the church " here signifies the eldership, see Vitringa, " De
Synagoga," p. 724.
"^ Matt, xviii. 15, 17.
204 EXCOMMUNICATION.
nance' which he received of us,"" he designed to intimate
that those who were excommunicated should be admitted
neither to the intimacy of private friendship nor to the seal-
ing ordinances of the Gospel. But it did not follow that the
disciples were to treat such persons with insolence or in-
humanity. They were not at liberty to act thus toward
heathens and publicans ; for they were to love even their
enemies, and to imitate the example of their Father in heaven
who " maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and
sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." ' It is obvious
from the address of the apostle to the Thessalonians that the
members of the Church were not forbidden to speak to those
who were separated from communion ; and that they were not
required to refuse them the ordinary charities of life. They
were simply to avoid such an intercourse as implied a com-
munity of faith, of feeling, and of interest. " If any man,"
says he, " obey not our word by this epistle, note that man,
and /lavc no company zvith him, that he may be ashamed. Yet
count him not as aji enemy, but admonish him as a brother.'' *
How diffeient was this discipline from that established,
several centuries afterward, in the Latin Church ! The spirit
and usages of paganism then supplanted the regulations of
the New Testament, and the excommunication of Christianity
was converted into the excommunication of Druidism.^ Our
Lord taught that " whoever would not hear the church "
should be treated as a heathen man and a publican ; but the
time came when he who forfeited his status as a member of
the Christian commonwealth was denounced as a monster or a
fiend. Paul declared that the person excommunicated, instead
of being counted as an enemy, should be admonished as a
brother; but the Latin Church, in a long list of horrid impre-
' In our Eng-lish version the original word (jrapaihaiv) is improperly ren-
dered tradition.
^ 2 Thess. iii. 6. ' Matt. v. 45.
* 2 Thess. iii. 14, 15.
' For an account of the excommunication of the Druids, see Caesar, " De
Bello Gallico," vi. 13. Many things in the Latin excommunication are bor-
rowed from paganism.
EXCOMMUNICATION. 20$
cations,' invoked a curse upon every member of the body of
the offender, and commanded every one to refuse to him the
civihty of the coldest salutation ! The early Church acted as
a faithful monitor, anxious to reclaim the sinner from the error
of his ways : the Latin Church, like a tyrant, refuses to the
transgressor even that which is his due, and seeks either to
reduce him to slavery or to drive him to despair.
' As an example of this, see an old form of excommunication in Collier's
" Ecclesiastical History," ii. 273. Edit. London, 1840.
CHAPTER II.
THE EXTRAORDINARY TEACHERS OF THE APOSTOLIC
CHURCH; AND ITS ORDINARY OFFICE-BEARERS,
THEIR APPOINTMENT, AND ORDINATION.
Paul declares that Christ " gave some, apostles ; and some,
prophets ; and some, evangelists ; and some, pastors and teach-
ers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of th^ min-
istry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." ' In another
place the same writer, when speaking of those occupying po-
sitions of prominence in the ecclesiastical community, makes
a somewhat similar enumeration. " God," says he, " hath set
some in the church, first, apostles ; secondarily, prophets ;
thirdly, teachers; after that, miracles; then, gifts of healings,
helps, governments, diversities of tongues." '
These two passages, presenting something like catalogues
of the most prominent characters connected with the Apos-
tolic Church, throw light upon each other. They mention the
ordinary, as well as the extraordinary, ecclesiastical function-
aries. Under the class of ordinary office-bearers must be
placed those described as " pastors and teachers," " helps," and
" governments." The evangelists, such as Timothy,' Titus,
and Philip,' had a special commission to assist in organizing
the infant Church ; " and, as they were furnished with super-
natural endowments," they were extraordinary functionaries.
' Eph. iv. II, 12. " I Cor. xii. 28. " 2 Tim. iv. 5.
* Acts xxi. 8, viii. 5. " i Tim. i. 3, v. i, 7, 17 ; Tit. i. 5.
' Acts viii. 13 ; 2 Tim. i. 6. This latter text is often quoted, though er-
roneously, as if it referred to the ordination of Timothy. The ordainer
usually laid on only his rij^ht hand. See " Con. Carthng." iv. can. iii. iv.
In conferring extraordinary endowments both hands were imposed. See
Acts xix. 6.
(206)
CHURCH OFFICERS. 207
The apostles themselves clearly belong to the same denomina-
tion. They all possessed the gift of inspiration ; ' they all
received their authority immediately from Christ ; "^ they all
"went in and out with Him " during His personal ministry;
and, as they all saw Him after He rose from the dead, they
could all attest His resurrection.^ It is plain, too, that the
ministrations of "the prophets," as well as of those who
wrought " miracles," who possessed " gifts of healings," and
who had " diversities of tongues," must also be designated
extraordinary.
It is probable that by the "helps," of whom Paul here
speaks, he understands the deacons,'' who were originally ap-
pointed to relieve the apostles of a portion of labor which
they felt to be inconvenient and burdensome.' The duties of
the deacons were not strictly of a spiritual character; these
ministers held only a subordinate station among the office-
bearers of the Church ; and, even in dealing with its tempo-
ralities, they acted under the advice and direction of those
who were properly intrusted with its government. Hence,
perhaps, they were called " helps " or attendants.^
When these helps and the extraordinary functionaries are
left out of the apostolic catalogues, in the passage addressed
to the Ephesians, we have nothing remaining but "PASTORS
AND TEACHERS "; and, in that to the Corinthians nothing
but " TEACHERS " AND " GOVERNMENTS." There are good
grounds for believing that these two residuary elements are
identical, — the " pastors," mentioned before ^ the teachers in
one text, being equivalent to the " governments " mentioned
after them in the other.* Nor is it strange that those in-
' John xiv. 26, xvi. 13, xx. 22. ° Matt. x. i, xxviii. 18, 19.
' John XX. 26, xxi. i ; Acts i. 3 ; i Cor. ix. i.
^ Such is the opinion of Chr>sostom and others. See Alford on this
passage.
* Acts vi. 2-4.
' In the Peshito version helps and governments are translated helpers and
governors.
' It is remarkable that the lay council of the modem synagogue are called
Parnasim or Pastors. See Vitringa, " De Synagoga," pp. 578, 635.
^ Mr. Alford observes that in i Cor. xii. 28, "we must not seek for a
208 ELDERS OR BISHOPS.
trusted with the ecclesiastical government should be styled
pastors or shepherds ; for they are the guardians and rulers of
" the flock of God." ' Thus the ordinary office-bearers of the
Apostolic Church were pastors, teachers, and helps ; or, teach-
ers, rulers, and deacons.
In the apostolic age we read likewise of elders and bishops ;
and in the New Testament these names are often used inter-
changeably.'' The elders, or bishops, were the same as the
pastors and teachers ; for they had the charge of the instruc-
tion and government of the Church.* Hence elders are re-
quired to act as faithful pastors under Christ, the Chief Shep-
herd.* Whilst some of the elders were only pastors, or rulers,
others were also teachers. The apostle says accordingly,
" Let the elders that rule well, be counted worthy of double
honor, especially those that labor in the word arid doctri?ie" "
We thus see that the teachers, governments, and helps, men-
tioned by Paul when writing to the Corinthians, are the same
as the " bishops and deacons " of whom he speaks elsewhere.'
In primitive times there were, generally, a plurality of elders,
as well as a plurality of deacons, in every church or congrega-
tion ; "" and each functionary was expected to apply himself to
that particular department of his office which he could man-
age most efficiently. Some elders possessed a peculiar talent
for expounding the Gospel in the way of preaching, or, as it
classified arrangement " — the arrangement being " rather suggestive than
logical." Hence "helps" are mentioned before "governments." In the
same way in Eph. iv. ii, "pastors" precede " teachers."
' Acts XX. 28 ; I Pet. v. 2.
■~- « Acts xxi. 17. 28 ; Titus i. 5, 7 ; i Pet. v. i, 2.
~- * I Tim. iii. i, 2, 5.
* I Pet. V. 1,2, 4. The identity of elders and pastors is more distinctly
exhibited in the original here, and in Acts xx. 17, 28, as the word translated
feed signifies literally to act as a shepherd or pastor.
* I Tim. V. 17. Mr. EUicott, in his work on the " Pastoral Epistles," thus
speaks of this passage, " The concluding words, hv Aciyij xai fmSaaK., certainly
seem to imply two kinds of ruling presbyters, those who preached and
taught and those who did not."
' Compare i Cor. xii. 28, and Philip, i. i ; i Tim. iii. 1-8.
' Acts vi. 3, xiv. 23 ; Titus i. 5 ; James v. 14.
BISHOPS AND DEACONS. 209
was occasionally called, prophesying ; ' others excelled in deliv-
ering hortatory addresses to the people ; others displayed great
tact and sagacity in conducting ecclesiastical business, or in
dealing personally with offenders, or with penitents ; whilst
others again were singularly successful in imparting private
instruction to catechumens. Some deacons were frequently
commissioned to administer to the wants of the sick ; and
others, who were remarkable for their shrewdness and discrimi-
nation, were employed to distribute alms to the indigent. In
one of his epistles Paul pointedly refers to the multiform
duties of these ecclesiastical office-bearers, " Having then,"
says he, " gifts, differing according to the grace that is given
to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the pro-
portion of faith ; or ministry (of the deacon), let us wait on
our ministering; or he that teacheth, on teaching; or he that
exhorteth, on exhortation ; he that giveth, let him do it with
simplicity ; he that ruleth, with diligence ; he that showeth
mercy, with cheerfulness." ^
Some maintain that all the primitive elders, or bishops,
were preachers ; but the records of apostolic times warrant
no such conclusion. These elders were appointed to " take
care of the Church of God "; ^ and it was not necessary
that each individual should perform all the functions of the
pastoral office. Even at the present day a single preacher is
generally sufficient to minister to a single congregation.
When Paul requires that the elders who rule well, though
they may not " labor in the word and doctrine," shall be
counted worthy of double honor,* his language distinctly
' I Cor. xiv. I, 5, 6, 31. "^ Rom. xii. 6-8. -^
^ I Tim. iii. 5. Lightfoot says that " in ever}' synagogue there was a
civil triumvirate, that is, three magistrates who judged of matters in contest
arising within that synagogue." — Works, xi. 179. The same writer de-
clares that "in every synagogue there were elders that ruled in civil affairs,
and elders that labored in the word and doctrine." — Works, iii. 242, 243.
* ^nrl^g TtftfiQ. Those who adduce this passage to prove that the apostle
here defines the pecuniary remuneration of elders, involve themselves in
much difficulty ; for, if limited to the matter of payment and literally inter-
preted, it would lead to the inference that, irrespective of the amount of
service rendered, all the elders should receive the same compensation ; and
14
210 ELDERS SHOULD BE APT TO TEACH.
indicates that there were then persons designated elders who
did not preach, and who, notwithstanding, were entitled to
respect as exemplary and efficient functionaries. It is remark-
able that when the apostle enumerates the qualifications of a
bishop, or elder,' he scarcely refers to oratorical endowments.
He states that the ruler of the Church should be grave, sober,
prudent, and benevolent ; but, as to his ability to propagate
his principles he employs only one word, rendered in our ver-
sion " apt to teach." " This does not imply that he must be
qualified to preach, for teaching and preacJiing are repeatedly
distinguished in the New Testament ; ^ neither does it signify
that he is to become a professional tutor, for, as has already
been intimated, all elders are not expected to labor in the
word and doctrine ; it merely denotes that he should be able
and willing, as often as an opportunity occurred, to commu-
nicate a knowledge of divine tru^h- All believers are
required to "exhort one another daily,"' ''teaching and ad-
monishing one another," ' being " ready always to give an
answer to every man that asketh them a reason of the hope
that is in them " ; ' and those who " watch for souls " should
be specially zealous in performing these duties of their Chris-
tian vocation. The word which has been supposed to indicate
that every elder should be a public instructor occurs in only
one other instance in the New Testament ; and in that case it
is used in a connection which serves to illustrate its meaning.
Paul there states that whilst such as minister to the Lord
should avoid a controversial spirit, they should at the same
time be willing to supply explanations to objectors, and to
furnish them with information. " The servant of the Lord,"
says he, " must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to
that no church teacher, though the father of a large family, should be allowed
more than twice the gratuity of a poor widow ! Compare i Tim. v. 3, and
17. The " double honor " of i Tim. v. 17 is evidently equivalent to the " all
honor " of I Tim. vi. i. In the latter case there can be no reference to
payment. Paul obviously means to say that the claims of elders should be
fully recognized ; and in the following verse (i Tim. v. 18) he refers point,'
edly to the temporal support to which church teachers are entitled.
' I Tim. iii. 2-7. " MaKTiKitv. ' Matt. iv. 23 ; Acts v. 42, xv. 35.
♦ Heb. iii. 13. ' Col. iii. 16. ' i Peter iii. 15.
PREACHING. 211
teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose them-
selves, if God peradventure will give them repentance to the
acknowledging of the truth." ' Here the aptness to teach refers
apparently to a talent for winning over gainsayers by means
of instruction communicated in private conversation.^
But still preaching is the grand ordinance of God, as well
for the edification of saints as for the conversion of sinners;
and it was, therefore, necessary that at least some of the
session or eldership connected with each flock should be
competent to conduct the congregational worship. As
spiritual gifts were more abundant in the apostolic times
than afterward, at first several of the elders' were often
found ready to take part in its celebration. By degrees,
however, nearly the whole service devolved on one individ-
ual ; and this preaching elder was very properly treated
with peculiar deference." He was accordingly soon recog-
nized as the stated president of the presbytery, or eldership.
It thus appears that the preaching elder held the most
honorable position among the ordinary functionaries of the
Apostolic Church. Whilst his office required the highest
order of gifts and accomplishments, and exacted the largest
amount of mental and even physical exertion, the prosperity
of the whole ecclesiastical community depended mainly on
his acceptance and efificiency. The people are accordingly
frequently reminded that they are bound to respect and
sustain their spiritual instructors. "Let him that is taught
in the word," says Paul, '' communicate unto him that teach-
eth in all good things." " " The Scripture saith, Thou
-^ * 2 Tim. ii. 24, 25.
" Even a female, though not permitted to speak in the Church, had often
this aptness for teaching. Such was the case with the excellent Priscilla,
Acts xviii. 26. The aged women were required to be " teachers of good
things," Titus ii. 5.
^ In the Church of Corinth several speakers were in the habit of address-
ing the same meeting, i Cor. xiv. 26, 27, 29, 31.
\ * Tim. V. 17. Though ordination was by " the laying on of the hands of
the presbytery, " the New Testament does not mention any case in which a
ruling elder thus officiated. See Acts vi. 6, xiii. 1-3, xiv. 23.
* Gal. vi. 6.
212 THE APOSTLES.
shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn ; and,
The laborer is worthy of his reward."' "So hath tKa
Lord ordained that they which preach the Gospel should
live of the Gospel." '
The apostles held a position which no ministers after
them could occupy, for they were appointed by our Lord
himself to organize the Church. As they were to carry
out instructions which they had received from His own
lips, and as they were armed with the power of working
miracles,' they possessed an extraordinary share of per-
sonal authority. Aware that their circumstances were
peculiar, and that their services would be available till the
end of time,^ they left the ecclesiastical government, as
they passed away one after another, to the care of the
elders who had meanwhile shared in its administration.'
As soon as the Church began to assume a settled form,
they mingled with these elders on terms of equality ; and,
as at the Council of Jerusalem," sat with them in the same
deliberative assemblies. When Paul addressed the elders
of Ephesus for the last time, and took his solemn farewell
of them,' he commended the Church to their charge, and
emphatically pressed upon them the importance of fidelity
and vigilance.^ In his Second Epistle to Timothy, written
in the prospect of his martyrdom, he makes no allusion to
the expediency of selecting another individual to fill his
place. The apostles had fully executed their commission
' I Tim. V. i8. ' I Cor. ix. 14. ' Matt. x. i ; i Cor. xiv. 18.
* " The place which the apostles occupied while they lived is now filled,
not by a living order of ministers, but by their own in*spired writings, which
constitute, or ought to constitute, the supreme authority in the Church of
God The New Testament Scriptures, as they are the only real apos-
tolate now in existence, so, are sufficient to supply to us the place of the
inspired Twelve." — Litton s Church of Christ, p. 410.
" " While it is clearly recorded that the apostles instituted the orders of
presbyters and deacons, it is not so clearly recorded, indeed it is not record-
ed at all, that they instituted the order of bishops." — Litton, p. 426. Such
a testimony from a Fellow of Oxford is creditable alike to his candor and his
intelligence.
" Acts XV. 6, xvi. 4, xxi. 18, 25. ' Acts xx. 17, 25. * Acts xx, 29-31.
THE APOSTLES. 213
when, as wise master-builders, they laid the foundation of
the Church and fairly exhibited the divine model of the
glorious structure ; and as no other parties could produce
the same credentials, no others could pretend to the same
authority. But even the apostles repeatedly testified that
they regarded the preaching of the Word as the highest
department of their ofiEice. It was not as church rulers, but
as church teachers, that they were specially distinguished.
" We will give ourselves," said they, " continually to prayer,
and /-prian speaks of " the blessed Martyrs, Cornelius and Lucius." Epist.
Ixvii. p. 250.
^ See Cyprian's " Epistle to Successus," where it is stated that " Xystus
was martyred in the cemetery [the catacombs] on the eighth of the Ides of
August, and with him four deacons."
^ This fragment may be found in Euseb. vi. 43.
* For an account of their duties see Period ii., sec. iii., chap. x.
324 SCHISM OF NOVATIAN.
plied by the letter of Cornelius, that there were now fourteen
congregations ' of the faithful in the great city ; and its Chris-
tian population has been estimated at fifty thousand. No
wonder that the chief pastor of such a multitude of zealous
disciples, all residing in his capital, awakened the jealousy of a
suspicious Emperor.
A schism, which continued for generations to exert an un-
happy influence, commenced in the metropolis during the
short episcopate of Cornelius. The leader of this secession
was Novatian, a man of blameless character," and a presbyter
of the Roman Church. In the Decian persecution many had
been terrified into temporary conformity to paganism ; and
this austere ecclesiastic maintained that persons who had so
sadly compromised themselves, were, on no account whatever,
to be readmitted to communion. When he found that he
could not prevail on his brethren to adopt this unrelenting
discipline, he permitted himself to be ordained bishop in op-
position to Cornelius, and became the founder of a separate
society, known as the sect of the Novatians. As he denied
the validity of the ordinance previously administered, he re-
baptized his converts, and exhibited otherwise a miserably
contracted spirit ; but many sympathized with him in his
views, and Novatian bishops were soon established in various
parts of the Empire.
Immediately after the rise of this sect, a controversy relative
to the propriety of rebaptizing heretics brought the Church of
' According to some manuscripts, there were, not forty-six, but forty-two
presbyters, seven deacons, seven sub-deacons, and forty-two acolyths. At a
later period, we find three presbyters connected with each Roman church.
There were fourteen regions in the city, and supposing a congregation in
each, there were now three presbyters, one deacon or sub-deacon, and three
acolyths belonging to each church. See Blondel's " Apologia," p. 224. Mr.
Cooper (" Free Church of Ancient Christendom," p. 293, note, 2d edit.) has
remarked that, according to the Martyrium Novatiani, there were on\y nine
presbyters at Rome about a year before the date of the letter of Cornelius,
and conjectures that the clerical ranks had meanwhile been largely recruited
from the confessors.
* Cornelius (Euseb. vi. 43) calls him " a malicious beast," but he writes
under a feeling of deep mortification.
THE CHURCH ON THE ROCK. 325
Rome into collision with many Christian communities in
Africa and Asia Minor. The discussion, which did not event-
uate in any fresh schism, is chiefly remarkable for the firm
stand now made against the assumptions of the great Bishop of
the West. When Stephen, who was opposed to rebaptism,
discovered that he could not induce the Asiatics and Africans
to come over to his sentiments, he rashly tried to overbear them
by declaring that he would shut them out from his com-
munion ; but his antagonists treated the threat merely as an
empty display of insolence. " What strife and contention
hast thou awakened in the Churches of the whole world, O
Stephen," said one of his opponents, "and how great sin hast
thou accumulated when thou didst cut thyself off from so many
flocks ! Deceive not thyself, for he is truly the schismatic
who has made himself an apostate from the communion of the
unity of the Church. For whilst thou thinkest that all may
be excommunicated by thee, thou hast excommunicated thy-
self alone from all." '
When the apostle of the circumcision said to his Master —
" Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," Jesus re-
plied, " Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona, for flesh and blood
hath not revealed it Jinto thee, bnt my Father which is in heaven''
To this emphatic acknowledgment of the faith of His dis-
ciple our Lord added the memorable words, "And I say also
unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build
my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." "^
As the word Peter signifies a stone^ this address admits of a
very obvious and satisfactory exposition. " Thou art," said
Christ to the apostle, "a lively stone* of the spiritual struct-
ure I erect ; and upon this rock on which thy faith is estab-
lished, as witnessed by thy good confession, I will build my
Church ; and though the rains of affliction may descend, and
' Firmilian, " Cypriani Epistolce," Ixxv. * Matt. xvi. 16-18.
' John i. 42.
* See I Peter ii. 5. Peter adds, as if to illustrate Matt xvi. 18 — " Where-
fore also it is contained in the Scripture, Behold I lay in Zion a chief cor-
ner stone, elect, precious; and he that believeth on him shall not be con-
founded. " I Pet. ii. 6.
326 THE CHURCH BUILT ON PETER.
the floods of danger may come, and the winds of temptation
may blow, and beat upon this house, it shall remain immov-
able,' because it rests upon an impregnable foundation." But
a different interpretation was already gaining wide currency ;
for though Peter had been led to deny Christ with oaths and
imprecations, the rapid growth and preponderating wealth of
the Roman bishopric, of which the apostle was said to be the
founder, had now induced many to believe that he was the
Rock of Salvation, the enduring basis on which the living temple
of God was to be reared ! Tertullian and Cyprian, in the third
century the two most eminent fathers of the West, counte-
nanced the exposition ; ' and though both these writers were
lamentably deficient in critical sagacity, men of inferior stand-
ing were slow to impugn the verdict of such champions of the
faith. Thus it was that a false gloss of Scripture was already
enthralling the mind of Christendom ; and Stephen boldly re-
newed the attempt at domination commenced by his prede-
cessor, Victor. His opponents deserved far greater credit for
the sturdy independence with which they upheld their indi-
vidual rights than for the scriptural skill with which they un-
masked the sophistry of a delusive theory ; for all their reason-
ings were enervated and vitiated by their stupid admission of
the claims of the chair of Peter as the rock on which the Church
was supposed to rest.' This second effort of Rome to establish
her ascendency was, indeed, a failure ; but the misinterpreta-
tion of Holy Writ, by which it was encouraged, was not ef-
fectively corrected and exposed ; and thus the great Western
' Matt. vii. 24, 25.
" See Tertullian, " De Praescrip." xxii. ; and Cyprian to Cornelius, Epist.
Iv.. p. 178, where he says, " Petrus, tamen, super quern aedificata ab eodem
Domino fuerat ecclesia." See also the same epistle, pp. 182, 183, and many
other passages.
« Thus Cyprian in his letter to Quintus (Epist. Ixxi., p. 273) makes the fol-
lowing awkward attempt to get over the difficulty : " Nam nee Petrus,
quevt primiim Dominus elcgtf, et super quern cedificavit ecclesiam suam
cum secum Paulus de circumcisione postmodum disceptaret, vindicavit sibi
aliquid insolenter aut arroganter assumpsit, ut diceret se primatum ienere et
9btemperari a novellis et poster is sibi pot t us oportere."
POWER OF THE ROMAN BISHOP. 327
prelate was left at liberty, at another more favorable opportu-
nity, to wrest the Scriptures to the destruction of the Church.
From the middle of the third century, the authority of the
Roman bishops advanced apace. The magnanimity with
which so many of them then encountered martyrdom elicited
general admiration ; and the divisions caused by the schism of
Novatian supplied them with a specious apology for enlarg-
ing their jurisdiction. The argument from the necessity of
unity, urged so successfully for the creation of a bishop up-
wards of a hundred years before, could now be adduced with
equal plausibility for the erection of a metropolitan ; and, from
this date, these prelates exercised archiepiscopal power. Sev-
enty years afterward, or at the Council of Nice,' the ecclesias-
tical rule of the Primate of Rome was recognized by the
bishops of the ten suburbicarian provinces, including no small
portion of Italy .*
For the last forty years of the third century the Church
was free from persecution, and, during this long period of
repose, the great Western see enjoyed an unwonted measure
of outward prosperity. Its religious services were conducted
with increasing splendor, and distressed brethren in very dis-
tant countries shared the fruits of its munificence.' In the
reign of Gallienus, when the Goths burst into the Empire and
devastated Asia Minor, the bishop of Rome transmitted a
large sum of money for the release of the Christians who had
fallen into the hands of the barbarians.* A few years after-
ward, when Paul of Samosata was deposed for heresy, and
when, on his refusal to surrender the property of the Church
of Antioch, an application was made to the Emperor Aure-
lian for his interference, that prince submitted the matter in
dispute to the decision of Dionysius of Rome and the other
' A.D. 325.
^ The Suburbicarian Provinces comprehended the three islands of Sicily,
Corsica, and Sardinia, and the whole of the southern part of Italy, includ-
ing Naples and nearly all the territory now belonging to Tuscany and the
States of the Church. See Bingham, iii. p. 20.
'" In A.D. 254, the bishop of Rome sent assistance to Christians in Syria
and Arabia. See Euseb. vii. 5.
* Basil, Ep. 220.
328 EARLY ROMAN BISHOPS.
bishops of Italy.' This reference, in which the position of
the Roman prelate was publicly recognized, perhaps for the
first time, by a Roman Emperor, added vastly to the impor-
tance of the metropolitan see in public estimation. Christian-
ity in the following century became the religion of the State,
and the bishop of the chief city was thus prepared for the
high position to which he was suddenly promoted.
None of the early bishops of Rome were distinguished for
their mental accomplishments ; and though they are com-
monly reputed the founders of the Latin Church, it is well
known that, for nearly two hundred years, they all wrote and
spoke the Greek language. The name Pope, which they have
since appropriated, was originally common to all pastors.'
For the first three centuries almost every question relating to
them is involved in much mystery ; and, as we approach the
close of this period, the difficulty of unravelling their per-
plexed traditions rather increases than diminishes. Even the
existence of some who are said to have now flourished has
been considered doubtful.' It is alleged that the see was
vacant for upwards of three years and a half during the Dio-
cletian persecution in the beginning of the fourth century ;*
but even this point has not been very clearly ascertained.
The Roman bishopric was by far the most important in the
Church ; and the obscurity which overhangs its early history
can not but be embarrassing to those who seek to establish a
title to the ministry by attempting to trace it up through such
dark annals.
On looking back over the first three centuries, we may re-
mark how much the ciiairman of the Roman eldership, at the
time of the death of the Apostle John, differed from the prel-
' Euseb. vii. 50.
'' Thus we read of " the blessed Pope Cyprian," bishop of Carthaj^e.
Cyprian, Epist. ii., p. 25, The name was soniLtimes given to the head of a
monastery. In the Catacombs there was found an inscription probably to
the memory of a Pope of this description. See Maitland, p. 185. See also
Roulh's " Reliquiae," iii. pp. 256, 265.
' See Bovver, " Marcellus," 29th Bishop.
* That is, from the autumn of A.D. 304 to the spring of A.D. 308. See
Burton's " Lectures on the Ecc. Hist, of the First Three Cent." ii. p. 433.
RISE OF THE PAPACY. 329
ate who filled his place two hundred years afterward. The
former was the servant of the presbyters, and appointed to
carry out their decisions ; the latter was tfieir master, and
entitled to require their submission. The former presided
over the ministers of, perhaps, three or four comparatively
poor congregations dispirited by recent persecution ; the lat-
ter had the charge of at least five-and-twenty flourishing city
churches,' together with all the bishops in all the surrounding
territory. In eventful times an individual of transcendent
talent, such as Pepin or Napoleon, has adroitly vaulted into a
throne ; but the bishop of Rome was indebted for his gradual
elevation and his ultimate ascendency neither to extraordi-
nary genius nor superior erudition, but to a combination of cir-
cumstances of unprecedented rarity. His position furnished
him with peculiar facilities for acquiring influence. Whilst
the city in which he was located was the largest in the world,
it was also the most. opulent and the most powerful. He was
continually coming in contact with men of note in the Church
from all parts of the Empire ; and he had frequent opportu-
nities of obliging these strangers by various offices of kind-
ness. He thus, too, possessed means of ascertaining the state
of the Christian interest in every land, and of diffusing his
own sentiments under singularly propitious circumstances.
When he was fast rising into power, it was alleged that he
was constituted chief pastor of the Church by Christ himself ;
and a text of Scripture was quoted which was supposed to
endorse his title. For a time no one cared to challenge its
application ; for meanwhile his precedence was but nominal,
and those who were competent to point out the delusion, had
no wish to give offence, by attacking the fond conceit of a
friendly and prosperous prelate. But when the scene changed,
' In the life of Marcellus we read of so many places of worship in Rome.
See "Hist. Platinee De Vitis Pontif. Roman." p. 40, Colonial, 1593. Opta-
tus speaks of forty churches in Rome at this time ; but he is probably mis-
taken as to the date. There may have been so many after the establish-
ment of Christianity by Constantine. There were only fifty churches in the
Western capital in the beginning of thcfifth century. See Neander, i. 276;
edit. Edinburgh, 1847.
330 ROME WANTS THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE.
and when the Empire found another capital, the acumen of
the bishop of the rival metropolis soon discovered a sounder
exposition ; and' Chrysostom of Constantinople, at once the
greatest preacher and the best commentator of antiquity,
ignored the folly of Tertullian and of Cyprian. " Upon the
rock," says he, " that is, upon the faith of the apostle's con-
fession," ' the Church is built. " Christ said that He would
build His Church on Peter's confession." ° Soon afterward,
the greatest divine connected with the Western Church, and
the most profound theologian among the fathers, pointed out,
still more distinctly, the true meaning of the passage. " Our
Lord declares," says Augustine, " On this rock I will found
my Church, because Peter had said : Thou art the Christ, the
Sonof the living God. On this rock which thou hast confessed,
He declares I will build my Church, for Christ was the rock
on whose foundation Peter himself was built ; for other foun-
dation hath no man laid than that which is laid, which is Christ
Jesus." ' In the Italian capital, the words on which the pow-
er of the Papacy is understood to rest are exhibited in gigan-
tic letters within the dome of St. Peter's ; but their exhibi-
tion only proves that the Church of Rome has lost the key of
knowledge; for, though she would fain appeal to Scripture,
she shows that she does not understand the meaning of its
testimony ; and, closing her eyes against the light supplied
by the best and wisest of the fathers, she persists in adhering
to a false interpretation.
' In Matt. xvi. i8. Opera, torn, ii., p. 344; edit. Eton, 1612.
" In John i. 50. Opera, torn, ii., p. 637 ; edit. Eton, 161 2.
» " In Johann. Evang. Tractat." 124, § 5. Opera, torn, ix., c. 572. Augus-
tine had before held the more fashionable view. See "Barrow on the
Pope's Supremacy," by Dr. M'Crie, p. 78.
SECTION II.
THE LITERATURE AND THEOLOGY OF THE CHURCH.
CHAPTER I.
THE ECCLESIASTICAL WRITERS.
By "the Fathers" we understand the writers of the ancient
Christian Church. The name is, however, of rather vague ap-
pHcation ; for, though generally employed to designate only
the ecclesiastical authors of the first six centuries, it is extended
occasionally to distinguished theologians who flourished in
the middle ages.'
The fathers of the second and third centuries have a strong
claim on our attention. Living on the verge of apostolic
times, they were acquainted with the state of the Church when
it had recently passed from under the care of its inspired
founders; and, as witnesses to its early traditions, their testi-
mony is of peculiar value. But the period before us produced
comparatively few authors, and a considerable portion of its
literature has perished. There are modern divines, such as
Calvin and Baxter, who have each left behind a more volumin-
ous array of publications than survives from all the fathers of
these two hundred years. Origen was by far the most pro-
lific of the writers who flourished during this interval, but the
greater number of his productions have been lost; and yet
those which remain, if translated into English, would amount
to nearly triple the bulk of our authorized version of the
' Roman Catholic writers include authors who lived as late as the thir-
teenth century under the designation.
(331)
332 JUSTIN MARTYR.
Bible. His extant works are, however, more extensive than
all the other memorials of this most interesting section of the
history of the Church.
Among the earliest ecclesiastical writers after the close of
the first century is Polycarp of Smyrna. He is said to have
been a disciple of the Apostle John, and hence he is known
as one of the Apostolic Fathers.^ An epistle of his addressed
to the Philippians, and designed to correct certain vices and
errors which had been making their appearance, is still pre-
served. It was written toward the middle of the second
century ;" its style is simple ; and its general tone worthy of a
man who had enjoyed apostolic tuition. Its venerable author
suffered martyrdom about A.D. 155,' at the advanced age of
eighty-six.''
Justin Martyr was contemporary with Polycarp. He was
a native of Samaria, and a Gentile by birth ; he had travelled
much ; he possessed a well-cultivated mind ; and he had made
himself acquainted with the various systems of philosophy
which were then current. He could derive no satisfaction
from the wisdom of the pagan theorists ; but, one day, as he
walked, somewhat sad and pensive, near the sea-shore, a casual
meeting with an aged stranger led him to turn his thoughts
to the Christian revelation. The individual with whom he
had this solitary and important interview, was a member and,
perhaps, a minister of the Church. After pointing out to
Justin the folly of mere theorizing, and recommending him to
study the Old Testament Scriptures, as well on account of
their great antiquity as their intrinsic worth, he proceeded to
' The references in this work to the Apostolic Fathers by Cotelerius are
to the Amsterdam Edition, folio, 1724.
' This is the date assig^ned to it by Bunsen. " Hippolytus," i. 309. It is
not probable that Polycarp was at the head of the eldership of Smyrna much
earlier. See Period iii., sec. iii., chap, v., note.
* According to Ussher iii., A.D. 169.
* See Pearson's " Minor Works," ii. 531. The date A.D. 167 is given in
the Chronicon of Eusebius; but recent investigations have shown that the
correct chronology is A.D. 155. See Bishop Lightfoot in the Contemporary
Review for May, 1875, p. 838.
JUSTIN MARTYR. 333
expatiate on the nature and excellence of the Gospel.' The
impression made upon the mind of the young student was
never afterward effaced ; he became a decided Christian ; and
finished his career by martyrdoni.
Justin is the first writer whose contributions to ecclesiastical
literature are of considerable extent. Some of the works
ascribed to him are the productions of others ; but there is no
reason to question the genuineness of his Dialogue with Try-
pho the Jew, and of the two Apologies addressed to the Em-
perors." Though the meeting with Trypho is said to have
occurred at Ephesus, it is now, perhaps, impossible to deter-
mine whether it ever actually took place, or whether the Dia-
logue is only the report of an imaginary discussion. It serves,
however, to illustrate the mode of argument then adopted in
the controversy between the Jews and the disciples, and
throws much light on the state of Christian theology. Anto-
ninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius were, probably, the Emperors
to whom the Apologies are addressed. In these appeals to
imperial justice the calumnies against the Christians are re-
futed, whilst the simplicity of their worship and the purity of
their morality are impressively described.
Justin, even after his conversion, still wore the philosopher's
cloak, and continued to cherish an undue regard for the wis-
dom of the pagan sages. His mind never was completely
emancipated from the influence of a system of false meta-
physics ; and thus it was that, whilst his views of various doc-
trines of the Gospel remained confused, his allusions to them
are equivocal, if not contradictory. But it has been well re-
marked that conscience, rather than science, guided many of the
fathers ; and the case of Justin demonstrates the truth of the
observation. He possessed an extensive knowledge of the
Scriptures ; and though his theological views were not so ex-
act or so perspicuous as they might have been, had he been
trained up from infancy in the Christian faith, or had he
studied the controversies which subsequently arose, his creed
• The original narrative may be found in the Dialogue with Trypho.
5 The references to Justin in this work are to the Paris folio edition of
1615.
334 BARNABAS.
was substantially evangelical. He had received the truth " in
the love of it," and he counted not his life dear in the service
of his Divine Master.
The Epistle to Diognetus, frequently included among the
works of Justin, is the production of an earlier writer. Its
author, who styles himself "a disciple of apostles," designed
by-it to promote the conversion of a friend ; his^wn views of
divine truth are comparatively correct and clear ; and in no
uninspired memorial of antiquity are the peculiar doctrines of
the Gospel exhibited with greater propriety and beauty. Ap-
pended also to the common editions of the works of Justin
are the remains of a few somewhat later writers, namely,
Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, and Hermas. Tatian was
a disciple of Justin ;' Athenagoras was a learned man of
Athens ; Theophilus is said to have been one of the pastors
of Antioch ; and of Hermas nothing whatever is known. The
tracts of these authors relate almost entirely to the contro-
versy between Christianity and Paganism. Whilst they point
out the folly and falsehood of the accusations so frequently
preferred against the brethren, they press the Gospel on the
acceptance of the Gentiles with much earnestness, and sup-
port its claims by a great variety of arguments.
The tract known as the Epistle of Barnabas, was composed
in A.D. 135.' It is the production of a convert from Judaism
who took special pleasure in allegorical interpretations of
Scripture. Hermas, the author of the little work called Pas-
tor or The Shepherd, is a writer of much the same character.
He was the brother of Pius,' who flourished about the middle
' He afterward became the founder of a sect noted for its austere disci-
pline. His followers used water, instead of wine, at the celebration of the
Lord's Supper. They lived in celibacy, and observed rigorous fasts.
« The writer says of the temple (chap, xvi.), " It is now destroyed by their
(the Jews) enemies, and the sen>ants of their enemies are bitildim^ it up."
Jerusalem was rebuilt by Hadrian about A.n. 135, and the name yElia given
to it.
' Two short letters ascribed to Pius are mentioned Period ii.,»sec. iii.,
chap. vii. For a long time Barnabas, the author of the epistle, was absurdly
confounded with the companion of Paul mentioned Acts xiii. i, and else-
where; and Hermas was supposed to be the individual saluted in Rom. xvi.
IREN^EUS. 335
of the second century, and who was, perhaps, the first or
second individual who was officially designated Bishop of
Rome. The writings of Papias, pastor of Hierapolis in the
time of Polycarp, are no longer extant.' The works of
Hegesippus, of a somewhat later date, and treating of the
subject of ecclesiastical history, have also disappeared.*
Irenceus of^^yons is the next writer who claims our special
notice. He was originally connected with Asia Minor; and
in his youth he is said to have enjoyed the tuition of Polycarp
of Smyrna. We can not tell when he left his native country,
or what circumstances led him to settle on the banks of the
Rhone ; but we know that, toward the termination of the
reign of Marcus Aurelius, he was appointed by the Gallic
Christians to visit the Roman Church on a mission of im-
portance. The Celtic language, still preserved in the Gaelic, or
Irish, was then spoken in France,^ and Irenaeus found it neces-
sary to qualify himself for the duties of a preacher among the
heathen by studying the barbarous dialect. His zeal, energy,
and talent were duly appreciated ; soon after the death of
the aged Pothinus he became the chief pastor of Lyons ; and
for many years he exercised considerable influence through-
out the whole of the Western Church. When the Paschal
controversy created such excitement, and when Victor of
Rome threatened to rend the Christian commonwealth by his
impetuous and haughty bearing, Irenseus interposed, and, to
some extent, succeeded in moderating the violence of the
14. Hence these two writers have been called, like Polycarp and others,
Apostolic Fathers. As to the date of the Pastor of Hermas, see Hefele's
" Christian Councils," by Clark, p. 79.
' Eusebius, who has preserved a few fragments of this author, describes
him as a very credulous person. See his " Hist." iii. 39.
" In the text it has not been considered necessary to mention all the
writers, however small their contributions to our ecclesiastical literature,
who lived during the second and third centuries. Hence, Melito of Sardis,
Caius of Rome, and many others, are unnoticed. The remaining frag-
ments of these early ecclesiastical writers may be found in Routh's " Reli-
quiae," and elsewhere.
3 ijubv, Tuv h KeXrolg i^iaTpifi/wTuv ml Trepl jiappapov diaXeKTov to TrMarov
haxoAoviiivuv. — Contra Hcereses, lib. i. Prsef.
336 TERTUI.LIAN.
Italian prelate. He was the author of several works,' but his
only extant production is a treatise " Against Heresies." It
is divided into five books, four of which exist only in a Latin
version ;" and it contains a lengthened refutation of the Valen-
tinians and other Gnostics.
Irenaeus is commonly called the disciple of Polycarp ; but
he was also under the tuition of a less intelligent preceptor,
Papias of Hierapolis.^ This teacher, who has been already
mentioned, and who was the author of a work now lost, enti-
tled " The Explanations of the Discourses of the Lord," is
noted as the earliest ecclesiastical writer who held the doc-
trine of the personal reign of Christ at Jerusalem during the
millennium. " These views," says Eusebius, " he appears to
have adopted in consequence of having misunderstood the
apostolic narratives For he was a man of very slender
intellect, as is evident from his discourses." * His pupil, Ire-
naeus, possessed a much superior capacity ; but even his writ-
ings are not destitute of puerilities; and he derived some of
the errors to be found in them from his weak-minded teacher.'
Irenaeus died about the beginning of the third century ; and,
shortly before that date, by far the most vigorous and acute
writer who had yet appeared among the fathers, began to at-
tract attention. This was the celebrated Tertullian. He
was originally a heathen,' and he seems in early life to have
been engaged in the profession of a lawyer. At that time, as
afterward, there was constant intercourse between Rome and
Carthage ; ' Tertullian was well acquainted with both these great
' The references to Irenasus in this work are to Stieren's edition of 1853.
* Wordsworth has remarl., celibacy), /i^r the honor of the boly of our Lord.
let him continue without boasting." Here the word in the Greek is ayvtia.
But this word is applied in the New Testament to Timothy, who may have
been "the husband of one wife." See i Tim. iv. 12, and v. 2. It is also
applied by Polycarp, in his Epistle, to married women. " Let us teach your
(or our) wives to walk in the faith that is given to them, both /'// love and
purity" {iiyd-i) mi dyi'tia). — Epistle to the Philippians, § 4. See also " The
Shepherd of Hermas," book ii., command. 4 ; Coteierius, i. %"].
* This is very evident from the recently discovered work of Hippolytus. as
well as from other writers of the same period. See Bunsen's " Hippolytus,"
t. p. 312.
' Euseb. vii. 30.
THE WORD "BISHOP." 383
seems to have been a dwelling appropriated to the use of the
ecclesiastical functionaries,' and the schemer who wrote the
first draft of these letters evidently believed that the ministers
of Christ were a brotherhood of bachelors. Hence Ignatius
is made thus to address Polycarp and his clergy, " Labor to-
gether one with another ; make the struggle together one with
another; run together one with another; suffer together one
with another; sleep together one with another ; rise togetJier one
with another.'' Polycarp and others of the elders of Smyrna
were probably married ; ^ so that some inconvenience might
have attended this arrangement.
The word bishop is another term found in these Epistles,
and employed in a sense which it did not possess at the al-
leged date of their publication. Every one knows that, in the
New Testament, it does not signify the chief pastor of a
Church ; but, about the middle of the second century, as will
subsequently appear,' it began to have this acceptation.
Clement of Rome, writing a few years before the time of the
martyrdom of Ignatius, uses the words bishop and presbyter
interchangeably.' Polycarp, in his own Epistle, dictated up-
wards of forty years after the death of the Syrian pastor, still ad-
heres to the same phraseology." In the Peshito version of the
New Testament, executed probably in the former half of the
' Some have supposed that this was the church of Antioch, but it is not
likely that Paul cared to retain the church when deserted by the people.
Besides, the building is called, not the church, but " the house of the
Church" (r?/f (KKATialac oiko(). In the Life of Augustine, by Possidius (cap.
xxiv.), the building in which the clergy resided is called " Domus ecclesise."
August, opera i. 53. Edit. Migne, 1861. See also Todd's " St. Patrick," 477,
Dublin, 1864.
- If the reading adopted by Junius, and others, of a passage in the 4th
chapter of his Epistle be correct, Polycarp must have been a married man,
and probably had a family. " Let us teach our wives to walk in the faith
that is given to them, both in love and purity, .... and to bring itp their
children in the instruction and fear of the Lord." See Jacobson's " Pat.
Apost." ii. 472, note.
2 Period ii., sec. iii., chap. vii.
* See his " Epistle to the Corinthians," c. 42, 44, 47, 54.
' It is employed likewise by Papias (see Euseb. iii. 39), and even by Ire-
nseus (Euseb. v. 20).
384 THE IGNATIAN EPISTLES.
second century,' the same terminology prevails." Ignatius,
however, is far in advance of his generation. When new terms
are introduced, or when new meanings are attached to desig-
nations already current, it seldom happens that an old man
changes his style of speaking. He is apt to persevere, in
spite of fashion, in the use of the phraseology to which he
has been accustomed from his childhood. But Ignatius is an
exception to all such experience, for he repeats the new no-
menclature with as much flippancy as if he had never heard
any other.' Surely this minister of Antioch is worthy of all
the celebrity he has attained, for he can not only carry on a
written correspondence with the dead, but also anticipate by
half a century even the progress of language !
V. The puerilities, vaporing, and mysticism of these letters
proclaim their forgery. We expect an aged apostolic minister,
on his way to martyrdom, to speak as a man in earnest, to ex-
press himself with some degree of dignity, and to eschcA^
trivial and ridiculous comparisons. But, when treating of a
grave subject, what can be more silly or indecorous than such
language as the following : " Ye are raised on high by the en-
gine of Jesus Christ, which is the cross, and ye are drawn by
the rope, which is the Holy Ghost, and your pulley is your
faith."* Well may the Christian reader exclaim, with indig-
nation, as he peruses these words, Is the Holy Ghost then a
mere rope? Is that glorious Being who worketh in us to will
and to do according to His own good pleasure, a mere piece of
' See Westcott on the "Canon," pp. 262, 264, 265.
" " In the estimation of those able and apostolical men who, in the second
century, prepared the Syriac version of the New Testament for the use of
some of the Oriental Churches, the bishop and presbyter of the apostolic
ordination were titles of the same individual. Hence in texts wherein the
Greek word episcopos, ' bishop,' occurs, it is rendered in their version by the
Syriac word ' Kashisha,' presbyter." — Etheridges Syrian Churches and
Gospels, pp. 102, 103.
' The use of the word catholic in the " Seven Epistles," edited by Ussher,
is sufficient to discredit them. See " Epist. to Smyrnaeans," § 8. The word
did not come into use until toward the close of the second century. See
Period ii., sec. iii., chap, viii., and p. 306, note.
* " Epistle to the Ephesians."
ANXIETY FOR MARTYRDOM. 385
tackling pertaining to the ecclesiastical machinery, to be moved
and managed according to the dictation of Bishop Ignatius?'
But the frivolity of this impostor is equalled by his gasconade.
He thus tantalizes the Romans with an account of his attain-
ments, " I am able to write to you heavenly things, but I fear
lest I should do you mi injury^ . ..." I am able to know
heavenly things, and the places of angels, and the station of
powers that are visible and invisible." Where did he gather
all this recondite lore? Certainly not from the Old or New
Testament. May we not safely pronounce this man to be one
who seeks to be wise above what is written, " intruding into
those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his
fleshly mind "?* He seems, indeed, to have himself had some
suspicion that such was his character, for he says, again, to his
brethren of the Western metropolis, " I know many things in
God, but I moderate myself that I may not perish through
boasting ; for now it is becoming to me that I should fear the
more abundantly, and should not look to those that puff me up.''
Let us now hear a specimen of the mysticism of this dotard.
"There was hidden from the Ruler of this world the virginity
of Mary, and the birth of our Lord, and the three mysteries
of the shout, which were done in the quietness of God by
means of the star, and here by the manifestation of the Son
magic began to be dissolved." ' Who can undertake to expound
such jargon ? What are we to understand by " the quietness
of God"? Who can tell how "the three mysteries of the
shout " were " done by means of the star " ?
VL The unhallowed and insane anxiety for martyrdom which
appears throughout these letters is another decisive proof of
their fabrication. He who was, in the highest sense, the
Faithful Witness betrayed no fanatic impatience for the horrid
tragedy of crucifixion; and, true to the promptings of His
' Daille has well observed, " Funi Dei quidem verbum, ministerium,
beneficia non inepte comparaveris ; Spiritum vero, qui his, ut sic dicarr),-
divinae benignitatis funiculis, ad nos movendos et attrahendos utitur, ipsi
illi quo utitur, funi comparare, ab omni ratione alienum est." — Lib. ii., c. 27,
pp. 409, 410.
"^ Col. ii. 18. ' "Epistle to the Ephesians."
25
386 THE IGNATIAN EPISTLES.
human nature, He prayed, in the very crisis of His agony, " O
my Father, if it be possible, let this ctip pass from me.'' ' The
Scriptures represent the most exalted saints as shrinking in-
stinctively from sufTering. In the prophecy announcing the
violent death of Peter, it is intimated that even the intrepid
apostle of the circumcision should feel disposed to recoil from
the bloody ordeal. " When thou shalt be old," said our Lord
to him, " thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall
gird thee, and carry thee w/zzV/^^r tJwu wouldest not.'"" Paul
mentions with thankfulness how, on a critical occasion, the
Lord stood with him, and ''delivered'' him "out of the
mouth of the lion." ' Long after the apostolic age, the same
spirit continued to be cherished, and hence we are told of
Polycarp that, even when bowed down by the weight of
years, he felt it right to retire out of the way of those who
sought his destruction. The disciples, whom he had so long
taught, took the same view of Christian duty ; and accordingly,
in the Epistle of the Church of Smyrna, which records his
martyrdom, the conduct of those who " present themselves of
their own accord to the trial" is emphatically condemned.*
" We do not," say the believers of Smyrna, " commend those
who offer themselves to persecution, seeing the Gospel teaches no
such thing." " But a man who enjoyed much higher advan-
tages than Polycarp — a minister who was contemporary with
all the apostles — a ruler of the Church who occupied a far
more prominent and influential position than the pastor of
Smyrna, is exhibited in the legend of his martyrdom as appear-
ing "of his own free will"' at the judgment-seat of the Em-
peror, and as manifesting the utmost anxiety to be delivered
' Matt. xxvi. 39. ' John xxi. 18. ' 2 Tim. iv. 17.
* We have here an additional and very clear proof that Polycarp, in his
Epistle, is not referring to Ignatius of Antioch. Instead of pronouncing the
letters now current as treating " of faith and patiaice, and of all things that
pertain to edification," he would have condemned them as specimens of
folly, impatience, and presumption. Dr. Cureton seems to think that, be-
cause Ignatius was an old man, he was at liberty to throw away his liTe
("Corp. Ignat.," p. 321) ; but Polycarp was still older, and he thought dif-
ferently.
' Sec. 4. ' See " Corpus Ignatianum," p. 253.
WHEN FABRICATED. 3 8/
into the mouth of the lion. In the commencement of the sec-
ond century the Churches of Rome and Ephesus possessed as
much spiritual enlightenment as any other Churches in the
world, and it is a libel on their Christianity to suppose that
they could have listened with any measure of complacency to
the senseless ravings found even in the recent edition of the
Ignatian Letters.' The writer is made to assure the believers
in these great cities that he has an unquenchable desire to be
eaten alive, and he beseeches them to pray that he may enjoy
this singular gratification. " I hope," says he, ^^ through your
prayers that I shall be devoured by thebeasts in Rome." ^ ....
" I beg of you, be not with me in the love that is not in its
season. Leave me, that I maybe for the beasts, that by means
of them I may be worthy of God With provoking /r*?-
voke ye the beasts that they may be a grave for me, and may
leave nothing of my body, that not even when I am fallen
asleep may I be a burden upon any man I rejoice in
the beasts which are prepared for me, and I pray that they may
be quickly found for me, and I will provoke them that they may
quickly devour me." ^ Every man jealous for the honor of
primitive Christianity should be slow to believe that an apos-
tolic preacher addressed such outrageous folly to apostolic
Churches.
When reviewing the external evidence in support of these
Epistles, we have had occasion to show that they were fabri-
cated in the former part of the third century. The internal
evidence corroborates the same conclusion. Ecclesiastical
history attests that during the fifty years preceding the death
of Cyprian,^ the principles here put forward were fast gaining
ascendency. As early as the days of Tertullian, ritualism was
' The reader is to understand that all the extracts given in the text are
from the Syriac version of the " Three Epistles."
* " Epistle to the Ephesians."
' " Epistle to the Romans." Pearson can see nothing but the perfection
of piety in all this. " In quibus nihil putidum, nihil odiosum, nihil iiiscith
aut iviprjidentcr scriptum, est." .... "Omnia cum pia, legitima, pr£eclara."
— VindicicB, pars secunda, c. ix.
* From A.D. 208 to A.D. 258.
388 THE IGNATIAN EPISTLES.
rapidly supplanting the freedom of evangelical worship ; bap-
tism was beginning to be viewed as an " armor " of marvellous
potency ; ' the tradition that the great Church of the West had
been founded by Peter and Paul was now extensively propa-
gated; and there was an increasing disposition throughout the
Empire to recognize the precedence of "her who sitteth at the
head in the place of the country of the Romans." It is ap-
parent from the writings of Cyprian that in some quarters the
" church system " was already matured. The language as-
cribed to Ignatius — " Be careful for unanimity, than zvhich
there is nothing more excellent " ' — then expressed a prevailing
sentiment. To maintain unity was considered a higher duty
than to uphold truth, and to be subject to the bishop was
deemed one of the greatest of evangelical virtues. Celibacy
was then confounded with chastity, and mysticism was exten-
sively occupying the place of scriptural knowledge and intel-
ligent conviction. And the admiration of martyrdom which
presents itself in such a startling form in these Epistles was
one of the characteristics of the period. Paul taught that a
man may give his body to be burned and yet want the spirit
of the Gospel;' but Origen does not scruple to describe mar-
tyrdom as " the cup of salvation," the baptism which cleanses
the sufferer, the act which makes his blood precious in God's
sight to the redemption of others." Do not all these circum-
stances combined supply abundant proof that these Epistles
were written in the time of this Alexandrian father ? '
' Thus in the "Acts of Paul and Thecla," fabricated about the beginning
of the third century, Thecla says — " Give me the seal of Christ {i.e. baptism)
and no tcmpia/ion shall touch fne," c. i8. See Jones on the " Canon of the
New Testament," ii., p. 312.
" " Epistle to Polycarp." ' i Cor. xiii. 3.
* See Blunt's " Eariy Fathers," p. 237. See also Origen 's " PZxhortation
to Martyrdom," §§ 27, 30, 50.
* According to Dr. Lee, a strenuous advocate for the Syriac version of the
" Three Epi-.tics," this translation, as he supposes it to be, was made, " not
later perhaps than the close of the second, or beginning of the third cent-
ury." " Corpus Ignat.," Introd., p. 86, note. Dr. Cureton occasionally
supplies strong presumptive evidence that the translation has been made,
not from Greek into S)riac, but from Syriac into Greek. "Cor. Ignat.," p.
27^.
PEARSON AND CALVIN. 389.
It is truly wonderful that men, such as Dr. Cureton, have
permitted themselves to be befooled by these Syriac manu-
scripts. It is still more extraordinary that writers, such as
the pious and amiable Milner,' have published, with all grav-
ity, the rhapsodies of Ignatius for the edification of their read-
ers. It would almost appear as if the name Bishop has such a
magic influence on some honest and enlightened Episcopa-
lians, that when the interests of their denomination are sup.
posed to be concerned, they can be induced to close their eyes
against the plainest dictates of common sense and the clearest
light of historical demonstration. In deciding on matters of
fact the spirit of party should never be permitted to interfere.
Truth is the common property of the catholic Church ; and no
good and holy cause can require the support of an apocryphal
correspondence.
It is no mean proof of the sagacity of the great Calvin, that,
upwards of three hundred years ago, he passed a sweeping sen-
tence of condemnation on these Ignatian Epistles. At the
time, many were startled by the boldness of his language, and
it was thought that he was somewhat precipitate in pronounc-
ing such a decisive judgment. But he saw distinctly, and he
therefore spoke fearlessly. There is a far more intimate con-
nection than many are disposed to believe between sound the-
ology and sound criticism, for a right knowledge of the Word
of God strengthens the intellectual vision, and assists in the
detection of error wherever it may reveal itself. Had Pearson
enjoyed the same clear views of Gospel truth as the Reformer
of Geneva, he would not have wasted so many precious years
' Though Milner, in his " History of the Church of Christ," quotes these
letters so freely, he seems to have scarcely turned his attention to the con-
troversy respecting them. Hence he intimates that Ussher reckoned seven
of them genuine, though it is notorious that the Primate of Armagh rejected
the Epistle to Polycarp. (See Milner, cent, ii., chap, i.) Others, as well as
Milner. who have written respecting these Epistles, have committed simi-
lar mistakes. Thus, Dr. Elrington, Regius Professor of Divinity in Trinity
College, Dublin, the recent editor of" Ussher's Works," when referring to
the Primate's share in this controversy, speaks of " the recent discovery of
a Syriac version oi four Epistles by Mr. Cureton ! " " Life of Ussher," p.
235, note.
390 THE IGNATIAN EPISTLES.
in writing a learned vindication of the nonsense attributed to
Ignatius. Calvin knew that an apostolic man was acquainted
with apostolic doctrine, and he saw that these letters were the
productions of an age when the pure light of Christianity was
greatly obscured. Hence he denounced them so emphati-
cally : and time has verified his deliverance. His language
respecting them has been often quoted, but we feel we can
not more appropriately close our observations on this subject
than by another repetition of it. "There is nothing more
abominable than that trash which is in circulation under the
name of Ignatius.' '
'" Instit.." lib. i., c. xiii., § 29.
CHAPTER IV.
THE GNOSTICS, THE MONTANISTS, AND THE MANICH^ANS.
The proclamation of Jesus as the Messiah was the com-
mencement of a new era in the history of the world. The
Gospel spread on all sides with great rapidity ; it was felt to
be a religion for the common people ; and some individuals of
highly cultivated minds soon acknowledged its authority. For
a time its progress was impeded by the persecutions of Nero
and Domitian ; but, in the beginning of the second century, it
started upon a new career of prosperous advancement, and
quickly acquired such a position that the most distinguished
scholars and philosophers could no longer overlook its preten-
sions. In the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian, a considerable
number of men of learning were already in its ranks ; but, on
the whole, it derived very equivocal aid from the presence of
these new adherents. Not a few of the literati who joined its
standard attempted to corrupt it ; and one hundred and twenty
years after the death of the Apostle John, the champions of
orthodoxy had to contend against no less than thirty-two
heresies.'
Of those who adulterated the Gospel, the Gnostics were by
far the most subtle, the most active, and the most formidable.
The leaders of the party were all men of education; and as
they were to be found chiefly in the large cities, the Church
in these centres of influence was in no small degree embarrassed
and endangered by their speculations. Some of the peculiarities
of Gnosticism have been already noticed ;* but as it made most
' See Bunsen's " Hippolytus," i., p. 27.
* Period i., sec. ii., chap, iii., pp. 182, 183.
(391)
392 THE GNOSTICS.
progress and awakened most anxiety during the second cent-
ury, we must here advert more distinctly to its outlines. The
three great antagonists of the Gospel were the Grecian phi-
losophy, the heathen mythology, and a degenerate Judaism ;
and Gnosticism was an attempt to effect a compromise
between Christianity and these rivals. As might have been
expected, the attempt met with much encouragement ; for
many, who hesitated to accept the new religion uncondition-
ally, were constrained to acknowledge that it exhibited many
elements of truth and divinity ; and they were, therefore, pre-
pared to look on it with favor when presented to them in an
altered shape and furnished with certain favorite appendages.
