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I 


OF   THE 

Theological    Seminary, 

PRINCETON,    N.  J. 
Case.  n...:— 

BR  67  .085  1835 
Osburn,  William, 
Doctrinal  errors  of  the 
apostolical  and  early 


I 


V 

\ 


^  ^.^..'^^ 


-^^-  . 


DOCTRINAL  ERRORS 


THE    APOSTOLICAL  AND  EARLY 
FATHERS. 


"  i  had  rather  trust  to  the  shadow  op  the  church  which  the 

scripture  teaches,  than  to  all  the  men's  writings  since  the  days  of 

polycarp." 

Bishop  Hooper. 


By  WILLIAM  OSBURN,  Jun. 


LONDON: 

HAMILTON,    ADAMS,   AND  CO., 
HATCHARD    AND    SON,    AND    SEELEY    AND    SON 

AND 

J.  Y.  KNIGHT,  LEEDS. 

1835. 


A.  PICKARD,    rUINTF.R,    LEEDS. 


PREFACE. 


It  has  been  very  common  with  writers  on  divinity  to  deal 
tenderly  with  the  errors  of  the  early  Christian  fathers,  and 
much  might  with  propriety  be  urged  in  justification  of 
the  practice.  There  is  that  also,  in  the  nature  of  past 
controversies,  which  will  satisfactorily  account  for  it. 
But,  it  cannot  be  concealed,  that  this  forbearance  of  the 
Protestant  divines  is  now  taken  advantage  of  by  the 
Roman  Catholics,  and  those  who  agree  with  them  on  the 
subject  of  the  unwritten  tradition  of  the  church,  and  that 
it  occasions  considerable  difficulty  and  inconvenience. 

The  following  work  is  composed  under  a  sense  of 
this  difficulty.  The  author  began  to  peruse  the  writings 
of  the  early  fathers  with  considerable  doubt  and  hesita- 
tion, as  to  the  mode  in  which  their  tradition  ought  to 
be  received.  And  it  occurred  to  him  long  before  he  had 
completed  his  undertaking,  that  a  faithful  exposure  of 
their  mistakes  might  subserve  an  useful  purpose  in  the 
cause  of  Christianity. 

As  neither  the  author"'s  time,  nor  his  opportunities  of 


iv  PREFACK. 

access  to  books,  are  unbounded,  he  has  been  compelled  to 
forego  the  perusal  of  any  modern  works  which  may  have 
preceded  him  on  the  various  subjects  that  have  fallen 
under  discussion,  and  to  devote  himself  entirely  to  the 
writings  of  the  fathers  themselves,  in  preparing  it.  He 
is  conscious  that  his  book  may  have  suffered  considerably 
on  this  account ;  but,  nevertheless,  it  appeared  perfectly 
evident  that  nothing  could  compensate  for  want  of 
acquaintance  with  the  authors  whose  opinions  he  proposed 
to  examine. 

But  to  the  works  of  one  modern  divine  he  is  glad  of 
this  opportunity  of  expressing  his  deep  obligations.  It 
is  scarcely  necessary  to  name  the  treatises  of  the  Bishop 
of  Lincoln  upon  Justin  Martyr  and  TertuUian.  These, 
he  hopes,  that  he  has  generally  applied  to  the  purpose 
for  which  the  right  reverend  author  intended  them  :  he 
has  endeavoured,  by  their  help,  to  extend  his  acquaintance 
with  the  fathers  of  whom  they  treat,  rather  than  to  save 
his  own  labour.  In  one  instance,  however,  he  has 
departed  from  this  rule,  and  he  regrets  that,  through 
inadvertency,  it  has  not  been  acknowledged  in  the  proper 
place.  It  is  in  the  fifth  chapter  of  the  present  work, 
upon  Angels  :  the  idea  of  embodying  the  opinions  of  an 
author  upon  angels  and  demons  is  altogether  the  learned 
prelate''s :  it  is  merely  extended  there  to  a  synopsis  of 
the  doctrine  of  the  fathers  of  the  two  first  centuries 
upon  these  subjects. 


PREFACE. 


The  rough  note  of  the  remarks  upon  the  cessation 
of  miracles  in  the  second  chapter,  was  written  before  the 
author  had  the  advantage  of  seeing  these  admirable 
treatises,  and  it  gave  him  the  utmost  pleasure  to  find 
his  conjecture  confirmed  by  so  high  an  authority.  He 
merely  mentions  this,  because,  as  it  is  a  question  of 
evidence,  every  separate  and  independent  examination  of 
the  same  facts  which  leads  to  the  same  conclusion,  is 
of  some  importance  in  it. 

Archbishop  Wake's  translation  of  the  apostolical 
fathers  is  generally  adopted  in  the  present  work,  though 
it  is  sometimes  departed  from. 

He  has  only  further  to  observe,  that  it  has  been 
throughout  his  earnest  endeavour  to  state  the  opinions 
of  these  early  writers  fairly  and  accurately.  Should  he 
prove  to  have  failed  (and  he  well  knows  that  this  is  far 
from  improbable)  he  will  have  at  any  rate  the  consolatory 
reflection,  that  it  has  not  been  for  lack  either  of  honesty 
of  purpose,  or  of  the  most  zealous  and  devoted  attention 
he  was  capable  of  giving  to  the  subject. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

Introduction, xix 

CHAPTER  I. 

NECESSITY  OF  A  DIVINE  REVELATION. 

Capable  of  proof  from  the  absurdities  of  Idolatry, 1 

Supernatural  communications  more  frequent  in  the  early  ages  of  the 

world,    2 

Gradually  withdrawn  from  thence  to  the  times  of  the  New  Testament,  3 
Divine  purpose  accomplished  in  such  a  revelation  of  the  divine  will, 
and  such  a  state  of  human  society,  as  should  obviate  the  necessity 

of  further  miraculous  interference,  4 

How  this  revelation  ought  to  be  received,    5 

Whether  the  apostolical  fathers  were  under  the  same  obligation, 6,  ^ 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  APOSTOLICAL   FATHERS  WERE  NOT 
INSPIRED. 

Epistles  of  Clement  and  Barnabas  probably  written  before  the  comple- 
tion of  the  canon,    8 

Cessation  of  miracles, !) 

No  allusion  to  existing  miracles  in  Clement  and  Barnabas,  ibid. 

Ignatius  and  Polycarp,    10 

Mode  of  speaking  of  existing  miracles  by  Justin,  Theophilus,  Irenaeus, 

and  Tertullian,     II 

They  had  ceased  in  the  times  of  Clement  of  Alexandria,  12 

Gradual  but  rapid  departure  of  miraculous  gifts,   13 

Inspiration  withdrawn  in  the  same  manner,    14 

Semi-inspiration . .  1 .5 


viii  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Apostolical  fathers  not  inspired,  and,  therefore,  in  that  respect  simi- 
larly circumstanced  with  all  other  Christians, l'> 

CHAPTER  III. 

TRADITION. 

Advantages  of  the  apostolical  fathers  as  the  cotemporaries  of  our  Lord 

and  his  ajiostles, ^' 

Traditional  doctrines  in  Christianity,    1" 

Their  existence  denied,  ^^ 

No  appeal  to  them  in  the  epistles  of  the  apostolical  fathers,      20 

Rejected  by  Irenaeus, ..ibid. 

TertuUian,  21 

Asserted  by  Clement  of  Alexandria  in  support  of  the  double  doctrine,  ibid. 
No  doctrine  of  the  early  fathers  to  be  received,  which  is  not  to  be 

found  in  the  Bible, 22,  23 

CHAPTER  IV. 

OPINIONS  OF  THE  EARLY  FATHERS  UPON  INSPIRATION. 

Limits  of  literary  excellence  and  inspiration  imperfectly  understood  by 

the  early  church, 24 

Avowal  of  inspiration  by  Barnabas, 25 

TgnnUng      jjjof. 

These  avowals  unimportant   in   the   determination   of   the  canon    of 

Scripture, 26 

Similar  assertion  in  the  Stromates  of  Clement,  2^ 

Truth  the  essence  of  Christianity,  28,  29 

The  many  false  and  forged  books  of  the  first  and  second  centuries,    ...     30 

Mode  in  which  they  were  regarded  by  the  early  church,  31 

Opinions  on  the  inspiration  of  the  Septuagint,  of  Ireneeus,  TertuUian, 

and  Clement  of  Alexandria, 32 

The  book  of  Enoch  inspired, 33 

The  Greek  philosophy  inspired, ibid. 

The  opinions  of  the  second  century  on  inspiration  valueless  as  an  inde- 
pendent testimony  :  and  only  important  as  a  link  in  the  chain  of 
evidence  which  sustains  the  aitthcnticity  of  the  canonical  books,     31 
Origin  of  these  vague  opinions, ibid. 


CONTENTS.  IX 

PAGE. 

Their  effects — the  Shepherd  of  Hermas, 35 

The  notion  of  Tertullian  and  Clement  regarding  the  double  doctrine,  ibid. 

Cause  of  the  success  of  the  forged  books,  36 

Doctrines  of  the  second  century  derived  from  these  sources  as  well  as 

from  the  Bible, ibid. 

Design  of  the  work,    ibid. 

CHAPTER  V. 

ANGELS. 

Nothing  immediately  revealed  to  us  regarding  Angels, 37 

Nature  and  attributes  of  good  angels  according  to  the  Scriptures,  ...  37 — 41 

evil  angels,     41 — 43 

Limited  nature  of  our  scriptural  knowledge  on  these  subjects,    43 

Impatience  of  the  early  church  for  further  revelations  on  the  nature  of 

angels, 44 

Ignatius,   ibid. 

Hermas,    45 

Angelic  system  of  the  fathers  of  the  second  century,    ibid. 

Nature  of  angels,    46 

Free-will  of  angels, 47 

First  fall  of  the  angels,  ibid. 

Second  fall         do  48 

Universally  believed  in  the  second  century, ibid. 

Danger  of  further  angelic  defections,  49 

Forbidden  arts  taught  by  the  fallen  angels, ibid. 

Origin  of  giants  and  demons,    50 

Satan  the  prince  of  the  infernal  hosts, ibid. 

Their  endeavours  to  destroy  the  soul, 51 

They  lead  men  into  idolatry, 52 

Their  powers  of  locomotion, jjjf/. 

Changes  in  the  condition  of  the  evil  angels  at  the  advent  of  our  Lord,    53 

Origin  of  the  heresies  of  the  second  century, ibid. 

Every  human  being  has  his  attendant  evil  demon, 54 

Interminable  war  throughout  the  universe,  between  the  good  and  evil 

angels,  n^ij. 

Arrangement  and  discipline  of  the  hosts  of  heaven,  55 

Comparison   of    the   Scriptural   and   Patristical    schemes    of    angelic 

existence,   , , 56—58 


X  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Free-will  of  angels, ^^ 

Origin  of  the  system  of  demonology  adopted  by  the  early  fathers,  60 — 64 

The  book  of  Enoch,    61—63 

Rapid  decline  of  the  error  regarding  the  angels,    65 

The  errors  to  which  it  had  given  rise  not  expunged  from  the  traditional 

creed  of  the  church,  «"•  6G 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  CHRISTIAN  SACRAMENTS BAPTISM. 

The  material  and  immaterial  doctrines  regarding  the  sacraments,    67 

Asserted  antiquity  of  the  former, ■■■  ibid. 

Advantage  of  the  latter  in  point  of  analogy,  68 

Inconvenience  of  the  scheme  which  holds   the  materiality  of  the  one 

sacrament  and  the  immateriality  of  the  other,    69 

Holy  Scripture  the  ultimate  appeal  upon  the  question, ibid. 

Scripture  doctrine  of  baptism,    70 — 78 

Opinions  of  Clement  and  Barnabas,   78,  79 

. Hermas, 80—82 

Hermas  exalts  the  outward  rite,    82 

Justin  Martyr,  83 

Irenaeus,   • 84 

Tertullian — account  of  his  tract  "  de  Baptismo," 85 — 89 

His  doctrine  of  Baptism,    90 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  90 — 93 

Summary  of  the  doctrine  in  the  second  century,    93 

Infant  Baptism,   95 

Origin  of  baptismal  regeneration, 96 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  EUCHARIST. 

Scriptural  account  of  its  institution, 97 

Allusion  in  it  to  the  Paschal  I-amb, 98 

Different  opinions  maintained  regarding  it, 99 

Presumption  in  favour  of  the  immaterial  doctrine,     ibid. 

Declarations  of  Scripture  in  harmony  with  this  presumption, 100 

Objectionable  mode  of  stating  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement,  by  Cle- 
ment of  Rome,    ibid. 

by  Ignatius,     101 


(ONTENTS.  XI 

PAGE. 

Efficacy  ascribed  to  the  outward  sign  by  Ignatius, 102 

Justin  Martyr  on  the  Eucharist, 103 

Wine  mixed  with  water  in  the  cup, ibid. 

Obscure  passage  in  Justin, ibid. 

Doctrine  of  Justin, 104 

Irenasus  on  the  Eucharist, 105 

Change  in  the  elements  during  the  offertory,  106 

Tertullian  on  the  Eucharist,  107 

Clement  of  Alexandria.     Obscure  passage  regarding  the  cup,  108 

Remarks  upon  it, 109 

Clement  not  a  transubstantiator,  110 

Comparison  of  the  doctrine  of  the  early  church,  on  the  Eucharist,  with 

that  of  the  Bible,     Ill 

Origin  of  Transubstantiation,     112,  113 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

RELIGIOUS  WORSHIP. 

Spiritual  nature  of  Christian  worship, 115 II7 

Prayer, II7 

Clement  of  Rome  on  times  of  prayer, 118 

Hermas  on  do.  119 121 

Tertullian — his  tract  "  de  Oratione,"    121 124 

Erroneous  practices  in  prayer  mentioned  by  him, 124 

Impious  prayer  of  Clement  of  Alexandria, 125 

Error  of  the  early  fathers  on  prayer,    ibid. 

Multiplication  of  the  external  ceremonies  of  Christianity,    126 

CHAPTER  IX. 

CELIBACY  AND  THE  PERPETUAL  VIRGINITY. 

Apparent  result  of  the  enquiry,  confirmed  by  the  present  subject,  129 

Origin  of  the  error  of  celibacy  very  apparent, ibid. 

Not  to  be  found  in  the  self-denial  enjoined  in  the  New  Testament, 130 

Opinions  of  Pythagoras, 131 

Discipline  of  the  Essenes,  ]32 

Probable  origin  of  both.  Buddhism, 134 

Virgin-widows,    136 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

FAG£. 

Heretics  who  denounced  marriage,  137 

Tertullian  on  second  marriages,     138 

Clement  of  Alexandria  on  marriage,     139 

celibacy,  142 

The  perpetual  virginity, 143 

Not  maintained  by  the  church  in  the  first  and  second  centuries, 144 

Clement  of  Alexandria  the  first  father  who  maintained  it ;  his  autho- 
rity for  this  doctrine,  145 

Doctrine  of  the  early  church  on  celibacy,  and  its  consequences, 146 

CHAPTER  X. 

ASCETICISM. 

Abstinence  of  the  Gospel, 148 

Hermas  on  Stations,    , 149 

Tertullian — account  of  his  tract  "■  Adversus  Psychicos." 151 

Clemens  Alexandrinus. — The  second  Paedagogue,  157 

Causes  of  the  extreme  rigour  of  discipline  in  the  early  church,  160 

Its  beneficial  effects, 16] 

Mistakes  of  Clement, ibid. 

Comparison  between  him  and  Tertullian,    , 162 

Gnostical  perfection,    163  Note 

CHAPTER  XI. 

ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY  AND  PERSONS. 

Passage  from  Clement  to  the  Corinthians,  166 

Appointment  of  ministers  in  the  early  church,   167 

Order  of  the  ministry,    168 

Authority  of  the  ministry, 169 

Abolition  of  the  Aaronical  priesthood, ibid. 

Remarks  on  Matt.  xvi.  19.     The  power  of  the  Keys,    171 

In  what  it  consisted,   I74 

New  Testament  doctrine  regarding   the   authority   of   the   Christian 

ministry,  I78 

Argument  of  the  Epistle  of  St.  Clement  to  the  Corinthians,    182 

His  object  in  writing  it  a  highly  laudable  one,    188 

His  notions  of  ecclesiastical  supremacy,  ibid. 

Comparison  of  his  spirit  with  thai  of  St.  Paul,  189 


CONTENTS.  XIU 

PAOE. 

Error  of  St.  Clement  universally  prevalent,    .  T 191 

Epistles  of  Ignatius,    191 

to  the  Ephesians,    192 

Magnesians, 1 93 

Trallians  and  Philadelphians,    194 

Smy  rnffians, 1 95 

His  doctrine  upon  ecclesiastical  supremacy,     196 

Entirely  without  scriptural  authority,  198 

Tertullian  on  the  same,  and  on  tradition,    199 

Traditional  church  government  and  ceremonies  in  Christianity,  200 

Valentinus,  202 

"  It  is  not  in  the  power  of  tradition  to  ordain  any  thing  against  God's 

word  :"  this  rule  applicable  to  all  things  in  Christianity,  203 

Tendency  of  the  error  of  Clement  and  Ignatius,    204 

Heresies  of  the  second  century,     205 

Danger  of  the  church  from  thence,  206 

Their  probable  cause, 207 

Inconsistency  of    Ignatius   in  maintaining  the  divine    power  of   the 

clergy,  208 

Its  universal  prevalence  in  succeeding  periods,   209 

Summary  of  the  argument,    ibid. 

Origin  of  the  error, 211 

Its  evil  consequences, 212 

Such  opinions  less  prevalent  in  the  Church  of  England  now  than  for- 
merly,      215 


CHAPTER  XII. 


MARTYRDOM. 

Honours  bestowed  upon  the  early  martyrs, 217 

Hermas  on  martyrdom, ibid. 

Holy  Spirit  miraculously  with  them,    218 

Prerogative  of  martyrdom, 219 

Ignatius  to  the  Romans, 220 

Frantic  proceedings  before  the  Roman  Tribunals,  221 

Tertullian  on  flight  in  persecution,    ibid. 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  223 

on  the  prerogative  of  martyrdom, 224 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  SUPREMACY  OF  ROME. 

PAGE. 

'I'liis  dogma  pretends  to  no  scriptural  authority, 226 

No  countenance  from  Clement's  epistle,  ibid. 

Ignatius  and  Irenseus  on  the  apostolic  churches,    227 

Tertullian,  do.,    228 

Anxiety  of  the  early  fathers  to  exalt  the  See  of  Rome, 229 

Cause  of  it,  ibid. 

Mode  of  fulfilment  of  2  Thess.  ii.  5—8., 231 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

MODES  OF  INTERPRETING  SCRIPTURE  ADOPTED  BY  THE 
EARLY  CHURCH. 

Importance  of  this  part  of  the  enquiry,  232 

Ultimate  appeal  of  the  early  fathers,  upon  all  questions,  to  the  inspired 

books,    ibid. 

Licentiousness  of  their  canon  of  interpretation, 233 

St.  Clement  of  Rome  and  the  Phoenix,     234 

Ignatius  on  1  Pet.  ii.  5., 23G 

The  Amphibolia, 239 

St.  Clement  of  Rome  on  Josh,  ii., 240 

_ humility, ibid. 

Asserted  simplicity  of  the  primitive  Christian,    242 

.Justin  Martyr  on  Isa.  Ivii.  1.,  and  certain  Psalms, 243 

__^ his  dialogue  with  Trypho,    244 

Irenaeus  on  John  xv.  14.,  and  Psa.  Ixxxv.  12.,    246 

Matt.  xxiv.  28.,  Hosea  i.  2,  3.,  Exod.  ii.  21.,     247 

Tertullian — Scriptural  interpretations  in  his  tract  "  adversus  Judaeos,"  248 

Clement  of  Alexandria — the  Pa'dagogue,    250 

Strange  comments  on  Gen.  xxvi.  8.,  and  1  Cor.  iii.  2., 252 

Definition   of  the  Amphibolia,  with  instances  from  Clement  of  Alex- 
andria,    254 

The  Bible  an  occultation,    255 

Christianity  and  heathen  philosophy,  (bid. 

The  epistle  of  St.  Barnabas,  256 

Its  authenticity,  257 


CONTENTS.  XV 

I'AGE. 

Powerful  influence  it  exerted  over  the  writings  of  the  second  century,  257 
Amphibolies  upon  the  word  |t/Xav  from  Justin  Martyr, ibid. 

Irenaeus,    259 

St.  Barnabas  on  Exod.  xvii.  8—1.3., 260 

Copied  by  Justin  and  Tertullian, 261 

Their  doctrine  on  the  efficacy  of  the  sign  of  the  cross, 262 

St.  Barnabas  on  Num.  xxi.  4 — 10.,   ibid. 

Again  copied  and  further  enlarged  from  the  New  Testament,  by  Justin 

and  Tertullian, 264 

Sense  in  which  the  lifting  up  of  the  brazen  serpent  typifies  Christ, 265 

Mode  in  which  miracles  were  performed,     266 

No    violation   of   the    Second    Commandment    in   making  the    brazen 

serpent, 267 

Scripture  narrative    altered    by    Barnabas    and    not  corrected  by   his 

copyists,    268 

His  comment  on  Gen.  xlviii.  14,  &c.,  269 

Again  copied  by  Tertullian,  ibid. 

Figure  of  the  cross  and  its  virtues,  how  discovered  in   Scripture  by 

Justin,  270 

by  Tertullian, 271 

Numerical  mode  of  the  Amphibolia  from  Barnabas, 272 

Another  mistake  in  his  scriptural  quotation,   273 

Fear  of  the  Greek  philosophy  in  Clement's  time,   274 

His  mode  of  allaying  it — the  numerical  amphiboly,  275 

Able  confutation  of  it  by  Irenaeus,  278 

Other  instances  of  it  from  Clement  of  Alexandria,    279 

The  worship  of  the  cross,  280 

Amphibolies  upon  the  name  of  Christ, ibid. 

Danger  of  interpreting  the  narratives  of  the  one  Testament,  as  types 

of  the  other, 281 

The  sacred  histories  mere  apologues,  282 

Philo's  opinions,  ibid. 

Jacob  a  type  of  Christ,  from  Irenaeus, 283 

Its  absurdity,  and  discrepancy  from  a  comment  on  the  same  passage 

by  Tertullian, ibid. 

Comments  upon  the  prohibitions  of  animal  food  in  the  Mosaic  law,  ...  285 

Origin  of  these  prohibitions, 286 

St.  Barnabas,    287 

Copied  from  Philo, 289 

Irenaeus,    ibid. 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Ingenuity  of  his  comment,     290 

Authenticity  of  St.  Barnabaii's  epistle  established, ibid. 

Defence  of  the  Amphibolia,  291 

Secret  doctrines  not  to  be  written,     ibid. 

Clement's  mode  of  defence,   292 

Important  admission , 293 

The  //.u^ai, ibid. 

Outer  and  inner  doctrines, 294 

The  Bible  a  mythology, 295 

CHAPTER  XV. 

PECULIAB  DOCTRINES  OP  CHRISTIANITY. 

Whether  there  is  any  necessity  of  proceeding  with  the  present  enquiry,  297 

Errors  on  inspiration  recapitulated,  298 

Verbal  inspiration  of  the  apostles,     ibid. 

The  freedom  of  the  will,    299 

Discussed  by  the  Stoics  and  Platonists,  ,300 

Conversion  of  Justin  Martyr,    ibid. 

His  Platonism, 301 

His  hostility  to  the  Stoics  the  cause  of  his  martyrdom, ibid. 

His  doctrine  on  free-will,    302 

Irenaeus,    ibid. 

TertuUian,    303 

Clement  of  Alexandria  a  Platonist,  304 

The  Greek  philosophers,  especially  Plato,  borrowed  from  the  writings 

of  Moses, 305 

Clement  on  free-will,  ibid. 

Doctrines  of  Grace ;  disregarded  by  the  fathers  of  the  second  century,  306 

They  followed  Plato  rather  than  Christ  on  these  points,    308 

Reason  of  this, ibid. 

Scriptural  doctrine  upon  the  question  of  the  will,  309 

Doctrines  of  grace  maintained  by  St.  Clement  of  Rome, 310 

St.  Barnabas,     312 

. St.  Ignatius, 313 

The  epistle  of  St.  Polycarp,  314 

The  unfeigned  humility  of  its  author, 315 

Comparison  of  Polycarp  and  Ignatius, 316 

Their  martyrdom,    317 


CONTENTS.  XVll 

PAGE. 

Further  proofs  of  Polycarp's  humility,     318 

His  orthodoxy, 319 

The  written  and  unwritten  tradition  of  Christianity  in  perfect  harmony 

in  the  times  of  the  apostolical  fathers, 320 

Justin's  Platonism  disturbed  this  harmony, ibid. 

Its  identification  with  Christianity,  321 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

CONCLUSION. 

The  dispensation  of  grace  altogether  a  new  one,    324 

One  of  its  distinctive  marks,  the  final  cessation  of  miracles,    ibid. 

Order  of  the  universe,  imperfect  beginnings  and  gradual  development,  325 

Christianity  in  harmony  therewith,  326 

Purity  of  the  primitive  times,    ibid. 

The  miracles  by  which  Christianity  was  established,  no  part  of  its  eco- 
nomy as  it  regards  this  world,  327 

Mental  state  of  the  early  converts,  328 

Their  incapacity  as  commentators,    329 

Their  tradition  of  no  prescriptive  authority,    ibid. 


Appendix, 331 


INTRODUCTION, 


The  following  account  of  the  fathers  quoted  in  the 
present  work  is  principally  from  the  ecclesiastical  histories 
of  Eusebius  of  Paniphylia,  who  wrote  early  in  the  fourth 
century.  It  may  sometimes  save  the  reader  the  trouble  of 
referring  to  other  books. 

A.D. 

Clement  of  Rome. — The  first  bishop  of  that  See ;  he 
was  ordained  thereto  by  the  apostles  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul. 
He  is  said  to  have  suffered  in  the  persecution  that  arose  in 
the  third  of  Trajan,  A.D.  101.  His  epistle  to  the  Corin- 
thians was  written  about 70  -\ 

Barnabas. — The  companion  of  St.  Paul.  He  was 
originally  a  Levite,  of  Cyprus.  (Acts  iv.  36,  37.)  His 
name  is  supposed  to  have  been  changed  from  Joses  to 
Barnabas,  (the  son  of  consolation,)  on  account  of  the  large 
estate  which  he  sold  and  divided  among  the  poor  at  his 
conversion.  He  alludes  to  the  meaning  of  this  name  at  the 
commencement  of  his  epistle ;  a  production  which  is  not 
so  highly  spoken  of  by  the  ancients  as  that  of  Clement.  It 
was  written  somewhere  about  the  time  of  the  fall  of  Jeru- 
salem       71. 

Hermas. — The  author  of  the  books  which  go  under 
this   name,  was   unknown  in  the  times  of  Eusebius.     The 


XX  INTRODUCTION. 

notion  that  he  was  the  Hermas  mentioned  by  St.  Paul, 
(Rom.  xvi.  14,)  is  manifestly  a  fable.  They  are  an  imita- 
tion of  the  Apocalypse  of  St.  John,  and  do  not  appear  to 
have  been  composed  earlier  than  the  commencement  of  the 
second  century. 

Ignatius. — Regarding  this  very  eminent  servant  of 
God,  we  only  know  that  he  was  the  disciple  of  St.  John 
the  apostle,  by  whom  he  was  ordained  to  the  see  of  Antioch ; 
and  the  circumstances  of  his  martyrdom.  He  voluntarily 
presented  himself  to  the  emperor  Trajan,  when  that  mo- 
narch passed  through  Antioch,  on  his  way  to  Armenia,  to 
repel  the  aggressions  of  the  Parthians,  and  avowed  himself 
a  Christian.  This  brave  and  high-minded  (but  not  very 
prudent)  proceeding,  of  course,  procured  his  own  immediate 
condemnation :  and  seems  to  have  been  the  commencement 
of  a  persecution,  though  the  mind  of  the  emperor  was  not 
before  made  up  to  such  a  measure.  He,  and  three  others, 
were  sent  to  Rome,  under  a  guard  of  ten  soldiers,  to  be 
devoured  by  wild  beasts,  in  the  circus,  at  the  games  which 
were  then  about  to  begin.  They  set  sail  from  Seleucia, 
and  coasted  the  southern  shore  of  Asia  Minor  to  Smyrna, 
where  he  was  allowed  to  communicate  freely  with  St.  Poly- 
carp  and  the  Christians  there.  It  would  appear,  that  he 
was  met  here  by  deputations  from  the  Christians  of  several 
cities  in  Asia  Minor,  who  had  heard  the  news  of  his  con- 
demnation. To  three  of  these,  Ephesus,  Magnesia,  and 
Tralics,  he  wrote  epistles  from  Smyrna,  and  also  one  to 
Rome.  The  soldiers  hiuried  him  away  to  Troas  ;  and  it 
was  from  thence  that  he  sent  the  three  remaining  epistles 
that  have  come  down  to  us ;  to  Philadelphia,  Smyrna,  and 
to  Polycarp,  their  bishop.  He  complains  of  the  conduct  of 
the  soldiers  more  than  once  ;  calling  them  "  ten  leopards,  to 
whom  he  was  bound  as  with  a  chain."  (Rom.  c.  v.)  Not- 
withstanding, the   facts   we   have    detailed,  will   show  that 


INTRODUCTION.  XXI 

A.D. 

he  must,  under  the  circumstances,  have  been  treated 
with  considerable  indulgence.  The  martyrdom  of  Ignatius 
took  place  during  the  Kalends  of  January,  in  the  19th  of 
Trajan     118. 

PoLYCARP. — The  most  perfect  exemplar  of  the  spirit  of 
Christianity  in  the  compass  of  uninspired  Christian  anti- 
quity. He  was  the  disciple  of  St.  John,  and  the  friend  of 
Ignatius.  By  that  apostle  he  was  ordained  bishop  of 
Smyrna,  in  Asia  Minor.  The  few  particulai-s  that  we  know 
concerning  him  are  nearly  all  detailed  in  the  course  of  the 
present  work.  He  was  burnt  at  the  stake  at  Smyrna,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  eighty-six.  Only  one  of  his  epistles 
remains  to  us,  which  was  addressed  to  the  church  at  Philippi. 
Others  are  mentioned,  though  not  named,  in  the  epistle  of 
Irenaeus  to  Florinus,  (apud  Eusebium,  lib.  5.  c.  20,^  but, 
it  seems  probable,  that  they  were  merely  of  a  private  nature. 
His  martyrdom  took  place,  according  to  the  modern  chro- 
nologies, in  the  tenth  of  the  emperor  Antonius  Pius 147. 

Justin  Martyr. — A  native  of  Flavia  Neapolis,  in 
Samaria.  He  was  born  of  Gentile  parents.  By  his  own 
account  of  himself,  he  embraced  Christianity  after  having 
tried  the  various  sects  of  philosophy,  without  satisfaction  to 
his  mind.  Of  his  works,  (which  exercised  a  very  powerful 
influence  over  the  early  church,)  three  only  remain.  Two 
Apologies  for  Christianity ;  and  his  dialogue  with  Trypho 
the  Jew.  Some  others  are  also  mentioned  by  Eusebius. 
According  to  Tatian,  his  scholar,  he  suffered  martyrdom 
during  the  reign  of  Antoninus  Philosophus,  which  com- 
menced       161. 

The  Bishop  of  Lincoln's  Justin. 

Athenagokas — The  pupil  of  Justin,  and  a  philoso- 
pher of  Athens.     These  are   all   the  particulars   we  know 


XXll  INTRODUCTION. 

A.D. 

concerning  him.  Two  of  his  works  are  still  extant.  The 
one  is  an  Apology  for  Christianity;  the  other  is  a  treatise 
on  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  The  former  was  written 
on  the  occasion  of  a  persecution,  and  is  addressed  to  the 
emperor  Antoninus  Philosophus,  after  his  son,  Commodus, 
had  been  associated  with  him  in  the  imperial  dignity,  and, 
therefore,  late  in  his  reign.  Probably  it  was  during  the 
persecution,  so  many  details  of  which,  in  the  GaUic  pro- 
vinces, are  preserved  by  Eusebius :  and  which,  as  he 
informs  us,  raged  with  equal  fury  over  the  whole  world. 
This  is  generally  computed  to  have  taken  place 177. 

Tatian,  the  Assyrian,  was  also  the  pupil  of  Justin. 
After  his  death,  he  fell  into  the  errors  of  the  Encratites, 
who  macerated  the  body  through  hatred  to  matter.  Euse- 
bius informs  us  that  he  was  a  voluminous  writer,  but  that 
his  master-piece  was  his  oration  against  the  Greeks,  which 
alone  remains  to  us  of  his  works :  but  there  is  nothing  in  it 
to  excite  a  moment's  regret  at  the  loss  of  the  rest. 

Theophilus,  bishoji  of  Antioch. — A  list  of  the  works 
of  this  father  is  likewise  given  by  Eusebius  ;  one  of  them 
is  still  extant :  a  defence  of  the  Christian  religion,  addressed 
to  Autolycus,  a  heathen.  It  is  a  verj^  learned,  but  diffuse 
and  heavy,  production. 

Iren.eus. — The  pupil  of  St.  Polycarp;  by  whom  he 
was  sent  to  preach  the  Gospel  among  the  Gauls,  where  he 
was  a  presbyter  under  Pothinus,  bishop  of  Lyons,  and  at 
his  martyrdom,  succeeded  him.  According  to  the  martyr- 
ologists,  he  suffered  in  the  early  persecutions  of  Severus, 
who  was  raised  to  the  imperial  dignity  A.  D.  194  :  but  this 
is  a  very  doubtful  authority.  His  principal  work,  the  five 
books  against  the   Heretics,  still   remains    in   a  barbarous 


INTRODUCTION.  XXUl 

A.D. 

Latin   translation.     It   is  fiequcntlv   quitted   and  remarked 
upon  in  the  present  work. 

Tertullian. — Our  information  regarding  this  eminent 
and  highl}'^  talented  individual  is  just  as  defective  as  in  the 
preceding  instances.  According  to  Jerome,  he  was  a  native 
of  Carthage ;  the  son  of  a  proconsular  centurion.  He 
remained  a  presbyter  of  the  church  until  middle  life,  when 
he  was  driven  by  the  envy  and  contumelious  treatment  of 
the  Roman  clergy,  to  embrace  the  doctrine  of  Montanus,  a 
fanatical  heretic,  of  Phrygia.  His  opinions  and  proceedings 
bear  a  close  resemblance  to  those  that,  within  these  few 
years,  have  made  their  appearance  in  this  country,  and  in 
Scotland  :  some  of  the  partisans  of  which  are  understood  to 
avow  that  Montanus  was  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  After 
his  conversion  to  Montanism,  Tertullian  resided  at  Carthage, 
where  he  founded  a  sect  who  named  themselves  Tertulli- 
anists.  His  works,  which  are  very  numerous,  have  been 
divided  into  such  as  were  written  before  he  left  the  church, 
and  those  he  composed  afterwards. — The  Bishop  of  Lincoln's 
Ecclesiastical  History,  (whence  this  notice  of  Tertullian  has 
been  extracted,)  contains  the  best  account  of  them ;  perhaps, 
the  best  account  that  ever  was  written  of  the  works  of  any 
ancient  author.  Tertullian  is  said  to  have  lived  to  an 
advanced  age,  and  to  have  flourished  during  the  reigns  of 
Septimus  Severus  and  Caracalla  ;  the  latter  began  to  reign  211. 
And  was  murdered  by  Macrinus 217. 

Clement  of  Alexandria. — Perhaps  a  native  of  Sicily ; 
was  afterwards  the  pupil  of  Pantaenus  in  the  school  of 
Christian  philosophy  at  Alexandria.  The  founder  of  this 
sect  of  philosophers  is  unknown.  It  is  said  to  have  had  the 
approbation  of  Athenagoras,  and  I  suspect  that  his  master, 
Justin,  was  by  no  means  unfavourable  to  it.  Like  his 
cotemporaries,  Clement  was  a  voluminous  writer.     Several 


XXIV  INTRODUCTION. 

works  of  his,  mentioned  by  Eusebius,  and  referred  to  by 
himself,  are  now  lost.  Of  those  that  remain,  the  Exhorta- 
tion to  the  Gentiles  is  a  powerful  exposure  of  the  follies  of 
heathenism,  the  Peedagogue  is  a  rule  of  life  for  ordinary 
Christians,  and  the  Stromates  is  a  guide  to  gnostical  perfec- 
tion. Eusebius  says  that  he  composed  this  last  during  the 
reign  of  Severus,  and  accordingly  we  find  that  the  chrono- 
logies in  the  first  book  all  terminate  with  the  death  of  his 
predecessor  Commodus.  The  same  author  mentions  also, 
that  it  consisted  of  eight  books,  and  that  number  occurs  in 
our  copies :  but  the  eighth  is  a  dissertation  on  dialectics,  I 
think,  by  another  hand.  Clement  is  best  known  as  the 
tutor  of  Origen.  The  time  and  mode  of  his  death  are  not 
to  be  found  in  any  author. 


^f 


X^vi^^^'^y 


r 


:^ 


DOCTRINAL    ERRORS, 


CHAPTER  I. 


NECESSITY    OF    A    DIVINE    REVELATION. 

THE  human  mind  was  not  created  for  a  state  of  entire 
independence  of  all  communications  of  knowledge  from 
the  great  Author  of  its  existence.  We  might  easily  point 
out  its  incapacity  of  attaining  to  certain  truths  which  it 
is,  nevertheless,  needful  for  man  to  know,  and  to  know  as- 
suredly ;  and  by  referring  to  the  monstrous  absurdities  in 
religion  which,  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  have  arisen  out 
of  this  incapacity,  triumphantly  demonstrate  the  necessity 
of  a  divine  teaching.  But  the  enquiry  would  be  foreign 
to  our  present  purpose,  for  which  it  will  be  sufficient  to 
show  that  such  has  been  the  divine  economy,  by  a  very 
superficial  glance  at  the  early  history  of  the  human  race. 

In  the  paradisaical    state,    the   intercourses   between 
God  and  man  were  so  constant  and  familiar  as  to  evidence 


that  man,  in  maintaining  that  communion,  was  fulfilling 
a  primary  purpose  of  his  creation.  It  was  only  when,  by 
man's  disobedience,  sin  entered  into  the  world,  that  he  hid 
himself  from  the  presence  of  his  Heavenly  Father.  And, 
notwithstanding,  we  are  taught  by  his  subsequent  history, 
that  even  sin  could  not  frustrate  this  purpose  of  his 
most  benevolent  Creator.  It  did  not  comport  with  that 
inscrutable  wisdom,  which  condescends  not  at  all  to  our  un- 
hallowed curiosity,  to  reveal  to  us  many  particulars  regard- 
ing the  nature  and  frequency  of  the  intercourses  between 
heaven  and  earth,  during  the  long  period  that  intervened 
between  the  fall  and  the  flood.  Thus  much,  however,  we 
easily  gatlier  from  what  is  written  ; — that  the  direct  revela- 
tions of  the  divine  will  to  mankind  were  of  very  frequent 
occurrence,  and  that  the  providential  dispensations  of  God 
then  assumed  a  decidedly  judicial  character ;  much  more 
so  than  at  any  subsequent  period  : — that  is,  viewing  the 
general  tenor  of  God's  providential  government  at  that 
time  as  compared  with  any  other  period  of  equal  duration, 
and  excluding,  of  course,  those  particular  epochs  when, 
to  effect  some  great  change  in  the  theocratic  notions  of 
mankind,  the  Omnipotent  unveiled  for  a  season  the  hidings 
of  his  power ;  and  said  to  the  functions  of  nature,  as  well 
as  to  the  consciences  of  men,  he  still,  and  knoio  that  I 
am  God. 

Under  this  aspect  we  shall  find,  that  the  visible  deal- 
ings of  God  with  man  have  been  regulated  by  a  law  ex- 
actly analogous  to  that  which  governs  the  rise  and  growth 
of  all  beings  within  the  range  of  our  observation,  both 
in  the  physical  and  moral  world.  Their  earliest  mode 
of  existence  is  a  very  crude  and  imperfect  one ;  rendering 
them  dependent,  at  first  altogether,  and  for  a  longer  or 
shorter  subsequent  period  in  great  measure,  upon  assist- 


ances  external  to  themselves  for  its  continuance  :  and  they 
attain  to  that  degree  of  perfection  which  enables  them  to 
become  self-existent,  as  it  respects  their  fellow-beings,  by 
a  process  of  gradual  development. 

Exactly  after  this  manner  hath  God  dealt  with  the 
human  race.  When  man  was  first  driven  from  the  pre- 
sence of  his  Maker  in  paradise,  to  wander  over  the  earth 
that  was  cursed  for  his  sake,  he  was  dependent  upon  the 
direct  agency  of  the  Supreme  Being  for  the  supply  of  his 
every  want ;  the  very  coats  of  skins  that  clothed  our  first 
parents  did  the  Lord  God  make.  Gen.  iii.  21. 

This  direct  superintendence  appears  to  have  been  long 
continued ;  and  to  have  been  gradually  withheld,  partly, 
because  men  had  so  far  profited  by  the  instructions  which 
had  flowed  to  them  from  the  fountain  of  all  wisdom,  re- 
specting the  common  arts  of  life,  as  no  longer  to  require 
it, — ^but  principally,  because  they  had  rejected  the  word  of 
the  Lord,  as  it  regarded  the  far  more  important  concerns  of 
the  life  to  come,  and  sinned  against  him.  And  if  we  trace 
the  divine  economy  doAvnward,  through  the  succeeding 
periods  of  the  human  history,  we  shall  find  the  Almighty 
slowly  withdrawing  himself  behind  the  veil  of  providence 
— every  successive  departure  hastened  by  that  fatal  cause 
which  first  began  the  separation  between  man  and  his  God, 
sin  :  but  all  harmonised  by  the  skill  of  Omniscience  into 
an  entire  subserviency  of  his  great  purposes ;  vmtil,  in  the 
fulness  of  time,  God  was  manifest  in  the  flesh,  the  great 
atonement  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  human  race  was  offered 
upon  Calvary,  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom  was  preached  to 
all  the  nations  of  the  Roman  world,  and  the  last  breath  of 
inspiration  refreshed  the  fainting  spirit  of  the  aged  exile  of 
Patmos,  and  closed,  finally  and  for  ever,  the  book  of  God's 
revelation  to  mankind. 


The  subsequent  history  of  the  world  informs  us,  that 
the  economy  of  the  divine  dispensation  had  now  attained 
to  that  state  of  perfection  for  which  the  long  preceding 
series  of  supernatural  interferences  had  been  disciplining 
and  preparing  the  human  mind.  The  whole  will  of  God 
to  man,  and  all  things  necessary  for  him  to  know  regard- 
ing his  future  state  of  existence,  were  upon  record;  and 
that  record  was  capable  of  authentication,  by  every  mode 
of  proof  which  it  was  possible  for  his  understanding  to  re- 
quire. God  then  altogether  withheld  any  more  direct  dis- 
play of  his  power,  or  even  existence,  than  the  standing 
miracle  of  universal  providence,  whereby  the  invisible 
things  being  clearly  seen  by  those  that  do  appear,  meii  are 
left  without  excuse;  and  those  hidden  miracles  of  grace, 
which  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  the  ministry  of  the  Avord,  works 
from  time  to  time  in  the  hearts  of  men,  convincing  the 
happy  subjects  of  them  of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of 
judgment,  and  witnessing  vnXh  their  spirits  that  they  are 
the  children  of  God.  But  though  the  believer  knows, 
with  the  full  assurance  of  faith,  that  God  speaks  to  his 
heart,  yet  a  straiiger  intermeddleth  not  tvith  his  joy, — the 
evidence  hereof  is  for  himself  alone. — He  departs  from  the 
evil  that  is  in  the  world,  and  walks  with  God  in  newness 
of  life  ;  and  these  are  the  only  demonstrations  he  can  offer 
to  his  fellow  men  of  the  reality  of  the  blessing  he  has 
received. 

Miracles,  then,  ceased,  because  the  Divine  Revelation, 
and  human  society,  were  now  placed  in  circumstances  which 
obviated  the  necessity  of  further  miraculous  interposition  : 
and  therefore  it  inevitably  follows,  that  the  Bible  is  the 
substitute  which  God  hath  appointed  for  those  interferen- 
ces with  the  established  orders  of  Providence,  wherewith, 
in  the  infancy  of  the  world,  he  manifested  his  will  to  man- 


kind.  So  that  to  the  question,  How  ought  it  to  be  received 
by  the  succeeding  generations  of  the  human  family  ?  we 
reply,  without  hesitation,  exactly  in  the  same  manner  as 
would  have  been  received  those  previous  revelations  of  the 
divine  will  which  were  attended  with  supernatural  pheno- 
mena. The  Bible  contains  the  words  of  God,  though  we 
hear  not  the  voice  from  heaven  that  utters  them :  and  every 
precept  therein  is  equally  binding  upon  the  man  who,  at 
any  period,  shall  have  its  meaning  and  its  sanctions  pre- 
sented to  his  understanding,  as  it  was  upon  him  in  the  cir- 
cumstances of  whose  life  the  revelation  originated,  whose 
ear  heard  the  accents  of  the  voice  of  God,  whose  eyes 
beheld  the  vision  of  angels.  We  have  only  to  consider 
how  a  revelation  would  be  received  and  regarded,  by  the 
person  to  whom  it  was  vouchsafed,  and  we  have  the  exact 
measure  of  the  duty  of  every  man  regarding  the  Holy 
Scriptures. 

This  obligation  arises  from  the  circumstances  of  the 
case,  and  is  of  universal  authority.  It  was  as  binding  upon 
the  apostolic  men  as  upon  the  men  of  this  generation  ;  and 
it  will  be  equally  binding  upon  mankind  a  thousand  years 
hence,  (should  the  present  dispensation  continue  so  long,) 
as  it  is  upon  us.  The  time  that  may  have  elapsed  between 
the  revelation,  and  the  existence  of  the  individual  who  is 
made  acquainted  with  it,  is  no  element  of  the  question. 

All  this  is  sufficiently  apparent,  and  we  never  find 
any  difficulty  in  carrying  the  argument  forward ;  we  can 
readily  comprehend  that,  if  we  affiDrd  to  our  children  the 
same  religious  advantages  as  we  ourselves  enjoy,  their  obli- 
gations, as  to  the  mode  in  which  they  shall  receive  the 
Scriptures  and  bow  to  their  authority,  are  exactly  the  same 
as  our  own  ;  and  we  easily  follow  it  out  to  any  number  of 
succeeding  generations.       But  a  difficulty  certainly  does 


arise,  when  we  come  to  pursue  these  reasonings  retro- 
spectively ;  and  the  more  remote  the  period  to  which  we 
carry  our  enquiry,  the  more  formidable  does  the  difficulty 
become ;  until  we  discuss  the  mode  in  which  the  New 
Testament  Scriptures  ought  to  have  been  received  and  in- 
terpreted by  the  apostolic  fathers,  when  it  would  appear 
that  we  have  raised  a  question  of  considerable  intricacy. 
It  is,  however,  essential  to  our  present  enquiry  that  we 
should  endeavour  to  enter  fully  into  the  merits  of  it.  Let 
us,  then,  consider,  whether  Clement,  Barnabas,  Ignatius, 
and  Polycarp,  (the  only  apostolic  men  of  whose  writings 
any  thing  remains  to  us)  had  or  had  not  advantages  over 
their  successors,  whereby  they  were  liberated  from  that 
obligation  to  defer  entirely  to  the  authority  of  the  New 
Testament  which  we  ourselves  acknowledge. 

There  are,  apparently,  two  circumstances  in  which 
these  advantages  might  have  consisted.  Of  these  an  ob- 
vious one,  of  which  we  may  suppose  them  to  have  been 
possessed,  is  the  gift  of  inspiration.  If  this  be  the  case, 
the  authority  of  their  epistles  must,  of  course,  be  equal  to 
that  of  any  of  the  canonical  writings;  and  whatever  we 
find  of  novelty  in  them,  whether  they  be  new  truths  or 
doctrines,  or  new  modes  of  stating  truths  or  doctrines  with 
which  we  were  already  acquainted,  we  must  accept  all  such 
as  further  revelations  vouchsafed  to  their  authors. 

The  only  remaining  circumstance  in  their  favour  is 
that  they  were  the  cotemporaries  of  the  first  propagators  of 
Christianity,  and  therefore  had  the  opportunity  of  listening 
to  the  instructions  of  inspired  apostles,  and  possibly  of 
our  Lord  himself.  From  one  or  other  of  these  they  must 
have  derived  their  advantages,  if  they  really  possessed 
them.  The  discussion  of  both  will  involve  questions  of 
great  and  grave  importance,  which  have  already  engaged 


the  attention  of  the  Christian   church  to  a  considerable 
extent. 

It  shall  be  our  endeavour  in  treating  them,  strictly 
to  confine  ourselves  to  those  matters  which  are  indis- 
pensable to  the  subject  in  hand  ;  upon  no  occasion  to  lose 
sight  of  it,  for  the  purpose  of  stating  opinions  on  points 
in  debate :  and  here,  as  well  as  elsewhere,  to  substantiate 
the  facts  upon  which  we  may  ground  our  arguments,  by 
quotations  from  cotemporary  authors ;  thus  availing  our- 
selves rather  of  the  materials  which  the  talents  and  indus- 
try of  the  learned  have  provided,  than  of  the  opinions  and 
speculations  they  may  themselves  have  advanced  upon 
them. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE    WRITINGS    OF    THE    APOSTOLICAL    FATHERS    WERE 
NOT    INSPIRED. 

In  denying  that  the  Apostolical  Fathers  derived  any  assist- 
ance in  their  writings,  from  direct  inspiration,  we  are  met, 
at  the  threshold  of  the  subject,  with  a  circumstance  which 
naturally  enough  presents  itself  to  the  mind  as  a  difficulty 
of  some  magnitude.  The  Epistles  of  Clement  and  Bar- 
nabas were  written  from  twenty  to  thirty  years  before 
the  completion  of  the  New  Testament  canon,  and  those 
of  Ignatius  and  Polycarp  a  very  short  time  afterwards. 
Now,  of  Barnabas,  we  know  that  he  was  for  a  long  period 
the  companion  and  fellow-labourer  of  the  apostle  St.  Paul. 
The  constant  tradition  of  the  Church  regarding  Clemens 
Romanus  is,  that  he  was  the  individual  of  whom  the 
same  apostle  informs  us,  Phil.  iv.  3.,  that  his  name  was  in 
the  book  of  life  : — and  from  the  same  authority  we  learn, 
that  Ignatius  was  ordained  bishop  of  Antioch,  and  Poly- 
carp of  Smyrna,  by  St.  John  Theologus.^  Plainly,  there- 
fore, they  flourished  at  the  period  when  the  miraculous 
gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit  were  bestowed  upon  the  cliurch 
of  Christ : — were  not  they,  as  well  as  the  canonical  writers, 
favoured  with  the  gift  of  inspiration  f  Wc  can  only  ob- 
>  Euseb.  Hist.  lib.  3. 