The Gnostics called themselves believers ; and their most cele-
brated teachers would willingly have remained in the bosom
of the Church ; but it was soon discovered that their principles
were subversive of the New Testament revelation ; and they
were accordingly excluded from ecclesiastical fellowship.
Gnosticism assumed a variety of forms, and almost every
one of its teachers had his own distinctive creed ; but, as a
system, it was always known by certain remarkable features.
It uniformly ignored the doctrine that God made all things
out of nothing;' and, taking for granted the eternity of mat-
ter, it tried to account, on philosophical principles, for the
moral and spiritual phenomena of the world which we inhabit.
The Gnosis' or knowledge, which it supplied, and from which
it derived its designation, was a strange congeries of wild
speculations. The Scriptures describe the Most High as
humbling Himself to behold the things that are on earth,' as
exercising a constant providence over all His creatures, as
decking the lilies of the valley, and as numbering the very
hairs of our heads; but Gnosticism exhibited the Supreme
God as separated by an immeasurable interval from matter,
.and as having no direct communication with anything thus
contaminated. The theory by means of which many of its
adherents endeavored to solve the problem of the origin of
' See Tertullian, " Adversus Hermogenem," c. \. and iv.
' -^/vitaiq. ■■ Ps. cxiii. 6.
THE GNOSTICS. 393
evil/ and to trace the connection between the finite and the
infinite, was not without ingenuity. They maintained that a
series of /Eons, or divine beings, emanated from the Primal
Essence ; but, as sound issuing from a given point gradually
becomes fainter till it is finally lost in silence, each generation
of ^ons, as it receded from the great Fountain of Spiritual
Existence, lost somewhat of the vigor of divinity ; and at
length an yEon was produced without power sufficient to
maintain its place in the Pleroma, or habitation of the God-
head. This scheme of a series of yEons of gradually decreas-
ing excellence was designed to show how, from an Almighty
and Perfect Intelligence, a weak and erring being could be
generated. There were Gnostics who carried the principle of
attenuation so far as to teach that the inhabitants of the
celestial world were distributed into no less than three hun-
dred and sixty-five heavens,'' each inferior to the other. Ac-
cording to some of these systems, an ^on removed by many
emanations from the source of Deity, and, in consequence,
possessed of comparatively little strength, passed over the
bounds of the Pleroma, and imparted life to matter. Another
Power, called the Demiurge, was then produced, who, out of
the materials already in existence, fashioned the present world.
The human race, ushered, under such circumstances, upon the
stage of time, are ignorant of the true God, and in bondage to
corrupt matter. But all men are not in a state of equal degra-
dation. Some possess a spiritual nature ; some, a physical or
animal nature ; and some, only a corporeal or carnal nature.
Jesus at length appeared; and, at His baptism in the Jordan,
Christ, a powerful ^on, joined Him, that He might be fitted
for redeeming souls from the ignorance and slaver>^ in which
they are entangled. This Saviour taught the human family
the knowledge of the true God. Jesus was seized and led to
> See Tertullian, " Aclversus Marcionem," lib. i., c. 2. About this time
many works were written on the subject. Eusebius mentions a publication
by Irenasus, " On Sovereignty, or on the Truth that God is Jiot the Ajithur
of Evil," and another by Maximus on " The Origin of Evil." Euseb. v.
20, 27.
^ Irenjeus, " Contra Hasres." lib. i., c. 24, § 7.
394 THE DEMIURGE.
crucifixion, and the ^on Christ now departed from Him
but, as His body was composed of the finest ethereal elements,
and was, in fact, a phantom. He did not really suffer on the
accursed tree. Many of the Gnostics taught that there are
two spheres of future enjoyment. They held that, whilst the
spiritual natures shall be restored to the Pleroma, the physical
or animal natures shall be admitted to an inferior state of hap-
piness; and that such souls as are found to be incapable of
purification shall be consigned to perdition or annihilation.
According to all the Gnostics, the Demiurge, or maker of
this world, is far inferior to the Supreme Deity ; but these
system-builders were by no means agreed as to his position
and his functions. Some of them regarded him as an ^on of
inferior intelligence, who acted in obedience to the will of the
Great God ; others conceived that he was no other than the
God of the Jews, who, in their estimation, was a Being of rug-
ged and intractable character; whilst others contended that
he was an Evil Power at open war with the righteous Sov-
ereign of the universe. The Gnostics also differed in their
views respecting matter. Those of them who were Egyptians,
and who had been addicted to the study of the Platonic phi-
losophy, held matter to be inert till impregnated with life ; but
the Syrians, who borrowed much from the Oriental theology,
taught that it was eternally subject to a Lord, or Ruler, who
had been perpetually at variance with the Great God of the
Pleroma.
Two of the most distinguished Gnostic teachers who flour-
ished in the early part of the second century were Saturninus
of Antioch and Basilides of Alexandria.' Valentine, who was
somewhat later, and who first excited attention at Rome about
A.D. 140, was still more celebrated. He taught that in the
Pleroma there are fifteen male and fifteen female /Eons, whom
he distinguished by their names; and he even proceeded to
point out how they arc distributed into married pairs. Some
' Irena?us, lib. i., c. 24. According to Clemens Alexandrinus, Basilides
flourished in the reigns of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. "Slromata," lib.
vii., Opera, p. 764.
VALENTINE AND MARCION. 395
have supposed that certain deep philosophical truths were
here concealed by him under the veil of allegory. As he, like
others of the same class, conveyed parts of his Gnosis only
into the ears of the initiated, the explanation of its symbols
was reserved for those who were thus made acquainted with
its secret wisdom. It has been alleged that he personified the
attributes of God, and that the ^ons, whom he names and
joins together, are simply those divine perfections which,
when combined, are fitted to produce the most remarkable
results. Thus, he associated Profundity and Thought, Intelli-
gence and Truth, Reason and Life.'' His system had many at-
tractions for his age, as his disciples, in considerable numbers,
were soon found both in the East and in the West.
When Valentine was at Rome, Marcion, another heresiarch
of the same class, was also in the great metropolis.'' This
man was born in Pontus, and though some of the fathers
have attempted to fix a stain on his early reputation, his sub-
sequent character was irreproachable.' He was one of the
most upright and amiable of the Gnostics. These errorists
were charged by their orthodox antagonists with gross immor-
ality ; and there was often too much ground for the accusa-
tion ; for some of them, such as Carpocrates,^ avowed and
encouraged the most shameless licentiousness; but others,
such as Marcion, were noted for their ascetic strictness. All
the more respectable Gnostics recommended themselves to
public confidence by the austerity of their discipline. They
enjoined rigorous fasting, and inculcated abstinence from
wine, flesh-meat, and marriage. The Oriental theology, as
well as the Platonic philosophy, sanctioned such a mode of
living ; and, therefore, those by whom it was practiced were
in a favorable position for gaining the public ear when they
came forward as theological instructors.
' Bu^of Ka\ ivvota, voi'g Kal akijOeia^ 7i,6yoQ koI l^u?].
* According to some, Valentine was the disciple of Marcion. Clemens
Alexandrinus states that Marcion was his senior. " Strom." lib. viii. Ter-
tullian says expressly that Valentine was at one time the disciple of Mar-
cion. " De Carne Christi," c. i.
^ See Neander's "General History," by Torrey, ii. pp. 171, 174, notes.
* See Kaye's " Clement of Alexandria," pp. 316, 317.
39^ ERRORS OF GNOSTICISM.
Gnosticism appears to us a most fantastic system ; but, ii.
the second' century, it was dreaded as a very formidable adver-
sary by the Church ; and the extent to which it spread attests
that it possessed not a few of the elements of popularity. Its
doctrine of vEons, or Divine Emanations, was quite in ac-
cordance with theories which had then gained extensive cur-
rency ; and its account of the formation of the present world
was countenanced by established modes of thinking. Many
who cherished a hereditary prejudice against Judaism were
gratified by the announcement that the Demiurge was no
other than the God of the Israelites ; and many more were
flattered by the statement that some souls are essentially
purer and better than others.' The age was sunk in sensu-
ality ; and, as it was the great boast of the heresiarchs that
their Gnosis secured freedom from the dominion of the flesh,
multitudes, who secretly sighed for deliverance, were thus in-
duced to test its efificacy. But Gnosticism, in whatever form
it presented itself, was a miserable perversion of the Gospel.
Some of its teachers entirely rejected the Old Testament ;
others reduced its history to a myth ; and all mutilated and
misinterpreted the writings of the apostles and evangelists.
Like the Jewish Cabalists, who made void the law of God
by expositions which fancy suggested and tradition embalmed,
the Gnostics, by their far-fetched and unnatural comments,
threw an air of obscurity over the plainest passages of the
New Testament. Some of them, aware that they could de-
rive no support from the inspired records, actually fabricated
Gospels, and affixed to them the names of apostles or evan-
gelists,,in the hope of thus obtaining credit for the spurious
documents.' Whilst Gnosticism in this way set aside the
authority of the Word of God, it also lowered the dignity of
the Saviour; and even when Christ was most favorably repre-
sented by it. He was but an -^on removed at the distance of
* The Ophites carried this feeling so far as to maintain that the serpent
which deceived Eve was no other than the divine vCon Sophia, or Wisdom
who thus weakened the power of laldabaoth, or the Demiurge.
' See Moshcim, " He Causis Suppositorum Librorum inter Christianos
Sasculi Primi et Secundi." " Dissert, ad Hist. Eccl. Pcrtin." vol. i. 221.
MONTANUS, 397
several intermediate generations from the Supreme Ruler of
the universe. The propagators of this system altogether mis-
conceived the scope of the Gospel dispensation. They substi-
tuted salvation by carnal ordinances for salvation by faith ;
they represented man in his natural state rather as an ignora-
mus than a sinner; and, whilst they absurdly magnified their
own Gnosis, they entirely discarded the doctrine of a vicari-
ous atonement.
Shortly after the middle of the second century the Church
began to be troubled by a heresy in some respects very differ-
ent from Gnosticism. At that time the persecuting spirit dis-
played by Marcus Aurelius filled the Christians throughout
the Empire with alarm, and those of them who were given to
despondency began to entertain the most gloomy anticipa-
tions. An individual, named Montanus, who laid claim to
prophetic endowments, now appeared in a village on the bor-
ders of Phrygia; and though he possessed a rather mean
capacity, his discipline was so suited to the taste of many, and
the predictions which he uttered so accorded with prevailing
apprehensions, that he soon created a deep impression. When
he first came forward in the character of a Divine Instructor
he had been recently converted to Christianity; and he
strangely misapprehended the nature of the Gospel. When
he delivered his pretended communications from heaven, he
wrought himself up into a state of frenzied excitement. His
countrymen, who had been accustomed to witness the ecsta-
sies of the priests of Bacchus and Cybele, saw proofs of a
divine impulse in his bodily contortions ; and some of them
at once acknowledged his extraordinary mission. By means
of two wealthy female associates, named Priscilla and Maxi-
milla, who also professed to utter prophecies, Montanus was
enabled rapidly to extend his influence. His fame spread
abroad on all sides ; and, in a few years, he had followers in
Europe and Africa, as well as in Asia.
This heresiarch did not attempt to overturn the creed of
the Church. He was neither a profound thinker nor a logical
reasoner; and he certainly had not maturely studied the
science of theology. But he possessed an ardent tempera-
398 MONTANUS.
merit, and he promulgated the suggestions of his own fanati-
cism as the dictates of inspiration. The doctrine of the per-
sonal reign of Christ during the millennium formed a promi-
nent topic in his ministrations.' He maintained that the dis-
cipline of the Church had been left incomplete by the apos-
tles, and that he was empowered to supply a better code of
regulations. According to some he proclaimed himself the
Paraclete ; but, if so, he most grievously belied his assumed
name, for his system was far better fitted to induce despond-
ency than to inspire comfort. All his precepts were con-
ceived in the sour and contracted spirit of mere ritualism.
He insisted upon long fasts ; condemned second marriages ; '
inveighed against all who endeavored to save themselves by
flight in times of persecution ; and asserted that such as had
once been guilty of any heinous transgression should never
again be admitted to ecclesiastical fellowship. Whilst he pro-
mulgated this stern discipline, he at the same time delivered
the most dismal predictions, announcing, among other things,
the speedy catastrophe of the Roman Empire. He also gave
out that the Phrygian village where he ministered was to be-
come the New Jerusalem of renovated Christianity.
But the Church was still too strongly impregnated with the
free spirit of the Gospel to submit to such a prophet as Mon-
tanus. He had, however, powerful advocates, and even a
Roman bishop at one time gave him countenance.' Though
his discipline commended itself to the morose and pharisaical,
it was rejected by those who rightly understood the mystery
' His great text was Rev. xx. 6, 7. Hence some now began to flispute
the authority of the Apocalypse.
* Others, not connected with Montanus, but who Hved about the same
time, held the same views on the subject of marriage. Thus, Atheiiago-
ras says, " A second marriage is by us esteemed a specious adultery." —
Apo/ci;y, § 33.
'* " Nam idem (Praxeas) tunc Episcopum Romanum, agnoscentem jam
prophetias Montani, Priscas, Maximillae, et ex ea agnitione pacem ecclesiis
Asiae et Phrygise inferentcm, falsa de ipsis prophetis et ecclesiis eorum adse-
verando et preecessorum ejus auctoritates defendendo coegit et litteras pacis
revocare jam emissas et a proposito recipiendorum charismatum conces-
sare." — Tertitllian, Adv. Fraxcan., c. i.
MANI. 399
of godliness. Several councils were held to discuss its merits,
and it was emphatically condemned." The signal failure of
some of the Montanist predictions had greatly lowered the
credit of the party ; Montanus was pronounced a false proph-
et ; and though the sect was supported by TertuUian, the
most vigorous writer of the age, it gradually ceased to attract
notice."
A centuiy after the appearance of Montanus, another indi-
vidual, in a more remote part of Asia, acquired great notoriety
as a heresiarch. The doctrine of two First Principles, a good
deity and an evil deity, had been long current in the East.
Even in the days of Isaiah we trace its existence, for there is
a most significant allusion to it in one of his prophecies, in
which Jehovah is represented as saying, " I am the Lord,
and there is none else, there is no God beside me /
form the light and create darkness ; I make peace and create
evil : I the Lord do all these things." ' About the fifth cent-
ury before Christ, the Persian theology had been reformed by
Zoroaster, and the subordination of the two Principles to one
God, the author of both, had been acknowledged as an article
of the established creed. In the early part of the third cent-
ury of the Christian era, there was a struggle between the ad-
herents of the old and the new faith of Parsism ; and the
supporters of the views of Zoroaster had been again success-
ful. But a considerable party still refused to relinquish the
doctrine of the independence of the two Principles ; and some
of these joined themselves to Mani, a Persian by birth, who,
in the latter half of the third century, became distinguished
as the propagator of a species of mongrel Christianity. This
man, who was born about A.D. 240, possessed genius of a high
order. Though he finished his career when he was only thirty-
seven years of age, he had already risen to eminence among
his countrymen, and attracted the notice of several successive
' Euseb. V. 16.
' It maintained, however, a lingering existence for several centuries. Even
Justinian, about A.D. 530, enacts laws against the Montanists or Tertul-
lianists.
' Isaiah xlv. 5, 7.
400 MANI.
sovereigns. He was a skilful physician, an accomplished
painter, and an excellent astronomer, as well as an acute meta-
physician. Like Montanus, he laid claim to a divine commis-
sion, and alleged that he was the Paraclete who was promised
to guide into all truth. He maintained that there are two
First Principles of all things, light and darkness : God, in the
kingdom of light, and the devil, in the kingdom of darkness,
have existed from eternity. Mani thus accounted for the
phenomena of the world around us : " Over the kingdom of
light," said this heresiarch, " ruled God the Father, eternal in
His sacred race, glorious in His might, the truth by His very
essence But the Father himself, glorious in His majesty,
incomprehensible in His greatness, has united with Himself
blessed and glorious ^ons, in number and greatness surpass-
ing estimation." ' He taught that Christ came to liberate the
light from the darkness, and that he himself was now deputed
to reveal the mysteries of the universe, and to assist men in
recovering their freedom. He rejected a great portion of the
canon of Scripture, and substituted certain writings of his
own, which his followers were to receive as of divine authority.
His disciples, called Manichees, or Manichaeans, assumed the
name of a CJmrch, and were divided into two classes, the
Elect and the Hearers. The Elect, who were comparatively
few, were the sacred order. They alone were made acquaint-
ed with the mysteries, or more recondite doctrines, of the
sect ; they practiced extreme abstinence ; they subsisted
chiefly upon olives;' and they lived in celibacy. They were
not to kill, or even wound, an animal ; neither were they to
pull up a vegetable or pluck a flower. The Hearers were per-
mitted to share in the business and pleasures of the world,
but they were taught only the elements of the system. After
death, according to Mani, souls do not pass immediately into
the world of light. They must first undergo a twofold
purification: one, by w^'/rr in the moon; another, by y^/r in
the sun.
' Augustin, "Contra Epist. Fundamenti," c. 13.
" On the ground that their oil is the food of light ! SchalT's " History of
the Christian Church," p. 249.
MORTAL AND VENIAL SINS. 40I
Mani had provoked the enmity of the Magians; and, at
their instigation, he was consigned, about A.D. 277, by order of
the Persian monarch, to a cruel and ignominious death. But
the sect which he had organized did not die along with him.
His system was well fitted to please the Oriental fancy ; its
promise of a higher wisdom to those who obtained admission
into the class of the Elect encouraged the credulity of the
auditors ; and, to such as had not carefully studied the Chris-
tian revelation, its hypothesis of a Good and of an Evil Deity
accounted rather plausibly for the mingled good and evil of
our present existence. The Manichaeans were exposed to much
suffering in the country where they first appeared ; and, as a
sect of Persian origin, they were oppressed by the Roman
government ; but they were not extinguished by persecution,
and, far down in the Middle Ages, they still occasionally
figure in the drama of history.
Synods and councils may pass resolutions condemnatory of
false doctrine, but it is more difficult to counteract the seduc-
tion of the principles from which heresies derive their influ-
ence. The Gnostics, the Montanists, and the Manichaeans, owed
much of their strength to fallacies and superstitions with which
the Christian teachers of the age were not fully prepared to
grapple ; and hence it was that, whilst the errorists themselves
were denounced by ecclesiastical authority, a large portion of
their peculiar leaven found its way into the Church and gradu-
ally produced an immense change in its doctrine and disci-
pline. A notice of the more important of the false sentiments
and dangerous practices which the heretics propagated and
the catholics adopted, may enable us to estimate the amount
of the damage which the cause of truth now sustained.
The Montanists recognized the distinction of 'venial and
mortal sins. They held that a professed disciple, guilty of
what they called mortal sin, should never again be admitted
to sealing ordinances.' It is apparent from the writings of
' Du Pin says that " Tertullian was the first that spoke distinctly of the
distinction of great and Httle sins " (I., 286.) We find him, after he became
a Montanist, dwelling on the distinction of venial and mortal sins. See
Kaye's "Tertullian," pp. 255, 339.
26
402 MORTAL AND VENIAL SINS.
Hippolytus, the famous bishop of Portus, that, in the early-
part of the third century, some of the most influential of the
cathoHcs cordially supported this principle. Soon after\vard
it was openly advocated by a powerful party in the Church of
Rome, and its rejection by Cornelius, then at the head of that
community, led to the schism of Novatian. But the distinc-
tion of venial and mortal sins, on which it proceeded, was even
now generally acknowledged. This distinction, which lies at
the basis of the ancient penitential discipline, was already be-
ginning to vitiate the whole catholic theology. Some sins
are more heinous than others, but the comparative turpitude
of transgressions depends much on the circumstances in which
they are committed. The wages of every sin is death,' and it
is absurd to attempt to give a stereotyped character to any
one violation of God's law by classing it, in regard to the ex-
tent of its guilt, in a particular category. Christianity regards
sin, in whatever form, as a spiritual poison ; and instead of
seeking to solve the curious problem — how much of it may
exist in the soul without the destruction of spiritual life? — it
wisely instructs us to guard against it in our very thoughts,
and to abstain from " all appearance of evil." " " When lust,"
or indwelling depravity of any description, "has conceived, it
bringeth forth sin ; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth
death." ' The admission of the distinction of venial and mor-
tal sins is most perilous to the best interests of the Christian
community ; for, whilst it is without foundation in the in-
spired statute-book, it inevitably leads to the neglect or care-
less performance of many duties which the Most High has
solemnly enjoined.
The Platonic philosophy taught the necessity of a state of
purification after death;* and a modification of this doctrine
formed part of at least some of the systems of Gnosticism.'
It is inculcated by Tcrtullian, the great champion of Montan-
' Rom. vi. 23. " I Thess. v. 22. 'James i. 15.
* See Cudvvorth's " Intellectual System," with Notes by Mosheim, iii., p,
297. Edition, London, 1845,
' See Hagenbach's " History of Doctrines," i., p. 218.
PURGATORY AND PENANCE. 403
ism ; * and we have seen how, according to Mani, departed
souls pass, first to the moon, and then to the sun, that they
may thus undergo a twofold purgation. Here, again, a tenet
originally promulgated by the heretics, became at length a
portion of the creed of the Church. The Manichaeans, as well
as the Gnostics, rejected the doctrine of the atonement, and as
faith in the perfection of the cleansing virtue of the blood of
Christ declined, a belief in Purgatory became popular.^
The Gnostics, with some exceptions, insisted greatly on the
mortification of the body ; and the same species of discipline
was strenuously recommended by the Montanists and the
Manichseans. All these heretics believed that the largest
measure of future happiness was to be realized by those who
practiced the most rigid asceticism. Mani admitted that an
individual without any extraordinary amount of abstinence
could reach the world of Light, for he held out the hope of
heaven to his Hearers ; but he taught that its highest distinc-
tions were reserved for the Elect, who scrupulously refrained
from bodily indulgence. The Church silently adopted the
same principle ; and the distinction between precepts and
counsels, which was soon introduced into its theology, rests
upon this foundation. By precepts are understood those du-
ties which are obligatory upon all ; by counsels, those acts,
whether of charity or abstinence, which are expected from
such only as aim at superior sanctity.' The Elect of the
Manichaeans, as well as many of the Gnostics,'' declined to en-
ter into wedlock ; and the Montanists were disposed to confer
double honor on the single clergy.* The Church did not long
stand out against the fascinations of this popular delusion.
Her members almost universally caught up the impression
• See Kaye's "Tertullian," p. 348.
2 The doctrine of Purgatory, as now held, was not, however, fully recog-
nized until the time of Gregory the Great, or the beginning of the seventh
century,
'See Mosheim's " Institutes," by Soames, i. 166.
* Marcion declined to baptize those who were married. " Non tinguitur
apud ilium caro, nisi virgo, nisi vidua, nisi caelebs, nisi divortio baptisma
mercata." — Tertullian, Adver. Marcioiiem^ lib. i., c. 29.
° See Neander's " General History," ii. 253.
404 CELIBACY.
that marriage stands in the way of the cultivation of piety ;
and bishops and presbyters, who lived in celibacy, began to
be regarded as more holy than their brethren. This feeling
continued to gain strength ; and from it sprung that vast sys-
tem of monasticism which spread throughout Christendom,
with such amazing rapidity, in the fourth century.'
It thus appears that asceticism and clerical celibacy have
been grafted on Christianity by paganism. Hundreds of years
before the New Testament was written, Buddhism could boast
of multitudes of monks and eremites." The Gnostics, in the
early part of. the second century, celebrated the praises of a
single life; and the Elect of the Manichaeans were all celi-
bates. Meanwhile marriage was permitted to the clergy of
the catholic Church. Well might the apostle exhort the dis-
ciples to beware of those ordinances which have " a shoiv of
•wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and neglecting of the
body" ' as the austerities of the cloister are miserable prepara-
tives for the enjoyments of a world of purity and love. Chris-
tianity exhibited startling tokens of degeneracy when it at-
tempted to nourish piety upon the spawn of the heathen su-
perstitions. The Gospel is designed for social and for active
beings ; as it hallows all the relations of life, it also teaches us
how to use all the good gifts of God ; and whilst celibacy and
protracted fasting may only generate misanthropy and melan-
choly, faith, walking in the ways of obedience, can purify the
heart, and induce the peace that passeth all understanding.
' In the fifth century, the great Augustine thus absurdly discourses of the
merits of celibacy : " What is the meaning of the difference of fertility, let
them ascertain who understand these things better than we do —whether
the virginal life be in fruit an hundredfold, the widowed sixtyfold, the mar-
ried thirtyfold — or whether the hundredfold fertility be ascribed to martyr-
dom, the sixtyfold to continence, the thirtyfold to marriage." — De Sancta
Virginitatc, cap. 45.
'In the Wcstininster Rcinnu for October, 1856, there is an article on
" Buddhism," written, indeed, in the anti-evangelical spirit of that periodi-
cal, but containing withal much curious and important information. See
also Sir James Emerson Tenncnt's " Ceylon," and Hardy's " Eastern Mon-
achism."
^Col. ii. 23.
CHAPTER V.
THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH,
For some time after the apostolic age, the doctrine of the
Church remained unchanged. Those who had been taught
by the inspired heralds of the Gospel did not readily relin-
quish any of its distinctive principles. The purity of the
evangelical creed was indeed soon deteriorated by the ad-
mixture of dogmas suggested by bigotry and superstition ;
but, throughout the whole of the period before us, its ele-
mentary articles were substantially maintained by almost all
the Churches of the Empire.
Though there was still an agreement respecting the car-
dinal points of Christianity, it is not strange that the early
writers occasionally expressed themselves in a way which
would now be considered loose or inaccurate. Errorists, by
the controversies they awakened, not unfrequently created
much perplexity and confusion ; but, in general, the truth
eventually issued from discussion with renovated credit ; for,
in due time, acute and able advocates came forward to prove
that the articles assailed rested on an impregnable foundation.
During these debates it became necessary to distinguish the
different shades of doctrine by the establishment of a fixed
terminology. The disputants were obliged to define with
precision the expressions they employed ; and thus various
forms of speech ceased to have an equivocal meaning. But,
in the second or third century, theology had not assumed a
scientific form ; and the language of orthodoxy was, as yet,
unsettled. Hence, when treating of doctrinal questions, those
whose views were substantially correct sometimes gave their
(405)
4o6 "THE apostles' creed."
sanction to the use of phrases which were afterward con-
demned as the symbols of heterodoxy.'
About the beginning of the third century all adults who
were admitted to baptism were required to make a declara-
tion of their faith by assenting to some such formula as
that now called " The Apostles' Creed "; " and though no
general council had yet been held, the chief pastors of the
largest and most influential Churches maintained, by letters,
an ofificial correspondence, and were in this way well ac-
quainted with each other's sentiments. A considerable num-
ber of these epistles, or at least of extracts from them, are
still extant ; ' and there is thus abundant proof of the unity
of the faith of the ecclesiastical rulers. But, in treating of
this subject, it is necessary to be more specific, and to no-
tice particularly the leading doctrines commonly received.
Before entering directly on this review, it is proper to men-
tion that the Holy Scriptures were held in the highest esti-
mation. The reading of them aloud formed part of the
stated service of the congregation, and one or other of the
passages brought, at the time, under the notice of the audi-
tory, usually constituted the groundwork of the preacher's
discourse. Their perusal was recommended to the laity ; *
the husband and wife talked of them familiarly as they sat by
' The most remarkable instance of this is the condemnation of the word
6/Movaioc, as applied to our Lord, by the Synod of Antioch in a.d. 269. It
is well known that the very same word was adopted in a.d. 325, by the
Council of Nice as the symbol of orthodoxy; and yet these two ecclesiasti-
cal assemblies held the same views. See also, as to the application of the
word vTraaraacc, Burton's " Ante-Nicene Testimonies," p. 129.
* "The inference to be drawn from a comparison of different passages
scattered through Tertullian's writings is, that the A])ostles' Creed in its
present form was not known to him as a summary of faith ; but that the
various clauses of which it is composed were generally received as articles
of faith by orthodox Christians. "^ — Kayf's TcrtuIIiaii, p. 324.
2 These may be found in Routh's " Reliquix." Eusebius has preserved
many of them.
* " Si quis legat Scripturas et crit consummatus discipulus, at
similis patrifamilias, qui de thesauro suo profert nova et vetera." — IretKBUS,
iv., c. 26, § i.
DIFFUSION OF SCRIPTURE KNOWLEDGE. 407
the domestic hearth ; ' and children were accustomed to com-
mit them to memory.'' As many of the disciples could not
read, and as the expense of manuscripts was considerable,
copies of the sacred books were not in the hands of all ; but
their frequent rehearsal in the public assemblies made the
multitude familiar with their contents, and some of the
brethren possessed an amount of acquaintance with them
which, even at the present day, would be deemed marvellous.
Eusebius speaks of several individuals who could repeat, at
will, any required passage from either the Old or New Testa-
ment. On a certain occasion the historian happened to be
present when one of these walking concordances poured forth
the stores of his prodigious memory. '' I was struck with ad-
miration," says he, " when I first beheld him standing amidst
a large crowd, and reciting certain portions of Holy Writ.
As long as I could only hear his voice, I supposed that he
was reading, as is usual in the congregations ; but, when I
came close up to him, I discovered that, employing only the
eyes of his mind, he uttered the divine oracles like some
prophet." '
It was not extraordinary that the early Christians were
anxious to treasure up Scripture in the memory ; for, in all
matters of faith and practice, the Written Word was regarded
as the standard of ultimate appeal. No human authority
whatever was deemed equal to the award of this Divine arbi-
ter. " They who are laboring after excellency," says a father
of this period, " will not stop in their search after truth, imtit
they have obtained proof of that zvhich they believe from the
Scriptures themselves^ * Nor was there any dispute as to
the amount of confidence to be placed in the language of the
Bible. The doctrine of its plenary inspiration — a doctrine
' " Ubi fomenta fidei de scripturarum interjectione ? " — TertulHan, Ad
Uxorem, lib. ii., c. 6.
^ As in the case of Origen. In the " Didascalia" we meet with the follow-
ing directions : " Teach then your children the word of the Lord
Teach them to write, and to read the Holy Scriptures." — Ethiopic Didas-
calia, by Piatt, p. 130.
^ Euseb. viii., c. 13. ■* Clemens Alexandrinus, " Stromata," lib. vii.
408 PLENARY INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE.
which many in modern times either openly or virtually deny —
was received without abatement or hesitation. Even Ori-
gen, who takes such liberties when interpreting the sacred
text, admits most fully that it is all of divine dictation. " I
believe," says he, " that, for those who know how to draw
virtue from the Scriptures, every letter in the oracles of God
has its end and its work, even to an iota and particle of a
letter. And, as among plants, there is not one but has its
peculiar virtue, and as they only who have a knowledge of
botanical science can tell how each should be prepared and
applied to a useful purpose ; so it is that he who is a holy
and spiritual botanist of the Word of God, .by gathering up
each atom and element, will find the virtue of that Word,
and acknowledge that there is nothing in all that is written
that is superfluous." '
It has been already stated ' that little difference of senti-
ment existed in the early Church respecting the books to be
included in the canon of the New Testament. All, with the
exception of the Gnostics and some other heretics, recognized
the claims of the four Gospels,' of the Acts of the Apostles,
of the Epistles of Paul, of the First Epistle of Peter, and of
the First Epistle of John. Though, for a time, some Churches
hesitated to acknowledge the remaining epistles, their doubts
seem to have been gradually dissipated." At first the genu-
ineness of the Apocalypse was undisputed ; but, after the rise
of the Montanists, who were continually quoting it in proof
of their theory of a millennium, some of their antagonists
foolishly questioned its authority. At an early period two
or three tracts '' written by uninspired men were received as
Scripture by a number of Churches. They were never, how-
' Homil. xxxix. on Jer. xliv. 22.
* Period i., sec. ii., chap, i„ p, 163.
* The fathers traced analogies between the four Gospels and the four
cardinal points, the living creatures with four faces, and the four rivers of
Paradise. See Irenaeus, lib. iii., c. xi., § 8; and Cyprian, Epist. Ixxiii.,
Opera, p. 281.
* See Euseb. vi. 25.
* Such as the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas.
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION. 4O9
ever, generally acknowledged ; and at length, by common
consent, were excluded from the canon.'
The code of heathen morality supplied a ready apology for
falsehood," and its accommodating principles soon found too
much encouragement within the pale of the Church. Hence
the pious frauds which were now perpetrated. Various works
made their appearance with the name of some apostolic man
appended to them,^ their fabricators thus hoping to give cur-
rency to opinions or practices which might otherwise have en-
countered much opposition. At the same time many evinced
•a disposition to supplement the silence of the Written Word
by the aid of tradition. But though the writers of the period
sometimes lay undue stress on the evidence of this vague wit-
ness, they often resort to it merely as an offset against state-
ments professedly derived from the same source which were
brought forward by the heretics ; and they invariably admit
that the authority of Scripture is entitled to override the
authority of tradition. " The Lord in the Gospel, reproving
and rebuking, declares," says Cyprian, " ye reject the com-
mandment of God that ye may keep your own tradition." ....
Custom should not be an obstacle that the truth prevail not
and overcome, for a custom without truth is error inveterate!' *
" What obstinacy is that, or what presumption, to prefer
human tradition to divine ordinances, and not to perceive that
God is displeased and provoked, as often as human tradition
relaxes and sets aside the divine command." * During this
period the uncertainty of any other guide than the inspired
record was repeatedly demonstrated ; for, though Christians
were removed at so short a distance from apostolic times, the
See Westcott on the Canon, pp. 452, 453.
"The opinion that falsehood was allowable, and might even be neces-
sary to guide the multitude, was," says Neander, "a principle inbred into
the aristocratic spirit of the old world." — General History, ii. p. 72.
3 Such as the numerous works ascribed to Clemens Romanus and the
Ignatian Epistles.
* Cyprian, Epist. Ixxiv., p. 294.
' Cyprian, Epist. Ixxiv., p. 296. ' Cyprian, Epist. Ixxiv., p. 294.
4IO ORIGINAL SIN.
traditions of one Church sometimes diametrically contradicted
those of another.'
There is certainly nothing like uniformity in the language
employed by the Christian writers of this era when treating of
doctrinal subjects ; and yet their theology was essentially the
same. All apparently admit the corruption of human nature.
Justin Martyr speaks of a concupiscence in every man, evil in
all its tendencies and various in its nature," " whilst Tertullian
mentions original sin under the designation of "the vice of
our origin." ^ Our first parent, says he, " having been seduced
into disobedience by Satan, was delivered over to death, and
transmitted his condemnation to the whole human race, which
v^diS infected from his seed.'' *' Though the ancient fathers oc-
casionally describe free will in terms which apparently ignore
the existence of indwelling depravity,^ their language is not to
be too strictly interpreted, as it only implies a strong protest
against the heathen doctrine of fate, and a recognition of the
principle that man is a voluntary agent. Thus it is that Cle-
mens Alexandrinus, one of the writers who asserts most de-
' The conflicting traditions relative to the time of keeping the Paschal
feast afiford a striking illustration of this fact.
'^ See Kaye's " Justin Martyr," p. 75.
* "Originis vitium." " Malum igitur animas .... ex originis vitio ante-
cedit." — De Animd, c. \\. Cyprian calls it " contagio antiqua." " Inno-
vati SpirituSancto a sordibus contagionis antiquas." — De H'ibitu Virgiiitim,
cap. iv.
* " Per quern (Satanan) homo a primordio circumventus, ut pra2ceptum
Dei excederet, et propterea in mortem datus exinde totum genus de sue
semine infectum suae etiam damnationis traducem fecit." — De Testimonio
Aniince, c. iii.
* " Nothing can be less systematic or less organized than their notions on
this subject; I might say, often even contradictory; such inconsistency
partly, perhaps, arising from the point never having been canvassed by men
with any care, as it eventually was by controversialists of a later day
and partly from the embarrassment of their position ; for whilst Scripture
and self-experience compelled them to admit the grievous corruption of our
nature, they had perpetually to contend against a powerful body of heretics,
who made such corriiplion the ground for affirming that a world so evil
could not have been created liy a good God, but was the work of a Demiur-
gus." — Blunt's Early Fathers, pp. 585, 586.
WORSHIP OF CHRIST. 4II
cidedly the freedom of the will, admits the necessity of a new
birth unto righteousness. " The Father," says he, " regener-
ates by the Spirit unto adoption all who flee to Him." ' " Since
the soul is moved of itself, the grace of God demands from it
that which it has, namely, a ready temper as its contribution
to salvation. For the Lord wishes that the good zvhich He con-
fers on the soul should be its own, since it is not without sen-
sation, so that it should be impelled like a body.""
No fact is more satisfactorily attested than that the early
disciples rendered divine honors to our Saviour. In the very
beginning of the second century, a heathen magistrate, who
deemed it his duty to make minute inquiries respecting them,
reported to the Roman Emperor that, in their religious as-
semblies, they sang " hymns to Christ as to a God." ' They
were reproached by the Gentiles, as well as by the Jews, for
worshipping a man who had been crucified.* When this ac-
cusation was brought against them, they at once admitted its
truth, and undertook to show that the act was perfectly
capable of vindication.^ In the days of Justin Martyr there
were certain professing Christians, probably the Ebionites,'
who held the simple humanity of our Lord, but that writer
represents the great body of the disciples as entertaining very
different sentiments. " There are some of our race," says he,
"who confess that He was the Christ, but affirm that He was
a man born of human parents, with whom I do not agree,
neither should I, even if very many, who entertain the same
' " Paedagogne," lib. i.
"^ See Kaye's " Clement," p. 432. See also the comments of Neander,
"General History," ii. 388. ' Pliny's Epistle to Trajan.
* See various passages in Justin's Dialogue with Trypho, and in Origen
against Celsus.
" Thus Origen says, " We do not pay the highest worship to Him who
appeared so lately, as to a person who had no previous existence, for we be-
lieve Him when He says Himself, ' Before Abraham was, I am.'" — Contra
Celsum, viii., § 12.
* The origin of this name has been much controverted. It is probable
that it was derived from Ebion, the founder of the sect. See Period i., sect.
ii., chap, iii., p. 183. Among other things the party seem to have inculcated
voluntaiy poverty.
412 CHRIST IS GOD AND MAN.
opinion as myself, were to say so ; since we are commanded
by Christ to attend, not to the doctrines of men, but to that
which was proclaimed by the blessed prophets, and taught by
Himself." '
When Justin here expresses his dissent from those who de-
scribed our Lord as "a man born of human parents," he
obviously means that he is not a Humanitarian; for, in com-
mon with the early Church, he held the doctrine of the two
•natures in Christ. The fathers who now flourished, when
touching on the question of the union of humanity and deity
in the person of the Redeemer, do not, it is true, express
themselves always with as much precision as writers who ap-
peared after the Eutychian controversy in the fifth century ;
but they undoubtedly believed that our Lord was both God
and man." Even already the subject was pressed on their at-
tention by various classes of errorists who were laboring with
much assiduity to disseminate their principles. The Gnostics,
who affirmed that the body of Jesus was a phantom, shut
them up to the necessity of showing that He really possessed
all the attributes of a human being; whilst, in meeting objec-
tors'from a different quarter, they were compelled to demon-
strate that He was also the Jehovah of the Old Testament.
The Ebionites were not the only sectaries who taught that
Jesus was a mere man. The same doctrine was inculcated by
Theodotus, a native of Byzantium, who settled at Rome about
the end of the second century. This individual, though by trade
a tanner, possessed no small amount of learning, and created
some disturbance in the Church of the Western capital by the
novelty and boldness of his speculations. In the end he was
' This passage, which is somewhat obscure as it stands in the original,
has been misinterpreted by Unitarian writers from generation to generation.
The rendering which they commonly give of it makes it tjuite inconsistent
with the context, and with the statements of Justin elsewhere. See Kaye's
" Justin," p. 51.
' Thus Tertuilian says, " The only man without sin is Christ, because
Christ is aho God." — De Am'ma, cap. xli. Justin Martyr complains that
the Jews had expunged from the Septuagint many passages " wherein it
might be clearly shown that He who was crucified was (J£>//; God and man."
— Dialogue with Try p ho, § 71.
PAUL OF SAMOSATA. 413
excommunicated by Victor, the Roman bishop. Some time
afterward his sentiments were adopted by Artemon, whose
disciples, named Artemonites, elected a bishop of their own,'
and existed for some time at Rome as a distinct community.
But by far the most distinguished of these ancient impugn-
ers of the proper deity of the Messiah was the celebrated Paul
of Samosata, who flourished shortly after the middle of the
third century. Paul occupied the bishopric of Antioch, the
second see in Christendom ; and was undoubtedly a man of
superior talent. According to his views, the Divine Logos is
not a distinct Person, but the Reason of God ; and Jesus was
the greatest of the sons of men, simply because the Logos
dwelt in Him after a higher manner, or more abundantly, than
in any other of the posterity of Adam.'' But though this prel-
ate had great wealth, influence, and eloquence, his heterodoxy
soon -raised a storm of opposition which he could not with-
stand. The Christians of Antioch in the third century refused
to tolerate the ministrations of a preacher who insinuated that
the Word is not truly God. He possessed consummate ad-
dress, and when first arraigned, his plausible equivocations and
sophistries imposed upon his judges ; but, at a subsequent
council, held about A.D. 269 in the metropolis of Syria, he was
so closely pressed by Malchion, one of his own presbyters,
that he was obliged reluctantly to acknowledge his real senti-
ments. He was, in consequence, deposed from his ofiice by a
unanimous vote of the Synod. A circular letter' announcing
the decision was transmitted to the leading pastors of the
Church all over the Empire, and this ecclesiastical deliverance
received their universal sanction.'
The theological term translated Trinity" was in use as early
' Euseb. V. 28.
2 Euseb. V. 27, 30. Epiphanius, " Haer." 65, i.
^ The superscription of this epistle is a sufficient refutation of much of the
reasoning of Mr. Shepherd against the genuineness of the Cyprianic corre-
spondence, as here the names of a crowd of bishops are given without any
mention whatever of their sees. See also Euseb. x. 5, p. 391, Edit. Vales,
1672.
* Euseb. vii. 30. ' rpiaq or trinitas.
414 THE TRINITY.
as the second century ; for, about A.D. i8o, it is employed by
Theophilus, who is supposed to have been one of the prede-
cessors of Paul of Samosata in the Church of Antioch,' Speak-
ing of the formation of the heavenly bodies on the fourth day
of creation, as described in the first chapter of Genesis, this
writer observes : " The three days which preceded the lumina-
ries are types of the Trinity^ of God, and His Word, and His
Wisdom." Here, as elsewhere in the works of the fathers of
the early Church, the third person of the Godhead is named
under the designation of Wisdom.' Though this is the first
mention of the word Trinity to be found in any ecclesiastical
document now extant, it is plain that the doctrine is of far
higher antiquity. Justin Martyr repeatedly refers to it, and
Athenagoras, who flourished in the reign of Marcus Aurelius,
treats of it with much clearness. " We speak," says he, " of
the Father as God, and the Son as God, and the Holy Ghost,
showing at the same time their power in unity, and their dis-
tinction in order." ' " We who look upon this present life as
worth little or nothing, and are conducted through it by the
sole principle of knowing God and the Word proceeding from
Him, of knowing what is the unity of the Son with the Father,
what the Father communicates to the Son, what is the Spirit,
what is the union of this number of Persons, the Spirit, the Son,
and the Father, and in what way they who are united are
divided— shall we not have credit given us for being worship-
pers of God ?" "
The attempts made in the latter half of the second century
to pervert the doctrine of Scripture relative to the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, probably led to the appearance of the
' This is, however, by no means clear, as there is nothing in his works to
indicate that he held such a position.
' "Ad Autolycum," ii., c. 15. t'vttol naw rf/c Tp/ihW.
2 Thus Irenaius says : " There is ever present with Him (the Father) the
Word and IVisdom, the Son and Spirit." — Contra IJarcscs, iv. 20, § i. It
may here be proper to add that the early Christians worshipped the third
person of the Trinity. Thus, Hippolytus says: "Through Him (the Incar-
nate Word) we form a conception of the Father ; we believe in the Son \
we worship the Holy Ghost." — Contra Noctum, c. 12.
* " Legat. pro Christianis," c. 10. ' " Legat. pro Cliristianis," c. 12.
MONARCHIANISM. 415
word Trinity in the ecclesiastical nomenclature ; for, when
controversy commenced, some such symbol was required to
prevent the necessity of constant and tedious circumlocution.
One of the most noted of the parties, dissatisfied with the
ordinary mode of speaking respecting the Three Divine Per-
sons, and desirous of changing the current creed, was Praxeas,
a native of Asia Minor. After having acquired much credit
by his fortitude and courage in a time of persecution, he had
also signalized himself by his zeal against the Montanists.
He now taught that the Son and Holy Ghost are not distinct
Persons, but simply modes or energies of the Father ; and as
those who adopted his sentiments imagined that they thus
held more strictly than others the doctrine of the existence of
a single Ruler of the universe, they styled themsQlves Mojiarc/i-
ians.^ According to their views the first and second Persons
of the Godhead are identical ; and, as it apparently followed
from this theory, that the Father suffered on the cross, they
received the name of Patripassians^ Praxeas travelled from
Asia Minor to Rome, and afterward passed over into Africa,
where he was strenuously opposed by the famous Tertullian.
Another individual, named Noetus, attracted some notice
about the close of the second century by the peculiarity of
his speculations in reference to the Godhead. " Noetus," says
a contemporary, ." calls the same both Son and Father, for he
speaks thus : ' When the Father had not been born. He was
rightly called Father, but when it pleased Him to undergo
birth, then by birth He became the Son of Himself, and not
of another.' Thus he professes to establish the principle of
Monarchianism." ' But, perhaps, the attempts of Sabellius to
modify the established doctrine made the deepest impression.
This man, who was an ecclesiastic connected with Ptolemais
in Africa,* maintained that there is no foundation for the or-
dinary distinction of the Persons of the Trinity, and that the
' " Monarchiam, inquiunt, tenemus." — Tertullian, Adv. Praxean, c. 3.
" " Athanas. de Synodis," c. 7.
* Hippolytus, " Philosophumena," book ix.
■• He flourished about A.D. 220, and was contemporary with Hippolytus.
See Bunsen, i. 131.
4l6 THE TRIxNITY OF PLATO.
terms Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, merely indicate different
manifestations of the Supreme Being, or different phases under
which the one God reveals Himself. From him the doctrine
of those who confound the Persons of the Godhead still bears
the name of Sabellianism.
It has been sometimes said that the Church borrowed its
idea of a Trinity from Plato, but this assertion rests upon no
historical basis. Learned men have found it exceedingly diffi-
cult to give anything like an intelligible account of the Trinity
of the Athenian philosopher,' and it had only a metaphysical
existence. It certainly had nothing more than a fapciful and
verbal resemblance to the Trinity of Christianity. Had the
doctrine of the Church been derived from the writings of the
Grecian sage, it would not have been inculcated with so much
zeal and unanimity by the early fathers. Some of them were
bitterly opposed to Platonism, and yet, though none denounced
it more vehemently than Tertullian," we can not point to any
one of them who speaks of the Three Divine Persons more
clearly or copiously. The heretic thinks, says he, " that we
can not believe in one God in any other way than if we say
that the very same Person is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
.... These persons assume the number and arrangement of
the Trinity to be a division of the Unity; whereas the Unity,
which derives a Trinity from itself, is not destroyed by it, but
has its different offices performed. They, therefore, boast
that two and three Gods are preached by us, but that they
themselves are worshippers of one God ; as if the Unity, when
improperly contracted, did not create heresy, and a Trinity,
when properly considered, did not constitute truth." '
Everyone at all acquainted with the ecclesiastical literature
of this period must acknowledge that the disciples firmly
' Hermias speaks of the Trinity of Plato as " God, and matter, and ex-
ample."—Sec. 5.
" " Doleo bona fide Platonem omnium haereticorum condimentarium fac-
tum Cum igitur hujusmodi argumento ilia insinuentur a Platone
qua; hceretici mutuantur, satis hasreticos repcrcutiam, si argumentum Pla-
tonis elidam." — De Anima, c. 23.
' "Adversus Praxeam," c. 2, 3.
THE ATONEMENT. 417
maintained the doctrine of the Atonement. The Gnostics
and the Manichaeans discarded this article from their systems,
as it was entirely foreign to the spirit of their philosophy ;
but, though the Church teachers enter into scarcely any ex-
planation of it, by attempting to show how the violated law
required a propitiation, they proclaim it as a glorious truth
which should inspire all the children of God with joy and
confidence. Clemens Alexandrinus gives utterance only to
the common faith when he declares, " Christians are redeemed
from corruption by the blood of the Lord." " The Word
poured forth His blood for us to save human nature." " The
Lord gave Himself a victim for us." ' The early writers also
mention faith as the means by which we are to appropriate
the benefits of the Redeemer's sacrifice. Thus, Justin Mar-
tyr represents Christ as " purifying by His blood those who
believe on Him." ^ Clemens Alexandrinus, in like manner,
speaks of "the one mode of salvation by faith in God," ^ and
says that " we have believed in God through the voice of the
Word." * In the " Letter to Diognetus " the doctrine of jus-
tification by faith through the imputed righteousness of the
Saviour is beautifully exhibited. " For what else," says the
writer, " could cover our sins but His righteousness ? In
whom was it possible that we, the lawless and the unholy,
could be justified, save by the Son of God alone? Oh sweet
exchange ! oh unsearchable wisdom ! oh unexpected benefits !
that the sin of many should be hidden by One righteous, and
the righteousness of One justify many sinners." '
The Church of the second and third centuries was not agi-
tated by any controversies relative to grace and predestination.
Few were disposed to indulge in speculations on these subjects ;
and some of the ecclesiastical writers, in the heat of controversial
discussion, are occasionally tempted to make use of language
which it is difficult to reconcile with the declarations of the
New Testament. All of them, however, either explicitly or
virtually, admit the necessity of grace ; and some distinctly
' " Paedagogue," book i., c. 5, 6, ii. " Opera, p. 74.
' " Peedagogue," book i., c. i. * " Stromata," book ii.
' Justin, Opera, p. 500.
27
4l8 DIVINE GRACE.
enunciate the doctrine of election. " We stand in especial
need of divine grace, and right instruction, and pure affection,"
says Clemens Alexandrinus, " and zee require that the Father
should draw us toward Himself.'' " God, who knows the
future as if it was already present, knows the elect according to
His purpose even before the creation." ' " Your power to do,"
says Cyprian, " will be according to the increase of spiritual
grace What measure we bring thither of faith to hold,
so much do we drink in of grace to inundate. Hereby is
strength given."' It is worthy of note that those writers
who speak most decidedly of the freedom of the will, also
most distinctly proclaim their faith in the perfection of the
Divine Sovereignty. Thus, Justin Martyr urges, as a decisive
proof of the impious character of their theology, that the
heathen philosophers repudiated the doctrine of a particular
providence ; ' and all the ancient fathers are ever ready to
recognize the superintending guardianship of God in the com-
mon affairs of life.
But though the creed of the Church was still to some extent
substantially sound, it was beginning to suffer much from
adulteration. One hundred years after the death of the
Apostle John, spiritual darkness was fast settling down upon
the Christian community ; and the fathers, who flourished
toward the commencement of the third century, frequently
employ language for which they would have been sternly re-
buked, had they lived in the days of the apostles and evangel-
ists. Thus, we find them speaking of "sins cleansed by re-
pentance," ' and of repentance as " the price at which the
Lord has determined to grant forgiveness." ' We read of
' See Kaye's " Clement," pp. 431, 435.
* Epist. i. ad Donatum, Opera, p. 3.
« The philosophers, according to Justin, maintained a general, but denied
a particular providence. Dial, with Trypho, Opera, p. 218. Some who
call themselves Christians adopt this portion of the pagan theology.
* " Non facti solum, verum et voluntatis delicta vitanda, et poenitentia
purganda esse." — Tcrtidlian, De Pcenitcntia, c. iii.
' " Hoc enim pretio Dominus veniam addicera inslituit." — Tert. De Pce-
nit., c. vi.
PATRISTIC ERRORS. 419
*^ sins cleansed hy alms and faith," ' and of the martyr, by his
sufferings, "washing away his own iniquities.'"' We are told
that by baptism " we are cleansed from all our sins," and " re-
gain that Spirit of God which Adam received at his creation
and lost by his transgression." ' " The pertinacious wicked-
ness of the Devil," says Cyprian, "has power up to the savuig
zvater, but in baptism he loses all the poison of his wicked-
ness." ■* The same writer insists on the necessity of penance, a
species of discipline unknown to the Apostolic Church, and
denounces, with terrible severity, those who discouraged its
performance. " By the deceitfulness of their lies," says he,
they interfere, "that satisfaction be not given to God in His
anger All pains are taken that sins be not expiated by
due satisfactions and lamentations, that wounds be not washed
clean by tears." ' It may be said that some of these expres-
sions are rhetorical, and that those by whom they were em-
ployed did not mean to deny the all-sufficiency of the Great
Sacrifice ; but had these fathers clearly apprehended the doc-
trine of justification by faith in Christ, they would have re-
coiled from the use of language so exceedingly objectionable.
There are many who imagine that, had they lived in the
days of Tertullian or of Origen, they must have enjoyed
spiritual advantages far higher than any to which they have
now access. But a more minute acquaintance with the eccle-
siastical history of the third century should convince them
that they have no reason to complain of their present privi-
leges. The amount of material light which surrounds us does
not depend on our proximity to the sun. When our planet
is most remote from its great luminary, we may bask in the
splendor of his effulgence ; and, when it approaches nearer,
we may be involved in thick darkness. So it is with the
• Clemens Alexandrinus, " Strom." book vi.
^ " Sufficiat martyri propria delicta purgasse." — Tertullian, De Pudicitia,
c. 22.
^ See Kaye's " Tertullian," p, 431. Origen speaks of the baptism of blood
(martyrdom) rendering us purer than the baptism of water. Opera, ii.,
P- 473-
* Epist. Ixxvi., Opera, p. 322. ^ Epist. Iv., p. i8r.
420 THE LIGHT OF THE BIBLE.
Church. The amount of our religious knowledge does not
depend on our proximity to the days of primitive Christianity.
The Bible is the sun of the spiritual firmament ; and this
divine illuminator, like the glorious orb of day, pours forth its
light with equal brilliancy from generation to generation.
The Church may retire into " chambers of imagery" erected
by her own folly ; and there, with the light shut out from her,
may sink into a slumber Sisturbed only, now and then, by
some dream of superstition ; or, with the light still shining
on her, her eye may be dim or disordered , and she may
stumble at noonday. But the light is as pure as in the days
of the apostles ; and, if we have eyes to profit by it, we may
" understand more than the ancients." The art of printing
has supplied us with facilities for the study of the Scriptures
which were denied to the fathers of the second century ; and
the ecclesiastical documents, relative to that age, which have
been transmitted to us from antiquity, contain, perhaps, the
greater part of even the traditionary information which was
preserved in the Church. If we are only " taught of God,"
we are in as good a position for acquiring a correct acquaint-
ance with the way of salvation as was Polycarp or Justin
Martyr. What an encouragement for every one to pray,
" Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things
out of thy law. I am a stranger in the earth : hide not thy
commandments from me ! " '
' Ps. cxix. 1 8, 19.
SECTION III.
THE WORSHIP AND CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH.
CHAPTER I.
THE WORSHIP OF THE CHURCH.
The religion of the primitive Christians seemed exceedingly
strange to their pagan contemporaries. The heathen worship
was little better than a solemn show. Its victims adorned with
garlands, its incense and music and lustral water, its priests
arrayed in white robes, and its marble temples with gilded
roofs, were fitted, rather to fascinate the senses, than to im-
prove the heart or expand the intellect. Even the Jewish rit-
ual, in the days of its glory, had a powerful effect on the im-
agination. As the Israelites assembled from all quarters at
their great festivals — as they poured in thousands and tens of
thousands into the courts of their ancient sanctuary — as they
surveyed the various parts of a structure which was one of the
wonders of the world — as they beheld the priests in their holy
garments — as they listened to the mingled strains of vocal and
instrumental harmony — and as they gazed on the high-priest
himself, whose forehead glittered with gold whilst his breast-
plate sparkled with precious stones, they felt that they wit-
nessed a scene of extraordinary splendor. But, when Chris-
tianity made its appearance in the world, it presented none of
these attractions. Its adherents were stigmatized as atheists,'
because they had no altars, no temples, and no sacrifices. Thej^
held their meetings in private dwellings ; their ministers wore
no peculiar dress ; and, by all who sought merely the gratifica-
> See the Apology of Athenagoras, sees. 3, 10 ; and Minucius Felix, c. 10.
(421)
422 RELIGIOUS EDIFICES.
tion of the eye or of the ear, the simple service in which they
engaged was considered very bald and uninteresting. But they
rejoiced exceedingly in its spiritual character, as they felt that
they thus drew near to God, and held sweet and refreshing
communion with their Father in heaven.
During a considerable part of the second century, the Chris-
tians had comparatively few buildings set apart for public wor-
ship. At a time when they congregated to celebrate the rites
of their religion at night or before break of day, they were not
anxious to obtrude their conventicles on the notice of their
persecutors. But as they increased in numbers, and as the
State became somewhat more indulgent, they gradually ac-
quired confidence ; and, in the beginning of the third century,
the form of their ecclesiastical structures was already familiar
to the eyes of the heathen.' Shortly after that period, their
meeting-houses in Rome were well known ; and, in the reign of
Alexander Severus, they ventured to dispute with one of the
city trades the possession of a piece of ground on which they
were desirous to erect a place of worship.'' When the case
came for adjudication before the Imperial tribunal, the sover-
eign decided in their favor, and thus virtually placed them
under the shield of his protection. When the Emperor Gal-
lienus, in A.D. 260, issued an edict of toleration, church archi-
tecture advanced apace, and many of the old buildings, which
were falling into decay, were superseded by edifices at once
more capacious and more tasteful. The Christians at this time
began to emulate the magnificence of the heathen temples, and
even to ape their arrangements. Thus it is that some of our
churches at the present day are nearly fac-similcs of the an-
cient religious edifices of paganism."
In addition to the administration of baptism and the Lord's
Supper, the worship of the early Church consisted of singing,
prayer, reading the Scriptures, and preaching. In the earliest
notice of the Christians of the second century which occurs in
' " Nostrae columbas etiam domus simplex, in editis semper et apertis, et
ad luccm." — Tcrtullian, Advers. Valent., c. 3.
' Life of Aiexaiider Severus, by Lampridius, c. 49.
^ See Kennett's " Antiquities of Rome," p. 41.
CHRISTIAN PSALMODY. 423
any pagan writer, their psalmody, with which they commenced
their rehgious services,' is particularly mentioned ; for, in his
celebrated letter to the Emperor Trajan, Pliny states that they
met together, before the rising of the sun, to "sing hymns to
Christ as to a God." It is probable that some of the " hymns "
here spoken of were the Psalms of the Old Testament. Many
of these inspired effusions celebrate the glories of Immanuel ;
and as, for obvious reasons, the Messianic Psalms would be
used more frequently than any others, it is not strange that
the disciples are represented as assembling to sing praise to
Christ. But the Church at this time was not confined to the
ancient Psalter. Hymns of human composition were occasion-
ally employed ;* and one of these, to be found in the writings
of Clement of Alexandria,' was, perhaps, sung in the early part
of the third century by the Christians of the Egyptian capital.
Influential bishops sometimes introduced them by their own
authority, but the practice awakened suspicion, and was con-
sidered irregular. Hence Paul of Samosata, in the Council of
Antioch, held A.D. 269, was blamed for discontinuing the
Psalms formerly used, and for establishing a new and very ex-
ceptionable hymnology.*
In the early Church the whole congregation joined in the
singing,* but instrumental music did not accompany the praise.
In the secret assemblies of the faithful its employment would
have been inexpedient and unseasonable, as it would only have
increased unnecessarily the perils of a proscribed community.
' Bingham has proved, by a variety of testimonies, that such was the order
of the ancient service. See his " Origines," iv. 383, 406, 417. The early
Christians thus literally obeyed the commandment, " Come before his pres-
ence with singing "; "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his
courts with praise." — (Ps. c. 2, 4).
"^ See I Cor. xiv. 26. See also Euseb. v. 28.
' At the end of his " Paedagogue." This hymn to the Saviour was com-
posed by Clement himself. The 59th Canon of the Council of Laodicea for-
bids the use of " private psalms " in public worship. By " private psalms "
the ancient interpreters understand psalms composed by private individuals
and not adopted by the church. The Council of Laodicea was held about
A.D. 360.
* Euseb. vii. 30. ■* See Bingham i., p. 383. Edit. London, 1840.
424 NO READING OF PRAYERS.
After ages of disuse, it became associated, in the minds of the
disciples, with the superannuated ritual of the Jews, or the noisy
orgies of the heathen ; so that on the advent of more prosper-
ous times, when it might have been practiced without danger,
the members of the Church generally felt little inclination to
encourage it, knowing that it might give off ence as a deviation
from their long-established form of service. Early in the third
century Clemens Alexandrinus admits' that the music of the
harp or lyre might be used without blame in the private de-
votional exercises of the Christians ; but he looked with dis-
favor on its introduction into the congregational worship.
The account of the worship of the Church, given by a
Christian writer who flourished about the middle of the second
century, is exceedingly instructive. " On the day which is
called Sunday," says Justin Martyr, "there is a meeting to-
gether in one place of all who dwell either in towns or in the
country ; and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of
the prophets are read, as long as the time permits. When the
reading ceases, the president delivers a discourse, in which he
makes an application and exhorts to the imitation of these
good things. We then rise all together and pray. Then ....
when we cease from prayer, bread is brought, and wine and
water; and the president, in like manner, offers up prayers and
thanksgivings according to his ability '^ and the people ex-
press their assent by saying Amen.'" It is abundantly clear
from this statement that the presiding minister was not re-
stricted to any set form of supplication. As he prayed " accord-
ing to his ability," his petitions could neither have been dic-
tated by others nor taken from a liturgy. Such a practice as
the reading of prayers was, indeed, totally unknown in the
Church during the first three centuries. Hence Tertullian rep-
resents the Christians of his generation as praying " looking
«/> with hands spread open, .... and zvithont a prompter, be-
' "Paedag." ii. 4.
« Ixjti iSvvafur. See Origen, " Contra Celsum," iii. i and 57 ; Opera, i. 447,
485.
^ " Apol." ii., p. 98,
ATTITUDES IN PRAYER. 425
cause from the heart."' In his "Treatise on Prayer" Origen
recommends the worshipper to address God with stretched-out
hands and uplifted eyes.'' The erect body with the arms ex-
tended was supposed to represent the cross/ and therefore this
attitude was deemed pecuHarly appropriate for devotion." On
the Lord's day the congregation always stood when addressing
God.^ At this period forms of prayer were used in the heathen
worship," and in some cases the pagans adhered with singular
tenacity to their ancient liturgies ; ' but the Church did not
' " Suspicientes Christiani manibus expansis denique sine monitore, quia
de pectore oramus." — Apol. c. 30. The omission of a single word, when
repeating the heathen liturgy, was considered a great misfortune. Cheval-
lier says, speaking of this expression sine monitore, " There is probably an
allusion to the persons who were appointed, at the sacrifices of the Romans,
to prompt the magistrates, lest they should incidentally omit a single word
in the appropriate formute, which would have vitiated the whole proceed-
ings."— Translation of the Epistles of Clement, etc., p. 41 1, note. Among
the heathen, the practice of repeating after the minister was connected with
the use of a liturgy. " After sacrificing, the augur offered a prayer for the
desired signs to s^-^^^tlx , repeating after an inferior minister a set form." —
Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, Art. Auspicium.
"^ Opera i., 267. ^ See Minucius Felix.
*■ Tertullian, "De Oratione," c. 14.
^ See Bingham, iv. 324. In prayer the Christians soon began to turn the
face to the east. See Tertullian, " Apol." c. 16. This custom was borrowed
from the Eastern nations who worshipped the sun. See Kaye's " Tertul-
lian," p. 408.
* Thus Prideaux mentions how the Persian priests, long before the com-
mencement of our era, approached the sacred fire " to read the daily of-
fices of their Liturgy before it." — Connections, part i., book iv., vol. i., p. 218.
This liturgy was composed by Zoroaster nearly five hundred years before
Christ's birth. See also Rawlinson's " Herodotus, " ii. 85, where the sa-
cred scribe is said to " read from a papyrus certain prayers in presence of
the assembled pastophori, or members of the Sacred College. "
' See Clarkson on " Liturgies," and Hartung, " Religion der Romer." It
is remarkable that the old pagan Roman liturgy, in consequence of the
change in the language from the time of its original establishment, began
at length to be almost unintelligible to the people. It thus resembles the
present Romish Liturgy. The pagans believed that their prayers were
more successful when offered up in a barbarous and unknown language.
See Potter's " Antiquities of Greece," i. 288. Edit. Edinburgh, 1818. The
Lacedaemonians had a form of prayer from which they never varied either
in public or private. Potter, i. 281.
426 READING OF SCRIPTURE.
yet require the aid of such auxiharies. Though in the account
of the losses sustained during the Diocletian persecution, we
read frequently of the seizure of the Scriptures, and of the
ecclesiastical utensils, we never meet with any allusion to the
spoliation of prayer-books.' There is, in fact, no evidence
whatever that such helps to devotion were yet in existence.*
The worship was conducted in a dialect understood by the
congregation ; and though the officiating minister was at per-
fect liberty to select his phraseology, he did not think it
necessary to aim at great variety in the mere language of his
devotional exercises. So long as a petition was deemed suit-
able, it continued to be repeated in nearly the same words,
whilst providential interpositions, impending persecutions, and
the personal condition of the flock were continually suggesting
fresh topics for thanksgiving, supplication, and confession.
The beautiful and comprehensive prayer taught by our Lord
to His disciples was never considered out of place ; and, as
early as the third century, it was, at least in some districts,
used once at every meeting of the faithful.' The apostle had
taught the brethren that intercessions should be made " for
kings and for all that are in authority," * and the primitive
disciples did not neglect to commend their earthly rulers to
the care of the Sovereign of the universe.^ But still it is clear
that even such petitions did not run in the channel of any pre-
scribed formulary.
From the very days of the apostles the reading of the Script-
ures constituted an important part of public worship. This
portion of the service was at first, perhaps, conducted by one
of the elders, but, in some places, toward the close of the
' " In the persecutions under Diocletian and his associates, though a
strict inquiry was made after the books of Scripture, and other things be-
longing to the Church, which we'"e often delivered up by the Traiiitores
to be burnt, yet we never read of any ritual books, or books of divine serv-
ice, delivered up among them." — Bingham, iv. 187.
' In modern times, when there is any great revival of religion, forms of
prayer fall into comparative desuetude even among those i)y whom they
were formerly used.
' See Tertuilian, " De Oratione," c. 9; and Origen, " De Orationc."
* I Tim. ii. 2. " Tertuilian, " Apol." c. 39.
MODE OF PREACHING. 427
second centiir}'^, it was committed to a new official, called the
Reader.' The presiding minister was permitted originally to
choose whatever passages he considered most fitting for the
occasion, as well as to determine the amount of time to be oc-
cupied in the exercise ; but, at length, an order of lessons was
prepared, and then the Reader was expected to confine him-
self to the Scriptures pointed out in his calendar." This ar-
rangement, designed to secure a more uniform attention to
the several parts of the inspired canon, came only gradually
into general operation ; and it frequently happened that the
order of lessons for one church was very different from that
used in another.'
Whilst the constant reading, in the vernacular tongue, of
considerable portions of Scripture at public worship, promoted
the religious instruction of the people, the mode of preach-
ing which prevailed contributed to make them still more in-
timately acquainted with the sacred records. The custom of
selecting a text as the basis of a discourse had not yet been
introduced ; but when the reading closed, the minister pro-
ceeded to expatiate on that section of the Word just brought
under the notice of the congregation, and pointed out, as well
the doctrines it recognized, as the practical lessons it incul-
cated. The entire presbytery was usually present in the con-
gregation every Lord's day, and when one or other of the
elders had made a few comments ' the president added some
remarks of an expository and hortatory character; but, fre-
quently, he received no assistance in this part of the service.
The method of reading and elucidating the Scripture now
pursued, was eminently salutary ; for, whilst it stored the
memory with a large share of biblical knowledge, the whole
Word of God, in the way of earnest appeal, was brought into
close contact with the heart and conscience of each individual.
' See Tertullian, " De Prsescrip." c. 41.
2 See Guerike's " Manual of the Antiquities of the Church," by Morrison,
p. 214.
3 Guerike's " Manual," p. 213.
* There is reference to this in the " Apostolic Constitutions," lib. ii., c. 57
Cotelerius, i. 266.
4^8 MINISTERIAL COSTUME.
So long as pristine piety flourished, the people listened with
devout attention to the observations of the preacher; but, as a
more secular spirit prevailed, he began to be treated rather as
an orator, than a herald from the King of kings. Before the
end of the third century, the house of prayer occasionally re-
sounded with the plaudits of the theatre. Such exhibitions
were, indeed, condemned at the time by the ecclesiastical au-
thorities, but the very fact that in the principal church of one
of the chief cities of the Empire, the bishop, as he proceeded
with his sermon, was greeted with stamping of feet, clapping
of hands, and waving of handkerchiefs,' supplied melancholy
evidence of the progress of spiritual degeneracy. In the days
of the Apostle Paul such demonstrations would have been
universally denounced as unseemly and unseasonable.
During the first three centuries there was nothing in the
ordinary costume of a Christian minister to distinguish him
from any of his fellow-citizens ; ' but when the pastor offici-
ated in the congregation, he began, at an early date, to wear
some peculiar piece of apparel. In an old document, purport-
ing to have been written shortly after the middle of the second
century, he is described, at the period of his advancement to
the episcopal chair, as " clothed with the dress of the bish-
ops."' As the third century advanced, there was a growing
disposition to increase the pomp of public worship ; in some
places vessels of silver or of gold were used at the dispensation
of the Lord's Supper ; ' and, about this time, some few decora-
tions were assumed by those who took part in its administra-
tion.' But still the habit used by ecclesiastics at divine service
was distinguished by its comparative simplicity, and differed
very little from the dress commonly worn by the mass of the
population.
What a change passed over the Church from the period be-
fore us to the dawn of the Reformation ! Now, the making
* Euseb. vii. 30. " See Bingham, ii 212.
* Letter from Pius of Rome to Justus of Vienne.
* Bingham, ii. 451.
' They were certainly known soon afterward. See the introduction to
the " Address to Paulinas of Tyre," Euseb. .\. 4.
THE CHURCH MAY MOVE BACKWARDS. 429
of images was forbidden, and no picture was permitted even
on the walls of the sacred edifice : ' then a church frequently-
suggested the idea of a studio, or a picture gallery. Now,
the whole congregation joined heartily in the psalmody : then,
the mute crowd listened to the music of the organ accompa-
nied by the shrill voices of a chorus of thoughtless boys. Now,
prayers, in the vernacular tongue and suited to the occasion,
were offered with simplicity and earnestness : then, petitions,
long since antiquated, were muttered in a dead language.
Now, the Word was read and expounded in a way intelligible
to all : then, a few Latin extracts from it were mumbled over
hastily ; and, if a sermon followed, it was, perhaps, a eulogy
on some wretched fanatic, or an attack on some true evan-
gelist. There are writers who believe that the Church was
meanwhile going on in a career of hopeful development ; but
facts too clearly testify that she was moving backwards in a
path of cheerless declension. Now, the Church " holding
forth the Word of life " was commending herself to philoso-
phers and statesmen : then, she had sunk into premature
dotage, and her very highest functionaries were lisping thf^
language of infidelity.
' See Period ii., sec. i,, chap iii., p. 289.
CHAPTER II.
BAPTISM.
When the venerable Polycarp was on the eve of martyr-
dom, he is reported to have said that he had served Christ
" eighty and six years." ' By the ancient Church these words
were regarded as tantamount to a declaration of the length of
his life, and as implying that he had been a disciple of the
Saviour from his infancy.* The account of his martyrdom
indicates that he was still in the enjoyment of a green old age,'
and as very few overpass the term of fourscore years and six,
we are certainly not at liberty to infer, without any evidence,
and in the face of probabilities, that he had now attained a
greater longevity. A contemporary father, who wrote about
the middle of the second century, informs us that there were
then many persons of both sexes, some sixty, and some sev-
enty years of age, who had been " disciples of Christ from
childhood,"* and the pastor of Smyrna is apparently included
in the description. If eighty-six at the time of his death, he
' See the " Epistle of the Church of Smyrna," giving an account of his
martyrdom, § 9.
' The Latin version of his words, as given by Jacobson, is, " Octogesimum
jam et sextum annum CEtaiis ingredior." — Pat. Apost., ii. 565. See also the
" Chronicum Alexandrinum " as quoted by Cotelerius, ii. 194; and Gregory
of Tours, " Hist." i. 28.
' He is represented as standings when offering up a prayer of two hours'
length (§ 7), and as running with great speed (§ 8). Such strength at such
an age was extraordinary. The Apostle John is said to have lived to the
age of one hundred ; but, toward the close of his life, he had lost his wonted
energy.
* " Apol." ii. Opera, p. 62. See Dr. Wilson's observations on this passage
in his " Infant Baptism," pp. 447, 448.
(430)
INFANT BAPTISM. 43 1
may have been about threescore and ten when Justin Martyr
made this announcement.
No one was considered a disciple of Jesus who had not re-
ceived baptism, and it thus appears that there were many aged
persons, living about A.D. 150, to whom, when children, the
ordinance had been administered. We may infer, also, that
Polycarp, when an infant, had been in this way admitted with-
in the pale of visible Christianity. Infant baptism was, there-
fore, an institution of the age of the apostles. This conclusion
is corroborated by the fact that Justin Martyr speaks of bap-
tism as supplying the place of circumcision. " We," says he,
" who through Christ have access to God, have not received
that circumcision which is in the flesh, but that spiritual cir-
cumcision which Enoch, and others like him, observed. And
this, because we have been sinners, we do, through the mercy
of God, receive djy baptisiny ' Justin would scarcely have rep-
resented the initiatory ordinance of the Christian Church as
supplying so efficiently the place of the Jewish rite, had it not
been of equally extensive application. The testimony of
Irenaeus, the disciple of Polycarp, throws additional light upon
this argument. " Christ," says he, " came to save all persons
by Himself; all, I say, who by Him are regenerated unto God
— infants, and little ones, and children, and youths, and aged
persons ; therefore He went through the several ages, being
made an infant for infants, that He might sanctify infants ;^
and, for little ones. He was made a little one, to sanctify them
of that age also." ^ Irenaeus elsewhere speaks of baptism as
our regeneration or new birth unto God,^ so that his meaning
in this passage can not well be disputed. He was born on
• Dialogue with Tr)-pho. Opera, p. 261.
"^ There may here be a reference to i Cor. vii. 14.
^ Book ii., c. xxii., § 4.
* Thus he says : " Giving to His disciples the power oi regeneration tmto
God, He said to them, Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." — Book iii., c. xvii., § i.
Thus, too, he speaks of the heretics using certain rites " to the rejection of
baptis7n, which is regetteration unto God." — Book i., c. xxi., § i. Irenfeus
here means that baptism is typically regeneration, in the same way as the
bread and wine in the Eucharist are typically the body and blood of Christ.
432 INFANT BAPTISM.
the confines of the apostolic age, and when he mentions the
regeneration unto God of " infants, and little ones, and chil-
dren," he alludes to their admission by baptism to the seal of
salvation.
The celebrated Origen was born in A.D. 185, and we have
as strong circumstantial evidence as we could well desire that
he was baptized in infancy.' Both his parents were Christians,
and as soon as he was capable of receiving instruction, he be-
gan to enjoy the advantages of a pious education. He affirms,
not only that the practice of infant baptism prevailed in his
own age, but that it had been handed down as an ecclesiasti-
cal ordinance from the first century. " None," says he, " are
free from pollution, though his life upon the earth be but the
length of one day, and for this reason even infants are bap-
tized, because by the sacrament of baptism the pollution of
our birth is put away."' " The Church has received the cus-
tom of baptizing little children from the apostles^ '
The only writer of the first three centuries who questions
the propriety of infant baptism is Tertullian. The passage in
which he expounds his views on this subject is a most trans-
parent specimen of special pleading, and the extravagant rec-
ommendations it contains sufficiently attest that he had taken
up a false position. " Considering," says he, " every one's
condition and disposition, and also his age, the delay of bap-
tism is more advantageous, but especially in the case of little
children. For what necessity is there that the sponsors be
brought into danger ? Because they may fail to fulfil their
' That infant baptism was now practiced at Alexandria is apparent also
from the testimony of Clemens Alexandrinus, who, in allusion to this rite,
speaks of "the children that are drawn up out of the water." — Pcedag, iii.
c. II.
* Hom. xiv. in "Lucam." Opera, iii. 948. See also Opera, ii. 230. Horn,
viii. in " Leviticum."
* Comment, in " Epist. ad Roman." lib. v.. Opera, iv. 565. According to
Eusebius (vi. 19), the Christian doctrine was conveyed to Origen " from his
forefathers " — f« irpny6vuv — or, as Rufinus translates it, afi aTi's atqueataj'is,
" from his grandfathers and great-grandfathers," so that the tradition may
have been handed down in his own family from the apostolic age. See
" Wall's History of Infant Baptism," i. 124. Oxford, 1836.
TERTULLIAN S TESTIMONY. 433
promises by death, or may be deceived by the child's proving
of a wicked disposition. Our Lord says indeed, ' Do not for-
bid them to come unto me.' Let them come, therefore, whilst
they are growing up, let them come whilst they are learning,
whilst they are being taught where it is they are coming, let
them be made Christians when they are capable of knowing
Christ. Why should their innocent age make haste to the re-
mission of sins? Men proceed more cautiously in worldly
things ; and he that is not trusted with earthly goods, why
should he be trusted with divine ? Let them know how to
ask salvation, that you may appear to give it to one that ask-
eth. For no less reason unmarried persons ought to be de-
layed, because they are exposed to temptations, as well vir-
gins that are come to maturity, as those that are in widow-
hood and have little occupation, until they either marry or be
confirmed in continence. They who know the weight of bap-
tism will rather dread its attainment than its postponement." '
In the apostolic age all adults, when admitted to baptism,
answered for themselves. Had additional sponsors been re-
quired for the three thousand converts who joined the Church
on the day of Pentecost,^ they could not have been procured.
The Ethiopian eunuch and the Philippian jailer ' were their
own sponsors. Until long after the time when Tertullian
wrote, there were, in the case of adults, no other sponsors
than the parties themselves. But when an infant was dedi-
cated to God in baptism, the parents were required to make a
profession of the faith, and to undertake to train up their little
one in the way of righteousness." It is to this arrangement
' " De Baptismo," c. 18. ^ Acts ii. 41.
' Acts viii. 37, 38; xvi. 31-33.
*■ Parents wtXQCO'mx^orAy sponsors for their own children, .... and the
extraordinary cases in which they were presented by others, were commonly
such cases, where the parent could not, or would not, do that kind office for
them ; as when slaves were presented to baptism by their masters, or chil-
dren whose parents were dead, were brought, by the charity of any who
would show mercy on them ; or children exposed by their parents, which
were sometimes taken up by the holy virgins of the Church, and by them
presented unto baptism. These are the only cases mentioned by St. Austin
in which children seem to have had other sponsors." — Bingham, iii. 552.
28
434 TERTULLIAN S TESTIMONY.
that Tertullian refers when he says, " What necessity is there
that the sponsors be brought into danger ? Because even they
may fail to fulfil their promises by death, or may be deceived
by the child's proving of a wicked disposition."
It is plain, from his own statements, that infant baptism
was practiced in the days of this father ; and also, that it was
then said to rest on the authority of the New Testament. Its
advocates, he alleges, quoted in its defence the words of our
Saviour, " Suffer the little children to come unto me, and for-
bid them not." ' And how does Tertullian meet this argu-
ment ? Does he venture to say that it is contradicted by any
other Scripture testimony ? Does he pretend to assert that
the appearance of parents as sponsors for their children, is an
ecclesiastical innovation ? Had this acute and learned con-
troversialist been prepared to encounter infant baptism on
such grounds, he would not have neglected his opportunity.
But, instead of pursuing such a line of reasoning, he merely
exhibits his weakness by resorting to a piece of miserable
sophistry. When our Lord said, "Suffer the little children
to come unto me, and forbid them not," He illustrated His
meaning as He " took them up in His arms, put His hands
upon them and blessed them ";^ so that the gloss of Tertullian,
" Let them come whilst they are growing up, let them come
whilst they are learning," is a palpable misinterpretation. Nor
is this all. The Carthaginian father was aware that there
were frequent instances in the days of the apostles of the bap-
tism of whole households ; and yet he maintains that the un-
married, especially young widows, can not with safety be ad-
mitted to the ordinance. Had he been with Paul and Silas
at Philippi he could thus scarcely have consented to the bap-
tism of Lydia ; and he must certainly have protested against
the administration of the rite to all the members of her
family."
Though Tertullian may not have formally separated from the
Church when he wrote the tract in which this passage occurs,
' Mark x. 14. ' Compare Mark x. 13-16 with Luke xviii. 15, 16.
* See Acts xvi. 15.
FOLLY OF TERTULLIAN. 435
he had already adopted the principles of the Montanists.
These errorists held that any one who had fallen into heinous
sin after baptism should never again be admitted to ecclesias-
tical fellowship ; and this little book itself supplies proof that
its author supported the same doctrine. He here declares
that the man " who renews his sins after baptism " is " destin-
ed to fire "; and he intimates that martyrdom, or " the baptism
of blood," can alone " restore " such an offender.' It was
obviously the policy of the Montanists to discourage infant
baptism, and to retain the mass of their adherents, as long as
possible, in the condition of catechumens. Hence Tertullian
here asserts that " they who know the weight of baptism will
rather dread its attaimncnt than its postponement." '^ But
neither the apostles, nor the early Church, had any sympathy
with such a sentiment. They represent baptism as a privilege
— as a sign and seal of God's favor — which all should thank-
fully embrace. On the very day on which Peter denounced
the Jews as having with wicked hands crucified his Master, he
assisted in the baptism of three thousand of these transgressors.
" Repent," says he, " and be baptized every one of you in the name
of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost, for the promise is unto you atid to
your children^ ^ Tertullian would have given them no such
encouragement. But the Montanists believed that their
Phrygian Paraclete was commissioned to supersede the apos-
tolic discipline. When the African father attacked infant
baptism he acted under this conviction ; and whilst seeking to
set aside the arrangements of the Church of his own age, he
' " De Baptismo," c. viii. xvi.
"^ It would be thought by many a cruelty to place a person without his
own consent, and in unconscious infancy, in a situation, so far, much more
disadvantageous than that of those brought up pagans, that if he did ever —
suppose at the age of fifteen or twenty — fall into any sin, he must remain
for the rest of his life — perhaps for above half a century — deprived of all
hope, or at least of all confident hope, of restoration to the divine favor ; shut
out from all that cheering prospect which, if his baptism in 'wii's.wc^ had been
omitted, m\ght have lain before him." — Archbishop Whatelys Scripturt
Doctrine concerning the Sacraments, p. li, note.
' Acts ii. 38, 39.
436 TESTIMONY OF AN AFRICAN SYNOD.
felt no scruple in venturing at the same time to subvert an
institute of primitive Christianity.
We have the clearest evidence that, little more than twenty-
years after the death of Tertullian, the whole Church of Africa
recognized the propriety of this practice. About the middle
of the third century a bishop of that country, named Fidus,
had taken up the idea, that, when administering the ordinance,
he was bound to adhere to the very letter of the law relative to
circumcision,' and that therefore he was not at liberty to bap-
tize the child before the eighth day after its birth. When the
case was submitted to Cyprian and an African synod, consist-
ing of sixty-six bishops, they una7iimo2isly decided that these
scruples were groundless ; and, in an epistle addressed to the
pastor who entertained them, the Assembly thus communicated
the result of its deliberations: " As regards the case of infants
who, you say, should not be baptized within the second or
third day after their birth, and that respect should be had to
the law of the ancient circumcision, whence you think that one
newly born should not be baptized and sanctified within the
eighth day, we all in our council thought very differently. . . .
If even to the most grievous offenders, .... when they after-
ward believe, remission of sins is granted, and no one is de-
barred from baptism and grace, how much more ought not an
infant to be debarred who, being newly born, has in no way
sinned, except that being born after Adam in the flesh, he has
by his first birth contracted the contagion of the old death;
who is on this very account more easily admitted to receive
remission of sins, in that, not his own, but another's sins are
remitted to him.'"'
Whilst it is apparent that the baptism of infants was the
established order of the Church, it is equally clear that the
particular mode of administration was not considered essential
to the validity of the ordinance. It was usually dispensed by
immersion or affusion,' but when the health of the candidate
' Gen. xvii. 12; Lev. xii. 3. ' Epist. lix., pp. 211, 212.
' Laiircntius, a Roman deacon, who flourished about the middle of the
third century, is represented as baptizing one Romanus, a soldier, in a pitch-
er of water, and another individual, named Lucillus, by pouring water upon
his head. See Bingham, iii. 599.
FALSE VIEWS AND FOOLISH APPENDAGES. 43/
might have been injured by such an ordeal, sprinkling was
deemed sufficient. Aspersion was commonly employed in the
case of the sick, and was known by the designation of clinic or
bed baptism. Cyprian points out to one of his correspondents
the absurdity of the idea that the extent to which the water
is applied can affect the character of the institution. " In the
saving sacrament," says he, " the contagion of sin is not washed
away just in the same way as is the filth of the skin and body
in the ordinary ablution of the flesh, so that there should be
need of saltpetre and other appliances, and a bath and a pool in
which the poor body may be washed and cleansed It
is apparent that the sprinkling of water has like force with the
saving washing, and that when this is done in the Church,
where the faith both of the giver and receiver is entire,' all
holds good and is consummated and perfected by the power
of the Lord, and the truth of faith." *
Cyprian is here perfectly right in maintaining that the es-
sence of baptism does not consist in the way in which the water
is administered ; but much of the language he employs in
speaking of this ordinance can not be commended as sober and
scriptural. He often confounds it with regeneration, and ex-
presses himself as if the mere rite possessed a mystic virtue.
" The birth of Christians," says he, " is in baptism." ' " The
Church alone has the life-giving wdXer'' * " The water must
first be cleansed and sanctified by the priest, that it may be
able, by baptism therein, to wash away the sins of the bap-
tized." ' Tertullian and other writers of the third century,
make use of phraseology equally unguarded.* When the true
character of the institute was so far misunderstood, it is not
extraordinary that it began to be tricked out in the trappings
of superstition. The candidate, as early as the third century,
1 Here the validity of the ordinance is made to depend on the personal
character of the administrator.
^ Epist. Ixxvi., p. 321. ' Epist. ixxiv., p. 295.
* Epist. Ixxvi., p. 317. In hke manner Clement of Alexandria says, " Our
transgressions are remitted by one sovereign medicine, the baptism accord-
ing to the Word." See Kaye's " Clement," p. 437.
^ Epist. Ixx., p. 269. " Tertullian, " De Baptismo," c. i
438 THE BAPTISMAL SERVICE.
was exorcised before baptism, with a view to the expulsion of
evil spirits ; " and, in some places, after the application of the
water, when the kiss of peace was given to him, a mixture of
milk and honey was administered.' He was then anointed
and marked on the forehead with the sign of the cross.'
Finally, the presiding minister, by the laying on of hands, be-
stowed the benediction,^ Tertullian endeavors to explain
some of these ceremonies. " The flesh," says he, " is washed,
that the soul may be freed from spots ; the flesh is anointed,
that the soul may be consecrated ; the flesh is marked (with
the sign of the cross), that the soul may be guarded ; the flesh
is overshadowed by the imposition of hands, that the soul may
be enlightened by the Spirit." ^
It is not improbable that the baptismal service constituted
the first germ of a Church liturgy. As the ordinance was so
frequently celebrated, it was found convenient to adhere to
the same form, not only in the words of administration," but
also in the accompanying prayers ; and thus each pastor soon
had his own baptismal office. But when heresies spread, and
when, in consequence, measures were taken to preserve the
unity of the Catholic faith, a uniform series of questions — ■
prepared, perhaps, by councils and adopted by the several
ministers — was addressed to all catechumens. Thus the bap-
tismal services were gradually assimilated ; and, as the power
of the hierarchy increased, one general office, in each district,
superseded all the previously-existing formularies.
Baptism, as dispensed in apostolic simplicity, is a most sig-
nificant ordinance ; but the original rite was soon well-nigh
' Cyprian, " Con. Carthag." pp. 600, 602.
* See Kaye's " Clement of Alexandria," p. 441, and Tertullian, " De Co-
rona," c. 3.
' Tertullian, " De Baptismo," c. 7.
* Tertullian, " De Baptismo," c. 8. The rite of confirmation thus origi-
nated. The Greek Church still follows the ancient usage, and dispenses it to
infants shortly after baptism. See Waddington's *' Present Condition of the
Greek Church," p. 43. London, 1829.
* " De Resurrectione Carnis," c. 8.
* " In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."—
Matt, xxviii. 19.
THE ORDINANCE DISFIGURED. 439
hidden behind the rubbish of human inventions. The milk
and honey, the unction, the crossing, the kiss of peace, and
the imposition of hands, were all designed to render it more
imposing ; and, still farther to deepen the impression, it was
already administered in the presence of none save those who
had themselves been thus initiated.' But the foolishness of
God is wiser than man. Nothing is more to be deprecated
than any attempt to improve upon the institutions of Christ.
Baptism, as established by the Divine Founder of our religion,
is a visible exhibition of the Gospel ; but, as known in the
third century, it had much of the character of one of the
heathen mysteries. It was intended to confirm faith ; but it
was now contributing to foster superstition. How soon had
the gold become dim, and the most fine gold been changed !
■ Bingham, iii. 377.
CHAPTER III.
THE lord's suffer.
Baptism and the Lord's Supper may be regarded as a typi-
cal or pictorial summary of the great salvation. In Baptism
the Gospel is exhibited subjectively — renewing the heart and
cleansing from all iniquity : in the Lord's Supper it is exhibit-
ed objectively — providing a mighty Mediator, and a perfect
atonement. Regeneration and Propitiation are central truths
toward which all the other doctrines of Christianity converge ;
and in marking them out by corresponding symbols, the Head
of the Church has been graciously pleased to signalize their
importance.
The Scriptures are able to make us wise unto salvation and
thoroughly furnished unto all good works ; but we are not at
liberty to adulterate these records either by addition or sub-
traction. If they should be preserved exactly as they issued
from the pen of inspiration, it is clear that the visible ordi-
nances in which they are epitomized should also be maintained
in their integrity. He who tampers with a divinely-instituted
symbol is obviously to some extent obnoxious to the maledic-
tion ' pronounced upon the man who adds to, or takes away
from, the words of the book of God's prophecy.
Had the original form of administering the Lord's Supper
been rigidly maintained, the Church would have avoided a mul-
titude of errors ; but very soon the spirit of innovation began to
disfigure this institute. The mode in which it was observed, and
the views which were entertained respecting it by the Chris-
tians of Rome, about the middle of the second century, are
minutely described by Justin Martyr. "There is brought,"
' Rev. xxii. i8, 19.
(440)
THE LORD S SUPPER. 44I
says he, " to that one of the brethren who is president, bread
and a cup of wine mixed with water. And he, having received
them, gives praise and glory to the Father of all things
And when he has finished his praises and thanksgiving, all
the people who are present express their assent saying Amen,
which in the Hebrew tongue signifies so be it. The president
having given thanks, and the people having expressed their
assent, those whom we call deacons give to each of those who
are present a portion of the bread which has been blessed, and
of the wine mixed with water ; and carry away some for those
who are absent. And this food is called by us the Eucharist,
of which no one may partake unless he believes that which
we teach is true, and is baptized, .... and lives in such a
manner as Christ commanded. For we receive not these ele-
ments as common bread or common drink. But even as Jesus
Christ our Saviour .... had both flesh and blood for our
salvation, even so we are taught that the food which is blessed
.... by the digestion of which our blood and flesh are
nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made
flesh. For the apostles in the memoirs composed by them,
which are called Gospels, have related that Jesus thus com-
manded them, that having taken bread and given thanks He
said, ' Do this in remembrance of me, this is my body '; and
that in like manner, having taken the cup and given thanks.
He said, ' This is my blood '; and that He distributed them
to these alone." '
The writer does not here mention the posture of the disci-
ples when communicating, but it is highly probable that they
still continued to sit^ in accordance with the primitive pat-
tern. As they received the ordinance in the same attitude as
that in which they partook of their common meals, the story
' " Apol." ii., Opera, pp. 97, 98.
" In an article on the Roman Cataconnbs, in the Edinburgh Review for
January, 1859, the writer observes : "It is apparent from all the paintings
of Christian feasts, whether of the Agapae, or the burial feasts of the dead,
or the Communion of the Holy Sacrament, that they were celebrated by the
early Christians sitting round a table." See also Northcote's " Roman
Catacombs," p. 63.
442 THE ELEMENTS.
that their religious assemblies were the scenes of unnatural
feasting, may have thus originated/ For the first three cent-
uries, kneeling 21 the Lord's Supper was unknown; and it is
not till about a hundred years after the death of the Apostle
John, that we read of the communicants staneiing? Through-
out the whole of the third century, this was the position in
which they partook of the elements."
The bread and wine of the Eucharist were supplied by the
worshippers, who made " oblations " according to their ability,*
as well for the support of the ministers of the Church, as for
the celebration of its ordinances. There is no reason to be-
lieve that the bread, used at this period in the holy Supper,
was unfermented ; for, though our Lord distributed a loaf, or
cake, of that quality when the rite was instituted, the early
Christians considered the circumstance accidental ; as un-
leavened bread was in ordinary use among the Jews at the
time of the Passover. The disciples had less reason for mix-
ing the wine with water, and they could have produced no
good evidence that such was the beverage used by Christ when
He appointed this commemoration. In the third century
superstition already recognized a mystery in the mixture.
" We see," says Cyprian, " that in the water the people are
represented, but that in the wine is exhibited the blood of
Christ. When, however, in the cup water is mingled with
wine, the people are united to Christ, and the multitude of
the faithful are coupled and conjoined to Him on whom they
believe." ^ The bread was not put into the mouth of the com-
municant by the administrator, but was handed to him by a
deacon ; and the better to show forth the unity of the Church,
' This calumny created much prejudice against them in the second cent-
ury. See Justin Martyr's " Dialogue with Trypho," § lo ; and the " Apol-
ogy of Athenagoras," § 3. If Pliny refers to the Eucharist when he speaks
of the early Christians as partaking of food together, it is obvious that they
must then have communicated sitting, or in the posture in which they par
took of their ordinary meals.
" TertuUian, " De Oratione," c. 14. * See Euseb. vii. 9.
* Justin Martyr, " Apol." ii. 98; and Tertullian's " Apol." c. 39.
' Epist. Ixiii. " To Ccecilius," Opera, p. 229,
TRANSUBSTANTIATION UNKNOWN. 443
all partook of one loaf made of a size sufficient to supply the
whole congregation/ The wine was administered separately,
and was drunk out of a cup or chalice. As early as the third
century an idea began to be entertained that the Eucharist
was necessary to salvation, and it was, in consequence, given
to infants.^ None were now suffered to be present at its cele-
bration but those who were communicants ; ' for even the
catechumens, or candidates for baptism, were obliged to with-
draw before the elements were consecrated.
The Passover was kept only once a year, but the Eucharist,
which was the corresponding ordinance of the Christian dis-
pensation, was observed much more frequently. Justin inti-
mates that it was administered every Lord's day, and other
fathers of this period bear similar testimony. Cyprian speaks
even of its daily celebration." The New Testament has pro-
mulgated no precise law upon the subject, and only the more
zealous disciples communicated weekly. On the Paschal week
it was observed with peculiar solemnity, and by the greatest
concourse of worshippers.
The term sacrame?it was applied to both Baptism and the
Lord's Supper ; but it was not confined to these two symbolic
ordinances." The word transubstantiation was not introduced
until upwards of a thousand years after the death of our Sav-
iour;* and the doctrine which it indicates was not known to
any of the fathers of the first three centuries. They all con-
cur in describing the elements, after consecration, as bread
and wine ; they all represent them as passing through the
usual process of digestion ; and they all speak of them as sym-
* Larroque's "History of the Eucharist," p. 35. London, 1684.
* Cyprian, " De Lapsis," Opera, pp. 375, 381. This was the result ot
carrying to excess a protest against the Montanist opposition to infant bap-
tism. Such a reaction often occurs. It was now maintained that the
Lord's Supper, as well as Baptism, should be administered to infants.
' At an earlier period it was dispensed in presence of the catechumens.
See Bingham, iii. p. 380.
*■ " De Oratione Dominica," Opera, p. 421.
' See Kaye's " Tertullian," p. 357.
* See Gieseler's " Text-Book of Ecclesiastical History," by Cunningham,
ii. 331, note 3.
444 now CHRIST IS IN THE SUPPER.
bols of the body and blood of Christ. In this strain Justin
Martyr discourses of " that bread which our Christ has com-
manded us to offer in remembrance of His being made flesh,
.... and of that cup which He commanded those that cele-
brate the Eucharist to offer iti remembrance of Hi"; bloods '
According to Clement of Alexandria the Scripture designates
wine "a mystic symbol of the holy blood,"" Origen, as if
anticipating the darkness which was to overspread the Church,
expresses himself very much in the style of a zealous Protes-
tant. He denounces as "simpletons'" those who attributed a
supernatural power to the Eucharistic elements, and repeat-
edly affirms that the words used at the institution of the
Lord's Supper are to be interpreted spiritually. " The meat,"
says he, " which is sanctified by the Word of God, and prayer,
as it is material, goes into the stomach, .... but, by reason
of prayer made over it, it is profitable according to t lie propor-
tion of fait Ji, and is the cause that the understanding is enlight-
ened and attentive to what is profitable ; and it is not the
substance of bread, but the word pronounced upon it, which is
profitable to him who eats it in a way not unworthy of the
Lord."* Cyprian uses language scarcely less equivocal, for
he speaks of " that wine whereby the blood of Christ is set
forth," ^ and asserts that it ''was wine which He called His
blood.""
Christ has said, " Where two or three are gathered together
in my name, there am I in the midst of them "; ' and, true to
His promises. He is really present with His people in every
act of devotion. Even when they draw near to Him in secret,
or when they read His Word, or when they meditate on His
mercy, as well as when they listen to His Gospel preached in
the great congregation. He manifests Himself to them not as
He does unto the world. But in the Eucharist He reveals
' " Dialogue with Trypho," Opera, pp. 296, 297.
' See Kaye's " Clement of Alexandria," p. 445.
» aKFpaioTtixjv, Opera, iii., p. 498.
* In Mat. torn. xi. Opera, iii., 499, 500.
' Epist. Ixiii. " To Caecilius," Opera, p. 225.
• Epist. Ixiii., Opera, 228. ^ Matt, xviii. 2o.
TRACES OF SUPERSTITION. 445
His character more significantly than in any of His other ordi.
nances; for He here addresses Himself to all the senses, as
well as to the soul. In the words of institution, they " hear
His voice "; when the elements are presented to them, they
perceive, as it were, " the smell of His garments"; with their
hands they " handle of the Word of Life "; and they " taste
and see that the Lord is good." But some of the early Chris-
tian writers were by no means satisfied with such represen-
tations. They entertained an idea that Christ was in the
Eucharist, not only in richer manifestations of His grace, but
also in a way altogether different from that in which He vouch-
safes His presence in prayer, or praise, or any other divine
observance. They conceived that, as the soul of man is united
to his body, the Logos, or Divine nature of Christ, pervades
the consecrated bread and wine, so that they may be called
His flesh and blood ; and they imagined that, in consequence,
the sacred elements imparted to the material frame of the be-
liever the germ of immortality.' Irenseus declares that " our
bodies, receiving the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, but
possessed of the hope of eternal life." ' This misconception
of the ordinance was the fruitful source of superstition. The
mere elements began to be regarded with awful reverence;
the loss of a particle of the bread, or of a drop of the wine,
was considered a tremendous desecration ; and it was prob-
ably the growth of such feelings which initiated the custom
of standing at the time of participation. But still there were
fathers who were not carried away with the delusion, and who
knew that the disposition of the worshipper was of far more
consequence than the care with which he handled the holy
symbols. " You who frequent our sacred mysteries," says
Origen, " know that when you receive the body of the Lord,
you take care with all due caution and veneration, that not
even the smallest particle of the consecrated gift shall fall to
' Irenaeus, " Contra Hasreses," v., c. 2, § 3. Clement of Alexandria says
that "to drink the blood of Jesus is to partake of the incorruption of the
Lord." — Padagogue, book ii.
' " Contra Hsereses," iv., c. 18, § 5.
446 THE EUCHARIST IMPROPERLY DESIGNATED.
the ground and be wasted.' If, through inattention, any part
thus falls, you justly account yourselves guilty. If then, with
good reason, you use so much caution in preserving His body,
how can you esteem it a lighter sin to slight the Word of God
than to neglect His body?'"
" The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a
furnace of earth purified seven times." ' The history of Bap-
tism and the Lord's Supper demonstrated that, when speaking
of the ordinances of religion, it is exceedingly dangerous to
depart even from the phraseology which the Holy Spirit has
dictated. In the second century Baptism was called " regen-
eration," and the Eucharistic bread was known by the com-
pendious designation of "the Lord's body." Such language,
if typically understood, could create no perplexity ; but all by
whom it was used did not give it a right interpretation, and
thus many misconceptions were speedily, generated. In a
short time names for which there is no warrant in the Word
of God were applied to the Lord's Supper ; and false doctrines
were eventually deduced from these ill-chosen and unauthor-
ized designations. Thus, before the close of the second cent-
ury, it was called an offering, and a sacrifice,^ and the table at
which it was administered was styled the altar!' Though
these terms were now used rhetorically, in after- ages they
were literally interpreted ; and in this way the most astound-
ing errors gradually gained currency. Meanwhile other topics
led to keen discussion ; but there was a growing disposition
to shroud the Eucharist in mystery; and hence, for many
centuries, the question as to the manner of Christ's presence
in the ordinance awakened no controversy.
' This feelinj:^ prevailed in the time of TertulHan. " Calicis aut panis
etiam nostri aliquid decuti in terram anxie patimur." — Dc Corona, c. 3.
* Horn. xiii. in "Exod." Opera, ii. 176. ^ Ps. xii. 6.
* See Kaye's "Justin Martyr," p, 94. Irenaeus, iv., c. 17, § 5. Tertullian,
" De Oratione," c. 14.
'• " Nonne solemnior erit statio tua, si et ad aram Dei steteris?" Ter-
tulHan, " De Oratione," c. 14, or, according to Oehlcr, c. 19.
CHAPTER IV.
CONFESSION AND PENANCE.
When the Evangelist Matthew is describing the ministry
of John the Baptist, he states that there "went out to him
Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about
Jordan; and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their
sinsr ' The ministry of Paul at Ephesus produced similar
results ; for " fear fell " on all the Jews and Greeks dwelling
in that great capital, " and many that believed came, and con-
fessed^ and showed their deeds." *
The confession here mentioned obviously flowed spontane-
ously from deep religious convictions. It was not a private
admission of guilt made to an ecclesiastical functionary ; but a
public acknowledgment of acts which weighed heavily on the
consciences of individuals, and which they felt constrained to
recapitulate and to condemn. Men awakened to a sense of
their sins deemed it due to themselves and to society, to state
how sincerely they deplored their past career ; and their words
often produced a profound impression on the multitudes to
whom they were addressed. These confessions of sin, con-
nected with a confession of faith in Christ, were generally as-
sociated with the ordinance of baptism. They were not re-
quired from all, but only tendered in cases where there had
been notorious and flagrant criminality ; and they were of a
very partial character, only embracing such transgressions as
the party had some urgent reason for specializing.
In the time of the apostles those who embraced the Gos-
pel were immediately baptized. Thus, the three thousand
persons converted on the day of Pentecost were forthwith re-
' Matt. iii. 5, 6. ' Acts xix. 17, 18.
(447)
448 FASTING BEFORE BAPTISM.
ceived into the bosom of the Church ; and the PhiHppian
jailer, " the same hour of the night " ' when he hearkened to
*' the word of the Lord," " was baptized, he and all his,
straightway." But, soon afterward, the Christian teachers be-
gan to proceed with greater formality ; and, about the mid-
die of the second century, candidates were not admitted to the
ordinance till they had passed through a certain course of pro-
bation. "As many," says Justin Martyr, "as are persuaded
and believe that the things which we teach and declare are
true, and promise that they are determined to live accordingly,
are taught to pray, and to beseech God with fasting to grant
them remission of their past sins, while we also pray and fast
with them. We then lead them to a place where there is
water, and there they are regenerated in the same manner as
we also were ; for they are then washed in that water in the
name of God the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our
Saviour Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit." "
These confessions and penitential exercises were repeated
and enlarged when persons who had lapsed into gross sin, and
who had, in consequence, forfeited their position as members
of the Church, sought readmission to ecclesiastical fellowship.
It would be difficult, on scriptural grounds, to vindicate the
system of discipline enforced on such occasions ; and yet it is
evident that it was established, at least in some quarters, as
early as the beginning of the third century. Tertullian gives
a very striking account of the course pursued by those called
penitents about that period. " Confession of sins," says he,
" lightens their burden, as much as the dissembling of them
increases it ; for confession savors of making amends — dis-
sembling, of stubbornness Wherefore confession is the
discipline of a man's prostrating and humbling himself, enjoin-
ing such a conversation as invites mercy. It restrains a man
even as to the matter of dress and food, requiring him to lie
in sackcloth and ashes, to hide his body in filthy garments, to
afiflict his soul with sorrow, to exchange for severe treatment
the sins in which he indulged ; for the rest to use simple
' Acts xvi. 33. " " Apol." ii.. Opera, pp. 93, 94.
FASTING A SIGN OF SORROW. 449
things for meat and drink, that is, for the sake of the soul,
and not to please the appetite : for the most part also to
quicken prayer by fasts, to groan, to weep, and to moan day
and night before the Lord his God ; to throw himself on the
ground before the presbyters, and to fall on his knees before
the beloved of God ; to enjoin all the brethren to bear the
message of his prayer for mercy — all these things does con-
fession that it may commend repentance." '
When a man is overwhelmed with grief, the state of his
mind will often be revealed by the loss of his appetite. He
will think little of his dress and personal accommodation ; and
though he may give no utterance to his feelings, his general
appearance will betray to the eye of an observer the depth of
his affliction. The mourner not unfrequently takes a melan-
choly satisfaction in surrounding himself with the symbols of
sorrow ; and we read, accordingly, in Scripture how, in ancient
times, and in Eastern countries, he clothed himself in sack-
cloth and sat in ashes." There is a wonderful sympathy be-
tween the body and the mind ; and as grief affects the appe-
tite, occasional abstinence from food may foster a serious and
contrite spirit. Hence fasting has been so commonly asso-
ciated with penitential exercises.
Fasting is not fo be regarded as one of the ordinary duties
of a disciple of Christ," but rather as a kind of discipline in
which he feels called on to engage under special circumstances."
When oppressed with a consciousness of guilt, or anxious for
divine direction on a critical occasion, or trembling under the
apprehension of impending judgments, he thus seeks to "af-
flict his soul," that he may draw near with deeper humility and
reverence into the presence of the Divine Majesty. But, in
such a case, every one should act according to the dictates of
his own enlightened convictions. As the duty is extraordi-
nary, the self-denial to be practiced must be regulated by vari-
^ " De Pcenitentia," c. ix.
^ Joshua vii. 6 ; Esther iv. i ; Isaiah Iviii. 5 ; Ezek. xxvii. 30.
^ See a " Memorial concerning Personal and Family Fasting," by the pi-
ous Thomas Boston. Edinburgh, 1849.
*Matt. ix. 15,
450 FASTING.
ous contingencies ; and no one can well prescribe to another
its amount or duration.
According to the Mosaic law, only one day in the year —
the great day of atonement — was required to be kept as a
national fast.' There is now no divine warrant for so observ-
ing any corresponding day, and for upwards of a hundred years
after the death of our Lord, there is no evidence that any fixed
portion of time was thus appropriated under the sanction of
ecclesiastical authority. But toward the close of the second
century the termination of the Paschal week was often so em-
ployed— the interval, between the hour on Friday when our
Lord expired and the morning of the first day of the week,
being spent in total abstinence.^ About the same time some
partially abstained from food on what were called stationary-
days, or the Wednesday and Friday of each week.' At this
period some began also to observe Xerophagiae, or days on
which they used neither flesh nor wine.* Not a few saw the
danger of this ascetic tendency ; but, whilst it betokened zeal,
it had also " a show of wisdom," ^ and it silently made great
progress. Toward the close of the third century the whole
Church was already pervaded by its influence.
Fasting has been well described as " the outward shell " of
penitential sorrow, and is not to be confounded with its spir.
itual elements. It is its accidental accompaniment, and not
one of its true and essential features. A man may " bow down
his head as a bulrush," or fast, or clothe himself in sackcloth,
' Lev. xxiii. 27.
' The text Matt. ix. 1 5 was urged in support of this observance. See Ter-
tullian, " De Jejun," c. ii.
' " Wednesday being selected because on that day the Jews took counsel
to destroy Christ, and Friday because that was the day of His crucifixion."
— Kayes Tertit/h'an, p. 418. As Wednesday was dedicated to Mercury
and F"riday to Venus, this fasting, according to Clement, signified to the
more advanced disciple, that he was to renounce the love of gain and the
love of pleasure. Kaye's " Clement," p. 454.
* These Xerophagiae, or Dry Food Days, were even now objected to by
some of the more enlightened Christians on the ground that they were an
import from heathenism. Tertullian, " De Jejun," c. ii.
' Col. ii. 23.
PENITENTIAL DISCIPLINE. 45 1
when he is an utter stranger to that " repentance to salvation
not to be repented of." The hypocrite may put on the out-
ward badges of mourning merely with a view to regain a posi-
tion in the Church, whilst the sincere penitent may " anoint
his head and wash his face," and reveal to the eye of the cas-
ual spectator no tokens of contrition. As repentance is a spir-
itual exercise, it can only be recognized by spiritual signs ; and
the rulers of the ancient Church committed a capital error
when they proposed to test it by certain dietary indications.
Their penitential discipline was directly opposed to the genu-
ine spirit of the Gospel ; and was the fountain of many of the su-
perstitions which, like a river of death, soon overspread Chris-
tendom. Whilst repentance was reduced to a mechanical
round of bodily exercises, the doctrine of a free salvation was
practically repudiated.
In connection with the appearance of a system of peniten-
tial discipline, involving in some cases a penance of several
years* continuance,* the distinction of venial and mortal sins
now began to be recognized. Venial sins were transgressions
which any sincere believer might commit, whilst mortal sins
were such as were considered incompatible with the genuine pro-
fession of Christianity. Penance was prescribed only to those
who had been guilty of mortal sins. Its severity and duration
varied with the character of the offence, and was soon regu-
lated according to an exact scale arranged by the rulers of
the Church in their ecclesiastical conventions.
About the middle of the third century a new arrangement
was introduced, with a view to promote the more exact ad-
ministration of penitential discipline. During the Decian per-
secution which occurred at this time, many were induced by
fear to abandon the profession of the Gospel ; and, on the re-
turn of better days, those who sought restoration to Christian
privileges were so numerous that, in the larger churches, it was
deemed expedient to require the lapsed, in the first instance,
to address themselves to one of the presbyters appointed for
their special examination. The business of this functionary,
' Thus Cyprian, Epist. liii., p. 169, speaks of a penance of three years' du-
ration.
452 INCREASING SPIRITUAL DARKNESS.
who was known by the designation of the Penitentiary^ was to
hear the confessions of the penitents, to ascertain the extent
and circumstances of their apostasy, and to announce the pen-
ance required from each by the existing ecclesiastical regula-
tions. The disclosures made to the Penitentiary did not su-
persede the necessity of public confession ; it was simply the
duty of this minister to give to the lapsed such instructions as
his professional experience enabled him to supply, including
directions as to the fasts they should observe and the sins they
should openly acknowledge. Under the guidance of the Peni-
tentiaries, the system of discipline for trangressors was still
farther matured ; and at length, in the beginning of the fourth
century, the penitents were divided into various classes, ac-
cording to their supposed degrees of unworthiness. The mem-
bers of each class were obliged to occupy a particular position
in the place of worship when the congregation assembled for
religious exercises.''
The institution known as Auricular Confession had, as yet,
no existence. In the early Church the disciples, under ordinary
circumstances, were neither required nor expected, at stated
seasons, to enter into secret conference with any ecclesiasti-
cal searcher of consciences. When a professing Christian com-
mitted a heinous transgression by which religion was scandal-
ized, he was obliged, before being readmitted to communion,
to express his sorrow in the face of the congregation ; and the
revelations made to the Penitentiary did not relieve him from
this act of humiliation. It is apparent that the whole system
of penance is an unauthorized addition to the ordinances of
primitive Christianity. Of such a system we do not find even
a trace in the New Testament ; and under its blighting influ-
ence, the religion of the Church gradually became little better
than a species of refined heathenism.
The spiritual darkness settling down upon the Christian
commonwealth may be traced in the growing obscurity of the
ecclesiastical nomenclature. The power and the form of god-
liness began to be confounded, and the same term was cm-
' Socrates, v., c. 19. 'See canon xi. of the Council of Nice.
THE TRUE REPENTANCE. 453
ployed to denote penance and repentance.' Bodily mortifica-
tion was mistaken for holiness, and celibacy for sanctity.*
Other errors of an equally grave character became current, for
the penitent was described as making satisfaction for his sins
by his fasts and his outward acts of self-abasement,' and thus
the all-sufficiency of the great atonement was openly ignored.
Thus, too, the doctrine of a free salvation to transgressors
could no longer be proclaimed, for pardon was clogged with
conditions as burdensome to the sinner, as they were alien to
the spirit of the New Testament. The doctrine that " a man
is justified by faith without the deeds of the law," * reveals the
folly of the ancient penitential discipline. Our Father in
heaven demands no useless tribute of mortification from His
children ; He merely requires us to " bring forth fruits meet
for repentance." ' " Is not this the fast that I have chosen ?"
saith the Lord, " to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the
heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye
break every yoke ? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry,
and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house ?
when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him ; and that
thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh ? Then shall thy
light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring
forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee ;
the glory of the Lord shall be thy rere-ward." °
* See Cyprian, Epist. xl., p. 53, and " ad Demetrianum," p. 442.
* See p. 382, note 3. ^ See pp. 418, 419.
* Rom. iii. 28. ^ Matt. iii. 8. ^ Isa. Iviii. 6-8.
CHAPTER V.
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH IN THE SECOND
CENTURY.
Justin Martyr, who had travelled much, and who was as
well acquainted with the state of the Church about the middle
of the second century as most of his contemporaries, has left
behind him an account of the manner in which its worship was
then conducted. This account, which has already been sub-
mitted to the reader,' represents one individual as presiding
over each Christian community, whether in the city or in the
country. Where the Church consisted of a single congregation,
and where only one of the elders was competent to preach, it
is easy to understand how the society was regulated. In ac-
cordance with apostolic arrangement, the presbyter, who labor-
ed in the Word and doctrine, was counted worthy of double
honor," and was recognized as the stated chairman of the
solemn assembly. His brother elders contributed in various
ways to assist him in the supervision of the flock ; but its
prosperity greatly depended on his own zeal, piety, prudence,
and ability. Known at first as the president, and afterward dis-
tinguished by the title of the bishop, he occupied very much
the same position as the minister of a modern parish.
Where a congregation had more than one preaching elder,
the case was different. There, several individuals were in the
habit of addressing the auditory,' and it was the duty of the
president to preserve order ; to interpose, perhaps, by occasional
suggestions ; and to close the exercise. When several con-
gregations with a plurality of preaching ciders existed in the
' Period ii., sec. iii., chap, i., p. 424. * I Tim. v. 17.
^ Apost. Constit., ii., c. 17.
(454)
EPISTLES OF CLEMENT AND POLYCARP. 455'
same city, the whole were affiliated ; and a president, acknowl-
edged by them all, superintended their united movements.
Much obscurity hangs over the general condition of the
Christian commonwealth in the first half of the second century ;
but it so happens that two authentic and valuable documents
which still remain, one of which was written about the begin-
ning and the other about the close of this period, throw much
light upon the question of Church government. These docu-
ments are the " Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians," and
the " Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians." As to the mat-
ters respecting which they bear testimony, we could not desire
more competent witnesses than the authors of these two let-
ters. The one lived in the West ; the other, in the East.
Clement, believed by some to be the same who is mentioned
by the Apostle Paul,' was a presbyter of the Church of Rome ;
Polycarp, who, in his youth, had conversed with the Aposile
John, was a proebyterof the Church of Smyrna. Clement died
about the close of the first century, and his letter to the Co-
rinthians was written three or four years before ; that is, immedi-
ately after the Domitian persecution ; ^ Polycarp survived un-
til an advanced period of the second century, and his letter to
the Philippians may be dated fifty years or upwards later than
the Epistle of Clement."
1 Phil. iv. 3.
"^ See Donaldson's " Crit. Hist, of Christian Literature and Doctrine from
the Death of the Apostles to the Nicene Council," p. 91. London, 1864.
^ No less than five persons are mentioned as having preceded Polycarp in
the see of Smyrna, viz., Aristo, Stratseas, another Aristo, Apelles, and Bu-
colus. See Jacobson's " Patres Apostolici," ii. 564, 565, note. It is not at
all probable that he became the senior presbyter long before the middle of
the second century. Irenaeus, indeed, tells us that he was constituted bishop
of Smyrna by the apostles (lib. iii., c, 3, § 4) — a statement which implies that
at least two of them were concerned in his designation to the ministry ; but
as he was still young when the last survivor of the twelve died in extreme
old age, the words may not mean that he was actually ordained by those to
whom our Lord originally intrusted the organization of the Church. The
language may simply import that John and perhaps Philip had announced
his future eminence when he was yet a child, and that thus, like Timothy,
he was invested with the pastoral commission " according to the prophecies "
which they had previously delivered. See i Tim. i. 18; iv. 14. But, per-
456 CLEMENT TO THE CORINTHIANS.
Toward the termination of the first century a spirit of dis-
cord disturbed the Church of Corinth ; and the Church of
Rome, anxious to restore peace, addressed a fraternal letter
to the distracted community. The Epistle was drawn up by
Clement, who was then the leading minister of the Italian
capital ; but, as it is written in the name of the whole broth-
erhood, and had obtained their sanction, it possesses all the
authority of a public and official correspondence. From it the
constitution of the Church of Corinth, and, by implication, of
the Church of Rome, is easily ascertained ; and it furnishes
abundant proof that, at the time of its composition, both these
Christian societies were under presbyterial government. Had
a prelate then presided in either Church, a circumstance so
important could not have been entirely overlooked, more es-
pecially as the document is of considerable length, and as it
treats expressly upon the subject of ecclesiastical polity. It
appears that some members of the community to which it is
addressed had acted undutifully toward those who were over
them in the Lord, and it accordingly condemns in very em-
phatic terms a course of proceeding so disreputable. " It is
shameful, beloved," says, the Church of Rome in this letter,
** it is exceedingly shameful and unworthy of your Christian
profession, to hear that the most firm and a?icicnt Church of
the Corinthians should, by one or two persons, be led into a
sedition against its elders." ' " Let the flock of Christ be in
peace with THE ELDERS THAT ARE SET OVER IT." " Having
stated that the apostles ordained those to whom the charge
of the Christian Church was originally committed, it is added
that they gave directions in what manner, after the decease of
these primitive pastors, " other chosen and approved men should
succeed to their ministry."' The Epistle thus continues:
" Wherefore we can not think that those may justly be thrown
out of their ministry who were either ordained by them (the
haps, by "apostles'' Irenaeus understands (7/^j/fl/;"i!r men, ox ministers or-
dained by the inspired heralds of the Gospel. Thus Clemens Romanus is
called an apostle by Clemens Alexandrinus. Strom, iv., p. 516. See also
Euseb. 12.