9 

viate  this  difficulty,  by  opening  a  perplexing  question  ; — 
that  of  the  cessation  of  miracles. 

At  what  precise  period  the  thaumaturgic  gifts  were 
withdrawn  from  the  church,  and  the  advance  of  Christi- 
anity was  left  to  the  ordinary  operations  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  and  to  the  intrinsic  powers  of  its  own  verity,  is 
a  point  which  has  been  frequently  argued,  but  upon 
which  no  satisfactory  conclusion  has  yet  been  arrived  at. 
I  do  not,  therefore,  presume  to  offer  any  opinion  of  my 
own  upon  it,  without,  in  the  first  instance,  laying  before 
the  reader  the  evidence  upon  which  I  conceive  it  to  be 
founded. 

I  gather,  from  Clement's  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 
that,  when  he  wrote,  the  extraordinary  influences  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  were  no  longer  enjoyed  by  that  church  :  he 
expressly  mentions  the  schism  he  rebukes  as  the  occasion 
of  their  departure  ;^  and  all  parties  appear  to  have  consi- 
sidered  it  as  final,  for  he  never  once  directs  them  to  pray 
for  more  than  the  ordinary  influences.  There  appears  to 
be  strong  evidence,  in  the  same  epistle,  that  they  had  like- 
wise ceased  from  the  church  of  Rome,  at  whose  request  it 
was  written.  I  infer  this  from  his  entire  silence  upon  the 
subject:  it  would  have  so  powerfully  served  the  writer's 
purpose  as  an  illustration,  that  I  feel  persviaded  he  would 
not  have  failed  to  take  advantage  of  it,  had  he  been  able. 
This  epistle  was  probably  written  before  the  fall  of  Jeru- 
salem,^ A.  D.  ']!,  and  certainly  after  the  martyrdom  of 
Peter  and  Paul,  A.  D.  66.^ 

There  is  the  same  absence  of  all  allusion  to  the  pre- 
sent existence  of  miraculous  powers  in  the  church,  in  the 
Epistle  of  Barnabas,  which  appears  to  have  been  written 

-'  Clem.  Rom.  ad  Cor.  I.,  §1,2.  3  icU-m,  §  23,  41. 

•1  Idem,  §  5. 


10 

very  shortly  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,^  and  I  draw  from 
thence  the  same  inference ;  so  cogent  an  argument  in  their 
own  favour,  as  that  of  miracles  then  occurring,  would 
hardly  have  been  overlooked  by  either  writer,  had  it  been 
possessed  by  them. 

The  same  peculiarity  is  observable  in  the  seven  Epis- 
tles of  Ignatius,  written  about  forty  years  afterwards ; 
and  I  see  not  how  we  can  assign  other  than  the  same  rea- 
son for  it. 

Of  the  pious  and  humble  Polycarp  we  have  only  one 
memorial,  but  that  most  precious  :  his  Epistle  to  the  Phi- 
lippians  is,  in  my  opinion,  the  most  edifying  production 
of  the  second  century  that  remains  to  us.  But  here  again, 
there  is  not  a  single  allusion  to  miraculous  powers,  pos- 
sessed either  by  himself  or  any  other  individual  his  cotem- 
porary.  We  also  derive,  from  another  source,  a  convincing 
proof  that  the  blessed  martyr  was  not  endowed  with  the 
power  of  working  miracles.  The  epistle  of  his  pupil  Ire- 
naeus^  to  Florinus,  preserved  by  Eusebius,  describes  his 
person  and  habits,  and  lays  great  stress  upon  his  account 
of  the  miracles  of  our  Lord,  which  agreed  exactly  with 
that  in  the  Gospels:  had  Polycarp  himself  wrought  mi- 
racles, Irenaeus  would  doubtless  have  dwelt  upon  that 
fact  also,  and  with  minuteness,  to  the  backsliding  Flo- 
rinus, whom  he  exhorted  to  return  to  the  bosom  of  the 
church. 

The  earliest  ecclesiastical  writer  of  the  second  cen- 
tury, of  whose  works  any  thing  remains  to  us,  was  J  ustin 
Martyr.     In  his  Dialogue  with  Trypho  the  Jew,'    he  men- 

■i  S.  Bar.  Epistola  Cath.  §.  4.  Edit.  Oa: 
"  Opera,  p.  463.     It  is  quoted  by  Milner,  Vol.  I. 

7  We  (the  Christians)  have  the  gift  of  prophecy  even  now. — Opera, 
p.  308.  B.    VVc  pray  for  the  Jews  and  for  all  others  who  ho^tilcly  oppose  us: 


11 

tions,  generally,  the  existence  of  miraculous  powers  in 
the  church,  but  brings  no  particular  instances.  This  is, 
assuredly,  not  the  course  ordinarily  pursued  by  an  eye- 
witness ;  the  particulars  of  one  miracle,  wrought  by  a 
person  then  living,  would  have  had  much  more  weight 
with  Trypho,  than  vaguely  to  assert  the  performance  of  a 
hundred. 

Theophilus  of  Antioch,  his  pupil,  was  not  himself 
possessed  of  thaumaturgic  powers,  though  his  language 
regarding  them  resembles  that  of  Justin. — He  was  chal- 
lenged by  a  heathen  philosopher  to  raise  a  man  from  the 
dead,  but  declined  the  challenge." 

Irenaeus  speaks  of  miracles,  in  his  time,  in  a  man- 
ner similar  to  that  of  the  preceding  authors. — He  merely 
asserts  that  there  then  existed  miraculous  powers  in  the 
church,^  generally  ;  but  certainly  does  not  write  as  if  he 
himself  had  seen  them. 

Tertullian''s  expressions,  regarding  the  supernatural 
gifts  imparted  to  his  cotemporaries,  are  also  very  nearly 
those  of  the  writers  to  whom  we  have  already  referred He 

that  ye  may  repent  with  us,  and  not  blaspheme  Jesus  Christ  in  whose  name 
so  many  mighty  works  are  wrought  even  now. — lb.  254.  B.  Edit,  Lut. 

8  Ad  Autol.,  lib.  1.,  77-  C. 

9  Adv.  Hasr.,  lib.  2.,  c.  56.  After  discrediting  the  false  miracles  of 
the  Valentinians,  he  proceeds,  "  Tantum  autem  absunt  ab  eo  ut  mortuum 
excitent  quemadmodum  Dominus  excitavit,  et  Apostoli  per  orationem,  et  in 
fraternitate  ssepissime  propter  aliquid  necessarium,  ed  qucB  est  in  quoquo  loco 
ecclesid  universd  postulanti  per  jejunium  et  suppHcationem  multam,  reversus 

est  spiritus  mortui,  et  donatus  est  homo  orationibus  sanctorum,  p.  )  86. Edit. 

Grabe.  Further  on,  c.  57,  p.  188,  he  speaks  in  the  same  manner  of  cast- 
ing out  devils,  foretelling  future  events,  and  healing  diseases  ;  he  likewise 
resumes  the  subject  of  raising  the  dead,  and  says,  that  the  persons  resusci- 
tated had  afterwards  lived  many  years  among  them ;  but  this  mode  of  speak- 
ing quite  excludes  the  idea  that  any  such  were  then  living,  and  therefore 
throws  the  time  when  the  miracles  were  wrought  considerably  backward. 


12 

asserts,  in  vague  general  terms,  that  they  then  existed,^''  but 
only  once  ventures  to  relate  an  instance  of  their  exercise : 
than  which  it  is  hardly  possible  to  conceive  of  an  alleged 
case  of  miracle  with  fewer  rational  claims  to  credibility.^^ 
Yet  the  tract  in  which  it  occurs  was  written  after  he  had 
embraced  the  tenets  of  Montanus  ;  and  as  that  crazy  en- 
thusiast professed  to  work  miracles,  we  cannot  doubt  that 
his  disciple  would  adduce  the  most  striking  example  he 
could  find,  in  proof  of  the  reality  of  these  pretensions.  It 
is  likewise  well  worthy  of  remark,  that  he  derives  the  ma- 
nuum  impositio,  (a  part  of  the  ceremonial  of  baptism,)  not 
from  the  practice  of  our  Lord  and  the  apostles,  with  Ire- 
naeus,^^  but  from  Jacob  blessing  the  two  sons  of  Joseph. ^^ 
Is  not  this  merely  in  order  to  avoid  the  acknowledgment, 
that  the  imposition  of  hands  Avas  no  longer  accompanied 
by  miraculous  gifts  as  in  the  times  of  the  apostles  ?^'^ 

Clement  of  Alexandria  certainly  believed  that  mira- 
cles had  ceased  in  his  time:  after  speaking  of  the  Israelites 
in  the  desert,  he  proceeds,  "  but  we  are  of  those  Israelites 

"^  "  Let  one  possessed  of  a  devil  be  brought  before  your  (the  Hea- 
then) tribunals ;  and  at  the  command  of  any  Christian  the  spirit  will  confess 
that  he  is  a  demon." — Apol.  c  23.  "  We  (the  Christians)  bind  the  demons, 
and  expose  them  daily  ;  and  cast  them  out  of  men,  as  is  known  to  many 
persons." — Ad  Scap,  c.  2. 

U  "An  example  occurred  of  a  woman  who  went  to  the  theatre,  and 
returned  from  thence  possessed  of  a  devil : — and  when  the  unclean  spirit 
was  pressed  by  an  exorcist  to  say  why  he  had  dared  to  enter  into  one  of  the 
faithful ;  '  I  did  right  and  most  justly,'  he  replied,  '  for  I  found  her  on  my 
own  ground.'" — Be  Sped.  c.  2(>. 

12  U.  s.  c.  57. 

13  De  Bapt.  c.  8. 

!•*  St.  Austin  does  not  attempt  to  evade  the  admission,  but  expressly 

says,  that  the  ceremony  had  ceased  to  confer  miraculous  powers Tr.  (>  in, 

1  Ep.  Johan.  For  several  equally  striking  evasions  on  the  same  point  in 
Terlullian's  Works,  sec  Bishop  Kayc^s  Ecd.  Hid.  c.  2.  nolo  12. 


13 

whose  faith  and  obedience  cometh  not  by  seeing-  miracles 
but  by  hearing."^^ 

Exclusive  of  the  ecclesiastical  historians,  whose  au- 
thority, in  my  opinion,  is  of  far  too  doubtful  a  character 
to  be  of  any  service  to  such  an  enquiry,  this  is  the  evi- 
dence from  which  we  are  to  form  our  judgment  upon  the 
question  : — It  would  seem  that  the  following  are  the  facts 
deducible  from  it. 

The  miraculous  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit  were  enjoyed 
but  for  a  very  short  time  by  the  church.  Not  more  than 
thirty  years  after  the  first  propagation  of  Christianity,  it 
is  probable  that  already  were  the  churches  of  Rome  and 
Corinth  deprived  of  them. 

So  rapid  was  their  disappearance  from  the  earth,  that 
they  had  become  of  very  rare  occurrence  at  the  end  of  the 
first  century ;  neither  Ignatius  nor  Polycarp  were  endowed 
with  them,  nor  were  they  able  to  make  any  appeal  to  their 
present  existence  in  their  writings. 

Their  departure  was,  nevertheless,  not  simultaneous 
but  gradual ;  fifty  and  eighty  years  afterwards  Justin  Mar- 
tyr and  Irenseus  assert  that  they  still  existed ;  though  the 
miracles  to  which  the  latter  alludes  had  been  performed 
some  time  when  he  wrote. 

The  very  equivocal  and  imperfect  account  given  by 
TertuUian  of  miracles  then  occurring,  and  the  express 
declaration  of  Clement  of  Alexandria  that  the  Christian 
dispensation  was  no  longer  a  miraculous  one,  leave  but 
little  room  to  doubt,  that  at  the  end  of  the  second  century 
miracles  had  ceased  altogether. 

The  passage  in  Clemens  Romanus  acquaints  us  with 
another  fact,  regarding  their  departure.  They  were  with- 
drawn for  the  same  reasons  that  grieve  the  Spirit  to  with- 
15  2  Strom.,  c.  6. 


14 

hold  his  ordinary  influences, — their  niisimprovement  by 
those  upon  whom  they  were  conferred  :  and  when  once  so 
withdrawn  they  were  never  afterwards  restored. 

We  hesitate  not  for  a  moment  to  assert,  that  these 
facts  would  be  true  of  the  most  excellent  of  all  his  gifts, 
inspiration. 

That  a  mortal  and  sinful  man  shall  have  the  faculties 
of  his  understanding,  as  well  as  the  affections  of  his  heart, 
pervaded  by  the  divine  presence,  being  constituted  thereby 
the  unerring  historian  of  the  past  and  the  inspired  prophet 
of  the  future, — we  confidently  anticipate,  that  a  grace  so 
transcendent  should,  of  all  others,  exhibit  the  most  exqui- 
site sensibility  of  sin — should  soonest  shrink  from  its  con- 
tact with  a  world  that  lay  in  wickedness,  and  with  a 
church  distracted  by  schisms,  and  return  to  the  bosom  of 
God. — And  such,  in  effect,  was  the  case  at  all  times,  and 
especially  imder  the  New  Testament  dispensation.  The 
purpose  which  called  forth  this  immeasurable  display  of 
the  divine  condescension,  was  speedily,  as  well  as  effectu- 
ally, realised  :  it  had  certainly  departed,  before  the  termi- 
nation of  the  first  century  ;  and  to  eight  persons  only,  of 
all  those  who  attended  upon  our  Lord's  ministry,  was  this 
grace  given, — by  them  was  the  entire  canon  of  this  inesti- 
mable book  begun  and  completed. 

These  considerations  will  sufficiently  obviate  any  dif- 
ficulty we  may  imagine  to  arise,  in  deciding  against  the 
inspiration  of  the  apostolic  men,  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  cotemporary  with  the  founders  of  Christianity. 

But  it  has  been  a  prevalent  opinion  with  the  Christian 
church,  that  there  are  writings,  by  eminent  men  in  reli- 
gion, which,  though  not  inspired  to  the  same  degree  as  the 
canonical  books,  were,  nevertheless,  indited  vmder  such  a 
measure  of  the  direction  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  to  be  of 


15 

high  authority.  Let  us  endeavour  to  analyse  this  notion  : 
— there  are  certain  books  which  the  Spirit  dictated  in  part, 
but  not  altogether.  But  can  the  portions  so  dictated  be 
pointed  out  ? — If  they  can,  to  what  are  we  indebted  for 
the  remaining  portions  ?  if  to  the  writer  alone,  a  fallible 
and  erring  man,  what  assurance  have  we  that  he  may  not 
be  misleading  us  ? — If  the  inspired  portions  can  not  be 
pointed  out,  How  can  we  safely  assent  to  the  authority  of 
that  of  which  we  know  not  the  origin  ;— or  believe  in  doc- 
trines, concerning  which  we  are  ignorant,  whether  they  are 
propounded  to  us  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  or  by  the  fancy 
of  the  author  in  whose  writings  they  occvu'  ?  It  is  need- 
less to  proceed  with  the  argument. — The  notion  of  semi- 
inspiration,  involves  a  manifest  absurdity  :  it  supposes  that 
the  inspiring  Spirit  sanctions  the  introduction  into  the  sa- 
cred text  of  that  which  of  all  things  will  most  effectually 
defeat  the  object  of  the  revelation.  For  the  gift  of  inspi- 
ration was  granted  in  order  that  its  receiver  might  be  con- 
stituted thereby  the  recorder  of  absolute,  unmingled  truth, 
and  that  his  writings  might  claim  the  unhesitating  belief 
of  mankind,  through  all  succeeding  generations,  on  this 
ground  alone  : — and  how  could  this  object  be  more  entirely 
frustrated,  than  by  allowing  the  inspired  truths  to  be  in- 
termixed with  the  unassisted  reasonings,  or  imaginations, 
of  him  to  whom  they  were  revealed  ?  It  would  be  idle  to 
object  here,  that  the  writer  might  be  kept  from  error  by 
the  Spirit  in  these  his  mental  efforts  : — ^because  that  is 
itself  inspiration  ;  and  all  that  is  meant  by  it  in  one  of  the 
ordinary  acceptations  of  the  word. — Assuredly,  therefore, 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  semi-inspiration :  that  unspeakable 
grace  was  either  imparted  wholly,  or  it  was  altogether 
withholden.  And  in  every  written  production,  wherein  the 
intellectual  faculties  of  the  writer  have  not  been  entirely 


16 

under  the  dictation  and  guidance  of  the  Spirit,  in  the  na- 
ture of  things  it  is  impossible  that  he  can  have  interfered 
supernaturally  at  all.  For  these  reasons  we  unhesitatingly 
deny  that  the  apostolical  men  could  have  received  any  as- 
sistance from  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  inditing  their  epistles, 
short  of  plenary  inspiration. 

But  we  have  already  endeavoured  to  show,  that  the 
early  period  at  which  they  were  written,  is  a  circumstance 
by  no  means  involving  the  necessity,  that  therefore  their 
authors  should  be  inspired  :  and  when  we  further  state,  that 
plenary  inspiration  has  never  been  demanded  for  them, 
and  that  they  generally  repudiate  such  an  idea  in  their 
own  writings,^^  no  further  impediment  remains  in  the  way 
of  our  conclusion,  that  the  Epistles  of  the  Apostolical 
Fathers  are  uninspired  productions ;  and  consequently, 
that  so  far  as  supernatural  assistance  was  concerned,  the 
obligation  of  the  writers  to  defer  to  the  authority  of  the 
New  Testament  was  exactly  the  same  as  our  own. 

^6  Barnabas,  c.  1.     Ignat.  ad  Rom.,  c.  2,  &c. 


CHAPTER  III. 


TRADITION. 

It  remains  for  us  to  consider,  whether  the  advantages 
which  the  apostolic  fathers  derived  from  being  cotempo- 
rary  with  our  Lord  and  the  apostles,  conferred  upon  them 
the  right  to  advance  doctrines  which  are  not  sanctioned  by 
the  New  Testament  writers,  and  the  power  of  authentica- 
ting such,  independently  of  that  sanction.  It  may  be 
proper  to  premise  in  this  place,  that  we  have  not  to  con- 
sider their  title  to  credibility,  as  transcribers  of  acts  and 
discourses  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  disciples,  at  which  they 
profess  to  have  been  present,  but  which  are  not  to  be 
found  in  the  New  Testament ;  in  no  single  instance  do 
their  writings  assume  this  character.  We  must  also  bear 
in  mind,  that  whatever  advantages  might  accrue  to  them 
from  hence,  they  only  had  them  in  common  with  Simon 
Magus,  Cerinthus,  Nicolaus,  and  others,  who  were,  never- 
theless, the  originators  of  some  of  the  foulest  and  most 
fantastic  heresies  that  ever  disgraced  Christianity.  Assu- 
redly, therefore,  this  is  no  infallible  security  against  their 
being  in  error. 

But,  notwithstanding,  their  proximity  to  the  times  of 
inspiration  appears  to  be  an  important  circumstance  in 
their  favour.  They  were  possibly  the  hearers  of  our 
Lord,  certainly  the  pupils  of  his  apostles ;  and  their  reli- 


18 

gious  opinions  seem  to  have  been  derived  from  the  oral  dis- 
courses of  these  highly  gifted  persons,  as  well  as  from  their 
written  epistles.  There  is  evidence  of  this  in  their  extant 
productions,  which  referring  not  often  to  the  New  Tes- 
tament, contain,  nevertheless,  a  scheme  of  religion  corre- 
sponding, in  its  general  outline,  to  that  which  is  there 
promulgated.  But  we  find  in  them,  besides,  many  doc- 
trines and  modes  of  interpretation  for  which  there  is  no 
such  authority  ;  and  the  point  at  issue  is,  did  they  receive 
these  also  from  the  apostles  ? 

Here,  again,  we  fall  in  with  the  well-known  and  long 
agitated  question  of  Christian  Tradition.  We  treat  it  as 
arising  from,  and  forming  a  part  of,  our  present  enquiry. 

It  is  perfectly  evident,  that  no  one  of  the  Apostolical 
Epistles  contains,  in  itself,  so  full  an  exposition  upon 
every  point  of  Christian  doctrine  and  ethics  as  may  be 
obtained  from  a  digest  of  the  entire  volume  of  which  it 
forms  a  part ;  but  the  apostles  certainly  declared  the  whole 
counsel  of  God  to  all  the  churches  they  founded :  in  all 
of  them,  therefore,  a  portion  of  the  divine  truth  would  be 
known  traditionally  only,  or  from  the  oral  instructions  of 
the  apostles.  Those  of  the  apostolic  churches  to  whom  no 
epistles  were  addressed,  would  remain,  for  a  considerable 
period,  in  the  same  situation  as  that  in  which  the  whole  of 
them  were  originally  placed ;  their  knowledge  of  Christi- 
anity would  be  derived  entirely  from  this  tradition.  Never- 
theless, the  written  word  of  God  is  a  complete  transcript 
of  the  mind  of  God  regarding  man, — not  one  jot  or  tittle 
of  all  that  Jesus  Christ  and  the  apostles  uttered,  which  it  is 
needful  for  us  to  know,  is  onnitted  in  the  New  Testament : 
had  the  Gospels  of  our  Lord  been  multiplied,  so  that 
the  world  itself  could  not  contain  the  books  that  should 
be  written,  John  xxi.  25  ;    had  we  an  accurate  and  un- 


19 

doubted  record  of  all  that  the  apostles  spake  and  wrote 
from  the  first  moment  of  their  conversion  to  their  final 
ejaculation  at  their  martyrdom,  we  should  not  thereby  be 
put  into  possession  of  one  important  truth  or  principle 
in  religion,  with  which  we  were  not  already  perfectly  ac- 
quainted, throvigh  the  books  of  the  New  Testament.  We 
utterly  repudiate  the  notion  of  an  oral  law  in  Christianity ; 
of  the  existence  of  certain  traditions  besides  the  written 
word,  which  were  committed  by  Christ  to  the  apostles, 
and  by  the  apostles  to  the  churches  they  planted  and  the 
bishops  they  ordained,  to  remain  thenceforward  with  the 
Church  universal,  as  a  lex  non  scripta. 

We  refute  this  opinion,  in  the  first  place,  by  the 
argument  that  demolishes  an  exactly  similar  figment, 
raised  by  the  Jews  from  the  Old  Testament.  We  can 
find  no  allusion  to  any  such,  in  the  writings  of  those  with 
whom  these  traditions  are  said  to  have  orig-inated.  The 
passages  ordinarily  adduced  in  support  of  it,^  merely  refer 
to  the  fact  we  have  already  endeavoured  to  explain,  that 
the  apostles  gave  verbal  as  well  as  epistolary  instructions 
to  their  converts.  We,  in  the  second  place,  reject  it, 
on  the  ground  of  its  great  improbability.  —  Is  it  to  be 
believed,  that  after  our  Saviour  had  so  severely  rebuked 
the  traditions  of  the  Jews,^  and  called  them  back  to  the 
simplicity  of  the  written  word,  he  would,  nevertheless, 
cast  a  portion  of  that  truth,  which  he  came  from  heaven 
to  reveal,  into  the  same  polluted  channel,  and  thus  give 
his  adversaries  the  power  of  unanswerably  condemning 
him  out  of  his  own  mouth  .? — the  supposition  is  intoler^ 
able. 

We  are  supported,  in   the  present  instance,   by  the 

1  1  Cor.  xi.  2.    2  Thess.  ii.  15,  &c. 

2  Matt.  XV.  1,  20.  Mark  vii.  1,  23. 


20 

authority  of  those  ancient  writers,  whose  opinions,  upon 
some  other  points,  we  shall  be  compelled  to  call  in  ques- 
tion. 

It  has  been  already  noticed,  that  the  Epistles  of  Cle- 
ment and  Barnabas  were  probably  written  before  the  canon 
of  the  New  Testament  was  completed,  and  consequently, 
that  their  views  of  Clu-istianity  were  derived,  in  a  measure, 
from  the  oral  instructions  of  the  apostles.  Yet,  it  is 
remarkable,  that  they  never  claim  any  authority  for  these 
instructions :  their  authoritative  appeals  are  invariably  to 
the  Scriptures,  generally  of  the  Old  Testament :  they  plead 
no  other  justification  either  of  their  doctrinal  or  ethical 
opinions. 

This  negative  testimony  of  the  apostolical  fathers 
against  the  existence  of  traditional  doctrines  in  Christi- 
anity, we  are  able  to  corroborate  by  the  more  direct  evi- 
dence of  the  fathers  of  the  second  century. 

Irenaeus  discusses  this  subject  in  the  first  five  chapters 
of  his  Third  Book  adversus  Hcereses.  He  expressly 
denies  their  existence  against  the  heretic  Valentinus  and 
others  who  asserted  it.^  He  appeals,  it  is  true,  to  the  oral 
instructions  of  the  apostles,  which  he  informs  us  were,  in 
his  time,  well  known  throughout  the  world  ;*  but  only  for 
the  purpose  of  pointing  out  the  entire  accordance  between 
them  and  their  written  epistles.  He  places  this  in  a  strong 
light,  by  supposing  the  case,  that  they  had  left  no  inspired 
writiners  behind  them,  when  this  tradition  would  have  been 
our  only  guide.  This  case  had  actually  occurred  with 
certain  nations  of  barbarians,  among  whom  the  apostles 

3  "  Etenim  si  rccondita  mysteria  scissent  Apostoli,  qua?  seorsim  ct 
latcnter  ab  icliquis  perfectos  doccbant,  his  vel  maximc  tradcient  ea  quibus 
etiam  ipsas  ccclcsias  committebant."— C.  3. 

■*  "  Tradilioncm  apostolorum  in  toto  mundo  manifestatam."— /rf. 


21 

had  preached  the  faith  and  planted  churches,  while  they 
were  ignorant  of  written  characters ;  and  they  remained  in 
the  same  state  to  his  time,  diligently  observing  this  tradi- 
tion, which  agreed,  in  every  particular,  with  the  doctrine 
of  those  churches  that  were  in  possession  of  the  inspired 
Volume/ 

In  the  writings  of  Tertullian  we  find  the  views  of 
Irenasus  on  this  subject  abundantly  confirmed.  He  reite- 
rates his  denial  of  the  existence  of  oral  doctrines  in  Chris- 
tianity, which  had  been  asserted  by  Valentinus  and  other 
heretics,  rejects  the  idea  as  madness,  and  declares  that 
it  casts  a  reproach  upon  Christ,  as  great,  at  least,  as  the 
more  impudent  fabrication  that  the  apostles  did  not  teach 
certain  truths,  because  they  were  ignorant  of  them.**  "  For 
the  one,"  he  says,  "  accuses  him  of  sending  forth  ignorant 
apostles,  the  other  dishonest  ones."  He  also  refers  more 
than  once  to  the  existing  Christian  tradition,  in  order  to 
point  out  its  entire  accordance  with  the  New  Testament 
Scriptures.^ 

Clement  of  Alexandria  was  infected  with  the  error 
which  is  reproved  by  the  two  preceding  writers,  and 
sought  in  tradition  for  a  sanction  of  the  heathen  absurdity 
of  a  double  doctrine  in  Christianity,  Avhich  he  could  not 
find  in  the  written  word."  We  can  hardly,  therefore,  con- 
5  c.  4. 

''  "  Solent  dicere  :  non  omnia  apostolos  scisse  ;  eadem  agitati  dementia 
qua  rursus  convertunt :  omnia  apostolos  scisse  sed  non  omnia  omnibus  tradi- 
disse.  In  utroque  Christum  reprehensioni  injicientes,  qui  aut  minus  instruc- 
tos  aut  parum  simplices  apostolos  miserit." — De  Pras.  Hcer.,  c.  22.  p.  20. 

7   Idem  32—37 Adv.  Mar.,  lib.  1.  c.  21. 

f  He  thus  describes  it  in  his  great  work,  the  Stromates,  which  pro- 
fesses to  be  an  exposition  of  the  second  or  mystical  doctrines  of  Christianity, 

as  his  Paedagogus  is,  of  the  primary  and  simple  truths  for  the  uninitiated. 

"  This  work  is  not  a  mere  treatise  composed  according  to  technical  rules  for 
the  sake  of  show;  for  in  mo  are  treasured  up,  even  to  old  age,  memorials 


22 


ceive  of  a  better  proof  of  the  rule  we  are  endeavouring  to 
lay  down,  than  the  present  exception. 

As,  then,  we  deny  the  existence  of  traditional  doc- 
trines in  Christianity,  both  from  the  improbability  of  such 
a  notion  and  upon  the  evidence  of  those  persons  who,  occu- 
pying distinguished  places  in  the  Christian  church  at  the 
times  nearest  to  those  of  the  apostles,  must  have  been  their 
depositories  had  they  existed,  we,  of  course,  deny  all  au- 
thority, on  this  ground,  to  the  writings  of  the  apostolical 
fathers. 

Greatly  admiring,  therefore,  the  little  that  we  know 
concerning  the  characters  of  these  eminent  and  holy  per- 
sons, and  fervently  thanking  the  God  of  all  grace  for  that 
he  enabled  them,  in  times  of  unexampled  peril  and  of 
super-abounding  error,  to  hold  fast,  in  all  its  great  fea- 
tures, the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints  ;  and  at  length 
to  lead  forth,   as  we  believe,   that  noble  army  of  martyrs, 

which  are  a  specific  against  oblivion  :  for  I  possess  the  very  image  and 
adumbration  of  the  discourses,  at  once  easy  of  comprehension  and  spiritual, 
which  I  was  counted  worthy  to  hear,  and  of  the  blessed  and  excellent  men 
who  uttered  them."  He  then  proceeds  to  describe  the  various  teachers  of 
the  new  Platonics  to  whom  he  had  listened  ;  and  lastly,  mentions  one  whom 
he  found  concealed  in  Egypt  and  with  whom  he  remained ; — probably  Pan- 
taenus,  whom  he  succeeded  as  principal  of  the  school  at  Alexandria.  Him 
he  describes  as  a  "  truly  Sicilian  bee,  hovering  over  the  flowers  that  grow  in 
the  prophetical  and  apostolical  meadows,  and  distilling  the  virgin  honey  of 
the  doctrines  he  h'ad  drawn  from  thence  into  the  souls  of  his  hearers." — 
"  But  all  these  kept  the  true  tradition  of  that  blessed  doctrine  which  they 
had  received  immediately  from  the  holy  apostles,  Peter,  and  James,  and 
John,  and  Paul,  as  a  son  from  a  father ;  and  though  few  be  like  their 
fathers,  yet,  by  the  help  of  God,  these  apostolical  seeds,  sown  in  our 
fathers,  have  come  down  to  us.  I  well  know  that  many  will  rejoice  in  this 
my  book,  because  this  tradition  is  preserved  in  it." — 1  Slrom.  §  1.  In  ex- 
actly the  same  spirit  he  speaks  a  little  further  on,  of  "  the  glorious  and 
venerable  canon  of  tradition  which  was  established  before  the  foundation  of 
the  world." — Id.  p.  20.     See  also  P(Bd.  1,5.     7  .S'/row.  §  (I,  &c. 


23 

who,  overcoming  the  confederate  powers  of  darkness  by 
the  blood  of  the  Lamb  and  the  word  of  their  testimony, 
loved  not  their  lives  unto  the  death,  we,  nevertheless  apply 
to  their  writings  the  precept  of  Tertullian,''  and  their  own 
example ;  we  enquire  and  search  diligently  Avhether  the 
apostolic  men  write  according  to  the  mind  of  the  apostles ; 
and  we  say  of  them  as  of  every  other  unassisted  writing, 
to  the  laiv  and  to  the  testimony,  if  they  speak  not  accord- 
ing to  this  word,  it  is  because  (on  the  point  whereon  they 
differ,)  there  is  no  light  in  them}^ 

9  De  Presc.  Haeret.  c.  32.  lo  Isa.  viii.  20. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


OPINIONS  OF  THE  EARLY  FATHERS  UPON  INSPIRATION, 

That  the  works  of  the  apostolical  fathers  were  held  in 
very  high  estimation  by  the  ancient  church,  is  a  fact  too 
notorious  to  require  that  it  should  be  here  formally  estab- 
lished by  an  array  of  quotations  :^  and  they  certainly  were 
in  some  measure  entitled  to  it,  both  on  account  of  the  de- 
served reputation  for  sanctity  of  their  authors,  and  with 
some  of  them,  on  the  score  of  literary  merit  also.  But  it 
is  much  to  be  regretted,  that  the  limits  between  these  and 
inspiration  were  but  little  sought  into  or  understood  in 
those  days.  They  do  not  seem  to  have  considered,  that 
whatever  be  the  excellence  of  a  merely  human  production, 
or  of  its  author,  between  these  and  the  words  of  him  who 
is  under  the  inspiring  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost  there  is 
an  immeasurable  distance,  when  viewed  in  the  light  of  a 
religious  authority  : — for  the  one  is  the  truth  of  God,  that 
shall  stand  for  ever  ;  the  other  is  valuable  only  in  propor- 
tion to  its  close  and  faithful  adherence  to  the  tenets  of  that 
word,  and  whatever  it  contains  which  is  not  to  be  found 
there,  either  mediately  or  immediately,  is  necessarily  false. 

1  The  Preliminary  Discourse  to  Archbishop  Wake's  admirable  transla- 
tion of  their  Works  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired  upon  this  point,  which  it 
ably  and  amply  treats  upon. 


25 

It  is,  to  us,  hardly  credible,  that  this  broad  and  most 
obvious  distinction  should  have  been  lost  sight  of  in  the 
Christian  church  at  any  time,  and  especially  at  one  so 
close  upon  its  first  establishment  in  the  earth  as  the  first 
and  second  centuries.  Such  was  the  fact,  nevertheless ; 
they  had  but  an  imperfect  idea  of  the  tests  by  which  all 
claims  to  inspiration  ought  to  be  tried,  and  were  far  too 
ready  to  admit  them,  by  whomsoever  they  were  advanced. 
One  immediate  consequence  was,  that  even  good  men  ex- 
tended the  same  lax  rule  of  judgment  to  their  own  mental 
emotions,  and  thus  mistook  them  for  the  impulses  of  inspi- 
ration. Passages  are  not  wanting  in  the  writings  of  the 
early  fathers  which  prove  the  existence  of  this  mistake. 
St.  Barnabas  concludes  his  well-known  comment  upon  the 
ceremonial  law,  thus,  "  But  how  should  we  know  all  this 
and  understand  it .''  We,  understanding  aright  the  com- 
mandment, speak  as  the  Lord  would  have  us.  Wherefore, 
he  has  circumcised  our  ears  and  our  hearts,  that  we  might 
know  these  things."^  This  bold  avowal  of  inspiration  is 
made  in  favour  of  a  tissue  of  obscenity  and  absurdity  which 
would  disgrace  the  Hindoo  Mythology ;  though,  in  the 
same  epistle,  the  writer  entirely  disclaims  it  for  the  very 
pious  and  scriptural  train  of  reasoning  with  which  he  com- 
mences.^ 

Ignatius  makes  a  similar  general  disclaimer  of  inspi- 
ration.^ He  experienced  no  necessity  for  it  so  long  as  liis 
sentiments  were  in  accordance  with  the  teaching  of  the 
apostles  ;  but  when  he  inculcates  his  wild,  extravagant  no- 
tions of  subjection  to  the  Christian  hierarchy,  he  becomes 
inspired. — "  Some  would  have  deceived  me  according  to 
the  flesh ;  but  the  Spirit  being  from  God  is  not  deceived. — 
I  cried  while  I  was  among  you,  I  spake  with  a  loud  voice, 

2  C.  10.  3  c.  L  a.  f.  4  Rom.  c.  4. 


26 

attend  to  the  bishop,  and  to  the  presbytery,  and  to  the 
deacons.  Now  some  supposed  that  I  spake  as  foreseeing 
the  division  that  should  come  among  you  ;  but  he  is  my 
witness  for  whose  sake  I  am  in  bonds,  that  I  knew  nothing 
from  any  man  ;  but  the  Spirit  spake,  saying  on  this  wise, 
do  nothing  without  the  Bishop^^ 

The  mental  process  by  which  these  good  men  were 
deluded  is  not  very  difficult  to  analyse ;  both  were  evi- 
dently conscious  that  the  doctrines  they  advanced  did  not 
rest  upon  a  very  firm  basis  of  scriptural  authority  :  but 
they  nevertheless  entertained  towards  them  that  kindly 
parental  prepossession  against  which  every  one  who  com- 
mits his  thoughts  to  writing  ought  to  be  upon  his  guard ; 
they  were  elated  with  the  idea  of  having  struck  out  some- 
thing clever  and  original,  and  this  emotion  they  mistook 
for  the  inspiring  influences  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

It  can  never  be  out  of  place  to  point  out  the  links  of 
that  mysterious  chain  of  providences,  along  which  the 
Scriptures  have  been  transmitted  to  us,  pure  and  unadul- 
terated ;  and  here,  I  conceive,  is  a  very  remarkable  one. 
Had  Barnabas  and  Ignatius  avowedly  written  throughout 
under  the  same  delusion,  there  would  have  been,  a  priori, 
no  argument  whatever  against  the  probability  of  their  be- 
ing inspired,  and  then  the  only  point  upon  which  we  could 
have  fairly  contended  against  their  admission  into  the 
canon,  would  have  affected  their  authenticity.  But  as  the 
case  now  stands,  we  have  no  difficulty  in  dealing  with  it ; 
when  they  write  scripturally  they  declare  that  they  are  not 
inspired,  while  they  claim  inspiration  for  that  which  is  so 
utterly  at  variance  with  all  conceivable  rules  of  scriptural 
interpretation  and  with  the  whole  tenor  of  the  Sacred 
Volume,  that  it  condemns  itself 
••  Phil.  c.  7. 


27 

One  other  instance  of  this  self-deception  will  show 
that  the  same  undefined  notions  on  inspiration  prevailed, 
at  the  end,  as  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  century. 
We  have  already  mentioned  the  Stromates  of  Clement  of 
Alexandria ;  and  we  shall  have  frequent  occasion  to  refer 
to  the  errors  with  which  this  voluminous  work  abounds. 
The  author  thus  describes  its  plan  and  character.  *'  The 
books  of  the  Stromates  are  not  like  to  those  trimmed 
gardens,  wherein  trees  and  plants  are  arranged  in  a  certain 
order  to  delight  the  eye ;  but  rather  to  a  mountain  covered 
with  tangled  thickets,  where  the  cypress  and  the  plane, 
the  laurel  and  the  ivy,  apples,  olives,  and  figs  are  so 
twisted  together  that  it  is  difficult  to  separate  the  produc- 
tive from  the  worthless."'^  It  is  not  possible  to  form  a 
juster  or  more  exact  notion  of  his  strange  and  rambling 
miscellany  than  the  author  conveys  in  this  passage.  It  is, 
indeed,  a  tangled  thicket  of  prickly  and  worthless  bushes, 
with  here  and  there  a  plant  from  Scripture,  withering  for 
want  of  depth  of  earth  and  choked  with  weeds  and  rub- 
bish. And  yet  in  the  middle  of  the  work  we  are  informed, 
that  the  writer,  having  recorded  the  first  part  of  the  Gnos- 
tical  tradition  in  what  writings  "  the  Spirit  pleased^''  will 
now  proceed  to  the  completion  of  his  undertaking,  "  if 
God  will  and  as  he  shall  inspire.''''^  A  plain  declaration 
that  the  whole  of  the  Stromates  were  dictated  by  God  the 
Holy  Ghost !  That  a  man  of  good  natural  abilities,  of 
strong  and  highly  cultivated  reasoning  powers,  and  of 
astonishing  learning,  (and  all  this  was  true  of  Clement 
of  Alexandria,)  should,  nevertheless,  have  been  the  dupe  of 
so  palpable  a  delusion,  can  only  have  arisen  out  of  the 
loose  and  vague  conceptions  of  the  nature  of  inspiration 
which  were  entertained  by  the  Church  in  those  times. 
«  7  Strom.  §  18,  a.  f.  7  4  Strom.  §  I. 


28 

Another  and  a  still  more  melancholy  consequence  of 
this  undecided  state  of  so  important  a  question,  remains 
to  be  considered. 

If  there  is  any  virtue  which  of  all  others  the  revela- 
tions of  God  most  jealously  vindicate  to  themselves,  it  is 
truth.  As  this  was  the  case  with  both  the  earlier  forms 
of  the  divine  dispensation,  so,  in  a  still  more  emphatic 
and  peculiar  manner,  is  it  characteristic  of  that  more  per- 
fect revelation  which,  in  these  last  days,  hath  been  vouch- 
safed unto  us.  Not  only  are  we  informed,  that  truth 
came  into  the  world  by  its  divine  founder,  and  that  he 
is  full  of  truths  but  he  assumes  to  himself  the  truth, 
truth  in  the  abstract,  as  one  of  his  peculiar  and  distinc- 
tive titles.  Truth,  is  the  one  quality  upon  which  Chris- 
tianity rests  its  entire  claim  to  be  regarded  :  it  never  urges 
the  authority  of  its  precepts  upon  the  conscience,  without, 
at  the  same  time,  presenting  the  evidences  of  its  authen- 
ticity to  the  understanding.  Totally  different  from  the 
Paganism  over  which  it  so  soon  triumphed,  and  which, 
devoid  of  any  rational  ground  of  credence  whatever,  re- 
tained its  votaries  by  the  beauty  and  magnificence  of  its 
external  ceremonial  and  by  its  servile  ministration  to 
their  baser  passions,  the  new  religion  rejected  ornament 
as  well  as  every  other  external  aid,  denounced,  in  terms 
the  most  sweeping  and  unequivocal,  the  vengeance  of 
eternal  fire  as-ainst  the  soul  that  sinned  after  whatsoever 
manner,  and  called  upon  all  men  to  believe  its  testimony 
because  it  was  true.  At  the  same  time,  it  constantly 
invited,  yea,  courted,  the  investigation  of  these  preten- 
sions ;  the  whole  apparatus  Avhereby  its  first  propagation 
was  accomplished,  being  adjusted  with  an  especial  view 
to  affording  the  greatest  possible  facility  to  such  enquiries. 
Tlic  npostlcs  were  sent  forth  to  teach  all  nations,  because 


29 

they  had  been  themselves  the  witnesses  of  those  things 
that  established  the  divine  origin  of  their  doctrine.  And 
in  the  spirit  of  their  mission  they  constantly  raise  the  ques- 
tion of  the  truth  of  Christianity  by  an  appeal  to  its  exter- 
nal evidences,  to  "  that  which  they  had  seen,  and  heard, 
and  their  hands  had  handled.''''^  It  was  their  boast  that 
these  things  were  "  not  done  in  a  corner ^''^  but  before  all 
men,  so  that  thousands  then  living,  besides  themselves, 
could  bear  testimony  to  the  truth  of  them  :  while,  under 
the  impulse  of  the  same  feeling,  the  inspired  historian  of 
their  labours  highly  commends  certain  converts,  who  en- 
quired more  diligently  than  the  rest,  into  the  truth  of  those 
things  which  were  spoken  by  them.^'*  Christianity  thus 
exemplifying  this  glorious  attribute  of  its  divine  founder, 
even  in  its  mode  of  annunciation,  we  are  not  surprised  to 
find  that  its  precepts  more  energetically  enforce,  and  more 
fearfully  sanction,  its  observance,  than  that  of  any  other 
virtue.  With  a  perfect  unity  of  design,  which  we  shall 
always  have  to  admire  under  whatever  aspect  we  regard  its 
economy,  this  divine  revelation,  professing  to  be  the  word 
of  truth,  proceeding  from  the  God  of  truth,  and  inspired 
by  the  Spirit  of  truth,  assigns  also  to  truth,  a  place  of 
exactly  corresponding  prominence  in  its  ethical  system. 
Truth,  is  the  mother  element  of  all  Christian  morality. 
For,  as  on  the  one  hand,  it  enjoins  no  virtvie  of  which  truth 
is  not  an  essential  ingredient ;  so,  on  the  other,  there  is  no 
vice  against  which  it  denounces  such  an  emphasis  of  dam- 
nation as  falsehood.  In  a  word,  truth  is  the  characteristic 
of  the  real  disciple  of  Christ ;  it  is  the  badge  of  his  pro- 
fession. 

Keeping  these  considerations  in  mind,  our  astonish- 

8  1  John  i.  1.  9  See  Acts  ii.  22.  xxvi.  26. 

1"  Acts  xvii.  11. 


30 

ment  and  indignation  are  justly  excited  when  we  discover, 
that  the  most  striking  feature  of  the  literature  of  Chris- 
tianity in  the  first  century,  and  the  early  part  of  the 
second,  was  falsehood ;  and  falsehood  in  the  gross,  into- 
lerable forms  of  forgery  and  interpolation.  The  number 
of  spurious  gospels  relating  false  facts,  of  spurious  epis- 
tles propounding  false  doctrines,  and  of  spurious  reve- 
lations describing  invented  or  imaginary  visions,  which 
appeared  within  that  period  is  really  appalling.  Not 
fewer  than  eighty  of  such  are  referred  to,  by  name,  in  the 
writings  of  the  fathers  of  the  first  four  centuries  ; — and 
these  all  forgeries  relative  to  Christ  and  his  apostles  :  be- 
sides which,  we  have  a  mob  of  apocryphal  fabrications  in 
the  names  of  the  ancient  prophets,  patriarchs,  sibyls,  &c., 
which  were  either  produced  at  that  time,  or  were  probably 
then  largely  interpolated.  It  had  been  well,  if  these  dis- 
honest meddlings  with  existing  books  had  stopped  here.— 
But  in  the  fathers  of  the  second  century  there  are  constant 
complaints,  that  even  the  inspired  writings  were  by  no 
means  safe  from  the  mutilations  and  interpolations  of  the 
heretics;  though  such  were  easily  detected  by  a  reference 
to  the  authenticce  littercB,  the  autograph  copies,^^  which 
were  religiously  preserved  by  the  primitive  church.  To 
the  heretics  also  were  ascribed  the  invention  of  many  of 
the  spurious  books  we  have  just  mentioned,  and  such  was 
undoubtedly  the  fact : — nevertheless,  that  a  very  large 
proportion  of  them  were  fabricated  by  persons  untainted 
with  heretical  opinions,  we  have  (besides  the  testimony  of 
<;otemporary  writers)  the  direct  evidence  of  the  books 
themselves.     In  not  many  of  those  that  are  still  extant 

Ji  See  Tertullian,  de  Pras.  Heer.  c.  3G.     See  also  Bishop  Kaye^s  EccU 
Jlisl.,  c.  5,  p.  307.  e.  s. 


31 

can  any  thing  be  detected  which  would  have  been  ac- 
counted heterodox  in  the  second  century .^^ 

Strange  and  unaccountable  as  all  this  may  appear, 
the  light  in  which  the  apocryphal  books  were  regarded, 
at  the  time  of  their  publication,  is  still  more  so.  Nearly 
all  the  fathers  quote  from  them  largely,  in  confirmation  of 
their  own  statements  and  opinions.  TertuUian  attempts  to 
defend  the  authenticity  of  one  of  them  in  an  argument 
which  is  absurd,  almost  to  madness  ;^^  but  such  an  attempt 
was  quite  unnecessary,  for  even  the  circumstance  that  the 
books  were  forgeries  by  the  acknowledgment  of  their  au- 
thors does  not  seem  to  have  in  any  degree  impaired  their 
authority.^* 

Such  a  state  of  opinion  sufficiently  shows  the  preva- 
lence of  very  gross  misapprehensions  on  the  subject  of  inspi- 
ration. We  proceed  to  notice  some  other  passages  from 
the  fathers  of  the  second  century,  which  further  illustrate 
their  sentiments  upon  it. 


12  It  is  surprising  that  the  enormity  of  forging  the  name  of  an  inspired 
person  to  a  spurious  book,  or,  in  other  words,  of  lying  in  the  name  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  should  ever  have  found  an  apologist.  One  would  imagine  that 
such  a  sin  would  go  before  its  perpetrator  to  judgment ; — that  of  its  un- 
speakably heinous  nature  there  could  not  be  a  moment's  question.  Notwith- 
standing, a  divine  of  the  present  day,  who  has  edited  three  apocryphal  books 
in  a  manner  that  reflects  infinite  credit  upon  his  ability  and  learning,  has 
assumed,  in  speaking  of  such  productions,  a  tone  of  palliation  at  which  I 
cannot  find  words  to  express  my  astonishment. 

13  De  Hab.  Mul.  c.  3. 

14  The  book  entitled  "  the  Acts  of  Paul  and  Thecla,"  which  is  still 
extant,  and  of  which,  as  TertuUian  informs  us  (de  Bapt.  c.  IT,)  an  Asiatic 
presbyter  avowed  himself  to  have  been  the  fabricator  "  out  of  love  to  St. 
Paul,"  is  quoted,  nevertheless,  with  great  respect  by  Cyprian,  who  called 
TertuUian  his  master,  and  boasted  that  he  read  a  portion  of  his  works  daily; 
by  Gregory  Nazianzen,  by  Chrysostom,  in  a  word,  by  a  greater  number  of 
subsequent  fathers  than  any  other  production  of  the  same  class. 


32 

Irenaeus,'^  Tertullian,^^  and  Clement  of  Alexandria^' 
were  of  opinion,  that  the  whole  of  the  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures had  been  lost  during  the  second  captivity,  and  that 
after  the  return  from  Babylon  they  were  again  communi- 
cated to  Ezra  by  re-inspiration.^^  The  last-named  father 
entertained  the  same  opinion  regarding  the  Septuagint 
translation  of  the  Old  Testament ;  he  held  it  to  be  an  in- 
spired version. ^^ 

He  also  assigns  a  measure  of  inspiration  to  the  Greek 
poets.  He  grounds  this  opinion  upon  the  quotations  from 
Euripides  and  some  others  of  them,  that  occur  in  the 
New  Testament.^'^ 


15  U.  s.  lib.  3.  c.  23. 
IG  De  Hab.  INIul.  c.  3. 

17  1  Strom.  §  22. 