' Sec. 74. ' Sec. 54. ' Sec. 44.
CLEMENT TO THE CORINTHIANS. 45/
apostles), or afterward by other approved men with the appro-
bation of the whole Church, and who have, with all lowliness
and innocency, ministered to the flock of Christ in peace and
without self-interest, and have heen for a longtime commend-
ed by all. For it would be no small sin in us, should we cast
off those from the ministry who holily and without blame
fulfil the duties of it. Blessed are those elders who, having fin-
ished their course before these times, have obtained a fruitful
and perfect dissolution." ' Toward the conclusion of the let-
ter, the parties who had created this confusion in the Church
of Corinth have the following admonition addressed to them :
" Do ye, therefore, who laid the foundation of the sedition,
submit yourselves unto your elders, and be instructed unto re-
pentance, bending the knees of your hearts.""
In the preservation of this precious letter we are bound to
recognize the hand of Providence.' Its instructions were so
highly appreciated by the ancient Christians that it continued
to be publicly read in many of their churches for centuries
afterward.* It is universally acknowledged to be genuine ; it
breathes the benevolent spirit of a primitive presbyter ; and it
is distinguished by its sobriety and earnestness. It was writ-
ten upon the verge of the apostolic age, and it is the produc-
tion of a pious, sensible, and aged minister who preached for
years in the capital of the Empire. The Church of Rome has
since advanced the most extravagant pretensions, and has ap-
pealed in support of them to ecclesiastical tradition ; but here,
an elder of her own — one who had conversed with the apos-
tles, and one whom she delights to honor ^ — deliberately comes
' Sec. 44. All these quotations attest the late date of the Epistle. Tille-
mont places it in A.D. 97. Eusebius had no doubt as to its late date. See
his " History," iii. 16.
^ Sec. 57.
' For many centuries it was considered lost. At length in the reign of
Charles I. a copy of it was discovered appended to a very ancient manu-
script containing the Septuagint and Greek Testament — the manuscript
now known as the Codex Alexandrinus.
*■ Euseb. iii. 16 ; iv. 23.
' See the Romish Breviary under the 23d of November, where a number
of absurd stories are told concerning him.
458 THE EPISTLE OF POLYCARP.
forward and ignores her assumptions ! She fondly believes
that Clement was an early Pope, but the good man himself
admits that he was only one of the presbyters. Had there
then been a bishop of Corinth, this letter would unques-
tionably have exhorted the malcontents to submit to his juris-
diction ; or, had there been a bishop of Rome, it would not
have failed to dilate upon the benefits of episcopal govern-
ment. But, as to the existence of any such functionary in
either Church, it preserves throughout a most intelligible si-
lence. It says that the apostles ordained the first-fruits of
their conversions, not as bishops and presbyters and deacons,
but as " bishops and deacons over such as should afterward be-
lieve "; * and when it was written, the terms bishop and pres-
byter were still used interchangeably.*
The Epistle of Polycarp bears equally decisive testimony.
It was drawn up about the middle of the second century,' and
though the last survivor of the apostles was now dead for
many years, no general change had meanwhile taken place in
the form of church government. This document purports to
be the letter of " Polycarp and the elders who are with him
to the Church of God which is at Philippi "; but it does not
recognize a bishop as presiding over the Christian community
to which it is addressed." The Church was still in much the
same state as when Paul wrote to " the saints in Christ Jesus
which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacois "/ * for Poly-
carp was certainly not aware of the existence of any new of-
fice-bearers ; and he accordingly exhorts his correspondents to
' Sec. 42.
' They continued to be so used when the Peshito version of the New
Testament was made. That version is assigned by the best authorities, to
the former half of the second century. See p. 384, note.
' It is of nearly the same date as the first Apology of Justin Martyr.
* oi avv avT(^ TrpeaiivTepoi — evidently equivalent to aviinpeaiivrtpai. See I
Pet. V. I.
' Bishop Lightfoot bears this remarkable testimony concerning it :
" Though two or three chapters are devoted to injunctions respecting the
ministry of the Church, f/iere is not an allusion to episcopacy from begin-
ning to end." — Contemporary Review for May, 1875, p. 839.
'Phil. i. I.
THE EARLY BISHOP A PRESBYTERIAN MODERATOR. 459
be " subject to the presbyters and deacons^ ' " Let tJie presby-
ters^' says he, " be compassionate, merciful to all, bringing
back such as are in error, seeking out all those that are weak,
not neglecting the widow or the fatherless, or the poor ; but
providing always what is good in the sight of God and men ;
abstaining from all wrath, respect of persons, and unrighteous
judgment ; being far from all covetousness ; not ready to be-
lieve anything against any ; not severe in judgment, knowing
that we are all debtors in point of sin." *
It is stated by the most learned of the fathers of the fourth
century that the Church was at first " governed by the com-
mon council of the presbyters "; ^ and these two letters prove
most satisfactorily the accuracy of the representation. They
show that throughout the whole of the apostolic age this species
of polity continued. But the Scriptures ordain that " all things
be done decently and in order";* and, as a common council
requires an official head, or mayor, to take the chair at its
meetings, and to act on its behalf, the ancient eldership, or pres-
bytery, had a president or moderator. The duty and honor
of presiding commonly devolved on the senior member of the
judicatory. We thus account for those catalogues of bish-
ops, reaching back to the days of the apostles, which
are furnished by some of the writers of antiquity. From the
first, every presbytery had its president ; and as the transition
from the moderator to the bishop was the work of time, the dis-
tinction at one period was little more than nominal. Hence,
writers who lived when the change was taking place, or when
it had only been recently accomplished, speak of these two
functionaries as identical. But in their attempts to enumer-
ate the bishops of the apostolic era, they encountered a prac-
tical difficulty. The elders who were at first set over the
Christian societies were all ordained, in each church, on the
same occasion,* and were, perhaps, of nearly the same age, so
that neither their date of appointment, nor their years, could
well determine the precedence ; and, in general, no single in-
dividual continued permanently to occupy the office of mod-
' Sec. 5. - Sec. 6. ° Jerome, " Comment, in Tit."
* I Cor. xiv. 40. ^ As in Acts xiv. 23.
460 THE EPISCOPAL SUCCESSION UNCERTAIN.
erator. There may have been instances in which a stated
president was chosen, and yet it is remarkable that not even
one such case can be clearly established by the evidence of
contemporary documents. James, called the Lord's brother,
seems to have possessed great weight of character and much
influence ; it is not improbable that at one time he always
acted, when present, as chairman of the mother presbytery ;
and, accordingly, the writers of succeeding ages have described
him as the first bishop of the Jewish metropolis;' but so
little consequence was originally attached to the office of
moderator,^ that, in as far as the New Testament is concerned,
the situation held by this distinguished man can be inferred
only from some very obscure and doubtful intimations.^ In
Rome, and elsewhere, the primitive elders at first, perhaps,
filled the chair alternately." Hence the so-called episcopal
succession is most uncertain and confused at the very time
when it should be sustained by] evidence the most decisive
and perspicuous. The lists of bishops, commencing with the
ministry of the apostles, and extending over the latter half of
the first century, are little better than a mass of contradic-
tions. The compilers set down, almost at random, the names
of some distinguished men whom they found connected with
the different churches, and thus the discrepancies are nearly
as numerous as the catalogues.'
' The extreme anxiety of Eusebius to give currency to this legend is ap-
parent from his, frequent repetitions of it. See his " Hist.'' ii. 23, iii. 5, iii.
7, iv. s.vii. 19.
^ I make no apology for employing a word which even the Benedictine
Editor of Origen has adopted. Thus he speaks of the " senatores et mod-
eratores ecclesiae Dei." — Contra Celsum, iii. 30, Opera, i. 466.
' Such as Acts xxi. 18 ; Gal. ii. 12.
* The last surviving elder ordained by the apostles was perhaps the
first constant moderator. His position gave him a peculiar claim to prece-
dence.
' " At Antioch some, as Origen and Eusebius, make Ignatius to succeed
Peter. Jerome makes him the third bishop, and piaceth Evodius before
him. Others, therefore, to solve that, make them contemporary bishops ;
the one, of the Church of the Jews ; the other, of the Gentiles
Come we to Rome, and here the succession is as muddy as the Tiber itself;
for here Tertullian, Rufinus, and several others, place Clement next to
THE SENIOR PRESBYTER THE CHAIRMAN. 461
But when Clement dictated the Epistle to the Corinthians
most of the elders, ordained by the apostles or evangelists
about the middle of the first century, had finished their
career; and there is little reason to doubt that this eminent
minister was then the father of the Roman presbytery. The
superscription of the letter to the Philippians supplies direct
proof that, at the time when it was written, Polycarp likewise
stood at the head of the presbytery of Smyrna.' Other cir-
cumstances indicate that the senior presbyter now began to
be regarded as the stated president of the eldership. Hilary,
one of the best commentators of the ancient Church," bears
explicit testimony to the existence of such an arrangement.
" At first," says he, " presbyters were called bishops, so that
when the one (who was called bishop) passed away, the next
in order took his place." ^ " Though every bishop is a pres-
byter, every presbyter is not a bishop, for he is bishop who is
first among the presbyters." * As soon as the regulation rec-
ognizing the claims of seniority was proposed, its advocates
were prepared to recommend it by arguments which possessed
at least considerable plausibility. The Scriptures frequently
Peter. Irenasus and Eusebius set Anacletus before him ; Epiphanius and
Optatus both Anacletus and Cletus ; Augustinus and Damasus, with others,
make Anacletus, Cletus, and Linus all to precede him. What way shall
we find to extricate ourselves out of this labyrinth ? " — Stillingfleet' s Ireni-
cum, part ii., ch. 7, p. 321.
' " Polycarp, and the elders who are with him, to the Church of God
which is at Philippi."
^ A Roman deacon of the fourth century. His works are commonly ap-
pended to those of Ambrose.
^ " Primum presbyteri episcopi appellabantur, ut, recedente uno, sequens
ei succederet." — Comment, in Eph. iv.
* " Ut omnis episcopus presbyter sit, non omnis presbyter episcopus ; hie
enim episcopus est, qui inter presbyteros primus est." — Comment, in i Tim.
iii. According- to a learned writer this arrangement extended farther.
" Ita, uti videtur, comparatum fuit, ut defuncto presbytero, primus ordine
diaconus locum occuparet ultimum presbyterorum, novusque in locum no-
vissimum substitueretur diaconus ; decedente vero episcopo, primus ordine
presbyter in ejus locum sufficeretur, et primus in ordine diaconorum novissi-
mam presbyterii sedem capesseret." — Thomce Brtmonis Judicium de auc-
tore Can. et Const, quce apost. dicuntur. Cotelerius, ii., Ap., p. 179.
462 THE SENIOR PRESBYTER THE CHAIRMAN.
inculcate respect for age, and when the apostle says, " Like-
wise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder," ' he seems,
from the connection in which the words occur, to refer specially
to the deportment of junior ministers." In the lists of the
Twelve to be found in the New Testament the name of Peter
stands first ; ' and if, as is believed, he was more advanced in
years than any of his brethren,* it is easy to understand why
this precedence has been given to him ; for in all likelihood, he
usually acted as president of the apostolic presbytery. Even
the construction of corporate bodies in the Roman Empire
suggested the arrangement ; for it is well known that, in the
senates of the cities out of Italy, the oldest decurion, under
the title principalis, acted as president.' Did we, therefore,
even want the direct evidence already quoted, we might have
inferred, on other grounds, that, at an early date, the senior
member generally presided wherever an eldership was erected.
As a point of such interest relating to the constitution of
the ancient Church should be carefully elucidated, it may be
necessary to fortify the statement of Hilary by some addition-
al evidence. This candid and judicious commentator did not
venture, without due authority, to describe the original order
of succession in the presidential chair ; and he had access to
sources of information which have long ceased to be available ;
but the credit of the f^ct for which he vouches does not rest
upon the unsustained support of his solitary attestation.
Whilst his averment is recommended by internal marks of
probability, and countenanced by several scriptural intima-
' I Pet, V. 5. It is a curious and striking fact, arguing strongly in favor
of the antiquity of their Church polity, that among the Vaudois Barbs o.
old the claims of seniority were distinctly acknowledged. The following
rule of discipline is taken from one of their ancient MSS. : " He that is re-
ceived the last (into the ministry by imposition of hands) ought to do noth-
ing without the p(-rmission of him that was received before him." — Afore-
land, History of the Evans;. C/t. of the Valleys of Piedmont, p. 74.
* He is speaking immediately before of presbyters. See i Pet. v. 1-4.
'Matt. X. 2, " The first, Simon, who is called Peter." Mark iii. 16;
Luke vi. 14; Acts i. 13.
* Jerome in " Jovin." i. 14.
' Savigny's " History of the Roman Law," by Cathcart, i. pp. 62, 63, 75.
THE SENIOR PRESBYTER THE CHAIRMAN. 463
tions, it is also corroborated by a large amount of varied and
independent testimony. We shall now exhibit some of the
most striking portions of the confirmatory proof.
I. The language applied in ancient documents to the prim-
itive presidents of the Churches illustrates the accuracy of this
venerable commentator. In one of the earliest extant notices
of these ecclesiastical functionaries, a bishop is designated
"the old man.'" The age of the individual who is thus dis-
tinguished was not a matter of accident ; for each of his
brethren in the same position, all over the Church, was called
" father " ' on the ground of his seniority. The official title
" Pope^' which has the same meaning, had also the same
origin. It was given at first to every president of the elder-
ship, because he was, in point of fact, the father, or senior
member, of the judicatory. It soon ceased to convey this
meaning, but it still remained as a memorial of the primitive
regimen.
II. It is a remarkable fact that in none of the great sees before
the close of the second century, do we find any trace of the
existence of a young, or even of a middle-aged bishop. When Ig-
natius of Antioch was martyred, he was verging on fourscore .
Polycarp of Smyrna finished his career at the age of eighty-
six ; Pothinus of Lyons fell a victim to persecution when he
was upwards of ninety ; ' Narcissus of Jerusalem was at least
that age when he was first placed in the presidential chair ; *
one of his predecessors, named Justus, is said to have been one
hundred and ten when he reached the same dignity ; ^ and
* Euseb. iii. 23. 6 TvpEa(ivT7/c.
Hn Africa the senior bishop or metropolitan was caWed /afAer. See
Bingham, i. 200. In the second century we find the name given to the
Roman bishop. See Routh's " Rehquiae," i. 287. According to Eutychius,
his predecessor in the see of Alexandria in the early part of the third century
was called " Baba (Papa), that is, grandfather." Polycarp, in the account
of his martyrdom, is called by the multitude " the father of the Christians."
— Euseb. iv. 15.
' Euseb. V. I.
* He was one hundred and sixteen years of age in A.D. 212 (Euseb. vi. 1 1),
so that in A.D. 196, or about the time of the Palestinian Synod at which he
presided (Euseb. v. 23), he was a century old.
* Etheridge's " Syrian Churches," pp. 9, 10.
464 THE ANCIENT CHURCH OF JERUSALEM.
Simeon of Jerusalem died when he had nearly completed the
patriarchal age of one hundred and twenty. As an individual
might become a member of the presbytery when comparatively
young," such extraordinary longevity among the bishops of
the second century can be best explained by accepting the
testimony of Hilary,
III. The number of bishops found within a short period in
the same see has long presented a difficulty to many students
of ecclesiastical history. Thus, at Rome in the first forty
years of the second century there were five or six bishops/
and yet only one of them suffered martyrdom. Within
twelve or fifteen years after the death of Polycarp, there were
several bishops in Smyrna.' But the Church of Jerusalem
furnishes the most wonderful example of this quick succession
of episcopal dignitaries. Simeon, one of the relatives of our
Lord, is said to have become the presiding pastor after the
destruction of the city by Titus, and was martyred about the
close of the reign of Trajan, or in A.D. 116; and yet, according
to the testimony of Eusebius,* no less than thirteen bishops in
succession occupied his place before the end of the year A.D.
134. He is said to have been set at the head of the Church
when above threescore and ten ; ' and dying, as already
stated, at the extreme age of one hundred and twenty, he left
behind him a considerable staff of very aged elders. These
' See I Tim. iv. 12.
» That is, Anacletus, Evaristus, Alexander, Sixtus, Telesphorus, and Hy-
ginus ; but some consider Anacletus the same as Cletus, who is supposed
to have died before Clement.
3 Euseb. iv. 14. Pearson has noticed this fact, and has endeavored to
erect upon it an argument against the current chronology. See his " Minor
Works," ii. 527. The names of the three bishops of Smyrna next after
Polycarp were Thraseas, Paparius, and Camerius. At least two of these
had passed away a considerable time before the Paschal controversy. See
Greswell's " Dissertations," iv., part ii., p. 600, note.
* " Hist.," iv., 5.
° According to Eusebius his appointment took place after the destruction
of Jerusalem, or about A.D. 71. He was, therefore, at the head of the
Church forty-five years, as his martyrdom occurred in A.D. 116 According
to this reckoning he was in his seventy-fifth year when made president.
THE ANCIENT CHURCH OF JERUSALEM. 465
became presidents in the order of their seniority ; and as they
passed rapidly away, we may thus account for the extraordi-
nary number of the early chief pastors of the ancient capital
of Palestine.'
At this time, or about A.D. 135, the original Christian
Church of Jerusalem was virtually dissolved. The Jews had
grievously provoked Hadrian by their revolt under the im-
postor Barchochebas ; and the Emperor, in consequence, re-
solved to exclude the entire race from the precincts of the
holy city. The faithful Hebrews, who had hitherto worshipped
there under the ministry of Simeon and his successors, still
observed the Mosaic law, and were consequently treated as
Jews, so that they were now obliged to break up their associ-
ation, and remove to other districts. A Christian Church,
composed chiefly of Gentile converts, was soon afterward es-
tablished in the same place ; and the new society elected an
individual, named Marcus, as their bishop, or presiding elder.
Marcus was, probably, in the decline of life when he was
placed at the head of the community; and on his demise,^ as
well as long afterward, the old rule of succession was observed.
During the sixty years immediately after his appointment,
there were fifteen bishops at Jerusalem ' — a fact which indi-
cates that, on the occurrence of a vacancy, the senior elder
still continued to be advanced to the episcopal chair. This
conclusion is remarkably corroborated by the circumstance
that Narcissus, who was bishop of the ancient capital of Judea
at the end of these sixty years, was, as has been already men
' This explanation of the matter approximates to that given by Tillemont.
" Cela peut estre venu de ce qu'on les choisissoit entre las plus agez du
Clerg-e pour les faire Evesques : car on ne voit pas qu'ils ayent este plus
persecutez que d'cLutres." — Mim.pour servir a V Histoire Eccl'esiastique,
torn, ii., part ii., p. 40. Eusebius (iii. 32) states that at the time of the death
of Simeon there were still living a number of very old persons who were
relatives of our Lord. Some of these were, probably, elders in the Church
of Jerusalem.
* He is said in the " Chronicon " of Eusebius to have presided sixteen
years.
' Euseb., v. 12.
30
466 THE ANCIENT CHURCH OF JERUSALEM.
tioned, upwards of fourscore and ten when he obtained his ec-
clesiastical promotion.
The episcopal roll of Jerusalem has no recorded parallel in
the annals of the Christian ministry, for there were no less
than twenty-eight bishops in the holy city in a period of eighty
years. Even the Popes have never followed each other with
such rapidity. The Roman Prelate, when elevated to St.
Peter's chair, has almost invariably been far advanced in years,
and the instances are not a few in which Pontiffs have fallen
victims to poison or to open violence ; and yet their history,
even in the worst of times, exhibits nothing equal to the fre-
quency of the successions indicated by this ancient episcopal
registry.' It attests that there were more bishops in Jerusa-
lem in the second century than there have been Archbishops
of Canterbury for the last four hundred years ! '' Such facts
demonstrate that those who then stood at the head of the
mother Church of Christendom reached their position by
means of some order of succession very different from that
which is now established. Hilary furnishes at once a simple
and an adequate explanation. The senior minister was the
president, or bishop ; and as, when placed in the episcopal
chair, he had already reached old age, it was not to be expected
that he could long retain a situation which required some ex-
ertion and involved much anxiety. Hence the startling
amount of episcopal mortality.
As the Church of Jerusalem was virtually founded by our
Lord himself, it could lay claim to a higher antiquity than
any other Christian community in existence ; and it long con-
tinued to be regarded by the disciples all over the Empire
' In the tenth century, the darkest and most revolting period in the his-
tory of the Popedom, there were twenty-four bishops of Rome. Some of
these reigned only a few days ; at least one of them was strangled : several
of them died in prison ; and several others were driven from the sec or de-
posed. There have been only twenty-four Popes in the last two hundred
and fifty years.
' There were only twenty-eight Archbishops of Canterbury between 1454
and 1859.
THE ANCIENT CHURCH OF JERUSALEM. 467
with peculiar interest and veneration." When re-established
about the close of the reign of Hadrian, it v/as properly a new
society ; but it still enjoyed the prestige of ancient associa-
tions. Its history has, therefore, been investigated by Euse-
bius with special care ; he tells us that he derived a portion of
his information from its own archives;' and, though he enters
into details respecting very few of the early Churches, he
notices it with unusual frequency, and gives an accredited list
of the names of its successive chief pastors.' About this period
it was considered a model which other Christian societies of
less note should imitate. It is, therefore, all the more im-
portant if we are able to ascertain its constitution, as we are
thus prepared to speak with a measure of confidence respect-
ing the form of ecclesiastical government which prevailed
throughout the second century. The facts already stated,
when coupled with the positive affirmation of the Roman
Hilary, place the solution of the question, as nearly as pos-
sible, on the basis of demonstration ; for, if we reject the con-
clusion that, during a hundred years after the death of the
Apostle John, the senior member of the presbytery of Jeru-
salem was the president or moderator, we in vain attempt to
explain, upon any sound statistical principles, how so many
bishops passed away in succession within so limited periods,
and how, at several points along the line, and exactly where
they were to be expected,* we find individuals in occupation
of the chair who had attained to extreme longevity.
IV. The statement of Hilary illustrates the peculiar cogency
of the argumentation employed by the defenders of the faith
who flourished about the close of the second century. This
century was pre-eminently the age of heresies, and the dis-
seminators of error were most extravagant and unscrupulous
in their assertions. The heresiarchs, among other things,
affirmed that the inspired heralds of the Gospel had not com-
' In the middle of the third century we find Firmilian appealing to it as
a witness against the Church of Rome. Cyprian, Epist. Ixxv., Opera, p. 303.
' " Hist.," vi. 20. ^ " Hist." iv. 5 ; v. 12.
" Such as, after the death of the aged Simeon, when Justus, at the age of
fivescore and ten, was advanced to the presidential chair.
468 GNOSTIC CREDENTIALS APOCRYPHAL.
mitted their whole system to written records ; that they had
intrusted certain higher revelations only to select or perfect
disciples ; and that the doctrine of yEons, which they so assid-
uously promulgated, was derived from this hidden treasure of
ecclesiastical tradition.' To such assertions the champions of
orthodoxy were prepared to furnish a triumphant reply, for
they could show that the Gnostic system was inconsistent
with Scripture, and that its credentials, said to be derived
from tradition, were utterly apocryphal. They appealed, in
proof of its falsehood, to the tradition which had come down
to themselves from the apostles, and which was still preserved
in the Churches " through the successions of the elders." ^
They could farther refer to those who stood at the head of
their respective presbyteries as the witnesses most competent
to give evidence, " We are able," says Irenaeus, " to enumer-
ate those whom the apostles established as bishops in the
Churches,^ together with their successors down to our own
times, who neither taught any such doctrine as these men rave
about, nor had any knowledge of it. For if the apostles had
been acquainted with recondite mysteries which they were in
the habit of teaching to the perfect disciples apart and with-
out the knowledge of the rest, they would by all means have
communicated them to those to whom they intrusted the care
of the Church itself, since they wished that those whom they
left behind them as their successors, and to whom they gave
their own place of authority, should be quite perfect and irre-
proachable in all things." *
Had the succession to the episcopal chair been regulated
by the arrangements of modern times, there would have been
' Irenaeus, iii. 2. Tertullian, " De Prasscrip. H-eret.," § 25.
' " Ad earn iterum traditionem, quag est ab apostolis, qux per successt'ones
presbyterortim in ecclesiis custoditur, provocamus eos." — Irencrus, iii. 2.
^ Irenaeus here speaks in the language of his own times, and refers to the
presidents, or senior ministers, of the presbyteries. In like manner Hilary
says that the change in the mode of appointing the president of the pres-
bytery was made by the decision of many priests (multorum sacerdotinn
judicioj, though the title /r/f^/ was not given to a Christian minister when
the alteration was originally proposed.
* Irenaeus, iii. 3.
THE BISHOPS ATTEST THE TRADITIONS. 469
little weight in the reasoning of Irenatus. The declaration of
the bishop respecting the tradition of the Church over which
he happened to preside could have possessed no special value.
But it was otherwise in the days of this pastor of Lyons. The
bishop was generally one of the oldest members of the com-
munity with which he was connected, and had been longer
conversant with its ecclesiastical affairs than any other minis-
ter. His testimony to its traditions was, therefore, of the
highest importance. In a few of the great Churches, as we
have elsewhere shown,' the senior elder no longer succeeded,
as a matter of course, to the episcopate ; but age continued to
be universally regarded as an indispensable qualification for
the ofTfice," and, when Irenaeus wrote, the law of seniority was
still generally maintained. It was, therefore, with marked
propriety that he appealed to the evidence of the bishops ; as
they, from their position, were most competent to expose the
falsehood of the fables of Gnosticism.
V. It is well knpwn that, in some of the most ancient coun-
cils of which we have any record, the senior bishop officiated
as moderator ; ' and, long after age had ceased to determine
the succession to the episcopal chair, the recognition of its
claims, under various forms, may be traced in ecclesiastical
history. In Spain, so late as the fourth century, the senior
chief pastor acted as president when the bishops and presby-
ters assembled for deliberation." In Africa the same rule was
observed until the Church of that country was overwhelmed
by the northern barbarians. In Mauritania and Numidia,
even in the fifth century, the senior bishop of the province,
whoever he might be, was acknowledged as metropolitan. °
In the usages of a still later age we discover vestiges of the
' Period ii., sec. i., chap. iv. ; and Period ii., sec. iii., chap. vii.
^ According to a very- ancient canon, no one under fifty years of age could
be made a bishop. See Bunsen's " Hippolytus," iii. 56. Even in the time
of Cyprian much stress was still laid upon age. See Cyprian, Epist. Iii., p.
156.
' See Period ii., sec. iii., chap xi. See also Bingham, i. 198.
* Miinter's " Primordia Ecclesise Africanae," p. 49. See also Bingham
vi. 377-379-
^ Bingham, i. 201.
470 THE BISHOP GUIDED BY THE ELDERS.
ancient regulation, for the bishops sat, in the order of their
seniority, in the provincial synods.' Still farther, where the
bishop of the chief city of the province was the stated metro-
politan, the ecclesiastical law still retained remembrances of
the primitive polity ; as, when this dignitary died, the senior
bishop of the district performed his functions until a successor
was regularly appointed.'
Though the senior presbyter presided in the meetings of
his brethren, and was soon known by the name of bishop, he
originally possessed no superior authority. He held his place
for life, but as he was sinking under the weight of years when
he succeeded to it, he could not venture to anticipate an ex-
tended career of ofificial distinction. In all matters relating
either to discipline, or the general interests of the brother-
hood, he was expected to carry out the decisions of the elder-
ship, so that, under his presidential rule, the Church was still
substantially governed by " the common council of the pres-
byters."
The allegation that presbyterial government existed in all
its integrity toward the end of the second century does not
rest on the foundation of obscure intimations or doubtful in-
ferences. It can be established by direct and conclusive tes-
timony. Evidence has already been adduced to show that the
senior presbyter of Smyrna continued to preside until the
days of Irenaeus, and there is also documentary proof that he
possessed no autocratical authority. The supreme power was
still vested in the council of the elders. This point is attested
by Hippolytus, who was then just entering on his ecclesiastical
career, and who, in one of his works, a fragment of which has
been preserved, describes the manner in which the rulers of
the Church dealt with the heretic Noetus. The transaction
occurred about A.D. 190.' " There are certain others," says
' Binius, i. 5. Fourth Council of Toledo, canon 4.
' Bingham, i. 204.
' Bunsen dates it about A.D. 200. "Hippolytus and his Age," p. 114.
The recently-discovered treatise of Hippolytus against all heresies shows
that Noetus appeared much earlier than most modern ecclesiastical histo-
rians have reckoned.
THE CHURCH GOVERNED BY THE ELDERS. 4/1
Hippolytus, " who introduce clandestinely a strange doctrine,
being disciples of one Noetus, who was by birth a Smyrnean,
and lived not long ago. This man, being puffed up, was led
to forget himself, being elated by the vain fancy of a strange
spirit. He said that Christ is himself the Father, and that the
Father himself had been born, and had suffered and died.
.... When the blessed presbyters heard these things, they
summoned him and examined Jam before the Church. He, how-
ever, denied, saying at first that such were not his sentiments.
But afterward, when he had intrigued with some, and had
found persons to join him in his error, he took courage, and
at length resolved to stand by his dogma. The blessed presby-
ters again summoned him, and administered a rebuke. But he
withstood them, saying, 'Why, what evil am I doing in glorify-
ing Christ ? ' To whom the presbyters replied : ' We also truly
acknowledge one God ; we acknowledge Christ ; we acknowl-
edge that the Son suffered as He did suffer, and that He died
as He did die, and that He rose again the third day, and that
He is at the right hand of the Father, and that He is coming
to judge the quick and the dead ; and we declare those things
which we have been taught.' Then they rebuked him, and cast
him out of the Church.'' '
About the time to which these words refer a change was
made in the ecclesiastical constitution. The senior minister
ceased to preside over the eldership ; and the Church was no
longer governed, as heretofore, by the " blessed presbyters."
The synods which were held all over the Church for the sup-
pression of the Montanist agitation, and in connection with
the Paschal controversy," adopted a modified episcopacy. As
parties already in the presidential chair were permitted to
' Routh, " Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Opuscula," torn, i., pp. 49, 50
Oxon, 1858. This extract proves that the Church of Smyrna continued
under presbyterial government long after the time of Polycarp, Other
Churches about this time were in the same position. See Eusebius, v. 16.
" During the Paschal controversy the Churches of Jerusalem, Caesarea,
and others, sided with Rome, and then adopted her ecclesiastical regimen.
It had been generally adopted in Asia Minor during the Montanist agita-
tion.
472 CHANGE IN THE CHURCH CONSTITUTION.
hold office during life, this change was not accomplished in-
stantaneously ; but various circumstances concur to prove
that it took place about the period now indicated. The fol-
lowing reasons, among others, may be adduced in support of
this view of the history of the ecclesiastical revolution.
I. The Montanists, toward the termination of the second
century^ created much confusion by their extravagant doc-
trines and their claims to inspiration. These fanatics were in
the habit of disturbing public worship by uttering their pre-
tended revelations, and as they were often countenanced by
individual elders, the best mode of protecting the Church
from their annoyance soon became a question of grave and
pressing difficulty. Episcopacy, as shall afterward be shown,'
had already been introduced in some great cities, and about
this time the Churches generally agreed to follow the influen-
tial example." It was thought that order could be more
effectually preserved were a single individual armed with in-
dependent authority. Thus, the system of government by
presbyters was gradually and silently subverted.
II. It is well known that the close of the second century is
a transition period in the history of the Church. A new
ecclesiastical nomenclature now appeared;' the bishops ac-
quired increased authority ; and, early in the third century,
they were chosen in all the chief cities by popular suffrage.
The alteration mentioned by Hilary was, therefore, the im-
mediate precursor of other and more vital changes.
III. Though Eusebius passes over in suspicious silence the
history of all ecclesiastical innovations, his account of the
bishops of Jerusalem suggests that the law abolishing the
claim of seniority came into operation at the close of the
second century. He classes together the fifteen chief pastors
who followed each other in the holy city immediately after
its restoration by Hadrian,* and then goes on to give a list of
' Chapter vii. of this section.
'■' That the Churches in various places were still governed by elders, see
Euseb. V. 1 6.
' The word catholic came now into use. The minister of the Word was
called a priest, and the communion table an altar.
* Euseb. V. 12.
EUSEBIUS AND THE CHURCH OF C^ESAREA. 473
others, their successors, whose pastorates were of the ordi-
nary duration. He mentions likewise that the sixteenth
bishop was chosen by election.'- May we not here distinctly
recognize the termination of one system, and the commence-
ment of another? As the sixteenth bishop was appointed
about A.D. 199, the law had been then only recently enacted.
IV. Eusebius professes to trace the episcopal succession
from the days of the apostles in Rome, Alexandria, Antioch,
and Jerusalem; and it has often been shown that the accu-
racy of these four lists is extremely problematical ; but it is
remarkable that in other Churches the episcopal registry can
not be carried up higher than the end of the second century.
The roll of the bishops of Carthage is there discontinued,"
and the episcopal registry of Spain there also abruptly termi-
nates. But the history of the Church of Caesarea affords the
most extraordinary specimen of this defalcation. Caesarea
was the civil metropolis of Palestine, and a Christian Church
existed in it from the days of Paul and Peter." Its bishop, in
the early part of the fourth century, was the friend of the
Emperor Constantine and the father of ecclesiastical history.
Eusebius enjoyed all needful facilities for investigating the
annals of his own Church ; and yet, strange to say, he com-
mences its episcopal registry about the close of the second
century ! " What explanation can be given of this awkward
circumstance? Had Eusebius taken no notice of any of the
bishops of his own see, we could appreciate his modesty ; but
why should he overlook those who flourished before the time
of Victor of Rome, and then refer to their successors with
such marked frequency ? ^ May we not infer, either that he
deemed it inexpedient to proclaim the inconvenient fact that
the bishops of Caesarea were as numerous as the bishops of
Jerusalem ; or that he found it impossible to recover the
names of a multitude of old men who had only a nominal
' Euseb. V. 10. The word x'^'P"~"^''^i^' here employed is indicative of a
popular choice. See also the " Chronicon " of Eusebius.
* Miinter's " Primordia Eccles. Afric," pp. 25, 26.
3 Acts X. I, 45-48 ; xxi. 8. ■* " Hist." v. 22.
* " Hist." V. 23 ; V. 25 ; vi. 19 ; vi. 23 ; vi. 46 ; vii. 14, etc., etc.
474 NO SUDDEN REVOLUTION.
precedence among their brethren, and who had passed off the
stage, one after another, in quick succession ?
V. A statement of Eutychius, who was patriarch of Alex-
andria in the tenth century, and who has left behind him a
history of his see from the days of the apostles, supplies a re-
markable confirmation of the fact that, toward the close of
the second century, a new policy was inaugurated. Accord-
ing to this writer there was, with the exception of the occu-
pant of the episcopal chair of Alexandria, " no bishop in the
provinces of Egypt " before Demetrius.' As Demetrius be-
came bishop of Alexandria about A.D. 190, Christianity had
now made extensive progress in the country ; " for it had been
planted there one hundred and fifty years before ; but mean-
while, with the one exception, the Churches still remained
under presbyterial government. Demetrius was a prelate of
great influence and energy ; and, during his long episcopate
of forty-three years,^ he succeeded in spreading all over the
land the system of which he had been at one time the only
representative.
It is not, indeed, to be supposed that the whole Church,
prompted by a sudden and simultaneous impulse, agreed, all
at once, to change its ecclesiastical arrangements. Another
polity at first made its appearance in places of commanding
influence ; and its advocates most assiduously endeavored to
recommend its claims by appealing to the fruits of experience.
The Church of Rome took the lead in setting up a mitigated
form of prelacy ; the Churches of Antioch and Alexandria
followed ; and, soon afterward, other Christian communities
of note adopted the example. That this subject may be fairly
understood, a few chapters must now be employed in tracing
the rise >and progress of the hierarchy.
' " Annal." p. 332. See also Stanley's " Eastern Church," p. 113, note,
' See Lardner's Works, viii. 99. Edit. London, 1838.
* Eusebius, vi. 26. Toward the close of his episcopate Demetrius held
several synods in Alexandria, at which a considerable number of bishops
were present.
CHAPTER VI.
THE RISE OF THE HIERARCHY CONNECTED WITH THE
SPREAD OF HERESIES.
EUSEBIUS, already so often quoted, and known so widely
as the author of the earliest Church history, flourished in the
former half of the fourth century. This distinguished father
was a spectator of the most wonderful revolution recorded
in the annals of the world. He had seen Christianity pro-
scribed, and its noblegt champions cut down by a brutal mar-
tyrdom ; and he had lived to see a convert to the faith seated
on the throne of the Caesars, and ministers of the Church
basking in the sunshine of Imperial bounty. He was himself
a special favorite with Constantine ; as bishop of Caesarea, the
chief city of Palestine, he had often access to the presence of
his sovereign ; and in a work still extant, professing to be a
Life of the Emperor, he has well-nigh exhausted the language
of eulogy in his attempts to magnify the virtues of his illus-
trious patron.
Eusebius may have been an accomplished courtier, but cer-
tainly he is net entitled to the praise of a great historian.
The publication by which he is best known would never have
acquired such celebrity, had it not been the most ancient
treatise of the kind in existence. Though it mentions many
of the ecclesiastical transactions of the second and third cent-
uries, and supplies a large amount of information which would
have otherwise been lost, it is a very ill-arranged and unsatis-
factory performance. Its author does not occupy a high po-
sition either as a philosophic thinker, a judicious observer, or
a sound theologian. He makes no attempt to point out the
germs of error, to illustrate the rise and progress of ecclesi-
(475)
476 EUSEBIUS AND JEROME.
astical changes, or to investigate the circumstances which led
to the formation of the hierarchy. Even the announcement
of his Preface, that his purpose is " to record the successions
of the holy apostles," or in other words, to exhibit some epis-
copal genealogies, proclaims how much he was mistaken as to
the topics which should have been noticed most prominently
in his narrative.' It is doubtful whether his history was ex-
pressly written, either for the illumination of his own age, or
for the instruction of posterity ; and its appearance, shortly
after the public recognition of Christianity by the State,' is
fitted to generate a suspicion that it was intended to influence
the mind of Constantine, and to recommend the episcopal
order to the consideration of the great proselyte.
About six or seven years after the publication of this treat-
ise, a child was born who was destined to attain higher dis-
tinction, both as a scholar and a writer, than the polished
Eusebius. This was Jerome — afterward" a presbyter of Rome,
and a father whose productions challenge the foremost rank
among the memorials of patristic erudition. Toward the
close of the fourth century he shone the brightest literary star
in the Church, and even the proud Pope Damasus condescend-
ed to cultivate his favor. At one time he contemplated the
composition of a Church history ; ' and we have reason to re-
gret that the design was never executed, as his works demon-
strate that he was in possession of much rare and important
information for which we search in vain in the pages of the
bishop of Caesarea.
No ancient writer has thrown more light on the history
of the hierarchy than Jerome. His remarks upon the subject
frequently drop incidentally from his pen, and must be sought
for up and down throughout his commentaries and epistles ;
' His anxiety to exalt the hierarchy is strikingly exhibited in his address
to Paulinus of Tyre, whom he describes as a " new Aaron or Melchisedek,
like unto the Son of God." Ecc. Hist. x. 4.
' The " Ecclesiastical History " of Eusebius was published shortly after
Constantine first publicly recognized Christianity. That event took place in
A.D. 324, and with the same year the history terminates.
' " Vita Malchi," Opera, iv., pp. 90, 91. Edit. Paris, 1706.
Jerome's testimony. 477
but he speaks as an individual who was quite familiar with the
topics he introduces; and, whilst all his statements are con-
sistent, they are confirmed and illustrated by other witnesses.
As a presbyter, he was jealous of the honor of his order ; and,
when in certain moods, he is very well disposed to remind the
bishops that their superiority to himself was mere matter of
human arrangement. One of his observations relative to the
original constitution of the Christian commonwealth has been
often quoted. '' Before that, by the prompting of the devil,
there were parties in religion, and it was said among the peo-
ple, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, the
Churches were governed by the common council of the pres-
byters. But, after that each one began to reckon those tvhom
he baptized as belonging to himself 9in6. not to Christ, it wa3
DECREED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE WORLD that one elected
from the presbyters should be set over the rest, that he should
have the care of the whole Church, that the seeds of schisms
might be destroyed." '
Because Jerome in this place happens to use language which
occurs in the First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, we are
not to understand him as identifying the date of that letter
with the origin of prelacy. Such a conclusion would be quite
at variance with the tenor of this passage. The words, " I am
of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas," ' are used by him
rhetorically ; he was accustomed to repeat them when describ-
ing schisms or contentions ; and he has employed them on
one memorable occasion in relation to a controversy of the
' " Antequam Diaboli instinctu, studia in religione fierent, et diceretur in
populis, Ego sum Pauli, ego Apollo, ego autem Cephas, communi presbyter-
orum consilio ecclesias gubernabantur. Postquam vero unusquisque eos
quos baptizaverat suos putabat esse, non Christi, in toto orbe decretum est,
ut unus de presbyteris, electus superponeretur caeteris, ad quem omnis ec-
clesiae cura pertineret, et schismatum semina tollerentur." — Comjnent. in
Tztum. The language here used bears a strong resemblance to that em-
ployed by Lactantius long before, when treating of the same subject —
" Multae hasreses extiterunt, et instinctibus dcemonum populus Dei sczssus
est." — Instit. Divin., lib. iv., c. 30.
* I Cor. i. 12.
478 JEROME'S TESTIMONY.
fourth century,' The divisions among the Corinthians,
noticed by Paul, were trivial and temporary ; the Church at
large was not disturbed by them ; but Jerome speaks of a time
when the whole ecclesiastical community was so agitated that
it was threatened with dismemberment. The words immedi-
ately succeeding those which we have quoted clearly show
that he dated the origin of prelacy after the days of the
apostles. " Should any one think that the identification of
bishop and presbyter, the one being a name of age and the
other of office, is not a doctrine of Scripture, but our own
opinion, let him refer to the words of the apostle saying to
the Philippians, * Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus
Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi,
ivith the bishops and deacons, Grace to you and peace,' ^ and so
forth. Philippi is one city of Macedonia, and truly in one
city, there can not be, as is thought, more than one bishop ;
but because, at that titnc, they called the same parties bishops
and presbyters, therefore he speaks of bishops as of presbyters
without making distinction. Still this may seem doubtful to
some unless confirmed by another testimony. In the Acts of
the Apostles it is written ' that when the apostle came to
Miletus he ' sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the same
Church,' to whom, then, among other things, he said, ' Take
heed to yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy
Ghost has made you bishops,* to feed the Church of the Lord
' " Hie locus vel maxime aclversum Hasreticos facit qui pc.cis vinculo dis-
sipate atque corrupto, putant se tenere Spiritus unitatem ; quum unitas
Spiritus in pacis vinculo conservetur, Quando enim non idipsiim omnes
loquimur, et alius dicit Ego sum Paidi, Ego Apollo, Ego Ctpha:, dividimus
Spiritus unitatem, et earn in partes ac membra discerpimus."— -C(?w;«^«/,
in Ep/ies., lib. ii., cap. 4. Again we find him saying : " Necnon et dissen-
siones opera carnis sunt, quum quis nequaquam perfectus, eodem sensu, et
eadem sententia dicit. Ego sum Pattli, et ego Apollo, et ego Cephce et ego
Christt. . , . , Nonnumquam evenit, ut et in expositionibus Scripturarum
oriatur dissensio. c Sec. I.
' The reader may find the quotations in the preceding chapter, pp. 456,
457-
' Thus Milner says that " so far as one may judge by Clement's Epistle,"
the Church of Corinth, when the letter was written, had Church governors
" only of two rajiks" ■\^xt^h^\.^xs and deacons. — Hist, of the Church, z&vX.
ii., chap. I. Bishop Lightfoot bears the same testimony.
* As the letter supplies no trace whatever of the existence of a bishop in
the Church to which it is addressed, Pearson is sadly puzzled by its testi-
mony, and gravely advances the supposition that the bishop of Philippi
must have been dead ''Nhun Polycarp wrote ! " Vindiciae Ignatianag," pars
ii., cap, 13. Rothe is equally perplexed by the Epistle of Clement. He
says that, " in the whole Epistle there is never any reference to a bishop of
the Corinthian community," and he admits, that, when the letter was
written, "the Corinthian community had no bishop at all "; but, to support
his favorite theory, he contends, like Pearson, that the bishop of Corinth
must also have been dead ! " Die Anfange der christlichen Kirche," pp.
403, 404. Strange that the bishop of Corinth and the bishop of Philippi
both were dead at the only time when their existence was of any historical
value, and that Jto reference is made either to them or their successors !
31
482 HERESIES THREATEN TO DIVIDE THE CHURCH.
to oppose them, so that all their efforts were effectually
checked or defeated. The most- ancient writers acknowledge
that, during the early part of the second century, the same
state of things continued. According to Hegesippus, who
outlived Polycarp fifteen or twenty years," the Church con-
tinued till the death of Simeon of Jerusalem, in A.D. 116," " as
a pure and uncorrupted virgin." " If there were any at all,"
says he, " who attempted to pervert the right standard of sav-
ing doctrine, they were yet skulking in dark retreats ; but
when the sacred company of the apostles had, in various ways,
finished their career, AND THE GENERATION OF THOSE WHO
HAD BEEN PRIVILEGED TO HEAR THEIR INSPIRED WISDOM
HAD PASSED AWAY, then at length the fraud of false teachers
produced a confederacy of impious errors." ' The date of the
appearance of these parties is also established by the testi-
mony of Celsus, who lived in the time of the Antonines, and
who was one of the most formidable of the early antagonists
of Christianity. This writer informs us that, though, in the
beginning, the disciples were agreed in sentiment, they be-
came, in his days, when " spread out into a multitude, divided
and distracted, each aiming to give stability to his own fac-
tion."*
The statements of Hegesippus and Celsus are substantiated
by a host of additional witnesses. Justin Martyr," Irenaeus,*
Clemens Alcxandrinus,' Cyprian,^ and others, all concur in rep-
' See Euseb. iv., c. 11. * Euseb. iii. 32, and iv. 22.
' Euseb. iii. 32. Hegesippus, as quoted by Eusebius (iv. 22), speaks of
a certain Thebuthis, who began secretly to corrupt the Christian doctrine
" on account of his not having been made a bishop," apparently referring
to the time when Simeon was appointed to preside over the Church of
Jerusalem. A similar story is told of Valentine. But the statement of
Hegesippus is vague, and throughout the whole of the first century the
terms bishop and presbyter were used interchangeably.
* Origen, " Contra Celsum," iii. § 10, Opera, i. 453, 454.
'' " Dialogue with Trypho," Opera, p. 253.
" " Contra Haares." i. 27, § i. ' " Strom." p. 764.
* Epist. Ixxiv., Opera, p. 293. The ancient writers speak of all the early
schismatics as heretics. Thus Novatian, though sound in the faith, is so
described. Cyprian, Epist. Ixxvi., p. 315. When, therefore, Jerome speaks
HERESIES THREATEN TO DIVIDE THE CHURCH. 483
resenting the close of the reign of Hadrian, or the beginning
of the reign of Antoninus Pius, as the period when heresies
burst forth, like a flood, upon the Church. The extant eccle-
siastical writings of the succeeding century are occupied chiefly
with their refutation. No wonder that the best champions of
the faith were embarrassed and alarmed. They had hitherto
been accustomed to boast that Christianity was the cement
which could unite all mankind, and they had pointed triumph-
antly to its influence in bringing together the Jew and the
Gentile, the Greek and the barbarian, the master and the slave,
the learned and the illiterate. They had looked forward with
high expectation to the days of its complete ascendency, when,
under its gentle sway, all nations would exhibit the spectacle
of one great and happy brotherhood. How, then, must they
have been chagrined by the rise and spread of heresies ! They
saw the Church itself converted into, a great battle-field, and
every man's hand turned against his fellow. In almost all the
populous cities of the Empire, as if on a concerted signal,
the errorists commenced their discussions. The Churches of
Lyons,' of Rome, of Corinth, of Athens, of Ephesus, of Anti-
och, and of Alexandria, resounded with the din of theological
controversy. Nor were the heresiarchs men whom their
opponents could afford to despise. In point of genius and of
literary resources, many of them were fully equal to the most
accomplished of their adversaries. Their zeal was unwearied,
and their tact most perplexing. Mixing the popular elements
of the current philosophy with a few of the facts and doc
trines of the Gospel, they produced a compound by which
many were deceived. How did the friends of the Church pro-
of the early schismatics, he obviously refers to the heretics. Irenaeus says
of them, " Scindunt et separant unitatem ecclesise." — Lib. iv., c. xxvi., § 2.
In like manner Cyprian represents "heresies and schisms" as making their
appearance after the apostolic age, and as inseparably connected. " Cum
haereses et schismata postmodum nata sint, dum conventicula sibi diversa
constituunt." — De Unitate Eccles., Opera, p. 400.
' The existence of heresy in Gaul in the second century is established by
the fact that Irenaeus spent so much time in its refutation. Had he not
been annoyed by it, he never would have thought of writing his treatise
" Contra Haereses."
484 " PARITY BREEDETH COXFUSION."
ceed to grapple with these difficulties ? They, no doubt, did
their utmost to meet the errorists in argument, and to show
that their theories were miserable perversions of Christianity.
But they did not confine themselves to the use of weapons
drawn from their own heavenly armory. Not a few presby-
ters were themselves tainted with the new opinions ; some of
them were even ringleaders of the heretics ; ' and, in an evil
hour, the dominant party resolved to change the constitution
of the Church, and to try to put down disturbance by means
of a new ecclesiastical organization. Believing, with many in
modern times, that " parity breedeth confusion," and expect-
ing, as Jerome has expressed it, ''that the seeds of schisms
might be destroyed," they sought to invigorate their adminis-
tration by investing the presiding elder with authority over
the rest of his brethren. The senior presbyters, the last sur-
vivors of a better age, were all sound in the faith ; and, as they
were still at the head of the Churches in the great cities, it
was thought that, with enlarged prerogatives, they could the
better confront the dangers of their position. The principle
that, whoever would not submit to the bishop must be cast
out of the Church, was accordingly adopted ; and the new
system was expected in due time to restore peace to the spir-
itual commonwealth.
At the same period arrangements were made in some places
for changing the mode of advancement to the presidential
chair, so that, in no case, an elder suspected of error could
have a chance of promotion." An immense majority of the
presbyters were yet orthodox; and by being permitted to de-
part, as often as they pleased, from the ancient order of suc-
cession, and to nominate any of themselves to the episcopate,
they could always secure the appointment of an individual
representing their own sentiments. In some of the larger
' Valentine himself seems to have been a presbyter. He at one time ex-
pected to be made bishop.
'Such is the statement of Hilary: "Immutata est ratio, prospiciente
concilio, ut non ordo sed meritum crearet episcopum, multorum sacerdo-
tum juchcio constilutum, ne indignus temere usurparet, et esset multis
scandalum." — Cofitmcnt. in Eph. iv.
JEROME NOT INCONSISTENT. 485
Churches, where their number was considerable, they usually-
selected three or four candidates; and then permitted the lot
to make the ultimate decision.' But the ecclesiastical revolu-
tion could not stop here. Jealousy quickly appeared among
the presbyters ; and, during the excitement of elections, the
more popular candidates were not willing to limit the voting
to the presbytery. The people chose their presbyters and
deacons, and now that the office of moderator possessed sub-
stantial power, and differed so much from what it was origi-
nally, why should not all the members of the Church be allowed
to exercise their legitimate influence? Such a claim could
not be well resisted. Thus it was that the bishops were ulti-
mately chosen by popular suffrage.'
Some contend that there is inconsistency in the statements
of Jerome relative to prelacy. They allege, in proof, that
whilst he describes the Church as governed, till the rise of
" parties in religion," by the common council of the presbyters,
he also speaks of bishops as in existence from the days of the
apostles. "At Alexandria," says he, " from Mark the Evangel-
ist [by whom the Church there was founded], to Heraclas
and Dionysius the bishops [who flourished in the third cent-
ury], the presbyters always named as bishop one chosen from
among themselves and placed along with them Mn a higher
position."* It must appear, however, on due consideration,
that here there is no inconsistency whatever. In the Epistle
where this passage occurs, Jerome is asserting the ancient dig-
nity of presbyters, and showing that they originally possessed
prerogatives of which they had more recently been deprived.
In proof of this he refers to the Church of Alexandria, one
' See Period ii., sec. i., chap, iv., pp. 302, 303 ; chap, v., p. 317.
* At an early period, out of three elders nominated by the presbytery, one
was chosen by lot ; subsequently, out of three elders chosen by lot, one was
elected by the people. See pp. 302, 317. We find something analogous in
the history of the previous hierarchy. Thus, in ancient Rome, a new mem-
ber was originally chosen by the co-optation, or selection, of the existing
college of pontiffs : afterward, the college nominated two candidates, o!
whom the people chose one. See " Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Ro-
man Antiquities," art. Pontifex.
^ Collocatum. * Epist. ci. " Ad. Evangelum."
486 JEROME NOT INCONSISTENT.
of the greatest sees in Christendom, where for upwards of a
century and a half after the days of the EvangeHst Mark, the
presbyters appointed their spiritual overseers, and performed
all the ceremonies connected with their official investiture. But
it does not therefore follow that meanwhile these overseers
had always possessed exactly the same amount of authority.
The very fact mentioned by Jerome suggests a quite different
inference, as it proves that whilst the power of the presbyters
had been declining, that of the bishops had increased. In
the second century the presbyters inaugurated bishops ; in
the days of Jerome they were not permitted even to ordain
presbyters.
Jerome says, indeed, that, in the beginning, the Alexandrian
presbyters nominated their bishops, but we are not to conclude
that the parties chosen were always known distinctively by the
designation which he here gives to them. He evidently did
not intend to convey such an impression, as in the same Epis-
tle he demonstrates, by a whole series of texts of Scripture,
that the titles bishop and presbyter were used interchangeably
throughout the whole of the first century. By bishops he
understands the presidents of the presbyteries, or the officials
who filled the chairs which those termed bishops subsequently
occupied. In their own age these primitive functionaries were
called bishops and presbyters indifferently; but they partially
represented the bishops of succeeding times, and they ap-
peared in the episcopal registries as links of the apostolical
succession, so that Jerome did not deem it necessary to depart
from the current nomenclature. His meaning can not be mis-
taken by any one who attentively marks his language, for he
has stated immediately before, that episcopal authority prop-
erly commenced when the Church began to be distracted by
the spirit of sectarianism.'
' A few passages of the letter may here be given in the original. " Mani-
festissime comprobatur cundem esse episcopum atque presbyterum
Quod autem postea unus clectus est, qui casteris prjeponeretur, in schis-
niatis remedium factum est, ne unusquisque ad se trahens Christi ecclesiam
rumperet. Nam et Alcxandrias A Marco Evangelista usque ad Heraclam
et Dionysinm Ep'scopos, presbyteri semper unum ex se electum in excelsiori
gradu collocatum episcopum nominabant." — Epist. ci. ad Evangelum.
THE PRIMITIVE MODERATOR. 487
In this passage, however, the learned father bears unequiv-
ocal testimony to the fact that, from the earliest times, the
presbytery had an official head or president. Such an arrange-
ment was known in the days of the apostles. But the prim-
itive moderator was very different from the bishop of the
fourth century. He was the representative of the presby-
tery— not its master. Christ had said to the disciples, " Who-
soever will be great among you, let him be your minister ;
and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your serv-
ant."' Such a chief was at the head of the ancient presby-
tery. Without a president no Church court could transact
business ; and it was the duty of the chairman to preserve
order, to bear many official burdens, to ascertain the senti-
ments of his brethren, to speak in their name, and to act
in accordance with the dictates of their collective wisdom."
The bishop of after-times rather resembled a despotic sover-
eign in the midst of his counsellors. He might ask the advice
of the presbyters, and condescend to defer to their recom-
mendation ; but he also negatived their united resolutions,
and caused the refractory quickly to feel the gravity of his
displeasure.
Though Jerome tells us how, for the destruction of the
seeds of schisms, " it was decreed throughout the whole WORLD
that one elected from the presbyters should be set over the
rest," we are not to suppose that the decree was carried out,
cdl at once, into universal operation. General councils were
' Matt. XX. 26, 27.
^ The view here taken is sustained by the verdict of learned and candid
Episcopalians. " When elders were ordained by the apostles in every
Church, through every city, to feed the flock of Christ, whereof the Holy
Ghost had made them overseers : they, to the intent that they might the
better do it by common counsel and consent, did use to assemble them-
selves and meet together. In the which meetings, for the more orderly
handling and concluding of things pertaining to their charge, they chose
one amongst them to be the president of their company and moderator of
their actions." — The Judgment 0/ Doctor Rainoldes touching the Crigitial
of Episcoi)acy more largely confirmed out of Antiquity, by James Ussher,
Archbishop of Armagh. Ussher's Works, vii., p. 75. See also Hallam's
"Constitutional History," ii, 180.
488 * PROGRESS OF THE CHANGE.
yet unknown, and the decree was sanctioned at diflferent times
and by distant Church judicatories. Such a measure was first
thought of shortly before the middle of the second century,
but it was not very extensively adopted until about fifty years
afterward. The history of its origin must now be more mi-
nutely investigated.
CHAPTER VII.
PRELACY BEGINS IN ROME.
Any attentive reader who has marked the chronology of
the early bishops of Rome, as given by Eusebius,' may have
observed that the pastorates of those who flourished during
the first forty years of the second century were all of compar-
atively short duration. Clement is commonly reputed to have
died about A.D. lOo ; " he was followed by Evaristus, Alexan-
der, Xystus, and Telesphorus ; and Hyginus, who was placed
at the head of the Church in A.D. 139, and who died in A.D.
142, was the fifth in succession. Thus, the five ministers next
in order after Clement occupied the post of president only
forty-two years, and, with the exception of Hyginus, whose
official career was very brief, each held the situation for nearly
' Pearson has endeavored to destroy the credit of this chronology, and
has urged against it the authority of the " Annals of Eutychius " ! " De
Successione prim. Rom. Episc." He had before labored to prove that the
testimony of these "Annals " is worthless. " Vindic. Ignat." pars i., c. xi.
"^ The chronology of
Popes," stands thus :
Evaristus,
Alexander,
Sixtus (or Xystus),
Telesphorus,
Hyginus,
Pius,
Anicetus,
Soter,
Eleutherius,
Victor, .
by Bower in his
" Lives of the
A.D.
ICO to A.D.
109.
A.D,
109 to A.D.
119.
A.D.
119 to A.D.
128.
A.D.
128 to A.D.
139.
A.D.
139 to A.D.
142.
A.D.
142 to A.D.
157.
A.D.
157 to A.D.
168.
A.D.
168 to A.D.
176.
A.D.
176 to A.D.
192.
A.D.
192 to A.D.
201.
(489)
490
THE TIME OF HYGINUS.
an equal period.' But, on the death of Hyginus, a pastorate
of unusual length commences, as Pius, by whom he was fol-
lowed, continued fifteen years in ofifice — a term considerably
more extended than that of any of his five predecessors.