18  I  am  persuaded  that  a  large  allowance  must  be  made,  in  this  and  sim- 
ilar cases,  for  the  cramped  and  enfeebled  state  of  the  reasoning  faculties  in 
these  eminent  men,  arising  from  the  total  absence  of  subjects  favourable  to 
their  development,  in  the  course  of  study  which  was  then  in  use.  The  natu- 
ral abilities  of  all  of  them  were  of  a  sujierior  order.  The  style  of  Ircnacus 
is  remarkable  for  neat  and  precise  arrangement — a  rare  accomplishment  in 
those  days  :  of  TertuUian  I  hesitate  not  to  affirm,  that  for  the  fervent 
eloquence  of  his  thoughts,  though  not  of  his  language,  for  the  dexterity  with 
which  he  pursues  the  subtle  sophistries  of  the  heretics  through  their  most 
intricate  windings,  and  always  to  draw  them  forth  to  a  triumphant  expo- 
sure, and  above  all,  for  the  stinging  pungency  of  his  sarcasms,  it  will  not 
be  easy  to  find  his  equal  in  any  age :  the  talents  and  learning  of  Clement 
are  also  universally  and  deservedly  acknowledged.  But,  notwithstanding,  the 
constant  recurrence  of  similar  follies,  throughout  their  works,  bears  me  out  in 
concluding,  that  the,  to  us,  most  paljiable  and  mad  absurdity  of  the  notion 
of  re-inspiration  was  altogether  out  of  the  range  of  their  mental  perceptions. 
The  right  use  and  application  of  our  reasoning  faculties  is  a  gift  which  the 
long  predominance  of  Christianity  has  imparted  to  us,  of  which  we  are  all 
too  proud,  and  for  which  we  are  none  of  us  sufficiently  thankful. 

19  U.  s. 

»'  1  Strom.  ^  14. 


33 

The  quotation  from  the  book  of  Enoch  in  St.  Jude's 
Epistle  seems  to  have  decided  the  early  church  in  favour 
of  its  inspiration  ;  it  is  frequently  referred  to  by  Tertullian 
and  Clement. 

Justin  Martyr,^^  and  his  pupil  Athenagoras,^^  both 
believed  that  the  Greek  philosophers  had  a  certain  mea- 
sure of  inspiration,  whereby  they  were  enabled  to  arrive  at 
those  parts  of  their  systems  which  are  in  accordance  with 
the  Scriptures. 

Clement  of  Alexandria  enlarges  and  improves  upon 
this  notion  :  he  declares  the  divine  origin  of  the  Eclectic 
philosophy,  "  a  system  composed  of  all  that  is  well  said 
and  according  to  righteousness  by  all  the  Greek  philoso- 
phers." "  This,"  he  says,  "  they  received  from  the  fertili- 
zing influences  of  the  Logos  or  Divine  Wisdom,  which 
descended  at  the  same  time  upon  the  Jews,  giving  them 
the  law  and  the  prophets,  and  upon  the  Gentiles,  giving 
them  philosophy  ;  like  the  rain  which  falls  upon  the  house- 
tops as  well  as  the  fields.*"^^  In  another  part  of  his  work 
he  argues  thus  :  "  All  virtuous  thoughts  are  imparted  by 
divine  inspiration  ;  and  that  cannot  be  evil,  or  of  evil 
origin,  Avhich  tends  to  produce  good  :  the  Greek  philoso- 
phy has  this  virtuous  tendency  ;  therefore,  the  Greek  phi- 
losophy is  good.  Now  God  is  the  author  of  all  good  ; 
but  the  Greek  philosophy  is  good ;  therefore,  the  Greek 
philosophy  is  from  God.  It  follows,  that  the  law  was 
given  to  the  Jews  and  philosophy  to  the  Greeks,  until  the 
advent  of  our  Lord."^*     Elsewhere,  he  terms  philosophy 

21  Apologia  I.,  p.  83.  D. 

22  Legatio,  7.  D. 

23  1  Strom.  §  7-     So  in  another  place  h  (^iXiiri>(pta  ^na.  lapia.    HXXmriv 
%i^t>f/,ivn Id.  §  2. 

24  C  Strom.  §  17.,  where  see  more  to  the  same  purpose. 

D 


34 

"  a  peculiar  testament,  oixsiav  g<ad>)xrjv,  imparted  to  the 
Greeks,  which  served  them  as  a  stepping-stone  to  Chris- 
tianity ;"^^  he  also  ascribes  to  it  the  power  of  "purifying 
and  preparing  the  soul  for  the  reception  of  the  Christian 
faith.''^-^' 

The  notions  regarding  inspiration  entertained  by  the 
early  church  being  now  before  us,  we  are  not  at  all  sur- 
prised to  find  that  the  apostolical  fathers  are  frequently 
quoted,  as  scriptural  authorities,  by  those  of  the  succeed- 
ing century  : — since  in  doing  so,  they  only  assign  to  them 
the  station  to  which  they  had  already  exalted  a  mere  ver- 
sion of  the  Old  Testament,  the  most  palpable  forgeries, 
and  even,  the  writings  of  professed  idolaters  !  We 
triumphantly  conclude  that,  however  eminent  the  fathers 
of  this  epoch  may  have  been  for  piety  and  learning,  their 
opinions  upon  a  point  whereon  they  so  grievously  err  are, 
as  an  independent  testimony,  utterly  valueless,  and  by 
no  means  to  be  regarded,  except  when  supported  by  that 
irresistible  weight  of  collateral  evidence  wliich  establishes 
the  authenticity  of  the  canonical  books. 

It  remains  that  we  endeavour  to  account  for  these 
strange  hallucinations  of  the  early  Christians. 

Inspiration,  like  the  other  miraculous  gifts  of  the 
Spirit,  was  gradually  and  imperceptibly,  though  rapidly, 
withdrawn  from  the  Church : — and,  as  might  have  been 
anticipated,  she  continued  to  covet  earnestly  this  best  gift 
long  after  the  period  of  its  final  departure.  The  writings 
we  are  considering  abound  with  unequivocal  proofs  of  the 
prevalence  of  this  desire  with  their  authors ;  and  it  is 
needless  to  remark,  that  in  no  conceivable  state  of  mind, 
would  they  be  so  liable  to  the  delusions  and  mistakes  into 
wliich  they  were  betrayed  upon  this  subject. 

25  G  Strom.  §  8.  ^G  7  strom.  §  4. 


35 

Nor  have  we  seen  as  yet  the  extent  of  the  mis- 
chief. According  to  tradition  St.  Hermas  was  a  Chris- 
tian minister  whose  holy  and  useful  life  highly  adorned 
the  religion  he  professed.  Nevertheless,  his  entire  work, 
the  Shepherd,  is  written  under  this  delusion  ;  and  is, 
moreover,  the  silliest  book  that  ever  exercised  an  influence 
over  the  human  understanding. 

I  think  it  possible  that  some  of  the  apocryphal  wri- 
ters may  have  been  deceived  in  the  same  manner. — Like 
Hermas,  they  were  agape  for  inspiration,  and  therefore 
easily  imposed  upon  themselves. 

The  same  passion  also  originated  the  desire  to  be 
vnse  above  lohat  is  written,  which  characterises  the  wri- 
tings of  this  period. — It  was  under  the  influence  of  this 
longing  after  further  revelation,  that  Tertullian  svipported 
the  pretensions  of  Montanus  to  be  the  paraclete  promised 
by  our  Saviour ;  declared  that  the  preceptive  part  of  the 
Gospel  was  imperfect,  and  required  alteration,  correction, 
and  addition  ;^7  and  countenanced,  like  his  cotemporary 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  the  fanciful  notion  of  two  doc- 
trines in  Christianity  ;  the  one  obvious  and  deducible  from 
the  simple  meaning  of  the  inspired  text,  the  other  occult 
and  only  to  be  acquired  by  the  initiated.^''  The  same  un- 
hallowed and  inordinate  desire  betrayed  Clement  also,  into 
the  aberrations  we  have  already  noticed. 

We  can  readily  imagine  that  a  period  of  the  Church 
thus  distinguished  by  a  feverish  thirst  for  hidden  know- 
ledge, would  also  be  eminently  favourable  to  the  success  of 
forged  books  professing  to  be  inspired,  and  greatly  encou- 
rage their  appearance.     Men  were  prepossessed  on  behalf 

27  Cetera  disciplinae  et  conversationis  admittunt  novitatem  correctionis; 
operante  scilicet  et  proficiente  gratia  Dei. De  Vinj.  Vel.,  c.  1. 

28  De  Pallio,  c.  3.,  de  Idol.  c.  5. 


36 

of  their  claims,  and  thereby  unfitted  for  accurately  exam- 
ining and  judging  of  them.^^ 

The  consequence  of  such  a  state  of  things  was  inevi- 
table. The  views  of  Christian  doctrine  entertained  by 
the  early  fathers  are  not  the  transcripts  of  that  which, 
having  the  eyes  of  their  understandings  enlightened,^^ 
they  discerned  in  the  word  of  God  by  the  light  which 
itself  diffuses,  but  of  that  which  they  discovered  there, 
through  the  discoloured  and  distorting  medium  of  a  vast 
mass  of  apocryphal  and  uninspired  productions.  And 
though  all  this  was  speedily  overruled  to  the  final  purifica- 
tion and  establishment  of  the  canon,  a  process  which  had 
commenced  even  in  Tertullian's  time,^^  yet  it  is  deeply  to 
be  regretted  that  no  care  whatever  was  taken  to  recon- 
struct the  doctrine  of  the  church  according  to  the  views 
of  the  Christian  religion  that  were  then  held  to  be  the 
only  inspired  ones  ;  but  the  old  errors  remained  in  her 
traditional  creed  for  many  succeeding  ages  :  and  in  their 
progress  down  the  stream  of  time,  the  worst  parts  of  them 
were  grievously  exaggerated. 

Our  purpose  is,  carefully  to  compare  the  doctrines 
advanced  by  these  early  writers  with  those  we  find  in  Holy 
Scripture ;  and  thus  to  discover,  if  possible,  the  first  germ 
of  that  accursed  plant  which  so  soon  engrafted  itself  upon 
the  true  vine  that  God  had  planted  in  the  earth  :  and  which, 
absorbing  the  sap  and  nutriment  of  its  parent  stem,  spread 
its  boughs  unto  the  sea  and  its  branches  unto  the  river, 
until  the  whole  of  Christendom  languished  in  the  shadow 
of  death  that  brooded  beneath  it,  and  all  who  professed 
the  Christian  name  fed  on  the  ashes  which  its  deceitful  and 
bitter  fruit  afforded  them. 

29  1  John  iv.  1.  30  Eph.  i.  16.  31  De  Pudicitia,  c.  10. 


CHAPTER  V. 


ANGELS. 

The  opinions  of  the  early  Christian  fathers  upon  the 
nature  of  angels,  are  so  interwoven  with  their  notions 
upon  other  doctrinal  points,  that  with  them  we  may  very 
conveniently  commence  our  examination.  This  is  a  re- 
vealed truth,  regarding  which  it  was  the  evident  intention 
of  the  Spirit  of  inspiration,  that  nothing  should  be  disclo- 
sed beyond  the  fact  of  its  existence.  Their  name,  both 
in  Hebrew  and  Greek,  imports  the  office  in  which  they  are 
ordinarily  found  engaged  in  the  sacred  history,  but  gives 
no  definition  of  their  nature.^  It  is  also  remarkable,  that 
nothing  concerning  them  exclusively,  is  ever  made  the 
subject  of  revelation  ;  they  are  only  mentioned  casually, 
in  the  accounts  of  transactions  accomplished  through  their 
agency. 

The  following  would  seem  to  be  all  that  we  really 
know  of  this  mysterious  subject.  The  angels  are  created 
beings,^  who  came  into  existence  before  the  foundation  of 
the  world  .^  Their  essence  is  different  both  from  the  divine 
and  human  natures  ;*  it  is  immortal,  that  to  which  we  shall 
in  a  future  state  be  assimilated,^  and  spiritual.^ 

'  Angelus  officii  non  naturae  vocabula. — Tert.  de  Carni  Christi.,  c.  14. 

2  Nehem.  ix.  6.  Col.  i.  16.  3  Job  xxxviii.  4—7.  ^  Heb.  ii.  16. 

•'»  Luke  XX.  2<'u  •'  Psa.  civ.  4. 


38 

As  it  respects  their  powers  and  faculties,  they  excel 
in  strength,''  they  can  assume  the  external  appearance** 
and  perform  the  functions  of  human  beings,-'  and  were 
generally  invested  with  a  splendour  or  brightness,  which 
distinguished  their  presence  from  that  of  a  mere  man.^" 
Under  this  form  they  have  the  power  of  working  miracles  :^^ 
they  can  appear  and  disappear  at  pleasure,  sometimes  to 
all  present,  at  other  times  only  to  a  part  ;^-  the  mode  of 
disappearance  being,  on  one  occasion,  by  ascent  into  the 
air.^^  Of  this  power  of  gliding  or  flying  through  the  air, 
we  find  them  to  be  possessed  from  other  passages.'^  They 
are  likewise  endowed  with  the  still  more  incomprehensible 
faculty  of  impressing  the  signs  of  their  presence  upon  the 
mental  apprehensions  of  men,  without  the  interposition  of 
the  external  senses  :  thereby  making  known  their  messages 
in  dreams.^* 

Of  their  hierarchies  and  orders  our  knowledge  is  very 
limited.  The  celestial  beings  who  guarded  the  approaches 
to  Paradise  after  the  falP**  and  whose  sculptured  images 
overshadowed  the  mercy-seat,^^  are  not  angels.  These 
representations,  fashioned  after  the  pattern  which  was 
shown  to  Moses  in  the  mount,^^  agree  in  so  many  par- 
ticulars with  Isaiah"'s  vision  in  the  temple,^''  with  that 
which  appeared  to  Ezekiel  by  the  river  Chebar,-'^  and 
which  St.  John  beheld  in  the  island  of  Patmos,-'  that  we 
cannot  doubt  but  the  same  scene  and  the  same  beino-s  were 


7  Psa.  ciii.  20.  "  Judges  xiii.  0.  1  Sam.  xxix.  !>. 

0  Gen.  xvii.  8.  xix.  1 — 11,  &c.  1"  Matt,  xxviii.  3. 

11  Gen.  xix.  11.  Judges  vi.  21.  Acts  xii.  7- 

12  Gen.  xxii.  23,  &c.,  Dan.  x.  7-  ^'^  Judges  xiii.  20. 

H  Dan.  ix.  21.  Rev,  viii.  13.  xiv.  0.  ^■'^  Matt.  ii.  13,  20,  &c. 

16  Gen.  iii.  24.  17  Exod.  xxv.  1«— 22.  !«  Kxod.  v.  40. 

19  Isa.  vi.  1,  2.  ^<'  Ezek.  i.  3—21,  -''  Rev.  i\ .  (i_«. 


39 

revealed  to  all  of  them.  But  they  are  termed  cherubs, 
seraphs,  living  creatures, — ^never  angels. 

However,  that  some  subordination  obtains  among  the 
beings  who  partake  of  the  angelic  nature,  is  frequently 
hinted  at  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,^-  and  is  moreover  in  strict 
analogy  with  the  arrangement  of  every  other  part  of  God''s 
creation. 

One  particular  concerning  it  may  be  deduced  from 
several  passages.  We  read  in  the  visions  of  Daniel  of  an 
exalted  being  named  Michael,  who  is  one  of  the  chief 
princes  ;^^  and  the  epistle  of  St.  Jude  informs  us,  that  he 
is  an  archangel.  In  the  same  visions,  the  name  of  another 
celestial  personage,  Gabriel,  is  mentioned  :^*  he  is  also 
called  the  man  Gabriel.^^  He  was  afterwards  seen  by 
Zacharias  in  the  temple,  when  he  declared  his  office  to  be 
"  that  he  stood  in  the  presence  of  God  :"'*'  and  he  again 
appears  in  the  inspired  account  of  the  annunciation,  where 
he  is  expressly  named,  the  angel  Gabriel.^  Now  as  we  can 
conceive  of  no  higher  office  than  that  of  standing  in  the 
presence  of  God,  and  of  no  higher  honour  than  that  of 
announcing  the  incarnation  of  God,  we,  without  hesitation, 
assign  to  him  the  most  elevated  rank  in  the  angelic 
hierarchy.  But  we  have  seen  that  Michael  the  archangel 
is  likewise  one  of  the  chief  princes,  and  we  find  in  the 
New  Testament  that  he  leads  forth  the  hosts  of  heaven  to 
battle  -.^^  he  is  moreover  an  angel  of  the  presence  ;  for  he 
is  the  angel  of  Israel,^^  who  is  declared  to  be  of  the  pre- 
sence also.^'^  We  cannot,  therefore,  err  in  assigning  a  post 
of  equal  elevation  to  him.  The  apostle  St.  John  informs  us 
in  the  Revelations,^^  that  seven  angels  stand  before  God. 

22  1  Cor.  XV.  39—41.  Rom.  viii.  38.  Eph.  i.  31,  &c.,  &c. 

23  Dan.  X.  16.  24  Dan.  viii.  16.  25  Dan.  ix.  21.  26  Luke  i.  19. 

27  Vcr.  26.  20  Rev,  xii.  7-  29  Dan.  xii.  1. 

■"'  Isa.  Ixiii.  .9.  •''l  Rev.  viii.  2. 


40 

Nothing  more  is  disclosed  to  us,  either  regarding  the 
archangels,  or  generally,  upon  the  subject  of  the  subordi- 
nations of  rank  which  obtain  in  the  angelic  host. 

We  proceed  to  the  offices  which  Holy  Scripture  assigns 
to  the  angels,  of  which  it  informs  us  there  is  "  an  innume- 
rable company ."^^  Their  office  in  heaven  is  to  surround 
the  throne  and  to  sing  the  praises  of  God,  but  that 
they  are  continually  dispatched  from  thence  on  messages 
of  mercy  or  of  wrath  to  mankind,  and  to  wield  the  powers 
of  nature  in  conformity  to  the  divine  will,  is  plainly 
revealed,  and  too  well  known,  to  require  that  we  should 
here  dwell  upon  it.  Of  the  mode  of  discharging  these 
several  functions,  enough  is  disclosed  to  enable  us  to  dis- 
cover therein,  the  same  system  of  harmony  and  adaptation 
that  characterises  the  entire  government  of  the  Lord  of 
heaven  and  earth.  The  fulfilment  of  the  destinies  of  the 
several  nations  of  the  world,  and  their  protection  seems, 
in  a  mode  to  us  incomprehensible,  (because  not  revealed) 
to  be  assigned  to  particular  angels  or  hosts  of  angels. 
Thus  Michael  is  called  by  Daniel,  the  prince  that  standeth 
up  for  or  protects  the  children  of  Israel  ;^^  in  the  same 
prophecy  we  are  informed  that  he  strove  for  twenty- 
one  days  with  the  prince  of  Persia ;  the  prince  of  Javan 
is  also  mentioned  ;  all  these  expressions  we  can  only 
understand  of  the  tutelary  angels  of  those  countries.**  In 
the  Apocalypse  also  we  read  of  the  angel  of  the  waters 
— that  is,  of  the  figurative  waters;  the  people  thereby 
symbolized.*^ 

32    Heb.    xii.    22.;    see    also    Dan.    vii.    10.    Psa.    Ixviii.    1?.    Matt. 
XXV  i.  53. 

•''3  Dan.  xii.  1. 

34  Dan.  X.  10—21. 

35  Rev.  xvi.  5. ;  or  it  may  be,  of  the  element  of  water  :  for  \vc  read, 
Rev.  xiv.  18.,  of  the  angel  that  had  power  over  fire. 


41 

We  are  also  borne  out  by  Scripture  in  concluding 
that  the  offices  of  the  angelic  hosts  are  still  further  sub- 
ordinated.— We  are  informed  of  the  existence  of  guar- 
dian angels,  the  appointed  protectors  of  individuals  ;^''  to 
minister  to  their  religious  advancement  ;^'^  to  deliver  them 
from  evil  ;^''  and  finally  to  bear  their  spirits  to  the  pre- 
sence of  God.^^ 

Hitherto  we  have  endeavoured  to  collect  the  Scripture 
account  of  those  angels  that,  fulfilling  the  purpose  of  their 
existence,  remain  the  willing  and  faithful  ministers  of  their 
great  Creator.  But  from  the  same  unerring  authority  we 
find  that  there  are,  besides  these,  other  angels  who  kept 
7iot  their  first  estate,  hut  left  their  own  habitation  ;'^^  we 
only  know  further  concerning  this  event,  that  it  took 
place  before  the  fall  of  man. 

These  angels  having  powers  and  faculties  like  the 
angels  of  God,  employ  them  with  the  same  energy  in 
the  promotion  of  physical  and  moral  evil,  as  the  good 
angels  address  theirs  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  bene- 
ficent and  holy  purposes  of  their  God  and  King.  They 
are,  in  a  future  state,  to  be  the  companions  of  the  finally 
impenitent  among  mankind ;  with  them  they  are  to  pass 
an  eternity  of  torment  in  the  place  of  fire,  which  the 
wrath  of  God  has  prepared  for  them.  We  learn  from 
many  passages  that  the  number  of  these  evil  angels  is 
very  great,  and  that  they  obey  one  ruler  or  king  over 
them,  whose  most  ordinary  Scripture  names  are  Satan 
or  Diabolus  and  Beelzebub  ;    the  one  merely  describing 

36  Matt,  xviii.  10.  Acts  xii.  15. 

37  Heb.  i.  14. 

38  Gen.  xlviii.  16.  Psa.  xxxiv.  ?.  xci.  11.  Dan.  vi.  22.  Acts  v.  19.,  &c. 

39  Luke  xvi.  10. 

40  Jude  6. 


42 

his  office,  tliat  of  an  accuser  or  enemy,  the  other  being 
the  name  of  a  fabulous  deity,  under  the  form  of  which 
he  Avas  worshipped  by  the  heathen  nations  bordering  upon 
Palestine. 

This  being  was  the  author  of  the  fall  of  man  in  Para- 
dise ;  which  he  compassed,  either  by  assuming  the  form  of 
a  serpent,  or  by  embodying  himself  in  that  reptile,  so  as 
to  make  it  an  accomplice  in  the  guilt  and  a  participant  in 
the  punishment."*^ 

We  also  find  that,  during  the  patriarchal  and  Mosaic 
dispensations,  Satan  and  his  angels  were  allowed  to  appear 
before  God ;  that  they  constantly  took  advantage  of  this 
to  remind  him  (if  such  an  expression  may  be  permitted) 
of  the  failings  and  sins  of  his  people  on  earth  :  and  that 
they  likewise  undertook  offices  congenial  to  their  malignant 
nature,  by  the  divine  permission.'*-  But  the  apostle  St. 
John  informs  us  that  there  was  war  in  heaven  ;  Michael 
and  liis  angels  fought  with  Satan  and  his  angels,  and 
finally  and  for  ever  cast  them  out,  "  neither  was  their  place 
found  any  more  in  heaven. ^'^ 

By  collating  the  account  of  this  event  with  some  other 
passages,  we  may  form  a  conjecture  as  to  the  time  of 
its  occurrence.  The  prophet  declares  that  immediately 
upon  this  defeat,  Satan  or  the  dragon  persecuted  the  man 
child,  or  Jesus  Christ,  upon  earth.''^  Now  our  Saviour, 
immediately  after  his  baptism,  was  tempted  of  Satan 
in  the  wilderness :  the  inspired  accounts  of  his  subse- 
quent ministry  also  inform  us,  that  his  miraculous  powers 
were  almost  incessantly  exerted  in  expelling  the  evil 
spirits  from  Demoniacs  ;  though  in  them,  we  hear  of  the 
complaint  itself,  nearly  for  the  first  time ;  and  he  expressly 

•»i  Gen.  Hi.  42  Job  i.  C— 12.  1  Kings  xxii.  iy_22.,  &c. 

•13  Rev,  xii.  7— y.  •'^  Ver.  13. 


43 

tells  his  disciples,  on  the  occasion  of  their  discovering  that 
they  also  possessed  the  power  to  exorcise  demons,  "  I  beheld 
Satan  as  lightning  fall  from  heaven."^^  These  circum- 
stances render  it  not  improbable,  that  the  defeat  of  the 
evil  being  and  his  expulsion  from  heaven,  by  Michael 
the  archangel,  took  place  somewhere  about  the  time  of  our 
Lord"'s  baptism. 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  this  our  epitome  of  the 
Scripture  doctrine  of  angels,  we  have  endeavoured  that  the 
writers  whose  opinions  we  are  about  to  examine  should  have 
all  the  advantage  which  could  possibly  be  derived  to  them 
from  the  inspired  volume.  It  is  on  this  account  that  we 
have  ventured  to  the  utmost  bounds  of  what  can  justly  be 
inferred  from  thence,  and  given  them  the  benefit  of  some 
obscure  and  controverted  places,  of  which  interpreta- 
tions widely  different  have  been  proposed  by  divines  of 
deserved  celebrity  :  though  in  doing  so,  it  has  been  our 
earnest  wish  to  avoid  any  thing  like  unfair  or  dishonest 
violence  to  the  import  of  the  text. 

It  would  also  appear  that,  though  the  Scriptures  afford 
us  much  information  regarding  the  angelic  existences,  yet 
on  no  single  point,  have  we  enough  to  impress  the  mind 
with  a  definite  notion.  Of  their  nature,  their  powers,  their 
orders,  their  history,  we  know  nothing  beyond  a  few  facts, 
which  are  merely  isolated  points  on  the  canvass ;  it  is  hope- 
lessly beyond  our  powers  to  trace  even  the  connecting  out- 
line, much  more  to  finish  the  picture.  And  if  our  faith  in 
the  Christian  revelation  be  but  as  a  grain  of  mustard-seed, 
our  unhallowed  aspirations  after  a  more  distinct  acquaint- 
ance with  these  mysterious  subjects  will  instantly  be  re- 
pressed by  the  reflection,  that  soon,  very  soon,   we  shall 

45  Luke  X.  1(J. 


44 

enter  upon  a  state  of  existence,  wherein  our  knowledge  of 
them  shall  be  commensurate  with  our  most  enlarged  desires. 
We  shall  know  even  as  also  we  are  known. 

Considerations  like  these,  however,  have  but  too  little 
weight  with  mankind  at  any  time,  and  we  cannot  disco- 
ver  that    they    exercised    any    influence   upon    the    early 
church.     The  subject  fell  in  exactly  with  the  temper  of 
those  times,  which  were  as  much  distinguished  by  the  pre- 
dominance of  an  ardent  longing  to  pry  into  the  secrets  of 
the  immaterial  world,  as  are  our  own,  by  researches  into 
those  of  the  visible  creation.     We  are  therefore  not  sur- 
prised to  find,  that  it  was  seized  upon  with  avidity  by  the 
curious  and  intermeddling  spirit  with  things  not  revealed, 
which  characterised   that   epoch.     It  seems  to  have  been 
the  point  upon  Avhich,  of  all  others,    further    revelation 
was   most   impatiently  looked   for.      Immediately  on  the 
termination  of  the  first  century,  Ignatius  the  martyr  thus 
expresses  himself,   "  I    myself,  although  I  am  in  bonds, 
yet  am  I  not  able  to  understand  heavenly  things — as  the 
orders  of  angels  and  the  several  companies  of  them  under 
their  respective  princes :    things  visible  and  invisible,  in 
these  I  am  yet  a  learner."^     But  whence  was  he  to  learn 
these   things  ?    certainly,   in  his  own  apprehension,  from 
further  revelation  : — and  it  would  appear  from  a  passage 
in  a  subsequent  epistle,*'^  that   he  then   believed   himself 
to  have  obtained  it. 

But  whether  Ignatius  arrived  at  this  knowledge  or 
not,  it  was  poured  forth  in  copious  streams  by  a  writer 
who,  by  no  account  can  be  shown  to  have  lived  later  than 
contemporaneously,  and  who  preceded  him,  according  to 
the  vulgar  chronologies  ; — a  writer  who,  as  far  surpassed 

46  Ignat.  ad  Trail.,  §  5.  ■*"  Ad  Smyrn.,  §  fi. 


45 

Ignatius  in  audacity,  as  he  fell  short  of  him  in  doctrinal 
piety,  in  scriptural  knowledge,  and  in  natural  ability. — 
In  the  Shepherd  of  Hermas  we  have  a  system  of  angelic 
orders  and  ministrations  perfectly  digested  and  familiar  to 
the  mind  of  the  author.  The  personage  who  reveals  the 
visions  and  similitudes  to  him,  declares  of  himself,  "  I  am 
the  angel  of  Repentance,  and  give  understanding  to  all 
that  repent  f^^  and  "  all  who  repent  have  been  justified 
by  this  most  salutary,  or  health-giving,  angel,  who  is  a 
minister  of  salvation."*^  It  would  also  appear  that  all  the 
graces  of  the  Spirit  are  communicated  through  the  minis- 
tration of  angels ;  for  we  are  told,  that  "  the  holy  angel 
of  God  fills  men  with  the  blessed  Spirit  in  answer  to 
prayer.""^**  We  are,  moreover,  made  acquainted  with 
some  circumstances  touching  guardian  angels,  for  which 
we  should  search  in  vain,  in  the  inspired  volume. — We 
discover,  with  surprise,  "  that  there  are  two  angels  with 
men,  the  one  of  righteousness  the  other  of  iniquity  ;'"'^' 
and  that  with  these,  all  the  good  or  evil  suggestions  of 
the  heart  originate.  Their  powers  also  would  seem  to  ap- 
proximate much  nearer  to  those  of  omnipotence,  than  the 
scriptural  account  will  warrant  us  in  assuming. — In  the 
tenth  Command  we  read  of  an  angel  of  sadness,  who,  we 
are  informed,  is  the  worst  of  the  servants  of  God ;  and 
who  has  the  power  of  tormenting  the  Holy  Spirit,  of 
mixing  itself  with  him,  and  destroying  the  efficacy  of  the 
prayers   he   prompts.^^      Nay,    the  whole  work  of  grace 

48  Command  4. 

49  Command  5. 

50  Command  11. 

51  Command  6. 

52  Command  10,  §  3.      Archbishop  Wake  says  upon  this  place,    "  the 
reader  will  please  to  observe,  that  he  speaketh  not  of  the  Holy  Ghost  as  He 


46 

is  accomplished  by  the  ministration  of  angels  ;  men  are 
brought  into  the  church  and  edified  there,  or,  if  they 
are  false  professors,  ejected  thence,  entirely  by  their 
agency.^^ 

On  consulting  the  fathers  of  the  second  century,  we 
find  that  our  subject  is  no  longer  in  the  unfinished  and 
doubtful  state  in  which  it  had  been  left  by  the  Revelations 
of  God  ;  but  that  upon  almost  every  part  of  it,  we  obtain 
from  them  a  large  accession  of  new  facts. 

As  to  the  nature  of  angels  ;  They  are  distinct,  po- 
sitive, and  permanent  existences ;  not  mere  emanations 
resolveable  into  the  substance  Avhence  they  have  originally 
issued.^^  They  belong  to  a  class  of  essences  which  par- 
takes of  the  nature  both  of  spirit  and  matter  ;^^  like  the 
human  soul  it  is  invisible,  though  not  impalpable  ;^ 
but  is  transfigurable  into  human  flesh  in  order  that  they 
may  become  visible  to,  and  converse  with,  mankind  ;  the 
power  of  this  assumption  is  resident  in  the  angels  them- 
selves, and  may  be  exerted  at  pleasure:  it  is  effected, 
either  by  a  direct  creation,  or  by  assuming  and  changing 


is  the  Spirit  of  God  and  the  third  person  of  the  sacred  Trinity  ;  but  of  the 
spirit  given  to  Christians,  being  an  emanation  or  gift  from  the  Spirit  of 
God."  The  good  Archbishop  was  mistaken  ;  the  early  fathers  speak  too 
often  in  this  most  unscriptural  and  profane  manner  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  thus 
Tertullian,  "  Si  spiritus  reus  ajjud  se  sit,  conscientioe  erubcscentis  quomodo 
audibit  orationem  ducere  ab  illo  ?  dc  qua  erubescente  et  ipse  suffunditur  sanc- 

tus  minister;   etenim,  est  prophetica  vox  veteris  testamenti.'''' Dc  Exhort. 

Cast.,  c.  10. 

53  1  Her.,  3.  3  Her.,  9,  passim. 

54  Justin  Martyr.,  Dial,  cum  Tryphone,  p.  358.  C. 

55  Angeli  sine  came  sunt — Irenceus,  lilt,  3.,  c.  23.     Imago  Dei  genero- 

sior  spiritu  material!  quo  angeli  consistunt Terttdlian  adv.  Marc.  lib.  2., 

c.  7'     Angeli  natura  substantia  spiritualis.— -/rfem.  de  A7iimtt,  c.  9, 

5C  Id.  dc  Anima,  c.  9. 


47 

the  appearance  of  some  terrene  substance.^''  Angels  are 
sustained  by  food,  but  of  a  quality  altogether  different 
from  that  required  by  human  beings/^ 

As  to  their  offices ;  Angels  were  created  by  God  with 
reference  to  his  general  works,  that  as  God  exercised  a 
general  providence  over  the  universe,  they  might  exercise 
a  particular  providence  over  the  different  parts  assigned 
them/^  They  fulfil  the  duties  of  these  offices  as  perfectly 
free  agents,  possessed  of  entire  liberty  of  will,  free  to  stand 
and  free  to  fall,  capable  of  both  good  and  evil.''^  In  con- 
sequence of  this,  there  have  been  already  two  angelic  de- 
fections from  the  Creator. 

The  first,  which  took  place  immediately  upon  the 
creation  of  man,  was  headed  by  the  firstborn  angel,  whose 
name  was  Sathanas,*"^  and  who  presided  over  the  element 
of  air  r"^  it  originated  in  his  envy  at  mankind ;  and  he 
exhibited  the  first  proof  of  his  apostacy  in  the  temptation 
of  Eve.''^ 


57  Id.  de  Came  Christi,  c.  6.  The  incarnation  of  angels  is  a  favourite 
subject  with  Tertullian  :  he  often  uses  it  as  an  illustration.  De  Resur. 
Car.,  c.  C2,  &c. 

58  Justin.  Dial.  279.  D.,  Tert.  ubi  supra  ;  they  derive  this  notion  from 
the  Septuagint  translation  of  Psa.  Ixxviii.  25,  which  is  followed  in  our 
authorised  version,  but  is  probably  erroneous. 

59  Just.  Apol.  II.,  44.  A.     Athenagora;  Legatio  2?.  C. 

GO  Justin  Dial.  370.  A.,  Athena.  Leg.  27.  D.,  Tat.  con.  Grxc.  14G,  c, 
&c.,  Iren.  lib.  4.  c.  71- 

61  Tatian  contra  Grsec.  146.  D. 

62  Jren.  u.  s.  lib.  5.  c.  34.  he  deduces  this  from  Eph.  ii.  2. 

63  Jren.  lib.  4.  c.  7-  8.  This  opinion  was  afterwards  adopted  and  im- 
proved upon  by  Mohammed.    Allah  commands  the  angels  to  worship  Adam, 

and  only  Eblis  (quasi  diabolus)  refuses Koran,  Sur  2.  v.v.  34,  36.    Clement 

of  Alexandria  says  it  was  the  fear  of  the  divine  image  in  man  which  made 
the  angels  conspire  to  deface  it.  The  idea  of  their  being  envious  he  treats 
as  incredible. — 2  Slrom,  §  8. 


48 

The  second  fall  of  the  angels  occurred  shortly  after 
the  creation.  The  angel  of  the  earth  or  matter  was  the 
ringleader  ;^*  many  of  the  subordinate  angels  of  the  same 
element  being  participant  with  him.  It  originated  in 
their  negligence  of  the  charge  with  which  they  had  been 
entrusted  by  their  divine  Creator  :  instead  of  watching  over 
inanimate  nature,  they  occupied  themselves  in  admiring 
the  beauties  of  the  fairest  portion  of  the  animate  creation. 
The  angels  of  God  beheld  the  daughters  of  men  that  they 
were  fair,  and  they  chose  to  themselves  brides  from  amotig 
them.^ 

We  can  hardly  conceive  of  a  fiction  so  palpable  as 
this,  which  will  not  bear  the  test  of  the  slightest  exami- 
nation. It  is  contradicted  at  the  outset,  by  our  Lord's 
declaration  that  the  angels  are  incapable  of  such  affec- 
tions ;^''  and  supposing  this  to  be  overpast,  we  are  again 
met  with  the  intolerable  absurdity,  of  a  class  of  beings 
so  constituted  and  yet  created  of  one  sex  only  !!  We 
have  only  to  complete  our  exposure  of  its  utter  nothing- 
ness by  stating,  that  it  is  founded  altogether  upon  a  well- 
known,  and  I  fear  wilful,  mistranslation  of  a  passage  of 
Scripture  in  the  Septuagint.^^ 

Yet  there  is  scarcely  a  religious  truth  however  elemen- 
tary, for  which  we  could  produce  a  more  formidable  array 
of  authority  from  the  writers  of  the  second  century,  than 
for  this  falsehood.  It  is  repeatedly  referred  to  by  Justin 
Martyr,'"^  and  by  his  pupils  Athenagoras^"  and  Tatian  the 
Syrian.^''  To  these  may  be  added  Irenseus,^^  Tertullian,'- 
and    Clement  of  Alexandria  :^"^  and  we  have  now  named, 

6^  0  rns  liXri;  x.a.t  todi  Iv  OLvrn  il^uv  ap^av Athen.  leg.  27-  D. 

«5  Athen.  leg.  27.  D.,  &c.  C6  Matt.  xxii.  30.  C7  Gen.  vi.  2. 

68  Apol.  II,  p.  44.  A. ;  Dial.  305.  c,  &c.  69  Leg.  ubi  supra. 

70  Contra  Graecos,  147-  A.  71  Adv.  Hacr.,  lib.  4.  c.  70. 

72  De  cultu  Muliebri,  c.  3,  &c.  73  Paed.  lb.  3.  c.  li.,  &c. 


49 

with  one  exception,^^  the  whole  of  the  writers  of  that  epoch, 
of  wliose  works  any  thing  is  left. 

Nor  was  it  allowed  to  remain  as  a  mere  isolated  fact 
in  the  systems  of  these  theologians  :  it  acted  an  important 
part  therein,  and  produced  an  abundant  crop  of  doctrines. 

The  danger  of  still  further  defections  from  the  hea- 
venly  hosts  is  by  no  means  past :  St.  PauFs  injunction 
regarding;  the  dress  of  unmarried  females  during  divine  wor- 
ship,^^  originated  in  his  consideration,  not  for  the  women, 
but  for  the  angels.  The  prohibition  was  rendered  needful 
by  their  susceptibility  of  the  tender  emotions ;  and  the  sin 
of  the  offender  consists  principally,  in  the  needless  exposure 
to  temptation  of  her  guardian  angel.^'' 

The  sinning  angels  of  the  second  fall  instructed  their 
mortal  paramovu's  in  the  ornamental  arts  ;7^  they  likewise 
taught  mankind  magic,'^"  divination,  and  astrology  ;''^  as 
well  as  the  more  useful  sciences  of  metallurgy  and 
botaiiy.^*^ 

Two  distinct  races  of  beings  sprang  from  the  inter- 
course between  angels  and  women.     The  one  consisted  of 

74  That  exception  is  Theophilus  of  Antioch  ;  and  from  the  general 
tenor  of  what  remains  of  his  writings,  we  cannot  doubt  but  his  creed  upon 
this  point  was  that  of  his  cotemporaries.  He  refers  to  a  lost  book  on  the 
nature  of  Satan,  p.  104,  D. 

75  1  Cor.  xi.  4—16. 

76  TertulUan  de  Virg.  c.  \.  He  found  his  authority  for  this  strange 
notion  in  1  Cor.  xi.  10. 

77  Idem  de  Hab.  Muliebri,  c.  2,  de  cultu  Fam.  c.  c.  4,  10,  &c. 

78  Idem  de  Anima,  c.  57- 

79  Justin  Apol.  I,  p.  61.  A. ;  TertuUian  de  Hab.  Mul.  c.  2. 

80  Tert.  Apol.  c.  35.  According  to  Clement  of  Alexandria,  these  fallen 
angels  revealed  to  their  brides  many  truths  which  it  was  the  intention  of  the 
divine  mind  to  have  concealed,  until  the  advent  of  our  Lord.  This  was  one 
of  the  sources  whence  the  Greek  philosophy  derived  the  truths  it  inculcated. 
—5  Strom.  §  1. 


50 

the  giants  and  other  monsters  that  infested  the  antediluvian 
earth ;  by  their  evil  communications,  the  human  race  was 
so  depraved  as  to  be  incapacitated  for  rendering  acceptable 
service  to  the  Creator,  and  was  therefore  swept  away  by 
the  deluge.^^ 

Demons  were  also  the  offspring  of  this  connection. 
They  are,  according  to  some,  a  separate  class  of  beings  ;^^ 
while  others  suppose  them  to  be  the  souls  of  the  giants.^^ 
These  beings  are  not  material,  though  they  take  their 
nature  from  matter,^^  but  spiritual,  like  fire  and  air.^ 
To  this  nature,  both  their  parent  angels,  and  those  of  the 
Satanic  fall,  are  perfectly  assimilated  ;^*'  for  having  been 
excluded  from  heaven  by  their  transgressions,  they  are  no 
longer  able  to  elevate  themselves  to  heavenly  things,  but 
hover  about  the  earth  and  air.^^ 

This  innumerable  host  of  demons  and  angel-demons 
are  entirely  under  the  control  and  guidance  of  Satan ,^^  "  the 
angel  of  wickedness,  the  author  of  all  error,  the  corrupter 
of  all  generations  ;  who,  having,  at  the  first,  tempted  man 
to  transgress  the  divine  law,  and  made  him,  therefore, 
liable  to  death,  infused  the  seeds  of  all  sins  into  his 
posterity  .  thus  rendering  them  also  obnoxious  to  his  own 

**!  Irenseus  lib.  5.  c.  70. 

«2  Justin  Apol.  II,  44.  B. ;  Tert.  Apol.  c.  22. 

83  Athen.  u.  s.  p.  28.  A. 

8-*  Tatian  contra  Graec.  151.  c. 

«5  Id.  154.  C. 

St;  Idem  147.  A.,  &c.  Tertullian  seems  to  have  considered  the  assimi- 
lation not  quite  complete.  He  says  the  demons  are  more  wicked  than  their 
parents. — Apol.  c.  22. 

87  Atheiiayoras  u.  s.  According  to  Tatian,  they  sojourned  among  the 
different  animals  that  inhabit  the  earth  and  the  waters ;  and  in  order  to 
deceive  mankind  into  the  idea  that  they  were  still  celestial,  they  introduced 
these  their  companions  into  the  Zodiack. — Contra  Greec.  147.  A. 

^  Tertullian  u.  s. 


51 

punishment."^'-*  Between  this  prince  and  his  subordinates, 
tliere  is  the  most  perfect  unity  of  design  and  of  action, 
Tlieir  one  motive  is  hatred  to  man ;  their  one  object,  his 
temporal  and  eternal  perdition  :  and  for  the  accomplishment 
of  this  purpose,  the  subtilty  and  tenuity  of  their  natures 
furnish  them  with  fearful  facilities.  They  are  able  to 
possess  themselves  of  the  bodies  of  men,  afflicting  them 
with  divers  diseases  and  sundry  kinds  of  death  ;  and  of 
their  mental  faculties,  in  the  case  of  demoniasm.  They 
have  likewise  power  over  the  elements,  which  they  always 
exercise  to  annoy  and  distress  the  unhappy  objects  of  their 
antipathy,  by  raising  storms  and  blights  to  destroy  the 
fruits  of  the  earth. ^'^ 

But  these  fallen  beinffs  use  their  most  strenuous 
exertions  to  effect  the  destruction  of  the  soul :  and  there- 
fore, are  incessantly  devising  temptations,  whereby  they 
may  allure  mankind  to  the  commission  of  acts  of  wicked- 
ness. Nor  are  their  powers  of  mischief  limited  to  mere 
external  provocations :  they  can,  at  all  times,  transfuse 
themselves  into  those  secret  recesses  of  thought  where 
the  motives  of  human  action  originate ;  and  they  suggest 
the  evil  motions,  which  produce  murders,  wars,  adultery, 
and  the  long  catalogue  of  crimes  wherewith  man  offends 
his  Maker.^i 

Of  all  sins,  however,  that  of  idolatry  appears  most 
readily  to  have  accomplished  their  wicked  purposes  ;  into 
this,  therefore,  they  were  the  most  earnest  and  unremitting 
in  their  efforts  to  seduce  their  victims.^^     In  putting  men 

89  Idem  de  Testimonio  Animae,  c.  3. 

90  Idem  Apol.  c.  22. ;   de  Spect.  c.  2. 

91  Justin  Apol.   I,  p.  61.  ;  Apol.  II,  p.  48.  A. ;  TertuUian  ubi  supra  ; 
Tatian  contra  Graecos,  154.  C. 

92  Justin  Apol.  I,  61.  A. ;  Tert.  Apol.  c.  c.  23,  27. ;  Tatian  u.  s.  152. 
B. ;  Athen.  leg.  29.  B.  C. 


52 

upon  these  courses,  they  were  actuated  by  the  ambition 
of  their  prince,  to  be  worshipped  as  God  ;^^  a  passion  in 
which  themselves  also  largely  participated.  They  had, 
besides,  another  and  more  intelligible  object  in  view. — The 
blood  of  the  victims  and  the  odours  that  arose  from  the 
consuming  flesh  and  incense,  in  the  sacrificial  acts  which 
they  prescribed  as  the  mode  wherein  they  would  be  wor- 
shipped, were  the  proper  food  of  the  fallen  angels  and 
demons  ;^*  and,  of  course,  its  quantity  and  quality 
depended  upon  the  number  and  rank  of  their  votaries. 
To  effect  this,  they  possessed  the  statues  of  deceased 
mortals  ;  deluding  mankind  into  the  belief  that  they  were 
deities,^^  by  means  of  the  various  supernatural  operations 
which  were  performed,  apparently  by  the  idols,  but  really 
through  their  agency. 

But  their  most  efficacious  mode  of  keeping  up  the 
credit  of  the  various  images,  under  the  forms  and  names 
of  which  they  were  worshipped  as  gods,"''  was  the  utterance 
of  oracular  responses.^''  They  obtained  the  knowledge 
which  enabled  them  frequently  to  declare  very  astonishing 
and  startling  facts,  to  those  who  enquired  at  their  shrines, 
by  the  inconceivable  rapidity  of  their  movements.  They 
are  all  furnished  with  wings,  and  such  are  their  powers  of 
flight,  that  the  world  is  but  as  one  place  to  them,  for  they 
are  every  where  in  a  moment ;  and  as  they  are  perpetually 

93  Iren.  lib.  3.  c.  c.  24,  25.     His  authority  for  this  is  Matt.  iv.  8,  9. 

W  Justin  Apol.  I,  59.  D. ;  Tert.  ad  Scap.  c.  2. ;  Athen.  29.  c. 

95  Justin  Apol.  I,  55.  E.,  57-  D.,  &c. ;  Tert.  de  Spect.  c.  10. ;  and  in 
many  other  places. 

9C  The  demons  had  no  names  but  of  these  fabulous  deities.^-Jtistin 
Apol.  I,  55.  £.,  <^c. ;  Tert.  de  Idol.  c.  15.  Athenagoras  contends  that  the 
gods  of  the  heathen  were  dead  men,  and  the  demons  merely  haunted  them. 
—Leg.  31.  ^.,  &c. 

97  Tatian  iibi  snpia,  152.  B. 


53 

passing  to  and  fro  in  the  region  of  the  air,  they  are  able  to 
apprise  their  votaries  of  events  in  one  country,  the  instant 
they  are  transacted  in  another.^^  This  velocity  passed  with 
mankind  for  divinity. 

For  the  same  purpose,  of  deluding  the  sons  of  Adam, 
and  drawing  them  on  to  their  eternal  perdition,  they 
taught  them  certain  ceremonies  in  their  mistaken  worship, 
which  bore  a  strong  resemblance  to  those  of  Judaism,  and 
even  of  Christianity.^  Nay,  the  divine  truths,  with  which 
their  insight  into  the  Almighty's  dispensations  had  furnished 
them  during  their  perfect  state,^'^''  they  made  subservient 
to  their  illusions,  by  disclosing  them  under  a  mutilated 
form,  and  thus  obtained  credit  for  virtue  as  well  as 
divinity.^^^ 

The  advent  of  our  Lord,  produced  important  changes 
in  the  condition  of  the  evil  angels,  by  greatly  curtail- 
ing their  power  of  deceiving  mankind.  The  blasphemous 
heresies  of  the  second  century  are  declared,  by  the  co- 
temporary  fathers,  to  have  been  the  direct  expressions 
of  the  rage  which  possessed  the  devil  and  his  angels, 
when  they  discovered,  from  the  preaching  of  Christ  and 
his  apostles,  that  they  were  doomed  to  eternal  torment : 
of  this  they  had  before  been  ignorant,  and  therefore  had 
not  gone  to  the  same  extent  of  blasphemy. ^''^ 

Our  spiritual  enemies,  however,  are  still  sufficiently 
formidable,  both  in  their  powers  of  evil  and  in  their 
numbers.      They  swarm  in  every  element ;    they   throng 

'JS  Tert.  Apol.  c.  22. 

99  Justin  Apol.  I,  p.  89.  A.  ;  Tert.  Apol.  c.  22. 

100  See  Note  80. 

101  Justin  Dial.  p.  296.  C,  &c.  &c. 

102  Iren.  lib.  5.  c.  28.,  where  he  also  quotes  from  a  lost  book  of  Justin's 
in  support  of  his  opinion.  That  Justin  held  this  notion  is  evident ;  see  his 
(irst  Apology,  pp.  69.  C,  91.  A.,  92.  A. 


54 

the  universe ;  tliey  make  mankind  the  objects  of  their 
individual  and  personal,  as  well  as  of  their  general,  ma- 
lignity. Every  human  being  is  attended  by  an  evil 
demon, ^^'^  as  well  as  by  his  guardian  angel,  through  life. 
Nor  can  even  our  eternal  salvation  save  us  from  appre- 
hensions of  suffering  from  them,  in  a  future  state  ;  for 
at  the  hour  of  death,  a  struggle  takes  place,  between  the 
good  angel  and  the  evil  one,  for  the  soul  of  their  charge  ; 
and  if  the  latter  prevails,  as  is  frequently  the  case,  even 
with  the  departed  spirits  of  good  men,  it  remains  from 
thence  until  the  day  of  judgment,  so  under  the  control 
of  the  demons,  as  to  be  compelled  to  do  their  bidding.^"'* 

Our  protectors  against  all  these  machinations  to 
accomplish  our  ruin  are  the  holy  angels  ;  who,  in  numbers 
equal  to  those  of  their  antagonists,  are  engaged  incessantly 
in  defending  from  their  assaults,  that  universe,  the  parti- 
cular providential  dispensations  of  which,  they  administer 
as  free  agents ;  responsible  only  to  God  for  the  use  or 
abuse  of  the  divine  power  delegated  to  them.  The  per- 
formance of  these  duties  calls  the  host  of  heaven  to  a  state  of 
interminable  warfare  with  the  infernal  legions, — a  warfare, 
which  combines  all  the  horrors  of  a  personal  combat,  with 
those  of  a  general  battle.  To  enable  them  successfully 
to  cope  Avith  their  enemies,  a  most  exact  system  of 
discipline  and  subordination  was  deemed,  by  our  authors, 
indispensible.  Individual  angels  are  specially  deputed  to 
preside  over  each  of  the  operations  of  providence ;  the 
angel   of  death,'"^    for   instance,    and   the  angel   of  \en- 

l"3  Tert.  de  Anima,  c.  57- ;  Apol.  c.  46. 

104  Justin  Dial.  322.  C. 

105  Angelas  evocator  animarum — Terl.  de  Animd,  c.  o,i, :  his  authority 
for  this  fiction  was  probably  the  ayy  iKo;  !iecv«r/><p<>po:  of  the  Septuagint 
version;  see  Job  xx.  15.,  &c. 


55 

geance.'^'^  But  besides  these,  prefectures  of  good  angels 
are  distributed  throughout  the  cities  and  nations  of  the 
world,  according  to  the  divine  and  primitive  orders.  ^^ 
And,  as  a  shepherd  gives  the  whole  flock  his  general  atten- 
tion, but  nevertheless,  bestows  his  especial  care  upon  the 
sheep  that  promise  the  most  abundant  reward  of  his  labour, 
so  the  angelic  ministrations  are  principally  lavished  upon 
those  individuals  of  the  human  race,  that  give  the  finest 
promise  of  regal  and  philosophic  mental  powers.  Over 
these,  a  particular  angel  was  deputed  to  watch,  and  upon 
the  diligent  discharge  of  his  duty,  their  progress  in  wisdom 
greatly  depended. ^"^'^  By  the  ministration  of  these  national 
angels,  philosophy  was  revealed  to  the  Greeks  :'"^  and 
generally,  it  was  an  important  part  of  their  function,  to 
instil  good  and  holy  desires  into  the  minds  of  men. 

But  this  last  duty  was  performed  by  them,  in  entire 
subordination  to  another  order,  which  occupied  a  much 
more  exalted  rank  in  the  angelic  hierarchy.  The  Christian 
graces  (as  we  have  seen)  were  ministered  by  angels  of  this 
high  class,  an  individual  presiding  over  each  of  them  ;  and 
the  same  arrangement  obtained  also,  with  the  Christian 
ordinances ;  each  had  its  peculiar  angel,  whose  ministrations 

106  Angelus  executionis. — Idem  c.  35. 

107  Clem-  Alex.  7  Strom.  §  2.,  where  he  copies  his  namesake  of  Rome, 
ad  Cor.  c.  29;  they,  as  well  as  Irenseus,  HL  5.  c.  12.  p.  230.,  were  mis- 
led by  the  Septuagint,  which  renders  Deut.  xxxii.  8.,  in  utter  defiance  of  the 
Hebrew ;  "  he"  God  "  appointed  the  bounds  of  the  nations  according  to 
the  number  of  the  angels  of  God." 

108  6  Strom.  §  17. 

JOS'  7  Strom.  §  2.  Clement  supposes  that  the  Greeks  derived  their 
philosophy  from  three  sources  :  from  the  inspiration  of  the  Logos  ministered 
by  angels,  which  Tatian  calls,  sympathy  with  the  breath  of  God  ;  (see 
Note  80)  from  the  unhallowed  revelations  of  the  fallen  angels:  and 
from  the  writings  of  Moses  and  the  prophets ;  whence  he  endeavours  to 
show  that  they  drew  largely,  1  Strom.  §  3,  4. ;  5  Strom.  §  1 . 


56 

were  indispensible  to  the  efficacy  of  the  rite.  TertuUiaii 
casually  mentions  the  angel  of  baptism,''*^  and  the  angel 
of  prayer  :^^^  and  we  cannot  doubt  but  that,  in  his 
system,  the  other  Christian  ordinances  were  similarly  pre- 
sided over. 

Thus  we  perceive  that  the  doctrine  of  the  church  in 
the  second  century,  regarding  the  holy  angels,  as  well 
as  the  impure  demons,  was  altogether  impatient  of  the 
narrow  bounds  to  which  revelation  had  confined  it,  and 
that  a  system  of  demonology,  perfect  and  complete  in  all 
its  parts,  was  as  zealously  propounded  for  universal  belief 
as  any  truth  which  that  word  contains. 

We  need  not  institute  any  detailed  comparison  of  the 
two  schemes  of  angelic  existence  which  are  now  before  us, 
to  discover,  not  only  a  want  of  harmony  and  coherence  in 
their  several  parts,  but,  that  there  is  really  no  affinity 
whatever  between  them.  Certain  facts  it  is  true  are  com- 
mon to  both  ;  but  all  these  are  evidently  foreign  to  the 
latter  scheme,  and  have  been  fitted  into  it  afterwards  ; 
often  clumsily  enough.  They  set  out  upon  notions  of  the 
Supreme  Being,  altogether  at  variance  with  each  other. 
The  one  supposes  a  God  omnipotent  and  omniscient,  who 
impresses,  equally  on  the  minutest  and  the  greatest  of  his 
works,  the  infallible  signs  of  his  existence,  as  a  proper  act 
of  his  own  Godhead.  The  brightest  seraph  that  burns  in 
his  heaven,  and  the  meanest  mite  that  crawls  upon  his  earth, 
are  both  the  tokens  of  his  creative  power  and  the  objects 
of  his  providential  care  ;  to  him,  and  to  him  alone,  they, 
and  all  that  infinite  range  of  existences  whereby  these 
two  extremes  are  vdtimately  connected,  are  indebted  for 
life,  and  breath,  and  all  things.     This,  his  glory,  he  gives 

no  Angelas  baptismi. — Dc  Baptismo,  c.  G. 
11'  Angclus  orationis. — De  Oratiotie,  c,  12. 


57 

not  to  another  ;  he  accomplishes  no  part  of  his  purposes 
by  delegating  his  divine  power  ;  he  rules  no  where  by 
deputy.  As  to  the  heavenly  host  that  encircle  his  presence 
in  innumerable  multitudes,  they  are  his  ministers  that 
do  his  pleasure :  they  do  his  commandments^  hearkening 
unto  the  voice  of  his  word.  They  know  no  other  motive. 
Instinct  with  his  will,  they  are  as  much  the  passive  instru- 
ments in  his  hand  for  the  fulfilment  of  his  high  behests, 
as  the  powers  of  inanimate  nature.  It  matters  not,  whether 
he  cut  off  in  judgment  by  the  blast  of  the  pestilence,  or 
by  the  sword  of  the  destroying  angel :  In  either  case,  the 
act  is  his  own.  Can  there  be  evil  in  the  city  and  the  Lord 
hath  not  done  it  ?  Or  does  he  save  in  mercy  ?  He 
converts  the  sinner  by  the  instrumentality  of  his  accredited 
minister,  thereby  giving  joy  to  the  angels  of  his  presence. 
By  the  faithful  admonitions  of  his  earthly  ambassador,  and 
by  the  agency  of  "  ministei'ing  spirits  sent  forth  to  minister 
unto  the  heirs  of  salvation,"  the  convert  is  kept,  amid 
many  difficulties,  in  the  narrow  way  that  leadeth  unto 
life ;  and  in  God's  good  time  his  ransomed  soul  is  released 
from  the  burden  of  mortality,  and  wafted,  on  the  wings  of 
its  guardian  angel,  to  his  presence  in  glory.  But  the 
minister  that  labours  on  earth,  and  the  angel  that  flies  in 
mid  heaven,  and  the  beatified  spirit  that  sings  in  paradise, 
all  combine  their  voices  to  proclaim  to  the  universe — "  This 
hath  God  wrought."  The  agency  of  the  man  and  of  the 
angel  are  lost.  /,  even  I,  am  he  ;  and  beside  me  there  is 
no  Saviour.  In  the  scheme  of  angelic  existences  we  are 
now  considering,  God,  is  all  in  all ! ! 

Let  us  endeavour  to  collect  the  attributes  of  the  God 
of  the  other  system. — We  soon  find  that  it  is,  in  the 
nature  of  things  impossible,  that  he  can  exercise  either 
omnipotence  or  omniscience,    consistently  with  the  entire 


58 

free  agency  of  the  countless  myriads  of  spiritual  existen- 
ces, to  whose  responsible  administrations  he  has  committed 
the  economies  of  providence  and  grace.  For,  whatever 
may  be  said  of  free  agency  under  a  dispensation  like  ours, 
where  our  God  is  a  God  that  hideth  himself  and  will  be 
sought  of  them  that  find  him,  to  talk  of  the  free  agency 
of  sentient  beings,  dwelling  everlastingly  in  the  full  blaze 
of  their  Creator's  presence,  and  beholding  the  perfect  mani- 
festation of  incessant  displays  of  his  omnipotence  and 
omniscience,  is  absolute  idiotcy.  Whatever  attributes, 
therefore,  the  God  of  the  early  fathers  may  have  possessed, 
he  never  could  show  himself  forth  in  any  other  character 
than  that  of  the  mere  president,  or,  at  most,  monarch  of 
the  universe :  having  a  natural  and  imprescriptible  right 
to  the  supremacy  which  is  conceded,  by  an  artificial  one,  to 
an  earthly  potentate,  by  his  fellow  men ;  but  differing  from 
him  only  in  this  particular.  We  readily  grant,  that  these 
authors  are  happily  inconsistent  with  themselves,  in  their 
perfect  orthodoxy  upon  the  subject  of  the  divine  attri- 
butes. But  we  refer  to  the  passages  we  have  quoted, 
wherein  they  ascribe  to  the  angels  powers  which  trench  so 
painfully  upon  those  of  the  Supreme  Being,^^^  as  proofs 
they  were  conscious  of  this  inconsistency,  and  endeavoured 
thus  to  palliate  it. 

Again ;  if  it  be  true  that  innumerable  multitudes  of 
responsible  angels  administer  the  whole  of  our  relations  to 
the  invisible  world,  both  temporal  and  spiritual,  if  to  their 
good  will  we  must  ascribe  our  mercies,  and  to  their  anger 
or  malignity  our  afflictions, — what  rational  objection  can  be 
urged  against  our  addressing  our  prayers  and  praises  to 
them  personally,  as  well  as  to  the  First  Great  Cause,  from 
whom  (it  would  appear)  we  are  estranged  by  so  many 
112  See  page  45. 


59 

removes  ?  If  they  fiilHl  the  commands  of  the  Ahnighty, 
as  responsible  agents,  punishable  for  disobedience ;  if  the 
same  abyss  which  has  already  swallowed  up  countless 
myriads  of  their  compeers,  still  yawns  for  them,  surely 
their  acts  of  obedience  are,  as  it  regards  us  the  receivers 
of  the  benefits  thereof,  highly  meritorious,  whatever  they 
may  be  with  their  Creator ;  and  call  for  our  supplications 
when  we  need  them  at  their  hands,  and  our  thanksgivings 
when  they  are  granted,  upon  principles  so  plainly  elemen- 
tary to  the  relations  of  one  being  to  another,  that  we 
hesitate  not  to  assert,  that  the  God  of  Infinite  Wisdom 
cannot,  because  he  will  not,  contradict  them  in  any  of  his 
precepts.  Yet,  upon  the  scheme  we  are  considering,  we 
cannot  at  all  reconcile  to  this  principle,  the  stern  prohibi- 
tions of  angel  worship,  and  of  all  attempts  at  commu- 
nication with  the  spiritual  world,  with  which  his  word 
abounds.  For  if  our  parents  and  our  guardian  angels  are 
equally  the  voluntary  and  responsible  dispensers  to  us 
of  the  bounties  of  the  Universal  Parent,  what  reason  is 
there  for  honouring  the  one,  which  is  not  equally  a  reason 
for  honouring  the  other  ?  Or  why  is  not  he  who  honours 
his  father  and  mother,  in  conformity  with  the  divine 
precept,  guilty  of  impiety  towards  God,  as  well  as  he  who 
worships  the  angels  ;  since  both  stand  in  exactly  the  same 
relation  between  God  and  himself  ?  We  are  not  surprised 
to  find  that  the  believers  in  such  a  system  felt  this  difficulty 
to  be  insurmountable.  Irenaeus  administers  a  very  gentle 
rebuke  to  the  practice  of  angel  worship  :^^^  and  an  irre- 
fragable proof  of  its  universal  prevalence  soon  afterwards, 

U3  He  merely  says  that  such  was  not  the  custom  of  the  church  in  his 

time.    Nee  in  vocationibus  angelis  facit  aliquid  nee  incantationibus Lib.  2. 

c.  57.  According  to  the  Romanists,  Irenaeus  condemns  the  worship  of  evil 
demons  only  in  this  passage. 


60 

may  be  gathered  from  the  circumstance,  that  nearly  all  the 
ancient  liturgies  sanction  acts  of  demonology,  by  express 
prescription.  It  is  unnecessary  to  proceed  further  with 
our  comparison  of  the  two  systems.  The  God  of  the  one 
is  the  Jehovah  of  the  Christian  Scriptures,  the  God  of  the 
other  is  the  Jove  of  the  heathen  mythologies. 

It  is  quite  needful  to  state  here  that  the  early  fathers 
were  by  no  means  the  authors  of  these  unhallowed  addi- 
tions to  the  divine  truth.  In  the  writings  of  the  later 
Jews,  they  found  the  two  in  a  state  of  incorporation  so 
intimate,  that  I  do  not  hesitate  to  assert  that  no  critical 
skill,  which  they  had,  humanly  speaking,  the  opportunity  of 
acquiring,  could  have  enabled  them  to  effect  the  separation. 
The  Targumists^^*  and  the  Apocryphal  Books^^^  abound 
with  demonological  allusions ;  the  system  they  adopted  is 
also  that  of  Philo"^  and  Josephus  ;"'^  and  to  all  these,  they 
followed  the  example  of  the  Jews  in  deferring,  as  to  high 


U4  See  the  Targum  Jonathan  on  Gen.  vi.  3  :  also  the  Targum  on  Psa. 
Ixxxvii.  25.,  and  other  similar  places. 

U5  See  the  ridiculous  fable  of  Tobit  and  his  dog,  passim.  To  this  the 
Christian  demonologists  are  probably  indebted  for  the  name  of  the  arch- 
angel Raphael.  (Tob.  c.  4.,  &c.)  Though  in  adopting  it,  they  seem  to  have 
overlooked  the  circumstance  that  it  is  in  reality  a  mere  soubriquet,  descrip- 
tive of  the  part  which  the  angel  performs  in  the  story,  in  restoring  Tobit  to 
sight:  pKipaiX  quasi  ^vri&^i  the  divine  healer,  or  physician.  The  name 
of  the  archangel  Uriel,  which  occurs  in  the  2nd  book  of  Esdras,  (c.  5.  v.  40., 
&c.  &c.)  is  also  of  the  same  character  ;  it  signifies  the  illuminations  of  God, 
(""JX-mN)  and  refers  to  the  office  which  the  angel  is  made  to  fulfil  in  this 
ex-post-facto  prophecy,  which,  according  to  the  Archbishop  of  Cashel,  was 
written  about  twenty-eight  years  before  the  Christian  aera. — Prim.  Ez.  lib. 
Vers.  Ethiop.  ed.  R.  Laurence,  p.  317'  Sec  also  the  mode  of  speaking  of  the 
angels,  and  the  parts  they  act,  in  Susanna  and  Bel  and  the  Dragon,  as  com- 
pared  with  corresponding  passages  in  the  canonical  books. 

US  See  his  tract  -jripi  Yiyatruv Opera  p.  221.  Edit.  Col. 

"7  Ant.  lib.  1.  c.  3.,  &c. 


Gl 

authorities.  But  their  main  support  in  this  their  error 
was  certainly  the  Septuagint  Version  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment ;  the  translators  of  which,  whoever  they  were,  were 
deeply  infected  with  these  opinions,  and  have,  in  many 
places,  corrupted  the  word  of  God  for  the  purpose  of 
supporting  them.^^^  We  have  already  seen  that  the  early 
fathers  held  this  to  be  an  inspired  version,  and  therefore 
did  not  acknowledge  the  necessity  of  any  appeal  to  the 
Hebrew  verity  in  confirmation  of  its  renderings. 

We  have  also  observed  that  they  entertained  the  same 
opinion  regarding  the  Book  of  Enoch,  which  they  imagined 
had  been  lost  at  the  flood,  and  afterwards  communicated  to 
Noah  by  re-inspiration."^  This  book,  so  long  supposed 
to  be  irrecoverably  lost,'-*^  has  been  recently  restored  to 
European  literature,  through  the  admirable  translation  of 
an  Ethiopic  copy  by  the  Archbishop  of  Cashel :  whose 
ingenuity  and  learning  have  supplied  us  with  some  very 
important  facts  regarding  its  origin.  It  is  the  production 
of  a  Jew  residing  in  a  country  considerably  to  the  North 
of  Palestine,  (therefore  probably  one  of  the  Captivity  of 
the  ten  tribes)  who  flourished  in  the  early  part  of  the  reign 
of  Herod  the  Great,^^'  about  thirty  years  before  the  birth 

^18  It  is  of  course  impossible  here  to  enter  upon  a  subject  like  this.  I 
would  merely  request  the  reader  to  compare  the  following  passages  in  the 
Septuagint,  in  addition  to  those  already  referred  to,  with  the  corresponding 
ones  in  our  English  version,  or  still  better,  with  the  Hebrew  original,  Deut. 
xxxii.  8,  10,  43.  xxxiii.  2.  Job.  xx.  15.  xxxvi.  14.  xxxviii.  7.  xl.  6,  14. 
Psa.  cxxxvii.  1.  Prov.  xvi.  14.  Isa.  xxx.  4.  I  am  much  mistaken  if  the 
whole  of  these  places,  as  well  as  many  others,  are  not  mistranslated,  often 
very  artfully,  in  order  to  favour  the  false  doctrine  we  are  considering. 

119  Tert.  de  Hab.  Mul.  c.  2. 

120  Ludolph  treats  the  idea  of  its  existence  in  Ethiopic  as  altogether 
ridiculous. — Hist.  JEth.  lib.  3.  c.  5. 

121  The  Book  of  Enoch  translated  from  an  Ethiopic  MS.  by  R.  Laurence, 
LL.D.,  &c — Preliminary  Dissertation,  pp.  20 40. 


62 

of  Christ.  This  highly  imaginative  and  beavitiful  work 
embodies  the  notions  imbibed  by  the  Jews,  during  the 
Babylonian  captivity,  regarding  the  angels :  and  it  is  from 
hence  that  the  early  fathers  derived  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
details  of  their  system.  The  idea  of  hosts  of  angels,  the 
appointed  and  responsible  guardians  of  the  universe,  and 
the  dispensers  of  the  various  operations  of  providence  and 
grace,  is  the  basis  upon  which  the  entire  work  rests.  It 
was  here  also  that  Hernias  found  his  angel  of  repentance.  ^^" 
Tertullian''s  angels  of  vengeance^^^  and  of  death^-*  may 
likewise  be  detected  amid  the  obscurity  which  a  double 
translation,  and  doubtless  many  careless  transcriptions  in 
both,  have  inevitably  accumulated  upon  a  book  already 
sufficiently  mysterious  and  perplexed.^^^ 

The  second  fall,  which  was  so  universally  believed  by 

122  Enoch  xl.  9.  His  name  is  Phanuel,  i.  c.  Hx'IS!),  which  in  Hebrew 
is  descriptive  of  his  office  ;  "  he  presides  over  repentance  and  the  liope  of 
those  who  will  inherit  eternal  life."  Hermas  is  also  largely  indebted  to  the 
Book  of  Enoch  for  the  scenery  of  his  visions.  Origen  long  ago  discovered 
this  resemblance;  -Tripi  apx.'^v.  lib.  1.  c.  3. 

123  «  Raguel,  one  of  the  holy  angels  who  inflicts  punishment  on  the 
world." Enoch  xx.  4.     He  is  likewise  mentioned  by  Hermas,  lib.  3.  sim.  G. 

124  "  Surakiel,  one  of  the  holy  angels  who  presides  over  the  spirits  of 
the  children  of  men  that  transgress." — Idem.  xx.  6.  In  another  place  he  is 
called  Suryal,  c.  9,  1. 

125  The  Book  of  Enoch  was  originally  written  in  Hebrew  ;  but  the 
Ethiopic  has  been  translated  from  a  Greek  version.  The  former  has  existed 
for  many  ages,  only  as  a  church  language.  Ethiopic  MSS.  are  therefore 
often  mere  transcriptions,  many  times  copied,  by  persons  whose  knowledge 
of  them  was  confined  to  the  characters  only  ;  a  process  of  all  others  the 
most  certain  to  multiply  and  perpetuate  errors.  Add  to  this,  that  Europeans 
have  hitherto  had  but  very  limited  opportunities  of  acquiring  it.  All  that 
could  be  done,  amid  these  formidable  difficulties,  has  certainly  been  effected 
by  the  most  reverend  and  learned  author  of  the  English  translation.  I 
mention  this,  to  account  for  the  apparent  failure  of  our  comparison  in  some 
minute  particulars — as  the  names  of  angels  :  in  all  the  great  outlines  of  the 
systems,  it  holds  exactly. 


63 

the  Christians  of  the  second  century,  was  exactly  copied 
by  them  from  the  Book  of  Enoch.  The  unfaithfidness  of 
the  angelic  watchers,'-''  their  marriages  with  the  daughters 
of  men,'^^  their  instructions  in  wicked  arts  and  forbidden 
knowledge,'-^  the  corruption  of  the  human  race  by  them 
and  the  giants  their  offspring,'^^  and  the  conversion  of  the 
souls  of  the  latter  into  demons  after  their  bodies  had 
perished  in  the  flood, '^^  are  circumstances  for  which  they 
are  altogether  indebted  to  this  splendid  fiction.  The 
leader  of  this  defection  also  is  the  angel  of  the  world,  who 
seduces  the  legions  of  inferior  spirits  that  are  under  him, 
with  Enoch,  as  well  as  with  the  early  fathers.'^'  The 
mixed  and  restless  nature  of  the  demons  is  another  point  of 
coincidence,  which  would  appear  to  leave  nothing  to  be 
desired  in  the  proof  of  the  absolute  identity  of  the  two 
systems.^^- 

The  fathers  of  the  second  century,  therefore,  adopted 
opinions  regarding  the  angels  which  were  very  widely 
diffused  among  the  cotemporary  Jews,  being  traceable 
throughout  nearly  all  their  writings,  from  the  period  of  the 
Babylonian  captivity;  and  which  appear  to  have  been 
embodied  and  systematized  by  the  highly  gifted,  but  erring, 
author  of  the  Pseudo-Enoch.'^^ 

126  C.  7- 

127  Id.  V.  10. 

128  C.  8. 

129  C.  7-   vv.  11—14.,  &c. 

130  C.  15.  a,  &c. 

131  C.  14.  1.  c,  7.,  &c. 

132  C.  15.  9,  10.  The  Platonic  philosophy  has  also  contributed  to  the 
metaphysics  of  the  patristic  schenne.  The  notions  of  good  and  evil  demons, 
and  of  their  inhaling  the  7iidor  of  the  sacrifices  as  their  proper  food,  are  both 
from  thence.  Many  similar  coincidences  will  be  found  in  Porphyry,  1am- 
blichus,  and  the  later  writers  of  that  school. 

133  If  any  proof  be  wanting  (in  addition  to  those  collected  by  the  Arch- 


64 

With  regard  to  their  origin,  we  conceive  that  cannot 
be  a  question  of  any  great  difficulty  :  since  the  notion  of 
the  Supreme  Being  upon  which  they  are  founded,  that 
of  a  father  of  all  administering  his  universe  through  the 
medium  of  free  and  responsible  gods  or  angels,  is  the 
primary  element  of  all  idolatry.  It  is  probable,  that  the 
process  by  which  this  assimilation  of  the  inspired  truth  to 
the  errors  of  heathenism  took  place  was  a  very  gradual  one ; 
beginning  in  the  idolatrous  practices  which  disgrace  the 
early  history  of  the  Jewish  nation,  and  perhaps  attaining 
its  consummation  with  the  children  of  the  captivity ;  who, 
dwelling  with  the  Chaldaeans,  a  people  famed  for  enquiries 
and  theories  regarding  the  world  of  spirits,  would  be  placed 
in  circumstances  naturally  conducive  to  the  progress  of 
such  an  error  among  them. 

But  whatever  might  be  its  origin,  the  prevalence  of 
this  false  doctrine  in  the  Christian  church  was  but  of  short 
duration.      It  is  pleasant  to  find,   that  even  in  the  third 

bishop  of  Cashel)  that  this  book  was  originally  written  in  Hebrew,  or  some 
of  its  cognate  dialects,  we  may  find  it  in  the  word  "  Ophanim,"  which 
occurs  throughout,  as  the  appellation  of  one  of  the  three  exalted  orders  of 
spirits  who  are  the  immediate  attendants  upon  the  person  of  Jehovah  :  thus 
c.  Ixxx.  V.  9,  "  The  Cherubim,  the  Seraphim,  and  the  Ophanim,  surrounded 
the  throne  of  God  ;  these  are  they  that  never  sleep."  This  is  a  Hebrew  word 
which  also  describes  one  of  the  accompaniments  of  the  divine  presence  in 
Ezekiel's  visions  (D-iSIX  see  Ezek.  i.  16,  to  the  end,  &c.)  but  which,  on 
the  authority,  of  the  context,  of  every  other  place  where  the  word  occurs  in 
the  Hebrew  Bible,  and  of  the  ancient  versions,  (from  the  Septuagint  down- 
wards,) is  translated  "  wheels." 

Another  circumstance  also  ought  not  to  be  lost  sight  of.  The  copy  we 
now  possess  has  been  largely  interpolated  from  the  New  Testament ; 
expressions  and  sentiments  peculiar  to  this  revelation  abound  throughout 
the  book:  and  one  long  passage,  c.  c.  GO — G.*}.  pp.  G5 — 71-,  is  made  up  of 
little  else  than  a  string  of  such  quotations  artfully  disguised :  for  example, 
he  quotes  Matt.  xxv.  31,  with  the  very  suspicious  alteration,  "son  of 
woman"  for  "  son  of  tnan,"  as  it  reads  in  the  Gospel,  c.  Ixi.  v.  f). 


65 

century  the  Hebrew  learning  of  Origan  had  cast  a  consi- 
derable shade  of  suspicion  upon  the  divine  authority  of  the 
Book  of  Enoch  and  of  the  Septuagint  version  :^^^  while 
in  the  succeeding  century,  the  still  more  profound  erudition 
of  Jerome  no  longer  hesitated  to  pronounce  the  former 
altogether  apocryphal,^^^  and  to  point  out  that  the  occur- 
rence of  a  quotation  from  it  in  a  canonical  epistle,  no  more 
conferred  a  title  to  inspiration  upon  the  Book  of  Enoch, 
than  upon  certain  heathen  poets  of  whose  productions  St. 
Paul  had  made  a  similar  use.^^*'  At  the  end  of  the  same 
period  John  Chrysostom  treats  the  second  fall  of  the  angels 
as  a  mere  fable,"'^  and  thenceforward  it  was  no  longer 
believed  or  taught  as  a  doctrine  of  the  church. 

But  though  the  error  itself  was  thus  early  exploded, 
the  later  fathers  do  not  appear  to  have  considered  that  it 
exercised  a  very  powerful  influence  upon  the  other  parts 
of  the  theology  of  their  predecessors.  It  is  for  this 
reason,  that  we  had  rather  speculate  upon  some  previous 
probationary  state  of  existence  through  which  the  angelic 
nature  has  passed,  than  admit,  for  a  moment,  into  our 
system  even  its  elementary  doctrine ;  that  of  the  present 
free  agency  and  peccability  of  the  angels  of  God.  There 
is  scarcely  a  revealed  truth  which  this  notion  does  not 
interfere  with  and  vitiate :  but  especially,  upon  that  vast 
range  of  important  questions  which  regard  our  duties  to 
God  and  God's  dealings  with  us,  the  mind  is  perfectly 
bewildered  in  endeavouring  to  disentangle  clear  perceptions, 
from  the  inextricable  maze  of  contradiction  and  confusion 
which   this   error   introduces.       It    was   therefore   plainly 

13-1  Contra  Cels.  p.  267,  268,  Ed.  Spenc  ■npi  Apxoiv,  lib.  4.  cap.  ult.,  &c. 

135  "  Manifestissimus  liber  est  et  inter   Apocryphos    computatur." 

Hier.  Comm.  in  Psa.  cxxxii.  3. 
13C  Comm.  in  Tit.  i.  12. 
'•''7  fiu^oXoyia — In  Gen,  vi.  Horn.  22. 


66 

impossible,  that  the  opinions  of  the  early  fathers  upon 
these  and  other  points  of  Christian  doctrine,  should  not 
have  been  materially  modified  by  the  grievous  mistakes 
into  which  they  fell  regarding  the  angels.  Yet  were  their 
opinions,  though  grounded  in  acknowledged  error,  impli- 
citly adopted  by  their  successors  for  many  ages,  with  little 
or  no  alteration.  And  thus  again,  the  errors  generated 
remained  in  the  church,  long  after  the  generating  error 
had  passed  away. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  SACRAMENTS. BAPTISM. 

The  visible  church  has  long  halted  between  two  opinions 
upon  the  nature  of  the  Sacraments  which  Christ  has 
ordained  therein.  One  of  these  opinions,  which  would 
seem  to  have  a  considerable  advantage  over  the  other,  on 
account  both  of  its  antiquity  and  of  the  present  number 
of  its  adherents,  maintains  that  there  is  a  spiritual  efficacy 
inherent  in  the  elements  of  either  sacrament ;  and  that, 
provided  they  be  administered  according  to  the  divine 
institution,  the  receiver  must  necessarily  partake  of  the 
benefits  they  are  intended  to  convey.  The  waters  of 
baptism  undergo  a  certain  change,  which  renders  them 
instrumental  to  that  inward  washing  from  corrupt  and  evil 
dispositions,  of  which  the  rite  itself  is  the  symbol ;  so 
that  regeneration  follows  baptism,  as  effect  follows  cause. 
In  the  same  manner,  there  is  an  actual  transmutation  of 
the  elements  themselves  in  the  other  sacrament ;  they  be- 
come, during  the  performance  of  the  eucharistical  service, 
the  material  body  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  of  which  he 
who  partakes  is  therefore  necessarily  apprehensive. 

The  other  opinion,  which,  according  to  its  opponents, 
was  scarcely  heard  of  before  the  Protestant  Reforma- 
tion, and  which,  even  now,  has  but  few  adherents,  in 
comparison  of  the  former,  asserts,  that  the  elements   are 


68 

the  mere  outward,  visible  signs  of  certain  inward  and 
spiritual  benefits,  the  communication  of  which  depends 
altogether  upon  the  will  of  the  blessed  and  eternal  Spirit 
who  is  the  giver  of  them.  Consequently,  the  sacramental 
graces  are  imparted  with  exactly  the  same  regard  to  the 
frame  of  mind  in  the  partaker  of  the  outward  rite,  as 
obtains  in  all  the  other  ordinances  and  means  of  grace 
prescribed  by  the  New  Testament.  The  unworthy  receiver, 
neither  experiences  spiritual  regeneration  in  baptism  nor 
discerns  the  Lord"'s  body  in  the  eucharist ;  for  the  same 
reason,  that  the  prayer  which  goeth  forth  of  feigned  lips 
fails  to  obtain  the  answer  which  God  is  pleased  to  give  to 
the  right  performance  of  that  Christian  duty.  We  shall 
presently  review  the  whole  of  the  Scripture  testimony  to 
the  point  in  question  :  independently  of  it,  however,  the 
latter  opinion  would  seem  to  be  most  in  harmony  with  the 
general  spirit  of  the  Christian  doctrine ;  which,  in  the 
matter  of  distribution  of  gifts  and  graces,  always  brings 
prominently  forward  the  divine  omniscience,  regarding 
scrupulously  the  heart  of  him  who  seeks,  and  giving  or 
withholding  them,  accordingly.  This  analogy  is  certainly 
violated,  if  we  account  the  sacramental  elements  as  means 
of  grace  in  themselves  necessarily  efficacious.  But  the  in- 
consistency is  greatly  heightened,  when,  after  the  example 
of  a  large  and  authorative  portion  of  the  Christian  church, 
we  arrange  the  two  sacraments  vnider  different  categories ; 
and  make  the  one  efficacious  when  rightly  administered,  the 
other,  when  rightly  received ;  or  in  other  words,  when  we 
assert  baptismal  regeneration,  and  deny  eucharistical  tran- 
substantiation.  We  readily  grant,  that  the  Scriptures 
alone  can  ultimately  decide  the  question ;  but,  nevertheless, 
there  is  so  plain  an  inconvenience  in  tlic  want  of  an  analo- 
gous   system  of   theology,    that    we   ni;iy   fairly    argue   a 


I 


1 


69 

priori,  from  the  inijirobability  of  a  revelation  from  heaven 
being  so  circumstanced.  How  this  consistency  is  to  be 
maintained,  without  assuming  the  sameness  in  nature  of 
the  two  sacraments,  I  must  confess  I  cannot  comprehend. 
Again,  let  this  hallucination  be  permitted  in  our  theo- 
logical scheme,  and  there  is  an  end  of  all  argument  upon 
the  nature  of  either  sacrament :  since  our  logical  deduc- 
tions in  favour  of  baptismal  regeneration,  will  equally 
prove  the  real  presence  in  the  eucharist ;  while  on  the 
other  hand  our  deductive  refutations  of  this  opinion,  will 
be,  to  the  same  extent,  refutations  of  our  own,  regarding 
baptism. 

We  now  proceed  to  compare  the  scripture  doctrine 
upon  each  sacrament,  with  those  which  have  been  advanced 
by  the  early  fathers.  Though,  in  raising  these  much-tossed 
questions,  we  abjure  all  idea  of  rekindling  the  unhallowed 
fires  wherein  they  were  once  enveloped ;  but  which  (as 
we  hope)  the  Spirit  of  God,  dropping  as  the  rain  and 
distilling  as  the  dew  upon  his  church,  has  now  quenched 
for  ever. — Our  only  desire  is,  to  afford  a  contribution  of 
help,  however  feeble,  towards  that  brotherly  adjustment, 
which  is  so  evidently  the  mind  of  Him  who  prayed,  that 
his  disciples  might  be  all  one,  even  as  he  is  one  with  the 
Father. 

"  Sacraments,"  says  Hooker,^  "  by  reason  of  their 
mixed  nature  are  more  diversely  interpreted  and  disputed 
than  any  other  part  of  religion  besides."  And  though  the 
controversy  occupies  less  of  the  public  attention  and  is 
disputed  with  less  acrimony  now,  than  it  was  two  hundred 
years  ago,  yet  the  opinions  of  the  various  sections  of  the 
church  upon  the  subject  remain  nearly  in  the  same  state 
as  when  Hooker  wrote.  He  then  that  goeth  about  to 
1  Ecci.  Pol.  b.  5.  §  57. 


70 

treat  upon  a  point  in  religion  thus  circumstanced,  is  not  to 
be  heard,  unless  his  argument  be  always  grounded  upon 
the  declarations  and  precepts  of  Holy  Scripture  concerning 
it.  Having,  therefore,  in  the  exercise  of  faith  and  hvimi- 
lity,  cast  from  us  all  preconception  and  prejudice,  let  us 
reverently  bow  before  these  pure  fountains  of  divine  wis- 
dom, that  we  may  receive  into  ovu-  hearts,  as  into  prepared 
and  consecrated  vessels,  the  clear  stream  of  truth  that 
flows  from  thence. 

We  commence  with  the  sacrament  of  Baptism,  which 
is  first  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament,  as  the  rite  of 
initiation  into  the  school  or  sect  of  John  Baptist,  where  ^ 
it  is  termed  the  baptism  of  change  of  mind,  repentance,  ^ 
unto  remission,  (renunciation)'^  of  sins.  In  other  words, 
they  who  by  submitting  to  this  ceremony  became  John's 
disciples  professed  a  new  course  of  life,  renouncing  their 
former  sins.  The  account  given  of  it  by  another  evan- 
gelist is  to  the  same  purport :  John's  disciples  were  bap- 
tized of  him  in  Jordan,  confessing  their  sins ;  ^  that  is, 
declaring  their  former  course  of  life  to  be  sinful,  and  pro- 
fessing to  renounce  it.  In  other  parts  of  Scripture  also  it 
is  invariably  named,  for  the  sake  of  distinction,  the  bap- 
tism of  repentance. 

It  may  also  be  observed,  that  the  Evangelists  speak 
of  the  rite,  as  one  with  which  John's  cotemporaries  were 
already  familiar  :  and  such  appears,  from  other  authorities, 
to  have  been  the  fact.    Converts  were  admitted  by  baptism 

2  Luke  iii.  2,  3. 

4  a(pi(ris.  The  primary  meaning  of  the  word,  is  merely  deliverance,  by 
whatever  means  accomplished.  John  never  ascribes  to  his  baptism  any  effi- 
cacy in  procuring  the  pardon  of  sin,  nor  did  his  disciples  so  receive  it : 
else,  what  necessity  for  any  other  baptism  ? 

•'■'  Matt.  iii.  fi. 


71 

into  the  Jewish  sect  of  the  Essenes  ;  and  it  probably  formed 
a  part  of  the  temple  service  for  the  admission  of  pro- 
selytes to  the  law,  among  the  later  Jews.  John,  therefore, 
neither  invented  the  rite,  nor  associated  a  new  idea  with  it. 
It  had  long  been  in  use  among  the  Jews,  as  a  mode  of 
professing  a  change  of  religious  sentiments.  We  find 
moreover,  that  the  Baptist  omitted  no  opportunity  of 
pointing  out  the  imperfection  of  his  own  ministry,  by 
directing  the  attention  of  his  disciples  to  Him,  whose  way 
he  was  sent  to  prepare,  and  who,  coming  after  him,  was 
mightier  than  he;  from  him  they  were  to  receive  an  inward 
baptism,  a  purification  of  the  heart,  through  the  agency 
of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  resembling  the  penetrative  and 
destructive  efficacies  of  fire,  rather  than  the  mere  detergent 
properties  of  water .'' 

It  is  well  known  that  the  first  public  act  of  our  Lord"'s 
ministry  was,  to  sanction  the  rite  of  water  baptism,  by 
himself  accepting  it,  at  the  hand  of  his  precursor  ;  and 
that,  on  his  ascent  from  the  waters  of  Jordan,  that  effusion 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  took  place,  wherein  the  church  has 
long  discerned  an  unanswerable  proof  of  the  Trinity  of 
Persons  in  the  Divine  Unity .^  The  sacred  histories  also 
inform  us  that  baptism  was  employed  for  the  purpose  of 
initiation  by  the  disciples  of  Christ,  during  the  period  of 
his  ministry ;  and  though  he  himself  never  administered 
it,^  yet,  on  one  occasion  certainly,^  and  doubtless,  on  many 
others  also,  he  was  personally  present  at  its  administration 
by  his  followers ;  until,  at  length,  after  his  resurrection,  he 
for  ever  constituted  it  a  part,  and  an  important  one,  of  the 

6  "  With  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire."— Matt.  iii.  11.  Mark  i.  8.  I.uke 
iii.  16.    John  i.  33. 

7  Matt.  iii.  13—17. 

8  John  iv.  1,  2. 

9  John  iii.  22. 


72 

religion  he  came  into  the  world  to  proclaim,  in  the  memo- 
rable words  which  his  church  has  nevertheless  so  strangely 
forgotten  :  "  Go  ye  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  bap- 
tizing them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.''^" 

The  rite  of  baptism  consists,  as  its  name  imports,  of 
submersion  in  water,  either  literally  or  figuratively,  by 
sprinkling,  in  the  name  of  the  Trinity.  The  intent  of 
this  symbol  is  shadowed  forth  in  Holy  Scripture  under 
a  two-fold  metaphor.  The  one,  taken  from  the  detergent 
properties  of  the  sacramental  element,  expresses  it  by  the 
washing  or  purifying  of  the  conscience  from  the  guilt  of 
sin,  and  of  the  heart  from  the  pollution  of  sinful  desires, 
by  the  agency  of  the  Holy  Ghost.^^  The  element  wherein 
this  internal  washing  takes  place  is,  in  other  parts  of 
Sacred  Scripture,  declared  to  be  the  blood  of  Christ.^- 

The  other  metaphor,  which  is  somewhat  more  remote 
from  the  symbol,  finds  in  the  act  of  immersion  the  idea 
of  death,  and  in  the  subsequent  emergence  from  the  bap- 
tismal font,  that  of  resuscitation ;  and  this,  again,  is 
presented  to  us  under  the  double  aspect  of,  the  death  and 
quickening  of  the  seed  in  the  womb  in  animal  repro- 
duction, and  the  natural  death  and  resurrection  of  the 
body.  The  first  of  these  notions  is  denoted  by  its  accom- 
plishment, rather  than  by  its  process.  Our  Saviour  ex- 
presses it  by  being  "  born  of  water  and  of  the  spirit  ;""'^ 
and  employing  the  same  metaphor,  St.  Paul  styles  the 
baptismal  font  "  the  laver  of  regeneration. "^^  The  other 
aspect  of  the  metaphor  is  further  illustrated  by  the  death 
and  resurrection  of   Christ.      "  So  many  of   us  as    were 

l<»  Matt,  xxviii.  19.         "  Acts  xxii.  IG.   1  Cor.  vi.  11.    Eph.  v.  26. 

12  Heb.  ix.  14.    1  John  i.  7-  '•'  John  iii.  5. 

U  Tit.  iii.  5. 


73 

Daptized  into  Jesus  Christ  were  baptized  into  his  death. 
Therefore  we  are  bviried  with  him  by  baptism  into  death  : 
that  like  as  Christ  was  raised  up  from  the  dead  by  the 
glory  of  the  Father,  even  so  we  also  should  walk  in  new- 
ness of  life."^^  These  figures  may,  with  some  show  of 
reason,  be  held  to  be,  to  us,  somewhat  remote  and  obscure ; 
but  happily  no  doubt  whatever  hangs  over  the  meaning 
they  are  intended  to  convey.  The  inward  grace  of  bap- 
tism is  the  purification  of  the  soul  from  sin,  through  the 
blood  of  Christ,  ministered  by  that  Holy  Spirit  whose 
office  it  is  to  take  of  the  things  of  Christ  and  show  them 
to  his  disciples,  after  the  same  manner  as  water  purifies  the 
body.  To  apply  the  stronger  figure  of  the  Baptist :  it  is, 
having  the  inner  man  pervaded  by  the  influences  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  which  as  fire  consume  the  body  of  sin,  as  is 
the  outward  man,  by  the  waters  of  baptism.  By  a  change 
of  metaphor,  it  is  a  death  unto  sin  and  a  new  birth,  or 
resurrection,^^  unto  righteousness.  In  a  word,  it  is  a 
'change  in  the  affections  and  principles  of  the  mind,  to 
the  full  as  entire,  as  these  figurative  expressions  would 
imply. 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  all  these  places  the  outward 
sign  and  the  inward  grace  of  baptism  are  mentioned  toge- 
ther. This  circumstance  is  the  ground  of  the  argument 
for  their  inseparability.  We  will,  therefore,  reconsider 
them  with  reference  to  this  important  question.  The  last 
command  of  our  Saviour  to  his  disciples  as  recorded  by 
the  Evangelist  St.  Mark,  reads  thus :  "  Go  ye  into  all  the 

15  Rom.  vi.  3,  4  :  see  also  Col.  ii.  12.  and  1  Pet.  iii.  20,  21.,  where  the 
submersion  is  typified  by  Noah,  shut  up  and  saved  in  the  ark,  and  the 
emergence,  by  the  resurrection  of  Christ. 

1*5  These  two  ideas  were  often  confounded  by  the  early  Christian 
writers. 


74 

world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.  He  that 
believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved  ;  and  he  that 
believeth  not  shall  be  damned."^'^  Here  is  a  plain  unequi- 
vocal assertion  of  the  general  necessity  of  baptism  to  sal- 
vation :  but  we  maintain,  that  the  passage  also  embodies 
an  equally  positive  declaration  that  faith  in  the  receiver 
is  indispensible  to  its  efficacy.  For  faith  and  baptism  are 
not  two  independent  agents  in  the  work,  as  appears  from 
the  antithesis  that  concludes  the  sentence :  "he  that  be- 
lieveth not  shall  be  damned."  The  omission  of  baptism  in 
this  clause  clearly  intimates,  that,  as  the  damning  sin  is 
unbelief,  so  the  saving  grace  is  faith ;  and  consequently, 
the  meaning  really  conveyed  by  it  is  as  though  it  had  read : 
"  he  that  believeth  not,  shall  be  damned,  though  he  be 
baptized."  To  exactly  the  same  effect  is  another  text  to 
which  we  have  already  referred. — "  Ye  are  buried  with 
him  in  baptism,  wherein  also  ye  are  risen  with  him  through 
the  faith  of  the  operation  of  God  who  hath  raised  him 
from  the  dead.*"^^  In  other  words,  ye,  being  buried  with 
Christ  in  the  waters  of  baptism,  have  risen  again  with  him 
from  thence  unto  newness  of  life,  because  ye  had  faith  in 
the  ability  and  willingness  of  God  to  perform  this  miracle 
of  grace. 

The  correctness  of  this  interpretation  is  further  con- 
firmed by  the  cases  of  baptism  recorded  in  the  inspired 
account  of  the  ministry  of  the  Apostles.  Observing  an 
exact  conformity  to  the  precept  of  their  Divine  Master, 
they  only  administered  the  rite  to  those  in  whom  they 
found  faith  in  the  word  of  God,  and  convictions  of  sin 
resulting  therefrom  -^^ — both  which  are  elsewhere  declared 
to  be  divine  gifts,    and   the  tokens  of  that   work  of  the 

17  Mark  xvi.  15,  10.  '8  Col.  ii.  12. 

'!>  See  Acts  ii.  41.    viii.  12,  37,  38.    ix.  17,  1«-    xvi.  14,  15.    xvii.  8. 


75 

Spirit  upon  the  heart  which  is  called  regeneration.^"  Our 
view  of  the  subject  is  also  strongly  supported  by  the 
narrative  of  the  conversion  of  Cornelius  the  Centurion  ;^^ 
whence  we  derive  much  instruction  regarding  the  nature  of 
baptism.  An  angel  appeared  to  this  devout  proselyte  and 
told  him,  that  his  prayers  and  alms  had  come  up  for  a 
memorial  before  God.  Now  we  know  assuredly,  that  no 
man  can  pray  acceptably,  unless  he  have  the  renewing 
influences  of  the  Spirit  of  God  upon  his  heart  :^^  such, 
therefore,  was  doubtless  the  case  with  Cornelius, — ^yet  he 
was  not  then  baptized.  We  also  read,^^  that  during  the 
preaching  of  St.  Peter  the  miraculous  influences  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  fell  upon  Cornelius  and  his  household :  though 
Cornelius  and  his  household  were  even  then  unbaptized. 
The  mightiest  energies,  therefore,  of  the  Holy  Spirit  were 
poured  out  without  measure,  conveying  to  the  subjects  of 
this  his  grace,  spiritual  regeneration  in  its  largest  and  most 
comprehensive  sense ;  and  all,  without  the  intervention  of 
the  external  rite.  Nor  was  it  accounted  by  the  inspired 
apostle  under  whose  ministry  it  occurred,  either  a  de- 
parture from  the  ordinary  course  of  the  divine  procedure, 
or  a  reason  for  the  omission  of  the  outward  sign  :  which  it 
certainly  would  have  been,  were  this,  in  other  instances, 
the  unerring  and  only  vehicle  of  the  inward  grace. — Far 
from  it,  St.  Peter^'*  found  in  this  very  circumstance  an 
argument  for  its  immediate  administration.  Most  plainly, 
therefore,  does  it  appear  from  Scripture,  that  all  the  re- 
generating graces  of  the  Spirit  may  precede  the  rite  of 
baptism  :  and  that  in  every  instance  upon  record  of  the 
apostolic  use  of  this  sacrament,  the  outward  sign  was 
applied  to  confirm  the  inward  grace,  not  to  convey  it. 

20  Eph.  ii.  8.    Acts  xi.  18,  &c.  21  Acts  x. 

22  Rom.  viii.  26.  23  Acts  x.  44.  24  lb.  47,  48. 


76 

The  examination  of  the  remaining  passages  will  dis- 
cover to  us  the  import  which  Scripture  really  attaches  to 
the  outward  sign  in  baptism. 

Our  Saviour  declares  to  Nicodemus  :  "  Except  a  man 
be  born  of  water  and  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God."-^  St.  Paul  also  writes  in  his  epistle  to 
Titus,  that  "  God  hath  saved  us  according  to  his  mercy 
by  the  laver  of  regeneration  and  renewing  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."^*"  The  passages  are  exactly  parallel;  the  expression 
"  being  horn  of  water,''''  refers  to  the  same  idea  as,  "  the 
laver  of  regeneration  ;'"  as  also  "  being  born  of  the  Spirit,'''' 
in  the  one,  corresponds  in  meaning  with  "-the  renewing  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,''''  in  the  other.  These  expressions  having 
always  been  interpreted  by  the  church,  as  denoting  respec- 
tively the  outward  sign  and  inward  grace  of  baptism,  we 
cannot  err  in  affixing  this  meaning  to  them.  When,  there- 
fore, we  shall  have  ascertained  the  exact  sense  in  which  the 
phrases,  being  born  of  water,  and  laver  of  regeneration, 
were  understood  in  the  times  of  the  New  Testament,  we 
may  hope  to  have  arrived  at  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  regard- 
ing the  former.  The  word  here  translated  "  regeneration," 
occurs  in  only  one  other  place  in  the  Inspired  Volume  ;^^ 
where  it  plainly  refers  to  that  new  system  or  economy  of 
all  thins-s,  which  shall  be  introduced  at  the  consummation 
of  the  divine  purposes  in  human  redemption.  In  the  same 
sense,  it  is  employed  by  the  cotemporary  Hellenising  Jew 
Josephus,^''  as  well  as  by  the  classical  writers:  and,  which 

25  John  iii.  5. 
2G  Tit.  iii.  5. 

27  TraXiyyiviiria, Matt.  xix.  28. 

28  When  Zorobabel  obtained  the  decree  of  Darius  permitting  the  build- 
ing of  the  temple,  the  Jews  on  hearing  the  intelligence  feasted  for  seven 
days.  T?iv  civa-Kmiriv  ku)  ^rccXiyyivKrlav  Trti  ^arptlos  iopTcc^ovris — Ant.  Jud. 
lib.  11.  cap.  3. 