Reckoning from the date of the advancement of Pius, we find
also a decided increase in the average length of the life of the
president for the remainder of the century; as, of the ten in-
dividuals in all who were at the head of the Roman Church
during its revolution, the five who followed next after Clement
lived only forty-two years, whilst their five successors lived
fifty-nine yQzxs. Thus, there is at least some ostensible ground
for the inquiry whether any arrangement was made in the
time of Hyginus, which may account for these statistics.
The origin of the Church of Rome, like' the origin of the
city, is buried in obscurity ; and a very few facts constitute
the whole amount of our information respecting it during the
first century of its existence. About the time of Hyginus
the twilight of history begins to dawn upon it. Guided by
the glimmerings of intelligence thus supplied, we shall en-
deavor to illustrate this dark passage in its annals. The fol-
lowing statements contribute somewhat to the explanation of
transactions which have hitherto been rarely noticed by
modern ecclesiastical writers :
I. A change in the organization of the Church about the
time of Hyginus, accounts for the increase in the average
The following is the chronology of Pearson
Clement,
Evaristus,
Alexander,
Xystus, .
Telesphorus,
Hyginus,
Pius,
Anicetus,
Soter,
Eleutherius,
Victor, .
— Minor Works, ii., pp. 570, 571
died A.D. 83.
A.D. 83 to A.D. 91.
A.D. 91 to A.D. lOI.
A.D. lOI to A.D. III.
A.D. Ill to A.D. 122.
A.D. 122 to A.D. 126.
A.D. 127 to A.D. 142.
A.D. 142 to A.D. 161.
A.D. 161 to A.D. 170.
A.D. 170 to A.D. 185.
A.D. 185 to A.D. 197.
PRELACY BEGINS. 49I
length of the Hves of the Roman bishops.' If the alteration,
mentioned by Hilary, was now made in the mode of succes-
sion to the presidential chair, such a result followed. Under
the new regime, the recommendation of large experience had
still much weight in the choice of a bishop, but he frequently
entered on his duties at an earlier age, and thus the ordinary
duration of his official career was considerably extended.''
II. The time of Hyginus exactly answers to the description
of the period when, according to the testimony of Jerome,
prelacy commenced. The heretics then exhibited extraordi-
nary zeal, so that " parties in religion " were springing up all
over the Empire. The Church of Rome had hitherto escaped
the contagion of false doctrine,' but now errorists from all
quarters began to violate its purity and to disturb its peace.
Valentine, Cerdo, Marcion, and Marcus appeared about this
time in the Western capital." Some of these men were noted
' I have endeavored, from the records of the late Synod of Ulster, to
estimate the medium length of the incumbency of a moderator for life,
being the senior minister of a presbytery of from ten to fifteen members,
and have found that the average of thirty-six successions amounted to
between eight and nine years. In these presbyteries young ministers gen-
erally constituted a considerable portion of the members. Had they all
been persons advanced in life, the average must have been greatly reduced.
^ During that part of the second century which terminated with the death
of Hyginus, the average duration of the life of a Roman bishop very little
exceeded eight years ; whereas, during the remainder of the century, it
amounted to nearly twelve years. According to the chronology of Pear-
son the disproportion is still greater, being as eight years dnd a fraction to
fourteen years. If we insert the episcopate of Anacletus, it will be nearly
as seven to fourteen.
^ In the verses erroneously attributed to Tertullian, the Church of Rome
is represented as in a flourishing state when visited by Cerdo.
" Advenit Roman Cerdo, nova vulnera gestans
Detectus, quoniam voces et verba veneni
Spargebat furtim ; quapropter ab agmine pulsus,
Sacrilegum genus hoc genuit spirante dracone.
Constabat pietate vigens Ecclesia Romae
Composita a Petro, cujus successor et ipse
Jamque loco nono cathedram suscepit Hyginus."
* Euseb, IV. II. Irenasus says that Valentine, the most famous and for-
midable of the Gnostic teachers, " came to Rome under Hyginus, was in
492 THE TIME OF HYGINUS.
for their genius and learning ; and they created no common
ferment. They were assiduous in the dissemination of their
principles, and several of them resorted to very extraordinary
and unwarrantable expedients for strengthening their respect-
ive factions. An ancient writer represents them as conduct-
ing their adherents to water, and as baptizing them " in the
name of the Unknown Father of the universe ; in the Truth,
the mother of all ; and in Him who descended on Jesus."
" Others again," says the same authority, " repeated Hebrew
names to inspire the initiated with the greater awe." ' These
attempts at proselytism were not unsuccessful. Valentine, in
particular, made many converts, and after his death, when
Irenaeus wrote a refutation of his heresy, his disciples were
still numerous."
The account given by Jerome of the state of the Christian
interest when it was deemed necessary to set up episcopacy,
is not so completely supplemented by the condition of the
Church at any other period. Never certainly did the brethren
at Rome more require the services of a skilful and energetic
leader, than when the Gnostic chiefs settled in the great me-
tropolis. Never could it be said with so much truth of their
community, in the language of the Latin father, that " every
one reckoned those whom he baptized as belonging to himself
and not to Christ";' for, as we have just seen, some, when
baptizing their disciples, used even new forms of initiation.
Never, assuredly, had the advocates of expediency a better
opportunity for pleading in favor of a decree ordaining that
" one chosen from among the presbyters should be put over
the rest, and that the whole care of the Church should be
his prime under Pius, and lived until the time of Anicetus." — Contra Hceres.,
iii., 4, § 3. Cyprian speaks of " the more grievous pestilences of heresy
breaking forth when Marcion the Pontian emerged from Pontus, whose
master Cerdo came to Rome during the episcopate of Hyginus." — Epist.
Ixxiv. He adds, " But it is acknowledged that heresies aftet wards became
more numerous and worse." — Epist. Ixxiv., Opera, pp. 293, 294.
' Euseb. iv. 11. See also a fragment attributed to Irenaeus in Stieren's
edition, i. 938.
' See Mosheim, " Commentaries," by Vidal, ii. 266.
• Hieronymus, " Comment, in Titum."
PRELACY BEGINS. 493
committed to him, that the seeds of schism should be taken
away." '
III. The testimony of Hilary, who was contemporary with
Jerome, exactly accords with the views here promulgated as
to the date of this occurrence. This writer, who was also a
minister of the Roman Church, was acquainted with a tradi-
tion that a change had taken place at an early period in the
mode of ecclesiastical government. His evidence is all the
more valuable as it contains internal proofs of derivation from
an independent source ; for, whilst it corroborates the state-
ment of Jerome, it supplies fresh historical details. Accord-
ing to his account, " after that churches were erected in all
places and offices established, an arrangement was adopted
difTerent from that which prevailed at the beginning." " By
"the beginning" he understands the apostolic age, or the
time when the New Testament was written.' He then goes
on to say, in explanation, that it was found necessary to
change the mode of appointing the chairman of the presby-
tery, and that he was now promoted to the office by election,
and not by seniority.* Whilst his language indicates distinctly
that this alteration was made after the days of the apostles, it
also implies a date not later than the second century ; for^
though it was " after the beginning," it was at a time when
churches had been only recently " erected in all places, and of-
' Hieronymus, " Comment, in Titum."
'^ " Tamen postquam in omnibus locis ecclesiae sunt constitutas, et ofificia
ordinata, aliter composita res est, quam coeperat." — Commefit. in Epist. ad
Ephes., cap. 4.
' " Ideo non per omnia conveniunt scripta apostoli ordinationi, quae nunc
in ecclesia est ; quia haec inter ipsa primordia sunt scripta." — Ibid.
" " Ut non ord'o, sed meritum crearet episcopum." — Ibid. Hilary appears
to have believed with Jerome that the Church was originally governed " by
the common council of the presbyters," but that, meanwhile, with their
sanction, or under peculiar circumstances, deacons might preach and even
laymen baptize. Such, too, was the opinion of Tertullian. See Kaye's
"Tertullian," pp. 226, 448. Hilary, however, maintained that this arrange-
ment was soon abrogated. " Coepit alio ordine et providentia gubernari
ecclesia ; quia si omnes eadem possent, irrationabile esset, et vulgaris res
et vilissima videretur."
494 THE TIME OF HYGINUS.
fices established." The period of the spread of heresies at
Rome, at the commencement of the reign of Antoninus Pius,
and when Hyginus closed his career, answers these conditions.
IV. As Rome was the headquarters of heathenism, it was
also the place where the divisions of the Church proved most
disastrous. There, the worship of the State was celebrated in
all its magnificence ; there, the Emperor, the Pontifex Max-
imus of the gods, surrounded by a splendid hierarchy of
priests and augurs, presided at the great festivals ; and there,
thousands and tens of thousands, prompted by interest or by
prejudice, were prepared to struggle for the maintenance of
the ancient superstition. Already, the Church of Rome had
often sustained the violence of persecution ; but, notwith-
standing the bloody trials it had undergone, it had continued
steadily to gain strength ; and a sagacious student of the signs
of the times might even now have looked forward to the day
when Christianity and paganism, on nearly equal terms, would
be contending for mastery in the chief city of the Empire.
But the proceedings of the heretics were calculated to dissi-
pate all the visions of ecclesiastical ascendency. If the Ro-
man Christians were split up into fragments by sectarianism,
the Church, in one of its great centres of influence, was incal-
culably injured. And yet, how could the crisis be averted?
How could heresy be most effectually discountenanced ? How
could the unity of the Church be best maintained.? In times
of peril the Romans had formerly been wont to set up a Dic-
tator, and to commit the whole power of the commonwealth
to one trusty and vigorous ruler. During the latter days of
the Republic, the State had been almost torn to pieces by con-
tending factions ; and now, under the sway of the Emperors^ .
it enjoyed comparative repose. It occurred to the brethren
at Rome to try the effects of a similar change in the ecclesias-
tical constitution. By committing the government of the
Church, in this emergency, almost entirely into the hands of
one able and resolute administrator, they hoped to contend
successfully against the dangers by which they were encom-
passed.
V. A recent calamity of a different character was calculated
PRELACY BEGINS. 495
to abate the jealousy which such a proposition would have
otherwise awakened. Telesphorus, the immediate predeces
sor of Hyginus, suffered a violent death.' Telesphorus is the
first bishop of Rome whose title to martyrdom can be fairly
established ; and not one of his successors during the re-
mainder of the second century forfeited his life for his relig-
ion. The death of the presiding pastor, as a victim to the in-
tolerance of heathenism, threw the whole Church into a state
of confusion and perplexity ; and when Hyginus was called
upon to occupy the vacant chair, well might he enter upon its
duties with deep anxiety. The appearance of heresy multi-
plied the difficulties of his office. It could now be asked
with no small amount of plausibility — Is the presiding presby-
ter to have no special privileges? If his mind is to be har-
assed continually by errorists, and if his life is to be imperilled
in the service of the Church, should he not be distinguished
above his brethren ? Without some such encouragement will
not the elders at length refuse to accept a situation which en-
tails so much responsibility, and yet possesses so little influ-
ence? Such questions, urged under such circumstances, must
have been felt to be perplexing.
VI. As there was constant intercourse between the seat of
government and all the provinces of the Empire, the Church
of the metropolis soon contrived to avail itself of the facilities
of its position for keeping up a correspondence with the
Churches of other countries.* In due time the results be.
came apparent. Every event of interest which occurred in
any quarter of the Christian world was known speedily in the
capital ; no important religious movement could succeed with,
out the concurrence and co-operation of the brethren at
Rome; and its ministers gradually acquired such influence
that they were able, to some extent, to control the public
opinion of the whole ecclesiastical community. On this occa-
sion they, perhaps, did not find it difficult to persuade their
co-religionists to enter into their views. In Antioch, in Alex-
andria, in Ephesus, and elsewhere, as well as in Italy, the her-
' Ireneeus, iii. 3, § 3. ^ See Period ii., sec. i., chap, iv., pp. 304-305.
496 THE CHAIR LONG VACANT ABOUT A.D. I42.
etics had been displaying the most mischievous activity; ' and
it is not improbable that the remedy now proposed by the
ruling spirits in the great city had already suggested itself to
others. During the summer months vessels were trading to
Rome from all the coasts of the Mediterranean, so that Chris-
tian deputies, without much inconvenience, could repair to
headquarters, and, in concert with the metropolitan presby-
ters, make arrangements for united action. If the champions
of orthodoxy were nearly as zealous as the errorists,' they trav-
elled much during these days of excitement. But had not
the idea of increasing the power of the presiding pastor orig-
inated in Rome, or had it not been supported by the weighty
sanction of the Church of the capital, it would not have been
so readily and so extensively adopted by the Churches in
other parts of the Empire.
VII. Though we know little of the early history of the
Roman see, we have evidence that, on the death of Hy-
ginus, there was a vacancy of unusual length ; and circum-
stances, which meanwhile took place, argue strongly in favor
of the conclusion that, at this time, the change in the ecclesi-
astical constitution indicated by 'Jerome actually occurred.
According to some, the interval between the death of Hyginus
and the commencement of the episcopate of Pius, his im-
mediate successor, was of several years' duration ; ' but it is
clear that the chair was vacant for a twelvemonth.* How are
we to account for this interregnum ? We know that subse-
quently, in the times of Decius and of Diocletian, there were
vacancies of quite as long continuance ; but then the Church
was in the agonies of martyrdom, and the Roman Christians
were prevented by the strong arm of imperial tyranny from
filling up the bishopric. Now no such calamity threatened ;
' Irenaeus, i. 24, § i ; i. 28, § i.
' Thus, Valentine travelled from Alexandria to Rome, and after\vard set-
tled in Cyprus. Marcion, who was originally connected with Pontus, and
who taught in Rome, also travelled in Egypt and the East.
^ " Blondclli Apologia pro Sententia Hieronymi," p. 18. Blondcl makes
the vacancy of four years' continuance.
* Pearson's " Minor Works," ii. p. 571.
VALENTINE A CANDIDATE FOR THE CHAIR. 49/
and the commotions created by the heretics supply evidence
that persecution was asleep. This long vacancy must be other-
wise explained. If Hyginus had been invested with addi-
tional authority, and if he soon afterward died, his removal
was the signal for the renewal of agitation. Questions which,
perhaps, had not hitherto Ijeen mooted, now arose. How was
the vacant place to be supplied? Was the senior presbyter,
no matter how ill adapted for the crisis, to be allowed to take
quiet possession? If other influential Churches required to
be consulted, some time would thus be occupied ; so that de-
lay in the appointment was unavoidable.
During this interval the spirit of faction was busily at work.
The heretic Marcion sought admission into the Roman pres-
bytery ; ' and Valentine, who was now recognized as a presby-
ter,^ no doubt supported the application. The presbytery it-
self was divided, and even Valentine had hopes of obtaining
the presidential chair! His pretensions, at this period of his
career, were sufificiently imposing. Though he may have been
suspected of unsoundness in the faith, he had not yet com-
mitted himself by any public avowal of his errors ; and as a
man of literary accomplishment, address, energy, and elo-
quence, he had few compeers. No wonder, with so many dis-
turbing elements in operation, that the see remained long
vacant.
Some would willingly deny that Valentine was a candidate
for the episcopal chair of Rome, but the fact can be estab-
lished by evidence the most direct and conclusive. Tertul-
lian, who had lived in the imperial city, and who was well ac-
quainted with its Church history, expressly states that " Val-
entine hoped for the bishopric, because he excelled in genius
and eloquence, but indignant that another, who had the superior
claim of a confessor, obtained the place, he deserted the
Catholic Church." ' The Carthaginian father does not, indeed,
' Epiphanius, " Haeres." 42, Opera, torn, i., p. 302.
" See Burton's " Lectures," ii. 98.
^ " Speraverat episcopatum Valentinus, quia et ingenio poterat et eloquio
Sed alium ex martyrii prserogativa loci potitum indignatus de ecclesia au-
thenticos reguls; abrupit." — Adv. Valent., c. iv.
32
'498 THE LETTERS OF PIUS OF ROME.
here name the see to which the heresiarch unsuccessfully-
aspired, but his words shut us up to the conclusion that he
alluded to Rome.' And we can thus discover at least one
reason why the history of this vacancy has been involved in
so much mystery. In a few more generations the whole
Church felt compromised by any reflection cast on the ortho-
doxy of the great Western bishopric.'' How sadly must many
have been scandalized had it been proclaimed abroad that the
arch-heretic Valentine once hoped to occupy the chair of St.
Peter !
VIII. Two letters still extant, and supposed to have been
addressed by Pius, the immediate successor of Hyginus, to
Justus, bishop of Vienne in Gaul, supply corroborative evi-
dence that the presiding pastor had recently obtained addi-
tional authority. Though the genuineness of these documents
has been questioned, the objections urged against them have
not been sufficient to prevent critics and antiquarians of all
parties from appealing to their testimony.' It is not improb-
able that they are Latin translations from Greek originals,
and we may thus account for a few words found in them which
were introduced at a later period.* Their tone and spirit, which
' Tertulllan states that Valentine at first believed the doctrine of the
Catholics zn the Church of Rotne. " De Praescrip." c. 30. When he came
to the city he was admitted to communion. He set up a distinct sect after
Pius was made bishop. It is impossible, therefore, to avoid the inference
that he was mortified because he was not himself chosen. Tertullian here
confounds Eleutherius and Hyginus.
^ The unwillingness even of Tertullian to say anything to its prejudice
has been often remarked. See Neander on a passage in the tract "De Virg.
Veland," in his " Antignostikos," appended to his " History of the Planting
and Training of the Christian Church," in Bohn's edition, ii. 420. See also
the same, p. 429. See also " De Pudicitia," c. i.
' They are quoted as genuine by Binius, Baronius, Bona, Thomdike,
Bingham, Salamasius, and many others. Bishop Beveridge speaks of one
of them as of undoubted authority. " In indttbitata illius epistola." — Antwt.
in Can. Ap. See Cotelerius, i. 459. Pearson rejects them as spurious,
whilst contending so valiantly for the Ignatian Epistles.
* Such as Missa and Titulus. But that Pastor really did erect a place in
which the Christians assembled (or worship, as stated in one of these let-
ters, is not improbable. See Routh's " Reliquite," i. 430. Pearson objects
THE LETTERS OF PIUS OF ROME. 499
are entirely different from the spurious productions ascribed
to the same age, plead strongly in their favor as trustworthy
witnesses. The writer makes no lofty pretensions as a Roman
bishop ; he speaks of himself simply as at the head of an
humble presbytery ; and it is difficult to divine the motive
which could have tempted an impostor to fabricate such un-
pretending compositions. Though given as the veritable
Epistles of Pius by the highest literary authorities of Rome,
they are certainly ill calculated to prop up the cause of the
Papacy. If their claims are admitted, they rank among the
earliest authentic records in which the distinction between the
terms bishop and presbyter is unequivocally recognized ; and
it is obvious that alterations in the ecclesiastical constitution,
made under Hyginus, must have prepared the way for such a
change in the terminology. In one of these Epistles Pius
gives the following piece of advice to his correspondent :
" Let the elders and deacons respect you, not as a greater,
but as the servant of Christ." ' This letter purports to have
been written when its author anticipated the approach of
death ; and the individual to whom it is directed was just
placed in the episcopal chair. Had Pius believed that Justus
had a divine right to rule over the presbyters, why tender such
an admonition? A hundred years afterward, Cyprian of Car-
thage, when addressing a young prelate, would certainly have
expressed himself very differently. He would, probably, have
complained of the presumption of the presbyters, have
boasted of the majesty of the episcopate, and have exhorted
the new bishop to remember his apostolical dignity. But, in the
to them on the ground that Eleutherius is spoken of in one of them as a
presbyter, whereas Hegesippus describes him as deacon afterward in the
time of Anicetus. See Euseb. iv. 22. But it is- not clear that Hegesippus
here uses the word deacon in its strictly technical sense. He may mean by
it minister or manager, and may design to indicate that Eleutherius was
the mosX prominent officiat personage under Anicetus, occupying the posi-
tion afterward held by the archdeacon. It is also not improbable that,
among the officials of the Roman Church in the times of Pius and Anicetus
there were two persons of the name of Eleutherius.
' " Presbyteri et Diaconi, non ut majorem, sed ut ministrum Christi te
observent."
500 THE LETTERS OF PIUS OF ROME.
middle of the second century, such language must have been
strangely out of place. Pius is writing to an individual, just
entering on an office lately endowed with additional privileges,
who could not yet afford to make an arbitrary use of his new
authority. He, therefore, counsels him to moderation, and
cautions him against presuming on his power. " Beware,"
says he, " in your intercourse with your presbyters and dea-
cons, of insisting too much on the duty of obedience. Let
them feel that your prerogative is not exercised capriciously,
but for good and necessary purposes. Let the elders and
deacons regard you, not so much in the light of a superior, as
the servant of Christ."
In another portion of this letter a piece of intelligence is
communicated, which, as coming from Pius, possesses peculiar
interest. When the law was enacted altering the mode of
succession to the presidency, it may be that the proceeding
was deemed somewhat ungracious toward those aged presby-
ters who soon expected, as a matter of right, to obtain posses-
sion of the seat of the moderator. The death of Telesphorus,
the predecessor of Hyginus, as a martyr, was, indeed, calculated
to abate an anxiety to secure the chair; for the whole Church
was thus painfully reminded that it was a post of danger, as
well as of dignity; but still, when, on the occurrence of the
first vacancy, Pius was promoted over the heads of older men,
he may, on this ground, have felt, to some extent, embarrassed
by his elevation. We infer, however, from this letter, that
the few senior presbyters, with whose advancement the late
arrangement interfered, did not long survive this crisis in the
history of the Church ; for the bishop of Rome here informs
his Gallic brother of their demise. "Those presbyters," says
he, " who were taught by the apostles,' and who have survived
to our own days, with whom we have united in dispensing the
word of faith, have now, in obedience to the call of the Lord,
gone to their eternal rest."" Such a notice of the decease of
' That, in the time of Marcion, there were Roman presbyters who had
been disciples of the apostles, see Tillemont, " Mcmoires," torn, ii., sec. par.
p. 215. Edit., Brussels, 1695,
' "Presbyteri iili qui ab apostolis educati usque ad nos pervenerunt, cum
NEW USE OF THE WORD BISHOP, 50I
these venerable colleagues is precisely what might have been
expected, under the circumstances, in a letter from Pius to
Justus.
IX. The use of the word bishop, as denoting the president
of the presbytery, marks an era in the history of ecclesiastical
polity. New terms are not coined without necessity; neither,
without an adequate cause, is a new meaning annexed to an
ancient designation. When the name bishop was first used as
descriptive of the chief pastor, there was some special reason for
such an application of the title ; and the rise of the hierarchy
furnishes the only satisfactory explanation.' If, then, we can
ascertain when this new nomenclature first made its appear-
ance, we can also fix the date of the origin of prelacy. Though
the documentary proof available for the illustration of this
subject is comparatively scanty, it is sufficient for our purpose ;
and it clearly shows that the presiding elder did not begin to
be known by the title of bishop until about the middle of the
second century. Polycarp, who wrote at that time," still uses
the terminology employed by the apostles. Justin Martyr,
the earliest father who has left behind him memorials amount-
ing in extent to anything like a volume, often speaks of the
chief minister of the Church, and designates him, not the
quibus simul verbum fidei partiti sumus, a Domino vocati in cubilibus aeter-
nis clausi tenentur."
' Pearson (" Vindicice," par. ii., c. 13) has appealed to a letter from the
Emperor Hadrian to the Consul Servianus as a proof that the terms bishop
and presdy/cr had distinctive meanings as early as A.D. 134. The passage
is as follows : " Illi qui Serapim colunt, Christiani sunt ; et devoti sunt Serapi,
qui se Christi episcopos dicunt. Nemo illic Archisynagogus Judseorum,
nemo Samarites, nemo Christianorum Presbyter Ipse ille Patriarcha,
quum yEgyptum venerit, ab aliis Serapidem adorare, ab aliis cogitur Chris-
tum." Such a testimony only shows that Pearson was sadly in want of evi-
dence. This same letter has, in fact, often been adduced to prove that the
terms bishop and presbyter were still used interchangeably, and such is
certainly the more legitimate inference. See Lardner's remarks on this
letter. Works, vol. vii., p. 99. Edit., London, 1838.
^ " The Philippians appear to have continued to live under the same aris-
tocratic constitution (of venerable elders) al>out the middle of the second
century, when Polycarp addressed his Epistle to them," — Bunsen's Hippo-
lytus, i., 369. Bishop Lightfoot concurs in this view.
502 NEW USE OF THE WORD BISHOP.
bishop, but the president.'' His phraseology is all the more
important as he lived for some time in Rome,' and adopted
the style of expression current in the great city. But another
writer, who was his contemporary, and who also resided in the
capital, incidentally supplies evidence that the new title was
then just coming into use. The author of the book called
" Pastor," when referring to those who were at the head of the
presbyteries, describes them as " THE BISHOPS, that is, THE
PRESIDENTS OF THE CHURCHES." ' The reason why he here
deems it necessary to explain what he means by bishops can
not well be mistaken. The name, in its new application, was
not yet familiar to the public ear ; and required to be inter-
preted by the more ancient designation. Could we tell when
this work of Hermas was written, we could also, perhaps, name
the very year when the president of the eldership was first
called bishop.^ It is now pretty generally admitted that the
author was no other than the brother of Pius of Rome," the
immediate successor of Hyginus, so that he wrote exactly at
the time when, as appears from other evidences, the transition
from presbytery to prelacy actually occurred. His words fur-
nish a very strong, but an undesigned, attestation to the
novelty of the episcopal regimen.
X. But the most pointed, and certainly the most remark-
able testimony to the fact that a change took place in the con-
stitution of the Roman Church in the time of Hyginus is fur-
nished from a quarter where such a voucher was to have been,
least of all, anticipated. We allude to the Pontifical Book.
This work has been ascribed to Damasus, the well-known
bishop of the metropolis of the West, who flourished in the
' TT/^owrwf , Opera, pp. 97-99. " Euseb. iv. 11.
' " Episcopi, id est, prcesides ecclcst'arwn." — Lib. iii., simil. ix., c. 27.
There is a parallel passage to this in Tertullian, " De Baptismo," c. 17,
"Summus sacenlos, qui est episcoptts." This is, perhaps, the first instance
on record in which a bishop is called the chief i)riest. Hence the necessity
of the interpretation " qui est episcopus." Pastor considered an explana-
tion of the title "episcopus" equally necessary.
* Neander supposes this work to have been written a.d. 156. "General
History," ii. 443.
' See Period ii., sec. ii., chap, i., p. 334.
TESTIMONY OF THE PONTIFICAL BOOK. 503
fourth century, but much of it is unquestionably of later origin •,
and though many of its statements are apocryphal, it is often
quoted as a document of weight by the most distinguished
writers of the Romish communion.' Its account of the early
popes is little better than a mass of fables; but some of its
details are exaggerations, or rather caricatures, of an authen-
tic tradition ; and a few grains of truth may be discovered
here and there in a heap of fictions and anachronisms. This
part of the production contains one brief sentence which has
greatly puzzled the commentators,' as it is strangely out of keep-
ing with the general spirit of the narrative, and as it contra-
dicts, rather awkwardly, the pretensions of the popedom. Ac-
cording to this testimony, Hyginus "ARRANGED THE CLERGY
AND DISTRIBUTED THE GRADATIONS." ' Peter himself is
described by Romanists as organizing the Church; but here,
one of his alleged successors, upward of seventy years after
his death, is set forth as the real framer of the hierarchy.*
The facts already adduced prove that this obscure announce-
ment rests upon a sound historical foundation, and that it
vaguely indicates the alterations introduced into the ecclesi-
astical constitution. If Hilary and Jerome be employed as its
' So high indeed is its authority that many facts taken from it are recorded
in the " Breviary." Even Bunsen appeals to it. See " Analecta Antenicasna,"
iii. 52, 53-
■^ Binius makes the following abortive attempt to explain the statement :
" Quod hierarchicus catholicae ecclesis ordo, quo presbyteri episcopis, dia-
coni presbytens, populus presbyteris et diaconis subditus est, ab Hygino
compositus esse hie dicitur, non aliter intellis^i potest, quam quod Hyginus
hierarchice ecclesiasticag jam tempore apostolorum a Christo Domino con-
stitutce, et a Sanctis Patribus ipso antiquioribus comprobatas, quaedam dun-
taxat injuria temporum et scriptorum deperdita addiderit, vel eadem quae
Divino jure instituta, et a patribus comprobata sunt, hac constitutione sua
illustraverit." — Concilia, i. 65, 66,
^ " Hie clerum composuit, et distribuit gradus." — Binii Concil. i. 65.
Baronius, ad annum, 158,
■* When referring to this statement Baronius says : " Porro quod ad gradus
cujusque ordinis in Ecclesia, quo ecclesiastica habetur composita hierarchia,
jam a temporibus apostolorum h^c facta esse, Ignatio atictore et aliis, tome
primo Annalium demonstravimus ; verum aliqiia antiques formce ab Hygi-
vio fuisse addita, vel eadem illustrata, a:quum est cestimare."
504 . TESTIMONY OF THE PONTIFICAL BOOK.
interpreters, the truth may be easily eliminated. At a synod
held in Rome, Hyginus brought under the notice of the meet-
ing the confusion and scandal created by the movements of
the errorists ; and, with a view to correct these disorders, the
council agreed to invest the moderator of each presbytery
with increased authority, to give him a discretionary power as
the general superintendent of the Church, and to require the
other elders, as well as the deacons, to act under his advice
and direction. A new functionary was thus established, and,
under the old name of bishop or overseer, a third order was
virtually added to the ecclesiastical brotherhood. Hence Hy-
ginus, who took a prominent part in the deliberations of the
convocation, is said to have " arranged the clergy and dis-
tributed the gradations." .
The change in the ecclesiastical polity which now occurred
led to results equally extensive and permanent, and yet it has
been but indistinctly noticed by the writers of antiquity. Nor
is it strange that we have no contemporary account of this ec-
clesiastical revolution. The history of other occurrences and
innovations is buried in profound obscurity. We can only
ascertain by inference what were the reasons which led to the
general adoption of the sign of the cross, to the use of the
chrism in baptism, to standing at the Lord's Supper, to the
institution of lectors, acolyths, and sub-deacons, and to the
establishment of metropolitans. Though the Paschal contro-
versy agitated almost the whole Church toward the close of
the second century, and though Tertullian wrote immediately
afterward, he does not once mention it in any of his numer-
ous extant publications.' Owing to peculiar circumstances
the rise of prelacy can be more minutely traced than that of
any other of the alterations introduced during the first three
centuries. At the time the change was considered not very
important ; but, as the remaining literary memorials of the
period are few and scanty, the reception which it experienced
can now only be conjectured. The alteration was adopted as
an antidote against the growth of heresy, and thus originat-
' See Kaye's "Tertullian," p. 414.
TRACES OF THE RISE OF PRELACY. 505
ing in circumstances of a humiliating character, there was
little disposition, on the part of ecclesiastical writers, to dwell
upon its details. Soon afterward the pride of churchmen be-
gan to be developed ; and it was then found convenient to
forget that all things originally did not accord with existing
arrangements, and that the hierarchy itself was but a human
contrivance. Prelacy soon advanced apace, and every bishop
had an interest in exalting " his order," It is only wonderful
that so much truth has oozed out from witnesses so preju-
diced, and that the Pontifical Book contains so decisive a de-
position. And the momentous consequences of this appar-
ently slight infringement on the primitive polity can not be
overlooked. That very Church which, in its attempts to sup-
press heresy, first departed from divine arrangements, was
soon involved in doctrinal error, and eventually became the
great foster-mother of superstition and idolatry.
It may at first seem extraordinary that the ecclesiastical
transformation was so rapidly accomplished ; but, when the
circumstances are more attentively considered, this view of
the subject presents no real difficulty. At the outset, the
principle sanctioned produced very little alteration on the
general aspect of the spiritual commonwealth. At this period
a Church, in most places, consisted of a single congregation ;
and as one elder laboring in the word and doctrine was gen-
erally deemed sufficient to minister to the flock, only a slight
modification took place in the constitution of such a society.
The preaching elder, who was entitled by authority of Script-
ure ' to take precedence of elders who only ruled, had always
been permitted to act as moderator ; but, on the ground of
the new arrangement, the pastor began to assume an authority
over his session which he had never hitherto ventured to ex-
ercise. In the beginning of the reign of Antoninus Pius the
number of towns with several Christian congregations was but
small ; and if five or six leading cities approved of the system
now inaugurated at Rome, its general adoption was thus se-
cured. The statements of Jerome and Hilary attest that the
' I Tim. V. 17.
506 THE CHANGE EASILY ACCOMPLISHED.
matter was submitted to a synod ; and the remarkable inter-
regnum which followed the death of Hyginus can be best ac-
counted for on the hypothesis that meanwhile the ministers
of the great metropolis found it necessary to consult the
rulers of other influential and distant Churches. If the meas-
ure had the sanction of these foreign brethren, they were pre-
pared to resort to it at home on the demise of their presiding
presbyter. Heretics were disturbing the Church all over the
Empire, ' so that the same arguments could be everywhere
used in favor of the new polity. There was a vacancy in the
presidential chair at Antioch about the time of the death of
Hyginus ; and in the course of the next year, a similar va-
cancy occurred at Alexandria.' If the three most important
Churches then in Christendom, with the sanction of a very
few others of less note, almost simultaneously adopted the
new arrangement, the question was practically settled. There
were probably not twenty cities to be found with more than
one Christian congregation ; and places of inferior conse-
quence would speedily act upon the example of the large
capitals. But unquestionably the system now introduced
gradually effected a complete revolution in the state of the
Church. The ablest man in the presbytery was commonly
elevated to the chair, so that the weight of his talents, and of
his general character, was added to his official consequence.
The bishop soon became the grand centre of influence and
authority, and arrogated to himself the principal share in the
administration of all divine ordinances.
When this change commenced, the venerable Polycarp was
still alive, and there are grounds for believing that, when far
advanced in life, he was induced to undertake a journey to
Rome on a mission of remonstrance. This view is corrobo-
rated by the fact that his own Church of Smyrna did not now
adopt the new polity; for we have seen' that, upwards of a
• Euseb. iv. ii ; iv. 19. Dr. Burton has well observed that Alexandria
and Antioch were " the hotbeds from which nearly all the mischief arose,
which, under the name of philosophy, inundated the Church in the second
century." — Lectures, vol. ii., p. 103.
' Period ii., sec. iii., chap, v., pp. 470, 471.
POLYCARP'S VISIT TO ROME. 507
quarter of a century after his demise, it still continued under
presbyterial government. Irenseus was well acquainted with
the circumstances which occasioned this extraordinary visit of
Polycarp to Rome ; but had he not come into collision with
the pastor of the great city in the controversy relating to the
Paschal Feast, we would never have heard of its occurrence.
Even when he mentions it, he observes a mysterious silence
as to its main design. The Paschal question awakened little
interest in the days of Polycarp, and among the topics which
he discussed with Anicetus when at Rome, it occupied a
subordinate position.' " When," says Irenaeus, " the most
blessed Polycarp came to Rome in the days of Anicetus, and
when as to certain other matters they had a little controversy,
they were immediately agreed on this point (of the Pass-
over) without any disputation." ^ What the " certain other
matters " were which created the chief dissatisfaction, we
are left obscurely to conjecture ; but they must have been
of no ordinary consequence, when so eminent a minister as
Polycarp, now verging on eighty years of age, felt it neces-
sary to make a lengthened journey by sea and land with
a view to their adjustment. He considered that Anicetus
was at least influentially connected with arrangements which
he deemed objectionable ; and felt that he could obtain their
modification Or abandonment only by a personal conference
with the Roman pastor. And intimations are not wanting
that he was doubtful whether Anicetus would treat with him
as his ecclesiastical peer, for he seems to have been in some
degree appeased when the bishop of the capital permitted him
to preside in the Church at the celebration of the Eucharist.'
This, certainly, was no extraordinary piece of condescension ;
as Polycarp, on various grounds, was entitled to take prece-
dence of his Roman brother;* and the reception given to the
* " Quanquam sunt inter scriptores ecclesiasticos qui putaverint Poly-
carpum Roman venisse, ut quaereret de festo paschatis : ex his Irensei ver-
bis luce clarius elacet, ob alias causas loannis apostoli discipulum Roman
profectum esse." — Stzeren's IrencEies, i., p. 826, note.
'^ Euseb. V. 24. ' Stieren's " Irenaeus," i. 827.
* First, as his senior ; and secondly, as a disciple of the apostles.
5o8 PRELACY EASILY INTRODUCED.
" apostolic presbyter" was only what might have fairly been
expected in the way of ministerial courtesy.' Why has it then
been mentioned as an exhibition of the episcopal humility of
Anicetus ? Obviously because he had been previously making
some arrogant assumptions. He had been, probably, presum-
ing on his position as a pastor of the "new order," and his
bearing had been so offensive that Polycarp had been com-
missioned to visit him on an errand of expostulation. But by
prudently paying marked deference to the aged stranger, and
by giving a plausible account of some proceedings which had
awakened anxiety, he succeeded in quieting his apprehensions.
That the presiding minister of the Church of Smyrna was en-
gaged in some such delicate mission is all but certain, as the
design of the journey would not otherwise have been involved
in so profound secrecy. The very fact of its occurrence is
first noticed forty years afterward, when the haughty behavior
of another bishop of Rome provoked Irenaeus to call up cer-
tain unwelcome reminiscences which it suggested.
Though the journey of Polycarp betokens that he was deep-
ly dissatisfied with something going forward in the great me-
tropolis, we can only guess at its design and its results; and
it is now impossible to ascertain whether the alterations intro-
duced there encountered any very formidable opposition ; but
it is by no means improbable that they were effected without
much difficulty. The disorders of the Church imperatively
called for some strong remedy; and it occurred to not a few
that a distracted presbytery, under the presidency of a. feeble
old man, was ill fitted to meet the emergency. They accord-
ingly proposed to strengthen the executive government by
providing for the appointment of a more efficient moderator,
and by arming him with additional authority. The people
were gratified by the change, for, though in Rome and some
other great cities, where its effects were felt most sensibly,
they met before this time in separate congregations, they had
' It was a standing rule of the Church that a strange bishop was to be
thus treated. See " Didascalia," by Piatt, p. 97. See also lyth canon of
the Council of Aries, held A.D. 314.
PRELACY GRADUALLY ESTABLISHED. 509
still much united intercourse ; and as, on such occasions, their
edification depended mainly on the gifts of the chairman of
the eldership, they gladly joined in advancing the best preach-
er in the presbytery to the office of president. At this par-
ticular crisis the alteration was not unacceptable to the elders
themselves. To those of them who were in the declinfe of
life, there was nothing very inviting in the prospect of occu-
pying the most prominent position in a Church threatened by
persecution and torn by divisions, so that they were not un-
willing to waive any claim to the presidency which their seni-
ority implied ; whilst the more vigorous, sanguine, and aspir-
ing hailed an arrangement which promised at no distant day
to place one of themselves in a position of greatly increased
dignity and influence. All were agreed that the times de-
manded the appointment of the ablest member of presbytery
as moderator; and none, perhaps, foresaw the danger of add-
ing permanently to the prerogatives of so potent a chairman.
It was never anticipated that the day was to come when the
new law would be regarded agrany other than a human con-
trivance ; and when the bishops and their adherents would
contend that the presbyters, under no circumstances whatever,
had a right to reassume that power which they now surren-
dered. The result, however, has demonstrated the folly of
human wisdom. The prelates, originally designed to save the
Church from heresy, became themselves at length the abettors
of false doctrine ; and whilst they grievously abused the influ-
ence with which they were entrusted, they had the temerity
to maintain that they still continued to be exclusively the
fountains of spiritual authority.
Prelacy was not set up at once in the plenitude of its power.
Neither was the system simultaneously adopted by Christians
all over the world. Jerome informs us that it was established
" by little and little "; ' and he thus refers, as well to its grad-
ual spread, as to the almost imperceptible growth of its pre-
tensions. We have shown in a preceding chapter," that in
' " Paulatim vero, ut dissensionum plantaria evellerentur, ad uniim om-
nem solicitudinem esse delatam." — Comment, in Tit.
" Period ii., sec. iii., chap, v., pp. 464, 466, 470, 473.
510 REMNANTS OF PRESBYTERIANISM.
various cities, such as Smyrna, Cassarea, and Jerusalem, the
senior presbyter continued to be the president till the close
of the second century ; and there the Church was meanwhile
governed by " the common council of the presbyters." ' In
many places, even at a much later period, the episcopal sys-
tem was still unknown." But its advocates were active and
influential, and they continued to make steady progress. The
consolidation of the Catholic system contributed vastly to its
advancement. The leading features of this system are now
to be illustrated.
' But the presiding elders now began generally to be called bishops.
" Thus, though, as we may infer from the testimony of Tertullian, Chris-
tianity was planted in North Britain in the second century, the universal
tradition is that originally there were no bishops in that country. According
to an ancient MS. belonging to the former bishops of St. Andrews, and to
be found in the " Life of William Wishart," one of their number who lived
in the thirteenth century, the first bishop created in Scotland was elected in
A.D. 270. See Jamieson's " Culdees," pp. 100, loi.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE CATHOLIC SYSTEM.
The word catholic, which signifies universal or general,
came into use toward the end of the second century. Its in-
troduction indicates a new phase in the history of the ecclesi-
astical community. For upwards of a hundred years after its
formation, the Church presented the appearance of one great
and harmonious brotherhood, as false teachers had hitherto
failed to create any considerable diversity of sentiment ; but
when many of the literati began to embrace the Gospel, the
influence of elements of discord soon became obvious. These
converts attempted to graft their philosophical theories on
Christianity; not a few of the more unstable of the brethren,
captivated by their ingenuity and eloquence, were tempted to
adopt their views ; and though the great mass of the disciples
repudiated their adulterations of the truth, the Christian com-
monwealth was distracted and divided. Those who banded
themselves together to maintain the unity of the Church were
soon known by the designation of Catholics. " After the days
of the apostles," says one of the fathers, '' when heresies had
burst forth, and were striving under various names to tear
piecemeal and divide the Dove and the Queen of God,' did not
the apostolic people require a name of their own whereby to
mark the unity of those that were uncorrupted ? . . . . There-
' Song of Solomon, vi. 9; Ps, xlv. 9. "Sub Apostolis nemo Catholicus
vocabatur Cum post Apostolos haeresesextitissent, diversisque nomini-
bus columbam Dei atque reg-inam lacerare per partes et scindere niterentur ;
nonne cognomen suum ecclesia postulabat, quas incorrupti populi distingueret
unitatem ? "
(511)
512 THE CATHOLIC SYSTEM.
fore our people, when named Catholic, are separated by this
title from those denominated heretics." '
The Catholic system, being an integral portion of the policy
which invested the presiding elder with additional authority,
rose contemporaneously with Prelacy. When Gnosticism was
spreading so rapidly, and creating so much scandal and confu-
sion, schism upon schism appeared unavoidable. How was the
Church to be kept from going to pieces ? How could its unity
be best conserved ? How could it contend most successfully
against its subtle and restless disturbers? Such were the prob-
lems which occupied the attention of its leading ministers.
It was thought that all these difificulties were solved by the
adoption of the Catholic system. Were the Church, it was
said, to place more power in the hands of individuals, and to
consolidate its influence, it could bear down more effectively
on the errorists. Every chief pastor of the Catholic Church
was the symbol of the unity of his own ecclesiastical district ;
and the associated bishops represented the unity of the whole
body of the faithful. According to the Catholic system, when
strictly carried out, every individual excommunicated by one
bishop was excommunicated by all, so that when a heresiarch
was excluded from fellowship .in one city, he could not be re-
ceived elsewhere. The visible unity of the Church was the great
principle which the Catholic'system sought to realize. "The
Church," says Cyprian, "which is catholic and one, is not sepa-
rated or divided, but is in truth connected and joined together
by the cement of bishops mutually cleaving to each other." *
The funds of the Church were placed very early in the hands
of the president of the presbytery ; ' and though they may not
have been at his absolute disposal, he soon found means of sus-
taining his authority by means of his monetary influence. But
the power which he possessed, as the recognized centre of
ecclesiastical unity, to prevent any of his elders or deacons from
performing any official act of which he disapproved, constituted
' Pacian, "lipist. to Sympronian," sees. 5 and 8. Pacian was bishop of
Barcelona. He died a.d. 392.
' Epist. Ixix., 265. 266. ' Justin Martyr, Opera, p. 99.
THE BISHOP DISPENSED BAPTISM. 513
one of the essential features of the Catholic system. " The
right to administer baptism," says Tertullian, '' belongs to the
chief priest — that is, the bishop ; then to the presbyters and
the deacons,' yet not without the authority of the bishop, for
the honor of the Church, which being preserved, peace is pre-
served." ' Here, the origin of Catholicism is pretty distinctly
indicated ; for the prerogatives of the bishop are described,
not as matters of divine right, but of ecclesiastical arrangement.'
They were given to him " for the honor of the Church," that
peace might be preserved when heretics began to cause divis-
ions.
Though the bishop could give permission to others to cele-
brate divine ordinances, he was himself their chief administra-
tor. He was generally the only preacher ; he usually dispensed
baptism ; * and he presided at the observance of the Eucharist.
At Rome, where the Catholic system was maintained most
scrupulously, his presence was considered necessary to the due
consecration of the elements. Hence, at one time, the sacra-
mental symbols were carried from the cathedral church to all
the places of Christian worship throughout the city." With
such minute care did the Roman chief pastor endeavor to dis-
seminate the doctrine that whoever was not in communion
with the bishop was out of the Church.
The establishment of a close connection, bet\yeen certain
' According- to the " Apostolic Constitutions " the deacons were not at lib-
erty to baptize. Lib. viii., c. 28,
"^ "De Baptismo," c. 17.
' Tertullian thus corroborates the testimony of Jerome.
* " In the sixth century the clergy of Italy complained to Justinian that,
owing to the vacaficy of sees, ' an immense multitude of people died without
baptism.' Even so late as the time of Hincmar (the ninth century) baptisms
were still performed by the bishop, and they alofte were cojisidered canoni-
cal."— Palmer's Episcopacy Vindicated, p. 35, note.
' " It appears to have been the custom at Rome and other places to send
from the cathedral church the bread consecrated to the several parish
churches." — St tiling fleet's Irenicum, pp. 369, 370. "Thomassinus shows
that in the fifth century the presbyters of Rome did not consecrate the
Eucharist in their respective churches, but it was sent to them from the
principal church." — Palmer, p. 35, note.
514 THE CATHOLIC SYSTEM.
large Christian associations and the smaller societies around
them, constituted the next link in the organization of the
Catholic system. These communities, being generally related
as mother and daughter churches, were already prepared to
adapt themselves to the new type of ecclesiastical polity. The
apostles, or their immediate disciples, had founded congrega-
tions in most of the great cities of the Empire ; and every so-
ciety thus instituted, now distinguished by the designation of
the principal ' or apostolic Church, became a centre of ecclesi-
astical unity. Its presiding minister sent the Eucharist to the
teachers of the little flocks in his vicinity, to signify that he
acknowledged them as brethren;" and every pastor who thus
enjoyed communion with the principal Church was recognized
as a Catholic bishop. This parent establishment was considered
a bulwark which protected all the Christian communities sur-
rounding it from heresy, and they were consequently expected
to be guided by its traditions. " It is manifest," says Tertul-
lian, " that all doctrine, which agrees with these apostolic
Churches, THE WOMBS AND ORIGINALS OF THE FAITH," must
be accounted true, as without doubt containing that which the
Churches have received from the apostles, the apostles from
Christ, Christ from God ; and that all other doctrine must be
judged at once to be false, which savors of things contrary to
the truth of the Churches, and of the apostles, and of Christ,
and of God. .... Go through the apostolic Churches, in which
the very seats of the apostles, at this very day, preside over their
own places,^ in which their own authentic writings are read,
speaking with the voice of each, and making the face of each
' Thus Rome it called the " principal Church " in regard to Carthage.
Cyprian, Epist. \\\, p. 183.
'' Tertullian refers to this when he says, " Una omnes probant unitate
cominum'cai to pacts di appellatio fraternitatis, et contesseratio hospitalitatis."
— De Prascrip., c. 20.
* " Ecclesiis aposlolicis matricibuset originalibus firlei." See also Tertul-
lian against Marcion (book iv., c. 35) where Jerusalem is called " the womb
of religion. "
* " Cathedrae apostolorum suis locis praesident." These words clearly in-
dicate that the Churches founded by the apostles were now recognized as
centres of unity for the surrounding Christian communities.
UNITY OF CHRISTIAN SOCIETIES. 515
present to the eye. Is Achaia near to you ? You have Corinth.
If you are not far from Macedonia, you have Philippi, you have
the Thessalonians.' If you can travel into Asia, you have Ephe-
sus. But if you are near to Italy you have Rome, where we
also have an authority close at hand." ^
But the Catholic system was not yet complete. In every
congregation the bishop or pastor was the centre of unity,
and in every district the principal or apostolic Church bound
together the smaller Christian societies ; but how were the
apostolic Churches themselves to be united ? This question
did not long remain without a solution.^ Had the Church of
Jerusalem, when the Catholic system was first organized, still
occupied its ancient position, it might have established a bet-
ter title to precedence than any other ecclesiastical commu-
nity in existence. It had been, beyond all controversy, the
mother Church of Christendom. But it had been recently
dissolved, and a new society, composed, to a great extent, of
new members, was now in process of formation in the new
city of Aelia. Meanwhile the Church of Rome had been
rapidly acquiring strength, and its connection with the seat of
government pointed it out as the appropriate head of the
' It is worthy of note that, in the second canonical epistle ever written by
Paul, he warns this Church of the coming of the Man of Sin (2 Thess. ii. 3).
It appears from the text that thus early it was identified with the system
which resulted in the establishment of the Papacy. It is equally remarka-
ble that the Bishop of Thessalonica was the first Papal Vicar ^v^r appoint-
ed. See Bovver's " History of the Popes," Damasus, thirty-sixth bishop;
and Gieseler, i. 264.
^ "De Prsescrip." xxi., xxxvi.
^ The tendency of " Church principles " to terminate in the recognition
of a universal bishop has appeared in modern as well as in ancient times,
" What other step," says a noble author, " remains to stand between those
who hold those principles and Rome ? Only one : that the priesthood so
constituted, invested with such powers, is organized under one head — a
Pope The space to be traversed in arriving at it is so narrow, and
so unimpeded by any positive barrier, either of logic or of feeling, that the
slightest influence of sentiment or imagination, of weakness or of supersti-
tion, is sufficient to draw men across." — Letter from the Duke of Argyll to
the Bishop of Oxford, p. 23. London, Moxon, 1851.
5l6 THE CExVTRE OF CATHOLIC UNITY.
Catholic confederation.' If the greatest convenience of the
greatest number of Churches were to be taken into account,
it had claims of peculiar potency, for it was easily accessible
by sea or land from all parts of the Empire, and it had facili-
ties for keeping up communication with the provinces to
which no other society could pretend. Nor were these its
only recommendations. It had, as was alleged, been watered
by the ministry of two or three "" of the apostles, so that, even
as an apostolic Church, it had high pretensions. In addition
to all this, it had, more than once, sustained with extraor-
dinary constancy the first and fiercest brunt of persecution ;
and if its members had so signalized themselves in the army
of martyrs, why should not its bishop lead the van of the
Catholic Church ? Such considerations urged in favor of a
community already distinguished by its wealth, as well as by
its charity, were amply sufficient to establish its claim as the
centre of Catholic unity. If the arrangement was concocted
in Rome itself, they must have been felt to be irresistible.
Hence Irenaeus, writing about A.D. i8o, speaks of it even then
as the recognized head of the Churches of the Empire. "To
this Church," says he, " because it is more potentially princi-
pal, it is necessary that every Catholic Church should go, as
in it the apostolic tradition has by the Catholics been always
preserved." *
Many Protestant writers have attempted to explain away
the meaning of this remarkable passage, but the candid stu-
dent of history is bound to listen respectfully to its testimony.
When we assign to the words of Irenaeus all the significance
of which they are susceptible, they only attest the fact that,
in the latter half of the second century, the Church of Rome
was acknowledged by one who had been specially indebted to
its bounty, as the most potent of all the apostolic Churches.
And in the same place the grounds of its pre-eminence are
' This is the reason assigned for the Primacy of Rome in the 28th Canon
of the Council of Chalcedon, held A.D. 451.
* Tertullian says that John, as well as Peter and Paul, had been in Rome,
" De Prasscrip." xxxvi.
^ " Contra Haeres," iii., c. iii., 5 2.
THE BISHOP OF ROME. 517
enumerated pretty fully by the pastor of Lyons. It was the
most ancient Church in the West of Europe ; it was also the
most populous ; like a city set upon a hill, it was known to
all ; and it was reputed, by its admirers, to have had for its
founders the most illustrious of the inspired heralds of the
cross, the apostle of the Gentiles, and the apostle of the cir-
cumcision.' It was more '* potentially principal," because it
was itself the principal of the apostolic or principal Churches.
It has been already stated that every principal bishop,'' or
presiding minister of an apostolic Church, sent the Eucharist
to the pastors around him as a pledge of their ecclesiastical
fellowship ; and the bishop of Rome kept up intercourse with
the other bishops of the apostolic Churches by transmitting
to them the same symbol of catholicity.' The sacred ele-
ments were conveyed by confidential churchmen, who served,
at the same time, as channels of communication between the
great prelate and the more influential of his brethren. By
this means the communion of the whole Catholic Church was
constantly maintained.
When the Catholic system was set up, and the bishop of
Rome recognized as its Head, he was not supposed to possess,
in his new position, any arbitrary or despotic authority. He
was simply understood to hold among pastors the place which
had previously been occupied by the senior elder in the pres-
bytery— that is, he was the president or moderator. The the-
oretical parity of all bishops, the chief pastor of Rome included,
was a principle long jealously asserted." But the prelate of
the capital was the individual to whom other bishops ad-
dressed themselves respecting all matters affecting the general
' " Maximae et antiquissimae et omnibus cog-nits, a gloriosissimis duobus
apostolis Petro et Paulo Romae fundats et constitutse ecclesice." — Irenceus,
iii., c. iii., § 2.
- We find this designation in some of the early canons. See Bunsen's
" Hippolytus," iii. 50.
^ Euseb. V. 24.
* See the statement of Cyprian in the Council of Carthage, " Opera,"
p. 597; and Jerome, in his Epistle to Evangelus, " Opera," iv., secund
pars, p. 803.
5l8 ROME AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
interests of the ecclesiastical community ; he collected theii"
sentiments ; and he announced the decisions of their united
wisdom. It was, however, scarcely possible for an official in
his circumstances either to satisfy all parties or to keep within
the limits of his legitimate power. When his personal feel-
ings were known to run strongly in a particular channel, the
minority, to whom he was opposed, at least suspected him of
attempting domination. Hence it was that by those who
were discontented with his policy he was tauntingly designa-
ted, as early as the beginning of the third century, The
Supreme Pontiff, and The Bishop of Bishops.' These titles
can not be gravely quoted as proofs of the existence of the
claims which they indicate ; for they were employed ironically
by malcontents who wished thus either to impeach his parti-
ality, or to condemn his interference. But they supply clear
evidence that his growing influence was beginning to be for-
midable, and that he already stood at the head of the minis-
ters of Christendom.
The preceding statements enable us to understand why the
interests pf Rome and of the Catholic Church have always
been identiiied. The metropolis of Italy has, in fact, from the
beginning been the heart of the Catholic system. In ancient
times Roman statesmen were noted for their skill in fitting up
the machinery of political government : Roman churchmen
have labored no less successfully in the department of eccle-
siastical organization. The Catholic system is a wonderful
specimen of constructive ability ; and the same city which
produced Prelacy, also gave birth, about the same time, to
this masterpiece of human contrivance. This fact may be
established, as well by other evidences, as by the positive testi-
mony of Cyprian. The bishop of Carthage, who flourished
only about a century after it appeared, was connected with
that quarter of the Church in which it originated. We can
not, therefore, reasonably reject the depositions of so com-
' " Pontifex scilicet Maximus, quod est episoopus episcoporuin, edicit :
Ego et moechis et fornicationis delicta poenitentia functis dimitto." — Ter-
tullian, De l^udicifia, c. i. " Ncque eniiii quisquam nostrum episcopum se
esse episcoporuin constituit." — Cyprian, Con. Car., Opera, 597.
THE WORD "CATHOLIC." 5ig
petent a witness, more especially when he speaks so frequently
and so confidently of its source. When he describes the
Roman bishopric as " the root and wouib of the Catholic
Church^' ' his language admits of no second interpretation.
He was well aware that the Church of Jerusalem was the root
and womb of all the apostolic Churches ; and when he em-
ploys such phraseology, he refers to some new phase of Chris-
tianity which had originated in the capital of the Empire. In
another place he speaks of " the see of Peter, and the principal
Church, whence the unity of the priesthood took its rise''^ Such
statements shut us up to the conclusion that Rome was the
source and centre from which Catholicism radiated.
This system was only gradually developed, and nearly half
a century elapsed before it acquired such maturity that it at-
tained a distinctive designation.' But as it was currently
believed to be admirably adapted to the exigencies of the
Church, it spread with much rapidity; and in less than a hun-
dred years after its rise, its influence may be traced in almost
all parts of the Empire. We thus explain a historical phe-
nomenon which is otherwise unaccountable. Toward the
close of the second and throughout the whole of the third
centuiy, ecclesiastical writers connected with various and dis-
tant provinces refer with peculiar respect to the Apostle Peter,
' "Ecclesice catholicse radicem et matricem." — Epist. xlv., p. 133.
"^ "Navigare audent et ad Petri cathedram atque ad ecclesiam principalem
unde unitas sacerdotalis exorta est." — Epist. Iv., p. 183. " Nam Petro primum
Dominus, super quern cedificavit ecclesiam, et unde unitatis originem instj-
tuit et ostendit, potestatem istam dedit." — Epist. Ixxiii., p. 280. See also
Epist. Ixx. — " Una ecclesia a Christo Domino super Petrum origlne uni-
tatis et ratione fundata."
' The word catholic first occurs in the Epistle of the Church of Smyrna,
giving an account of the martyrdom of Polycarp, but that letter was not
written until at least twenty years after the event which it records. See
Period ii., sec. i., chap, iv., p. 306. It is remarkable that the word is not
found in Irenseus, or used by his Latin interpreter. The pastor of Lyons,
however, recognizes the distinction indicated by the word catholic, for he
speaks of the ecclesiastici, or churchmen, and of those " qui stmt undique."
Stieren's " Irenasus," i. 430, 502, note. The word catholic was quite cur-
rent in the time of Tertullian.
520 THE HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC LEAGUE.
and even appeal to Scripture ' with a view to his exaltation.
Their misinterpretations of the Word reveal an extreme anx-
iety to obtain something like an inspired warrant for their
Catholicism. The visible unity of the Church was deemed by
them essential to its very existence, and the Roman see was
the actual key-stone of the Catholic structure. Hence every
friend of orthodoxy imagined it to be, as well his duty as his
interest, to uphold the claims of the supposed representative
of Peter, and thus to maintain the cause of ecclesiastical unity.
It was to be anticipated under such circumstances that Script-
ure would be miserably perverted, and that the see, which
was believed to possess as its heritage the prerogatives of the
apostle of the circumcision, would be the subject of extrava-
gant laudation.