77 

is  still  more  to  our  purpose,  it  was  also  accepted  with  this 
meaning  by  the  early  Christian  church,  as  appears  from  a 
passage  in  Clement's  epistle.^''  The  word  regeneration 
conveyed  the  idea  of  a  new  and  improved  state  of  things  in 
nations,  and  an  amended  course  of  life  in  individuals  in  all 
these  instances.  Can  a  doubt  then  remain  that  by  it  and  its 
equivalent,  in  the  passages  before  us,  we  are  to  understand 
that  course  of  external  obedience  to  the  divine  commands, 
which  the  gospel  requires,  and  upon  which  the  convert 
first  enters,  through  the  waters  of  baptism  ?  By  regenera- 
tion in  the  font,  therefore,  the  Spirit  of  God  indicated  the 
profession  of  purpose  to  lead  a  new  life,  which  the  act  of 
submission  to  the  rite  of  baptism  implies  :  with  no  refer- 
ence to  the  inward  grace  of  that  sacrament,  which  is  also 
expressed  in  both  places ;  in  the  one,  by  a  figure  of  easy 
comprehension,  "  being  horn  of  the  Spirit ;''''  in  the  other, 
by  a  phrase  divested  of  all  metaphorical  allusion,  "  the 
renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost.'''' 

We  now  comprehend,  without  difficulty,  the  nature 
of  baptism. — It  is  the  divinely  appointed  rite  of  initiation 
into  the  Christian  religion  ;  occupying  (as  the  Scriptures 
inform  us^")  under  the  gospel  dispensation,  the  place  of 
circumcision  under  the  law  ;  both  which  ceremonies  are 
therefore  equal  in  point  of  obligation,  upon  those  to  whom 
they  were  respectively  imparted,  as  initiatory  rites.  They 
likewise  closely  resemble  each  other  in  the  figurative 
meaning  attached  to  them  ;  both  are  acts  of  bodily  purifi- 

-"  NaiJs  vii'os  tlpiS-u;,  oia.  Tn;  XiiTHpyias  aurS  TTaXiyyivKriav  xixrfm 
l«»)/iu|£v 2d.  Cor.  c.  9. 

30  Col.  ii.  11 — 13.  Baptism  is  often  opposed  to  Circumcision  by  the 
early  fathers. — See  Just.  Dial.  Tryph.  261.  D.  Tertullian  calls  Baptism 
siffnaculum  fidei,  de  Spec.  c.  24.,  and  Circumcision  signaculum  corporis,  Apol. 
C.  21.  Kcci  TtfTS  fiicTliirfiii  Xoyo;  ii/^7v,  ri  ox']ec'/i/yt.ip'>;  TTlpirofihy  rvTriKtiTii  iffot, 
,r(pp«.yl; — Greg.  Naz.  Orat,  40.  p.  63«.  B.,  Op.  Vol.  I, 


78 

cation,  shadowing  forth  a  similar  act  upon  the  heart,  by 
the  divine  agency : — but,  neither  in  the  one  case  nor  the 
other,  do  we  perceive  the  slightest  scripture  ground  for 
concluding,  that  this  inward  grace  necessarily  and  irrespec- 
tively accompanies  the  outward  sign. 

We  will  proceed  to  the  examination  of  the  opinions 
entertained  by  the  early  Christian  writers,  upon  the  subject 
of  baptism. 

No  allusion  to  it  occurs  in  the  first  epistle  of  Clement: 
but  in  the  second  (which,  though  of  somewhat  doubtful 
authenticity,  is,  nevertheless,  a  very  ancient  production) 
we  find  the  following  passage: — "If  Noah,  Job,  and 
Daniel  were  not  able  by  their  righteousness  to  deliver  their 
children,  how  can  we  hope  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God,  unless  we  keep  our  baptism  pure  and  undefiled."^^ — 
He  obviously  uses  baptism,  for  the  profession  of  Christi- 
anity signified  thereby. — And  that  he  so  understood  it,  we 
have  further  assurance  from  a  succeeding  passage;  wherein, 
exhorting  to  the  same  act  in  different  words,  he  calls  bap- 
tism "  a  seal  ;'"^^  that  is  the  seal  or  token  of  the  Christian 
profession ;  the  figure  that  St.  Paul  uses,  in  speaking  of 
circumcision  :^^  implying  the  writer's  conviction  of  the 
spiritual  identity  of   the   two  ordinances. 

St.  Barnabas  styles  this  sacrament,  "  the  baptism  that 
leads  to  remission  of  sins,"^^  to  distinguish  it  from  the  bap- 
tisms of  the  Jews  :^^  for,  in  their  preference  of  these  ceremo- 
nies to  the  gospel,  he  finds  the  literal  fulfilment  of  Jer.  ii. 

31  Clem.  2  ad  Cor.  §  7- 

32  Id.  10.     Keep  your  bodies  pure,  and  your  seal  without  spot — /// 
Herm.  9.  §  16.     "  Signaculum  lavacri." — Tert.  de  Pudic.  c.  8. 

33  Rom.  iv.  11.     The  apostle  also  applies  this  metaphor  to  the  inward 
grace  of  baptism — Eph.  i.  13,  ^c. 

3'*   TO  lia.'jfltiTi/.u.  TO  (p'ipov  s/j  oi^ifm  kfAupriuv. — S.  Bar.  Epis.  C.  11. 
35  Mar.  7.  1. 


79 

12,  13.  This  weak  and  fanciful,  but  very  pious,  author  en- 
tertained perfectly  scriptural  notions  upon  this  subject,  as 
we  discover  in  another  passage  of  the  same  chapter  ;  where, 
in  commenting  upon  the  first  Psalm,  he  strikes  out  from  the 
expression,  "  he  shall  be  like  a  tree  planted  by  the  rivers 
of  water,"  (ver.  2.)  the  following,  not  very  obvious,  mean- 
ing, "blessed  are  they  who,  putting  their  trust  in  the 
cross,^  descend  into  the  waters  (of  baptism  C)  thus  unequi- 
vocally declaring,  that  faith  in  the  receiver  was  the  condi- 
tion of  the  blessing.  A  little  further  on,  in  the  course  of 
a  still  more  foolish  comment,  he  thus  beautifully  describes 
the  outward  and  inward  change  which  the  believing  recep- 
tion of  this  rite  confers. — "  We  go  down  into  the  water 
full  of  sins  and  pollutions,  but  we  come  up  again,  bringing 
forth  fruit ;  having  in  our  hearts  the  fear  and  love  that  is 
in  Jesus  Christ,  by  the  Spirit." 

In  the  epistles  of  Ignatius,  there  is  but  one  passage 
wherein  he  alludes  to  baptism  ;  it  occurs  in  that  to  Poly- 
carp  :^'^  "  let  your  baptism  remain  as  your  shield,^  your  faith 
as  your  helmet,  your  love  as  your  spear,  your  patience  as 
your  coat  armour."  It  was  therefore,  in  his  apprehension, 
the  token  of  the  Christian  profession  :  a  view  of  the  ordi- 
nance, identical  with  that  which  we  have  already  noticed 
in  St.  Clement,  as  well  as  in  the  canonical  writers. 

In  the  dull  and  silly  visions  of  Hermas,  which  are 
equally  devoid  of  imagination  and  of  wisdom,  we,  not- 
withstanding, recognise  a  book  which  exercised  a  powerful 
influence  over  the  early  church. — Consequently,  it  is  im- 

36  j^J  rai  ^uXai.  The  early  fathers  were  greatly  delighted  with  the 
equivoque  which  the  two  meanings  of  this  word  afforded :  it  is  used  in 
the  New  Testament  for  "  the  cross"  and  "  a  tree." 

37  §  6. 

38  JVa«  i  sculum,  old  Latin  Version. 


80 

portant  that  we  should  investigate  the  views  regarding 
baptism,  which  he  intended  to  convey  by  his  clumsy  alle- 
gories. There  is  an  acknowledged  allusion  to  it  in  the 
first  vision  of  the  tower ,^''  which  is  a  wretched  attempt  to 
allegorise  the  metaphor  of  St.  Peter.'^'^  The  tower,  the 
erection  of  which  is  to  illustrate  the  progress  of  Christian- 
ity, is  founded  in  water  ;^^  and  the  interpreter  informs  the 
dreamer,  that  it  is  thus  built,  "  because  your  life  is,  and 
shall  be,  saved  by  water."^  Through  this  water,  all  the 
living  stones  that  constitute  the  building  must  pass : — some 
of  these,  "  appeared  very  desirous  to  roll  into  the  water, 
but  could  not  ;'"^  the  interpreter  afterwards  explains  to 
him,  that,  "  these  were  such  as  had  heard  the  word  and 
were  willing  to  be  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  ;  but 
considering  the  great  holiness  which  the  truth  requires, 
they  withdrew  themselves."*^  He  also  saw  that,  after  the 
stones  had  been  passed  by  the  angels  who  collected  them, 
through  the  baptismal  waters,  and  lay  on  the  ground, 
they  underwent  a  trial  or  ordeal,  before  they  were  fitted 
into  the  building.  The  round  stones,  that  is,  the  rich, 
were  hewn  square  ;*^  the  rugged  and  cracked  ones  were 
polished  :  and  certain  stones  were  even  cut  off  and  cast 
far  away  from  the  tower.^  He  could  not  have  laid  down 
more  plainly  the  scripture  doctrine,  that  the  inward 
grace  of  baptism  is  conditional,  not  upon  the  right  admi- 
nistration of  the  ceremony,  but  upon  the  mental  state  of 
the  receiver. 

In  the  same  spirit,  I  conceive,  he  elsewhere  speaks  of 
the  repentance,  or  change  of  mind,  that  takes  place,  when 
we  go  down  into  the  water  and  receive  the  "  remission  of 

^w  I  Ilcrmas,  Vis.  3.  -lo  i  Pct.  ii.  4,  5.  41  id.  §s.  2,  7- 

42  Id.  §  7.     Sec  1  Ti-t.  iii  21.  «  §  2.  a,  f.  44  g  7. 

45  g  6.  ^^  §  2. 


81 

our  sins," — for  immediately  afterwards  he  tells  us,  that 
"  remission  of  sins  is  given  to  those  only  that  believe."^'' 
He  also  calls  baptism  a  "  great  and  holy  vocation  ;"  an 
expression  which  harmonises  perfectly  with  the  notion  of 
baptism  as  a  token  of  external  profession. 

In  the  same  place  he  states,  that  there  is  repentance 
for  one  sin  after  baptism,  and  only  for  one  '^^  an  opinion 
so  utterly  at  variance  with  the  whole  of  the  evangelical 
doctrine  reo-ardino;  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  that  it  is  sur- 
prising  it  should  ever  have  been  entertained. — It  could 
not  be  but  that  such  an  error  should  produce  evil.  At 
the  time  it  is  said  to  have  had  the  effect  of  causing 
many  to  defer  their  baptism  until  the  very  article  of 
death  :*^  but  it  inflicted  a  more  permanent  evil  upon  the 
church  of  Christ,  in  that  it  gave  to  the  baptismal  office 
a  place  in  the  Christian  economy  more  exalted  than  that 
which  the  Holy  Ghost  had  assigned  to  it.  The  following 
passage  from  the  second  vision  of  the  Tower,^'^  which  is  a 
further  attempt  and  more  at  large  upon  the  same  allegory 
as  the  first,  is  still  more  obnoxious  to  this  censure  :  "  And 
I  said,''  (that  is,  the  dreamer,)  "  Sir,"  (interpreter,)  "  why 
did  these  stones  come  out  of  the  deep  and  were  placed  in 
the  building  of  this  tower,  seeing  that  they  died  long 
ago.'^""     He  answered,  "  it  was  necessary  for  these  prophets 

47  II  Hermas,  Com.  4.  §  3. 

48  This  opinion  was  believed  in  the  church  long  afterwards.  Tertul- 
lian  maintained  it — De  Baptis.,  c.  18.  Clement  of  Alexandria  certainly 
favours  it  :  see  his  comment  upon  the  passage  of  Hermas  referred  to  in 
the  text: — 2  Strom.,  §  13.:  though  elsewhere  he  takes  a  different  view  of 
the  subject.  Sin,  before  baptism,  he  supposes  to  be  remitted ;  sin,  after 
baptism,  to  be  expurgated  by  the  chastisement  of  the  offender— 4  Strom., 
§  24.  That  the  error  likewise  prevailed  nearly  two  centuries  later ;  see 
Gregory  of  JVazianztim.  Orat.     El;  to  aytov  BaTliir/^a.     P.  642.  A. 

49  See  Greg.  Naz.  ubi  supra,  p.  643.  D.,  647.  A.,  648.  A.,  &c. 

50  III  Hermas,  Simil.  9. 

a 


82 

and  teachers  to  ascend  by  water  that  they  might  be  at 
rest : — for  they  could  not  otherwise  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  God  ;  they,  therefore,  being  dead,  were  sealed  with  the 
seal  of  the  Son  of  God,  which  seal  is  the  waters  of  bap- 
tism r*"^'  that  is,  the  Old  Testament  saints  were  baptized 
after  the  coming  of  Christ,  and  therefore  after  their  own 
death,  in  order  that  they  enter  into  their  rest.  The  ten- 
dency of  this  strange  absurdity  to  aggravate  the  evil  of 
the  former  error  is  sufficiently  obvious. 

The  church,  then,  even  at  this  early  period,  though 
perfectly  orthodox  in  her  doctrine  upon  the  nature  of  the 
sacrament  of  baptism,  had,  notwithstanding,  opened  the 
door  of  error,  by  giving  an  unscriptural  and  unseemly 
prominence  to  the  mere  outward  ceremony. 

This  mistake  fell  in  exactly  with  the  temper  of  the 
times  that  followed ;  and  did  not  fail  to  take  root  down- 
wards and  bear  fruit  upwards.  The  sentiments  of  the 
fathers  of  the  second  century  well  illustrate  its  growth 
and  progress. 

Justin  Martyr,  the  first  professor  of  philosophical 
Christianism  whose  writings  are  still  extant,  gives  the 
following  account  of  baptism  in  his  first  Apology  :  "  We 
will  now  explain  the  manner  wherein  we  dedicate  ourselves 
to  God,  being  made  anew^^  in  Christ  Jesus.  As  many  as 
are  persuaded  and  believe  that  what  we  teach  is  true,  and 
undertake  to  conform  their  lives  to  our  doctrine,  are 
instructed  to  fast  and  pray,  and  entreat  from  God  the 
remission  of  their  past  sins/^  we  fasting  and  praying 
together  with  them.     They  are  then  conducted  to  a  place 

51  §  16.     This  notion  probably  arose  from  a  misapprehension  of  1  Cor. 
XV.  29. 

52  icaivoTToiriB-iis. 

53  "  Ingressuros  baptismum,  orationibus  crebris,  jejuniis  et  genicula- 
tionibus  orare  opportet." — Tcrtidl.  de  Baptis,,  c,  20. 


I 


83 

where  there  is  water,  and  are  regenerated  by  the  same  mode 
of  regeneration^^  as  that  wherewith  we  were  regenerated ; 
for  they  are  immersed  in  the  water^^  in  the  name  of  the 
Father  and  Lord  of  the  Universe,  and  of  our  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."^''  It  is  pleasant  to 
find  from  this  passage,  that  the  early  church  required  not 
only  faith  in  the  neophyte,  but  faith  exercising  itself  in 
the  devotional  acts  of  fasting  and  prayer  ;  and  moreover, 
an  express  vindertaking  on  his  part  to  conform  his  future 
life  to  the  Christian  doctrine.  Not  a  doubt,  therefore,  can 
remain,  that  she  was  perfectly  correct  in  her  apprehension 
of  the  necessity  of  faith  in  the  receiver,  before  baptism 
could  be  spiritually  profitable.^^  We  also  admit,  that  under 
such  circumstances,  she  had  reason  to  hope  that,  in  the 
majority  of  instances,  the  outward  sign  of  baptism  would 
be  accompanied  by  the  inward  grace.  But,  nevertheless, 
there  is  a  confusion,  or  rather  identification,  of  the  one  with 
the  other  in  the  expressions  here  made  use  of,  which  is 
utterly  destitute  of  scriptural  authority.^''  Immediately 
afterwards  also,  he  calls  baptism  "  illumination,'''^^  a  mode 
of  speech  which  is  liable  to  the  same  objection.  There  is 
not  a  more  copious  source  of  inconvenience  and  error  than 

54  itia'yivi]<ria);. 

55  Ik  Tiw  v^ari  Xarpov  •^mSvrcii. 

56  Just.  Apol.  I.,  p.  93.  D.  e.  s. 

57  It  will  be  observed  that  the  agency  of  the  Spirit  is  altogether  over- 
looked in  this  passage ;  I  lay  no  stress  upon  this  omission  in  so  loose  and 
inaccurate  a  writer  as  Justin.  He  certainly  was  orthodox  in  his  opinion 
upon  this  point. — See  Dial.  246.  C.  ris  Ihmh  r5  (iavliiriioilos  (that  is,  the 
ceremonial  washings)  XP^'"^  ^y'V  "tniiAart  liilicc-rli(r//,ivu  ; 

58  Potestatem  regenerationis  in  Deum  mandans  discipulis  dicebat  eis : 
Euntes,  &c.,  Matt,  xxviii.  19 Irenceus,  adv.  Hcer.  3.,  c.  19. 

59  Id.,  p.  94.  D.  (pari(r/xos.  I  suspect  that  the  views  of  Justin  were 
in  accordance  with  the  Alexandrian  school  in  regard  of  the  double  doctrine; 
which  will  account  for  his  applying  this  epistle  to  baptism Vide  infra,  p.  92. 


84 

these  departures  from  scripture  phraseology,  in  treating 
upon  matters  whereof  we  know  nothing  but  from  thence. 
The  grievous  misapprehensions  which  have  originated  in 
both  these  instances  we  shall  soon  discover. 

Irenaeus  writes  thus  upon  the  nature  of  baptism : 
"  The  pentecostal  effusion  of  the  Spirit  was  imparted  that 
the  gate  of  life  might  be  opened  to  all  nations  ;  that  in  all 
languages  a  hymn  to  God  might  be  sung  in  unison — the 
Spirit  uniting  men  of  distant  tribes  in  one,  and  offering 
them  to  the  Father,  the  first-fruits  of  all  nations.  On 
this  account  also,  the  Lord  promised  that  he  would  send 
the  Paraclete  who  should  make  us  one  with  God.  For,  as 
dry  meal  cannot  be  kneaded  into  one  mass  nor  made  one 
bread  without  moisture,  so,  neither  can  we,  being  many, 
be  made  one  in  Christ  Jesus  without  the  water  which  is 
from  heaven  :  and  as  a  dry  and  thirsty  land  if  it  have  no 
rain  produces  nothing,  so  we,  being  by  nature^**  dry  trees, 
can  never  bear  fruit  unto  life  unless  the  showers  of  grace 
descend  upon  us  from  heaven.''^  For  our  bodies  have 
received  the  unity  of  incorruption  by  baptism  ;  our  souls 
by  the  Spirit :  wherefore,  both  are  needful,  since  both  are 
profitable  unto  the  life  of  God  through  the  mercy  of  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.''''''"^  Here,  for  the  first  time, 
so  far  as  I  know,  we  are  told  of  a  benefit  to  the  body  from 
the  external  rite  of  baptism,  totally  distinct  from  the 
inward  grace.''^  It  is  needless  to  observe  that  this  opinion 
is  altogether  destitute  of  sanction  from  the  inspired  wri- 


^  Primum. 

''I  "Superna  voluntaria  pluvia;"  the  LXX.  rendering  of  Psa.  Ixviii.  9. 
lipoX^lv  Ixiicriav.      Heb.  milD  Dtt'J. 

«2  Adv.  Haer.  lib.  3.  19.,  p.  243.  e.  s. 

•♦s  Tertullian  also  entertained  this  notion  of  the  incorruptibility  com- 
municated to  the  body  by  baptism — De  Res.  Car.  c.  47. 


85 

tings  :  I  am  not  able  to  point  out  the  passage  of  Scripture 
out  of  which  such  a  meaning  could  be  tortured. 

The  voluminous  remains  of  the  eloquent  and  fiery 
enthusiast  Tertullian,  afford  ample  materials  for  ascertain- 
ing the  opinions  of  the  early  church,  regarding  this  sacra- 
ment. His  writings  abound  with  allusions  to  it ;  and 
we  have,  moreover,  a  controversial  tract,  composed  ex- 
pressly in  its  defence,  which  embodies  nearly  the  whole  of 
his  doctrine  of  baptism.  It  is  written  against  Quintilla, 
a  female  who  denied  the  necessity  of  the  ordinance.  He 
commences,''*  with  more  zeal  than  courtesy,  by  calling 
names  ;^^  Quintilla  is  a  most  venomous  viper  and  asp  who, 
like  those  reptiles,  delights  in  arid  places  without  water : 
"  but  we  little  fishes  are  born  in  the  water  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  fish.^^  Nor  can  we  be  saved  otherwise  than  by 
remaining  therein.  Yea,  this  most  monstrous  Quintilla 
well  knows  that  the  way  to  kill  little  fishes  is  to  take  them 
out  of  the  water."  He  goes  on,  (c.  2.)  to  premise,  that  no- 
thing hardens  men's  minds  more  than  the  inadequacy  of 
cause  to  effect  in  the  divine  operations. — "As  here,  so  sim- 

•j^  De  Baptismo,  c.  1. 

65  An  ordinary  mode  of  procedure  with  our  author. — See  adv.  Marc. 
I.  1.,  adv.  Hermogenem,  c.  c.  1,  27,  &c.  The  sketch  of  a  crabbed  logic- 
chopper  in  this  last  passage  is  wonderfully  correct ;  still  more  so  is  the 
commencement  of  the  tract,  contra  Gnosticos  :  where  he  compares  Nicander, 
the  heretic  to  a  scorpion,  drawing  back  the  hamatile  spiculum,  the  hooked 

sting  at  its  knotted  tail,  in  act  to  strike Such  is  his  fearful  fidelity  to 

nature,  that  the  reptile  absolutely  lives — I  doubt  that  a  finer  specimen  of 
graphic  writing  can  be  found  any  where. 

66  'ix^us,  a  fish. — An  acrostic  from  the  Greek  sentence,  iritrSs  xP'^^f 
3-fSf  vto;  atarrtf,  which  would  be  thus  abbreviated,  i.  x-  ^-  "•  ?•  This  con- 
temptible and  disgusting  quibble  originated  in  certain  verses  of  one  of  the 
pseudo-sibyls,  the  Erythraean. — See  Onuph.  de  Sibyll.,  p.  2^  :  also  Sib.  Orac. 
lib.  8.  p.  380.,  Ed.  Lut.,  1G97-  I  know  of  no  figure  which  so  revoltingly 
degrades  the  person  of  the  Son  of  God. 


86 

ply,  without  pomp,  with  no  apparatus  of  novelty  or  expense, 
a  man  merely  descends  into  the  water,  is  immersed  while  a 
few  words  are  pronounced,  and  then  comes  forth,  little,  if 
at  all,  cleaner  than  before  :  that  any  eternal  consequence 
should  follow  the  performance  of  such  an  act  is  deemed 
incredible  ! — While,  on  the  other  hand,  the  splendour  and 
expense  of  the  heathen  rites  obtained  for  them  credence 
and  authority  !  Wretched  unbelief  !  which  denies  to  God 
his  own  attributes,  simplicity  and  power. — What  then  ?  is 
it  not  a  wonderful  thing  that  death  should  be  dissolved  in 
the  laver  ?  Surely  it  is  so  ;  but  is  that  a  reason  why  it 
should  not  be  believed  ?  For  wliat  ought  the  divine  ope- 
rations to  be,  but  admirable  beyond  all  conception  ?  We 
also  wonder,  but  it  is  because  we  believe. — Incredulity 
wonders  and  disbelieves ;  it  wonders  at  simple  acts  as 
though  they  were  vain  and  foolish ;  and  at  magnificent 
effects  as  if  they  were  impossible."  He  next  proceeds, 
(c.  3.)  to  show  the  dignity  of  the  element  of  water,  and 
its  fitness  to  communicate  spiritual  blessings  ;  he  finds  this 
in  Gen.  i.  1,  2.  The  antiquity  of  water  constitutes  its 
worthiness  to  be  the  seat  of  the  Divine  Spirit  above  the 
other  elements. — "  For  the  entire  darkness  was  without 
form,  not  decked  with  stars,  and  the  abyss  was  sad,  and 
the  earth  unprepared,  and  the  heavens  rude  ;  water  alone, 
always  perfect,  glad,  simple,  pure  in  its  own  nature,  ex- 
panded itself  before  God,  a  throne  worthy  of  himself."  He 
proceeds  to  assert  that  all  things,  when  first  modelled  by 
the  hand  of  their  Creator,  were  tempered  with  water.  He 
shows  that,  in  the  work  of  creation,  the  disposition  of  the 
waters  was  first  attended  to,  Gen.  i.  6,  9. ;  and  that  the 
waters  were  first  called  upon  to  produce  living  beings,  ^^ 

f'?  "  God,  in  the  work  of  creation,  blessed  the  creatures  inhabiting  the 
waters,  to  show   that   hereafter  all  who  come  to  the  truth  and  are  rege- 


87 

vv.  20 — 22.  He  finds,  that  water  must  also  have  been  an 
agent  in  the  creation  of  man  ;  for  he  was  formed  of  earth, 
which  is  only  plastic  when  moistened :  "  and  as  the  waters 
had  left  the  land  only  the  day  but  one  before,  the  earth 
would  of  course  be  in  a  state  of  mud  or  slime."  He  infers 
that  water  was  thus  extensively  honoured  and  employed  by 
God,  in  order  to  fit  it  for  sacramental  purposes.  "  The  first 
consecration  (c.  4.)  of  the  element  took  place  at  the  crea- 
tion, when  the  Spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the 
waters.  On  that  occasion  the  holy  was  borne  upon  the 
holy  ;  or  rather,  that  which  bore  derived  sanctity  from 
that  which  was  borne  upon  it." — This  he  supposes  to  have 
taken  place  by  mechanical  intercommunication  of  particles 
between  two  subtle  bodies  in  contact.^^  "  Hence  it  is,  that 
all  water,  whether  in  the  sea  or  in  a  river,  whether  running 
or  standing,  is  equally  proper  for  the  rite  of  baptism. — 
Whether  John  baptize  in  Jordan,  or  Peter  in  the  Tiber, 
or  Philip  in  a  pool  by  the  road  side,  the  waters  of  each 
equally  attained  to  the  sacrament  of  sanctification,^^  when 
the  name  of  God  was  invoked  over  them. — For  the  Spirit 
immediately  supervenes  from  heaven,  and  broods  upon  the 
waters  and  sanctifies  them  from  himself;  and  so  they, 
being  sanctified,  imbibe  the  power  of  sanctification." — After 
a  remark  or  two  on  the  detergent  properties  of  water  he 

nerated  and  receive  a  blessing  from  God,  shall  obtain  repentance  and  remis- 
sion of  sins  through  water  and  the  laver  of  regeneration."— TAco/jAi/MS 
Antioch.  ad  Aut.  lib.  2.  95.  B. 

68  The  notions  of  spiritual  existence  which  obtained  in  Tertullian's 
time  were  exceedingly  gross.  Our  author  assures  us  that  "  the  soul  is  ca- 
pable of  being  grasped  in  the  hand,  soft,  shining,  transparent,  and  in  form 
exactly  resembling  the  body." — De  Anima,  c.  9.  See  also  above,  pp.  46,  52. 
the  opinions  upon  the  substance  of  angels  and  demons. 

69  "  Sacramentum  sanctificationis."  Justin  Martyr  also  connects  sanc- 
tification with  baptism. — Dial.  311.  A. 


88 

concludes  thus ;  "  the  waters  then  are  medicated,  in  a 
manner,  by  the  intervention  of  an  angel,^"  and  the  Spirit  is 
corporeally  dissolved  in  the  water  and  the  flesh  is  thereby 
spiritually  purified." 

Further  on,  (c.  6.)  he  informs  us  that  we  do  not 
obtain  the  Spirit  in  the  water,  but  we  are  there  fitted  for 
receiving  him  through  the  agency  of  the  angel  whom  he 
terms  "  angelus  baptismi  arbiter,"  who  is  the  precursor  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  as  John  was  of  Christ,  and  prepares  his 
way  before  him  by  washing  away  the  offences  of  the  sinner 
in  the  waters  of  baptism.  The  ceremony  of  the  Chrism 
succeeded  that  of  immersion  ;  this  he  justifies  by  the 
example  of  Moses  and  Aaron  ;  and  then  came  the  confirm- 
ation, or  impositio  manuum,  during  which  the  Holy  Spirit 
was  invoked  and  communicated.'^^  The  same  previous 
course  of  fasting  and  prayer  was  required  in  the  pre- 
parandi  for  baptism  as  in  Justin's  time,  c.  SO,'^-  He  also 
especially  cautions  the  clergy  against  the  rash  administra- 
tion of  the  rite.  The  cases  of  the  Eunuch,  and  St. 
Paul,^^  he  considers  exempt  ones,  wherein  the  minister  was 
made  acquainted  with  the  mind  of  God  by  inspiration. 
"  This  delay,"  he  proceeds,  "  is  serviceable  to  the  condi- 
tion and  disposition  of  all,  but  especially  is  it  expedient  in 
the  case  of  little  ones  :  for  what  necessity  is  there  that  the 
sponsors  should  be  exposed  to  the  danger  either  of  failing 

7*^  See  John  v.  4.,  to  which  there  is  an  allusion  here. 

71  It  is  remarkable,  that  the  advocates  of  the  irrespective  communica- 
tion of  spiritual  blessings  in  infant  baptism  should  have  overlooked  this 
important  circumstance.  Now  that  the  two  rites  are  separated,  it  is  at 
confirmation,  not  at  baptism,  that  they  should  look  for  inward  regeneration, 
to  be  in  accordance  with  the  early  church,  for  whose  authority  they  plead 
so  loudly. 

72  See  above,  p.  82. 
7^  Act.  viii.  and  ix. 


in  their  promise  through  death,  or  of  falling  into  error  in 
the  education  of  their  charge  ?  The  Lord  says,  indeed, 
*  forbid  them  not  to  come  unto  me."*'^  Let  them  come, 
then,  when  they  are  of  age,  let  them  come  that  they  may 
learn,  when  they  come  that  they  may  be  taught :  let  them 
become  Christians  when  they  are  capable  of  knowing 
Christ. — Why  does  the  age  of  innocence  hasten  to  the 
remission  of  sins  ?''^  More  caution  is  observed  in  secular 
matters ;  shall  we  then  entrust  those  with  heavenly  riches 
whom  we  do  not  consider  competent  to  the  possession  of 
earthly  goods  ?  Let  them  first  learn  to  seek  them,  that  it 
may  appear  ye  give  to  those  that  ask." 

The  first  inference  that  presents  itself  on  perusing 
this  passage  is,  that  the  writer  knew  nothing  of  the  modern 
notion  of  baptismal  regeneration  :  the  idea  had  obviously 
never  occurred  to  him  that  the  inward  grace  necessarily 
accompanies  the  right  administration  of  the  outward  sign : 
else,  why  recommend  delay  in  all  cases,  in  order  that 
the  officiating  minister  might  be  well  assured  of  the  state 
of  mind  of  the  candidate  :'''  or  reprove  the  prevailing  prac- 
tice of  infant  baptism,  because  of  the  necessary  departure 
from  this  recommendation  which  it  involves  ?  But  not- 
withstanding, we  no  where  find  more  lamentable  proofs  of 
the  rapid  growth  of  the  error  regarding  baptism,  than  in 
the  present  author.     The  efficacy  of  the  outward  rite,  per 

74  Matt.  xix.  14. 

75  The  Bishop  of  Lincoln  is  of  opinion  that  this  expression  is  incon- 
sistent with  TertuUian's  sentiments  upon  original  sin,  as  expressed  in  other 
parts  of  his  works. — Eccl.  Hist.  c.  5.,  p.  325. 

76  "  Si  qui  pondus  intelligunt  baptismi,  magis  tenebunt  consecutionem 
quam  dUationem." — De  Baptism,  c.  18.  He  also  informs  us  elsewhere  that 
faith  was  needful  to  the  efficacy  of  baptism ;  as  in  the  tract  de  Resurrect. 
Cam.  c.  42.,  where  he  defines  baptismal  resurrection,  that  is,  regeneration, 
to  be,  "  vita  qua;  ex  fide  per  baptisma  in  novitatc  vivenda  est." 


90 

se,  which  Irenaeus  only  hints  at,  TertuUian  broadly  states, 
and  assigns  two  reasons  for  it  : — the  first  of  them  is 
evidently  the  old  philosophical  notion  of  the  superior 
excellence  of  the  element  of  water,  in  a  Christian  dress7^ 
TertuUian,  like  the  other  authors  of  this  century,  had 
been  a  heathen  philosopher ;  he  threw  aside  his  heathenism, 
but,  though  by  no  means  erring  in  this  direction  to  the 
extent  of  some  of  them,  he  did  not,  or  would  not,  perceive 
that  Christianity  required  the  sacrifice  of  his  philosophy 
also. — He  gives  another  reason  for  the  efficacy  of  the  out- 
ward rite  in  baptism  ;  the  agency  of  the  baptismal  angel : 
for  this  he  is  indebted  to  that  faliulous  system  of  demo- 
nology  wherewith  (as  we  have  seen)  Christianity  was  so 
early  intermingled  and  corrupted. 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  a  writer  greatly  the  inferior 
of  TertuUian,  both  in  the  force  and  vigour  of  his  con- 
ceptions and  in  the  orderly  arrangement  of  his  thoughts, 
has  written  much,  but  really  said  very  little,  upon  bap- 
tism. The  following  passage,  however,  will  show  that  he 
yielded  to  none  of  his  cotemporaries  in  the  high  estima- 
tion in  which  he  held  the  outward  rite :  after  asserting 
that  our  Saviour  was  necessitated  to  submit  to  baptism, 
as  the  only  means  whereby  he  could  have  been  perfected 
and  consecrated  by  the  advent  of  the  Spirit,  he  proceeds 
thus,7^ — a  That,  then,  whereof  the  Lord  was  the  exem- 
plar, comes  to  pass  also  in  us. — When  we  are  baptized  we 
are  enlightened ;  when  we  are  enlightened  we  are  made 
sons ;  when  we  are  made  sons  we  are  perfected ;  when 
we  are  perfected  we  become  immortal.     This  operation  is 

77  'Apifov  jttev  J'Ss*^.— Pind.  Olym.  I.  1.  af%»i  S>j  ruv  vreivreav  S^ap  u'ri?^- 
ttttra  (h  @aXiisJ  xa)  fov  xotr/uov  if/.\l'v;^ov  ku.)  'iaif/.ovuv  ^Xi7^»).i— Diog.  Laert. 
lib.  1.,  p.  18. 

78  Pacd.  1.  6. 


91 

named  variously,  grace,  illumination,  perfection,  or  com- 
pletion, the  laver.'^^  The  laver,  wherein  our  sins  are 
washed  away  ;  grace,  whereby  the  punishments  due  to  our 
sins  are  remitted  ;  illumination,  whereby  we  behold  the 
holy  and  saving  light :  that  is,  whereby  we  discern  divine 
things.  We  call  that  perfect  to  which  nothing  is  wanting : 
— and  what  doth  he  want  who  knows  God  ?"  After  some 
remarks  upon  perfection  he  returns  to  baptism, — "  He  who 
is  regenerated  and  illuminated,  is  immediately  delivered 
(as  the  word  imports)  from  darkness,  and  sees  the  light 
from  that  time ;  for  as  they  who  undertake  to  remove  a 
cataract  from  the  eye,  do  not  svipply  the  organ  with  an 
external  light  which  it  had  not  before,  but  only  remove  an 
opacity  in  order  that  the  pupil  may  be  free  to  receive  the 
impression  of  light,  so,  when  we  are  baptized,  our  sins, 
which  like  a  mist  darkened  the  Divine  Spirit,  are  dispel- 
led, and  the  eye  of  the  soul  is  clear,  and  unclouded,  and 
brilliant ;  by  this  alone  we  discern  divine  things  when  the 
Holy  Ghost  pours  down  upon  us  from  heaven  :  this  is 
the  immortal  eye-water  which  fits  the  eye  to  gaze  upon 
immortal  light."^**  Then  follows  a  digression  at  some 
length  upon  light  as  identified  with  knowledge,  and  dark- 
ness with  ignorance  ;  after  which  he  returns  once  more  to 
baptism. — "  But  the  chains  of  ignorance  are  soon  struck 
oiF,  by  faith  in  man  and  grace  from  God :  that  is,  when 
our  sins  are  remitted  by  the  one  salutary^^  medicine,  even 
baptism,    according   to   the    word.^^       For    then  we    are 

79  Xnrpov. 

80  There  is  an  exactly  similar  figure  in  TertuUian,  de  Baptismo,  c.  41. 
— "  Proinde  cum  ad  fidem  pervenit  (anima)  reformata  per  secundam  nativi- 
tatem  ex  aqua  et  superna  virtute  detracto  corruptionis  pristinae  aulaeo ; 
totam  lucem  suam  conspicit." 

81  ■rizuvio;.     There  is  an  allusion  here  to  one  of  the  names  of  Apollo. 

82  KoyiKM  ficcTrlicrfiari. 


92 

washed  from  all  our  sins,  and  walk  no  more  in  evil  ways  : 
for  this  is  one  of  the  graces  of  illumination  that  our  man- 
ner of  life  is  no  longer  that  which  it  was  before  we  were 
washed."  He  then  proceeds  to  enforce  the  necessity  of 
that  system  of  previous  catechetical  discipline  used  by  the 
early  church,  on  the  ground  that  it  leads  to  faith;  "  and  that 
faith  as  well  as  baptism  is  needful,  the  Holy  Spirit  himself 
teaches."  After  another  digression  upon  the  necessity  of 
faith,  not  unmixed  with  his  own  peculiar  errors,  wherein 
he  quotes  and  comments  upon  Gal.  iii.  23 — 29,  he  thus 
concludes  his  account  of  baptism, — "  Nor  is  there  any  im- 
propriety in  calling  good  thoughts  the  infiltrations^  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  For  that  may  be  called  filtration  which 
precipitates  evil  thoughts  from  the  mind  by  the  remem- 
brance of  good  ones;  but  he  who  returns  to  better  thoughts 
necessarily  repents  him  of  his  former  evils  ;  and  it  is 
acknowledged  that  the  Spirit  himself  brings  back  those 
who  come  to  repentance.  In  like  manner  we  also,  repent- 
ing of  our  former  sins,  renouncing  our  evil  courses,  and 
being  percolated  by  ba})tism,  are  brought  back  to  the 
eternal  light,  as  sons  to  the  Father.""  We  observe  here 
exactly  the  same  opinions  regarding  the  necessity  of  faith 
to  the  beneficial  reception  of  the  ordinance  as  in  the  pre- 
ceding writers ;  and  we  also  discover  the  same  notions  of 
an  efficacy  in  the  outward  rite,  perfectly  independent  of 
the  Spirit's  influences,  still  more  forcibly  illustrated.  But 
in  addition  to  this,  the  present  writer  greatly  exaggerates 
the  inward  grace  of  the  sacrament.  With  him  it  is  not 
merely  spiritual  regeneration  or  change  of  heart,  as  the 
Scriptures  define  it ;  but  it  is  illumination,"^  perfection, 

^  Sii/X/ir/tav.     The  same  gross  notion  of  spiritual  existence  as  in  Ter- 
tuUian.     Sec  above,  Note  C8. 

84  Elsewhere  he  informs  us  the  origin  of  the  application  of  this  epithet 


93 

immortality  ;  in  a  word,  it  is  the  entire  life  of  God  in  the 
soul  of  man,  from  its  commencement  to  its  consummation. 
Incomprehensibly  strange  as  this  notion  may  seem  to  a 
modern  reader,  it  was  held  by  the  philosoyiher  of  Alex- 
andria as  an  important  part  of  his  theological  system  ; 
and  his  purpose  in  thus  framing  it,  was  to  make  room  for 
the  secret  or  gnostical  doctrines,  by  merging  as  much  of 
ordinary  Bible  Christianity  as  possible  in  the  baptismal 
font. 

We  proceed  to  our  summary  of  the  opinions  enter- 
tained by  the  church  regarding  baptism  at  the  close  of  the 
second  century:  and  here  we  cannot  refrain  from  expressing 
our  astonishment  at  the  rapid  progress  which  has  been  made 
by  the  error  of  the  preceding  era.  Then  we  had  merely 
to  complain  that  the  outward  sign  was  somewhat  displaced 
in  relative  importance  : — now  the  baptismal  waters  have 
acquired  a  power  of  communicating  both  material  and  spiri- 
tual blessings,  altogether  independent  of  the  present  agency 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  the  inward  grace  ;  residing  in 
the  inherent  holiness  of  the  element  of  water,  and  in  the 
agency  of  an  angel.  The  whole  sacrament  has  also  risen 
very  far  above  the  place  in  Christianity  which  the  Bible 
had  assigned  to  it.  Instead  of  being  the  merely  initiatory 
rite  of  Christ's  religion,  the  outward  sign  of  spiritual  rege- 
ration,  it  has  become  illumination,  perfection,  yea,  immor- 

to  baptism:  "Among  the  barbarous  philosophers,  to  catechise  and iUuminate 
their  disciples,  is  called  to  regenerate  them." — 5  Strom.,  §  2.  '^ra.pa,  tou 
fiarfid^Cdi  <piXoiro(poi;,  to  xi/Jti^wai  rs  xai  <puritrxi  avayivvritrai  XiyiTxi.  This 
passage  is  likewise  important  as  establishing  past  the  possibility  of  doubt, 
the  sense  in  which  these  writers  understood  the  words  translated  '  rege- 
neration,'  which  corresponds  exactly  with  that  we   have  endeavoured  to 

gather  from  other  sources (pp.  76,  e.  s.)     Any  act  denoting  a  change  for 

the  better  in  state,  or  profession,  or  sentiment,  they  would  have  termed, 
regeneration. 


94 

tality  !  We  have  pointed  out  the  various  mistakes  in 
which  these  false  doctrines  have  originated  ;  and,  by  the 
invariable  process  of  error  producing  error,  they,  in  their 
turn,  gave  rise  also  to  other  false  doctrines.  In  the  fate  of 
these  last,  we  again  recognise  that  unaccountable  principle 
which  so  deeply  influenced  the  theology  of  those  times, 
and  which  we  have  already  endeavoured  to  develope; — 
viz.,  that  the  detection  of  the  parent  error  should  in  no 
decree  affect  the  erroneous  conclusions  which  had  been 
drawn  from  it.  Of  the  working  of  this  principle  the  false 
doctrine  of  baptism  furnishes  us  with  an  apt  illustration. 
— The  ordinance  continued  to  be  regarded  as  illumina- 
tion,^^ when  the  Pagan  absurdity  of  a  double  doctrine  was 
long  ago  forgotten.  The  baptismal  element  retained  its 
spiritual  efficacy  long  after  Tertullian''s  angel  of  baptism 
had  taken  his  flight. 

But  notwithstanding  the  extent  which  the  error 
regarding  the  outward  rite  attained  in  the  second  century, 
we  have  shown,  by  quoting  from  each  author  an  explicit 
avowal  of  the  necessity  of  faith  in  the  candidate,  an  unan- 
swerable proof  that  the  doctrine  of  irrespective  baptismal 
regeneration  was  altogether  unknown  at  that  period :  but 
in  these  errors  it  certainly  originated,  though  to  pursue 
them  through  succeeding  centuries  until  this  opinion  was 
fully  elicited,  is  not  the  scope  of  the  present  enquiry.  We 
may,  however,  state  in  few  words,  that  it  was  in  the  change 
that  took  place  in  the  age  of  the  candidates  for  baptism, 
after  Christianity  became  the  established  religion  of  the 
Roman  empire,  that  the  proximate  cause  of  its  elicitation  is 

85  Thus  Cyprian  :  de  suo  Baptis.,  Ep.  2.  ;  Chrysostom  :  Catach.  ad 
illuminandos  de  baptismo.  See  also  the  Oration,  or  rather  rant,  of  Gre- 
gory of  Nazianzum,  ubi  supra.  The  font  is  called  indifferently  (puTKrrriptov 
and  ficcTliffrripiov  in  the  baptismal  offices  of  nearly  all  the  ancient  liturgies. 


95 

to  be  found.  While  Christianity  was  still  in  progress,  the 
baptism  of  adults  would  entirely  occupy  the  attention  of  the 
church  ;  because,  though  the  infant  children  of  converts, 
as  well  as  the  rest  of  their  household,  were  baptized  with 
their  parents ;  and  though  the  infants  of  Christians  were  in 
like  manner  presented  at  the  font,  yet  the  number  of  such 
was  too  inconsiderable  to  attract  any  special  notice  beyond 
the  mild  rebuke  of  Tertullian,  at  the  close  of  the  second 
century.^**  But  when  Christianity  was  widely  diffused 
throughout  the  empire,  adult  and  infant  baptism  would 
necessarily  change  places,  in  point  of  importance ;  cases 
of  the  latter  being  of  daily  occurrence,  while  the  former 
would  be  seldom  heard  of.     Such  was  undoubtedly  the 

8C  That  infant  baptism  was  an  apostolic  practice  is  evident  from  the 
following  considerations  : — 

1 The   constant   comparisons  of  baptism  with  circumcision  which 

occur  in  the  early  writers ;  (see  p.  ^^,  note  30:)  had  the  one  rite  differed  from 
the  other  in  so  material  a  point  as  that,  while  the  one  was  by  express 
ordinance  administered  to  infants  of  eight  days,  the  other  was  reserved 
exclusively  for  those  who  had  come  to  years  of  understanding,  as  the 
antipaedobaptists  contend,  the  resemblance  between  them  would  have  been 
so  faint  as  hardly  to  have  admitted  of  the  comparison. 

2. — We  have  no  mention  whatever  in  any  of  the  early  Christian 
authors  of  the  introduction  of  the  practice  of  infant  baptism ;  neither  did 
the  question  of  infant  or  adult  baptism  ever  originate  a  schism,  or  even  a 
controversy,  in  the  early  church  ;  had  such  been  the  case,  it  would  un- 
doubtedly have  been  recorded  somewhere  in  the  cotemporary  writings,  so 
many  of  which  are  entirely  devoted  to  the  exposure  of  the  errors  in  doctrine 
and  discipline  which  arose  in  those  times. 

3 — Notwithstanding,  that  the  practice  was  universally  prevalent,  the 
citation  from  Tertullian  in  the  text  affords  unanswerable  evidence ;  had  it 
been  otherwise,  he  would  not  have  failed  to  point  out  the  introducer  of  the 
custom  by  name,  and  set  him  up  as  a  mark  for  those  "  arrows,  even  bitter 
words,"  which  he  discharges  in  such  copious  showers  at  every  other  heretic. 
—It  will  also  be  observed  that  his  objections  to  infant  baptism  are  altogether 
founded  upon  the  erroneous  notions  regarding  the  efficacy  of  the  outward 
rite  with  which  he  was  embued. 


96 

state  of  things  in  the  fourth  century  :  yet  the  mistaken 
views  of  the  independent  efficacy  of  the  outward  rite,  the 
origin  and  progress  of  which  we  have  endeavoured  to  trace 
through  the  first  and  second  centuries,  then  also  prevailed 
universally,  and  in  an  exaggerated  form,  if  that  be  pos- 
sible.^ Now  it  was  not  easy  to  predicate  that  faith  in  the 
candidate  for  which  the  early  fathers  contended,  of  infants, 
whose  reasoning  faculties  were  undeveloped  ;  yet  were  in- 
fants then  almost  the  only  partakers  of  the  baptismal 
sacrament. — The  inevitable  consequence  was  that  this  most 
important  condition  was  gradually  lost  sight  of :  we  per- 
ceive less  and  less  of  it  as  we  proceed  downwards  with  the 
stream  of  the  patristical  writers,  until  at  length  it  vanishes 
altogether.  This  removed  the  only  impediment  to  the 
indissoluble  union  of  the  two  parts  of  the  sacrament,  and 
hence  arose  baptismal  regeneration  ;  an  error  which,  ori- 
ginating in  some  of  the  earliest  departures  from  scrip- 
tural truth,  has  rooted  itself  in  the  very  heart  of  all  the 
ancient  churches,  and  from  which  even  Protestantism,  and 
at  this  day,  is  far,  very  far,  from  being  expurgated. 

87  See  Greg.  Naz.,  u.  s.,  p.  643.  C. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


THE  EUCHARIST. 

The  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist  is  the  remaining  pledge  of 
obedience  which  our  Lord  hath  required  of  those  who  pro- 
fess themselves  his  disciples,  in  the  way  of  ordinance  or 
ceremony.  When  we  contrast  this  with  the  burdensome 
round  of  observances  from  which  his  religion  delivered  its 
first  converts,  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  we  shall  be  able  to 
comprehend  the  force  of  the  apostle's  description  of  his 
commandments,  "  they  are  not  grievous.""^  Upon  this 
occasion  also,  observing  ovir  accustomed  order,  we  com- 
mence our  examination  with  a  careful  review  of  the 
testimony  of  the  Word  of  God  to  the  nature  of  the  sacra- 
ment. Of  the  institution  of  the  Holy  Eucharist  we  can 
render  no  account  so  clear  and  succinct  as  in  the  very 
words  of  inspiration. — "  Now  the  first  day  of  the  feast  of 
unleavened  bread  the  disciples  came  to  Jesus,  saying  unto 
him,  Where  wilt  thou  that  we  prepare  for  thee  to  eat  the 
passover  ?  And  he  said,  Go  into  the  city  to  such  a  man, 
and  say  unto  him.  The  Master  saith.  My  time  is  at  hand  ; 
I  will  keep  the  passover  in  thy  house  with  my  disciples. 
And  the  disciples  did  as  Jesus  appointed  them  ;  and  they 
made  ready  the  passover.  Now  when  the  even  was  come, 
he  sat   down  with  the  twelve.     And  as  tliey  were  eating, 

1  1  John  V.  3. 


98 

Jesus  took  bread,  and  blessed  it,  and  brake  it,  and  gave  it 
to  his  disciples,  and  said,  Take,  eat ;  this  is  my  body.  And 
he  took  the  cup,  and  gave  thanks,  and  gave  it  to  them, 
saying,  Drink  ye  all  of  it ;  for  this  is  my  blood  of  the  New 
Testament,  which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of 
sins."^  "  This  do  in  remembrance  of  me.""^  Here  is  an 
evident  allusion  to  the  paschal  lamb,  of  whose  flesh  they 
had  just  partaken,  and  with  the  blood  of  which  the  door- 
posts of  the  house  were  sprinkled,  according  to  the  law :  '* 
— the  feast  of  which  it  was  the  ceremonial,  having  been 
founded  in  remembrance  of  the  deliverance  of  Israel  in 
Egypt  from  the  destroying  angel.  The  disciples  were 
familiar  with  the  purport  of  the  figure  employed  by  our 
Lord  ;  for  long  before,  in  the  synagogue  at  Capernaum,  he 
had  denoted  that  vital  union  and  communion  with  himself, 
which  constitutes  the  hidden  life  of  the  true  believer  in  his 
doctrine,  by  the  same  highly  metaphorical  expression  ;  ^ — 
"  Whoso  eateth  my  flesh,  and  drinketh  my  blood,  hatli 
eternal  life."  '  Here,  then,  I  appoint  a  sign  of  this  mys- 
tery :  I  am  the  lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sins 
of  the  world ;  do  this,  not  in  remembrance  of  the  deli- 
verance from  the  sword  of  the  destroying  angel  in  Egypt, 
but  in  remembrance  of  that  greater  deliverance  from  the 
guilt  and  dominion  of  sin  which,  by  my  body  offered,  and 
my  blood  poured  out,  I  am  about  to  accomplish  for  all 
that  believe  in  me.'  This  paraphrase  is  sufficiently  obvi- 
ous, and  the  passage  itself  does  not  appear  beset  with  any 
peculiar  difficulties :  though,  to  judge  from  the  many 
senses  in  which  it  has  been  understood,  no  part  of  Scrip- 
ture would  seem  to  be  of  more  doubtful  interpretation. — 
Three  of  these  senses  still  number  many  adherents  in  the 

2  Matt.  xxvi.  17—20,  2C— 28.  3  Luke  xxii.  19. 

4  Exod.  xii.,  &c.  5  John  vi.  48_58. 


99 

visible  chui'ch.  According  to  the  earliest  of  tliem  (in  point 
of  claim  to  antiquity)  the  elements  themselves  are  actually 
transmuted ;  they  become  the  very  body  and  blood  of 
Christ,  by  a  miraculous  and  divine  energy.  Another  section 
of  the  church  teaches,  that  the  elements  are  consubstanti- 
ated  with  the  real  presence,  by  being  therewith  incorporated 
or  kneaded  up.  The  third  opinion  (the  abettors  of  whicli 
were  once  called  Sacramentarians)  propounds,  in  the  un- 
improveable  language  of  Hooker,  that  "  the  real  presence 
of  Christ's  most  blessed  body  and  blood  is  not  to  be  sought 
for  in  the  sacrament,  but  in  the  worthy  receiver  of  the 
sacrament.'"''  Exactly  the  same  presumption  in  favour  of 
the  latter  opinion,  will  be  found  here  as  in  the  controversy 
regarding  baptism  :  but  let  us  rather  look  for  direction 
and  guidance  to  that  Word,  which  is  declared  to  be  a  light 
unto  the  feet  and  a  lamp  unto  the  paths  of  those  who  with 
faith  and  diligence  search  therein. — "  If  we  doubt  at  all 
what  these  admirable  words  may  import,  let  our  Lord's 
apostle  be  his  own  interpreter ;  (1  Cor.  x.  16.)  '  my  body,' 
the  communion  of  my  body  ;  '  my  blood,'  the  communion 
of  my  blood.  Is  there  any  thing  more  expedite,  clear, 
and  easy,  than,  that  as  Christ  is  termed  our  life  because 
through  him  we  obtain  life,  so  the  parts  of  this  sacrament 
are  his  body  and  blood ;  for  that  they  are  so  to  us  who, 
receiving  them,  receive  that  by  them  which  they  are  termed. 
The  bread  and  cup  are  his  body  and  blood,  because  they 
are  causes  instrumental,  upon  receipt  whereof  his  body 
and  blood  ensueth."'^ 

That  such  also  was  the  apostolic  teaching  regarding 

this   sacrament,    will  further   appear   from    the   mode   of 

celebrating  it  which  had  obtained  at  Corinth,  and  which 

St.  Paul  in  the  same  epistle  reproves  ;  the  Eucharist,  with 

6  Eccl.  Pol.,  b.  5.  §  C7.,  p.  5.  7  Hooker,  u.  s. 


100 

them,  partook  of  the  character  of  a  social  repast  rather 
than  of  a  religious  ordinance  : — a  mistake  altogether  incre- 
dible, upon  the  supposition  that  they  had  been  taught  that, 
in  that  ordinance,  they  literally  and  corporeally  manducated 
and  swallowed  the  very  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  Here, 
then,  at  any  rate,  we  have  no  doubtful  or  recondite  mean- 
ings to  search  out ;  for  the  light  of  revelation  that  shines 
upon  this  question  is  steady,  and  clear,  and  bright  as  the 
noon-day  sun.  No  fact  is  more  perfectly  apparent  than 
that  the  grosser  notions  regardina;  the  sacrament  of  the 
Eucharist  are  altogether  destitute  of  sanction  or  authority 
from  the  Word  of  God.  But,  as  we  have  already  stated, 
one  of  them,  transubstantiation,  lays  claim  to  a  very  high 
antiquity.  We  will  once  more  turn  our  attention  to  the 
early  Christian  authors,  if,  perchance,  we  may  discover 
there  the  germ  of  this  error  also. 

In  the  epistle  of  Clement  of  Rome,  I  find  the  follow- 
ing passage  : — "  For  the  love  that  he  bore  towards  us,  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  gave  his  blood  for  our  blood,  his  flesh 
for  our  flesh,  his  soul  for  our  souls.""^ 

To  this  mode  of  stating  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement 
I  object,  that  it  is  altogether  unsanctioned  by  the  inspired 
writings. — 1  find  it  every  where  proclaimed  that  Christ 
gave  himself  for  us  ;  but  no  where  do  I  discover  that  his 
all-suflicient  sacrifice  was  in  this  grossly  literal  sense  vica- 
rious. Should  the  question  be  urged  upon  me,  where  is 
the  great  harm,  nevertheless,  of  such  an  expression  ?  I 
answer  :  that  I  hold  all  revealed  truths  to  be  above  the 
comprehension  of  the  human  intellect ;  and  therefore, 
that  all  additions  to  them,  whether  originating  in  its  rea- 
soning or  imaginative  faculties,  are  necessarily  false,  and 
on  that  account  evil,  both  in  themselves  and  in  their  con- 

«  C.  4». 


101 

sequences.  Nor  is  there  any  thing  in  the  instance  be- 
fore us  which  otherwise  than  confirms  this  position.  The 
doctrine  of  the  atonement  was  presented  to  the  early 
church,  upon  an  avithority  to  which  she  paid  the  utmost 
deference,  under  a  debased  and  materialised  aspect.  Christ 
died,  not  only  to  save  the  souls  of  men,  but  also  that 
from  his  body  the  principle  of  immortality  might  be 
imparted  to  the  corporeal  substance  of  their  bodies.  Here 
is  a  strong  case  made  out  in  favour  of  transubstantiation ; 
for  what  more  probable,  or  consistent  with  analogy,  than 
that  an  atonement  like  this  should  have  also,  by  a  standing 
miracle,  a  material  application  ?^ 

The  consequences  that  followed  upon  this  error,  we 
soon  discover  in  the  view  of  the  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist 
taken  by  this  author's  immediate  successor,  Ignatius  of 
Antioch. — He  writes  thus  to  the  Philadelphians  i^**  "  there 
is  one  flesh  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  one  cup  in  the 
unity  of  his  blood,  one  altar .""'^  The  association  of  the 
alta7'  with  the  bread  and  cup  in  this  passage,  is,  as  well  as 
the  use  of  the  word  itself,  to  denote  the  table  upon  which 
the  ordinance  was  celebrated,  introduces  an  entirely  new 
notion  of  the  Eucharist,  that  of  a  sacrifice ;  to  which  we 
object  that  it  is  devoid  of  scriptural  authority.  We  take 
the  same  objection  to  the  following  ; — "  Breaking  one  and 
the  same  bread,  which  is  the  medicine  of  immortality,  the 
antidote  that  we  should  not  die  but  live  for  ever  in  Christ 
Jesus.*"^^    This  figure  also  innovates  considerably  upon  our 

^  This  opinion  certainly  obtained  with  the  early  church ;  see  Ign.  ad 
TraU.,  c.  8. 

10  C.  4. 

u  ^ufficirnptoM,  that  is,  place  whereon  a  sacrifice  is  offered  ;  he  certainly 
uses  it  in  this  literal  and  offensive  sense.     See  below,  Note  30. 

12   Ign.  ad  Ephes.,  C.  20.      'ivx   Uproot   KXaivn;,  OS   It)   <pd.pf/.aKoy  a^OiVKiria; 


102 

previous  views  of  the  nature  and  eifieacy  of  the  sacrament; 
even  applied  to  the  inward  and  spiritual  grace  only,  it  has 
no  sanction  from  the  inspired  writings  ;  Christ  styles  liim- 
self,  "  the  bread"  that  sustains  life,  not  the  drug  that  cures 
disease,  nor  the  antidote  that  counteracts  poison  ;  and  the 
two  metaphors  convey  notions  so  widely  different,  that  we 
see  not  how,  without  direct  revelation,  the  latter  can  be 
safely  employed  :  but  by  a  still  further  departure  from  the 
apostolical  doctrine,  Ignatius  applies  it  to  the  outward 
sign.  The  act  of  celebrating  the  Eucharist,  therefore,  has 
become  sacrificial,  and  the  external  elements  are  a  medi- 
cine, an  antidote  to  corruption  :  notions,  all  traceable, 
in  my  judgment,  to  St.  Clement's  error  of  a  materially 
vicarious  atonement ;  though  considerably  in  advance  of  it 
towards  the  grosser  doctrine,  which  Ignatius  explicitly 
avows  in  his  letter  to  the  Smyrna?ans.  The  passage  rebukes 
the  error  of  those  who,  by  neglecting  the  public  ordinances 
of  religion,  "•  confessed  not  the  Eucharist  to  be  the  flesh  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  suffered  for  our  sins  and 
which  the  Father  of  his  goodness  raised  from  the  dead.""  '^ 
He  proceeds  to  exhort  them  "  not  to  delay  receiving  it, 
that  they  might  one  day  rise  through  it."  It  is  impossible 
for  words  to  be  more  explicit ;  beyond  all  question  the 
writer  of  this  passage  inculcated  the  doctrine  of  the  real 
presence  in  some  form  or  other  ;  and  we  regret  much  for 
the  cause  of  truth,  that  this  was  not  long  ago  conceded  by 
all  parties  ;  inasmuch  as,  to  those  who  look  for  their  reli- 
gion to  the  Bible,  and  the  Bible  only,  the  earlier  or  later 
origin  of  an  error  is  a  matter  of  little  real  importance. 

13  Ign.  ad  Smyrn.,  c.  ?•  It  is  proper,  however,  to  observe,  that  some 
doubt  is  thrown  upon  the  authenticity  of  this  last  passage  by  the  circum- 
stance, that  neither  it,  nor  any  reference  to  it,  is  to  be  found  in  the  interpo- 
lated copy  of  Ignatius,  which  bears  evident  marks  of  having  been  corrupted 
during  the  Avian  controversy — Sec  Iltif),  Bib-  Pat,  Apos.,  p,  150. 


103 

Justin  Martyr  seems  not  only  to  have  been  himself 
infected  with  the  errors  we  have  pointed  out  in  his  prede- 
cessors, but  speaks  of  them  as  being  universally  prevalent 
among  Christians  at  the  time  he  wrote.  In  the  well-known 
passage  of  his  first  Apology,'*  we  find  that  the  cup  in  the 
Eucharist  contained  a  mixtvire  of  wine  and  water  ;^''  an 
unauthorised  and  unhallowed  addition  to  the  ceremony, 
originating  in  the  inspired  account  of  the  transactions  at 
the  crucifixion,'^  and  obviously  intended  to  improve  upon 
our  Saviour''s  ordinance,  by  giving  to  the  symbol  a  still 
more  exact  conformity  to  the  thing  signified  :  affording,  in 
my  opinion,  an  important  evidence  to  the  general  leaning 
of  the  divinity  of  the  times  to  the  grosser  doctrine.  He 
goes  on  to  inform  us,  that  "  the  elements  were  not  only 
distributed  by  the  deacons  to  those  who  were  present,  but 
portions  were  also  sent  to  the  absent,  because,  after  the 
offertory,  we  hold  them  to  be  no  longer  common  meat  and 
drink  f ''  or,  in  other  words,  because  we  believe  that  the 
offertory  confers  a  spiritual  efficacy  upon  the  elements. 
Then  follows  an  obscure  and  much  controverted  passage, 
describing  the  mode  in  which  this  efficacy  was  communica- 
ted ;  "  for  as  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour  was  made  flesh  by 
the  word  of  God,  and  became  flesh  and  blood  for  our 
salvation,  so  we  have  been  taught  that  the  food  which  has 
been  blessed  with  the  word  of  blessing  from  him,  and 
which  nourishes  our  flesh  and  blood  by  being  changed  into 

!•*  Opera.,  97.  B.  e.  s. 

15  tolrifio*  S'Setros  xai  updfiar/);. — Id..  97-  C.  x,fu,fjt,a.  signifies  the  mix- 
ture of  wine  and  water,  which  was  in  ordinary  use  among  the  ancients ;  to 
this  water  was  added  as  a  part  of  the  ceremonial.  So  Irenaeus :  to  KiKpa/jbiyov 
■rorri^Kiv — Lib.  5.  c.  2.,  p.  32?.  So  also  Clement  of  Alexandria :  xi^vZra, 
0  oivcs  Tsu  v^xri Psed.,  lib.  2.  c.  2. 

16  John  xix.  34. 
•7  Idem,  ;>8  A. 


104 

them,  is  (likewise)  the  flesh  and  blood  of  the  same  incar- 
nate Jesus."  Upon  the  very  high  authority  of  the  Bishop 
of  Lincoln, ^^  we  are  informed  that  the  grosser  doctrine  is 
not  favoured  by  this  citation.  This  opinion  he  supports 
by  comparing  it  with  two  parallel  places  in  the  dialogue 
with  Trypho,  in  one  of  which^''  he  terms  the  Eucharist 
"  the  commemoration  of  our  Lord"'s  passion ;""  and  in  the 
other,  "  wet  and  dry  food."^"  And  nothing  can  be  more 
certain  than  that  this  comparison  entirely  explodes  the  idea 
that  Justin  entertained  the  wild  absurdity  of  the  Roman- 
ists, transubstantiation.  But,  nevertheless,  after  the  most 
careful  perusal  I  have  been  able  to  give  both  to  these 
passages,  and  to  the  tractates  whence  they  are  extracted,  I 
am  compelled  to  express  my  conviction  that  our  author, 
who  agrees  with  Ignatius  in  terming  the  Eucharist  a  sacri- 
fice,^^ is  also  in  accordance  with  him,  as  well  as  with  his 
successors,  in  the  notion  that  the  spiritual  efficacy  of  the 
elements  arose  from  the  real  presence.  The  mode  in  which 
the  presence  took  place  does  not  seem  to  be  accurately 
determinable  from  his  writings ;  though  the  use  of  the 
word  "  change,''^^  in  the  passage  just  quoted,  favours  the 
suspicion  that  the  doctrine  of  transmutation  was  not  alto- 
gether unknown  in  the  second  century. 

It*  Account  of  the  writings  and  opinions  of  Justin  Martyr,  c.  4.,  p.  98, 
e.  s. 

19  Opera,  2C0.  A. :  see  also  29G.  D. 

20  Idem,  345.  A. 

21  Idem,  344  ;  though  page  346.  D.,  he  terms  it  a  spiritual  sacrifice. 

22  (/.iTupioXri It  certainly  occurs  to  me  that  Justin  meant  to  say  in 

this  passage :  "  as  bread  and  wine  are  transmuted  into  human  flesh  and 
blood  by  the  digestive  process,  so  the  sacramental  bread  and  wine  become 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  by  the  eucharistical  blessing."  Though  the 
opinion  would  be  peculiar  to  himself;  the  other  fathers  of  the  second  cen- 
tury taught  the  real  presence  by  supervention,  not  by  transmutation. 


105 

From  Irenasus  we  derive  a  still  further  elucidation  of 
the  doctrine  of  the  Eucharist  as  expounded  by  the  church 
at  this  period.  He  terms  it  "  a  sacrifice,^^  in  the  offering  of 
which  we  show  forth  the  communion  and  union  of  flesh 
and  spirit ;  for  as  the  food  (that  is,  the  elements)  when  the 
name  of  God  is  invoked  over  it,  becomes  no  longer  common 
food  but  Eucharist,  compounded  of  two  things,  the  one 
earthly,  the  other  heavenly  ;  so,  our  bodies,  receiving  the 
Eucharist,  are  no  longer  corruptible,  but  possessed  of  the 
hope  of  eternal  life/"'-^  The  following  passage  is  also 
highly  instructive  on  the  same  point ;  "  For  since  we  are 
his  (Christ's)  members,  and  nourished  by  the  creature,  he 
gives  the  creature  unto  us,  making  the  sun  rise,  and  the 
rain  fall  as  he  will ;  and  the  cup,  which  is  his  creature,  he 
hath  declared  to  be  his  own  blood,  whereby  he  enriches^^ 
our  blood;  and  the  creature  bread,  he  hath  constituted 
his  own  body,  whereby  he  nourishes^*^  our  bodies.  The 
tempered  cup  and  the  made  bread,  therefore,  receive  the 
word  of  God,  and  become  the  Eucharist  of  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ,  whereby  the  substance  of  our  bodies  is 
increased  and  strengthened."^  After  applying  this,  by  a 
favourite  argument  with  the  early  fathers,  though  a  very 
inconclusive  one,  to  the  refutation  of  the  error  of  those 
who  denied  the  resurrection,  he  proceeds :  "  For  as  a 
vine-cutting  planted  in  the  earth  bears  grapes  in  due  sea- 
son, and  as  a  grain  of  wheat  falling  to  the  ground  and 
decaying  there,  rises  again  and  reproduces  itself  manifold 

23  It  is,  however,  evident  from  the  context  that  he  uses  the  word  sacri- 
fice in  a  spiritual  sense. 

24  Adv.  Haer.  lib.  4.  c.  34.,  p.  327.;  Edit.  Oxon.,  1702. 

25  'Stun. 

26  ccil^u. 

27  It  will  be  observed  that   this  passage  very  closely  resembles  our 
extract  from  Justin  Martyr. 


106 

through  the  Spirit  of  God  which  comprehends  all  things ; 
then,  by  the  wisdom  of  God,  these  are  made  serviceable  to 
man,  and   receiving  the  word  of  God  become  Eucharist, 
which  is  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ ; — so,  likewise,  our 
bodies,  being  nourished  by  these,  and  being  deposited  in 
the  ground,  and  corrupting  there,  will  also  rise  again  in 
due  season,  through  the  word  of  God  which  gives  them 
resurrection,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father.""^     Here  is 
an  unequivocal  avowal  of  the  same  opinions  that  we  have 
observed   in   Justin    Martyr. — The   elements   undergo   a 
change  during  the  offertory  ;  they  are  no  longer  bread  and 
wine,  but  Eucharist ;  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  super- 
vening each  to  its  proper  symbol,  during  the  performance 
of  that  ceremony.     This  union  of  the  sign  and  its  signifi- 
cation is  declared  to  be  similar  in  nature  to  that  of  flesh 
and   spirit  in  the  living  man.     Misled  by   the  erroneous 
view  of  the  atonement  propounded  by  Clement  of  Rome, 
Irenaeus  also  teaches  that  the  Eucharist  confers  benefits 
strictly  corporeal :  the  bread  imparting  an  immortal  princi- 
ciple  to  the  body,  and  the  cup  to  the  blood  of  the  receiver. 
With  the  learned  commentator  upon  this  writer^  I  also 
entirely   agree,    that    the   papistical    doctrine  of  transub- 
stantiation  receives  no  countenance  whatever  from  these 
passages. — Nevertheless,    it  is  but  too  evident  that,   fol- 
lowing the  guidance  of   the  apostolical  men  rather  than 
of  the  apostles,  Irenaeus  grievously  errs  from  the  scripture 
doctrine  of  the  Eucharist,  and  that  the  tendency  of  his 
error  is  towards  materialism. 

TertuUian  supplies  us  with  abundant  confirmation 
of  this  melancholy  view  of  the  church  in  the  second 
century. — The  Eucharist  is,    with  him  likewase,  a  sacri- 

-"«  Idem,  lib.  5.  c  2.,  p.  391!,  e.  s.  ^9  Grabe. 


107 

fice,  and  the  table  on  which  it  is  celebrated,  an  altar.*^ 
I'he  consecrated  elements  were  deemed  so  holy,  that 
they  were  most  carefully  watched,  lest  any  part  of  the 
bread  or  wine  should  fall  to  the  ground.^^  He  conveys 
the  idea  of  the  independent  spiritual  virtue  of  the  ele- 
ment in  expressions  partaking  largely  of  that  coarseness 
which  is  a  characteristic  of  his  style.  He  speaks  of  "  feed- 
ing on  the  fatness  of  the  Lord's  body,  that  is,  on  the 
Eucharist  ;''*'^^  of  our  flesh  feeding  on  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ  in  order  that  our  souls  may  be  fattened  of  God  :^^ 
nay,  "  that  believers  partake  of  the  grace  of  the  Eucharist 
by  the  cutting  up  and  distribution  of  the  Lord's  body,  in 
the  same  manner  as  the  flesh  of  the  victim  was  distributed 
at  a  sacrifice."^^  It  will  appear  also  from  the  following 
passages,  that  notwithstanding  these  expressions,  his  opi- 
nions did  not  really  differ  from  those  of  his  predecessors. 
He  speaks  of  "  the  bread  whereby  he  represents  his 
body  ;"^  he  declares  the  meaning  of  the  scripture  phrase 
"  this  is  my  body,"  to  be  "  this  is  the  representation  of  my 
body  f^  and  in  the  same  way  he  terms  the  cup  "  the  com- 
memoration and  representation  of  the  blood."^''  Most  tri- 
umphantly,   from    these   and   similar   passages,    does   the 

30  De  Oratione,  c.  14.  The  Bishop  of  Lincohi  doubts  that  the  altar  is 
here  to  be  understood  in  the  Church  of  England  sense  of  the  word. — Eccl. 
Hist.y  p.  448.,  and  his  doubt  is  perfectly  well  founded ;  by  altar,  all  these 
writers  certainly  denoted,  not  a  mere  altar-table,  but  that  on  which  a  sacri- 
fice is  offered. 

31  De  Corona,  c.  3. 

32  De  Pudicitia,  c.  9. 

33  De  Resurrec.  Cam.,  c.  8. 

3-1  Dominica;  gratia;  quasi  vlsccratione  quadam  fruerentur. — Adv.  Marc. 
III.  7. 

35  Adv.  Mar.  I.  14. 

36  Id.  IV.  40. 

37  De  Anima,  c.  I7. 


108 

Bishop  of  Lincoln  refute  the  assertion  of  the  Romanists, 
that  TertuUian  taught  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation.^ 
His  notions  on  tlie  Eucharist  are  evidently  those  of  Jus- 
tin Martyr  and  Irenaeus. 

In  Clement  of  Alexandria  we  find  that  exact  accord- 
ance upon  this  point  with  the  preceding  writers,  which 
reduces  to  absolute  certainty  our  assumption,  that  we  are 
discussing,  not  the  private  and  peculiar  notions  of  indivi- 
duals, but  the  doctrine  of  the  Eucharist  as  taught  by  the 
Catholic  church  in  the  second  century.  "  The  natural  and 
abstinent  beverage  needful  for  those  who  thirst  is  water  : — 
with  this,  issuing  from  the  cleft  rock,  God  supplied  the 
Hebrews  of  old,  the  unsophisticated  liquor  of  temper- 
ance :  for  from  them,  as  wanderers,  great  abstinence  was 
required.  Afterward  the  holy  Vine  produced  the  prophetic 
bunch.  This  is  a  sign  to  those  who  are  taught  to  cease 
from  error,  when  the  great  bunch,  even  the  Word,  which 
was  pressed  for  us,  commands  to  mingle  the  blood  of  the 
grape  with  water,  even  as  his  blood  is  mingled  with 
salvation :  for  the  blood  of  the  Lord  is  possessed  of  two 
properties ;  the  one  carnal,  whereby  we  are  delivered  from 
corruption,  the  other  spiritual,  wherewith  we  are  anointed. 
— And  this  is  to  drink  the  blood  of  Jesus,  even  to  become 
participant  of  his  incorruption.  —  For  the  Spirit  is  the 
strength  of  the  Word  as  the  blood  is  of  the  flesh ;  there- 
fore, the  humanity  and  the  Spirit  (in  man)  are  mingled 
analagously  with  the  wine  and  water  (in  the  sacrament)  and 
the  one  (the  mixed  wine*')  nourishes  unto  faith,  the  other 
(the  Spirit)  guides  into  incorruption  ;  but  the  commixture 
of  both,  that  is,  of  the  tempered  wine  and  the  Word,""' 
is  called  Eucharist ;  whereof  they  who  by  faith  are  parta- 
kers are  sanctified,  body  and  soul :   the  will  of  the  Father 

38  Eccl.  Hist.,  u.  s.,  p.  44'J,  &c.  •»  npi/^a.  40  xoy'd. 


109 

mystically  commingling  the  divine  admixture  man,  with 
Spirit  and  the  Word ;  for  the  Spirit  is  in  truth  united  to 
the  soul  which  is  under  its  influence,  and  the  flesh  to  the 
Word  ;   wherefore  the  Word  was  made  flesh."^^ 

This  extremely  obscure  passage,  which  is  the  casual 
introduction  of  the  Eucharist  into  an  exhortation  to  water- 
drinking,  is  of  great  importance  to  our  enquiry :  inasmuch 
as  if  we  can  disentangle  the  meaning  of  the  author  from 
the  intricate  mazes  in  which  he  has  involved  it,  we  may 
hope  to  obtain  further  light  upon  the  doctrine  of  the  early 
church,  regarding  the  mode  in  which  Christ  was  really 
present  with  the  elements  in  the  Eucharist,  We  premise, 
that  by  the  Spirit  in  this  passage  the  Spirit  of  Christ  is  to 
be  understood ;  a  being  altogether  distinct  from  the  Logos, 
Word,  or  Divine  Nature  of  Christ,  though  united  with 
it.'*^  This  Spirit  is  here  termed  the  strength  or  virtue  of 
the  Word  or  Divine  Nature  of  Christ. — The  efficacy  of 
the  blood  of  Christ  is  also  declared  to  be  twofold ;  the  one 
affecting  the  flesh,  or  body,  and  animal  life,  giving  to  it 
the  principle  of  incorruption, — this  is  imparted  by  the 

41  Paed.  2.  2. 

42  By  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  the  anti-Nicene  fathers  certainly  meant  the 
Holy  Ghost,  as  in  the  passage  before  us :  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  not 
having  been  then  made  the  subject  of  controversy,  we  do  not  find  in  their 
writings  those  accurate  and  scriptural  distinctions  regarding  the  Divine 
Persons  which  afterwards  obtained — See  the  bishop  of  Lincoln's  Justin, 
p.  71-  ;  and  here,  where  the  author  speaks  of  the  Holy  Ghost  as  a  part  of 
the  nature  of  Christ.     So  Hermas  ;  "  The  Spirit  spake  with  thee  under  the 

figure  of  the  church  ;  for  that  Spirit  is  the  Son  of  God." B.  3.,  Sim.  9,  1. 

So  also  Tertullian  :  "  Dominus  noster  Jesus  Christus  in  quo  et  Dei  spiri- 
tus,  et  Dei  sermo  et  Dei  ratio  approbatus  est."  —  De  Oral.,  c.  1.  The 
heresies  and  controversies  with  which  the  church  has  for  so  many  ages  been 
harassed,  are  wonderfully  overruled  to  the  elicitation  of  the  very  mind  and 
truth  of  God   from  the  written  word.     No  one  can  read  the  early  fathers 

attentively  without  perceiving  this.     See  above,  p.  45,  Note  52. 


110 

Word :  the  other  affecting  the  soul,  purification  from  sin, 
is  imparted  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ. — The  faithful  parta- 
ker, then,  of  the  cup  in  the  Eucharist  (for  it  is  of  the  cup 
only  that  he  is  speaking)  obtains  both  these  benefits  :  for 
this  element  is  a  commixture  of  tempered  wine  with  the 
Word,  by  which  we  are  here  to  understand  the  Divine 
Nature  of  Christ  and  the  Spirit ;  and  being  received  in 
faith,  a  third  intermixture  takes  place ;  the  compound  of 
wine,  water,  and  the  Word,  that  is,  the  Eucharist,  is  mixed 
with  the  compound  of  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  that  is,  man. 
— And  by  what  would  be  termed  in  modern  chemistry  a 
double  elective  affinity,  the  Spirit  of  Christ  combines  with 
the  spirit  of  the  man,  purifying  it  from  sin,  and  the  Divine 
Nature  of  Christ  with  the  flesh  and  soul  (or  animal  nature) 
imparting  to  it  a  principle  of  incorruption.  No  doubt  will 
now  remain  as  to  the  opinions  entertained  by  these  writers. 
— The  Logos  or  Divine  Nature  of  Christ  was  present 
with  the  elements  in  the  Eucharist,  united  with  them  in 
the  same  manner  as  the  soul  to  the  body  in  man.  The 
benefit  of  its  faithful  reception  was  also  twofold ;— one  to 
the  body,  imparting  to  it  a  principle  of  incorruption,  the 
other  to  the  soul,  conferring  upon  it  purification  from  sin. 
That  Clement  of  Alexandria  did  not  entertain  the  idea  of 
transubstantiation  is  sufficiently  apparent  from  the  citation 
before  us,  where  the  material  blood  of  Christ  is  never  once 
mentioned  :  and  it  is  rendered  still  more  unquestionable  by 
another  passage  from  the  same  hortative  to  the  use  of 
water  ;  wherein  he  terms  wine  "  the  mystic  symbol  of  the 
holy  blood  which  the  Lord  himself  instituted.'"'*^      Nor 

43  Paed.  lib.  2.  c.  2.,  p.  382.  In  the  same  chapter  also  he  thus  defends 
the  use  of  wine  against  the  Encratites  and  other  fanatics,  who  forbade  it. 
"  Our  Lord  himself  drank  wine  in  the  days  of  his  flesh  :  and  he  blessed 
wine  when  he  said,  '  Take,  drink,  this  is  my  blood  ;'  the  blood  of  the  vine 


Ill 

do  I  discover  any  countenance  whatever  to  this  doctrine 
in  the  more  elaborate  work  of  the  same  author,  the  Stro- 
mates,  which,  being  an  avowed  exposition  of  the  disci- 
plina  arcani,  we  certainly  should  have  found  there,  had 
the  most  recent  defence  of  this  insanity  been  a  valid 
one.'*^ 

The  doctrine  of  the  early  church,  therefore,  regarding 
the  Eucharist,  was  widely  different  from  that  which  is  to 
be  found  in  the  canonical  writers.  Misled  partly  by  her 
over-zeal  in  refuting  the  errors  of  the  Docetoe  and  other 
heretics  who  denied  the  humanity  of  Christ,  but  princi- 
pally by  those  gross  views  of  the  ceremonial  of  religion 
with  which  all  her  members  would  be  prepossessed,  from 
whatever  creed  they  were  converted,  she  certainly  main- 
tained that  the  elements  acquired  spiritual  virtue  ;  and 
that  this  virtue  arose  from  the  Divine  Nature  of  Christ 
dwelling  in  them,  as  the  sovd  in  the  body.  In  effecting 
this  union,  she  probably  called  to  her  aid  the  strange 
notions  of  spiritual  existence  current  in  those  times :  we 
have  already  seen  that  they  held  Spirit  to  be  palpable  to 

even  the  word  '  which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins ;'  he 
allegorises  it  as  the  sacred  source  of  joy.  That  it  was  wine  that  our  Lord 
blessed  is  evident,  for  he  says  again :  '  Henceforth  I  will  not  drink  of  the 
fruit  of  the  vine,  &c.'  "  It  is  plainly  impossible  that  the  writer  of  this 
passage  should  have  believed  in  transubstantiation. 

4^  According  to  the  Bishop  of  Aire,  the  early  fathers  denied  the  doc- 
trine of  transubstantiation,  because  it  was  one  of  the  inner  mysteries  which 

they  concealed  from  the  uninitiated See  Faber's  Difficulties  of  Romanism. 

This  defence  has  also  been  adopted  very  recently,  in  an  ingenious  and  well- 
imagined  attack  upon  Christianity,  by  holding  up  Romanism  as  its  purest 
and  most  perfect  form.  It  would  have  had  more  weight,  had  the  character 
of  the  author  as  a  jester  by  profession,  been  somewhat  less  notorious  :  as  it 
is,  he  has  completely  taken  in  several  good  Catholics  ;  and  inore  than  one 
zealous  Protestant  has  formally  replied  to  it:  both,  doubtless,  to  the  infinite 
amusement  of  the  author. 


112 

the  outward  senses,  and  capable  of  mechanical  admixture 
with  matter  :*^  in  some  such  manner  she  seems  to  have 
taught  the  inhabitation  of  the  Divine  Nature  or  celestial 
part  of  the  Eucharist.^  As  a  certain  consequence  of  this 
error,  she  also  taught  her  members  to  anticipate  corporeal 
benefits  from  the  faithful  reception  of  the  elements  : — they 
conferred  upon  the  material  body  and  blood  that  principle 
of  incorruption  which  rendered  them  capable  of  an  eternal 
existence  at  the  resurrection  : — a  manifest  absurdity,  inas- 
much as  the  Scripture  expressly  extends  this  benefit  of 
our  Saviour''s  redemption  to  all  the  sons  of  Adam,  at 
whatever  period  they  may  have  lived  :^^  and  irrespectively 
of  any  condition  whatever. 

In  this  fearfully  corrupt  state,  the  doctrine  of  the  Eu- 
charist was  transmitted  by  the  church  of  the  second  century 
to  the  days  of  darkness  and  gloominess,  of  clouds  and  thick 
darkness  that  so  speedily  followed.  And  in  times  when  an 
appeal  to  Scripture  was  seldom  heard  of,  except  through 
the  medium  of  the  ecclesiastical  writers  of  preceding  pe- 
riods, there  was  hardly  a  possibility  that  the  errors  into 
which  these  writers  had  fallen  should  be  corrected  by  a 
comparison  therewith  :  and  equally  remote  was  the  proba- 
bility, when  the  errors  in  which  they  originated  themselves 
remained  unimpaired  and  still  crescive ;  so  that  the  entire 
divinity  of  the  church  went  to  the  extraction  of  the  ritual 
of  a  religion,  whose  benefits  were  conditional  upon  the 
observance  of  a  wearisome  ceremonial,  from  the  unearthly 
and  spiritual  precepts  and  docti'ines  of  the  gospel.  Under 
these  circumstances,  can  we  wonder  that  the  error  on  the 

45  See  p.  87,  Note  C8. 

4'>  It  was  in  the  writers  of  this  period  that  Luther  found  the  doctrine 
of  consubstantiation. 
•»7  1  Cor.  XV.  22. 


113 

Eucharist  should  speedily  attain  to  its  utmost  aggrava- 
tion ?  and  that,  by  declaring  tlie  elements  to  be  actually 
transmuted  into  human  flesh  and  blood,  the  foully  erring 
church  debased  the  blessed  supper  of  the  Lord  of  purity 
and  holiness  into  a  Thyestean  banquet,  more  loathsome 
and  revolting  than  had  ever  polluted  the  most  impure 
orgies  of  Paganism  F^'' 

48  There  is  an  impudence  of  absurdity  in  this  doctrine  which  it  rouses 
one's  indignation  to  think,  that  such  should  ever  have  been  propounded  as 
an  article  of  faith.  A  change  at  once  substantial,  and  yet  undiscernible  by 
any  means ;  at  once  miraculous  and  non-miraculous ;  a  miracle,  not  for 
the  confirmation  of  our  faith,  but  requiring  faith  to  believe  it  to  be  a 
miracle  !  Well  may  we  exclaim  with  Dr.  South,  "  it  is  the  most  por- 
tentous piece  of  nonsense  that  ever  was  owned  in  the  face  of  a  rational 
world  !" Sermons,  Vol.  V.  j).  17-  That  the  human  mind  was  not  insen- 
sible to  the  follies  and  contradictions  innumerable  which  this  doctrine 
involves,  even  in  the  darkest  ages,  I  adduce  as  evidence  the  following  story, 
which  "  I  tell  as  't  is  told  to  me"  in  the  Apothegmata  Patrum,  edited  by 
Cotelerius Eccl.  Grcec.  Mon.,  Vol.  /.,  p.  421.  (The  Theban-Coptic  ori- 
ginal, whence  it  has  been  translated  into  Greek,  will  also  be  found  in  Zoega. 
Catalogzis.  Cod.  Copt,  p.  313.) 

"  There  was  a  recluse  of  the  desert  who  was  mighty  in  works  but 
weak  in  faith ;  so  he  fell  into  error  because  he  was  but  a  simple  person,  and 
said  '  The  bread  that  we  receive  is  not  the  body  of  the  Lord  really,  but 
only  figuratively.'  And  two  old  men  heard  him  say  so ;  and  they  came  to 
him,  and  said,  '  O  father,  believe  according  to  the  tradition  of  the  church.' 
And  he  answered,  '  I  cannot  believe  it  assuredly,  unless  I  see  the  thing 
itself :  let  us,  therefore,  pray  God  that  it  may  be  shown  unto  me.'  So  they 
all  retired  to  their  cells  and  prayed  that  God  would  reveal  it  to  the  holy 
recluse,  lest  he  should  lose  the  reward  of  his  good  works.  And  God  heard 
their  prayers ;  for  the  next  Lord's  day  they  stood  together  at  church  upon 
the  same  cushion,  the  recluse  being  in  the  middle :  and  their  eyes  were 
opened ;  and  when  the  bread  was  put  upon  the  holy  table,  it  appeared  to  them 
three  like  a  little  boy.  And  when  the  presbyter  put  forth  his  hands  to  break 
the  bread,  behold  !  the  angel  of  the  Lord  came  down  from  heaven  with  a 
knife,  and  stabbed  the  little  boy,  and  let  his  blood  run  into  the  cup.  And 
when  the  presbyter  broke  the  bread  into  little  pieces,  the  angel  also  cut  little 
pieces  from  the  body  of  the  child.  And  when  they  came  to  take  of  the 
I 


114 


holy  elements,  the  recluse's  portion  was  a  gobbet  of  bloody  flesh.     Then  he 
cried,  '  I  believe,  O  Lord,'  and  immediately  it  became  bread  again." 

This  miraculum  in  miracido  was  probably  invented  sometime  between 
the  eighth  and  tenth  centuries.  One  is  not  sorry  to  find  that  there  were 
sturdy  thinkers,  even  at  such  a  period  as  this,  and  in  the  heart  of  the 
Libyan  deserts. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


RELIGIOUS  WORSHIP. 

There  is  a  principle  in  Christianity,  the  application  of 
which  would  have  extricated  the  early  fathers  from  the 
perplexities  and  errors,  in  which  their  doctrine  involves 
the  Christian  sacraments. 

To  this  principle,  we  conceive,  must  be  referred  the 
extraordinary  circumstance,  that  these  sacraments  should 
constitute  its  entire  prescribed  ritual.  Liturgical  for- 
mularies of  devotion,  and  rounds  of  observances,  which 
are  the  very  essence  of  all  other  religions,  engaged  no  part 
of  the  attention  of  those  who  were  inspired  to  proclaim 
the  precepts  and  doctrines  of  Christianity.  Our  Divine 
Master,  when  appealed  to  by  the  Samaritan  woman  upon 
the  question  between  her  nation  and  the  Jews,  at  once 
answered  her  enquiry,  but  failed  not,  at  the  same  time, 
to  foretell  the  speedy  overthrow  of  the  temple  worships, 
both  of  mount  Zion  and  mount  Gerizim ;  and  to  embody 
in  a  single  sentence,  more  instruction  regarding  this  branch 
of  our  duty  to  our  Maker,  than  was  to  be  found  in  all  the 
prescriptions  of  religious  service  that  the  world  contained  : 
— "  God  is  a  Spirit :  and  they  that  worship  him,  must  wor- 
ship him  in  spirit  and  in  truth."^  This  was  the  principle, 
and  this  alone,  which  was  regarded  in  the  construction  of 

1  John  iv.  24. 


116 

the  whole  exterior  of  his  religion.  Nothing  else  appears 
to  have  weighed  with  him  for  a  moment.  He  has  not  left 
us  a  single  direction  regarding  the  worship  of  God,  which 
does  not  bear  exclusively  upon  the  heart  of  the  worship- 
per, discarding  every  other  adjunct  of  circumstance. — 
Time,  and  place,  and  posture,  so  important  in  the  older 
rituals,  are  less  than  nothing  and  vanity  with  him ;  he 
does  not  bestow  even  a  thought  upon  them.  The  apostles 
also  follow  exactly  the  footsteps  of  their  Lord  in  this,  as  in 
every  thing.  Anxious  only  to  press  home  the  important 
truths,  that  form  and  ceremony  Avere  abolished,  and  that 
the  worship  of  God  was  an  act  and  exercise  of  the  heart, 
none  of  the  other  circumstances  of  religious  service  appear 
to  have  dwelt  in  their  recollection. — As  if  fearful  of  with- 
drawing the  regards  of  the  Christian  man  from  them,  in 
any  measure,  they  have  studiously  avoided  recording  the 
particulars  of  the  mode  in  which  the  worship  of  God  was 
conducted  by  themselves ;  that  there  might  be  no  form 
of  their  prescription  for  his  wayward  heart  to  rest  in,  and 
that  this  principle  of  his  religion  might  flash  upon  his 
understanding  from  every  page  of  inspiration,  "  God  is  a 
Spirit :  and  they  that  worship  him,  must  worship  him  in 
spirit  and  in  truth." 

It  is  from  hence  that  we  contend  to  best  advantage 
with  the  materialists  in  both  sacraments.  —  If  they  be 
part  and  parcel  of  Christianity,  which  we  all  agree  that 
they  are,  they  must  recognise  this  principle  in  its  whole 
extent. — We  answer  the  advocates  of  baptismal  regene- 
ration, that  the  Gospel  propounds  no  other  evidence  of 
sin  forgiven,  than  sin  forsaken  ;  and  no  other  medium  for 
its  remission,  than  the  blood  of  Christ,  applied  by  faith 
to  the  conscience.  We  tell  the  materialist  in  the  other 
sacrament,  that  it  is  the  faith  of  the  worthy  partaker  that 


117 

alone  discerns,  or  can  discern,  the  Lord's  body  in  the  holy 
Eucharist ;  and  that,  therefore,  his  doctrine  of  the  real 
presence  is  as  needless  as  it  is  ridiculous.  This  high 
ground  best  befits  the  dignity  of  the  entire  subject : — that 
in  all  our  acts  of  worship  the  heart  of  the  worshipper, 
and  that  alone,  is  regarded  by  him  to  whom  they  are 
addressed,  is  a  grand  principle  of  Christianity  ;  and  what- 
ever is  not  in  exact  obedience  to  this  principle  forms  no 
part  of  Christ's  religion. 

We  have  seen  that  the  early  fathers  have  greatly 
obscured  this  principle,  in  their  doctrine  of  the  sacraments. 
We  now  proceed  to  consider  their  opinions  upon  other  acts 
of  religious  observance ;  when  we  shall  find,  that  though 
we  may  meet  occasionally  with  formal  acknowledgments  of 
it,  yet  it  does  not  exercise  that  entire  influence  over  their 
doctrine  upon  these  points,  which  is  so  apparent  in  the 
canonical  writings. 

We  commence  with  prayer  ;  a  subject  upon  which,  of 
all  others,  he  who  professes  to  take  the  New  Testament 
for  his  guide,  would  seem  to  be  in  the  least  danger  of 
error  :  since,  by  an  apparent  departure  from  the  course 
observed  with  regard  to  other  acts  of  religion,  the  Holy 
Spirit  has  recorded  in  the  New  Testament  both  the  time, 
and  mode,  and  form  of  prayer  which  will  be  accepted. 
The  time, — pray  always :  the  mode, — pray  with  the  heart : 
the  form,  was  given  by  our  Lord  himself;  and  though  too 
brief  to  admit,  for  a  moment,  of  the  supposition  that  it  is 
the  only  prayer  which  a  Christian  man  may  use,  is,  never- 
theless, so  wonderfully  comprehensive,  that  he  can  scarcely 
offer  a  petition  to  the  throne  of  grace  which  is  not  included 
in  it.  As  Tertullian  justly  and  beautifully  observes,  ^ 
"  it  is  the  summary  of  the  whole  gospel :  for  whatever  the 

2  De  Orationc,  cc.  I,  9. 


118 

writings  of  prophets,  evangelists,  and  apostles,  the  dis- 
courses, parables,  precepts,  and  example  of  our  Lord 
have  touched  upon,  is  contained  in  these  few  words. — 
What  duty  which  they  enjoin  is  omitted  ?  Honour  to  the 
Godhead  in  the  Father ;  a  testimony  of  faith  in  his  name ; 
a  profession  of  obedience  to  his  will ;  a  commemoration  of 
hope  in  his  kingdom ;  a  petition  for  life  in  the  bread  ;  a 
confession  of  sin  in  the  deprecation ;  solicitude  concerning 
temptation,  in  the  prayer  for  help  against  it. — But  God 
alone  could  prompt  the  prayer,  which  himself  would  liear 
and  answer.'"' 

It  is  surprising  that  there  should  be  any  deflections 
in  these  early  writers,  from  a  path  so  straitly  hedged  in  as 
this.  Nevertheless,  they  do  err,  and  in  the  direction  we 
have  pointed  out. 

St.  Clement  of  Rome  writes  thus  to  the  Corinthians  : 
— "  It  will  behove  us  to  take  care,  brethren,  that  lookinsr 
into  the  depths  of  the  divine  knowledge  we  do  all  things 
in  order,  whatsoever  our  Lord  has  commanded  us  to  do  : 
and  particularly  that  we  perform  our  offerings  and  ser- 
vice^ to  God  at  their  appointed  seasons  :  for  these  he  has 
commanded  to  be  done,  not  by  chance*  and  disorderly, 
but  at  certain  determinate  times  and  hours. — They,  there- 
fore, that  make  their  offerings  at  the  appointed  seasons  ^ 
are  happy  and  accepted.^'*'  In  perusing  this  passage  we 
naturally  enquire  where  is  the  divine  command  to  whicli 
St.  Clement  refers  .?  If  his  reference  be  to  the  ceremonial 
law  of  Moses,  we  instantly  reply  to  him,  that  it  is  abo- 
lished :  neither  does  any  such  occur  in  the  New  Testament. 
Should  his  appeal  be  to  the  Christian  tradition,  which 
probably  it  is,  we  apply  to  it   tlie  argument  with  which 

3  ras  ri  "rpoiripofia;  kui  XnTUp')  ix;.  ■*  ilxn. 

''  ro'i;  ■rpoT^'Toiy/^ivi'is  Kdipoi;.  ''  C'lc'in.  ad  Cor.,  c.   10. 


119 

Tertullian''  has  supplied  us  : — we  compare  the  unwritten, 
with  the  written  tradition,  with  the  canonical  and  inspired 
writings :  when  we  discover,  that  it  is  in  clear  opposition 
to  the  Christian  doctrine  upon  the  point ;  inasmuch  as 
the  same  observances  which  St.  Clement  urges  upon  the 
church  at  Corinth,  St.  Paul  stigmatises  in  the  Judaizing 
Christians  of  Galatia,  as  a  departure  from  the  simplicity 
of  the  Gospel,  "  Ye  observe  days,  and  months,  and  times, 
and  years."  ^  We,  therefore,  at  once  reject  it ;  on  the 
ground,  that  there  can  be  no  apostolical  tradition  which 
contradicts  the  apostolical  epistles.  We  readily  grant, 
that  an  order  of  ecclesiastical  service  must  and  will  be 
agreed  upon,  in  every  community  over  which  the  influence 
of  Christ's  religion  is  fully  exerted :  and  that  order  being 
once  settled,  according  to  the  Word  of  God,  we  greatly 
question  the  propriety,  or  the  wisdom,  of  needless  innova- 
tions upon  it :  but  that  there  is  any  divine  command, 
prescribing  the  hours  and  ceremonies  of  public  worship, 
we  utterly  deny  : — and  we  produce  the  assertion  of  St. 
Clement  that  there  is  such,  as  evidence  that  the  great  prin- 
ciple of  Christian  worship  was  soon  misapprehended,  and 
that,  even  in  the  earliest  uninspired  records  of  the  church, 
we  discover  a  leaning  to  formality  and  materialism.'' 

The  following  passage,  from  another  of  the  apostol- 
ical writers,  is  also  highly  objectionable  : — "  Remove  from 

7  De  Praescriptionibus  Hsereticorum. 

8  Gal.  iv.  10. 

•'  It  is  quite  needful  the  reader  should  be  aware,  that  the  commencement 
of  the  passage  from  Clement  upon  which  we  havecommented,  is  quoted  by 
his  namesake  of  Alexandria — 4  Strom.  §  18. ;  and  that  he  connects  it  with 
a  sentence  altogether  different  from  the  rest  of  it,  which  does  not  occur 
at  all  in  our  copy  of  the  Epistle.  Though  the  learned  father  occasionally 
mutilates  his  quotations,  the  circumstance  certainly  raises  a  suspicion  that 
the  place  may  be  a  spurious  one. 