Ambition has been often represented as the great principle
which guided the policy of the early Roman bishops ; but
there is no evidence that, as a class, they were inferior in piety
to other churchmen ; and the readiness with which some of
them suffered for the faith attests their Christian sincerity and
resolution. Ambition soon began to operate ; but their ele-
vation was not so much the result of any deep-laid scheme for
their aggrandizement, as of a series of circumstances pushing
them into prominence, and placing them in a most influential
position. The efforts of heretics to create division led to a
reaction, and tempted the Church to adopt arrangements for
preserving union by which its liberties were eventually com-
promised. The bishop of Rome found himself almost imme-
diately at the head of the Catholic league ; and, before the
close of the second century, he was acknowledged as the chief
pastor of Christendom. About that time wc see him writing
letters to some of the most distinguished bishops of the East,*
' Particularly Matt. xvi. i8. Clemens Alexandrinus says that our Lord
baptized Peter only, and that Peter then baptized other apostles. See
Kaye's " Clement," p. 442 ; and Bunsen's " Analecta Antenic," i. p. 317.
See also Origen, "Opera," ii. 245 ; and Firmilian's "Epistle."
' Even Polycrates of Kphesus admits that he had been requested by Vic-
tor to convene a synod. Euseb. v. 24. About sixty years afterward Cyprian
writes to Stephen of Rome requesting him to send letters into Gaul that
THE THEORY OF CATHOLICISM. $21
directing them to call councils ; and it does not appear that
his epistles were deemtd unwarranted or officious. Unity of
doctrine was speedily connected with unity of discipline, and
an opinion gradually prevailed that the Church Catholic
should exhibit universal uniformity. When Victor differed
from the Asiatic bishops relative to the mode of observing
the Paschal festival, he was only seeking to realize the idea of
unity; and, as the Head of the Catholic Church, he might
have carried out against them his threat of excommunication,
had he not in this particular case been moving in advance of
public opinion. When Stephen, sixty years afterward, dis-
puted with Cyprian and others concerning the rebaptism of
heretics, he was still endeavoring to work out the same unity;
and the bishop of Carthage found himself involved in contra-
dictions when he proceeded at once to assert his independence,
and to concede to the see of Peter the honor which, as he ad-
mitted, it could legitimately challenge.'
The theory of Catholicism is based on principles thoroughly
fallacious. Assuming that visible unity in one organization is
essential to the Church on earth, it sanctions the startling in-
ference that whoever is not connected with a certain Qcclesi-
astical society must be out of the pale of salvation. The
most grinding spiritual tyranny ever known has been erected
on this foundation. And yet how hollow is the whole system !
It is no more necessary that all the children of God in this
world should belong to the same visible Church than that all
the children of men should be connected with the same earthly
monarchy. All believers are " one in Christ "; they have all
" one Lord, one faith, one baptism "; but " the kingdom of
God cometh not with observation," and the unity of the saints
on earth can be discerned only by the eye of Omniscience.
Marcianus the bishop, who had sided with Novatian, "being excommu-
nicated, another may be substituted in his room."— Cyprian, Epist. Ixvii.,
pp. 248, 249.
' Thus he says : " For neither did Peter. whoi7t the Lord chose first, and
on whom He built His Church, when Paul afterward disputed with him
about circumcision, claim or assume anything insolently and arrogantly to
himself, so as to say that he held the primacy." — Epist. Ixxi., p. 273.
522 THE ROMAN BABEL,
They are all sustained by the same living bread which cometh
down from heaven, but they may recei\fe their spiritual pro-
vision as members of ten thousand separated Churches. All
who truly love the Saviour are united to Him by a link which
can never be broken ; and no ecclesiastical barrier can either
exclude them from His presence here, or shut them out from
His fellowship hereafter. But a number of men may as well
propose to appropriate all the light of the sun or all the winds
of heaven, as attempt to form themselves into a privileged
society with a monopoly of the means of salvation.
The Church of Rome is understood to be the spiritual Baby-
lon of the Apocalypse, and yet one point of correspondence
between the type and the antitype has been hitherto over-
looked. The great city of Babylon commenced with the erec-
tion of Babel, and the builders said, " Go to, let us build us a
city, and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven, and let
us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face
of the whole earth." ' Civil unity was avowedly the end de-
signed by these architects. Amongst other purposes contem-
plated by the famous tower, it appears to have been intended
to serve as a centre of Catholicity — a great rallying point or
landmark — by which every citizen might be guided home-
wards when he lost his way in the plain of Shinar. In the
" Pastor of Hermas," perhaps the first work written in Rome
after the establishment of Prelacy, the Church is described
under the similitude of a tower !^ When Hyginus "estab-
lished the gradations, ' the hierarchy at once assumed that ap-
pearance. And the see of Peter, the centre of Catholic unity,
was to be the great spiritual landmark to guide the steps of
all true churchmen. The ecclesiastical builders prospered for
a time ; but when Constantine had finished a new metropolis
in the East, some symptoms of disunion revealed themselves.
When the Empire was afterward divided, jealousies increased ;
the builders could not understand one another's speech ; and
the Church at length witnessed the great schism of the Greeks
and the Latins. In due time the Reformation interfered still
' Gen. xi. 4. ' Book i., vision iii., § 3, etc.
THE ROMAN BABEL. 523
more vexatiously with the building of the ecclesiastical Babel.
But this more recent schism has given a mighty impulse to
the cause of freedom, of civilization, and of truth ; for the
Protestants, scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth,
have been spreading far and wide the light of the Gospel.
The builders of Babel still continue their work, but their
boasted unity is gone forever ; and now, with the exception
of their political manoeuvring, their highest achievements are
literally in the department of stone and mortar. They may
found costly edifices, and erect spires pointing, like the tower
of Babel, to the skies ; but they can no longer reasonably
hope to bind together the liberated nations with the chains of
a gigantic despotism, or induce worshippers of all kindreds
and tongues to adopt the one dead language of Latin super-
stition. The signs of the times indicate that the remnant of
the Catholic workmen must soon " leave off to build the city."
The final overthrow of the mystical Babylon will usher in the
millennium of the Church, and the present success of Protes-
tant missions is premonitory of the approaching doom of Rom-
ish ritualism. It is written : " I saw another angel fly in the
midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto
them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred,
and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God,
and give glory to him ; for the hour of his judgment is come :
and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea,
and the fountains of waters. And there followed another
angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, be-
cause she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of
her fornication." '
' Rev. xiv. 6-8.
CHAPTER IX.
PRIMITIVE EPISCOPACY AND PRESBYTERIAN ORDINATION.
It has been already stated that, except in a few great cities
where there were several Christian congregations, the intro-
duction of Episcopacy produced a very slight change in the
appearance of the ecclesiastical community. In towns and
villages, where the disciples constituted but a single flock,
they had commonly only one teaching elder ; and as, in ac-
cordance with apostolic rule,' this laborer in the word and
doctrine was deemed worthy of double honor, he was already
the most prominent and influential member of the brother-
hood. The new arrangement merely clothed him with the
name of bishop, and somewhat augmented his authority. Hav-
ing the funds of the Church at his disposal, he had special influ-
ence ; and though he could not well act without the sanction
of his elders, he could easily contrive to negative any of their
resolutions which did not meet his approval.
It is abundantly clear that this primitive dignitary was or-
dinarily the pastor of only a single congregation. " If, before
the multitude increase, there be a place having a few faithful
men in it, to the extent of twelve, who are able to make a
dedication to pious uses for a bishop, let them write to the
Churches round about the place," says an ancient canon, " that
three chosen men .... may come to examine with diligence
him who has been thought worthy of this degree If he
has not a wife, it is a good thing ; but if he has married a wife^
having children, let him abide with her, continuing steadfast
in every doctrine, able to explain the Scriptures well." " This
humble functionary was assisted in the management of his
' 1 Tim. V. 17. ' See Bunsen's " Hippolytus," ii. 305, and iii. 35, 36.
(524)
PRIMITIVE EPISCOPACY. 525
little flock by two or three elders. " If the bishop has at-
tended to the knowledge and patience of the love of God,"
says another regulation, " let him ordain two presbyters, when
he has examined them, or rather three." ' The bishop, the
elders, and the deacons, all assembled in one place every
Lord's day for congregational worship. An old ecclesiastical
law accordingly prescribes the following arrangement : " Let
the seat of the bishop be placed in the midst, and let the
presbyters sit on each side of him, and let the deacons stand
by them, .... and let it be their care that the people sit
with all quietness and order in the other part of the Church." ''
Thus, except in the case of a few large towns, the primitive
bishop was simply the parochial minister.
Toward the close of the second century, the bishop and the
teacher were designations of the same import. Speaking of
those at the head of the Churches, Irenaeus describes them as
distinguished by their superior or inferior ability in sermoniz-
ing ; ' and a well-informed writer, who flourished as late as the
fourth century, mentions preaching as the bishop's peculiar
function.* In the apostolic age every one who had popular
gifts was permitted to edify the congregation by their exer-
cise ; ' and, long afterward, any elder who was qualified to
speak in the Church, was at liberty to address his fellow-wor-
shippers. When Origen, prior to his ordination as a presbyter,
ventured to expound the Scriptures publicly at the request of
the bishops of Palestine, Demetrius, his own ecclesiastical supe-
rior, denounced his conduct as irregular ; but the parties by
whom the learned Alexandrian had been invited to lecture,
boldly vindicated the proceeding. He (Demetrius) has as-
serted, said they, " that this was never before either heard or
done, that laymen should deliver discourses in the presence of
bishops. We know not how it happens that he is here evi-
dently so far from the truth. For, indeed, wherever there are
' Bunsen's " Hippolytus," iii. 36. " " Apost. Constit," ii. 57.
' Kai avTE 6 rrdw dwarog kv Tidyu tuv kv Talg EKKT^Tjaiaig npoearuTcov, erepa tovtuv
kpel {ovdEig yap vTvep tov (iiSdaKalov) ovte 6 aadEvfjq kv rcJ 16ysQ very presbyters h^-
fore you who did not observe it, sent the Eucharist to those
of Churches which did." ' Irenseus here endeavors to teach
the bishop of Rome a lesson of humility by reminding him
repeatedly that he and his predecessors were but presbyters.
The pastor of Lyons speaks even still more distinctly re-
specting the status of the bishops who flourished in his gen-
eration. Thus, he says : " We should obey those presbyters
in the Church who have the succession from the apostles, and
who, zuith the succession of the episcopate, have received the cer-
1 The statement of Jerome is not inconsistent with the fact that the senior
elder was originally the president or bishop, for he was recognized as such
by mutual agreement. Neither is it at variance with the idea that the el-
ders sometimes made a selection by lot out of three of their number pre-
viously put in nomination. Even after bishops began to be elected by gen-
eral suffrage, the people were in some places restricted to certain candidates
chosen from among the elders by lot. Cyprian apparently refers to this cir-
cumstance when he says that he was chosen by " the judgment of God" as
well as by the vote of the people. Epist. xl., p. 119. The people of Alex-
andria, toward the close of the third and beg-inning of the fourth centur)',
were restricted to certain candidates. See pp. 302, 303, Period ii., sec. i.. chap,
iv. Cornelius of Rome is said to have been made bishop by " the judgment
of God and of his Christ " and by the votes of the people. Cyprian, Epist
Hi., pp. 150, 151.
'•^ Euseb. V. 24.
CHRISTIAN MINISTERS ORDAINED BY PRESBYTERS. 533
tain gift of truth according to the good pleasure of the Fa.
ther : but we should hold as suspected or as heretics and of
bad sentiments the rest who depart from the principal succes-
sion, and meet together wherever they please From all
such we must keep aloof, but we must adhere to those who
both preserve, as we have already mentioned, the doctrine of
the apostles, and exhibit, with the order of the presbytery,
sound teaching and an inoffensive conversation." ' " The or-
der of the presbytery," obviously signifies the official charac-
ter conveyed by " the laying on of the hands of the presby.
tery," and yet such was the ordination of those who, in the
time of Irenaeus, possessed " the succession from the apos-
tles" and "the succession of the episcopate."
Some imagine that no one can be properly qualified to ad-
minister divine ordinances who has not received episcopal or-
dination, but a more accurate acquaintance with the history
of the early Church is all that is required to dissipate the de-
lusion. The preceding statements clearly show that, for up-
wards of one hundred and fifty years after the death of our
Lord, all the Christian ministers throughout the world were
ordained by presbyters. The bishops themselves were of " the
order of the presbytery," and, as they had never received
episcopal consecration, they could only ordain as presbyters.
The bishop was, in fact, nothing more than the chief presby-
ter,° A father of the third century accordingly observes,
" All power and grace are established in the Church where
^ " Contra Hsreses," iv., c. 26, sees. 2, 4. " Quapropter eis qui in eccle-
sia sunt, presbyteris obaudire oportet. his qui successionem habent ab apos-
tolis, sicut ostendimus ; qui cum episcopatus successioite charisma veritatis
certum secundum placitum Patris acceperunt ; reliquos vero, qui absistunt
a principal! successione, et quocunque loco colligunt, suspectos habere vel
quasi hsreticos et malas sententise Ab omnibus igitur talibus ab-
sistere oportet; ad h sere re vero his qui et apostolorum, sicut prasdiximus,
doctrinam custodiunt, et cum p7'esbyterii ordine sermonem sanum et conver-
sationem sine offensa praestant."
"^ This was long the received doctrine. Thus, the author of the " Ques-
tions on the Old and New Testament " says, " Quid est episcopus nisi pri-
mus presbyter ?" — Aug. Qucest., c. loi.
534 ^^^^ METHOD OF ORDAINING A BISHOP.
elders preside, who possess the power, as well of baptizing, as
of confirming and ordaining." '
An old ecclesiastical law, recently presented for the first
time to the English reader," throws much light on a portion
of the history of the Church long buried in great obscurity.
This law may well remind us of those remains of extinct
classes of animals which the naturalist studies with so much
interest, as it obviously belongs to an era even anterior to
that of the so-called apostolical canons.' Though it is part of
a series of regulations once current in the Church of Ethiopia,
there is every reason to believe that it was framed in Italy,
and that its authority was acknowledged by the Church of
Rome in the time of Hippolytus." It marks a transition
period in the history of ecclesiastical polity, and whilst it in-
directly confirms the testimony of Jerome relative to the cus-
tom of the Church of Alexandria, it shows that the state of
things to which the learned presbyter refers was now super-
seded by another arrangement. This curious specimen of an-
cient legislation treats of the appointment and ordination of
ministers. " The bishop," says this enactment, " is to be
elected by all the people And they shall choose ONE
OF THE BISHOPS AND ONE OF THE PRESBYTERS, .... AND
THESE SHALL LAY THEIR HANDS UPON HIS HEAD AND PRAY." '
' " Omnis potestas et gratia in ecclesia constitua sit, ubi praesident ma-
jores natu, qui et baptizandi et manum imponendi et ordinandi possident
potestatem." — Firmilian, Epist., Cyprian, Opera, p. 304.
■^ See Biinsen's " Hippolytus," ii. 351-357. See also Fabricius," Biblioth.
Grsecce," liber v., p. 208. Hamburg, 1723.
\ The earliest was framed only a few years before the middle of the third
century. In a.d. 228, several bishops united in the ordination of the pres-
byter Origen (see Euseb. vi. 8, 23) ; whereas, according to the second of
these canons, a presbyter is to be ordained " by one bishop." They were
called apostolical perhaps because concocted by some of the bishops of
the so-called apostolic Churches.
* The collection to which it belongs bears the designation of the " Canons
of Abulides," — the name of Hippolytus in Abyssinian, as their calendat
shows. Bunsen, ii. 352. The canons edited by Hippolytus were, no doubt,
at one time acknowledged by the Western Church.
■■ Hansen's " Hippolytus," iii. 43, and " Analecta Antenicaena," iii. 415.
AN ANCIENT BISHOP AND A MODERN PRELATE. 535
Here, to avoid the confusion arising from a whole crowd of
individuals imposing hands in ordination, two were selected to
act on behalf of the assembled office-bearers ; and, that the
parties entitled to officiate might be fairly represented, the
deputies were to be a bishop and a presbyter.' The canon
illustrates the jealousy with which the presbyters in the early
part of the third century still guarded some of their rights
and privileges. In the matter of investing others with Church
authority, they yet maintained their original position, and
though many bishops might be present when another was in-
ducted into office, they would permit only one of the number
to unite with one of themselves in the ceremony of ordination.
Some at the present day do not hesitate to assert that presby-
ters have no right whatever to ordain, but this canon supplies
evidence that in the third century they were employed to or-
dain bishops.
It thus appears that the bishop of the ancient Church was
very different from the dignitary now known by the same
designation. The primitive bishop had often but two or three
elders, and sometimes a single deacon,* under his jurisdiction :
the modern prelate has frequently the oversight of several
hundreds of ministers. The ancient bishop, surrounded by
his presbyters, preached ordinarily every Sabbath to his whole
flock: the modern bishop may spend an entire lifetime with-
out addressing a single sermon, on the Lord's day, to many who
are under his episcopal supervision. The early bishop had the
care of a parish : the modern bishop superintends a diocese.
The elders of the primitive bishop were not unfrequently
decent tradesmen who earned their bread by the sweat of
their brow : ^ the presbyters of a modern prelate have gen-
* Eutychius intimates that the Alexandrian presbyters continued to ordain
their own bishop until the time of the Council of Nice. It is not improb-
able that, until then, some of them continued to take part in the ordination,
and the statement of the Alexandrian patriarch may be so far correct.
'^ See Bunsen, iii. 45.
' Where the bishop, as in the case contemplated in a canon quoted in the
text, had to depend for his official income on the contributions of twelve
families, it is plain that the elders could expect no remuneration for their
536 THE ANCIENT BISHOP.
erally each the charge of a congregation, and are supposed to
be entirely devoted to sacred duties. Even the ancient city
bishop had but a faint resemblance to his modern namesake.
He was the most laborious city minister, and the chief preacher.
He commonly baptized all who were received into the Church,
and dispensed the Eucharist to all the communicants. He
was, in fact, properly the minister of an overgrown parish
who required several assistants to supply his lack of service.
The foregoing testimonies likewise show that the doctrine
of apostolical succession, as now commonly promulgated, is
utterly destitute of any sound historical basis. According to
some, no one is duly qualified to preach and to dispense the sac-
raments whose authority has not been transmitted from the
Twelve by an unbroken series of episcopal ordinations. But
it has been demonstrated that episcopal ordinations, properly
so called, originated only in the third century, and that even
the bishops of Rome, who flourished prior to that date,
were " of the order of the presbytery." All the primitive
bishops received nothing more than presbyterian ordination.
It is plain, therefore, that the doctrine of the transmission of
spiritual power from the apostles through an unbroken series
of episcopal ordinations flows from sheer ignorance of the
actual constitution of the early Church.
But the arrangements now described were gradually sub-
verted by episcopal encroachments, and a separate chapter
must be devoted to the illustration of the progress of Prelacy.
services. As the hierarchy advanced these ruling elders disappeared.
Hence Hilary says, " The synagogue, and afterwards the Church, had
elders, without whose counsel nothing was done in the Church, which, by
what negligence it grew into disuse I know not ; unless, perhaps, by the
sloth, or rather by the pride of the teachers, while they alone wished to ap-
pear something." — Comment, on i Tim, v. I. Some late writers have con-
tended that these eiders {seniores) were not ecclesiastical officers at all,
but civil magistrates of municipal corporations peculiar to Africa. It must,
however, be recollected that Hilary was a Roman deacon of the fourth
century, and that he speaks of them as belonging to the Church before the
civil establishment of Christianity.
CHAPTER X.
THE PROGRESS OF PRELACY.
We can not tell when the president of the presbytery began
to hold office for life ; but it is evident that the change, at
whatever period it occurred, must have added considerably to
his power. The chairman of any court is the individual through
whom it is addressed, and without whose signature its pro-
ceedings can not be properly authenticated. He acts in its
name, and he stands forth as its representative. He may,
theoretically, possess no more power than any of the other
members of the judicatory, and he may be bound, by the most
stringent laws, simply to carry out the decisions of their united
wisdom ; but his very position gives him influence ; and, if he
holds office for life, that influence may soon become formid-
able. If he is not constantly kept in check by the vigilance
and determination of those with whom he is associated, he
may insensibly trench upon their rights and privileges. In
the second century the moderator of the city presbytery was
invariably a man advanced in years, who, instead of being
watched with jealousy, was regarded with aff"ectionate vener-
ation ; and it is not strange if he was often permitted to
stretch his authority beyond the exact range of its legitimate
exercise.
Evidence has already been adduced to show that, on the
»rise of Prelacy, the presidential chair was no longer inherited
by the members of the city presbytery in the order of seniority.
The individuals considered most competent for the situation
were nominated by their brethren ; and as the Church, espe-
cially in great towns, was sadly distracted by the machinations
of the Gnostics, it was deemed expedient to arm the moder-
(537)
538 GROWTH (^F PRELACY.
ator with additional authority. As a matter of necessity, the
official who was furnished with these new powers required a
new name ; for the title president, by which he was already
known, and which continued long afterward in current use,'
did not now fully indicate his importance. It was, therefore,
gradually supplanted by the designation bishop, or overseer.
Whilst this functionary was nominated by the presbyters, he
might be also set aside by them, so that he felt it necessary to
consult their wishes and to use his discretionary power with
modesty and moderation ; but, when elected by general suf-
frage his authority was forthwith established on a broader and
firmer foundation. He was now emphatically the man of the
people ; and from this date he possessed an influence with
which the presbytery itself was incompetent to grapple.
As early as the middle of the second century the president,
at least in some places, was intrusted with the chief manage-
ment of the funds of the Church ; ' and probably, about fifty
years afterward, a large share of its revenues was appropriated
to his personal maintenance.^ His superior wealth soon added
immensely to his influence. He was thus enabled to maintain
a higher position in society than any of his brethren ; and he
was at length regarded as the great fountain of patronage and
preferment. Long before Christianity enjoyed the sanction
of the State, the chief pastors of the great cities began to
attract attention by their ostentatious display of secular
magnificence. Origen, who flourished in the former half of
the third century, strongly condemns their vanity and ambi-
tion ; and though his ascetic temperament prompted him to
indulge somewhat in the language of exaggeration, the testi-
mony of so respectable a witness can not be rejected as untrue.
" We," says he, "proceed so far in the affectation of pomp
and state, as to outdo even bad rulers among the pagans ;
' Thus Firmilian speaks of " seniores et prcBpositi," and of the Church
"ubi prcEsideni majores natu." — Cyprian, Opera, pp. 302 and 304.
' Justin Matryr, Opera, p. 99.
' In the days of Orij^en the episcopal office was not unfrcquently coveted
for its wealth. Origen, Opera, iii. p. 501. See also Cyprian, Epist. Ixiv..
p. 240.
PRIDE AND POMP OF THE CITY BISHOPS. 539
and, like the emperors, surround ourselves with a guard that
we may be feared and made difficult of access, particularly to
the poor. And in many of our so-called Churches, especially
in the large tozvns, may be found presiding officers of the
Church of God who would refuse to own even the best among
the disciples of Jesus while on earth as their equals." ' In
these remarks the writer had doubtless a particular reference
to his own Church of Alexandria ; but it is well known that
elsewhere some bishops in the third century assumed a very
lofty bearing. ■ It is related of the celebrated Paul of Samosata,
the bishop of Antioch, that he acted as a secular judge, that
he appeared in public surrounded by a crowd of servants, and
that he took special pleasure in pomp and parade ; and yet,
had he not lapsed into heresy, his overweening pride would
not have brought down upon him the vengeance of ecclesias-
tical discipline. In the third century the chief pastor of the
Western metropolis was known to the great officers of govern-
ment, and perhaps to the Emperor himself. Decius must have
regarded the Roman bishop as a formidable personage when he
declared that he would sooner tolerate a rival candidate for the
throne, and when he proclaimed his determination to annihi-
late the very office."
It was not strange that dignitaries who affected 90 much
state soon contrived to surround themselves with a whole
host of new officials. Within little more than a century after
the rise of Prelacy the number of grades of ecclesiastics was
nearly trebled. In addition to the bishop, the presbyters,
and the deacons, there were also, in A.D. 251, in the Church
of Rome, lectors, sub-deacons, acolyths, exorcists, and jani-
tors.' The lectors, who read the Scriptures to the congrega-
tion * and who had charge of the sacred manuscripts, attract
our attention as distinct office-bearers about the close of the
' Comment, in Matt., Opera, iii. p. 723.
'^ See Period ii., sec. i., chap, v., p. 322.
' Euseb. vi. 43.
* Tertullian, " Prasscrip. Hasret." c. 41. This office, even in the fourth
century, was often committed to mere children — a sad proof that the im-
portance of reading the Word effectively was not duly appreciated.
540 ^isHors ciiosEX by the people.
second century. The sub-deacons had the care of the sacra-
mental cups ; the acolyths attended to the lamps of the sacred
edifice ; the exorcists ' professed by their prayers to expel
evil spirits out of the bodies of those about to be baptized ;
and the janitors performed the more humble duties of porters
or door-keepers. At a subsequent period each of these
functionaries was initiated into ofifice by a special form of
ordination or investiture. It was laid down as a principle
that no one could regularly become a bishop who had not
previously passed through all these inferior orders ; ' but
when the multitude wished all at once to elevate a layman to
the rank of a bishop or a presbyter, ecclesiastical routine was
compelled to yield to the pressure of popular enthusiasm.'
The great city in which Prelacy originated was the place
where these new ofifices made their first appearance. Rome,
true to her mission as " the mother of the Catholic Church,"
conceived and brought forth nearly all the peculiarities of the
Catholic system. The lady seated on the seven hills was
already regarded with great admiration, and surrounding
Churches silently copied the arrangements of their Imperial
parent. In the East, at least one of the orders instituted by
the great Western prelate, that is, the order of acolyths, was
not adopted for centuries afterward.^
The city bishops were well aware of the vast accession of
influence they acquired in consequence of their election by the
people, and did not fail to insist upon the circumstance when
desirous to illustrate their ecclesiastical title. Any one who
peruses the letters of Cyprian may remark the frequency, as
well as the transparent satisfaction, with which he refers to
the mode of his appointment. Who, he seems to say, could
doubt his right to act as bishop of Carthage, seeing that he
had been chosen by "the suffrage of the whole fraternity" —
' Origen makes mention of them, Opera, ii. p. 453 ; and Firmilian, Cyprian
Epist. Ixv., p. 306.
" Cyprian, Epist. lii., p. 150.
' As in the case of Fabian of Rome. Euseb. vi. 29.
* Bingham, i. 356, 359,
INTERFERENCE WITH THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE. 54I
by " the vote of the people " ?' The members of the Church
enthusiastically acknowledged such appeals to their sympathy
and support, and in cases of emergency promptly rallied round
the individuals whom they had themselves elevated to power.
But, as all the other Church officers were likewise chosen by
common suffrage, the bishops soon betrayed an anxiety to ap-
propriate the distinction, and began, under various pretexts,
to interfere with the free exercise of the popular franchise. In
one of his epistles Cyprian excuses himself to the Christians
of Carthage because he had ventured to ordain a reader with-
out their approval. He pleads that the peculiar circumstances
of the case and the extraordinary merits of the candidate must
be accepted as his apology. " In clerical ordinations," says
he, "my custom is to consult you bcforeJiand, dearest brethren,
and in common deliberation to weigh the character and merits
of each. But testimonies of men need not be awaited when
anticipated by the sentence of God." * The sanction of the
people should have been obtained before the ordination ; but
as persecution now raged, it is suggested that it was found
inconvenient to lay the matter before them ; and Cyprian ar-
gues that the informality was pardonable, inasmuch as the Al-
mighty himself had given His suffrage in favor of the new
lector; for Aurelius, though only a youth, had nobly submit-
ted to the torture rather than renounce the Gospel.
The ordination of Aurelius under such circumstances was
not, however, a solitary case ; and there is certainly something
suspicious in the frequency with which the bishop of Carthage
apologizes to the clergy and people for neglecting to consult
them on the appointment of Church officers. In another of
his letters he announces to the presbyters and deacons that
" on an urgent occasion^' he had " made Saturus a reader, and
Optatus, the confessor, a sub-deacon." ' Again, he tells the
same parties, and "the whole people," that " Celerinus, re-
nowned alike for his courage and his character, has been joined
to the clergy, not by human suffrage, but by the divine favor "/
^ Cyprian, Epist.lv., pp. 177, 178; xl., pp. 119, 120.
* Epist. xxxiii., p. 105. ' Epist. xxiv., pp. 79, 80.
*■ Epist. xxxiv., pp. 107, 108.
542 ORDINATION BY BISHOPS.
and at another time he informs them that he had been " ad-
monished and instructed by a divine vouchsafcment to enroll
Numidicus in the number of the Carthaginian presbyters." '
These cases were afterward quoted as precedents for the non-
observance of the law ; and from time to time new pretences
were discovered for evading its provisions. In this way the
rights of the people were gradually abridged ; and in the course
of two or three centuries, the bishops almost entirely ignored
their interference in the election of presbyters and deacons, as
•well as of the inferior clergy.
New canons relative to ordination were promulgated about
the time when the city presbyters ceased to have the exclusive
right of electing their own bishop. The altered circumstances
of the Church led to the establishment of these regulations.
The election of the chief pastor of a great town was often a
scene of much excitement, and when several of the presbyters
were candidates for the office, it was obviously unseemly that
any of them should preside on the occasion. It was accord-
ingly arranged that some of the neighboring bishops should
be present to superintend the proceedings. The successful
candidate now began to be formally invested with his new
dignity by the imposition of hands ; and at first, perhaps, one
of the bishops, assisted by one of the presbyters of the place,
performed this ceremony.'' But the presbyters soon ceased to
officiate at the ordination. At the election, the people and the
clergy sometimes took opposite sides ; and, in the contest, the
ecclesiastical party was not unfrequently completely overborne.
It occasionally happened, as in the case of Cyprian,' that one of
the presbyters was chosen in opposition to the wishes of the
' Epist. XXV., p. Ill,
* Bishops and presbyters continued to ordain bishops in the time of Ori-
gen. His " Commentaries on Matthew," written, according to his Bene-
dictine editor, in A.D. 245 (see Delarue's " Origen," iii. Prasf ) speak of
bishops and presbyters " committing whole churches to unfit persons and
constituting incompetent governors." — Opera, iii., p. 753.
^ It would appear that the five presbyters who opposed Cyprian consti-
tuted the majority of the presbytery. Cyprian, Epist. xl., pp. 119, 120.
See also Sage's " Vindication of the I'rinciplesof iheCyprianic Age," p. 348.
ORDINATION BY PRESBYTERS. 543
majority of the presbytery; or, as in the case of Fabian of
Rome,' that a layman was all at once elevated to the episco-
pal chair; and, at such times, the disappointed presbyters did
not care to join in the inauguration. The bishops availed
themselves of the pretexts thus furnished to dispense with
their services altogether. At length the power of admitting
to the ministry by the laying on of hands began to be chal-
lenged as the peculiar prerogative of the episcopal order.
In many places — perhaps before the middle of the third
century — elders were no longer permitted to take part in the
consecration of bishops ; but Prelacy had not yet completely
established itself upon the ruins of the more ancient polity.
Sometimes the presbytery itself still discharged the functions
of the bishop. After the martyrdom of Fabian in A.D. 250,
the Church of Rome remained upwards of a year under its
care,° as the see was meanwhile vacant ; and about the same
period we find Cyprian, when in exile, requesting his presby-
ters and deacons to execute both his duties and their own.'
It was still admitted that presbyters were competent to ordain
presbyters and deacons, as well as to confirm and to baptize;
and the bishop continued to recognize them as his " colleagues "
and his '■'■ fellozv-presbyters.'' " It is clear, however, that the re-
lations between them and their episcopal chief were now very
vaguely defined, and that the ambiguous position of the par-
ties led to mutual complaints of ambition and usurpation.
The Epistles of Cyprian supply evidence that the bishop of
Carthage, during a great part of his episcopate, was engaged
with his presbyters in a struggle for power; ' and though he
asserted that he was contending for nothing more than his
legitimate authority, he was sometimes obliged to abate his
pretensions. In one case he complains that, " without his
' Euseb. vi. 29.
° Cyprian, Epist. xxxi., pp. 99, 100. ' Cyprian, Epist. iv., p. 31.
* Cyprian, Epist. xxxiii., p. 106 ; xxxiv., p. 107 ; Iviii., p. 207 ; Ixxi., p. 271 ;
Ixxvii., p. 327. Euseb. vii. 5.
'" Thus we find him going so far as to complain that his presbyters " with
contempt and dishonor of the bishop arrogate sole authority to themselves."
— Epist. ix., p. 48.
544 COUNTRY BISHOPS FORBIDDEN TO ORDAIN.
permission or knowledge," his presbyter Novatus, " of his own
factiousness and ambition " had " made Felicissimus, his fol-
lower, a deacon";' but still he does not venture to impeach
the validity of the act, or refuse to recognize the standing of
the new ecclesiastic. Felicissimus seems to have been or-
dained in a small meeting-house in the neighborhood of Car-
thage ; and as Novatus, who probably presided on the
occasion, proceeded in conjunction with the majority of the
presbytery, they no doubt considered that, under these circum-
stances, the sanction of the bishop was by no means indispen-
sable. The manifestation of such a spirit of independence
was, however, exceedingly galling to their imperious prelate.
From the manner in which Cyprian expresses himself we
may infer that he would not have been dissatisfied had Novatus
and the elders who acted with him obtained \\\'s, permission to
ordain the deacon Felicissimus. But at this period the bishops
were beginning to look with extreme jealousy on all presby-
terian ordinations, and were commencing a series of encroach-
ments on the rights of their episcopal brethren in rural districts.
These country bishops,' who were ministers of single congrega-
tions, and who were generally poor and uninfluential, soon suc-
cumbed to the great city dignitaries. By a council held at An-
cyra in A.D. 314, or very shortly after the close of the Diocle-
tian persecution, they were forbidden to perform duties which
they had hitherto been accustomed to discharge, for one of its
canons declares that " country bishops must not ordain pres-
byters or deacons ; neither must city presbyters in another par-
ish without the written permission of the bishop." '
This canon illustrates the strangely anomalous condition of
the Church at the period of its adoption. It takes no notice
' Epist. xlix., p. 143. See Neander's "General History," i. 307, and Bur-
ton's " Lectures on the Ecc. Hist, of the First Three Centuries," ii. 331.
Burton repudiates the attempts of Bingham and others to explain away
this proceeding.
■^ They are called so for the first time in the Council of Ancyra. They
had before always been called simply bishops. It has been remarked that
we never find any chorepiscopi among the African bishops, though many ot
them occupied as humble a position as those so designated elsewhere.
^ Canon xiii., " Canones Apjst. et Concil. Berolini," 1839.
COUNTRY BISHOPS AND CITY P cESBYTERS. 545
of country elders, as the proceedings of such an humble class of
functionaries awakened no jealousy ; and it degrades country
bishops, who unquestionably belonged to the episcopal order,
by placing them in a position inferior to that of city presbyters.
Sixty years before, or in the middle of the third century, three
of these country bishops were deemed competent to ordain a
bishop of Rome ; ' but now they are deprived of the right of
ordaining even elders or deacons. It is easy to understand why
city presbyters were still permitted, under certain conditions,
to exercise this privilege. As they constituted the council of
the city chief pastor, their influence was considerable ; and as
they had, till a recent date, been accustomed even to take part
in his own consecration, it was deemed inexpedient to tempt
so formidable a class of churchmen to make common cause
with the country bishops by stripping both at once of their
ancient prerogatives. The country bishops, as the weaker
party, were first subjected to a process of spoliation. But the
recognition of Christianity by Constantine gave an immense
impulse to the progress of the hierarchy, and the city presby-
ters were soon afterward deprived of the privilege now wrested
from the country bishops.
The current of events had placed the Church, about the mid-
dle of the third century, in a position which it could not long
maintain. As the growth of Christianity in towns was steady
and rapid, the bishop there rose quickly into wealth and power ;
but, among the comparatively poor and thinly-scattered popu-
lation of the country, his condition remained nearly stationary.
When Cyprian, in A.D. 256, addressed the eighty-seven bishops
assembled in the Council of Carthage, and told them that they
were all on an equality, he might have felt that the doctrine
of episcopal parity, as then understood, must be given up as
indefensible if assailed by the skill of a vigorous logician. Who
could believe that the bishop of Carthage held exactly the same
official rank as every one of his episcopal auditors? He was
the chief pastor of a flourishing metropolis ; he had several
congregations under his care, and several of his presbyters were
' In the case of Novatian. Euseb. vi. 43.
35
54^ RISE OF METROrOLITANS.
preachers ; ' but many of the bishops before him were ministers
of single congregations, and without even one elder competent
to deliver a sermon.'' In point of ministerial gifts and actual
influence some of the presbyters of Carthage were, no doubt,
far superior to many of the bishops of the council. And who
could affirm that Paul of Samosata, the chief pastor of the
capital of the Eastern Empire, was quite on a level with every
one of the village bishops around him whom he bribed to cele-
brate his praises? No wonder that it was soon found neces-
sary to remodel the episcopal system. The city bishops had a
show of equity in their favor when they asserted their superi-
ority, and their brethren in rural districts were too feeble and
dependent effectively to resist their own degradation.
The ecclesiastical title metropolitan came into use at the time
of the Council at Nice in A.D. 325,' and there is reason to be-
lieve that the territorial jurisdiction it implied was then first
distinctly defined and generally established ; but the changes
of the preceding three-quarters of a century had been prepar-
ing the way for the new arrangement. Many of the country
bishops had been reduced to a condition of subserviency, whilst
a considerable number of the chief pastors in the great cities
had been recognized as the constant presidents of the synods
which met in their respective capitals. It is easy to see how
these prelates acquired such a position. Talent, if exerted,
always asserts its ascendency ; and the metropolitan bishops
were generally more able and accomplished than the majority
of their brethren. They could fairly plead that zeal for the
good of the Church prompted them to take a lead in ecclesi-
astical affairs, and their place of residence supplied them with
facilities for communicating with other pastors of which they
often deemed it prudent to avail themselves. When the synod
1, et in the metropolis, the bishop of the city was wont to en-
' These presbyters were called Doc/ores. Cyprian, Epist. xxxiv., p. 80.
' Even at the time of the Council of Carthage held A.D. 397, a bishop had
sometimes only one presbyter under his care. See Dupin's account of the
Council.
° Biiigham i., 198; and Beveridge, " Cotelerius," torn, ii., App., p. 17.
RISE OF METROPOLITANS. 54/
tertain many of the members as his guests ; and, as he was ele-
vated above most, if not all, of those with whom he acted, in
point of wealth, social standing, address, and knowledge of the
world, he was usually called on to occupy the chair of the mod-
erator." In process of time that which was originally conceded
as a matter of courtesy passed into an admitted right. So long
as the metropolitan bishop was inducted into ofifice by mere
presbyters, the circumstances of his investiture pointed out to
him the duty of humility ; but when the most distinguished
chief pastors of the province deemed it an honor to take part
in his consecration, he immediately increased his pretensions.
Thus it is that the change in the mode of episcopal inaugura-
tion forms a new era in the history of ecclesiastical assumption.
About the middle of the third century various circumstances
conspired to augment the authority of the great bishops. In
the Decian and Valerian persecutions the chief pastors were
specially marked out for attack, and the heroic constancy with
which some of the most eminent encountered a cruel death
vastly enhanced the reputation of their order. In a few years
several bishops of Rome were martyred ; Cyprian of Carthage
endured the same fate ; Alexander of Jerusalem, and Babylas
of Antioch, also laid down their lives for their religion.' At
the same time the schism of Novatian at Rome, and the schism
of Felicissimus at Carthage, threatened the Church with new
divisions ; and the same arguments which were used, upwards
of a hundred years before, for increasing the power of the
president of the eldership, could now be urged with equal
pertinency for adding to the authority of the president of the
synod. In point of fact the earliest occasion on which the
bishop of Rome executed discipline in his archiepiscopal
capacity was immediately connected with the schism of Nova-
tian ; for we have no record of any exercise of such power un-
til Cornelius, at the head of a council held in the Imperial city,
deposed the pastors who had officiated at the consecration of
his rival." From this date the Roman metropolitan presided
at all the ordinations of the bishops in his vicinity.
' See Period ii., sec. i., chap ii.. p. 274, and p. 323. * Euseb. vi. 43.
54S RISE OF METROPOLITANS.
To prevent the recurrence of schisms such as had now hap-
pened at Rome and Carthage, it was arranged about this pe-
riod,' at least in some quarters of the Church, that the presence
or sanction of the stated president of the provincial synod
should be necessary to the validity of all episcopal consecra-
tions. There were still, however, many districts in which the
provincial synod had no fixed chairman. Hence an ancient
canon directs that at the ordination of a member of the hie-
rarchy, " one of the principal bishops shall pray to God over the
approved candidate." " By a " principal bishop " we are to
understand the chief pastor of a principal or apostolic church ; '
but in some provinces several such churches were to be found,
and this regulation attests that no single ecclesiastic had yet
acquired an unchallenged precedence. As the close of the
third century approached, the ecclesiastical structure exhibited
increasing uniformity ; and one dignitary in each region began
to be known as the stated president of the episcopal body.
In one of the so-called apostolical canons, framed probably
before the Council of Nice, this arrangement is embodied.
" The bishops of every nation," says the ordinance, " ought to
know who is the first among them, and him they ought to es-
teem as their head, and not do any great thing without his
consent But neither let him do anything without the
consent of all."'
This canon is couched in terms of studied ambiguity, for
the expression " the first among the bishops of every nation "
admits of various interpretations. In many cases it meant the
senior bishop of the district ; in others, it denoted the chief
pastor of the chief city of the province ; and in others again,
it indicated the prelate of a great metropolis who had con-
trived, to establish his authority over a still more extensive
' Probably in some of the great councils now held at Rome and Antioch.
See Euseb. vi. 43, vi. 46. Novatian is spoken of as a person by whom the
Church was " split asunder." Euseb. vii. 8.
" Bunsen's " Hippolytus," ill. 50. Another canon says: " Ht' who is
■worthy ottt of the bishops .... putteth his hand upon him whom they
have made bishop, praying over him." — Bunscn, iii. 42.
' See chapter viii. of this section, pp. 514, 517. * Bunsen, iii. ill.
CONTESTS FOR SUPERIORITY. 549
territory. The rise of the city bishops had completely de-
stroyed that balance of power which originally existed in the
Church ; and much commotion preceded the settlement of a
new ecclesiastical equilibrium. During the last forty years of
the third century the Christians enjoyed almost uninterrupted
peace ; the chief pastors were meanwhile perpetually engaged
in contests for superiority ; and about this time the bishops of
Rome, of Alexandria, and of Antioch, rapidly extended their
influence. So rampant was the usurping spirit of churchmen,
that even the violence of the Diocletian persecution was not
sufficient to check them in their career of ambition. A con-
temporary writer, who was himself a member of the episcopal
order, bears testimony to this melancholy fact. " Some," said
he, " who were reputed our pastors, contemning the law of
piety, were, under the excitement of mutual animosities, fo-
menting nothing else but disputes and threatenings and rivalry
and reciprocal hostility and hatred, as they contentiously pros-
ecuted their ambitious designs for sovereignty." '
What a change had passed over the Christian common-
wealth in the course of little more than two hundred years !
When the Apostle John died, the city church was governed
by the common council of t^ie elders, and their president sim-
ply announced and executed the decisions of his brethren :
now, the president was transformed into a prelate who, by
gradual encroachments, had stripped the presbytery of a large
share of its authority. At the close of the first century the
Church of Rome was, perhaps, less influential than the Church
of Ephesus, and the very name of its moderator at that period
is a matter of disputed and doubtful tradition ; but the Dio-
cletian persecution had scarcely terminated when the bishop
of the great metropolis was found sitting in a council in the
palace of the Lateran, and claiming jurisdiction over eight or
ten provinces of Italy ! These revolutions were not effected
without much opposition. The strife between the presbyters
and the bishops was succeeded by a general warfare among
the possessors of episcopal power, for the constant moderator
' Euseb, viii. i.
550 IMPORTAN'CE OF CHURCH POLITY.
of the synod was as anxious to increase his authority as the
constant moderator of the presbytery. About the close of
the third century the Church was sadly scandalized by the
quarrels of the bishops, and Eusebius accordingly intimates
that, in the reign of terror which so quickly followed, they
suffered a righteous retribution for their misconduct.
Discussions respecting questions of Church polity are often
exceedingly distasteful to persons of contracted views, but of
genuine piety, for they can not understand how the progress
of vital godliness can be influenced by forms of ecclesiastical
government.' At this period such sentiments were probably
not uncommon, and much of the apathy with which innova-
tions were contemplated may thus be easily explained. Be-
sides, if the early bishop was a man of ability and address, his
influence in his own church was nearly overwhelming ; for as
he was the ordinary, if not the only, preacher, he thus pos-
sessed the most effective means of recommending any favorite
scheme, and of giving a decided tone to public opinion.
When a parochial charge became vacant by the demise of the
chief pastor, the election of a successor was often vigorously
contested ; and when an influential presbyter was defeated, he
sometimes exhibited his mortification by contending for the
rights of his order, and by disputing the pretensions of his
successful rival. But as such opposition was dictated by the
spirit of faction, it was commonly brief, ill-sustained, and
abortive. The young, talented, and aspiring presbyters were
strongly tempted to encourage the growth of episcopal pre-
rogative, for each hoped one day to occupy the place of dig-
nity, and thus to reap the fruits of present encroachments.
The bishops resisted more strenuously the establishment of
' The following observation of a distinguished writer of the Church of
England is well worthy of consideration : " The remains of ancient ecclesi-
astical literature, especially those of the Latin Church, teach us that the
corruption of Christianity of which Romanism is the full development,
manifested itself, in the first instance, not in the doctrines which relate to
the spiritual life of the individual, but in those connected with the consti-
tution and authority of the Christian society." — Litton s Church of Christy
p. 12.
METROPOLITANS ESTABLISHED WITH DIFFICULTY. 55 1
metropolitan ascendency. An ecclesiastical regulation of great
antiquity,' condemned their translation from one parish to
another, so that when the episcopate was gained, all farther
prospects of promotion were extinguished ; ior the place of
first among the bishops was either inherited by seniority or
claimed by the prelate of the chief city. Hence it was that
the pastors withstood so firmly all infringements on their the-
oretical parity ; and hence those " ambitious disputes," ' and
those " collisions of bishops with bishops," ' even amidst the
fires of martyrdom, over which the historian of the Church
professes his anxiety to cast the veil of oblivion.
1 " Can. Apost.," xiv. " Concil. Nic," xv. Before the end of the fourth
century, Gregory Nazianzen classes this enactment among " the obsolete
laws."
' Euseb. " Martyrs of Palestine," c. 12. ' Euseb. viii. i.
CHAPTER XL
SYNODS— THEIR HISTORY AND CONSTITUTION.
The apostles, and the other original heralds of the Gospel,
sought primarily the conversion of unbelievers. The commis-
sion given to Paul points out distinctly the grand design of
their ministry. When the great persecutor of the saints was
himself converted on his way to Damascus, our Lord addressed
to him the memorable words, " I have appeared unto thee for
.this purpose, to make thee a minister an*d a witness both of
these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the
Avhich I will appear unto thee ; delivering thee from the
people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,
to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and
from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive for-
giveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanc-
tified by faith that is in me." '
When a few disciples were collected in a particular locality,
it not unfrcquently happened that they remained for a time
without any proper ecclesiastical organization/ But the
Christian cause, under such circumstances, could not be ex-
pected to flourish ; and, therefore, as soon as practicable, the
apostles and evangelists did not neglect to make arrangements
for the increase and edification of these infant communities.
To provide, as well for the maintenance of discipline, as for
the preaching of the Word, they accordingly proceeded to or-
dain elders in every city where the truth had gained converts.
These elders afterward ordained deacons in their respective
' Acts xxvi. 16-18.
' Such was the case with the churches mentioned Acts xiv. 23, and Titus
(552)
ALL EARLY CHURCHES NOT FORMALLY UNITED. 553
congregations ; and thus, in due time, the Church was regu-
larly constituted.
In the first century Christian societies were formed only
here and there throughout the Roman Empire ; and, at its
close, the Gospel had scarcely penetrated into some of the
provinces. It is not to be expected that we can trace histori-
cally any general confederation of the churches established
during this period, or demonstrate their incorporation ; as
their distance, their depressed condition, and the jealousy with
which they were regarded by the civil government,' rendered
any extensive combination utterly impossible. At a time
when the disciples met together for worship in secret and be-
fore break of day, their pastors did not invite public attention
to the business of the Church, or assemble in multitudinous
councils. But though, in the beginning of the second century,
there was no formal bond of union connecting the several
Christian communities throughout the world, they meanwhile
contrived in various ways to cultivate an unbroken fraternal
intercourse. Recognizing each other as members of the same
holy brotherhood, they maintained an epistolary correspond-
ence, in which they treated of all matters pertaining to the
common interest. When the pastor of one church visited
another, his status was immediately acknowledged ; and even
when an ordinary disciple emigrated to a distant province, the
ecclesiastical certificate which he carried along with him se-
cured his admission to membership in the strange congrega-
tion. Thus, all the churches treated each other as portions ol
one great family ; all adhered to much the same system of
polity and discipline ; and, though there was not unity of juris-
diction, there was the " keeping of the unity of the Spirit in
the bond of peace."
In modern times many ecclesiastical historians ' have asserted
that synods commenced about the middle of the second cent-
ury. But the statement is unsupported by a single particle of
1 Trajan regarded with great suspicion all associations, even fire brigades
and charitable societies. See Pliny's " Letters," book x., letters 43 and 94.
* Such as Mosheim, " Instit." i. 149, 150; Neander, "General History,"
i. 281.
554 SYNODS OF APOSTOLIC ORIGIN.
evidence, and a number of facts may be ad Uced to prove t'nt
it is altogether untenable. There is no reason to doubt that
synods, at least on a limited scale, met in the days of the
apostles, and that the Church courts of a later age were simply
the continuation and expansion of these primitive conventions.
We know very little respecting the history of the Christian
commonwealth during the former half of the second century,
for the extant memorials of the Church of that period are ex-
ceedingly few and meagre ; and as the proceedings of most of
the synods which were then held did not attract much notice,'
it is not remarkable that they have shared the fate of almost
all the other ecclesiastical transactions of the same date, and
that they have been buried in oblivion.' It is nowhere inti-
mated by any ancient authority that synodical meetings com-
menced fifty years after the death of the beloved disciple, and
the earliest writers who touch upon the subject speak of them
as of apostolic origin. Irena^us, the pastor of Lyons, had
reached manhood when, according to Mosheim and others,
synods were at first formed ; he enjoyed the instructions of
Polycarp, the disciple of the Apostle John ; he was beyond
question one of the best informed Christian ministers of his
generation ; and yet he considered that these ecclesiastical as-
semblies were in existence in the first century. Speaking of
the visit of Paul to Miletus when he sent to Ephesus and
called the elders of the Church,' he says that the apostle then
convoked " the bishops and presbyters of Ephesus and of the
other adjoining cities," * — plainly indicating that he summoned
a synodical meeting. Had an assembly of this kind been a
' During the first forty years of the second century, Gnosticism did not
excite any great agitation, and as the Church courts were occupied chiefly
with matters of mere routine, it is not remarkable that their proceedings
have not been recorded.
■^ We have no contemporary evidence to prove that ordinaiions took
place in the former half of the second century, and yet we can not doubt
their occurrence. An act of ordination implies the existence of a church
court of some description.
' Acts XX. 17.
' " In Miieto enim convocatis episcopis et presbyteris, qui erant ab
Epheso et a reliquis pioximis civitatibus."— Ct^/z/ra Hicrcs. iii., c. 14, § 2.
SYNODS IN THE SECOND CENTURY. 555
novelty in the days of Irenaeus, the pastor of Lyons would not
have given such a version of a passage in the inspired narra-
tive. Cyprian flourished shortly after the time when, accord-
ing to the modern theory, councils began to meet in Africa,
but the bishop of Carthage himself unquestionably enter-
tained higher views of their antiquity. He declared that con-
formably to " the practice received from divine tradition and
apostolic observance^' ^ "all the neighboring bishops of the same
province met together" among the people over whom a pas-
tor was to be ordained ; ' and he did not here merely give
utterance to his own impressions, for a whole African synod
concurred in his statement. Subsequent writers of unimpeach-
able credit refer to the canons of councils of which we other-
wise know nothing ; and though we can not now name the
places where these courts assembled, we have evidence that at
least some of them were convened before the middle of the
second century. Thus, when Jerome ascribes the origin of
Prelacy to an ecclesiastical decree, he alludes evidently to a
synodical convention of an earlier date than any of the meet-
ings of which history has preserved a record.'
Did we even want the direct testimony just adduced as to
the government of synods in the former part of the second
century, we might on other grounds infer that this species of
polity then existed ; for apostolic example suggested its pro-
priety, and the spirit of fraternity so assiduously cherished by
the early rulers of the Church prompted them to meet together
for the discussion and settlement of ecclesiastical questions in
which they felt a common interest. But when Christianity
was still struggling for existence, it was not in a condition to
form widely-spread organizations. The business of the early
Church courts was conducted privately, they were attended
' Cyprian, Epist. Ixviii., § 256.
" The new bishop was often chosen before the interment of his predeces-
sor; and even when the senior presbyter was the president, it is probable
that the neighboring pastors assembled to attend the funeral of the de-
ceased pastor, and to be present at the inauguration of his successor. See
Bingham, i. 150.
' See chapter vi. of this Section, p. 476.
556 EARLY SYNODS CONDEMNED MONTANISM.
by but few members, and they were generally composed of
those pastors and elders who resided in the same district and
who could conveniently assemble on short notice. Their
meetings, in all likelihood, were summoned at irregular inter-
vals, and were held, to avoid suspicion, sometimes in one city
and sometimes in another ; and, except when an exciting
question awakened deep and general amxiety, the representa-
tives of the Churches of a whole province rarely ventured on
a united convention. Our ignorance of the councils of the
early part of the second century arises simply from the fact
that no writer during that interval registered their acts ; and
we have now no means of accurately filling up this blank in the
history. But we have good grounds for believing that Gnosti-
cism now formed the topic of discussion in several synods.'
The errorists, we know, were driven out of the Church in all
places ; and how can we account for this general expulsion
except upon the principle of the united action of ecclesiastical
judicatories? Jerome gives us to understand that their machi-
nations led to a change in the ecclesiastical constitution, and
that this change was effected by a synodical decree adopted
all over the world" — thereby implying that presbyterial gov-
ernment was already in universal operation. Montanism
appeared wliilst Gnosticism was yet in its full strength, and
this gloomy fanaticism created intense agitation. Many of the
pastors, as well as of the people, were bewildered by its pre-
tensions to inspiration, and by the sanctimony of its ascetic
discipline. It immediately occupied the attention of the eccle-
siastical courts, and its progress was arrested by their emphatic
condemnation of its absurdities. It is certain that their inter-
ference was judicial and decided. " When the faithful held
frequent meetings in many places throughout Asia on account
of this affair, and examined the novel doctrines, and pro-
' The old writer called Prasdeslinatus speaks of several synods held in
reference to the Gnostics before the middle of the second century. He may
have had access to some documents now lost, but the testimony of a witness
who lived in the fifth or sixth century is not of much value.
" " In toto orbe decretum est ut unus de presbyteris electus superponeretur
caeteris." — Cotn. in Titiim.
THE PASCHAL CONTROVERSY. 557
nounced them profane, and rejected them as heresy," the
Montanist prophets " were in consequence driven out of the
Church and excluded from communion." '
The words just quoted are from the pen of an anonymous
writer who flourished toward the end of the second or begin-
ning of the third century;'' and, though they supply the
earliest distinct notice of synodical meetings, they do not even
hint that such assemblies were of recent original. The Paschal
controversy succeeded the Montanist agitation, and convulsed
the whole Church from East to West by its frivolous discus-
sions. The mode of keeping the Paschal festival had for
nearly fifty years been a vexed question, but about the close
of the second century it began to create bitter contention.
Eusebius has given us an account of the affair, and his narra-
tive throws great light on the state of the ecclesiastical com-
munity at the time of its occurrence. " For this cause," says
he, '* there were synods and councils of bishops, and all, with
according judgment, published in epistles an ecclesiastical de-
cree There is still extant a letter from those who at
that time were called together in Palestine, over whom pre-
sided Theophilus, bishop of the parish of Caesarea, and Nar-
cissus, bishop of the parish of Jerusalem. There is also
another letter from those who were convoked at Rome ' con-
cerning the same question, which shows that Victor was then
bishop. There is, too, a letter from the bishops of Pontus, over
whom Palmas, as the senior pastor, presided. There is like-
wise a letter from the parishes in Gaul of which Irenaeus was
president ; and another besides from the Churches in Osroene
and the cities in that quarter." '
It is obvious from this statement that, before the termina-
1 Euseb. V. i6. '' See Routh's "Reliquiae," ii. 183, 195.
^ Mosheim ("Commentaries" by Vidal, ii. 105) has made a vain attempt
to set aside the Latin translation of this passage by Valesius, as it com-
pletely upsets his favorite theory. But any one who carefully examines the
Greek of Eusebius may see that the rendering complained of is quite cor-
rect. It can not be necessary to point out to the intelligent reader the
transparent sophistry of nearly all that Mosheim has written on this subject.
* Euseb. V. 23.
558 TERTULLIAN'S testimony CO^XERNING SYNODS.
tion of the second century, synodical government was estab.
lished throughout the whole Church ; for we here trace its
operation in France, in Mesopotamia or Osroene, in Italy,
Pontus, and Palestine. This passage also illustrates the prog-
ress of the changes which were taking place at the period
under review in the constitution of ecclesiastical judicatories.
As the president of the presbytery was at first the senior
elder, so the president of the synod was at first the senior
pastor. At this time the primitive arrangement had not been
altogether superseded ; for at the meeting of the bishops of
Pontus, Palmas, as being the oldest member present, was called
to occupy the chair of the moderator. But elsewhere this
ancient regulation had been set aside, and in some places no
new principle had yet been adopted. At the synod of Pales-
tine the jealousy of two rivals for the presidency led to a
rather awkward compromise. Caesarea was the seat of govern-
ment, and on that ground its bishop could challenge prece-
dence of every other in the district, but the Church of Jerusa-
lem was the mother of the entire Christian community, and
its pastor, now a hundred years of age," considered that he
was entitled to fill the place of dignity. For the sake of peace
the assembled fathers agreed to appoint two chairmen, and
accordingly Theophilus of Caesarea and Narcissus of Jerusalem
presided jointly in the synod of Palestine. In the synod of
Rome there was no one to dispute the pretensions of Bishop
Victor. As the chief pastor of the great metropolitan Church,
he seems, as a matter of course, to have taken possession of
the presidential ofifice.
A few years after the Paschal controversy the celebrated
Tertullian became entangled in the errors of Montanism, and
in vindication of his own principles published a tract " Con-
cerning Fasts," in which there is a passing reference to the
subject of ecclesiastical convocations. "Among the Greek
nations," says he, "these councils of the whole Church are
held in fixed places, in which, whilst certain important ques-
tions are discussed, the representation of the whole Christian
' See Period ii., sec. iii., chap, v., p. 463.
tertullian's testimony concerning synods. 559
name is also celebrated with great solemnity. And how wor-
thy is this of a faith which expects to have its converts gath-
ered from all parts to Christ ? See how good and how pleasant
a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in unity ! You do
not well know how to sing this, except when you are holding
communion with many. But those conventions, after they
have been first employed in prayers and fasting, know how to
mourn with the mourners, and thus at length to rejoice with
those that rejoice." '
Greek was spoken throughout a great part of the Roman
Empire, and at this period it was used even by the chief
pastors of the Italian capital, so that when Tertullian men-
tions t/ie Greek nations^ he employs an expression of equivo-
cal significance. But, no doubt, he refers chiefly to the
mother country and its colonies on the other side of the
^gean Sea, or to Greece and Asia Minor. It is apparent
from the apostolic epistles, most of which are addressed to
Churches within their borders, that the Gospel, at an early
date, spread extensively and rapidly in these countries ; and,
at least in some districts, its adherents must have now made
a considerable figure in any denominational census. They
were thus emboldened to erect their ecclesiastical courts on
a broader basis, as well as to hold their meetings with greater
publicity, than heretofore ; and, as these assemblies were at-
tended, not only by the pastors and the elders, but also by
many deacons and ordinary church members who were
anxious to witness their deliberations, Tertullian alleges, in
his own rhetorical style of expression, that in them " the rep-
resentation of the whole Christian name was celebrated with
great solemnity." ' These Greek councils commenced with a
' Tertullian, " De Jejun." c. xiii.