120 

thee  all  doubting,  and  question  nothing  at  all,  when  thou 
askest  any  thing  of  the  Lord,  saying  within  thyself,  how 
shall  I  be  able  to  ask  any  thing  of  the  Lord,  seeing  I 
have  so  greatly  sinned  against  him  ?  Do  not  think  thus, 
but  turn  unto  the  Lord  with  all  thy  heart,  and  ask  of  him, 
without  doubting,  and  thou  shalt  know  the  mercy  of  the 
Lord. — For  God  is  not  as  men,  mindful  of  the  injuries  he 
has  received  ;  but  he  forgets  injuries,  and  has  compassion 
upon  his  creature. — Wherefore,  purify  thy  heart  from  all 
the  vices  of  this  present  world,  and  from  doubting,  and 
put  on  faith,  and  thou  shalt  receive  all  that  thou  shalt  ask. 
— But  he  that  doubts  shall  hardly  live  unto  God,  except 
he  repent ."^^  The  principle  for  which  we  contend  is  here 
fully  recognised  ;  it  is  the  heart  of  the  worshipper,  and 
that  alone,  which  God  regards  in  the  acceptance  or  rejec- 
tion of  prayer.  The  precept,  to  put  away  doubting  in 
prayer,  is  also  scriptural :  but,  nevertheless,  it  would 
hardly  be  possible  to  display  more  consummate  ignorance 
of  the  nature,  not  only  of  prayer,  but  of  the  whole 
scheme  of  Christianity,  than  in  the  passage  before  us.  As 
many  of  the  points  here  touched  upon  will  come  under  our 
notice  elsewhere,  we  will  merely  state  our  objections  gene- 
rally. We  deny,  then,  that  the  sinner  has  any  ground  of 
hope  in  the  badness  of  the  Divine  memory ;  God  does 
not,  cannot,  forget  any  thing. — Nor  is  there  forgiveness  of 
sin  with  him,  save  in  the  atonement  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ ;  a  doctrine  never  once  mentioned,  or  even  alluded 
to,  in  the  entire  passage.  We  also  deny  that  there  is  any 
power  in  man,  either  to  purify  his  own  heart,  or  to  offer 
to  God,  by  his  own  unassisted  effort,  the  prayer  which  he 
will  hear  and  answer.  For  these,  he  must  be  altogether 
indebted  to  that  Holy  Ghost  who  is  also  termed  in  Scrip- 

'"  Hennas,  Comm.  'J. 


121 

ture  "  the  Spirit  of  supplication  ;"^^  and  of  whom  it  is 
declared,  that  he  "  helpeth  the  infirmities"  of  the  believer 
in  prayer,  "  himself  making  intercession  for  him.""^- — St. 
Hernias  had  entirely  lost  sight  of  this  important  doctrine 
also.  We  in  the  last  place  object,  that  the  man  who,  in 
compliance  with  this  advice,  should  endeavour,  in  his  own 
strength,  to  put  off'  doubting  and  to  put  on  faith,  would 
probably  appear  before  his  Maker  in  a  spirit  even  still 
more  off*ensive  to  Him  :  that  of  vain  confidence  and  pre- 
sumption.— The  prayer  of  faith,  and  the  assurance  of 
hope,  are  both  unequivocally  declared  in  Scripture  to  be 
the  gifts  of  God,  and  are,  therefore,  altogether  unattain- 
able by  any  merely  human  effort.  Another  fundamental 
doctrine  of  Christianity,  then,  that  of  the  divine  assistance, 
is  totally  misapprehended  by  this  early  writer  ;  who  grie- 
vously errs,  in  ascribing  to  man  the  power  of  so  purifying 
himself  from  sin  as  to  be  competent  to  offer  acceptable 
prayers  to  God ;  independently,  both  of  the  atonement  of 
Christ,  and  of  the  aids  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  neither  of 
which  he  makes  the  slightest  allusion. 

TertuUian,  the  next  writer  who  has  treated  upon 
prayer,  also  greatly  mistakes  the  doctrine  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture. His  comment  upon  the  fifth  petition  of  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  "  forgive  us  our  trespasses,"'^  is  characterised  by 
the  same  omission  that  we  have  already  noticed  in  the  wri- 
tings of  Hennas ;  it  does  not  contain  a  single  allusion  to  the 
atonement.'*    We  only  repeat,  that  in  our  apprehension  of 

11  Zech.  xii.  10. 

12  Rom.  viii.  2G. 

13  De  Oratione,  c.  7- 

1-1  The  Bishop  of  Lincoln  observes  upon  the  same  peculiarity,  as  run- 
ning through  the  whole  of  Tertullian's  writings;  he  also  cites  other  passages, 
abundantly  showing  the  strict  orthodoxy  of  this  father  on  the  doctrine  of 


122 

the  Christian  scheme,  any  petition  for  pardon  of  sin  which 
is  not  mixed  with  faith  in  the  sacrifice  and  death  of 
Christ,  is  a  mere  mockery  of  God : — and  therefore,  that 
the  commentator  who  forbears  all  mention  of  it,  in  writing 
expressly  upon  the  subject  of  remission,  greatly  misleads 
his  readers,  even  though  his  remarks  may  be  excellent  in 
themselves. 

Nor  have  we  yet  seen  the  extent  of  this  father's  misap- 
prehensions, upon  the  subject  of  prayer.  He  thus  rebukes 
certain  evil  practices  which  prevailed  in  the  Christian  assem- 
blies during  divine  worship  : — "  It  is  the  custom  of  some 
to  sit  during  prayer ;  but  if  it  is  irreverent  to  sit  in  the  pre- 
sence of  those  whom  we  greatly  revere  and  venerate,  it  is 
surely  a  most  irreligious  act,  in  the  presence  of  the  living 
God,  and  while  the  angel  of  prayer  himself  is  standing;  for 
we  thereby  reproach  God  that  praying  to  him  wearies  us. 
We  most  powerfully  commend  our  prayers  to  God  by 
worshipping  him  with  modesty  and  humility,  not  extrava- 
gantly tossing  up  our  arms,  but  elevating  them  moderately 
and  gracefully ;  with  the  countenance  not  impudently 
erect,  but  meekly  and  humbly  dejected  like  the  publi- 
can's.'^ It  is  also  proper  that  the  tones  of  the  voice  should 
be  subdued ;  for,  what  tremendous  windpipes  shall  we 
require  if  our  prayers  are  best  heard  and  answered  when 
we  say  them  the  loudest ! — God  hearkens  not  to  the  voice 
but  to  the  heart.  If  God  listens  for  a  sound  in  prayer, 
how  could  Jonah's  prayer  ascend  to  heaven  from  the  very 
abyss,  through  the  bowels  of  so  great  a  beast,  and  through 

justification  ;  and  endeavours  to  account  for  the  almost  uniform  omission  of 
the -atonement,  in  those  places  where  it  was  most  important  that  it  should 
be  introduced,  by  the  circumstance,  that  no  controversy  had  then  arisen  upon 
the  subject. — Ecd.  Hist.,  c.  5.,  p.  330. 
I-''  De  Oral.,  c.  12. 


123 

so  vast  a  depth  of  sea-water.""  What  do  the  performers 
of  these  obstreperous  acts  of  devotion,  but  shovit  that  their 
neighbours  may  hear  them  ?  and  if  such  be  the  case, 
where  is  the  difference  between  their  mode  of  prayer,  and 
praying  in  the  corners  of  the  streets  P"'^^'^  Now,  though 
I  entirely  agree  with  our  author  in  the  great  impropriety 
and  indecency  of  every  one  of  the  practices  he  condemns, 
(all  of  which  I  am  sorry  to  say  may  even  now  be  observed 
in  public  worship,)  and  though  I  greatly  rejoice  in  the 
testimony  to  the  spiritual  nature  of  Christ's  religion,  which 
is  borne  in  this  passage,  by  one  of  whose  intellectual  powers 
I  entertain  so  high  an  opinion,  I  must,  nevertheless, 
protest  against  the  line  of  argument  he  pursues  in  admi- 
nistering his  just  and  well-merited  reproof.  I  exceedingly 
disapprove  of  sitting  in  prayer,  but  only  because  I  hold  it 
to  be  indicative  of  an  irreverent  and  secular  state  of  mind 
in  the  worshipper  ;  this,  I  conceive,  is  displeasing  to  God, 
not  that  the  mere  posture  of  the  body  is  an  act  of  dis- 
respect to  him  and  to  his  angels  ;  were  this  the  case,  sitting 
would  be  at  all  times  unlawful,  inasmuch  as  they  are  every 
where  present.  On  exactly  the  same  principle,  while  I 
agree  with  Tertullian  in  reprobating  loud  and  clamorous 
tones  and  violent  action,  either  in  public  or  private  devo- 
tion, I  utterly  deny  that  any  modulations  of  voice  we  can 
compass,  or  any  gesticulations  we  can  perform,  either  with 
our  features  or  our  arms,  will  one  Avhit  commend  our 
prayers  to  God. — Nay,  I  maintain  that,  on  the  one  hand, 
many  an  acceptable  prayer  has  been  offered  with  a  total 
disregard  to  the  posture  of  the  body,  and  with  much  inde- 

1"  The  gross  notions  of  spiritual  existence  which,  as  we  have  already 
stated,  prevailed  in  these  times,  will  in  some  measure  account  for  the  oddity 
of  this  remark. 

'7  Idem,  c.  13. 


124 

corum  both  of  tone  and  action  ;  and  that  on  the  other, 
many  a  one  hath  appeared  before  God  with  a  most  scrupu- 
lous attention  to  the  external  forms  of  piety,  who  has, 
nevertheless,  offered  the  prayer  of  the  hypocrite,  which  is 
an  abomination  unto  him :  TertuUian  himself,  and  in  the 
same  passage,  gives  us  the  reason  of  this  :  "  God  regards 
the  heart  and  not  the  tones  and  gestures  of  the  worship- 
per :"  and  consequently  this  bodily  exercise  only  profits, 
when  it  is  a  true  indication  of  the  mental  state  of  the  per- 
former ;  and  is  worse  than  worthless,  when  assvuned  as  the 
disguise  of  insincerity. 

Some  other  erroneous  practices  are  also  mentioned  by 
TertuUian,  which  it  may  be  well  here  to  enumerate,  in 
order  to  show  the  irresistible  violence  with  which  the  set 
and  current  of  public  opinion  was  bearing  away  all  that 
was  peculiar  and  characteristic  in  Christianity,  till  nothing 
but  the  mere  frame-work  of  its  external  ceremonial  re- 
mained ;  and  even  that  frame-work,  the  same  current  was 
as  rapidly  choking  up  and  deforming  with  the  rubbish  of 
the  mouldering  fabric  of  heathenism,  which  drifted  upon 
its  surface,  and  accumulated  there.  These  ceremonies  con- 
sisted of  bathing  before  prayer,  in  commemoration  of  bap- 
tism,— washing  the  hands  before  devotional  acts,  (founded, 
doubtless,  on  Psa.  xxvi.  6. ;) — taking  off  the  upper  gar- 
ment to  pray  ;  this  custom,  he  tells  us,  originated  in  a 
ridiculous  misapprehension  of  2  Tim.  iv.  13.  Refusing 
the  kiss  of  peace,  with  which  all  the  public  assemblies  of 
the  early  Christians  concluded,  on  station  and  fast-days  : 
TertuUian  wishes  to  restrict  this  usage  to  the  Paschal  fast 
only  ;  and  brings  some  very  bad  inconclusive  arguments  in 
support  of  the  restriction. 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
at  all  in  advance  of  his  cotcmporaries  in  his  apprehension 


125 

of  the  true  nature  of  prayer ;  tliis  is  sufficiently  apparent 
in  the  following  address  to  the  Almighty  :  "I  will  liberate 
myself  from  lust,  O  Lord  !  that  I  may  dwell  in  thee.  I 
must  be  in  that  which  is  thine,  O  Omnipotent !  and  even 
Avhen  I  am  here,  I  am  with  thee ;  but  I  will  be  without 
fear  that  I  may  get  near  thee,  and  I  Avill  be  content  with 
little,  imitating  thy  most  just  choice,  which  discerns  what 
is  really  good,  from  that  which  merely  resembles  it."^^ 
Not  often,  I  hope,  in  the  annals  of  human  folly,  has  the 
Almighty  been  insulted  wdth  a  more  impious  prayer 
than  this  !  The  ambitious  aspirant  to  Gnostical  perfection 
vaunts  before  his  Maker,  that  he  will  accomplish  in  him- 
self that,  which  God  in  his  word  hath  declared,  is  the 
work  of  his  Spirit  only. 

The  error  of  the  early  fathers  upon  the  subject  of 
prayer,  consisted  in  their  ascription  of  far  too  much  to 
man,  and  far  too  little  to  God,  in  its  acceptable  service. 
This  appears  in  a  two-fold  character.  In  the  first  place, 
they  tax  the  innate  powers  of  man  too  heavily  :  they  call 
upon  him  to  repress  sin  in  his  own  heart,  and  then  to 
appear  before  God  ;  whereas,  the  Scripture  every  where 
exhorts  us^  to  ask  of  God  to  create  a  clean  heart  Avithin  us, 
because  it  is  a  blessing  which  he  only  can  impart.  But 
so  possessed  are  they,  with  this  power  in  man  to  deal  inde- 
pendently with  God  in  the  matter  of  sin,  that,  in  treating 
upon  forgiveness,  they  become  oblivious  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  atonement.  In  the  next  place  (with  not  perfect 
consistency)  they  ascribe  a  large  measure  of  efficacy  to  the 
observance  of  a  certain  orthodox  ritual,  in  the  external 
ceremony  of  prayer ;  to  this,  as  well  as  to  the  heart  of  the 
worshipper,  they  conceive  the  Almighty  to  have  regard. 
It  is  almost  needless  to  point  out  the  tendency  of  one  of 
18  4  Strom.,  §  2.3. 


12C 

these  errors  to  aggravate  the  other.  The  rehgionist  who  is 
sincere  and  in  earnest,  will  soon  discover  that  the  task  of 
purifying  his  own  heart  is  an  utterly  hopeless  one  :  but  he 
has  been  taught  that  the  outward  ceremony,  in  prayer,  as 
well  as  the  inward  frame  of  mind,  obtains  acceptance  with 
God  :  most  naturally,  therefore,  he  turns  his  attention  to 
that  which  is  within  his  reach,  to  the  neglect  of  that  which 
he  has  found  to  be  unattainable :  and  thus,  this  important 
act  of  Christian  duty  was  rapidly  degraded  into  a  super- 
stitious and  formal  observance. 

When  the  external  rites  of  religion  have  acquired 
this  degree  of  value,  it  would  appear  to  be  an  inevitable 
consequence,  that  the  number  of  them  should  also  begin  to 
multiply. 

The  following  passage  from  TertuUian  will  show  that 
that  this  actually  took  place  in  the  instance  before  us :  it 
is  also  important,  as  embodying  nearly  all  that  we  know 
respecting  the  external  forms  of  worship  in  use  in  the 
second  century.  He  is  speaking  of  certain  customs,  the 
authority  for  which  rested  not  upon  the  written  Scriptures, 
but  upon  tradition  ; — "  to  begin  with  baptism ;  when  we 
are  about  to  go  down  into  the  water,  we  sometimes  ai'e 
required  to  profess  before  the  church,  and  under  the  hand 
of  the  bishop,  that  we  renounce  the  Devil,  his  cei'emonies, 
and  his  anfjels  :^^  then  we  are  thrice  immersed,  answerine; 
somewhat  more  than  the  Lord  had  appointed  in  the  gospel. 
On  coming  from  the  font,  we  taste  of  a  mixture  of  milk 

19  Nos  renunciare  diabolo  et  ponipis  et  angelis  ejus ; — the  word  pompa 
alludes  to  the  subject  of  the  tractate,  which  is  a  defence  of  the  conduct  of 
a  Christian  soldier,  who  suffered  martyrdom  rather  than  wearing  a  laurel 
crown  in  a  triumphal  procession See  c.  1.  It  is  probable  that  the  expres- 
sion "  pomps  and  vanities  of  this  wicked  world,"  in  our  baptismal  service, 
originated  in  this  passage. 


127 

and  honey  ;  and  abstain  from  the  daily  batli  for  a  full 
week  afterwards.  The  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist,  which 
was  instituted  by  our  Lord  during  a  meal,  and  enjoined 
upon  all  present,  we  also  celebrate  at  our  assemblies  before 
day -break,  and  receive  from  no  other  hand  than  that  of  the 
President.  We  make  oblations  for  the  dead  annually,  on 
the  day  of  their  death.  We  account  it  wrong  to  fast  or  to 
kneel  during  prayer,  on  the  Lord's  day.  We  enjoy  the 
same  immunity  from  Easter  to  Whitsuntide.  When  we 
set  out  on  any  journey,  every  time  we  go  out  from  our 
houses,  and  on  our  return  to  them,  when  we  put  on  our 
clothes  and  our  shoes,  when  we  bathe,  when  we  sit  down 
to  table,  when  we  light  the  lamps,  when  we  retire  to  our 
bed-chambers,  when  we  recline  upon  couches,  whatever 
subject  engrosses  our  attention,  at  the  time  of  commencing 
each  of  these  acts,  we  invariably  trace  upon  our  foreheads 
the  sign  of  the  cross."-''  He  proceeds  to  tell  us  that  "  tra- 
dition is  the  author,  custom  the  confirmer,  and  faith  the 
observer  of  all  these  ceremonies.""  We  have  already  dis- 
cussed the  question  of  doctrinal  tradition  ;-^  that  of  tradi- 
tional ceremonies  may  conveniently  be  deferred,  until  we 
come  to  consider  the  ecclesiastical  polity  of  the  first  and 
second  centuries.  But  we  may  here  remark  upon  the 
customs  recorded  in  this  passage  generally,  that  though 
some  of  them  may  be  innocent,  and  others  even  laudable, 
they  are,  nevertheless,  by  no  means  free  from  the  taint  of 
heathenism  ;  and  are  conceived  in  the  true  spirit  of  those 
"  profane  and  old  wives'  fables,""  which  St.  Paul,  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  commanded  Timothy  to  "  refuse.""^^  But,  the 
evil,  after  all,  was  not  that  they  existed,  but  that  they 
were  made  part  and  parcel  of  Christianity  in  the  theology 

20  Tertull.  de  Corona  JVIilitis,  c.  4.  21  Chap.  III. 

22  1  Tim.  iv.  7. 


128 

of  the  times,  for  tliey  were  certainly  accounted  as  such 
by  Tertulhan. 

The  opinions  of  the  early  fathers,  therefore,  regarding 
the  worship  of  God,  evidently  tended  to  confer  an  undue 
importance  upon  the  innate  powers  of  man,  and  upon  the 
mere  outward  rite ;  errors  which  necessarily  obscured 
and  put  aside  the  doctrine  of  divine  assistance,  conferring 
purity  of  motive  upon  the  accepted  worshipper,  which  is 
the  leading  characteristic  of  the  Christian  religion. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


CELIBACY  AND  THE  PERPETUAL  VIRGINITY. 

So  far  as  we  have  hitherto  pursued  our  investigation,  it 
apparently  leads  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  spirit  of  Chris- 
tianity, in  these  early  times,  was  undergoing  a  process  of 
gradual  assimilation  to  that  of  the  false  or  abolished 
religions,  in  the  prepossessions  of  which  all  its  first  con- 
verts had  been  educated.  The  two  points  of  ecclesiastical 
discipline  we  are  now  about  to  consider.  Celibacy  and 
Fasting,  will  still  more  strikingly  illustrate  and  confirm 
this  view  of  the  subject.    We  commence  with  the  former. 

The  false  doctrine  which  asserts  the  superior  sanctity 
of  religious  celibates,  is  an  error  whose  influence  is  by  no 
meai\s  departed  at  the  present  day,  though  greatly  dimi- 
nished. The  origin  of  the  opinion  is  likewise  perfectly 
apparent,  in  the  writers  whose  works  are  before  us.  It  is, 
therefoi-e,  important,  that  we  should  consider  the  question, 
even  if  it  be  only  for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  very  little 
practical  effect,  which  the  teachings  and  writings  of  the 
inspired  apostles  must  have  produced  upon  their  imme- 
diate successors,  when  an  error  so  plainly  pointed  out, 
and  so  unequivocally  repudiated  by  them,  receives,  not- 
withstanding, a  strong  sanction  from  the  works  of  the 
early  fathers. 

The  only  two  passages  which  could  have  afforded  the 


130 

appearance  of  a  scriptural  foundation  for  the  doctrine, 
either  so  carefully  limit  the  advice  they  convey  (for  com- 
mand there  is  none)  to  circumstances  occurring,  or  arising 
out  of  the  state  and  prospects  of  religion  at  tlie  time  they 
were  delivered,  or  so  strictly  confine  it  to  the  individual 
conscience  of  the  Christian,  and  so  perfectly  fence  it  off" 
from  all  interference  on  the  part  of  the  church,  that  it 
seems  incredible,  that  the  error  could  have  originated  in 
them.  One  of  these,  is  a  place  of  great  obscurity,  and 
of  very  doubtful  application ;  and  even  if  we  admit,  that 
it  applies  to  Christianity  at  all  times  (as  the  early  fathers 
have  interpreted  it,)  the  precept  it  conveys  only  amounts 
to  the  general  position,  that  the  consciences  of  some  indi- 
viduals, among  the  disciples  of  Christ,  may  be  persuaded, 
that  they  will  better  promote  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  if 
they  remain  single,  than  if  they  marry  :^  the  other^  is  an 
uninspired  opinion,  given  for  the  existing  necessity  ;  when 
the  writer,  St.  Paul,  was  prescient,  by  the  spirit  of  pro- 
phecy, of  a  persecution  then  imminent  over  the  church  he 
was  addressing,  and  is  therefore  obviously  incapable  of  any 
more  general  application.  But  when  we  find  the  same 
apostle  declaring,  with  plenary  inspiration,  that  "  forbid- 
ding to  marry  is  the  doctrine  of  fiends,"^  and  that  "  mar- 
riage is  honourable  unto  all,"^  we  can  hesitate  no  longer. 
It  is  morally  impossible  that  the  notions  upon  this  subject 
which  so  soon  led  to  monachism,  with  all  its  follies  and 
crimes,  could  have  been  even  suggested  by  the  New  Tes- 

1  Matt.  xix.  12.  To  understand  the  allusion  fully,  it  should  be  borne 
in  mind,  that  celibacy  was  accounted  an  absolute  crime  among  the  Jews  : 
the  doctrine,  therefore,  that  a  person  abstaining  from  marriage  could  serve 
God  acceptably  at  all,  was  probably  new  to  many  of  our  Lord's  hearers. 

-  1  Cor.  vii. 

;t  1  Tim.  iv.  1,  :i. 

->  Heb.  xiii.  4. 


131 

tament,  unless  some  powerful  prepossession  had  biassed  the 
interpretation. 

But  can  it  be  shown  that  monastic  notions  existed  in 
times  antecedent  to  the  first  propagation  of  Christianity  ? 
We  conceive  that  this  question  will  be  satisfactorily  an- 
swered in  the  affirmative,  by  the  canon  of  discipline  pre- 
scribed to  his  followers  by  Pythagoras  of  Crotona  in 
Grecian  Italy,  who  flourished  about  five  hundred  years 
before  the  Christian  era.  He  required  of  those  who  aspi- 
red to  be  his  disciples,  and  their  number  was  very  great, 
a  commencing-probation  of  five  years'*  silence ;  during 
which,  they  listened  daily  to  the  maxims  of  wisdom  which 
fell  from  the  lips  of  the  philosopher  ;  but  until  that  period 
had  elapsed,  they  never  beheld  his  person.  The  purport 
of  these  instructions  was  in  unison  with  the  policy  of  this 
concealment. — While  the  one  inspired  them  with  a  reve- 
rential awe  of  his  presence,  the  other  exhorted  them  to  an 
entire  submission  of  their  wills  to  his,  in  all  things. 

His  course  of  discipline  was  exceedingly  severe.  Ani- 
mal food  was  altogether  forbidden  in  the  earlier  stages  of 
it,  and  even  those  roots  and  herbs  that  needed  cookinp- : 
while  of  the  allowed  food,  none  were  permitted  to  eat  to 
satiety. — Water  was  their  only  beverage. — Their  dress  was 
a  perfectly  clean  white  woollen  garment.  They  were  for- 
bidden to  laugh  or  jest ;  to  indulge  in  either  joy  or  sor- 
row ;  anger  also  was  to  be  entirely  subdued.  In  a  word, 
for  every  emotion  of  the  mind,  for  every  action  of  their 
lives,  for  every  hour  of  the  day,  a  strict  rule  was  pre- 
scribed to  them.  As  Avhole  nations  became  his  disciples, 
it  was  impossible  for  him  to  prohibit  marriage ;  but  he 
evidently  greatly  discouraged  it.  His  immediate  disci- 
ples had  all  things  in  common ;  and  lived  together  in  a 
spacious  building  which  he  erected  neai-  his  own  dwelling, 


132 

in  order  that  he  might  there  enforce  the  observance  of  his 
rule  of  discipline.  All  these  privations  he  called  upon 
them  to  submit  to,  that  they  might  thereby  be  prepared 
to  see  the  gods ;  a  blessing  only  attainable  by  the 
possessor  of  a  perfectly  clean  body,  enveloped  in  a  white 
garment.  Pythagoras,  we  are  informed,  learnt  these  doc- 
trines from  certain  Indian  Gymnosophists  or  Brachmans, 
whom  he  met  with  at  Babylon.  I  believe  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  name  the  individual,  whose  opinions  exercised 
so  powerful  an  influence  over  the  religion  and  philosophy 
of  Greece,  as  Pythagoras  of  Crotona.  But  his  code  of 
discipline  embodies,  not  only  the  elements,  but  the  very 
details  of  monasticism  ;  wliich,  in  every  form  it  assumes, 
is  always  based  upon  these  two  principles ; — entire  sub- 
mission to  the  will  of  the  superior,  and  the  purification  of 
the  soul,  by  the  mortification  of  the  body. 

Nor  was  it  from  the  Pythagorean  philosophy  alone, 
that  the  early  Christians  derived  those  monastic  notions, 
which  they  did  not,  could  not,  find  in  the  Bible. 

The  Jewish  sect,  called  Essasi,  or  Essenes,  were  much 
spoken  of  about  the  time  of  our  Saviour''s  birth.  They 
are  said  by  Josephus,''  and  Philo,''  to  have  been  then 
in  number  about  four  thousand :  and  in  the  account 
of  their  customs  given  by  these  authors,  we  discover  an 
astonishing  agreement  with  the  discipline  of  Pythagoras. 
The  probation  of  the  novices  was  completed  in  three  years; 
during  this  time  they  were,  in  the  first  place,  inured  to  the 
most  laborious  and  self-denying  exercises  ;  after  one  year, 
they  were  permitted  to  minister  to  the  elder  brethren  at 
meals,  and  in  the  bath,  but  were  not  allowed  even  to  enter 
the  house  where  they  resided,  until  the  end  of  the  third 
year.    They  were  incessantly  taught  the  necessity  of  entire 

■''  Ant.,  lib.  18.  c.  I.  **  ■^np'i  'EXtv^fiplies. 


133 

obedience  to  all  their  commands  and  wishes  :  and,  though 
daily  permitted   to   sit  at   their  feet,    and  listen   to  their 
instructions,  were  never  allowed  to  speak  in  their  presence. 
The  resemblance  is  preserved  throughout  tlie  entire  course 
of  their  discipline. — Simplicity  and  frugality  in  diet  were 
among  the  fundamental  maxims  of  both   sects.     It  is  not 
probable  that  the  Essenes  were  allowed  the  use  of  any  animal 
food  whatever ;  they  appear  to  have  had  a  horror  of  taking 
animal  life,  like  the  Pythagoreans  ;   and,  like  that  sect,  they 
also  refused  to  offer  bloody  sacrifices,  but  sent  meat-offer- 
ings to  the  temple  at  Jerusalem:  for  they  never  entered  that, 
or  any  other  city  themselves,  through  fear  of  being  polluted, 
by  contact  with  the  uninitiated.     Their  dress  was  a  clean 
white  garment ;  and  cleanliness  with  them,  as  with  the  Py- 
thagoreans, was  a  most  important  part  of  their  religion  : — 
they  always  bathed  in  pure  spring-water  before  their  de- 
votions.    Their  ethical  code  was  evidently  founded  upon 
the  Mosaic  records  ;  they  Avere  taught  the  most  exact  per- 
formance of  their  word  :  and  in  every  other  particular,  it 
as  much  excelled  that  of  Pythagoras,  as  the  morality  of 
the  Decalogue  exceeds  that  of  the  Greek  philosophy.     But 
the  same  strict  rules,  both  of  living  and  thinking,  were 
imposed  in  both  disciplines  ;  bearing,  even  in  their  details, 
a  very  extraordinary  resemblance  to  each  other  :  and  in 
both,  they  produced  precisely  the  same  effect,  in  repressing 
and    subduing   the   passions   and   emotions   of  the   mind. 
The  Essenes  were  remarkable  for  their  sober  and  ffrave 
deportment,  and  for  their  vmflinching  firmness  in  enduring 
tortures.     Still  preserving  the  close  resemblance  which  we 
are  endeavouring  to  point  out,  they  also  enjoined,  and  very 
generally  observed,  celibacy,  though  some  of  them  were 
allowed  to  marry.     Their  avowed  purpose,  in  this  course 
of  discipline,  was,  by  the  mortification  and  maceration  of 


134 

the  body,  to  afford  to  the  soul  a  greater  facility  in  obeying 
the  attraction  upwards,  by  which  it  was  always  influenced. 
— They  professed  the  utmost  reverence  for  the  law  and 
institutions  of  Moses  :  but  their  ritual  was  by  no  means 
free  from  idolatrous  practices.  They  addressed  their  pray- 
ers to  the  sun  in  the  morning  before  he  rose. 

Now  it  is  plainly  impossible  that  all  these  coinciden- 
ces should  occur  in  two  systems,  both  springing  up  about 
the  same  time,  in  regions  so  Avidely  separated,  unless  their 
founders  had  originally  drawn  from  the  same  source.  It 
must  also  be  remembered,  that  the  Essenes  begin  to  be 
noticed  in  Jewish  history  almost  immediately  upon  the 
return  from  the  second  captivity. — Is  it  not,  then,  highly 
probable,  that  it  was  at  Babylon  that  the  Jews,  as  well  as 
Pythagoras,  first  learnt  these  very  peculiar  notions,  and 
from  the  same  instructors  also,  the  Brachmans  or  Indian 
Gymnosophists  ? — If  it  be  allowed  me  for  a  moment  to 
pursue  this  digression,  it  was  just  about  the  period  we  are 
considering,  that  the  followers  of  the  extraordinary  being 
Buddhu,  the  great  reformer  of  the  Hindu  mythology, 
experienced  a  fierce  persecution  from  the  adherents  of  the 
ancient  religion,  which  terminated  in  their  expulsion  from 
peninsular  India.  The  votaries  of  Buddhu  fled  eastward 
and  northward,  planting,  in  some  of  the  Hindu-Chinese 
nations,  their  religion  unimpaired ;  in  others,  engrafting 
their  strange  notions  of  contemplative  Theism  upon  the 
prevalent  idolatries.  That  they  also  fled  westward,  there 
can,  I  think,  be  little  doubt :  we  recognise  them  in  the 
Brachmani  of  wiiom  frequent  mention  is  made,  both  in 
the  later  philosophical,  and  the  ecclesiastical,  writings ; — the 
name  of  Buddhu  himself  is  also  known  to  these  authors ;  he 
is  mentioned  by  C'lcnicnt  of  Alexandria  as  the  head  of  one 
sect  of  the  Indian  Gymnosophists :  a  circumstance  in  itself 


135 

sufficient  to  prove  that  the  Brachmani  with  whom  the  Greek 
philosophers  came  in  contact  were  Buddhists.  ^ — Had  they 
been  professors  of  Brahminism,  they  certainly  would  have 
reported  nothing  good  of  Buddhu.  Neither  do  we  offer 
any  great  violence  to  probability  by  the  conjecture,  that 
traces  of  their  presence  are  discernible  at  this  day,  in  the 
Soofees  of  Persia ;  a  sect  of  Mohammedan  deists,  who 
profess  to  attain  to  assimilation  with  the  nature  of  God, 
by  the  incessant  contemplation  of  the  divine  perfections  ; 
and  whose  name  is  derived  from  the  white  woollen  garment, 
which  is  the  badge  of  their  profession."  But  whether  the 
notions  of  Pythagoras  and  the  Essenes  originated  with 
Buddhu  or  not,  the  important  and  difficult  question  of  the 
rise  and  progress  of  the  principle  of  monasticism,  can 
never  be  fairly  and  fully  discussed,  vmless  it  be  taken  into 
consideration,  that  the  countries  in  which  Buddhism  is  the 
established  religion,  abound  with  convents  qviite  as  much 
as  those  which  profess  the  corrupt  and  debased  Christianity 
of  the  Middle  Ages ;  and  that  the  rules  and  regulations  of 
the  two  agree  with  such  wonderful  exactness,  that  the 
Catholic  missionaries  in  Thibet  were  driven  by  it  to  the 
old  subterfuge  of  supposing,  that  the  author  of  evil  him- 
self, seeing  the  essential  benefits  which  had  been  thereby 
conferred  upon  the  Catholic  church,  had  inspired  the 
priests  of  the  Great  Lama  with  the  Benedictine  rule ;  in 
the  hope  that  in  their  hands,  it  would  equally  benefit 
his  own  cause.  But  this  is  not  the  place  where  such  an 
enquiry  can   with    propriety  be   pursued.       Our   present 

7  1  Strom.,  §  15.  "  Some  of  the  Indians  obey  the  precepts  of  Butta, 
and  honour  him  as  a  God  on  account  of  his  virtue."  In  the  same  passage 
he  divides  the  Indian  Gymnosophists  into  two  classes,  the  Sarmani  and 
the  Brachmani. 

"  Malcolm's  History  of  Persia. 


136 

purpose  is  abundantly  answered  if  we  have  shown,  that 
Christianity  was  neither  the  author  nor  the  abettor  of  the 
abominations  of  monasticism ;  they  were  already  rife  in 
the  world  when  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  first  appeared ; 
— with  the  Jews  as  the  highly  popular  tenets  of  the  sect 
of  the  Essenes/'  and  with  the  Greeks  under  the  still  more 
influential  form  of  the  Pythagorean  philosophy. 

We  shall  soon  find  how  deeply  the  minds  of  the 
early  fathers  were  imbued  with  monastic  notions,  regarding 
celibacy  :  though  our  quotations  from  them  will  be  neces- 
sarily limited  by  the  nature  of  the  subject,  and  by  the 
unseemly  manner  in  which  they  too  often  treat  it. 

The  earliest  proof  I  can  discover  of  this  bias  towards 
celibacy  is  in  the  epistle  of  Ignatius  to  the  Smyrnseans ; 
at  the  conclusion  of  which,  the  first  notice  occurs  of  an 
order  of  female  ecclesiastics.  St.  Paul  had  directed  that 
certain  portions  of  the  funds  of  the  church  should  be  set 
apart  for  the  maintenance  of  aged  widows  : — it  appears 
from  the  passage  before  us,  that  unmarried  women  were 
also  supported  by  this  fund,  who  were  named  by  a  most 
uncouth  solecism,  Virgin- Widows. — Tertullian  plainly 
hints,  that  in  his  time,  the  practice  had  opened  the  door 
to  great  licentiousness,  and  very  properly  denominates 
them  monstrum  in  ecclesid}^  The  virginal  ecclesiastics 
of   the   other    sex    also  seem  to   have  occasioned  scandal 

y  This  coincidence  was  observed  long  ago  :  Eusebius  the  historian, 
quotes  at  length  Philo's  account  of  the  Therapcutae,  or  Essenes  of  Egypt, 
points  out  the  many  agreements  between  their  regulations,  and  those  of  the 
Christian  monastic  system  which  prevailed  in  his  time  ;  and  from  thence 
comes  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  Therapeutoe  were  Christians.  He  does  not 
seem  for  a  moment,  to  have  entertained  the  fact  of  the  case,  that  the  Chris- 
tians liad  become  Therapeuta- — Euscb.  Eccl.  Hist.,  lib.  2. 

'"  Miraculum,  nc  dicerini  monptrum  in  ecclesia  virgo-vidua.  —  Dc 
I'iiy.  I'd.,  c.  9. 


137 

and  inconvenience  to  the  church,  even  in  the  days  of 
Ignatius  ;  he  hints  at  this  in  his  epistle  to  Polycarp, 
(c.  5.)  "If  any  man  can  remain  in  a  virgin  state  to 
the  honovir  of  the  flesh  of  Christ,  let  him  remain,  without 
boasting  :  but  if  he  boast  he  is  undone." 

Three  heretical  sects  are  enumerated  by  Irenaeus,  who 
declared  marriage  to  be  unlawful  and  sinful.'^  The  reasons 
assigned  for  its  prohibition  by  some  of  these  Heresiarchs, 
are  so  shockingly  indecent  and  profane,  that  one  cannot 
help  hoping  that  the  polemical  furor  of  their  orthodox  an- 
tagonists has  carried  them  somewhat  beyond  the  bounds  of 
exact  truth,  in  stating  the  opinions  they  are  combatting : 
but  the  maintenance  of  such  a  doctrine,  by  persons  who 
scarcely  regarded  the  Bible  at  all  in  their  wild  mythic  sys- 
tems, sufficiently  proves,  that  it  was  not  in  the  regulations 
which  Christianity  prescribes  to  the  baser  passions,  that 
the  monastic  reverie  of  the  sanctity  of  celibacy  originated. 

In  the  writings  of  TertuUian  we  shall  find  the  ful- 
lest exposition  of  the  doctrine  of  the  church  in  the  second 
century,  upon  this  point  also. — We  have  two  tracts  from 
his  pen  upon  the  subject, ^^  both  written  after  his  con- 
version to  Montanism  ;^^  and,  of  course,  with  an  especial 
view  to  the  establishment  of  the  new  doctrine  revealed  by 

^1  The  Saturnine  Gnostics,  Adv.  Hcer.^  lib.  1.  c.  22;  the  Marcionites, 
id.  c.  30.,  and  the  followers  of  Tatian,  id.  c.  31.  The  errors  of  Marcion  are 
very  diffusely  stated  and  refuted  by  TertuUian,  adversiis  Marcionem :  and 
those  of  both  Marcion  and  Tatian  by  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  Stromates 
II.  III.,  as  well  as  by  Irenaeus. 

12  De  Exhortatione  Castitatis  and  de  Monogamia. 

^^  The  two  letters  of  TertuUian  ad  Udorem.,  dissuading  his  wife  from 
second  marriage,  and  probably  written  in  the  immediate  prospect  of  his 
own  dissolution,  are  dictated  by  so  very  natural  and  allowable  a  feeling, 
and,  moreover,  breathe  throughout,  so  pure  a  spirit  of  conjugal  affection, 
that  I  cannot  bring  myself  to  include  them  in  the  cen.surc,  I  am  compelled 
to  pass  upon  his  other  works  on  this  subject. 


138 

that  entliusiast,  the  entire  prohibition  of  second  marriages : 
— ^and  that  in  enforcing  this  prohibition  he  committed  no 
offence  against  the  orthodoxy  of  the  times,  is  evident,  in 
the  circumstance,  that  some  of  his  silliest  arguments  are 
copied,  almost  verbatim,  in  the  Epistolae  familiares  of 
the  fiery  bigot,  Jerome,^*  with  a  large  accession  of  foul 
language  from  the  exhaustless  vocabulary  of  the  latter 
saint.  The  mode  in  which  he  speaks  of  marriage,  in 
every  form,  throughout  these  tracts,  is  abundantly  con- 
firmatory of  the  view  we  are  taking  of  the  question. — 
Nothing  can  be  more  plainly  stated,  than  his  conviction, 
that  there  is  a  peculiar  sanctity  inherent  in  virginity  to 
which  married  persons  can  never  attain.  He  asserts  that, 
in  a  well-known  passage  of  Scripture  upon  this  subject,^^ 
the  prohibitions  to  marry  are  revealed,  while  the  permissions 
are  only  the  unassisted  opinions  of  the  writer,^*' — A  most 
palpable  mistake  ;  inasmuch  as  St.  Paul  expressly  states 
therein,  that  "  concerning  virgins  he  has  no  commandment 
of  the  Lord  f'^*^  and  never  mentions  the  subject,  without 
repeating  the  same  caution. ^^  He  likewise  continually 
endeavours  to  run  parallels  between  marriage,  and  the  vio- 
lation of  the  seventh  Commandment ;  both  he  declares  to 
be  the  same  in  kind,  that  is,  both  unlawful,  but  different 
in  degree.^^  He  argues,  that  Avhat  it  is  good  for  a  man 
not  to  do,^"  it  is  bad  for  him  to  do  ;^'  and  makes  no  secret 
of  his  desire  to  destroy  marriage  altogether,  because  it 
consists  of  that  which  is  pollution  :  "it  follows,  therefore, 
that  it  is  best  for  a  man  not  to  touch  a  woman  ;  and  the 
main  sanctity  of  the  virginal   state  consists  in  its  entire 

14  Lib.  3.,  Epis.  u,  of  the  selection  of  Canisius.  15  1  Cor.  vii. 

l'>  Dc  Exhortatione  Castitatis,  cc.  3,  4. 

17  1  Cor.  vii.  25.  1"  vv.  6,  7,  12,  2C,  40.  19  Dc  Exh.  Cas.  c.  i). 

2"  1  Cor.  vii.  1.  -1  De  Monogamia,  c.  if. 


139 

freedom  from  all  affinity  with  fornication.'"^^  He  proceeds 
thus  to  recommend  celibacy  : — "  by  continence  thou  shalt 
acquire  great  wealth  of  sanctity  ;  by  impoverishing  the 
flesh  thou  shalt  enrich  the  spirit. — When  the  continent 
man  prays  to  the  Lord  he  is  near  heaven,  when  he  reads 
the  Scriptures  he  is  altogether  there,  when  he  sings  a  psalm 
his  heart  sings  also,  when  he  adjures  a  demon  he  has  faith  in 
himself.  If  prayer  out  of  a  pure  heart  alone  be  profitable 
we  must  always  exercise  ourselves  in  continence,  that  our 
prayers  may  always  profit  vis.  If  prayer  be  needful  for 
men,  daily  and  every  moment,  to  just  the  same  extent  is 
virginity  also  needful.  Prayer  proceeds  from  the  con- 
science, and  if  the  conscience  blushes  the  prayer  blushes 
also."-^  The  tendency  of  all  this  is  perfectly  obvious ;  a 
certain  degree  of  pollution  is  necessarily  contracted  by  mar- 
ried persons,  from  whicli  celibates  alone  are  free.  Or,  to 
approach  nearer  than  I  had  intended,  to  the  bounds  which 
modern  custom  has  most  properly  prescribed  to  this  hateful 
subject,  no  perpetuation  of  the  human  species  can  take 
place  under  any  circumstances,  but  the  consciences  of  the 
parents  are  thereby  necessarily  exposed  to  a  certain  degree 
of  sinful  defilement.  This  was  certainly  the  doctrine  of 
Tertullian  :  and  I  again  deny  that  there  is  any  passage  of 
Scripture  which  sanctions  such  an  opinion. 

In  Clement  of  Alexandria  the  subject  of  marriage  is 
also  diffusely  treated  upon — The  last  chapter  of  the  second 
and  the  whole  of  the  third  book  of  the  Stromates,  are  almost 

22  De  Exhor.  Cast.,  c.  9 — Elsewhere  he  declares  that  marriage  is  the 
ordinance  of  an  imperfect  and  immature  dispensation  ;  and  that  the  pri- 
maeval law  which  occasioned  the  necessity  for  it,  (Gen.  i.  28,)  was  abrogated 
by  the  complete  revelation  of  Montanus.  It  appears  to  have  been  his 
notion,  that  the  perfection  of  Christianity  would  bring  about  the  end  of 
the  world,  by  extinguishing  the  human  race  ! — Adv.  Marc.  I.  29. 

23  Id.,  c.  10. 


140 

entirely  occupied  with  it.  This  long  dissertation  is  somewhat 
more  lucidly  arranged  than  is  usual  with  its  author. — He 
tells  us,  that  all  the  heretical  notions  upon  marriage  then 
existing  might  be  divided  into  two  classes ;  the  one  con- 
sisting of  those  who  held  licentious  doctrines,  the  other  of 
those  whose  rule  of  morals  exceeded  that  of  the  Scripture, 
and  who  refused  the  gifts  of  providence  through  hatred  to 
the  Giver  f^  both  these  he  refutes.  Against  licentiousness, 
his  doctrine  is  unexceptionable,  and  he  qviotes  pertinent 
passages  of  Scripture,  for  the  most  part,  in  support  of  it.^^ 
— But  he  also  falls  into  the  same  error  which  he  afterwards 
condemns  :  he  frames  a  stricter  rule  than  the  scriptural 
one. — His  net  has  so  broad  a  cast,  and  so  wide  a  sweep, 
that  it  is  next  to  impossible  that  the  consciences  of  married 
persons  should  not  be  entangled  therein. ^^  Though  in 
my  judgment,  no  error  has  been  more  deeply  fraught  with 
disastrous  consequences  to  society  than  tliis,  I,  of  course, 
decline  any  lengthened  remarks  upon  such  a  subject. 
But  we  may  here  notice,  as  one  of  its  evil  effects,  the 
unnatural  abomination  of  virgin  marriages ;  which  the 
present  author  certainly  countenances,^^  which  Tertullian 
strongly  recommends,^  and  which  appears  to  have  attained 
to  its  perfection  about  the  times  of  Jerome.-^ 

24  3  Strom.,  §  5. 

25  Idem,  §  5,  14,  18. 

26  See  idem,  §  11,  and  throughout  there  is  a  constant  allusion  toil. 
See  also  Paed.,  lib.  2.  c.  10,  which  is  still  worse.  Something  not  very 
unlike  it  will  also  be  found  in  Bishop  Taylor's  "  Rules  and  Exercises  of 
Holy  Living,"  c  2.,  §  3. — A  book  as  a  composition,  exquisitely  beautiful, 
but  which  would  have  proved  more  acceptable  to  the  Church  of  Christ. 
had  it  contained  more  of  the  religion  of  the  Bible,  and  less  of  that  of  the 
fathers. 

27  3  Strom.,  §  6. 

2fl  De  Monog.,  c.  9. 
29  U.  s.  passim. 


141 


Upon  the  other  class  of  errors  his  remarks  are  scrip- 
tural and  sensible,  for  the  most  part  :  he  boldly  declares, 
that  "  if  the  law  is  holy,  marriage  is  holy  also  ;  that  mar- 
riage and  fornication  are  as  far  asunder  as  God  and  the 
Devil ;  and  that  it  is  quite  impossible  that  the  apostolic 
injunctions  to  moderation  and  continence  could  be  intended 
to  abrogate  or  prohibit  marriage,  inasmuch  as  the  same 
epistles  contain  also  innumerable  injunctions  regarding  the 
duties  of  the  married  state.'''^*'  It  is  plain  from  hence, 
that  the  schools  of  Alexandria  and  of  Carthage,  were  at 
issue  upon  this  point ;  and  it  is  equally  certain  that  the 
latter  ultimately  prevailed  in  good  measure.  Jerome,  as  we 
have  seen,  adopts  all  the  opinions  of  Tertullian  the  Monta- 
nist  upon  this  subject ;  though  he  attacks  Montanus  with 
great  acrimony.''^  Several  other  passages  occur  in  the  work 
before  us  to  the  same  purport  as  that  we  have  just  quoted  : 
but  as  they  throw  no  new  light  upon  the  question,  we  con- 
tent ourselves  with  merely  referring  to  them  :^^ — they  are, 
with  the  abatement  we  have  pointed  out,  scriptural  and 
good. 

We  should,  however,  give  a  very  wrong  impression  of 
this  father's  opinions  upon  the  subject,  if  we  did  not  also  quote 
his  remarks  upon  the  other  aspect  of  it.  Second  marriages, 
in  one  place,^  he  permits,  with  St.  Paul  ;  in  another, 
he  declares  that  monogamy  is  enjoined  f^  and  stigmatises 

30  3  Strom.,  §  12. 

31  U.  s.,  lib.  3.,  Ep.  11,  ad  Marcellam. 
3-'  3  Strom.,  §  4,  6,  9,  &c. 

33  Idem,  §  1. 

34  Idem,  §  12.  By  monogamy  he  means  one  marriage  only,  like  Ter- 
tullian, as  well  as  monogamy,  as  distinguished  from  polygamy;  though 
he  sometimes  makes  the  distinction  :  f^ovoyccfilav  xai  r/iv  i-ipi  rov  'iva  yaf^ov 
(Tif^voTttra,  §  1  ;  so  also,  §  12,  i-po;  Ivrpo-rhv  oi  x«]  avocKO'T'/iv  rav  iVi'TKpipuii 
siV   Tov  'SiVTiptv  yafjinv. 


142 

second  marriage  as  fornication.^^  I  think  liis  mind  was  by 
no  means  settled  upon  this  question,  and  that  he  did  not 
sufficiently  distinguish  between  second  marriages  and  poly- 
gamy. 

Upon  the  subject  of  celibacy,  he  has  likewise  fallen 
into  the  error  we  have  noticed  in  the  preceding  authors. — 
He  speaks  of  a  profession  of  celibacy  as  a  great  grace,  for 
which  those  to  whom  it  is  imparted  should  thank  God, 
and  not  despise  those  who  are  married.""^  He  exhorts 
them  to  adhere  to  their  choice  and  not  deflect  from  it ;  and 
to  encourage  them  in  it,  he  tells  them  that  "  he  who  shall 
be  able  to  extend  and  increase  the  severity  of  his  course  of 
life,  shall  thereby  acquire  greater  dignity  with  God  on 
account  of  his  pure  continence,  perfected  according  to  his 
word:  but  if  he  transgress  the  rule  he  hath  chosen,  the 
stricter  that  rule  the  greater  will  his  failure  be."^^  His  no- 
tion was  evidently,  that  matrimony  and  celibacy  were  two 
separate  vocations,  in  both  of  which  it  was  in  the  power 
of  men  to  serve  God : — and  though  he  equalises  their 
capacities  in  this  respect,  to  a  much  greater  extent  than 
Tertullian,  he,  nevertheless,  gives  the  preference,  for  the 
purposes  of  religion,  to  celibacy :  and  that,  not  in  order 
that  the  believer  thus  unencumbered,  might  go  forth  to 
preach  the  gospel,  and  endure  hardness  as  a  good  soldier 
of  Jesus  Christ,  but  that  he  might  be  able  to  give  himself 
more  unreservedly  to  the  contemplation  of  divine  things, 
to  harmonising  the  Greek  philosophy  with  Christianity, 
and  to  the  fantastical  interpretation  of  Scripture,  wherein, 
as  he  supposed,  the  true  Christian  Gnosis  consisted. 

There  is  another  fiction  in  Christianity,  which  origina- 
ted in  these  notions ;  and  Clement  of  Alexandria  has  the 
bad  eminence  of  being  the  first  author  of  account  who  has 

•V,  g  12.  ^C>  §  18.  ^7  §  12. 