2 " Aguntur praeterea per Grcecias ilia certis in locis concilia ex universis
ecclesiis."
^ " Ipsa representatio totius nominis Christiani magna veneratione cele-
bratur." Mosheim argues from these words that the bishops attended
these assemblies, not by right of office, but as representatives of the peo-
ple ! He might, with more plausibility, have contended that they were
held only once a year. " Ista solleinnia quibus tunc praesens patrocinatus
est sermo."
560 tertullian's testoiony conxerning synods.
period of fasting — a circumstance by which they were dis-
tinguished from similar meetings convened elsewhere, and as
they thus supplied him with an argument in favor of one of
the grand peculiarities of the discipline of Montanism, it is
obviously for this reason they are here so prominently no-
ticed. If, as he contends, these facts were kept so religiously
by the representatives of the Church when in attendance on
some of their most solemn assemblies, there might, after all,
be a warrant for the observance of that more rigid abstinence
which he now inculcated. But though .this passage of Ter-
tullian is the only authority adduced to prove that councils
originated in Greece, it is plain that it gives no sanction
whatever to any such theory. Neither does it afford the
slightest foundation for the inference that, at the time when
it was written, these ecclesiastical convocations were un
known in Africa and Italy. We have direct proof that be-
fore this period they not only met in Rome, but that the
bishop of the great city had been in the habit of requesting
his brother pastors in other countries to hold such assemblies.'
There is, too, satisfactory evidence that they were now not
unknown at Carthage," and Tertullian himself elsewhere re-
fers to the proceedings of African synods." He must have
been well aware that they had recently assembled in various
parts of the West to pronounce judgment in the Paschal con-
troversy; for the decisions of the Gallic and Roman synods
mentioned by Eusebius were published all over the Church ;
and the reason why he refers to the convocations of the
Greeks was, not because such meetings were not held in other
' Euseb. V. 24. Hippolytus complains of a bishop of Rome that he was
"ignorant of the ecclesiastical rules" — a plain proof, not only that synods
were in existence in the West, but also that a knowledge of canon law was
considered an important accomplishment. See Bunsen, ii. 223.
' Cyprian (Epist. Ixxiii.) speaks of a large council held " many years " be-
fore his time " under Agrippinus," one of his predecessors. This bishop
was contemporary with Tertullian.
' In his book " De Pudicitia," c. 10, he speaks of the " Pastor " of Her-
mas as classed among apocryphal productions " ab omni concilio eccltsia-
rum " — implying that it had been condemned by African councils as well as
others.
SYNODS AND THE AMPHICTYONIC COUNCIL. 561
lands, but because these, from their pecuHar method of pro-
cedure in the way of fasting,' supplied, as he conceived, a
very apposite argument in support of the discipline he was so
desirous to recommend.
If historians have erred in stating that synods commenced
in Greece, they have been still more egregiously mistaken in
asserting that the once famous Amphictyonic Council sug-
gested their establishment, and furnished the model for their
construction. In the second century of the Christian era the
Council of the Amphictyons was shorn of its glory, and
though it then continued to meet,' it had long ceased to be
either an exponent of the national mind, or a free and inde-
pendent assembly. It is not to be imagined that the Chris-
tian community, in the full vigor of its early growth, would
all at once have abandoned its apostolic constitution, and
adopted a form of government borrowed from an effete insti-
tute. Synods, which now formed so prominent a part of the
ecclesiastical polity, could claim a higher and holier original.
They were the legitimate development of the primitive struct-
ure of the Church, for they could be traced up to that meet-
ing of the apostles and elders at Jerusalem which relieved the
Gentile converts from the observance of the right of circum
cision.
The most plausible argument in support of the theory that
the Amphictyonic Council suggested the establishment of
synodical conventions is based on the alleged fact that these
ecclesiastical meetings were at first held in spring and autumn,
or exactly at the times when the Greek political deputies
were accustomed to assemble.' But this statement, when
closely examined, is found to be quite destitute of evidence.
Tertullian does not say that the Greek synods met twice a
year, and we know that, at least half a century afterward,
they assembled only annually. This fact is attested by Fir-
' The prevalence of the Montanistic spirit in Asia Minor may account for
this.
^ See Potter's "Antiquities of Greece," i. 106. It consisted of only about
thirty members.
2 See Mosheim's " Commentaries," cent, ii., sect. 22. »
36
562 GREEK COUNCILS HELD IN FIXED PLACES.
milian of Cappadocia, in his celebrated letter to Cyprian.
" It is of necessity arranged among us," says he, " that we
elders and presidents meet every year ' to set in order the
things intrusted to our charge, that if there be any matters
of grave moment they may be settled by common advice." *
The author of this epistle lived in the very country where
synods are supposed to have assembled so much more fre-
quently half a century before, so that his evidence demon-
strates the fallacy of the hypothesis adopted by some modern
historians.
About the beginning of the third century, or at the time
when Tertullian wrote, the members of the Greek synods
acted on an arrangement not then commonly adopted ; for
they met together in " fixed places." These " fixed places "
were the metropolitan cities of the respective provinces. The
pastors and elders had not yet generally agreed to recognize
the chief pastor of the metropolitan city as the constant
moderator of the synod. In the case of the bishop of Rome
the rule was already established ; but, in other instances, the
senior pastor present was the president. The constant meet-
ing of the synod in the principal town of the province
tended, however, to increase the influence of its bishop ; and
he was at length almost everywhere acknowledged as the
proper chairman.' At the Council of Nice in A.D. 325 his
rights were formally secured by ecclesiastical enactment.
About the same date synods commenced to assemble with
greater frequency. " Let there be a meeting of the bishops
twice a year," says the thirty-seventh of the so-called Apos-
tolical Canons, " and let them examine among themselves the
decrees concerning religion, and settle the ecclesiastical con-
troversies which have occurred. One meeting is to be held
in the fourth week of the Pentecost, and the other on the
1 2th day of the month of October." '
' " Per singulos annos seniores et praepositi in unum conveniainus."
' Cyprian, Epist. Ixxv., pp. 302, 303.
^ In Africa, however, this arrangement was not established even in the
fifth century. There, the srnior bishop still continued president,
* This canon differs from the fifth of the Council of Nice, as the latter re-
THE EARLY CHURCH GOVERNED BY SYNODS, 563
As soon as the light of historical records begins to illustrate
the condition of any portion of the ancient Church, its synodi-
cal government is discovered ; and though the literary memo-
rials of the third century are comparatively few, they are
amply sufficient to demonstrate that ecclesiastical courts, on a
tolerably extensive scale, were then everywhere established.
About that time the controversy relative to the propriety of
rebaptizing heretics awakened much acrimonious feeling, and
the subject was keenly discussed in the synods which met for
its consideration. Nowhere is any hint given that these
courts were of recent origin. Though meeting in so many
places in the East and West, and in countries so far apart,
they are invariably represented as the ancient order of ecclesi-
astical regimen. They all appear, too, as co-ordinate and in-
dependent judicatories ; and though the Roman bishop, as
the chief pastor of the Catholic Church, endeavored to induce
them to adopt uniform decisions, his attempts to dictate to
the brethren in Spain, Africa, and other countries were firmly
and indignantly repulsed. There were fundamental principles
which they were all understood to acknowledge ; these prin-
ciples were generally embodied in the divine Statute-book ; it
was admitted that the decisions of every council which adhered
to them were entitled to universal reverence ; but, though the
reservation was scarcely compatible with the genius of cath-
olicity, each provincial convention claimed the right of form-
ing its own judgment of the acts of other courts, and of adopt-
ing or rejecting them accordingly.
The most influential synods held before the establishment
of Christianity by Constantine, were those which met in the
latter part of the third century, to try the case of the famous
Paul of Samosata, the bishop of Antioch. The charge pre-
ferred against him was the denial of the proper deity of the
Son of God ; and as he was an individual of much ability and
address, as well as, in point of rank, one of the greatest pre!
ates in existence, his case awakened uncommon interest.
quires the first meeting to be held "before Lent." It is doubtful which
canon is of higher antiiquity.
V
564 THE SYNODS OF ANTIOCH.
Christianity had recently obtained the sanction of a legal tol-
eration,' and therefore churchmen now ventured to travel from
different provinces to sit in judgment on this noted heresi-
arch. In the councils which assembled at Antioch were to be
found, not only the pastors of Syria, but also those of various
places in Palestine and Asia Minor. Even Dionysius, bishop
of the capital of Egypt, was invited to be present ; but he
pleaded his age and infirmities as an apology for his non-
attendance.' In a council which assembled A.D. 269,' Paul was
deposed and excommunicated ; and the sentence, which was
announced by letter to the chief pastors of Rome, Alexandria,
and other distinguished sees, was received with general appro-
bation.
All the information we possess respecting the councils of
the first three centuries is extremely scanty, so that it is no
easy matter exactly to ascertain their constitution ; but we
can not question the correctness of the statement of Firmil-
ian of Cappadocia, who was himself a prominent actor in sev-
eral of the most famous of these assemblies, and who affirms
that they were composed of " elders and presiding pastors." *
We have seen that bishops and elders anciently united even
in episcopal ordinations ; and these ministers, when assembled
on such occasions, constituted ecclesiastical judicatories. A
modern writer, of high standing in connection with the Uni-
versity of Oxford, has affirmed that " bishops alone had a
definitive voice in synods," ' but the testimonies which he has
himself adduced prove the inaccuracy of the assertion. The
' Under Gallienus, about A.n. 260. ^ Euseb. vii. 27.
' This was the third council held on account of Paul, as it is stated in the
synodical epistle that Firmiiian came /Tvi'ce to Antioch and died on his way
to it at this time. At the preceding councils Firmiiian seems to have pre-
sided. See Pusey on the Councils, p. 92, note. Dr. Burton says, " It
being generally the custom/(9r f/ie oldest bishop to preside at these councils, it
is probable that this distinction was given at present to Firmilianus." — I.ect.
Ecc. Hist, of Firtt Three Cent., ii. 390. The rank of his city could not
have given him a claim.
* " Seniores et praspositi." — Epist. Cypriani, Opera, p. 302.
*"The Councils of the Church." by Rev. E. B. Pusey, D.D., p. 34.
Oxford, 1857.
BISHOPS AND ELDERS SIT TOGETHER. 565
presbyter Origen, at an Arabian synod held in A.D. 229, sat
with the bishops, and was, in fact, the most important and
influential member of the convention. In A.D. 230, Demetrius
of Alexandria " gathered a council of bishops and of certain
presbyters, which decreed that Origen should remove from
Alexandria." ' About the middle of the third century, " dur-
ing the vacancy of the see of Rome, the presbyters of the city
took part in the first Roman council on the lapsed." '' At the
council of Eliberis, held in A.D. 305, no less than twenty-six
presbyters sat along with the bishops.^ In some cases dea-
cons,* and even laymen, were permitted to address synods ; ''
but ancient documents attest that they were never regarded
as constituent members. Whilst the bishops and elders sat
together, and thus proclaimed their equality as ecclesiastical
judges," the people and even the deacons were obliged to
stand. The circular letter of the council of Antioch announc-
ing the deposition of Paul of Samosata is written in the name
of " bishops, and presbyters, and deacons, and the Churches of
God''; ' but there is reason to believe that the latter are
added merely as a matter of prudence, and in testimony of
their cordial approval of the ecclesiastical verdict. The here-
siarch had left no art unemployed to acquire popularity, and
it was necessary to show that he had lost the influence on
which he had been calculating. It is obvious that the pas-
tors and elders alone were permitted to adjudicate, for why
were they assembled from various quarters to uphold the doc-
trine and discipline of the Church, if the people who were
themselves tainted with heresy or guilty of irregularity, had
the liberty of voting? Under such circumstances, the decis-
ion would have been substantially, not the decree of the
' Pusey, p. 58. ' Ibid., p. 66. ^ Ibid., p. 95.
* As in the case of Athanasius at the Council of Nice.
* As witnesses and commissioners may still be heard by Church courts.
* " Graviter commoti sumus ego et coUegae mei qui prsesentes aderant et
compresbyteri nostri qui nobis assidebant." — Cyprian, Epist. Ixvi., p. 245.
" Residcntibus etiam viginti et sex presbyteris, adstantibus diaconibus ei
omni plebe." — Concil. Illiberit.
' Euseb. vii. 30.
566 INFLUENCE OF MEETINGS OF ELDERS.
Church rulers, but of the multitude of the particular city in
which they were congregated.
• The theory of some modern ecclesiastical historians, who
hold that all the early Christian congregations were originally
independent, can not bear the ordeal of careful investigation.
Whilst it directly conflicts with the testimony of Jerome, who
declares that the churches were at first " governed by the
common council of the presbyters^' it is otherwise destitute of
evidence. As soon as the light of ecclesiastical memorials
begins to guide our path, we find presbyteries and synods
everywhere in existence. Congregationalism has no solid
foundation either in Scripture or antiquity. The eldership,
the most ancient court of the Church, commenced with the
first preaching of the Gospel ; and in the account of the meet-
ing of the Twelve to induct the deacons into ofifice, we have
the record of the first ordination performed by the laying on
of the hands of the presbytery of Jerusalem. A few years
afterward the representatives of several Christian communi-
ties assembled in the holy city and " ordained decrees " for
the guidance of the Jewish and Gentile Churches. The con-
tinuous development of the same form of ecclesiastical regimen
has now been illustrated. This polity was based upon the prin-
ciple that " in the multitude of counsellors there is safety." '
At the meetings of the elders, information was multiplied,
the intellect was sharpened, the brethren were made better
acquainted with each other, and the Christian cause enjoyed
the benefit of the decisions of their collective wisdom. The
members had been previously elected to ofifice by the voice of
the people, so that the Church had pre-eminently a free con-
stitution. And it is no mean proof as well of the intrepidity
as of the zeal of the early Christian ministers that, at a time
when their religion was proscribed, they sometimes undertook
lengthened journeys for the purpose of meeting in ecclesiasti-
cal judicatories. They thus nobly asserted the principle that
Christ has established in His Church a government with which
the civil magistrate has no right whatever to intermeddle. It
» Prov..xi. 14.
SYNODS PERVERTED BY THE CITY BISHOPS. 567
lias been said that the early Christian councils " changed
nearly the whole form of the Church," and that by them " the
influence and authority of the bishops were not a little aug-
mented.'" This is obviously quite a mistaken view of their
native tendency. The face of the Church was changed at an
early period, simply because these councils yielded with too
much facility to the spirit of innovation. Had they been
always conducted in accordance with primitive arrangements,
they could have crushed in the bud the aspirations of clerical
ambition. But when the city ministers were rapidly accumu-
lating wealth, their brethren in rural districts remained poor ;
and when councils began to meet on a scale of increased mag-
nitude, the village and country pastors, who could not afford
the expenses of lengthened journeys, were unable to attend.
Meanwhile Prelacy established itself in the great towns, and
the influence of the city bishops began gradually to prepon-
derate in all ecclesiastical assemblies. When the prelates had
once secured their ascendency in these conventions, they made
use of the machinery for their own purposes. The people
were deprived of many of their rights and privileges ; the
elders were stripped of their proper status ; the village and
rural bishops were extinguished ; and at length the ancient
presbytery itself disappeared. The city dignitaries became
the sole depositories of ecclesiastical power, and the Church
lost nearly every vestige of its freedom. But, long after the
beginning of the fourth century, many remnants of the primi-
tive polity still survived as memorials of its departed excel-
lence.
1 Mosheim's " Institutes," by Soames, i. 150.
CHAPTER XII.
THE CEREMONIES AND DISCIPLINE OF THE CHURCH AS
ILLUSTRATED BY CURRENT CONTROVERSIES
AND DIVISIONS.
When the Christian community was contending against the
Gnostics, other controversies contributed to prejudice its
claims in the sight of the heathen. The destruction of the
temple of Jerusalem by Titus had prevented the sticklers for
the Mosaic law from practicing many of their ancient cere-
monies; but there were parts of their ritual, such as circum-
cision, to which they still adhered, as these could be observed
when the altar and the sanctuary no longer existed. In the
reign of Hadrian a division of sentiment relative to the continued
obligation of the Levitical code led to a great change in the
mother Church of Christendom. About A.D. 132, an advent-
urer, named Barcochebas, pretending to be the Messiah, and
aiming at temporal dominion, appeared in Palestine ; the
Jews, in great numbers, flocked to his standard ; and the rebel
chief contrived for three years to maintain a bloody war
against the strength of the Roman legions. The Israelitish
race, by their conduct at this juncture, grievously offended the
Emperor; and when he rebuilt Jerusalem, under the name of
Aelia Capitolina, he threatened them with the severest pen-
alties should they be found either in the city or the suburbs.
Some of the Jewish Christians of the place, anxious to escape
the proscription, resolved to give up altogether the observance
of circumcision. Others, however, objected to this course, and
persisted in maintaining the permanent obligation of the
Mosaic ritual. The dissentients, called Nazarenes, formed
themselves into a separate community, which obtained ad-
(5O8)
THE NAZARENES. 569
herents elsewhere, and subsisted for several centuries. At
first they differed from other Christians chiefly in their ad-
herence to the initiatory ordinance of Judaism; but eventu-
ally they adopted erroneous principles in regard to the person
of our Lord, and were in consequence ranked among heretics."
In the history of the Church, the Nazarenes occupy a sin-
gular and unique position. Their name is among the earliest
designations by which the followers of our Saviour were known,'
and though by many they have been called the First Dis-
senters, they were the lineal descendants of the most ancient
stock of Christians in the world. The rite for which they con-
tended had been practiced in the Church of Jerusalem since
its very establishment ; the ministers by whom they had been
taught had been instructed by the apostles themselves ; and
all the elders connected with the holy city joined the seces-
sion. It is alleged that a number of Christians of Gentile
origin, uniting with those of their brethren of Jewish descent
who agreed to relinquish the Hebrew ceremonies, chose an
individual, named Marcus, for their chief pastor, and that at
this period the succession in the line of the circumcision
" failed." " This statement can not signify that some dire
calamity had swept away all the old presbytery of Jerusalem.
It indicates that none of its members joined the party whose
principles now obtained the ascendency. And yet, though
the adherents of Marcus were charged with innovation, they
acted under the sanction of apostolical authority. They very
properly refused to continue any longer in bondage to the
beggarly elements of a ritual long since superseded. Though
the seceders could urge that they were of apostolical descent,
and that they were supported by ancient custom, it must be
admitted, after all, that they were but a company of deluded
and narrow-minded bigots. The evangelical pastors of the
primitive Church repudiated their zeal for ritualism, and gave
the right hand of fellowship to Marcus and his newly-organ-
1 See Mosheim's " Commentaries," cent, ii., sec. 39; American edition by
Murdock.
' Acts xxiv. 5. * Euseb. iv. 5.
570 THE NAMES EASTER AND WHITSUNDAY.
ized community. The history of the mother Church of
Christendom in the early part of the second century is thus
fraught with lessons of the gravest wisdom. We see from it
that the true successors of the apostles were not those who
occupied their seats, or who were able to trace from them a
ministerial lineage, but those who inherited their spirit, taught
their doctrines, and imitated their example.
Though, in this instance, the disciples at Jerusalem nobly
emancipated themselves from the yoke of circumcision, it ap-
pears, from a controversy which created great confusion sixty
years afterward, that the whole Church was disposed, to some
extent, to conform to another Judaic ordinance. The embers
of this dispute had been for some time smouldering before
they attracted much notice ; but, about the termination of the
second century, they broke out into a flame which spread from
Rome to Jerusalem. The name of Easter' was yet unknown,
and the Paschal feast, at least in some places, had been then
only recently established ; but at an early period there was a
sprinkling of Jewish Christians in almost every Church
throughout the Empire, and they had at length induced their
fellow-disciples to mark the seasons of the Passover and Pen-
tecost^ by certain special observances. The Passover was re-
garded as the more solemn feast, and was kept by the Chris-
tians in much the same way in which it had been celebrated
by the Jews before the fall of Jerusalem. A lamb was shut
up on a certain day ; it was afterward roasted ; and then eaten
by the brotherhood.' The time for this observance, and some
' The English name Easter is derived from that of a Teutonic goddess
(Eostre) whose festival was celebrated by the ancient Saxons in the month
of April, and for which the Paschal feast was substituted. See Sharon Tur-
ner's " History of the Anglo-Saxons," ii. 15.
' Pentecost, called Whitsunday or White-Sunday, on account, as some
allege, of the white garments worn by those who then received baptism,
was observed as early as the beginning of the third century. Origen, " Con-
tra Celsum," book vili. Tertullian, " De Idololatria," c. 14. We have then
no trace of the observation of Christmas. See Kaye's " Tertullian," p. 413.
The celebrated Saxon festival of Geol, or Jule, occurred at the period of
our Christmas. Sharon Turner's " History of the Anglo-Saxons," ii. 19.
'See Mosheim's "Commentaries," by Murdock, cent, ii., sec. 71. Dr.
VICTOR AND THE QUARTO-DECIMANS. 571
other circumstantials, now formed topics of earnest and pro-
tracted discussion. One party, known as the Quarto-deci-
mans, or Fourteenth Day Men, held that the Paschal feast
should be kept on the day when the Jews had been accus-
tomed to eat the Passover, that is, on the fourteenth day of
the first month of the Jewish year; ' and they celebrated the
festival of the resurrection on the seventeenth day of the
month, that is, on the third day after partaking of the Pas-
chal lamb, whether that happened to be the first day of the
week or otherwise. The other party strenuously maintained
that the eating of the Paschal lamb ought to be postponed till
the night preceding the first Lord's day next following the
fourteenth day of the first month. They recognized this next
Lord's day as the festival of our Saviour's resurrection, and
they considered that the whole of the preceding week till the
close should be kept as a fast not to be interrupted by the
eating of the Passover.
The most determined Quarto-decimans were to be found in
Asia Minor, and at their head was Polycrates, the chief pastor
of Ephesus. At the head of the other party was Victor, bish-
op of Rome. The Church over which he presided did not
originally observe any such appointment," but some of its
members of Jewish extraction were, on that account, dissatis-
fied ; and about the time of the establishment of the Catholic
system, the matter was settled by a compromise. It was then
arranged that the festival should be kept ; but to avoid the
imputation of symbolizing with the Jews, the Friday of the
Schaff seems disposed to deny this, but he assigns no reasons. See his
"Hist, of the Christ. Church," p. 374.
' Even as to this point there is not unanimity — some alleging that our
Lord partook of the Paschal lamb on the night preceding that on which it
was eaten by the Jews.
^ This is distinctly asserted by Irenaeus. " Anicetus and Pius, Hyginus
with Telesphorus and Xystus, neither did themselves observe, nor did they
permit those after them to observe it. And yet though they themselves did
not keep it, they were not the less at peace with those from churches where
it was kept, whenever they came to them, although to keep it then was so
much the more in opposition to those who did not." — Euseb. v. 24. See
also Cooper's " Free Church of Ancient Christendom," p. 247,
572 UNCERTAINTY OF TRADITION.
Paschal week and the Lord's day following, or the day on
which our Saviour suffered and the day on which He rose
from the dead, were selected as the great days of observance.
This arrangement was pretty generally accepted by those con-
nected with what now began to be called the Catholic Church;
but some parties pertinaciously refused to conform. Victor,
as the head of the Catholic confederation, deemed it his duty
to exact obedience from all its members ; and, deeply morti-
fied because the Asiatic Churches persisted in their own
usages, shut them out from his communion. But it was
soon evident that the Church was not prepared for such an
exercise of authority, as the Asiatics refused to yield ; and
when some of Victor's best friends protested against the im-
prudence of his procedure, the ecclesiastical thunderbolt
proved an impotent demonstration.
The Paschal controversy was far from creditable to any of
the parties concerned. The eating of a lamb on a particular
day was a fragment of an antiquated ceremonial ; and as the
ordinance itself had been superseded, the time of its observ-
ance was not a legitimate question for debate. Each party
endeavored to fortify its own position by quoting the names
of Paul or Peter or Philip or John ; but had any one of these
apostles risen from the dead and appeared in the ecclesiastical
arena, he would have rebuked all the disputants for their triv-
ial and unholy wrangling. We have here a notable proof of
the absurdity of appealing to tradjtion. Within a hundred
years after the death of the last survivor of the Twelve its tes-
timony was most discordant, for the tradition of the Western
Churches, as propounded by Victor, expressly contradicted
the tradition of the Eastern Churches, as attested by Polyc-
rates. In this case the apostles were misrepresented. Peter
and Paul certainly never taught the members of the Church
of Rome to eat the Paschal lamb ; for the Jewish temple con-
tinued standing till after both had finished their career, and
meanwhile the eating of the Passover was confined to those
who went up to worship at Jerusalem. Philip and John may
have continued to keep the feast according to the ancient rit-
ual till shortly before the ruin of the holy city; and if, after-
EASTER FESTIVAL UNNECESSARY. 573
ward, they permitted the converts from Judaism to kill a lamb
and to have a social repast at the same season of the year, they
attached no religious importance to the observance. But now
that both parties were heated by the spirit of rivalry and con-
tention, they extracted from tradition a testimony which it
did not supply. Vague reports and equivocal statements,
handed down from ages preceding, were compelled to convey
a meaning very different from that which they primarily com-
municated ; and thus the voice of one tradition was employed
to neutralize the authority of another.
It is a curious fact that the custom which now created such
violent excitement gradually passed into desuetude. At pres-
ent there are few places' where the eating of the Paschal lamb
is continued. But otherwise the practice for which Victor
contended eventually prevailed, as the Roman mode of cele-
'bration was established by the authority of the Council of
Nice. What is called Easter Sunday is still observed in
many Churches as the festival of the resurrection. But the
institution of such a festival is unnecessary, as each returning
Lord's day should remind the Christian that his Saviour has
risen from the dead and become the first-fruits of them that
sleep."
This Paschal controversy generated no schism, but other
disputes, which subsequently occurred, did not terminate so
peacefully. About the middle of the third century disagree-
ments respecting matters of discipline rent the Churches of
• The Armenians, the Copts, and others, still observe this rite. Mosheim's
"Comment.," cent, ii., sec. 71. As to the continuance of this custom at
Rome, see Bingham, v. 36, 37.
"^ Socrates, an ecclesiastical historian of the fifth century, has expressed
himself with remarkable candor on this subject. " It appears to me," says
he, " that neither the ancients nor moderns who have affected to follow the
Jews have had any rational foundation for contending so obstinately about
it (Easter). For they have altogether lost sight of the fact that when our
religion superseded the Jewish economy, the obligation to observe the Mo-
saic law and the ceremonial types ceased The Saviour and His apos-
tles have enjoined us by no law to keep this feast : nor in the New Testa-
ment are we threatened with any penalty, punishment, or curse for the neg-
lect of it, as the Mosaic law does the Jews." — Ecc. Hist., v., c. 22.
574 THE LAPSED AND THE TICKETS OF PEACE.
Carthage and Rome. At Carthage, the malcontents sought
for greater laxity ; at Rome, they contended for greater strict-
ness. At that time the confessors and the martyrs, or those
who had persevered in their adherence to the faith under
pains and penalties, and those who had suffered for it unto
death, were held in the highest veneration. They had been
even permitted in some places to dictate to the existing eccle-
siastical rulers by granting what were z^XX^^ tickets of peace ^
to the lapsed, that is, to those who had apostatized in a season
of persecution, and who had afterward sought readmission
to Church communion. These certificates, or tickets of peace,
were understood to entitle the parties in whose favor they were
drawn up to be admitted forthwith to the Lord's Supper.
But it sometimes happened that a confessor or a martyr was
himself far from a paragon of excellence,^ as mere obstinacy,
or pride, or self-righteousness, may occasionally hold out as
firmly as a higher principle ; and a man may give hisbody to
be burned who does not possess one atom of the grace of
Christian charity. There were confessors and martyrs in the
third century who held very loose views on the subject of
Church discipline, and who gave tickets of peace without
much inquiry or consideration.' In some instances they did
not condescend so far as to name the parties to whom they
supplied recommendations, but directed that a particular in-
dividual " and his friends" ' should be restored to ecclesiastical
fellowship. Cyprian of Carthage at length determined to set his
face against this system of testimonials. He held that the ticket
of a martyr was no sufificient proof of the penitence of the party
' This system was in existence in the time of Tertullian. See Tertullian,
" Ad. Martyr." c. i, and " De Pudicitia," c. 22.
' Cyprian speaks of a confessor spending his time " in drunkenness and
revelling" {Epist. vi., p. 37), and of some guilty of "fraud, fornication, and
adultery." {De Unit. Ecc, p. 404.)
' Thus Cyprian says, " Lucianus, not only while Paulus was still in prison,
gave letters in his name indiscriminatrly written with his own hand, but
even after his decease cox\\\w\x^i\ to do the same in his name, saying that he
had been ordered to do so by Paulus." — Epist. xxii., p. ^^.
* Cyprian, Epist. x., p. 52.
THE SCHISM OF FELICISSIMUS. 5/5
who tendered it, and that each application for readmission to
membership should be decided on its own merits, by the proper
Church authorities. The bishop was already obnoxious to
some of the presbyters and people of Carthage ; and, in the
hope of undermining his authority, his enemies eagerly seized
on his refusal to recognize these certificates. They endeavored
to create a prejudice against him by alleging that he was act-
ing dictatorially, and that he was not rendering due honor to
those who had so nobly imperilled or sacrificed their lives in
the service of the Gospel. To a certain extent their oppo-
sition was successful ; and, as much sickness prevailed at the
time, Cyprian was obliged to concede so far as to consent to
give the Eucharist, on the tickets of peace, to those who had
lapsed, and who were apparently approaching dissolution.
But, soon afterward, strengthened by the decision of an
African Synod, he returned to his original position, and the
parties now became hopelessly alienated. The leader of the
secession was a deacon of the Carthaginian Church, named
Felicissimus, and from him the schism which occurred has re-
ceived its designation. The Separatists chose a presbyter,
named Fortunatus, as their bishop, and thus in the capital of
the Proconsular Africa a new sect was organized. But the se-
cession, which was based upon a principle thoroughly unsound,
soon dwindled into insignificance, and rapidly passed into ob
livion.
The schism which occurred about the same time at Rome
was of a more formidable and permanent character. It had
long been the opinion of a certain party in the Church that
persons who had committed certain heinous sins should never
again be readmitted to ecclesiastical fellowship.' Those who
held this principle did not pretend to say that these transgres-
sions were unpardonable ; it was admitted that the offenders
might obtain forgiveness from God ; but it was alleged that
the Church on earth could never receive them to communion.
' Apostasy in time of persecution was considered a mortal sin. Adultery
was placed in the same category. Cyprian, Epist. Hi., p. 155. At one time
Cyprian himself held the sentiments of the stricter party. See his " Script-
ure Testimonies against the Jews," book iii., § 28, p. 563.
576 THE SCHISM OF NOVATIAN.
Cornelius, the bishop of Rome, supported a milder system,
and contended that those who were not hopelessly excluded
from the peace of God should not be inexorably debarred
from the visible pledges of his affection. The leader of the
stricter party was Novatian, a Roman presbyter of pure morals
and considerable ability, who has left behind him one of the
best treatises in defence of the Trinity which the ecclesiastical
literature of antiquity can supply. This individual was or-
dained bishop in opposition to Cornelius; and, for a time,
some of the most distinguished pastors of the age found it
difficult to decide between these two claimants of the great
bishopric. The high character of Novatian, and the supposed
tendency of his discipline to preserve the credit and promote
the purity of the Church, secured him considerable support ; the
sect which derived its designation from him spread into various
countries ; and, for several generations, the Novatians could
challenge comparison, as to soundness in the faith and pro-
priety of general conduct, with those who assumed the name
of Catholics.
The agitation caused by the Novatian schism had not yet
subsided when another controversy respecting the propriety
of rebaptizing those designated heretics created immense ex-
citement. Cyprian at the head of one party meintained that
the baptism of heretical ministers was not to be recognized,
and that the ordinance should again be dispensed to such
sectaries as sought admission to catholic communion ; whilst
Stephen of Rome as strenuously affirmed that the rite was
not to be repeated. It is rather singular that the Italian prel-
ate, on this occasion, pleaded for the more liberal principle;
but various considerations conspired to prompt him to pursue
this course. When heresies were only germinating, and when
what was afterward called the Catholic Church was but in
process of formation, no one seems to have thought of re-
baptizing those to whom the ordinance had already been dis-
pensed by any reputed Christian minister.' In the time of
' The imposition of hands, by an orthodox pastor, was deemed sulTicient
to make up what was wanting in the heretical baptism. See Euseb. vii. 2.
THE BAPTISMAL CONTROVERSY. 577
Hyginus of Rome, even the baptism of the leading ministers
of the Gnostics was acknowledged by the chief pastor of
the Western metropolis.' The Church of Rome had ever
since continued to act on the same system ; and her determi-
nation to adhere to it had been fortified, rather than weakened,
by recent occurrences. As the Novatians had set out on the
principle of rebaptizing all who joined them,^ Stephen recoiled
from the idea of deviating from the ancient practice to follow
in their footsteps. But Cyprian, who was naturally of a very
imperious temper, and who had formed most extravagant
notions of the dignity of the Catholic Church, could not
brook the thought that the ministers connected with the
schism of Felicissimus dispensed any baptism at all. He
imagined that the honor of the party to which he belonged
was irretrievably compromised by such an admission, and he
was sustained in these views by a strong party of African and
Asiatic bishops. On this occasion Stephen repeated the ex-
periment made sixty years before by his predecessor, Victor,
and attempted to reduce his antagonists to acquiescence by
excluding them from his fellowship. But this second effort
to enforce ecclesiastical conformity was equally unsuccessful.
It only provoked an outburst of indignation, as the parties in
favor of rebaptizing refused to give way. This controversy
led, however, to the broad assertion of a principle which
might not otherwise have been brought out so distinctly, foi
it was frequently urged during the course of the discussion
that all pastors stand upon a basis of equality, and that the
bishop of a little African village had intrinsically as good a
right to think and to act for himself as the bishop of the great
capital of the Empire.
It is very clear that at this time the unity of the Church did
not consist in the uniformity of its discipline and ceremonies.
The believers at Jerusalem continued to practice circumcision
nearly a century after the establishment of Gentile Churches in
which the rite was unknown. On the question of rebaptizing
* Cyprian, Epist. Ixxiii., p. 279, and Ixxiv., p. 295.
* Cyprian, Epist. Ixxiii., pp. 277, 278.
37
578 DIVERSITY OF DISCIPLINE AND CEREMONIES.
heretics the Churches of Africa and Asia Minor were diametri-
cally opposed to the Church of Rome and other communities
in the West. As to the mode of observing the Paschal feast a
still greater diversity existed. According to the testimony of
Irenaeus there was nothing approaching to uniformity in the
practice of the various societies with which he was acquainted.
" The dispute," said he, " is not only respecting the day, but
also respecting the mamter of fasting. For some think that
they ought to fast only one day, some two, some more days ;
some compute their day as consisting of forty hours night and
day ; ' and this diversity existing among those that observe it,
is not a matter that has just sprung up in our times, but long
ago among those before us," ' When Cyprian refused to ad-
mit the lapsed to the Lord's Supper on the strength of the
tickets of peace furnished by the confessors and the martyrs,
he departed from the course previously adopted in Carthage ;
and when Novatian excluded them altogether from commun-
ion, he acted on a principle not then novel. There was at that
time quite as much diversity in discipline and ceremonies
among Christians as is now to be found in evangelical Protes-
tant Churches.
As we descend from the apostolic age, the spirit of the
dominant body betrays a growing want of Christian charity.
There soon appeared a disposition to monopolize religion, and
to disown such as did not adopt a .certain ecclesiastical Shib-
boleth. When the great mass of Christians were organized in-
to the Catholic Church, the chief pastors branded with the odi-
ous name of heretics all who did not belong to their associa-
tion. The Nazarenes originally held the great doctrines of the
Gospel; but they soon found themselves in the list of the pro-
scribed, and gradually degenerat'ed into abettors of very cor-
rupt principles. Those members of the Church of Carthage
who joined Felicissimus acted on principles which the pred-
ecessors even of Cyprian had sanctioned, and yet the African
prelate denounced them as beyond the pale of divine
' In Stieren's *' Irenasus," i. 824, there is a diiTerent reading of this pas-
sage, according to which some continued the fast forty days.
' Euscb. V. 24.
ILLIBERALITY OF THE CATHOLICS. 579
mercy, Novatian was not less orthodox than Cornelius ; but
because he contended for a system of discipline which, though
not unprecedented, was deemed by his rival too austere, and
because he organized a party to support him, he also was
stigmatized with the designation of heretic. The Quarto-
decimans, as well as those who contended for Catholic rebap-
tism, must have been classed in the same list, had they not
formed numerous and powerful confederations. Thus it was
that those called Catholics were taught to cherish a contracted
spirit, and to look on all, except their own party, as out of the
reach of salvation. Their false conceptions of what properly
constituted the Church involved them in many errors and
tended to vitiate their entire theology. But this subject, too
important to be discussed in a few cursory remarks, is reserved
for consideration in a separate chapter.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE THEORY OF THE CHURCH, AND THE HISTORY OF ITS
PERVERSION. — CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.
'* I AM the good Shepherd," said Jesus: "the good Shep-
herd giveth his \i(e /or tJie sheep My sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they folloiv me: and I give unto them
eternal Hfe, and they shall never perish^ ' The sheep here
spoken of are the true children of God. They constitute that
blessed community of which it is written, " Christ loved the
Church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and
cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he
might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot
or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and
without blemish.''^
The society thus described is, in the highest sense, " the
holy Catholic Church." Its members are to be found wherever
genuine piety exists, and they are all united to Christ by the
bond of the Holy Spirit. Their Divine Overseer has promised
to be with them " alway unto the end of the world,"' to keep
them " through faith unto salvation," * and to sustain them
even against the violence of " the gates of hell." ^ Though
they are scattered throughout diffei;cnt countries, and sepa-
rated by various barriers of ecclesiastical division, they have
the elements of concord. Could they be brought together,
and divested of their prejudices, and made fully acquainted
with each other's sentiments, they would speedily incorporate;
for they possess " the unity of the Spirit," ' " the unity of the
' John X. II, 27, 28. '^ Eph. v. 25-27. * Matt, xxviii. 20.
* I Pet. i. 5. ' Matt. xvi. i8. • Eph. iv. 3.
(580)
THE CHURCH VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE. 581
faith," ' and " the unity of the knowledge of the Son of God."
But these heirs of promise can not be distinguished by the eye
of sense ; their true character can be known infalHbly only to
the Great Searcher of hearts ; and for this, among other rea-
sons, the spiritual commonwealth to which they belong is
usually designated " ^/te Church invisible^ '
The visible Church is composed, to a considerable extent, of
very different materials. It embraces the whole mixed mul-
titude of nominal Christians, including not a few who exhibit
no evidence whatever of vital godliness. Our Lord describes
'it in one of His parables when He says, " The kingdom of
heaven is like unto a net which was cast into the sea, and
gathered of every kind ; which when it was full, they drew to
shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but
cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world :
the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among
the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there
shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." *
In the first century the profession of Christianity was peril-
ous as well as unpopular, so that the number of spurious dis-
ciples was comparatively small ; and so long as the brethren
enjoyed the ministrations of inspired teachers, all attempts to
alienate them from each other, or to create schisms, had little
success. But still, even when the apostles were on earth,
some of the Churches planted and watered by themselves
were involved in error, and agitated by the spirit of division,
" It hath been declared unto me of you," says Paul to the
Corinthians, " that there are contentions among you. Now
this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul, and I of
' Eph. iv, 13. "^ Eph. iv. 13.
' No writer since the Reformation has discussed the subject of the Church
with more learning and ability than the Rev. Dr. Hodge, of Princeton.
Those who wish to be thoroughly acquainted with all the bearings of the
question should consult his "Essays and Reviews," New York, 1857. Also
the Princeton Review. See also an article of his taken from the
Princeton Review in the British and Foreign Evangelical Review for
Sept., 1854.
* Matt. xiii. 47-50.
582 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ." ' The same writer
had occasion to mourn over the apostasy of the Churches of
Galatia. " I marvel," said he, " that ye are so soon removed
from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another
Gospel O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you
that ye should not obey the truth ? " " The Church of Sardis
in the lifetime of the Apostle John had sunk into an equally
deplorable condition, and hence he was commissioned to de-
clare to it, " I know thy works, that thou hast a name that
thou livest, a?td art dead." '
The circumstances which led to the organization of the
Catholic system have already been detailed, and it has been
shown that the great design of the arrangement was to secure
the visible unity of the ecclesiastical commonwealth. The
Catholic confederation was supposed to comprehend all the
faithful ; and it was expected that, not long after its establish-
ment, it would ring the death-knell of schism and sectarian-
ism. According to its fundamental principle, whoever was not
in communion with the bishop was out of the Church. To be
out of the Church was considered tantamount to be without
God and without hope, so that this test condemned all who
in any way dissented from the dominant creed as beyond the
pale of salvation. Its assumptions, involving a decision of
such grave importance and such dubious authority, were ac-
knowledged with some difficulty ; and the question as to the
extent and character of the Church led to considerable dis-
cussion ; * but the horror of heresy, which so generally pre-
vailed, strengthened the pretensions of the hierarchy ; and at
length every candidate for baptism was required to declare, as
one of the articles of his faith, " I believe in the holy Catholic
Church." '
According to one interpretation the sentiment embodied in
this profession was perfectly unobjectionable. If by the holy
Catholic Church we understand the Church invisible composed
' I Cor. i. n, 12. « Gal. i. 6, iii. i. ^ Rev. iii. i.
* Thus, Melito of Sardis wrote a work " On the Church." Euseb. iv. 26.
' Apostles' Creed. For another form see Bunsen's " Hippolytus," iii.
25. 27.
NO SALVATION OUT OF THE CHURCH. 583
of all the true children of God, every devout student of the
Scriptures is bound to express his belief in its existence and
its excellence. This Church is precious in the eyes of the
Lord ; it is the habitation of His Spirit; and the heir of His
great and glorious promises. But the holy Catholic Church,
in the current ecclesiastical phraseology of the third century,
had a very different signification. It denoted the great mass
of disciples associated under the care of the Catholic bishops,
as distinguished from all the minor sects throughout the Em-
pire which made a profession of Christianity. A sincere and
intelligent believer might well have scrupled to give such a
title to the mixed society thus claiming its application.
It is quite true that there is no salvation out of the Church,
if by the Church is meant that elect company which Christ
died to redeem and sanctify ; but the Word of God does not
warrant us to assert that the eternal well-being of man de-
pends on his connection with any earthly society. Even in
the days of the apostles, some who were subjected to a sen-
tence of excommunication were the excellent of the earth.
" I wrote unto the Church" says John, "but Diotrephes, who
loveth to have the pre-eminence among them, receiveth us not.
Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he
doeth, prating against us with malicious words, and not con-
tent therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren,
and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the
Churchy ^ This Diotrephes seems to have been some way-
ward and domineering presbyter who took the lead among his
fellow-elders, and who induced them by the influence of com-
manding talent, combined with superior worldly station, to
support him in his wilfulness.' But it is very foolish to sup-
pose that the brethren who were thus cast out of the Church
were thereby eternally undone, for such certainly was not the
judgment of the beloved disciple. Faith in Christ, and not
' 3 John 9, 10.
'^ He appears, for certain reasons now unknown, to have been dissatisfied
with some disciples who had been engaged in missionary work ; and he had
influence sufficient to procure the excommunication of the brethren who
entertained them.
584 THE TRUE CHURCH NOT THE CHURCH VISIBLE.
a relation to any visible society, secures a title to heaven.
Thousands, admitted into Paradise, like the thief on the cross,
have never been baptized ; ' and we might point out number-
less cases of individuals in the wonderful providence of God
led to a saving knowledge of the truth, who have never had
an opportunity of joining a congregation of Christian worship-
pers. But those who assumed the name of Catholics were
continuatly dwelling on the importance of a connection with
their own association ; and, assuming that they were the
Church, they appropriated to themselves whatever they found
in Scripture in commendation of its excellence. The prom-
ises addressed to the Church in the book of inspiration refer,
however, not to any local and visible community, but to the
" Church of the first-born which are written in heaven "; ^ and
the Catholics, by misapplying them, were led to form very ex-
travagant notions of the advantages of their position. The
ascription of the attributes of the Church invisible to their
own association was the fundamental misconception on which
a vast fabric of error was erected. By reason of the indwell-
ing of the Spirit in all believers the Church invisible is catholic,
or universal, that is, it is to be found wherever vital Chris-
tianity exists ; for the same reason it is holy, every member of
it being a living temple of Jehovah; it is also one, as one
Spirit animates all the saints and unites them to God and to
each other; and it '\s perpetual, or indestructible, for the Most
High has promised never to leave Himself without witnesses
among men, and all His redeemed ones shall be trophies of
His grace throughout all eternity. But these attributes were
represented as belonging to the Church visible, and this radi-
cal mistake became the parent of monstrous delusions. The
ecclesiastical writers who flourished toward the end of the
second and beginning of the third century exhibit a consider-
able amount of inconsistency and vacillation when they touch
upon the subject ; ' but, half a century afterward, the language
' He would be a bold man who would assert that all the pious members of
the Society of Friends are in a hopeless condition.
» Heb. xii. 23.
' See Rothc's " Anfange der christlichen Kirche," p. 575.
ERRORS OF THE CATHOLIC THEORY. 585
currently employed is much bolder and more decided. At
that time Cyprian does not hesitate to express himself in the
strongest terms of high-church exclusiveness. "^//," says he,
" are adversaries of the Lord and antichrist who are found to
have departed from the charity and unity of the Catholic
Church." ' " You ought to know that the bishop is in the
Church and the Church in the bishop, and if any be not with
the bishop, that he is not in the Church!' "^ " The house of God
is one, and there can not be salvation for any except in the
Church." ' " He can no longer have God for a Father, who
has not the Church for a mother." *
Though the Catholics were a compact body, forming the
bulk of the Christian population, their system failed to absorb
all the professors of the Gospel, or even greatly to check the
tendency toward ecclesiastical separation. In their contro-
versies with seceders and schismatics, their own principles
were more distinctly defined ; and, as they soon found that
they were quite an overmatch for any individual sect, their
tone gradually became more decided and dictatorial. But the
theological position from which they started was a sophism ;
and, like the movements of a traveller who has mistaken his
way, every step of their progress was an advance in a wrong
direction. Some of the more prominent errors to which their
theory led may here be enumerated.
I. The theory of the Catholic Church recognized an odious
ecclesiastical monopoly. Pastors and teachers are " for the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ "; " and yet a sinner may be
saved without their instrumentality. The truth when spoken
by a layman, or when read in a private chamber, may prove
quite as efficacious as when proclaimed from the pulpit of a
cathedral. That kingdom of God which " cometh not with
observation " is built up by " the Word of His grace "; * and
" Cyprian, Epist. Ixxvi., p. 316. " Epist. Ixix., p. 265.
' Epist. Ixii., p. 221.
* " De Unit. Ecc." p. 397. See also Lactantius, " De Vera Sapientia,"
lib. iv., p. 282.
' Eph. iv. 12. » Acts XX. 32.
586 ERRORS OF THE CATHOLIC THEORY,
SO long as the Word exists, and so long as the Spirit applies
it to enlighten and sanctify and comfort God's children, the
Church is imperishable. The evangelical labors of the pious
master of a merchant vessel have often been blessed abun-
dantly ; and among the tens of thousands afloat on the broad
waters, who seldom enjoy any ecclesiastical ministrations, may
be found some of the highest types of Christian excellence.
Though regularly ordained pastors are necessary to the growth
and well-being of the Church, such facts show that they are
not essential to its existence. But, according to the Catholic
system, they are the veins and arteries through which its very
life-blood circulates. All grace belongs to the visible society
called the Catholic Church, and of this grace the Catholic
ministers have the exclusive distribution. Without their in-
tervention, as the dispensers of divine ordinances, no one can
hope to inherit heaven. No other ministers whatever can be
instrumental in conferring any saving benefit. Was it extra-
ordinary that individuals supposed to be intrusted with such
tre'mendous influence soon began to be regarded with awful
reverence ? If the services they rendered were necessary to sal-
vation, and if these services could be performed by none else,
they were possessed of absolute authority, and it was to be
expected that they should act as " lords over God's heritage."
Under the Mosaic economy none save the descendants of a
singe individual were permitted to present the sacrifices or to
enter the holy place. In the celebration of the most solemn rites
of their religion the Jewish people were kept at a mysterious
distance from the presence of the Divine Majesty, and were
taught to regard the of^ciating ministers as mediators between
God and themselves. This arrangement was symbolical, as
all the priests were types of the Great Intercessor. But every
believer may enjoy the nearest access to his Maker, for the
Saviour has made all His people "kings and priests unto
God." ' The ministers of the Gospel do not constitute a
privileged fraternity entitled by birth to exercise certain func-
tions and to claim certain immunities. They shouJd be ap-
' Rev. i. 6.
ERRORS OF THE CATHOLIC THEORY. 587
pointed by the people as well 2a for them, and no service
which they perform implies that they have nearer access to
the Divine Presence than the rest of the worshippers. In the
New Testament they are never designated priests^ neither is
their intervention between God and the sinner described as in-
dispensable. But Catholicism invested them with a factitious
consequence, representing them as inheriting peculiar rights
and privileges by ecclesiastical descent from the apostles. Ac-
cording to Cyprian, " Christ says to the apostles, ajid thereby
to all prelates who by vicarious ordination are successors of the
apostles, ' He that heareth you, heareth me.' " * About the
commencement of the third century the pastors of the Church
began to be called priests,' and this change in the ecclesiasti-
cal nomenclature betokens the influence of Catholic principles
on the current theology. The Jewish sacrificial system had
ceased, and the Hebrew Christians were disposed to transfer
to their new ministers the titles of the sons of Levi ; but, had
not the alteration been in accordance with the spirit of the
times it could not have been accomplished. It was, however,
justified by Catholicism, as that system set forth the clergy in
the light of mediators between God and the people. This
misconception of the nature of the Christian ministry gener-
ated a multitude of errors. If ministers are priests they offer
sacrifice, and are intrusted with the work of atonement. It is
true, indeed, that the monstrous dogma of transubstantiation
was not yet broached, but forms of expression exceedingly
liable to misinterpretation, began to be adopted. Thus, the
' If our authorized version of the English Bible is to be regarded as a
standard of correct usage, the word priest can not be properly employed to
designate a Christian minister. In the New Testament, as stated in the
text, a minister of the Word is never called z. priest {lEpevc), and the latter
term when used in reference to an official personage in our English Bible,
always denotes an individual w/to offers sacrifice. To call a Gospel minis-
ter a priest is, therefore, to adopt an incorrect expression and to insinuate a
false doctrine.
* Epist. Ixix., p. 264.
* Thus, Tertullian speaks of the " ordo sacerdotalis." " De Exhor. Cast."
c. vii.
588 ERRORS OF THE CATHOLIC THEORY.
Eucharist was styled " a sacrifice," ' and the communion-table
" the altar." ' At first such phraseology was not intended to
be hterally understood/ but its tendency, notwithstanding,
was most pernicious, as it fostered false views of a holy ordi-
nance, and laid the foundation of the most senseless supersti-
tion ever imposed on human credulity.
Every genuine pastor has a divine call to the sacred office,
and no act of man can supply the place of this spiritual voca-
tion, God alone can provide a true minister,' for He alone
can bestow the gifts and the graces required. Ordination is
simply the form in which the existing Church rulers endorse
the credentials of the candidate, and sanction his appearance
in the character of an ecclesiastical functionary. But these
rulers may themselves be incompetent or profane, and if so,
their approval is worthless ; or, by mistake, they may permit
wolves in sheep's clothing to take charge of the flock of
Christ. The simple fact, therefore, that an individual holds a
certain position in any section of the visible Church, is not
decisive evidence that he is a true shepherd. But according
to the doctrine of Catholicism, whoever was accredited by
the existing ecclesiastical authorities was the chosen of the
Lord. When certain parties who had joined Novatian were
induced to retrace their steps, they made the following peni-
tential declaration in presence of a large congregation as-
sembled in the Western metropolis: "We acknowledge Cor-
nelius bishop of the most holy Catholic Church chosen by God
Almighty and Christ our Lord." * Cyprian asserted that, as
he was bishop of Carthage, he must necessarily have a divine
commission. Nothing, indeed, can exceed the arrogance
with which this imperious prelate expressed himself when
' Cyprian, Epist. Ixiii., p. 230; Ixiv., p. 239.
" Cyprian, Epist. Ixix., p. 264. Cotelerius, i. 442. The Eucharist is called
a sacrifice by Justin Martyr (see his Dialogue with Trypho, " Opera," p.
260) apparently in a figurative sense, but when dispensed by a minister
called a priest, such language became exceedingly liable to misconception.
3 In proof of this see Cyprian, Epist. Ivi., p. 200, and Ixiii., p. 231. In the
former place Cyprian says, " Mindful of the Eucharist, the hand which has
received the Lord's body may embrace the Lord himself ."
* Heb. V. 4 ; Acts xx. 28, xxvi. 16. ' Cyprian, Epist. xlvi., p. 136.
ERRORS OF THE CATHOLIC THEORY. 589
speaking of his ecclesiastical authority. To challenge his
conduct was, in his estimation, tantamount to blasphemy ;
and, to dispute his prerogatives, a contempt of the Divine
Majesty. Once, in a time of persecution, he retired from
Carthage, and he was, in consequence, upbraided by some as
a coward ; but when a fellow-bishop, Papianus, ventured to
ask an explanation of a course of proceeding which betokened
indecision, Cyprian treated the inquiry as an insult, and
poured out upon his correspondent a whole torrent of invec-
tives and reproaches. He is God's bishop, and no one is to
attempt, by the breath of suspicion, to stain the lustre of his
episcopal dignity. " I perceive by your letter," says he,
" that you believe the same things of me, and persist in what
you believed This is not to believe in God, this is to
be a rebel against Christ and against His Gospel Do
you suppose that the priests of God are without His cogni-
zance ordained in the Church? For if you believe that those
who are ordained are unworthy and incestuous, what else is
it but to believe that, not by God, or through God, are His
bishops appointed in the Church." ' After indulging at great
length in the language of denunciation, he adds, in a strain
of irony, " Vouchsafe at length and deign to pronounce on
us, and to confirm our episcopate by the authority of your
hearing, that God and Christ may give you thanks, that
through you a president and ruler has been restored as well
to their altar as to their people." ^
n. The Catholic system encouraged its adherents to culti-
vate very bigoted and ungenerous sentiments. They were
' Epist. Ixix., p. 262. See also Epist. Iv., p. 177. "If any amount of dif-
ference of opinion as to the truth or untruth of the teaching of a geographi-
cal priesthood will justify separation under another Christian ministry,
then it at once ceases to be true that there can be but one bishop, or one
priest, over any given area in which such differences exist ; there then tnay
obviously be as many bishops, or as many priests, as there may be different
bodies of men differing from each other's teaching in what they deem suffi-
ciently essential points to justify separation." — Letter from the Duke of
Argyll to the Bishop of Oxford, p. 8.
'^ Epist. Ixix., p. 264.
590 ERRORS OF THE CATHOLIC THEORY.
taught to regard themselves as the " peculiar people," and to
look on all others, however excellent, as without claim to the
title or privileges of Christians. How different the spirit of
the inspired heralds of the Gospel ! When Peter saw that the
Holy Ghost was poured out on men uncircumcised, he recog-
nized the divine intimation by acknowledging the believing
Gentiles as his brethren in Christ. Conceiving that God him-
self had thus settled the question of their Church member-
ship, " he commanded them to be baptized in the name of
the Lord." ' But men who professed to derive their authority
from the apostle, now showed how grievously they misunder-
stood the benign and comprehensive genius of his ecclesiasti-
cal polity. The dominant party among the disciples had not
long assumed the name of Catholics when they sadly belied
the designation ; for nothing could be more illiberal or un-
catholic than their Church principles. All evidences of piety,
no matter how decided, if found among the Nazarenes, or the
Novatians, or the friends of Felicissimus, were rejected by
them as apocryphal. The brightest manifestations of godli-
ness, if exhibited outside their own denomination, only roused
their jealousy or provoked their uncandid and malicious criti-
cisms. The Catholic bishops acted as if they moved within
something like a charmed circle, and as if a curse rested upon
everything not under their own influence. Their proceedings
often displayed alike their folly and inconsistency. Tertul-
lian, for example, was a Montanist, and yet he was the writer
from whom Cyprian himself derived a large share of his theo-
logical instruction. " Give me the master^' the bishop of
Carthage is reported to have said when he called for his
favorite author." Thus, an individual who, according to
Cyprian's own principles, was beyond the pale of hope, was
the teacher with whom he was daily holding spiritual fellow-
ship ! The bigotry of the party appears all the more inex-
cusable when we consider that some of those who differed
from them taught the cardinal doctrines of the Gospel, as
zealously and as fully as themselves. The Novatians seceded
' Acts X. 48. ■'' Jerome, " Catalogue of Ecclesiastical Writers."
CATHOLICISM OPPOSED TO GOD'S WORD. 59I
from their communion merely on the ground of a question of
discipline, and yet the Catholics could not believe that any
grace existed among these ancient Puritans. The Novatians
might exhibit much of the beauty of holiness, and shed their
blood in the cause of Christianity,' but all this availed them
nothing in the estimation of their narrow-minded antagonists.
" Let no one think," says Cyprian, " that they can be good
men who leave the Church."" " He can never attain to the
kingdom who leaves her with whom the kingdom shall be." '
" He can not be a martyr who is not in the Church."^ Every
man not blinded by prejudice might well have suspected the
soundness of a theory sustained by such brazen recklessness
of assertion.
HI. Nothing, however, more clearly revealed the anti-
evangelical character of the Catholic system than its inter-
ference with the claims of the Word of God. The Gospel
commends itself by the light of its own evidence. The
official rank of the preacher can not add to its truth, neither
can the corrupt motives which may prompt him to proclaim
it, impair its authority. As a revelation from heaven, it pos-
sesses a title to consideration irrespective of any individual,
or any Church ; and God honors His own communication
even when delivered by a very unworthy messenger.^ " Some
indeed," says Paul, " preach Christ even of envy and strife,
and some also of ^ood-will What then ? Notwith-
standing, every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ
is preached ; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice." "
But Catholicism taught its partisans to cherish very different
feelings, for they were instructed to believe that the Gospel
itself was without efficacy when promulgated by a minister
who did not belong to their own party. They could not
challenge a single flaw in the creed of Novatian,' and yet
they stoutly maintained that his preaching was useless, and
1 Some of those called heretics had many martyrs. Euseb. v. 16.
" " De Unit. Ecc." Opera, p. 399. 3 <« £)e Unit. Ecc." p. 401.
* " De Unit. Ecc." p. 401, * Jeremiah xxiii. 21, 22.
' Phil. i. 15, 18. See also Mark ix. 38, 39.
' Cyprian himself makes this admission. Epist. Ixxvi., p. 319.
592 CATHOLICISM OPPOSED TO GOD'S WORD.
that the baptism he dispensed was worthless as the ablutior
of a heathen, " You should know," says Cyprian, *' that we
ought not even to be ctirious as to what Novatian teaches, since
he teaches out of the Church. Whosoever he be, and whatso-
ever he be, he is not a Christian who is not in the Church of
Christ." ' " When the Novatians say, ' Dost thou believe re-
mission of sins and eternal life by the Holy Church?' they
lie in their interrogatory, since they have 710 Churchy "
Strange infatuation ! Who could have anticipated that one
hundred and fifty years after the death of the Apostle John,
such miserable and revolting bigotry would be current ? The
Scriptures teach us that, in the salvation of sinners, ministers
are nothing, and the Gospel everything. " Whosoever," says
Paul, " shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
.... Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of
God.'' ^ Cyprian did not understand such doctrine. He imag-
ined that the Word of God had no power except when issuing
from the lips of the ministers of his own communion. The
Catholic Church must put its seal upon the Gospel to give it
currency. Without this stamp it was all in vain to announce
it to a world lying in wickedness. The Catholic pastor might
be a man without ability ; he might be comparatively ignorant
and of more than suspicious integrity ; and yet the King of
the Church was supposed to look down with complacency on
all the ofificial acts of this wretched hireling, while no dew ot
heavenly influence rested on the labors of a pious and accom-
plished Novatian minister ! When men like Cyprian were
prepared to acknowledge such folly, it was not strange that a
darkness which might be felt soon settled down upon Chris-
tendom.
In the preceding pages the history of the ancient Church
for the first three centuries has passed under review, and a
few general observations may be not inappropriately appended
to this concluding chapter. The details here furnished supply
' Epist. lii., p. 156. ' Epist. Ixxvi., p. 319. * Rom. x. 13, 17.
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 593
ample evidence that Christianity was greatly corrupted long
before the conversion of Constantine. Much of the supersti-
tiort which has since so much disfigured the Church was, in-
deed, yet unknown. During the first three centuries we find
no recognition of the mediatorship of Mary, or of the dogma
of her immaculate conception,' or of the worship of images,
or of the celebration of divine service in an unknown tongue,
or of the infallibihty of the Roman bishop. But the germs of
many dangerous errors were distinctly visible, and when the
sun of Imperial favor began to shine upon the Christians,
these errors rapidly reached maturity. The Eucharistic bread
and wine were viewed with superstitious awe, and language
was applied to them calculated to bewilder and confound. A
system of penitential discipline alien to the spirit of the New
Testament was already in existence ; rites and ceremonies un-
known i;i the apostolic age made their appearance ; and in t|;ie
great towns a crowd of functionaries, whom Paul and Peter
would have refused to own, added to the pomp of public wor-
ship. Some imagine that in the times of TertuUian and of
Cyprian we may find the purest faith in the purest form, but
a more intimate acquaintance with the history of the period is
quite sufficient to dispel the delusion. A little consideration
may convince us that, in the second or third century, we can
scarcely expect to see either the most brilliant displays of the
light of truth or the most attractive exhibitions of personal
holiness. The waters of life gushed forth, clear as crystal,
from the Rock of Ages ; but, as their course was through the
waste wilderness of a degenerate world, they were soon defiled
by its pollutions ; and it was not till the desert began " to
rejoice and blossom as the rose," that the stream flowed
smoothly in the channel it had wrought, and partially recov-
ered its native purity. At the present day we do not expect
as high a style of Christianity in a convert from idolatry as in
an individual trained from infancy under the care of enlight-
' TertuUian did not hold the doctrine of her perpetual virginity. See
" De Monog.," c. 8, and " De Carne Christi," c. 23. Neither did he believe
in her immaculate conception. See Kaye's " TertuUian," p. 338, and Jer-
ome's " Tract against Helvidius." Du Pin, i. 346.
38
594 CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.
enecl and godly parents. By judicious culture the graces of
the Spirit, as well as the fruits of the earth, may be improved ;
but when a section of the open field of immorality and igno-
rance is first added to the garden of the Lord, it may not
forthwith possess all the fertility and loveliness of the more
ancient plantation.' A large portion of the early disciples had
once been heathens ; they had to struggle against evil habits
and inveterate prejudices ; they were surrounded by corrupt-
ing influences ; and, as they had not the same means of ob-
taining an exact and comprehensive knowledge of the Gospel
as ourselves, we can not reasonably hope to find among them
any very extraordinary measure either of spiritual wisdom or
of consistent piety.
When the Church toward the middle of the second century
was sorely harassed by divisions, its situation was extremely
critical and embarrassing. Christianity had appeared among
men bearing the olive branch of peace, and had proposed to
supersede the countless superstitions of the heathen by a faith
binding the human race together in one great and harmonious
family. How mortified, then, must have been its friends
when Basilides, Marcion, Valentine, Cerdo, Mark, and many
others began to propagate their heresies ; and when it was to
be feared that the divisions of the Church would prove as
numerous as the religions of paganism ! Had the ministers
of the Gospel girded themselves for the emergency ; had they
boldly encountered the errorists, and vanquished them with
weapons drawn from the armory of the Word ; they would
have approved themselves worthy of their position, and ac-
quired strength for future conflicts. But whilst they did not
altogether neglect an appeal to Scripture, they were tempted
in an evil hour to think of sequestrating their own freedom,
in the hope of overwhelming heresy with the vigor of an ec-
clesiastical despotism. By investing their chairman with arbi-
trary power and by making communion with this functionary
the criterion of discipleship, they sanctioned a perilous ar-
' One of the most distinguished and sagacious of modern missionaries
has called attention to this fact. See Livingstone's " Missionary Travels in
South Africa," p. 107.
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 595
rangement and indorsed a vicious principle. From this date
we trace the commencement of a career of defection. The
bishop and the Church began to supplant Christ and a knowl-
edge of the Gospel. Bigotry advanced apace, and conscience
found itself in bondage.
The establishment of the hierarchical system, though im
parting, as was thought, greater unity to the structure of the
Church, did not really invigorate its constitution. The spirit-
ual commonwealth is very different from any merely earthly
organization, for it has no statute-book but the Bible, and it
owes explicit obedience to no ruler but the King of Zion.
Freedom of conscience, in obedience to the Word, is the heri-
tage of all its members ; and every one of them is bound to
exercise the privilege, and to resist its violation. Its unity
consists, not in adhesion to any visible head, but in cordial
submission to its one great Lord and Sovereign. When a
change was made in its primitive framework, its essential unity
was impaired. After the elders had handed over a considera-
ble share of their authority to their president, they were not
expected to take such a deep interest in its government as
when they were themselves individually responsible for its
official administration. They still, indeed, acted as his coun-
sellors, but as they no longer held the independent footing
they had once occupied, they could neither speak nor act so
freely and so energetically as before. Thus, when one mem-
ber of the ecclesiastical body was permitted to attain an un-
natural magnitude, others ceased to perform their proper
functions, and the whole eventually became diseased and
misshapen. And the new arrangement entirely failed in
checking the growth of the errorists. After its adoption her-
esies sprung up as rapidly as ever, and the multitude of its
sects continued to be the scandal of Christianity even in the
time of Constantine." Their suppression is to be attributed,
not to the potency of Prelacy, but to the stern intolerance of
I Maximian, in his famous edict of toleration, lays great stress on this
circumstance, " De Mortibus Persecutorum," c. 34. See also Euseb.
viii. 17.
596 CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.
the Imperial laws. By the rigid enforcement of conformity
the Catholic Church at length reigned without a rival.
The extant ecclesiastical writings of the third century de-
monstrate that the doctrine of the visible unity of the Church,
as represented by the Catholic hierarchy, already formed a
prominent part of the current creed. As there is " one God,
one Christ, and one Holy Ghost," it was affirmed that there
could be but "one bishop in the Catholic Church."' This
theory was inconsistent with the fact that there were many
bishops in almost every province of the Empire ; but the in-
genuity of churchmen attempted a solution of the difficulty.
It was asserted that the whole episcopacy should be regarded
as one, and that each bishop constituted an integral part of
the grand unit. " The episcopacy is one," says Cyprian, " it
is a whole in which each enjoys full possession." ' " There is
one Church from Christ throughout the whole world divided
into many members, and one episcopate difi'used throughout an
harmonious multitude of many bishops." "
We have seen that the Roman prelate was already recog-
nized as the centre of ecclesiastical unity. A misunderstood
passage in the Gospel of Matthew* was supposed to sanction
this ecclesiastical primacy. " There is," said the bishop of
Carthage, "one God, and one Christ, and one Church, and one
diair fotmded by the Word of the Lord on the Rock." " Though
the Roman chief pastor was theoretically only the first among
the Catholic bishops, his zeal for uniformity had now more
than once interrupted the peace of the Christian community.
The erection of a new capital and the subsequent dismember-
ment of the Empire considerably affected his position ; but,
within a certain sphere, he steadily endeavored to carry out
the idea of Catholic unity. The doctrine reached its highest
point of development after the lapse of upwards of a thousand
years. Then the bishop of Rome had become a sovereign
prince, and was the acknowledged ruler of a vast and magnifi-
' Cornelius to Cyprian, Epist. xlvi., p. 136.
* " De Unit. Eccles.," p. 397. * Epist. Hi., p. 156.
' Matt. xvi. 18. 'Cyprian, Epist. xl., pp. 120, 121.
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 597
cent hierarchy. Then, he swayed his spiritual sceptre over
all the tribes of Western Christendom. Then, verily, uni-
formity had its day of triumph ; for, with some rare excep-
tions, wherever the stranger travelled throughout Europe, he
found the same order of divine service, and saw the ministers
of the sanctuary arrayed in the same costume, and practicing
even the same gestures. Then, wherever he entered a sacred
edifice, he heard the same language, and listened to the same
prayers expressed in the very same phraseology. But what
was meanwhile the real condition of the Church ? Was there
love without dissimulation, and the keeping of the unity of
the Spirit in the bond of peace.? Nothing of the kind. Never
could it be said with greater truth of the people of the West
that they were " foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers
lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and
hating one another." There were wars and rumors of wars ;
nation rose up against nation and kingdom against kingdom ;
and the Pope was generally the cause of the contention. The
very man who claimed to be the centre of Catholic unity was
the grand fomenter of ecclesiastical and political disturbance.
The Sovereign Pontiff, and the Catholic princes with whom
he was engaged in deadly feuds, were equally faithless, rest-
less, and implacable. Freadom of thought was proscribed,
and the human mind was placed under the most exacting and
intolerable tyranny by which it was ever oppressed.
The mutilation of this Dagon of hierarchical unity is one
of the many glorious results of the great Reformation. The
sooner the remaining fragments of this idol are crushed to
atoms, the better for the peace and freedom of Christendom.
The unity of the Church can not be achieved by the iron rod
of despotism, neither can the communion of saints be promo-
ted by the sacrifice of their rights and privileges. " Where
the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." ' Christ alone can
draw all men unto Him. The real unity of His Church is,
not any merely ecclesiastical cohesion, but a unity of faith, of
hope, and of affection. It is the fellowship of Christian free-
' 2 Cor. iii. 17.
598 CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.
men walking together in the fear of the Lord, and in the com-
fort of the Holy Ghost. It is the attraction of all hearts to
one heavenly Saviour, and the submission of all wills to one
holy law. Looking at the past condition or the present as-
pect of society, we may think the difficulties in the way of
such unity ailtogether insurmountable; but it shall, in due
time, be brought about by Him "who doeth great things and
unsearchable, marvellous things without number." Its reali-
zation will present the most delightful and impressive specta-
cle that the earth has ever seen. " Every valley shall be ex-
alted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low ; and
the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places
plain ; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh
shall see it together.'' ' " Thy watchmen shall lift up the
voice, with the voice together shall they sing ; for they shall
see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion." ^ " And
the Lord shall be King over all the earth ; in that day shall
there be one Lord, and His name one.'' ' Amen.
' Isa. xl. 4, 5. " Isa. Hi. 8. » Zech. xiv. 9.
THE END.
INDEX.
Abgarus, 254, 363.
Abraham, 351.
Abulides, 534.
Academics, 5, 178.
Achaia, 100, 116, 343.
Acropolis of Athens, 108,
Acolyths, 539.
Acts of the Apostles, 136, 159, 408.
Acts of Ignatius, 380, 382 ; of St.
Thomas, 374 ; of St. Andrew,
374 ; of Paul and Thecla, 388.
Adamnan, 137.
Adonai, 351.
Adultery, 575.
Advantages of Synods, 566.
yEgean Sea, 151, 374, 559.
^lia Capitolina, 334, 568.
^ons, 394, 395, 468.
Affusion, 197.
Africa, 254, 271, 284, 436; the
senior bishop there, 562.
Agaps, 441.
Aged bishops, 463,
Agrippa, 123, 124.
Agrippinus, 560.
Alexander of Princeton, in, 120,
230.
Alexander of Jerusalem, 274; of
Rome, 464, 489.
Alexander Severus, 255, 272, 422.
Alexandria, 102, 130, 153; plague in,
297 ; elections in, 303 ; church of,
474, 485 ; presbyters of, 485, 530,
532 ; bishops of, 530, 549.
Allord, 32, 67, 93, 98, 207, 224.
Altar, 446, 472.
Ambrosius, 345,
Amen, 424.
America, 287, 319.
Ammonius Saccas, 343.
Amphictyonic Council, 561.
Anachronisms, 382.
Anacletus, 464.
Anahuac, 287.
Ananias, 54.
Ancient Church Presbyterian, 459.
Ancyra, Council of, 544.
Andrew, 33, 34, 41.
Angels of the Churches, 237, 241.
Anicetus, 304, 488, 499, 508.
Anointing, 438.
Antioch of Pisidia, 67, 138.
Antioch of Syria, 56, 68, 104, 343,
368 ; synods of, 406, 563, 564 ;
church of, 474; bishops of, 356,
549-
Antonia, Tower of, 119, 125.
Antoninus Pius, 265, 343; heresies
in reign of, 483, 494.
Antony, 286.
Apelles, 455.
Apocalypse, 151, 161, 163, 237, 398,
408.
Apocrypha, 8.
Apollos, 102, 103, 215.
Apollonius of Tyana, 93, 108.
Apologies, 250, 333, 339.
Apostasy, 575.
Apostles, 36, 39, 50, 74; to remain
twelve years at Jerusalem, 59 ;
gradually enlightened, 169; their
position, 212 ; mode of acting, 214,
220; others sometimes so called,
455-
Apostolic Churches, 514.
Apostolic constitutions, r88, 427,
513; canons, 534, 548, 562.
Apostolic succession, 42, 43, 536.
Apostolic fathers, 332, 335.
Appeals in Jewish courts, 226, 229.
Appeal to the Emperor, 87, 123.
Appearance, Personal, of Jesus, 17.
Appii Forum, 131.
Apt to teach, 209, 210.
(599)
6oo
INDEX.
Aquila, 97, 104, 116; version of,
345-
Arabia, 55, 153, 254, 342, 343.
Archdeacon, 499, 528, 531.
Archelaus, 13, 29.
Archippus, 133.
Areopagus, 95.
Aretas, 55.
Argyll, 515, 589.
Annghi, 288, 322.
Aristarchus, in, 118.
Aristicles, 264, 367.
Aristo, 455.
Arius, 42, 345.
Aries, 254.
Arnobius, 349.
Arrius Antoninus, 269.
Artemon, 413.
Ascension of Jesus, 26.
Ascetics, 285.
Asceticism, 403.
Asia, 104, 148, 232, 269.
Asiarchs, 1 11.
Asia Minor, iii, 118, 245, 309, 327,
342.
Assassins, 120. "
Athanasius, 286, 297, 415, 565.
Athenagoras, 334, 367, 398, 414.
Atiienians, 90, 93.
Athens, 90, 264.
Athos, Mount, 313.
Atonement, 23, 174, 417; Gnostics
rejected it, 403.
Attica, 90, 95.
Attributes of Christ, 172.
Augustine, 38, 185 ; on Matt. xvi. 18,
330 ; praise of celibacy, 404.
Augustus, I, 30, 318.
Aurelian, 275, 280, 327.
Aurclius, 541.
Auricular Confession, 452.
Autolycus, 253, 291.
Babel, 522 ; the Roman, 523.
Babylas, 274.
Bacchus, 397.
Badias, 526.
Baluzius, 347.
Baptism of infants, 194, 431, 432;
errors regarding, 419; mode of,
436; by the bishop, 513; of Jesus,
15-
Baptismal controversy, 577.
Baptist. John the, 15, 35.
Baptislerium, 197.
Barbarous nations, 3.
Barcochebas, 568.
Barnabas, 55, 58, 62; the apostolic
father, 334, 367.
Baronius, 151, 368, 498, 503.
Barrow, 330.
Bartholomew, 32.
Basil, 327.
Basilides, 340, 394.
Baths of the ancients, 197.
Baumgarten, 37, 67, 159.
Baur, 354.
Baxter, 331.
Bengel, 157, 224.
Bentley, 377.
Berea, 89.
Bernice, 123, 124.
Bethlehem, 12, 28, 29.
Beveridge (Bishop), 498, 546.
Bible, 420.
Bibliotheca Sacra, 238.
Bingham, 303, 327, 423, 426, 433,
436.
Binius, 312, 470, 498, 503.
Birth of Christ, 28.
Bishop, the word in the Ignatian
epistles, 383, 384; its new mean-
ing, 500-501.
Bishop of bishops, 518.
Bishops, or elders, 208 ; succession
of, 301 ; great number of, succeed
each other in a short period, 464,
465 ; called overseers, 479 ; chosen
by the people, 485 ; presidents,
502; had wives, 524; preached,
525 ; dispensed the Eucharist, 526 ;
trading, 528 ; at Alexandria, 529 ;
made by presbyters, 531 ; called
presbyters, 532 ; ordained by bish-
ops and presbyters, 534; income
of' 535' 53^ ; manage church
funds, 538 ; in council ot Carthage,
545; disputes of, 549; sit with
elders, 565 ; all equal, 577.
Bithynia, 148, 253, 262.
Blandina, 268.
Blondel, 303, 324, 496.
Blood, Abstinence from, TJ.
Blunt, 375, 388, 410.
Boanerges, 33, 152.
Body ot Christ, i8r.
Bona, Cardinal, 378, 498.
Books, Sacred, of the Jews, 7.
Boston, 449.
Bower, 314, 328, 489, 515.
INDEX.
6oi
Bread in Eucharist, 442.
Brethren and disciples, 74.
Breviary, 313. 316, 457, 503-
Britain, 153.
British Museum, 377.
Brown's " Hor^e Subsecivas," 91.
Bruno, Thomas, 461.
Bucolus, 455.
Buddhists, 286, 404.
Bunsen, 2S7. 301, 310, 314, 317, 360,
369. 377. 50'-
Burrus, 131.
Burton, 67, 73, 214, 506, 544.
Cabalists, 345, 396.
Caesarea, 51, 121, 214, 343; church
of, 473, 475 ; bishop of, 558.
Caesar's household, 142, 150.
Caius, 140, 335.
Callistus, 315-317 ; cemetery of, 320,
323, 350-
Calvin, 331, 389.
Cambridge, 377,
Camerius, 464.
Candlesticks, Golden, 238.
Canon of Scripture, 163-164, 408.
Canterbury, Archbishop of, 359, 466.
Capernaum, 17.
Cappadocia, 148, 348.
Caracalla, 272.
Carpi, 526.
Carpocrates, 183, 395.
Carpophorus, 315.
Carpus, 137.
Carriages, 117.
Carson, 196.
Carthage, 254, 305, 321,336; church
of, 346, 473 ; synods at, 560.
Catacombs, 313, 318-321, 441.
Catechumens, 271, 438.
Catholic, use of the word, 306, 384,
472 ; its first occurrence, 519.
Catholic Church, 311, 580, 582.
Catholic system, its theory, 521 ; its
rise, 301, 511-514; its illiberal-
ity, 515, 579; its errors, 585-591.
Catholic epistles, 161.
Cave, 32, 136, 153, 336, 355.
Celerinus, 541.
Celibacy, 285, 382, 404.
Celsus, 344, 482.
Celtic language, 335.
Cemeteries, 275.
Cenchrea, 102, 116, 526.
Cerdo, 301, 491.
Ceremonies, 568, 578.
Cerinthus, 183, 480.
Chapters and verses, 163.
Chastity, 382.
Chevallier, 425.
Chief priests, 226.
Childhood of Jesus, 13.
Chorepiscopi, 544.
Chrestiani, 145.
Christ worshipped, 411.
Christians, why so called, 57 ; their
piety not transcendental, 283.
Christmas, 570.
Chronicon of Eusebius, 151,272,465,
473-
Chronology of Eusebius, 489.
Chrysostom, 207, 330.
Church, its meaning, 224, 234 ; angel
of the, 239 ; of Rome, 299, 306 ;
built on Peter, 326.
Church courts met privately, 230.
Church of Jerusalem, 40, 72 ; its ex-
tent, 224.
Cilicia, 51.
Circumcision, 70, 78.
City bishops, 546, 549, 567.
City presbyters, 545.
Clarkson, 240, 425.
Claudia, 153.
Claudius, the Emperor, 145.
Claudius Lysias, 120.
Clemens Alexandrinus, 3^9, 351, 416,
418.
Clemens Romanus, 136, 140, 321,
456, 481 ; death of, 488.
Clementine Homilies, 231, 374.
Clergy, when so called, 527.
Clermont, 254.
Clinic baptism, 437.
Cloak or case, 137.
Codex, Alexandrinus, Augiensis,
Bezs, Ephraemi, Sinaiticus, Va-
ticanus, 75, 224, 457.
Collection for poor saints, 1 18.
Collier, 205, 228.
Colosse, 107, 138, 244.
Colossians, 134.
Columba, 137.
Commodian, 347.
Commodus, 268, 308, 316.
Communion of saints, 234.
Community of goods, 46, 47, 58.
Concubine, 269.
Confederation of churches, 225, 231
232.
6o2
INDEX.
Confession, 447.
Confessors, 574 ; some drunken, 574.
Confirmation, 194.
Consociation of churches, 233.
Constantine, 279, 295, 475,
Constantius Chiorus, 278.
Constitution of the Church, 454 ; its
importance, 550.
Constitutions, The Apostolic, 427.
Conversions interdicted, 270.
Conybeare and Howson, 53, 60, 107,
III, 119, 132, 133.
Cooper, 302, 324, 346, 571.
Corinth, 95, 116; church of, 154, 305;
456.
Corinthians, 109, 114, 477.
Corn ships, 127, 130.
Cornelius the centurion, 51, 60, 214;
of Rome, 324, 532 ; his mildness
to the lapsed, 576.
Corruption of man, 171.
Costume, clerical, 428.
Cotelerius, 303, 332, 369, 371, 382,
431-
Council of Jerusalem, 72-79, 228.
Councils, 469.
Counsels, 403.
Country bishops, 544-546 ; elders,
545-
Courtezans, 4.
Creation out of nothing, 180.
Creed, 176, 406, 582.
Crescens, 266.
Crete, 106, 161, 215.
Crispus, 97, 201.
Cross, 286, 287, 288, 438.
Crucifixion, 23,49, 158.
Cudworlh, 9, 93, 94, 402.
Culdees, 510.
Cureton, 359, 360, 361, 373, 374, 386,
388.
Cursive MS., the most ancient, 75.
Cybele, 397.
Cyclades, 371.
Cyprian, his life and character, 346-
348; on tradition, 410; on bap-
tism, 437; on the Rock, 326, 521,
596; opposes Stephen, 521; his
presbyters, 526, 542 ; chosen by
the people, 541 ; rejects the tickets
of peace, 574 ; his bigotry, 584 ;
his arrogance, 588 ; his admira-
tion of Tertullian, 590.
Cyprus, 47, 66, 153.
DAEMONS, 81.
Daille, 354, 361, 380, 385.
Damaris, 95.
Damascus, 53, 55.
Damasus, 320, 476, 502.
Daniel's prophecy, 149.
Dativus, 526.
Davidson, 137, 139, 161.
Day in prophecy, 49.
Deaconesses, 220.
Deacons, 48, 207, 458, 493.
Decius, 273, 274, 275, 322, 346.
Delarue, 344, 542.
Delivering to Satan, 200, 201.
Demetrianus, 288.
Demetrius, the craftsman, 1 10 ; Bi
shop of Alexandria, 342, 474, 525,
529.
Demiurge, 394, 395, 397.
Demosthenes, 90.
Deputation to Jerusalem, 71.
Diana, 107, iii, 112.
Dictator, 490,
Didascalia, 188, 407.
Dion Cassius, 151.
Diocletian, 256, 275-278, 426.
Diognetus. 165, 334, 417.
Dionysius, 95 ; of Alexandria, 274,
485, 528, 564 ; of Rome, 327.
Diotrephes, 583.
Discipline, 199, 568; not uniform,
578.
Dispersion of the Jews, 8.
Dissenters, The first, 569.
Docets, i8[.
Doctores, 546.
Doctrine of Jesus, 18 ; of apostolic
church, 168 ; of early church, 405.
Doctrine of Peter, 363.
Domitian, 149, 153, 162, 246, 280,
481.
Double honor, 209.
Dove, 318.
Dress of ministers, 194.
Druids, 204.
Drusilla, 122.
Dunbar, 371.
Dupin, 8, 290.
Duumviri, 83, 87.
Earthquake, 84, 86.
East, Turning to the, 425.
Easter, 570, 573.
Ebion, 183, 41 1, 480.
INDEX.
603
Ebionites, 411-412.
Ecclesiastes, Paraphrase on, 349.
Ecclesiastici, 519.
Ecclesiastics secularized, 527.
Edessa, 254.
Egypt, Flight into, 13, 29; its pro-
ducts, 130; spread of gospel in,
254 ; Gnostics of, 394 ; ordination
in, 531-
Elagabalus, 272.
Elders, 58, 72, 198, 208, 209, 227,
234, 457, 470; ordained deacons,
552; made the bishops, 531;
ruling, disappeared, 535.
Election, Popular, 48, 67, 219, 473,
540.
Eleutherius, 308, 488 ; confounded
with Hyginus, 498 ; a presbyter,
499-
Ellicott, 105, 114, 208.
Elrington, 389.
Elvira, or Eliberis, 290, 565.
Empire, Roman, its boundaries, I ;
fall of western, 151 ; population of,
I ; resources of, 2 ; union of many
nations in, 3 ; corruption of, 4.
English liturgy, 291.
Epaphroditus, 133, 242.
Ephesian letters, 108, 109.
Ephesians, 134, 359, 362 ; Epistle of
Ignatius to, 373.
Ephesus, loi, 104-113, 117, 214.
Epicureans, 5, 91, 93, 94.
Epiphanius, 54, 99, 183, 413, 497.
Episcopacy, Prmiitive, 524, 526.
Episcopal succession, 300, 460, 532 ;
ordination, 533.
Epistles of commendation, 235, 295.
Epistles of Paul, 160. 161 ; of Peter,
161.
Era, Christian, 28.
Erastus, 97, 137.
Essenes, 7, 2i, 178, 184, 284.
Etheridge, 384, 463.
Ethiopia, 534.
Eucharist, 307, 431, 444; improperly
designated, 446 ; Polycarp dis-
penses it at Rome, 507 ; adminis-
tered by the bishops, 513, 536;
sent to other churches, 514; with-
held by Cyprian, 574 ; called a
sacrifice, 588.
Eunuch, Ethiopian, 50, 51, 433.
Europe, 80.
Eusebius, 22, 229, 252, 300, 359, 362,
432, 460 ; his account of the bishops
of Ceesarea, 475 ; as an historian,
478 ; his chronology, 489.
Eutychius, 463, 474, 530, 535.
Evaristus, 464, 489.
Evodius, 356.
Excommunication, 199, 203-204.
Executors, bishops not to be, 528.
Exorcism, 438.
Exorcists, 253, 540.
Extraordinary teachers, 206,
Ezekiel, 288.
Faber, 49.
Fabian, 274, 318, 322, 543.
Fabricius, 534.
Facts of the gospel, 299.
Faith, 71, 171.
Famine, 59.
Father, the bishop's name, 463.
Fathers, 331 ; apostolic, 332, 335 ;
absurdities of, 352.
Fasting, 448-450, 558, 560.
Felicissimus, 544, 575, 577.
Felicitas, 271, 272.
Felix, 122, 123.
Fell, Bishop, 347.
Fellow-presbyters, bishops so called,
543-
Festivals, Jewish, 72, 228, 421.
Festus, 122, 123.
Fidus, 436.
Fig-tree, cursing of the, 20.
Fire brigades, 553.
Firmilian, 467, 562, 564.
First among the bishops, 548, 551.
Flavia Domitilla, 151.
Flavins Clemens, 150.
Formalism, 70.
Fornication, l^, 78, 201.
Fourteen years, 73.
France, 254, 306, 335.
Frauds, Pious, 409.
Friday of the Paschal week, 571.
Friends, Society of, 584.
Fulgentius, 217,
Fuller, 153.
Fulness of time, 9.
Funeral of the bishop, 555.
Gaelic, 335.
Gaius, 97, 118, 380.
Galatia, 104, 148.
Galatians, 105 ; epistle to, 161.
Galerius, 276, 278, 280.
6o4
INDEX.
Galileans, disciples called, 57.
Gallienus, 255, 327, 422.
Gallio, 100.
Gallus, 274, 297.
Gamaliel, 52, 98, 227.
Games, 264.
Geneva N. T., 163.
Gentile converts, 69.
Gentiles, 121.
Germany, 298.
Gibbon, 275, 294.
Gieseler, 271, 306, 443. /
Gihon, 351.
Girba, 526.
Gladiators, 291.
Gnosis, 182, 392, 395.
Gnosticism, 180, 181, 392, 396, 554.
Gnostics, 109, 181, 336, 391, 492.
Gods of the heathen, 6.
Gordian, 272.
Gospels, the, 16, 162, 408.
Goths, 254, 327.
Governments, what, 207, 208.
Grace, 417.
Greece, 80 ; synods did not com-
mence in, 560.
Grecians, 47, 55, 56.
Greek extensively spoken, 4 ; by
Paul, 120; Greek Church, 438;
Greek nations, 559; Greek coun-
cils in fixed places, 562.
Gregory the Great, 403.
Gregory Nazianzcn, 238, 551.
Gregory Nyssen, 349.
Gregory Thaumaturgus, 349, 353.
Gregory of Tours, 254, 430.
Greswell, i, 30, 264, 357.
Griesbach, 56, 138.
Growth of the Church, 249.
Guerike, 427.
HaCKETT, III, 112, 128.
Hadrian, 264, 269, 334, 483, 501.
Hagenbach, 402.
Hales, 49.
Hallam. 294, 487,
Hammond, 354.
Hands, laying on of, 64, 438, 530 ;
of bisiiops and elders, 542, 543.
Hardy, 404.
Hartung, 425.
Heathen mythology, 5, 6, 173, 174.
Heathen priests, 83, 253.
Heathen worship, 146.
Hebrew, fathers ignorant of, 351.
Hebrews, 47 ; epistle to, 138, 160,
162, 479.
Helele, 354, 357.
Hegesippus, 300, 310, 335, 482, 499.
Helps, 207, 208.
Henry, Matthew. 353.
Heraclas, 485, 528.
Heresies, 178, 185, 336, 481-483.
Heretics, 179, 324, 495.
Hermas, 310, 334.
Hennias, 416.
Hermogenes, 183.
Hero, 359.
Herod the Great, 2, 12, 28, 29, 145.
Herod Agrippa, 59.
Herodian, 280, 305.
Hexapla, 344, 345.
Hierapoiis, 107, 244, 335.
Hierarchy, 475.
High priest, 36, 99, 216.
HiIar)^ 461, 467, 484, 493, 536.
Hincmar, 513.
Hippolytus, 309, 313, 316, 340, 372,
534-
Hodge, 581.
Holy Ghost, 76 ; worshipped, 414.
Homer, 218, 371.
Homoousios, 406,
Home, 160, 164, 174, 277.
House of the church, 382.
Houses of worship, 422.
Hugo de Sancto Caro, 163,
Humanitarian, 412.
Huntingdon, Robert, 354.
Hyacinthus, 243, 527.
Hyginus, 300, 301, 303; prelacy be-
gins in time of, 489-492, 494,
499 ; arranged the clergy, 503 ;
acknowledged heretical baptisms,
577-
Hymenaeus, 183.
Ialdabaoth, 396.
Iconium, 67, 68, 69.
Idolatiy, 289, 290, 348.
Ignatian epistles, 372-390.
Ignatius, 262, 356-358, 367-369, 371,
463.
Illiberality of the Catholics, 579.
Illyricum, 1 16, 153.
Images, 289, 290.
Immaculate conception of Mar)', 593.
Immersion, 197.
Immorality of ministers, 284.
Incidents of Christ's death, 24.
INDEX.
605
India, 130; gospel in, 254. 1
Infant baptism, 194-195, 431, 432, |
435-
Infant communion, 443.
Infants slain at Bethlehem, 13.
Inspiration, 169, 407.
Instrumental music, 193, 429.
Intermarriage with heathens, 293.
Invisible Church. 581.
Irenaeus, 253, 364, 468 ; his life and
character, 335, 336 ; on baptism,
431 ; on the Eucharist, 445 ; on
the Church of Rome, 306, 516 ; on
the meeting at Miletus, 554.
Irvingites, 245.
Isaiah, 189.
Israel, mistaken meaning of, 351.
Italy, 80, 153, 357, 531.
JACOBSON, 357, 370, 383, 430, 455.
Jailer, 85, 433.
James I., King, 478.
James, the brother of John, 33-34, 60.
James, the Lord's brother, 33, 34, 35,
146, 161 ; not Bishop of Jerusalem,
230, 460.
Janitors, 539.
Jennings, Rev. Isaac, 238.
Jeremy Taylor, 1 3.
Jerome, 337, 338, 459 ; his character,
476 ; his account of the hierarchy,
477-480 ; not inconsistent, 485-
486; of the rise of prelacy, 491 ; of
the bishops of Alexandria, 529, 530.
Jerusalem, 22, 45, 60, 138; its fall,
148, 157; its influence, 231; re-
built, 334 ; ancient church of, 465-
467, 472, 473; bishop of, 558.
Jesus Christ, 11, 144, 156, 168; mis-
take as to His name, 351, and age,
352; worshipped, 411.
Jewish conjuror, 68.
Jews, their condition, 6 ; aversion to
gospel, 52, 68, 83, 97 ; sects, 6.
John the Baptist, 15, 30, 48, 49, 103.
John the Evangelist, 22, 35-36, 149,
151-152 ; his epistles, 161, 480 ; in
Patmos, 242 ; epistle of Ignatius
to, 359-
John Mark, 67.
Jones on the canon, 373, 388.
Joseph of Arimathea, 150.
Josephus, 29, 178, 239.
Judas the traitor, 18, 32, 52.
Jude, 34, 150, 161.
Judea, 22.
Judgment of God, 532.
Julia Mamm^a, 343, 364,
Julian, 269.
Julius Valens, 322.
Junius, 383.
Justin Martyr, 266, 418, 424, 448 ; his
life and character, 266, 332, 333.
Justinian, 399, 513.
Justus of Vienne, 428, 498, 531 ; of
Jerusalem, 463, 467.
Kashisha, 284.
Kay, Rev. W., 56.
Kaye, Bishop, 252, 253, 401, 406.
Kennett, 422.
Kiss, 438, 439.
Kitto, 288.
Kneeling, 442.
Koran, 156.
Kuinoel, 224.
Kurtz, 314.
Lacedemonians, 425.
Lachmann, 56, 75, 138, 174, 224, 234,
Lactantius, 279, 349, 585.
Lampridius, 255, 422.
Languages of Roman empire, 3, 129.
Laodicea, 107, 151, 240; council of,
423-
Lapsed, The, 574.
Lardner, 252, 474, 501.
Large towns, 539.
Larroque, 354, 443.
Lateran, 313, 549.
Latin extensively spoken, 3.
Latin Church, 204.
Laurentius, 436.
Laying on of hands, 64, 438, 576,
Lectors, or readers, 539.
Lee, Dr., of Dublin, 318; of Cam
bridge, 360.
Legate, 239, 243.
Lent, 563.
Leonides, 270, 341, 342.
Libellatici, 270.
Liberty of conscience, 48, 281.
Libya, 153.
Licinius, 279.
Lictors, 87.
Life of Christ, 11.
Lightfoot, 192, 194, 198, 209, 226.
Limoges, 254.
Linus, 301.
Lions, the Christians to the, 264.
6o6
INDEX.
Litton, &"], 212, 226, 550.
Liturgies, 191, 192, 425, 438.
Livingstone, 594.
Logos, 413.
London, 370.
Lord's day, 187, 295, 425.
Lordship, 218.
Lord's prayer, 348, 426.
Lord's Supper, 194, 197, 198, 334,
440-446.
Lot of the episcopacy, 303, 317, 485,
532.
Lucius, 323.
Luke, 22, 140, 142, 157, 158.
Luther, 52.
Lycaonia, 67.
Lydia, 81, 434.
Lyons, 254, 267, 268, 280, 308.
Lystra, 68.
Macedonia, 114, 116.
Machaerus, Fortress of, 15.
Macrianus, 274.
Magians, 401.
Magnesia, 358.
Magnesians, 359, 374.
Maitland, 319-322, 328.
Malchion, 413, 527.
Malta, 127, 129.
Malta Brun, 22.
Man of sin, loi, 151.
Mani, 399-401.
Manicheeans, 400, 403, 417.
Manner of Christ's teaching, 18-19.
Mannulus, 526.
Marcellus, 328,
Marcia, 268, 308, 315.
Marcion, 337, 340, 395, 491, 492 ;
his activity, 496 ; seeks admission
to Roman presbytery, 497.
Marcus Aurelius, 252, 265, 280, 335,
397.
Marcus, Bishop of Jerusalem, 465,
569.
Maria Cassobolita, 359.
Mariner's compass, 127.
Mark, 22, 153, 157, 486.
Married clergy, 321, 337, 382.
Mars' hill, 92.
Martyrdom, 364, 385.
Martyrs, 574.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, 11, 33,
263, 320, 385 ; epistle of Ignatius
to, 359. 374-
Matter, 181.
\ Matthew, 22, 32, 34, 157, 158.
j Maurice, 240.
i Mauritania, 469.
! Maximilla, 397.
I Maximin, 272, 278, 280, 313.
I M'Crie, Dr., 330.
\ Meats offered to idols, "]"].
Medhurst's China, 286.
Media, 153.
Meier, 359.
MeHto, 335, 582.
Memphitic version, 251.
Mesopotamia, 153, 558.
Messiah expected, 9, 168.
I Merivale, i, 30, 129, 130, 294.
; Metropolis, 562.
' Metropolitan, 469, 546-548, 551 ;
I called father, 463.
Middleton, 253.
I Miletum, 137, 138.
Miletus, 117, 137, 232, 478.
Milk and honey, 438.
Mill, 75.
Millenarians, 183.
Millennium, 163, 398.
Milman, 13, 129, 147, 337.
Milner, 389, 481.
Minerva, 90.
Ministers of the Word not priests,
587.
Ministry of Jesus — its length, 22, 49;
its fruits. 31.
Minucius Felix, 6, 292 ; on the cross,
287 ; on images, 289 ; his style,
341.
Miracles of Jesus, 16, 17,20; discon-
tinuance of, 252.
Misquotations by the fathers, 351.
Missa, 498.
Mode of baptism, 196.
Moderator, 459, 460, 469, 487, 562.
Moesia, 254.
Mohammed, 156.
Monachism, 286, 363, 403.
Monarchians, 415.
Monogram, 287.
Montanism, 372, 556; of a Roman
bishop, 398.
Montanists, 293, 408, 435, 472.
Montanus, 397, 399.
Morality of the Christians, 250, 292.
Morcland, Sir Samuel, 462.
; Mortal sins, 401, 451.
j Mosheim, 179, 269; on synods, 553,
I 557. 567.
INDEX.
607
Multitude in Acts xv. 12, what it
means, 74.
Mtinter, 305, 469, 473.
Muratorian fragment, 310
Myra, 127.
Mysterious manifestations of Jesus,
15-
Mystics. 95, 345.
Mythology, 5, 6, 174, 249.
Napoleon, 329.
Narbonne, 254.
Narcissus, 463, 465, 557.
Nathanael, 32, 35, 36,
Nazarenes, disciples so called, 57,
146, 178 ; heretics, 569.
Nazareth, 11, 28.
Neander, 377, 409, 544, 553.
Neo Cassarea, 349.
Nero, 126, 138, 147, 148, 153, 162,
280.
Nerva, 249.
New Testament, its excellence, 165.
New York, 370.
Nice, 327, 406, 452, 535, 562.
Nicodemus, 22.
Nicolaitanes, 183, 184.
Nicomedia, 276.
Nicopolis, 106.
Nile, 351.
Nitrian desert, 354, 360.
Noah's descendants, 38.
Noetus, 415, 470.
Nomenclature, A new, 472.
Northcote, 313, 318, 320, 441.
Novatian, 324, 482, 547, 576.
Novatians, 324, 577, 592.
Novatus, 544.
Numidia, 296, 469,
Numidicus, 542.
OCTAVIUS, 341.
October, 562.
CEhler, 336.
Onesimus, 134, 294, 380, 381.
Ophites, 396.
Optatus, 329, 525, 541.
Ordain, 215.
Ordinary office-bearers, 206.
Ordination, 63-65, 211, 219; Pres-
byterian, 528 ; at Rome, 531, 532 ;
Prelatic, an innovation, 533 ; by
bishops and presbyters, 542.
Organization of the Church, 223.
Oriental theology, 394, 395.
Origen, 40, 41, 157, 270, 285,331;
his life and character, 341-346 ;
on the Ignatian epistles, 363, 371,
388 ; on infant baptism, 432 ; on
the Eucharist, 445 ; his ordination,
534 ; preached betbre it, 525.
Original MSS. of N. T., 164.
Original sin, 410.
Osroene, 558.
Ostian Way, 140.
Owen, 190.
Pacian, 512.
Psedagogue, 340.
Palestine, 174, 342. 373, 377, 473.
Palmas, 557.
Palmer, 192, 513.
Pamelius, 347.
Pantasnus, 339.
Pantheists, 93.
Papacy, Rise of the, 329, 330.
Paparius, 464.
Papias, 41, 335, 336, 383.
Parables of Jesus, 19.
Paraclete, 398, 435.
Paris, 254, 313.
Parthenon, 107.
Parthia, 153, 254.
Paschal feast, 309 ; controversy, 335,
471, 507, 532, 557, 570-573-
Paschal Iamb, 570, 572, 573.
Passover, 58, 197.
Pastor, 498.
Pastor of Hermas, 334, 364; con-
demned, 560.
Pastoral epistles, 114. 214, 216.
Pastors, 207, 208.
Patmos, 151, 242, 243.
Patripassians, 415.
Patristic errors, 350-352, 419.
Paul the Apostle, 52-54, 60, 61, 63,
64, 70-72, 84-101, 118, 299; at
Rome, 131 ; second imprisonment,
136; martyrdom, 139; epistles of,
408.
Paul of Samosata, 42, 285, 327,
382, 423; his views, 413; rural
bishops around him, 527 ; his
pomp, 538 ; deposed, 565.
Paul the hermit, 286,
Paulinos, 476.
Pausanias, 93.
Pearson, 481, 501 ; on the Ignatian
epistles, 354, 361, 366, 372, 389;
on chronology, 464, 489, 490.
6o8
INDEX.
Peleg, 38, 39.
Penance, 419, 452.
Penitents, 202.
Penitentiary presbyter, 452.
Pentateuch, 7, 193.
Pentecost, 46, 102, 121, 169; on
the first day of the week, 189; no
sponsors at its baptisms, 433 ;
synod at, 562 ; called Whitsun-
day, 570.
People did not vote at Council of
Jerusalem, 73 ; nor in synods, 565,
566.
Pepin, 329.
Perga, 67.
Pergamos, 237.
Perpetua, 271.
Persecutions, 144, 258 ; said to be
ten, 279; causes of, 280; Decian,
451. 547; Valerian, 547; Diocle-
tian, 276, 328.
Persia, 153.
Persons of the Godhead, 414-416.
Portinax, 269.
Peshito, 207, 251, 383, 458.
Peter, 33, 35, 45; at Rome, 139;
first epistle of, 480 ; second epistle
of, 141 ; his martyrdom, 142 ; not
prince of the apostles, 299 ; the
rock, 310, 325, 326 ; baptized other
apostles, 519.
Pharisees, 6, 21, 121, 178, 188.
Philadelphia, 237, 240, 359.
Philadelphians, 359.
Philemon, 133, 134.
Philetus, 183.
Philip the apostle, 32, 36, 149; the
evangelist, 117, 206.
Philippi, 80-81, 368, 478.
Philippians, 88, 135, 136; epistles of
Ignatius to, 359, 370, 374, 382 ; of
Polycarp to, 367 ; of I'aul to, 480.
Philo Judasus, 239. 345, 351, 364.
Philosophers, their infiuence, 5.
Philosophy, its tendency, 4; its in-
efficiency, 91.
Philosophumena, 314, 315, 316, 317,
320, 321, 341.
Philoslorgius, 254.
Philostratus, 93, 108.
Phoebe, 220, 221.
Phoenice, 343.
Phoenix, 165.
Phrygia, 104, 365, 397 ; Pacatiana,
161.
Phygellus, 183.
Picts, 298.
Pilate, 23.
Pius, 303, 334, 428, 489, 490 ; his let-
ters, 498-500, 531.
Pius IV., Pope, 313.
Places of worship, 194.
Platina, 329.
Plato, 5, 90, 180; philosophy of, 394,
402 i his trinity, 416.
Piatt, 188.
Players, 291 ; playhouse, 291.
Pleroma, 393. 394, 395.
Pliny, 262, 356, 411, 442.
Plurality of elders, 208.
Polianus, 526.
Politarchs, 89.
Politicians perplexed by Christ, 21.
Polity of church, its importance, 550.
Polycarp, 266, 303 ; his epistle, 332,
455,458 ; letter of Ignatius to, 356,
359. 378, 382 ; baptized in infancy,
430, 431 ; his reference to Ignatius,
367-370 ; visits Rome, 506, 507.
Polycrates, 520, 571.
Polygamy, 292, 293.
Pomptine marshes, 131.
Pontia, 151.
Pontifex Maximus, 494.
Pontifical Book, 502, 503.
Pontius the Deacon, 275, 285.
Pontius Pilate, 23, 375.
Pontus, 148, 349.
Pope, 328, 458, 463, 466.
Popular election, 48, 67, 219.
Person, 361.
Porter, Sir R. Ker, 287.
Porlus, 309, 315.
Postscripts, 161, 214,369.
Pothmus, 268. 280, 335, 463.
Potter, 425, 561.
Practical excellence of the gospel,
250.
Pr^edestinatus. 556.
Pra;torian Prefect, 131.
Praitorium, 133.
Praxeas, 415, 416.
Prayer, 191, 339, 426; standing at,
424, 430.
Preaching, 191, 210-21 1, 427 ; plau-
dits at, 428; preaching elder, 211,
221.
Precepts, 403.
Predestination, 175, 417, 418.
Prelacy, 311; begins at Rome, 489,
INDEX.
609
490, 493, 494; Its rise, 505, 512;
easily introduced, 508, 509; Je-
rome's account of it, 555; grad-
ually advances, 567.
Prelates, 240, 535 ; pomp of, 538 ;
said to be successors of the apos-
tles, 587.
Prelatic ordination an innovation,
533-
Presbyterian Church of Rome, 458.
Presbyters, 234, 471, 481, 484; com-
mon council of, 477, 566 ; of Alex-
andria, 530; ordaining, 542,543;
sat in councils, 565.
Presbytery, 66. 202, 219, 226, 227,
317,427, 459.487.
Prescott, 287.
Presentation in the temple, 28.
President, 454, 455, 461, 484, 502.
Presiding presbyter, 302, 484.
Prideaux, 191, 239, 241, 425.
T'riest, The English word, 587.
Priest of Jupiter, 68.
Prince Albert, 360.
Principal churches, 514, 515 ; bishops,
516, 517, 548.
Priscilla, 97, 103, 104, 116, 211.
Proculus, 269.
Progress of prelacy, 537, 538.
Prompter, 424.
Prophecy, 65.
Prophets, 40, 54 75, 193, 207, 228.
Proselyte of the gate, 51.
Providence, A particular, 418.
Psalms, 167, 192, 423.
Psyria, 371.
Ptolemais, 415.
Ptolemies, The, 288.
Purgatory, 403.
Pusey, Dr., 564, 565.
Puteoli, 127, 129, 131.
Pythoness, 82.
QUADRATUS, 264, 367.
Quart odecimans, 571.
Quirinius, 30.
Rawlinson, Sir H., 360.
Reader or Lector, 427, 539.
Reading the Scriptures, 164, 191,
193, 426; prayers, 424.
Rebaptism, 324.
Recognitions of Clement, 346.
Redeemer, 168, 172.
Reeves, 137.
39
Reformation, 290, 319.
Regeneration, 431.
Religion of heathens, 4.
Repentance and penance, 451, 453.
Representation of the Church, 559.
Resurrection of Jesus, 25, 45, 49,
187; festival of the, 571, 573.
Rhone, 335.
Rigaltius, 336.
Robinson, 30, 37, 39.
Rock, The, of Rome, 596 ; Peter the,
310.
Roman — See Empire.
Rownan bishop for the Montanists,
314.
Romanism, 299.
Roman poets and historians, 2 ; pres-
bytery, 461.
Romans, Epistle to, 116, 139; of
Ignatius to, 359, 362, 365, 366-373.
Rome, its wealth and greatness, 2,
130; its intercourse with Car-
thage, 336; its population, 129;
Church of, 132, 142, 160, 162, 254,
299, 306, 473 ; its influence, 304,
494-496 ; its statistics, 323 ; Bi-
shop of, 327, 374, 517, 549; Cle-
ment of, 456 ; origin of Church of,
490; catholic system begins at, 513,
515, 518, 539; bishop of, at head
of catholic league, 520; ignorance
of Bishop of, 560 ; Paul embarks
for it, 127.
Root and womb of the Church, 519.
Rothe, 67, 354, 481, 584.
Routh, 335, 406, 471.
Rufinus, 432.
Rufus, 368, 369.
Ruinart, 266.
Sabbath, 188, 189, 190.
Sabellius, 345, 415.
Sacrament, 197, 443.
Sacrificati, 270.
Sadducees, 6, 21, 121, 178.
Sage, Bishop, 347, 542.
Saint as a prefix, 160.
Salamasius, 498.
Salvation, none out of the Church;
Samaritans, 36, 39, 50, 51, 182.
Sand-diggers, 319, 321.
Sanhedrim, 32, 45, 121, 184, 216,.
226.
Sardis, 152, 237.
6io
INDEX.
Satan, 346 ; delivering to, 200.
Satisfactions, 419.
Saturday, 187.
Saturninus, 364, 394.
Salurus, 541.
Sntil, or Paul, 66.
bavi;^ny, 462.
Schaff, 106, 189, 294, 400, 571.
Schism, of Novatian, 324, 327, 547 ;
of Felicissimus, 547, 575.
Schismatics, called heretics, 482.
Scholz, 138.
Scotland, 255, 510.
Scott, Thomas, 353.
Scribes, 19, 227.
Scriptures, 7, 164, 169; consistent,
172 ; burned, 276, 277 ; commit-
ted to memory, 407 ; seized, 426.
Scrivener, 224.
Scyra, 371.
Scyros, 371.
Sects, 595.
Secundinus, 526.
See of Peter, 381, 519, 522.
Selden, 37, 220, 226, 530.
Seleucia, 66.
Seneca, 1 00.
Seniority, 303, 469, 470.
Senior, presbyter, 460-463, 470, 484,
531 ; bishop, 469, 470, 562.
Septimius Severus, 269, 280, 309.
Septuagint, 8, 344. 457-
Serapis, 286.
Serenius Granianus, 264,
Sergius Paulus, 66, 150.
Scrvianus, 501.
Seven churches, 152, 238, 244.
Seventy, The, 30, 37, 45, 54, 57.
Seventy nations, 37.
Shepherd, Mr., 348, 413.
Shepherd of Hermas, 334, 364, 382.
Shepherds of Judea, 30.
Shipwreck of Paul, 127-129.
Sibylline books, 376.
Silas, 84.
Simeon, or Niger, 54.
Simeon of Jerusalem, 185, 263, 464,
465, 467. 482.
Simon Magus, 182.
Simon Zeloles, 41.
Sitting at the Eucharist, 442.
Six hundred and si.\ty-six, 151.
Sixtus, 274, 464.
Slavery, 294, 295.
Slaves, 433.
Smith's Dictionary of Geography
107, 129, 371 ; of Antiquities, 197
425, 485.
Smith of Jordanhill, 127, 128, 129.
Smyrna, 237, 356, 358, 370, 464, 47a
Smyrn^ans, 359, 363, 374, 386.
Socrates, the philosopher, 90, 91 ;
the historian, 286, 573.
Sopater, 118.
Soter, 489 ; called a presbyter, 532.
Sozomen, 254.
Spain, 136, 138, 153, 254, 469;
church of, 473.
Sponsors, 433.
Sprinkling, 437.
Spurious writings, 373.
Standing at the Eucharist, 442, 445.
Stanley's Eastern Church, 474.
Stars, Seven, 238.
Stationary days, 450.
Stephen, the first martyr, 49, 144;
of Rome, 323, 325, 326, 350, 521 •
against rebaptism, 576 ; excom-
municates other bishops, 577.
Stephens, Robert, 163.
Stieren's Irenjeus, 37, 303, 336, 351,
382, 507, 578.
Stiliingfleet, 461, 513.
Stoics, 5, 91, 93, 94.
Strabo, 97, 240, 526.
StratJEas, 455.
Stromata, 340, 350, 351.
Subdeacons, 539.
Subintroductit, 285.
"Subsecivie, Horaj," 91.
Suburbicarian Provinces, 327.
Succession, Episcopal, 301, 460, 476,
532.
Suetonius, 145.
Suffrage, 3 1 7.
Suicide, 85.
Sulpilius Severus, 148.
Sunday, 424.
Supreme Pontiff, 322.
Symmachus, 345.
Synagogue, 8, 191, 198, 226, 227,
239-
Synods, their history, 552 ; of apos-
tolic origin, 554, 555 ; at first few,
556; held generally, 558; con-
demned Montanists, 556; ruled
the church, 563; of Alexandria,
474-
Syria, 71, 342, 368, 373; in the
yEgean Sea, 17 1 .
INDEX.
6ii
Syriac of Ignatian Epistles, 360-361,
370, 374-
Syrian deputation, 72.
Syricius, 312.
Tacitus, 121, 142, 147, 148.
Tarquin, 376, 377.
Tarsians, 359.
Tarsus, 51, 52.
Tatian, 350.
Tattam, Archdeacon, 354.
Teacher, The bishop, 525.
Teachers, 54, 65, 207, 208, 228.
Teetotalers, 350.
Telesphorus, 301 , 464, 489 ; martyred,
495, 500; called a presbyter, 532;
did not keep the paschal feast, 571.
Temple service, 191, 192.
Tennent, Sir J. £., 404.
Tertullian on Ezek. ix. 4, — 288 ; on
the phoenix, 165 ; on the angel of
the church, 241 ; on the perpetual
virginity of Mar)', 264; on Matt,
xvi. 18, — 310, 326; his life and
character, 336-339, 350 ; his fan-
cies, 352 ; on venial and mortal
sins, 401; on baptism, 432-434;
his account of penitents, 448 ; on
synods, 558.
Tc'xtus Rcceptus, xiii., 138.
Thebaic version, 251.
Thebuthis, 482.
Theodotian, 345.
Thcodotus, 412.
Theophilus, of Antioch, 253, 334,
414; of Csesarea, 557, 558.
Theophorus, 355.
Therapeutae, 284, 363.
Thessalonians, 100, loi.
Thessalonica, 99; its first Papal
Vicar, 515.
Thomas, 32, 35, 41.
Thorndike, 498.
Thrace, 254.
Thraseas, 464.
Three taverns, 131.
Thundering legion, 252.
Thurificati, 270.
Tiber, 273, 309.
Tiberius, 30, 53, 55, 375.
Tickets of peace, 574.
Tillemont, 49, 457, 465, 500.
Timothy, 69, 114, 137, 206, 215, 217,
380.
Tischendorf, xiii,, 138, 224.
Titles of canonical books, 159-160.
Titles of Christ, 172, 173.
Tiiulus, 498.
Titus, 106, 115, 161, 215-218, 228.
Toledo, 470.
Toleration, 261, 282.
Tongues, 193, 207.
Tortures, 266, 278,
Toulouse, 254.
Tours, 254.
Tradition, loi, 169, 204; Roman
307, 409 ; attested by bishops, 469
its uncertainty, 572.
Traditors, 277, 426.
Trajan, 249, 262, 264, 356.
Trallians, 359, 374.
Translation of bishops, 551.
Translations of N. T., 251.
Transubstantiation, 443.
Tregelles, 75, 174, 224.
Trinity, 175, 339, 350, 413, 414. 4l6.
Troas, 117, 137, 356, 359.
Trophimus, 118, 137.
Trustees of British Museum, 354.
Trypho, 333.
Turner, Sharon, 570.
Tutelary guardians, 6.
Twelve, The, 31-36, 41, 48, 59.
Two years old, what, 28.
Tychicus, 118, 134,
Tyrannus, 105, 107.
Tyre, 346, 476.
Ulster, Synod of, 491.
Uniformity, 236, 577, 578.
Union, Bond of, 553.
Unitarians, 412.
Unity, Catholic, 516, 518.
Unity of God, 9, 416.
Unity, of the Church, 185, 224,
235, 512; promised, 598.
Unknown God, 92.
Ussher, 354, 361, 378, 389, 487.
Vacancy, Episcopal, at Rome, 496 ;
at Alexandria, 506.
Valens, 367.
Valentine, 42, 301 ; his system, 394;
his activity, 497 ; at Rome, 498.
Valentinians, 336, 339.
Valeria, 257.
Valerian, 274, 275, 280, 348.
Valesius, 139.
Vatican MS., 277; Library, 313,
Lapidarian Gallery, 319-322.
6l2
INDEX.
Venial sins, 401 451.
Venus, 66, 96.
Vicarious sacrifice of Christ, 23.
Victor of Rome, 308, 309, 312, 335,
413, 489, 521 ; supports Montan-
ism, 314 ; holds a synod, 557, 558 ;
opposes the Ouartodecimans, 571.
Vienne, 254, 267, 308, 531.
Virginity, Perpetual, of Mary, 593.
Virgins, 285, 348.
Visible Church, 581, 584.
Vitringa, 37, 152, 203, 207, 288.
Vossius, 354, 361.
Voting, 67, 317.
Vow of a Nazarite, 1 19.
Waddington, 438,
Wake, 357,
Wall, 432.
Warburton, 352.
Water of baptism, 437 ; in the wine
of the Eucharist, 442.
Westcott, 162, 251, 384, 409.
Western Empire, 151.
Whately, 435.
Whiston, 30, 359.
Whitby, 157, 217.
Whitsunday, 570.
Wieseler, 59, 115, 131.
Will-worship, 404.
Wilson, 196, 430.
Winckelmann, 313.
Wisdom, the Spirit so called, 414.
Wise men from the East, 12, 28.
Wishart, William, 510.
Wombs of the faith, 514.
Wonderful character of Christ, 27,
Wordsworth, 160, 162, 163, 306, 314,
Worship of the Church, 187, 226^
421.
Written Word, 169, 171.
Xenophon, 91.
Xerophagife, 450.
Xystus, 323, 489 ; called a presby-
ter, 532 ; did not keep the paschal
feast, 571.
Year of Christ's birth, 28.
Yehovah, 351.
Zacchaeus, 34.
Zeal for martyrdom, 269, 385..
Zebedee, 35, 36.
Zelotes, 33.
Zephyrinus, 3H, 3^S. 3SO.
Zoroaster, 399, 425.
Zosimus, 368, 369.
Zumpt, 294.
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