143 

promulgated  it.  We  need  not  say  that  there  is  not  a 
shadow  of  scriptural  authority  for  the  doctrine  of  the  per- 
petual virginity  of  the  mother  of  our  Lord.  That  tlie 
common  speech  of  the  Jews  used  in  the  Gospels,  which  was 
never  very  precise  in  its  definitions  of  degrees  of  relation- 
ship, may  have  left  room  for  the  construction  of  an  oppo- 
site argument,  is  not  the  question  ;  for,  though  I  might 
be  inclined  to  regard  that  argument  as  a  highly  artificial, 
and  even  fallacious  one,  I  do  not  insist  upon  this  point ; 
but  assuming  what  cannot  readily  be  denied,  that  we  have 
no  revelation  upon  the  subject,  I  would  regard  it  under 
another  aspect. 

The  perpetual  virginity,  and  its  concomitant  fables, 
the  advanced  age,  previous  marriage,  and  family  of  sons, 
of  Joseph,  the  husband  of  Mary,  are  never  mentioned,  or 
hinted  at,  by  Clemens  Romanus,  Barnabas,  Ignatius,  or 
Polycarp  ;  and  if  their  silence  makes  but  little  for  our 
argument,  it  at  any  rate  proves  nothing  against  it.  But 
the  entire  absence  of  all  allusion  to  the  perpetual  virginity 
in  the  Shepherd  of  Hermas  is,  I  think,  more  important, 
as  evidence  against  its  antiquity  ;  there  are  so  many  places 
in  the  book  where  it  would  have  served  the  autlior's  pur- 
pose, that  it  is  surprising,  to  say  the  least,  he  should  not 
have  made  use  of  it. 

We  now  proceed  to  the  second  century.  I  can- 
not find  even  a  hint  at  the  perpetual  virginity  in  Justin 
Martyr,  though  he  frequently  alludes  to  the  miraculous 
conception  in  his  works  ;  and  in  a  manner  which  shows 
him  to  have  been  by  no  means  untainted  with  the  error  we 
are  now  considering.^"^ 

It  is  not  alluded  to  in  the  writings  of  his  pupils. 

33  See  Apol.  I.,  p.  74.  C,  &c.     Dial,  cum  Tryph.,  pp.  2G2.  B.,  200.  B., 
297.  C,  327.  C,  &c. 


144 

Irenaeus  follows  Justin,  in  driving  a  comparison  be- 
tween the  Virgin  Eve,  in  whom  all  men  died,  and  the 
.Virgin  Mary,  in  whose  offspring  all  were  made  alive ;  but 
far  from  any  hint  at  the  perpetual  virginity,  he  carries 
on  the  resemblance  to  the  espousal  of  Joseph  and  Mary, 
which  he  compares  with  that  of  Adam  and  Eve.^^ 

We  have  already  seen  that  Tertullian  was  engaged  in 
a  controversy  regarding  virginity  and  second  marriages ; 
and  that  many  of  his  extant  works  were  occasioned  by  it. 
Now,  upon  both  these  points,  can  we  conceive  of  any 
thing  more  important  or  influential,  than  the  example  of 
the  Virgin  Mary  ?  The  absence,  therefore,  of  all  allusion 
to  the  perpetual  virginity,  on  the  part  of  the  Montanists, 
and  of  even  a  hint,  at  the  second  marriage  which,  accord- 
ing to  these  fables,  brought  the  birth  of  our  Lord  within 
the  pale  of  the  Divine  Law,  on  the  part  of  the  Sensu- 
alists, is,  perhaps,  as  strong  a  negative  testimony  against 
their  doctrinal  existence  at  the  time,  as  could  well  be 
imagined. 

But  what  shall  we  say,  when  we  find  the  same 
writer  zealously  defending  the  relationship  of  consan- 
guinity between  Christ,  his  mother,  and  brethren,  in  a 
comment  upon  Matt.  xii.  47-,  against  Apelles  and  other 
heretics,  who  denied  it,  for  the  purpose  of  impugning 
our  Lord's  humanity  ?^'^  nay,  absolutely  doubting  that 
Mary  was  then  a  believer  in  her  son's  doctrine  !  and  wind- 
ing up  a  long  train  of  reasoning,  all  to  the  same  effect, 
with    a    denial   of    the   perpetual    virginity    in   good    set 

39  Ircn.  adv.  Hair.,  lib.  3.  c  S."}.,  lib.  .''i.  c.  19. 

*•  De  Came  Christi,  c.  7-  In  the  same  book  he  copies  the  two  pre- 
ceding authors  in  the  parallel  between  Eve  and  Mary,  c.  17i  and  though 
many  circumstances  in  the  fable  we  are  combatting  would  have  greatly 
aided  his  illustration,  he  does  not  allude  to  one  of  them. 


145 

terms  !  !^'^  We  have  now,  at  any  rate,  safely  arrived  at 
the  conclusion,  that  the  church  rejected  the  doctrine  we 
contend  against,  up  to  the  end  of  the  second  century. 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  who  wrote  about  eighteen 
years  after  the  commencement  of  the  third  century,  we 
have  noticed  as  the  first  ecclesiastical  author  who  believed 
in  this  fable.  He  thus  introduces  it,  as  an  illustration, 
into  a  defence  of  the  discipline  of  the  secret ; — "  It  would 
appear,  that  many  persons  suppose  in  these  days,  that 
Mary  was  no  longer  a  virgin  after  the  birth  of  her  son  : — 
but  she  was  still  a  virgin."^'  He  then  proceeds  to  narrate 
the  fabulous  circumstance  upon  which  his  assertion  rests ; 
his  authority  for  which  is  still  extant.  It  is  a  spurious 
gospel ;  a  foul  farrago  of  falsehood  and  of  filth,  deeply 
tainted  with  the  heresies  of  those  who  deny  our  Lord's 
humanity,  entitled  the  Protevangelion.'*^  In  this  sink  of 
iniquity,  the  Alexandrian  philosopher  found  the  coarse 
fiction  of  the  perpetual  virginity  :  and  the  church  of 
succeeding  centuries  "  supped  full"  of  monachism,  greedily 
embraced  it,"*^  and  would  have  accepted  a  doctrine  so  sea- 

40  Maria  virgo  quantum  a  viro,  non  virgo  quantum  a  partu— /(/., 
c.  24. :  see  the  whole  chapter. 

41  7  Strom.,  §  IG.  'AXX  'm;  tSixtv,  roT;  •raXXa'/s  xcc]  f^i%pi  vuv  toxii  ^ 
Maplafi  Xt^a  iUui  S;a  r?)v  rs  •ra/S/s  yiviffiv,  kx.  isa.  Xi^u.  It  will  be  observed 
that  in  this  passage  Clement  admits  the  fact  which  we  have  already  ascer- 
tained from  other  authors  : — he  was  introducing  a  new  doctrine,  and  in 
opposition  to  the  prevalent  belief  of  the  times. 

42  Fabricii  Codex  Apocr.  Nov.  Test,  Vol.  I.  I'he  passage  to  which 
Clement  alludes,  occurs  p.  110.,  cc.  9,  10.  I  will  not  defile  the  page  by 
quoting  it  in  any  language : — Clement's  reference  to  it  shows  plainly  enough 
that  he  was  ashamed  of  his  authority.    <pa<ri  Tivt;  (avTuv)  ■recpS-ivov  tLpsB>ivxi. 

43  See  Bishop  Pearson's  Exposition  of  the  Creed,  p.  173,  note  ||., 
which  occurs  in  the  course  of  a  defence  of  the  perpetual  virginity,  by  far 
the  most  ingenious  and  astute  that  ever  appeared.  The  profoundly  learned 
Prelate  observes :  "  Tertullian  himself  was  produced  as  an  asserter  of  this 

L 


146 

sonable,  on  the  authority  of  a  name  far  less  illustrious  than 
that  of  Clement. 

Enough  is  now  before  the  reader  to  show,  both  that 
monastic  notions  existed  in  the  church  during  the  second 
century,  and  from  whence  those  notions  were  derived. — 
Marriage  was  very  generally  imagined  to  partake  of  the 
nature  of  sin ;  and  even  by  those  who  were  most  tolerant, 
it  was  hampered  with  innumerable  regulations  and  obser- 
vances ;  so  that,  to  whichever  opinion  his  spiritual  guides 
might  incline,  the  mind  of  a  married  person,  possessed  of 
any  conscientious  feeling,  wovdd  hardly  fail  to  be  greatly 
harassed  and  perplexed.  Celibacy,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  loudly  extolled,  and  zealously  recommended  by  all  par- 
ties ;  and,  though  we  no  where  hear  of  vows  of  chastity, 
yet  those  who  made  the  profession  of  it  were  called  upon 
to  hold  fast  that  profession,  and  to  increase  the  rigour  of 
their  abstinences  and  mortifications,  as  an  unerring  means 
of  procuring  large  accessions  of  spiritual  blessings  :  nor 
does  it  seem  improbable  that  provision  was  made  out  of 
the  funds  of  the  church,  for  the  maintenance  of  these  virgin 
contemplatists. 

If  such  was  the  state  of  this  question  in  the  second 
century,  we  cease  to  wonder  when  we  find,  that  before  the 
termination  of  the  third,  half  the  population  of  Egypt 
rushed,  in  a  wild  frenzy  of  fanaticism,  into  the  deserts  of  the 
Thebaid,  or  the  Salt  Marshes  of  Libya,  each  vying  with 
the  other  who  dare  plunge  the  deepest  into  the  burning 

opinion,  (that  is,  an  impugner  of  the  perpetual  virginity ;)  nor  doth  St. 
Hierom  deny  it,  though  I  think  he  might  have  done  it."  It  was  this 
remark  which  appeared  to  render  it  necessary,  that  in  treating  upon  this 
doctrine,  I  should  insist  upon  the  negative  testimony  against  it  borne  by 
the  early  fathers,  and  the  works  of  Tertullian  generally,  as  well  as 
upon  the  positive  evidence  in  the  tractate  of  the  latter  author,  dc  Carne 
Christi. 


147 

solitudes  of  the  Sahara,  or  who  could  build  his  hvit  of 
reeds  nearest  the  fatal  verge  of  the  marsh,  whose  stagnant 
waters  exhaled  pestilence  and  death  : — that  in  the  fourth, 
the  first  convent  was  founded  at  Bethlehem  by  certain 
opulent  female  devotees,  at  the  instance  of  Jerome ;  and 
that,  very  shortly  afterwards,  the  whole  of  Christendom 
was  covered  with  a  cloud  of  friars  and  nuns,  "  white, 
black,  and  grey,  with  all  their  trumpery." 


CHAPTER  X, 


ASCETICISM. 


Of  the  powerful  influence  which  was  exercised  over  the 
minds  of  men  by  the  Pythagorean,  or  Buddhistical,  notions 
whose  origin  and  progress  we  have  endeavoured  to  trace, 
we  can  give  no  instance  more  remarkable  than  the  fact, 
that  they  were  able  to  engraft  upon  Christianity  an  insti- 
tution entirely  new  and  foreign  to  its  whole  character  and 
design.  The  active  and  energetic  nature  of  this  principle, 
is  further  illustrated  by  the  rapidity  with  which  it  con- 
verted the  moderation  and  self-denial  enjoined  in  the  New 
Testament,  into  the  rankest  asceticism. 

The  abstinence  of  the  Gospel  is  in  perfect  harmony 
with  the  whole  of  that  dispensation  which  is  declared  to 
be  the  "law  of  liberty."^  The  motive  or  principle  in 
which,  like  every  other  Christian  duty,  it  is  to  originate, 
is  thus  inculcated: — "  Provide  yourselves  treasures  in 
heaven :  for  where  your  treasure  is,  there  will  your  heart 
be  also."^  "  Set  your  affections  on  things  above,  not  on 
things  on  the  earth."^  The  operation  of  this  principle  is 
embodied  in  a  single  sentence :  "  let  your  moderation  be 
known  unto  all  men."  * — '  Let  the  moderation  of  your  de- 
sires after  the  means  of  temporal  and  worldly  gratifica- 
tion, and  your  temperance  and  abstinence  in  their  use,  be 

1  .las.  i.  25.  -'  Luke  xii.  25.  ^    Col.  iii.  2.  4  Phil.  iv.  5. 


149 

such,  as  that  all  men  may  take  knowledge,  that  your  affec- 
tions are  not  set  upon  them."*  All  particular  directions  are 
included  in  this  general  injunction  :  not  excepting  those 
concerning  fasting,  with  which,  as  a  customary  and  harm- 
less mode  of  expressing  religious  sorrow  and  humiliation, 
it  formed  no  part  of  the  mission  of  our  Lord  and  his  apos- 
tles to  interfere.  For,  notwithstanding  its  recommendation 
by  both,  as  a  help  to  the  exercise  of  devotion,  mere  absti- 
nence from  food,  vmder  any  form,  can  never  be  binding, 
as  a  religious  act,  upon  the  conscience  of  His  disciple 
who  hath  said,  "Not  that  which  goeth  into  the  mouth 
defileth   a   man.'"  ^ 

This  "  commandment  is  exceeding  broad," ''  as  he 
who  in  simplicity  and  godly  sincerity  strives  to  fulfil 
it,  will  not  fail  to  discover  : — but,  nevertheless,  the 
early  church  manifested  eager  impatience  to  enlarge  its 
dimensions.  Symptoms  of  this  change  are  to  be  found 
even  in  the  Shepherd  of  Hernias.  In  the  fifth  Similitude 
of  the  third  book,  the  writer  is  addressed  by  his  guar- 
dian angel  upon  the  subject  of  observing  Stations,''  wliile 
he  was  preparing  for  that  ordinance.  He  commences 
in  a  very  proper  and  scriptural  strain,  to  point  out  the 
nature  of  a  true  fast : — "  Ye  know  not  what  it  is  to  fast 
unto  God;  this  not  a  fast,  for  it  is  not  profitable  unto 
God.  The  Lord  does  not  desire  such  a  needless  fast :  for 
by  fasting  in  this  manner  thou  advancest  nothing  in  right- 

5  Matt.  XV.  11. 

6  Psa.  cxix.  96. 

7  The  dies  stationarii  were  half  fasts  observed,  according  to  Tertullian 
on  the  authority  of  tradition — Adv.  Psych.,  c.  12.  They  were  kept  on 
Wednesday  and  Friday  in  every  Week : — on  Wednesday,  because  on  that 
day  the  Jews  took  counsel  to  destroy  Christ : — on  Friday,  because  on  that 
day  he  was  crucified ;  they  were  ordinarily  observed  to  the  ninth  hour  of 
the  day,  because  that  was  the  time  of  the  supernatural  darkness. 


150 

eousness.  But  the  true  fast  is  this  :  do  nothing  wicked  in 
thy  life,  but  serve  God  with  a  pure  mind  ;  and  keep  his 
commandments  and  walk  according  to  his  precepts,  nor 
suffer  any  wicked  desire  to  enter  into  thy  mind."  **  We 
may  safely  infer  from  this  passage,  that  the  Stations  were 
entirely  destitute  of  apostolical  authority  ;  an  opinion  which 
certainly  prevailed  also  in  Tertullian"'s  time.''  Notwith- 
standing this,  the  angel  of  Hermas  proceeds  to  point  out, 
both  by  parable  and  precept,  the  excellence  of  going  be- 
yond the  commands  of  God  ;  and  sums  up  the  whole  in 
these  words, — "  Keep  the  commandments  of  God  and  thou 
shalt  be  approved,  and  shalt  be  written  in  the  number  of 
those  that  keep  his  commandments.  But  if,  besides  those 
things  which  the  Lord  hath  commanded,  thou  shalt  add 
some  good  thing,  thou  shalt  purchase  to  thyself  a  greater 
dignity,  and  shalt  be  more  in  favour  with  the  Lord  than 
thou  shouldst  otherwise  have  been.""  "  The  Station,  there- 
fore, is  good  and  pleasing,  and  acceptable  to  the  Lord." 

Now  where,  in  the  Bible,  I  shall  be  glad  to  know, 
did  Hermas  or  his  angel  discover  that  a  mere  act  of  bodily 
mortification  is,  in  itself,  acceptable  to  the  God  of  love  ? 
— Every  thing  of  this  nature  is  propounded,  throughout 
both  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  as  means  conducive  to 
the  spiritual  improvement  of  him  who  performs  them ;  not 
that  the  Almighty  takes  pleasure  in  the  maceration  and 
sufferings  of  his  creatures.  I  am  equally  ignorant  of  any 
scriptural  authority  for  the  opinion,  that  it  is  in  the  power 
of  man  to  exceed  the  commands  of  God.  For  the  holiness 
of  God  himself  is  the  pattern  and  exemplar  wliich  they 

8  This  passage  is  a  strong  presumption  in  favour  of  the  high  antiquity 
of  the  book,  which  some  have  been  inclined  to  doubt. 

9  Stationcs  nostras,  ut  in  scrum  constitutas  novitatis  nomine  incusant. 
— Adv.  Psy.,  c.  10.  He  goes  on  to  inform  us  that  they  were  then  newly 
reappointed  by  the  paraclete  Montamus. 


151 

set  forth  for  our  imitation ;  "  be  ye  holy,  for  I  am 
holy  f'  he  then  that  goes  about  to  add  to  them,  pro- 
poses to  be  holier  than  God  :  a  notion  as  absurd  as 
it  is  impious.  But  again,  we  assert  that  such  an  addi- 
tion would  be  sinful  if  it  were  possible ;  for  the  state  of 
mind  which  God  requires  in  his  servants  is,  an  earnest 
desire  to  fulfil  his  revealed  will  in  all  things  ;  and  conse- 
quently, to  exceed  the  commandment,  is  just  as  much  an 
act  of  disobedience  as  to  fall  short  of  it.  But  why  seek 
the  living  among  the  dead  .''  Austerities  have  evidently, 
according  to  this  writer,  an  abstract  and  absolute  value 
with  God ;  and,  therefore,  the  more  frequent  their  repeti- 
tion, the  larger  the  amount  of  merit  to  the  ascetic ;  and 
these  notions  he  found,  not  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel, 
but  in  the  philosophy  of  Pythagoras. 

To  TertuUian  we  are  indebted  for  a  further  illustra- 
tion of  the  progress  of  this  error  in  the  church.  As  we 
are  not  now  engaged  in  bringing  together  all  the  passages 
from  each  author  which  bear  upon  our  subject,  but  only 
so  much  of  them  as  shall  suffice  to  establish  the  existence 
of  the  doctrines  we  point  out  and  endeavour  to  combat,  we 
merely  premise,  that  many  very  strong  recommendations  of 
fasting  and  abstinence  are  scattered  over  the  works  of  this 
father,  and  proceed  at  once  to  a  brief  epitome  of  his  tract, 
adversus  Psychicos.  He  commences  this  furious  hortative 
to  fasting  in  all  its  branches  auspiciously  ;  with  a  passage 
far  too  indecent  either  to  translate  or  quote. ^'^     To  such  a 

10  He  is  tracing  the  connection  between  the  multi-vorantia  and  multi- 
nubentia  of  the  sensualists  {4'vx'X'oi ;)  by  which  very  courteous  title,  he  dis- 
tinguishes all  those  who  did  not  keep  the  exact  number  of  fasts  prescribed 
by  Montanus  ;  nor  hold  with  that  crazy  impostor,  or  enthusiast,  that  second 
marriages  were  adultery — C.  1.  Clement  ot  Alexandria,  who  was  not  a 
believer,  speaks  of  this  name  in  a  manner  which  shows,  pretty  plainly,  that 
he  did  not  at  all  enjoy  his  title  of  honour. — See  4  Strotn.,  §  13. 


152 

frenzy  does  this  raving  fanatic  lash  himself,  in  favour  of 
the  inordinate  catalogue  of  fasts  prescribed  by  Montanus, 
and  his  two  prophetesses,  and  against  those  who  presume 
to  curtail,  by  a  single  moment,  their  full  duration,  that, 
before  he  quits  this  part  of  his  subject,  his  words,  as  well 
as  his  sentiments,  are  licentious.  When  he  becomes  quote- 
able,  we  find  the  points  upon  which  the  orthodox  had 
attacked  the  Montanists  to  be,  first, — the  observance  of 
jejimia  propria,  peculiar  fasts ;  that  is,  fasts  not  prescri- 
bed by  the  universal  church: — second,  prolonging  the 
Station-fast  to  the  evening,  instead  of  terminating  it  at 
the  ninth  hour : — third,  in  the  fasts  called  Xerophagice,^^ 
wherein  the  orthodox  abstained  only  from  the  flesh  and 
wine,  the  Montanists  prohibited  also  all  juicy  fruits,  and 
the  use  of  the  bath.  Here,  then,  is  a  complete  schism  in 
the  church,  the  two  sections  of  which  revile  each  other 
with  a  most  polemical  fluency  of  foul  names ;  the  subject 
of  their  dispute  being,  the  number  of  fasts,  and  the  mode 
of  their  observance,  required  of  Christians ;  and  both 
loudly  professing  themselves,  all  the  while,  the  zealous  dis- 
ciples of  him  whose  only  precept  concerning  fasting,  was, 
"  When  ye  fast  be  not  as  the  hypocrites  are ;  for  they 
disfigure  their  faces  that  they  may  appear  unto  men  to 
fast :  but  thou,  when  thou  fastest,  anoint  thine  head  and 
wash  thy  face,  that  thou  appear  not  unto  men  to  fast,  but 
vmto  thy  father  which  is  in  secret."*-  When  we  further 
consider,  that  all  this  was  enacted,  scarcely  a  century  and 
a  half  after  the  first  propagation  of  Christ''s  religion,  we 
have  made  out  a  case  of  fatuity,  perfectly  unaccountable, 

U  This  fast  was  a  restriction  to  dry  food  only,  as  its  name  imports — 

The  origin  both  of  this  and  the  station-fast  was  really,  the  discipline  of 
Pythagoras  and  the  Esscncs. 

12  Matt.  vi.  lU_lt{. 


153 

in  my  opinion,  upon  any  merely  natural  principle  ;  and  to 
which  (except  in  our  present  subject)  we  shall  hardly  find 
a  parallel. 

He  proceeds  to  recount  the  arguments  of  his  oppo- 
nents, who  regarded  the  passion- week  fast  only  as  obli- 
gatory upon  Christians ;  the  rest  as  merely  voluntary. 
As  they  are,  for  the  most  part,  founded  upon  perti- 
nent passages  in  the  New  Testament,  they  are,  of 
course,  unanswerable  ;^^  the  summing  up  which  he  puts 
into  the  mouth  of  the  adversary,  is  really  admirable: — 
"  I  will  believe  with  all  that  is  within  me ;  I  will  love  God 
and  my  neighbour  as  myself :  on  these  two  precepts  hang 
all  the  law  and  the  prophets,  and  not  on  the  emptiness  of 
my  stomach  and  bowels."  In  his  attempt  to  answer  this, 
he  sets  out  with  the  somewhat  startling  assertion,  that 
fasting  is  in  itself  valuable  and  available  with  God  ;^^  and 
and  he  then  endeavours  to  explain  the  reason  :  it  is  as  fol- 
lows ; — "  Adam  ate,  and  fell ;  we  must  fast,  that  we  may 
be  recovered. — Adam's  sin  consisted  in  eating,  all  men 
must  abstain  from  eating,  that  they  may  expiate  that 
offence;  man  must  atone  to  God  in  the  same  matter  as 

that  wherein  he  first  offended  ;   that  is,  by  abstinence."^^ 

Though  all  this  has  more  the  air  of  a  figure  of  speech 
than  of  an  argument,  he  applies  it  strictly  to  the  latter 
use  :  he  adduces  it  in  proof  of  his  premise,  that  fasting  is 
available  and  acceptable  with  God;  and  upon  this  he 
grounds  the  whole  of  his  reasoning.     Moreover,  it  must 

13  Acts  XV.  28,  29 ;  Gal.  iv.  9,  10 ;  Isa.  Iviii.  4,  5 ;  1  Cor.  viii.  8 ; 
Matt.  XV.  11. 

14  Valet  apud  deum  inanitas  ista,  c.  3. 

15  Quis  jam  dubitabit  omnium  erga  victus  macerationum  banc  fuisse 
rationem,  qua  rursus  interdicto  cibo  et  observato  pracepto  primoidiale  jam 
delictum  expiaretur  ;  ut  homo  per  eandem  inateriam  causce  satis  Deo  facial 
per  quam  offenderat :  id  est  per  cibi  interdictionem Idem. 


154 

be  borne  in  mind,  that  in  thus  arguing,  our  author  is  by 
no  means  bringing  forward  any  of  the  peculiarities  of 
Montanism,  by  adopting  a  course  of  reasoning  which  the 
orthodox  would  have  condemned.  This  error  stands 
charged,  with  pushing  the  then  prevalent  notions  of  disci- 
pline to  an  insane  extreme,  rather  than,  with  originating 
opinions  in  themselves  erroneous. — The  orthodox  would 
have  applied  exactly  the  same  argument  in  defence  of  their 
prescription,  against  the  laxer  heretics.  All  this  we  infer 
from  the  circumstance,  that  our  author  was  never  accused 
of  heresy  on  this  account ;  far  from  it,  his  mode  of  defence 
was  admired  and  imitated,  long  after  the  ordinances  in 
whose  support  he  applied  it  were  forgotten.^*"  Fasting, 
therefore,  which  the  New  Testament  enjoined  only  with  a 
regard  to  the  spiritual  advancement  of  the  believer,  and 
which  Hermas  in  the  first  century  termed,  a  good  thing 
to  be  added  to  the  commandments,  has  acquired  in  the 
second  century,  by  as  unequivocal  an  acknowledgment 
as  words  can  convey,  that  tangible  value  with  God,  which 
we  have  already  endeavoured  to  show  that  the  notion  of 
the  preceding  period  assigned  to  it.  All  allusion  to  the 
spiritual  state  of  the  devotee,  is  at  an  end,  or  nearly  so. 
— Fasting  is  not  a  means  of  Grace,  but  an  expiative  offer- 
ing to  God,  for  the  sin  of  our  first  parents  in  eating  the 
forbidden  fruit,  which  is  efficacious  for  the  removal  of  the 
taint  and  corruption,  which  our  nature  has  thereby  con- 
tracted.— Evidently,  therefore,  the  more  frequent  and 
severe  the  fast,  the  more  perfect  the  purification  of  the 
devotee  !  Are  we  ascertaining  the  tenets  of  the  followers 
of  the  God  of  Christianity  or  of  the  gods  of  Hindooism  ? 
We  glance  at  the  remainder  of  the  tract,  in  order  to 
confirm  our  account  of  his  leading  argument,  as  well  as  to 

ifj  See  above  page,  13o. 


155 

show  how  conscious  the  writer  was,  that  the  whole  weight 
of  the  Scripture  authority  was  overwhelmingly  against 
him,  and  the  miserable  shifts  to  which  he  resorts  to  evade 
its  force.  He  endeavours  to  prove  the  doctrine  of  expiatory 
fasting  from  Scripture  ;  and  the  first  step  of  his  argument 
is  a  stumble,  and  an  awkward  one.  If  fasting  be  the 
means  of  recovering  the  favour  of  God,  whence  is  it  that 
the  permission  to  eat  was  extended  after  the  deluge,  instead 
of  being  curtailed  .''  for  God  permitted  to  Adam  the  use  of 
herbs  and  fruits  only  ;  but  he  allowed  Noah  to  eat  flesh 
also.  The  answer  to  this  untoward  objection  is  worthy  of 
the  entire  argument. — "  God  conceded  this  greater  liberty, 
in  order  that  man  might  acquire  more  merit  by  fasting ; 
and  that  by  the  practice  of  a  greater  abstinence,  upon  the 
occasion  of  a  greater  licence,  he  might  make  a  greater  ex- 
piation of  the  primary  offence.""^''  He  proceeds  to  quote  a 
number  of  other  passages  from  the  Scriptures,  and  to 
comment  upon  them  ;  frequently  in  a  strain  of  inconceiva- 
ble absurdity.  I  forbear  quoting  them,  as  we  are  already 
in  possession  of  the  whole  of  his  reasoning. — His  citations 
soon  bring  him  again  into  an  unfortunate  dilemma ;  for  it 
suddenly  occurs  to  him,  that  nearly  all  the  worthies,  whose 
powers  of  abstinence  he  has  so  strongly  commended,  were 
Jews,  and,  therefore,  fasted  under  a  dispensation  of  cere- 
monies, which  the  Gospel  has  entirely  abolished.  The 
condition  in  which  his  argument  escapes  from  this  diffi- 
culty is  truly  pitiable. — "  With  one  exception,^^  the  Chris- 
tian fasts  were  appointed  at  times  altogether  different  from 
those  of  the  Jews  -^^^   therefore,    Christianity  effects  no 

17  Quo   magis  primordiale  delictum  cxpiarctur  majoris  abstinentiae 
operatione,  in  majoris  licentia  occasione. — C.  4.,//t. 

18  The  Passover,  Easter. 

19  C.  11. 


156 

change  whatever  in  the  spirit  and  temper  of  Judaism ;  and 
derives  its  title  to  be  termed  a  new  dispensation,  merely 
from  the  circumstance,  that  it  abolishes  the  fasts,  and  some 
other  ceremonies  of  the  older  religion,  and  prescribes  new 
ones.  This  contemptible  evasion  is  his  only  refuge  from 
an  objection  of  his  own  raising  ! 

In  the  same  spirit  of  quibble  and  misinterpretation  he 
informs  us,  that  where  the  New  Testament  writers  con- 
demn these  formal  and  needless  abstinences,  they  wrote  by 
the  Spirit  of  prophecy,  against  the  errors  of  Marcion, 
Tatian  and  others,  who  enjoined  a  perpetual  fast  out  of 
hatred  and  contempt  for  the  Creator  of  the  world.^**  After 
quoting  the  case  of  Hophni  and  Phineas,  who  were  pun- 
ished, not  for  sacrilege,  bvit  for  eating,  and  of  the  prophet 
sent  to  Jeroboam,  who  was  slain  by  the  lion,  not  for  his 
disobedience,  but  for  his  crapulary  indulgence,  he  tells 
us  that,  on  the  other  hand,  the  fasts  of  the  Heathens 
themselves,  though  instituted  in  honour  of  false  gods, 
and  intermixed  with  idolatrous  rites,  were,  nevertheless, 
acceptable  and  efficacious  with  God ;  he  instances  the 
Ninevites. — The  resemblance  between  the  fasts  of  Monta- 
nism  and  those  of  Heathenism,  he  traces,  as  usual,  to  the 
prescience  of  the  Devil ;  who.^  foreseeing  their  excellence, 
forestalled  and  anticipated  them  in  the  ritual  of  idolatry. 
And  that  the  Devil  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the  whole 
matter,  we  shall  probably  all  agree :  though  it  would  seem 
to  fall  in  better  with  his  ordinary  mode  of  operation,  to 
to  engraft  Heathenism  upon  Christianity,  rather  than 
Christianity  upon  Heathenism. 

He  proceeds  to  sing  the  praises  of  fasting  in  the  fol- 
lowing strain  of  coarse  vehemence : — "  O  Saint  !  God  is 
thy  belly,  and  thy  lungs  are  his  temple,  and  thy  stomach 

20  c.  15. 


157 

is  his  altar,  and  his  priest  is  thy  cook,  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  thy  savour  of  cooked  meats,  and  his  grace  is  thy  sauce, 
and  prophecy  is  the  eructation  of  thy  full  stomach  !  But 
O  thou  that  indulgest  thy  gorge  !  thou  art  like  Esau, 
thou  wilt  sell  thy  birth-right,  any  day,  for  a  mess  of  pot- 
tage; thy  charity  boils  in  thy  pots,  thy  faith  warms  in 
thy  kitchens,  thy  hope  lies  in  a  cradle  spit."-^  Then  fol- 
lows as  filthy  passage  as  you  shall  find  in  Petronius  Arbi- 
ter.    And  this  is  the  Christianity  of  the  second  century. 

Clement  of  Alexandria  has  treated  the  subject  of 
fasting  in  a  manner  which  curiously  contrasts  with  that  of 
the  preceding  writer,  and  which  well  illustrates  the  very 
different  views  which  two  individuals  obtain  of  the  same 
subject,  though  holding  the  same  sentiments  upon  it, 
when  their  observations  are  made  through  the  media  of 
different  mental  prepossessions.  The  bent  of  Tertullian's 
mind  was  towards  fanaticism ;  Clement,  on  the  other  hand, 
dearly  loved  the  Greek  philosophy  :  and  the  design  of 
nearly  all  his  remaining  works,  is  to  harmonize  the  Eclec- 
tic^^  system  with  that  of  Christianity.  Accordingly,  while 
the  former  writer,  as  we  have  seen,  gives  the  full  energies 
of  his  mind  to  the  increase  of  the  number  and  rigour  of 
the  stated  fasts,  and  to  rendering  more  stringent  upon 
men's  consciences  the  canon  that  prescribed  them,  Clement 
lays  do^^^l  a  rule  of  abstinence  to  the  full  as  rigid,  in  a 
book  whose  purpose  is  to  identify  the  moderation  of 
Christianity  with  the  happy  medium  of  the  Aristotelian 
philosophers ;  its  self-denial  with  the  supreme  good  of  the 
Platonists;  and  its  entire  system  with  the  discipline  of 
Pythagoras  ! 

The  second  book  of  the  Paedagogue  is  an  expansion 

21  Cc.  14,  16.     See  a  similar  passage  in  Clem.  Alex.,  Pad.  2.  1. 
22  See  page  33. 


158 

into  twelve  tedious  chapters,  of  that  which  the  Apostle  had 
already  declared  by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  a  single  sentence ; 
*'let  your  moderation  be  known  unto  all  men."  He 
attempts  to  establish  a  rule  for  all  the  common  functions 
of  life,  eating,  drinking,  feasting,  laughing,  sleeping,  &c, 
— ^but  never  once  enforces  it  by  the  apostle'^s  sanction, 
*'  the  Lord  is  at  hand  t"^^ — he  merely  adduces  argument  in 
favour  of  abstinence  drawn  from  the  nature  of  things, 
some  of  which  are  absurd  even  to  madness ;  pronounces 
philippics  against  excess,  and  only  appeals  to  Scripture  in 
order  to  show  the  value  and  acceptableness  with  God  of 
the  course  he  recommends.  His  rule  is  sufficiently  rigid ; 
he  praises  a  perpetual  Xerophagia,^^  alternating  with  full 
fasts. — For  those  initiated  into  the  occult  doctrines,  this 
is  indispensable,  or  nearly  so  :^^  but  for  the  young  and 
uninitiated,  he  allows  the  use  of  roasted  or  boiled  flesh 
occasionally,  with  such  vegetable  food  as  may  be  eaten 
uncooked;  (c.  1.)  and  also  wine,  in  small  quantities,  but 
only  that  produced  in  the  country  of  which  the  drinker  is 
an  inhabitant ;  all  importation  of  foreign  wines  he  forbids 
as  sinful,  and  counteracting  the  purpose  of  the  Creator.^*' 
(c.  2.)     In  the  same  spirit  he  entirely  prohibits  the  use  of 

23  Phil.  iv.  5. 

24  See  note  11. 

25  7  Strom.  §  G. 

26  Tertullian  utters  exactly  the  same  sentiment,  with  regard  to  the  im- 
portation and  use  of  foreign  articles  of  dress  and  ornament,  in  the  precious 
piece  of  spiritual  buffoonery  entitled  De  Hahilu  Mulichri,  c.  9. ;  he  declares 
the  very  desire  after  them  to  be  sinful  concupiscence  :  and  in  a  brochure  of 
still  more  wretched  absurdity  (if  that  be  possible)  Dc  Virgimbiis  vclandis, 
c.  10.5  he  proclaims  the  unlawfulness  and  wickedness  of  the  whole  art  of 
dyeing,  as  a  most  impious  interference  with  the  order  of  providence ;  "  if 
it  had  been  the  divine  will,"  says  this  profound  rcasoner,  "  that  wool  should 
be  of  a  purple  or  scarlet  hue,  he  would  have  created  purple  and  scarlet 
sheep."    We  will  pursue  the  argument  one  step  further  ;  if  the  dyeing  of  a 


159 

all  costly  furniture,  (c.  3.)  of  all  music  except  sacred,  of 
laughter  in  toto,  (c.  5.)  of  perfumes  and  garlands,^^  (c.  8.) 

fleece  of  wool  be  sinful,  then  is  the  manufacture  of  woollen  cloth  sinful 
also: — for,  had  it  been  intended  that  such  a  fabric  should  exist,  sheep 
would,  doubtless,  have  been  created  with  broad  cloth,  ready  made,  upon 
their  backs,  instead  of  wool !  I  have  one  other  remark  to  make  upon  these 
passages.  A  late  writer  greatly  rejoices  in  the  discovery,  from  a  passage  in 
the  book  De  Anima,  (c.  30.)  that  Tertullian  was  an  anti-populationist ;  the 
passage  deeply  deplores  the  dreadful  evils  of  "  pleasant  farms  smiling 
where  formerly  were  arid  and  dangerous  wastes  ;  of  flocks  and  herds  expel- 
ling wild  beasts ;  of  harbours  being  excavated,"  and  many  other  equally 
calamitous  results  of  a  surcharge  of  people,  and  informs  us,  that  "  in  conse- 
quence of  these,  we  no  longer  look  upon  famine,  and  wars,  and  earthquakes 
as  positive  evils,  but  remedies  provided  by  Providence,"  &c.  "  Professor 
Malthus  himself,"  remarks  the  learned  and  enraptured  divine,  "  could  not 
have  lamented  more  feelingly  the  miseries  resulting  from  an  excess  of  popu- 
lation ;  or  have  pointed  out  with  greater  acuteness  the  natural  checks  to 
that  excess."  Sorry  as  I  am  to  damp  the  pleasure  which  those  who  think 
with  this  author  upon  these  subjects,  will  naturally  feel  at  the  discovery  of 
so  early  a  proficient  in  then:  favourite  science,  (and  especially  when  it  arises 
from  so  rational  and  benevolent  a  source,)  I  am,  nevertheless,  compelled  to 
call  their  attention  to  the  passages  I  have  just  quoted;  which  afl^ord  lament- 
able proof,  that  however  versed  Tertullian  may  have  been  in  the  principles 
of  Professor  Malthus,  he  was  sadly  to  seek  in  those  of  Professor  M'Culloch  • 
and  that,  notwithstanding  his  acute  apprehension  of  the  evils  of  over-popu- 
iation,  he  can  scarcely,  with  propriety,  be  canonised  as  the  Patron  Saint  of 
Political  Economy. 

27  His  reasons  against  the  use  of  wreaths  of  flowers  are  manifold.— 
1st.  Because  it  is  not  proper  to  cull  the  fields  of  their  beauties  and  weave 
them  together  ;  2nd.  because  flowers  worn  in  the  hair  refrigerate  the  brain, 
and  render  the  use  of  perfumes  necessary  as  counteractives ;  3rd.  because 
no  delight  can  accrue,  either  to  the  eye  from  the  sight  of  them,  or  to  the 
olfactory  organs  from  their  perfume,  when  garlands  of  flowers  are  bound 
round  the  hair,  and  thus  the  purpose  of  their  creation  is  defeated  ;  4th.  be- 
cause flowers  were  dedicated  to  heathen  deities  ;  5th.  because  our  Lord  was 
crowned  with  thorns,  and,  therefore,  it  is  highly  unbecoming  in  his  disciples 
to  be  crowned  with  flowers."  Extravagant  and  foolish  as  these  reasons  may 
appear,  they  seem  to  have  possessed  considerable  influence  at  the  time- 
Some  of  the  worst  of  them  will  be  found  in  Tertullian,  de  Corona  MilUis, 
C.5. 


160 

of  ornamented  sandals,  (c.  11.)  of  gold,  gems  and  em- 
broidered garments,-^  (c.  12.)  of  feather  beds  and  carved 
bed-posts ;  of  sleep  itself,  his  arguments  against  which 
are  perfectly  laughable,  (c.  9.) — nay,  he  carries  his  pro- 
hibitions further  than  I  shall  follow  him.  (c.  10.) 

Now  I  am  willing  to  admit  that  much  allowance  is  to  be 
made  here,  for  the  state  of  extreme  laxity  in  which  the  morals 
of  mankind  were  sunk,  when  Christianity  first  visited  the 
earth ;  which  compelled  all  the  ethical  writers  of  the  times, 
to  enter  into  long  dissuasives  against  excesses  and  vices,  the 
very  name  and  remembrance  of  which  have  now  happily  pe- 
rished, or  are  only  called  to  mind  to  excite  unqualified  dis- 
gust and  abhorrence,  even  in  the  most  profligate  ;  and  in  no 
writer  is  this  more  apparent  than  in  the  author  before  us. 
Nothing,  we  know,  is  more  natural  than  that  a  mind  im- 
pressed by  whatever  cause,  with  the  excellence  of  moral 
virtue,  but  compelled,  nevertheless,  by  the  subject  in  hand, 
to  fix  its  constant  regards  upon  so  deformed  a  picture, 
should,  at  length,  start  from  it  with  horror,  and  fly  into 
the  opposite  extreme  of  a  strict  and  unnecessary  rigour. 
It  must  also  be  thankfully  acknowledged,  that  the  rigour 

28  The  following  invective  against  jewels,  and  the  use  of  them  by  females, 
from  Tertullian,  is  a  close  approach  to  madness.     "  A  pearl  is  nothing  more 

than  the  scurf  of  an  oyster It  is  said  that  some  precious  stones  are  found  in 

the  heads  of  serpents. — Be  this  far  from  a  Christian  woman,  that  she  should 
be  indebted  for  her  decorations  to  a  serpent !  Will  she  tread  upon  the  ser- 
pent's head,  while  she  binds  that  which  came  out  of  his  head  upon  her  own 

head  ?" De  Ciiltu  Mul.,  c.  6.     All  this  is  worthy  of  a  book  which  com" 

mences  with  a  fierce  philippic  against  the  sex  in  general,  to  the  following 
tune ;  "  Evam  te  esse  nescis  O  Mulier  ? — Tu  es  janua  diaholi"  &c.,  &c. 
He  is  far  surpassed,  however,  by  our  Alexandrian  philosopher,  who,  in 
the  place  referred  to,  spiritualizes  the  pearl  in  a  matchless  strain  of  pure 
pellucid  nonsense.  He  talks  of  "  the  oyster  regeneration  adhering  to  the  flesh 
of  him  who  is  immersed  in  the  baptismal  waters,  and  producing  the  pearl 
Christ."    TertuUian's,  may  be  madness,  but  this  is  idiotcy. 


161 

so  originated,  was  wonderfully  overruled  by  the  unerring 
wisdom  of  the  supreme  Disposer  of  events,  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  that  great  and  universal  moral  purification 
which  certainly  took  place,  when  Christianity  was  estab- 
lished as  the  religion  of  the  empire,  even  its  enemies  being 
the  judges ;  and  to  which  we  are  indebted,  in  a  much  larger 
measure  than  we  imagine,  for  the  greatly  ameliorated  cast 
of  manners  that  prevails  in  the  present  day.^^  But  all  this 
affords  not  even  the  shadow  of  a  defence  for  the  error  we 
are  considering.  The  present  author  also  entirely  over- 
looked the  reasons  and  motives  with  which  the  Bible  would 
have  furnished  him,  and  seeks  the  sanctions  for  his  scheme 
of  morals,  in  the  maxims  of  that  very  philosophy  and  hea- 
thenism under  whose  full  influences  the  horrible  depravity 
he  describes  had  grown  up.  Where,  we  may  well  ask, 
was  the  wisdom  of  rejecting  that  which  he  knew  must  suc- 

29  We  shall  never  know  the  extent  of  our  obligations  to  Christianity. 
The  book  we  are  now  considering  (the  second  Pedagogue)  probably  abounds 
with  more  details  of  ancient  manners  and  customs,  than  are  contained 
in  any  other  work  of  antiquity.  And  the  eye  of  God  never  gleamed  with 
indignation  upon  a  scene  of  more  desperate  wickedness,  and  more  aban- 
doned profligacy,  than  was  presented  by  the  heathen  world  in  the  second 
century.  But  it  is  delightful  to  observe  the  mild  and  gentle  influences  of 
Christianity  diffusing  themselves  through  this  mass  of  corruption,  harmo- 
nising its  jarring  elements,  and  rapidly  raising  the  moral  tone  of  society  to 
the  standard  of  its  own  high  and  holy  requisitions.  The  book  before  us  is 
in  reality  a  description  of  this  great  work  in  process ;  it  is  a  series  of  con- 
trasts between  the  existing  manners  of  the  Heathen,  and  the  existing  man- 
ners of  the  Christians. — And  no  where,  in  my  judgment,  does  this  father 
appear  to  so  much  advantage  as  here;  where,  in  the  true  spirit  of  the 
religion  which  he  sincerely,  though  erroneously  professed,  he  does  not  dis- 
dain to  employ  his  learning  and  eloquence,  in  enforcing  upon  the  observance 
of  ordinary  Christians,  rules  of  conduct  and  good  breeding,  for  the  com- 
mon occasions  and  occurrences  of  life.  Though  containing  many  errors 
and  absurdities,  (which  I  scruple  not  at  all,  to  expose,)  there  is,  nevertheless, 
no  work  of  the  early  fathers  which  will  better  repay  an  attentive  perusal, 
than  the  second  book  of  the  Paedagogue. 
M 


162 

ceed,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  another  trial  to  that,  of 
which  he  was  surrounded  with  so  many  tokens  that  it  had 
signally  failed  ?  But  Clement''s  religion  was  altogether 
"  spoiled  through  philosophy  and  vain  deceit  after  the  tra- 
dition of  men  and  not  after  Christ.''^^  He  had  principle 
enough  to  embrace  and  profess  Christianity  in  times  of 
extreme  peril,  but  he  had  not  enough  of  the  root  of  the 
matter  in  him  to  enable  him  to  cast  down  the  idol  of  his 
heart,  philosophy,  and  honestly  to  receive  Christ's  doc- 
trine as  Christ  in  his  word  propounded  it  to  him. 

To  pursue,  for  a  moment,  the  comparison  between 
TertuUian  and  Clement,  The  former,  though  bitterly 
hating  the  Gnosticism  or  philosophical  Christianity  of  the 
latter,  never  scrupled  to  borrow  from  philosophy  either 
opinions  or  motives  that  fell  in  with  the  impetuous  and 
headlong  torrent  of  his  argument ;  as  in  the  present  in- 
stance, where  his  reasons  for  the  Christian  fasts  are  alto- 
gether those  of  the  Pythagorean  and  Essenian  ascetics, 
though  the  source  is  unacknowledged.  Clement,  on  the 
other  hand,  glories  in  being  the  disciple  of  philosophy ; 
constantly  quotes  the  philosophers  in  support  of  his  canon 
of  discipline,  which  he  does  not  conceal  that  he  had 
entirely  borrowed  from  them ;  nay,  absolutely  enjoins 
upon  Christians  the  use  of  the  white  garment  of  Pythago- 
ras, on  the  authority  of  Plato.^^ 

Monachism  and  Asceticism,  then,  were  introduced  into 
Christianity,  not  from  the  Bible,  but  from  the  Buddhisti- 
cal  or  Pythagorean  philosophy  :  and,  like  the  other  errors 

30  Col.  ii.  8. 

31  Paed.  2.  c.  10.,  id.  3.  c.  11.  In  this,  doubtless,  originated  the  white 
Friars,  &c.,  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  and  probably  also  the  Alb  or  Surplice ; 
which,  now  that  the  habit  controversy  is  as  much  forgotten  as  Clement's 
Gnosticism,  few,  I  think,  will  be  found  to  deny  that  it  is  a  harmless  custom, 
as  it  is  certainly  a  decorous  and  highly  becoming  one. 


163 

we  have  considered,  their  mighty  and  baneful  influence 
continued  to  be  exerted  upon  the  visible  church,  ages  after 
the  semi-heathenism  which  led  to  their  introduction  was 
dispelled  and  forgotten.^- 

32  According  to  the  early  fathers  there  were  two  ways  of  attaining  to 
Christian  Perfection — The  one  was  by  martyrdom,  which  we  shall  shortly 
have  to  consider,  (Chapter  XII.);  the  other  was  by  the  practice  of  such 
a  course  of  mortifications  and  macerations  as  should  elevate  the  ascetic  to 
the  divine  impatibility  of  evil  impressions — See  Clemens  Alex.  4  Strom, 
§  22.  a./.,  5  Strom.  §  11.  <^c.,  7  Strom.  §  14,  15.  As  this  error,  which  is  a 
mere  corollary  of  the  Pythagorean  doctrines  we  have  been  investigating, 
was  peculiar  to  those  times  and  passed  away  with  them,  we  shall  not  detain 
the  reader  with  quotations  concerning  it ;  but  rather  illustrate  its  effects, 
and  those  of  the  entire  system,  at  a  later  period,  by  the  following  anecdote 
from  Cotelerius,  p.  541.,  and  Zciega,  p.  343.,  ubi  sujwa — "  Father  Maca- 
rius  relates,  '  I  was  once  in  the  desert,  and  there  came  to  me  two  youths, 
one  of  whom  had  a  beard,  but  the  other  had  only  down  upon  his  cheek ;' 
and  they  said,  '  we  have  heard  of  thy  fame,  and  the  fame  of  the  desert,  and 
we  are  come  to  see  thee,'  and  they  bowed  themselves  to  the  ground  and 
said,  '  we  would  dwell  here.'  And  I  saw  that  they  had  been  brought  up 
delicately,  and  were  the  children  of  rich  parents ;  and  I  said,  '  ye  cannot 
remain  here  ;'  and  the  older  said,  '  then  will  we  go  to  another  place.'  And 
it  came  into  my  mind,  why  do  I  send  them  away  that  they  may  be  offended, 
labour  will  soon  make  them  depart  of  themselves.  So  I  said,  'come  hither, 
and  build  yourselves  a  cell  if  ye  will ;'  and  they  said,  '  show  us  the  place, 
and  we  will  build  it.'  Then  one  of  the  elders  gave  them  tools,  and  a  scrip 
with  bread  and  salt,  and  showed  them  the  hard  rock,  and  said,  '  hew  stones 
from  hence,  and  build  your  cell,  and  cut  reeds  from  the  marsh,  and  thatch  it, 
and  then  dwell  in  it ;'  for  he  thought  they  would  soon  be  weary  of  their 
labour,  and  depart.  But  they  finished  it,  and  then  came  to  me,  and  said, 
'  What  shall  we  do  in  our  cell  ?' — and  I  said,  '  make  baskets  ;'  and  I  took 
palm  leaves,  and  showed  them  how  to  plait  them,  and  join  them  together, 
and  I  said,  '  When  ye  have  made  baskets,  take  them  to  the  steward,  and  he 
will  give  you  bread  for  them.' — Then  I  departed,  and  they  meekly  fulfilled 
whatsoever  I  commanded  them  ;  and  for  three  years  they  never  came  to  me. 
Then  I  thought  with  myself.  How  is  this  ?  They  that  dwell  far  off  come  to 
me  for  spiritual  advice,  but  these  youths  neither  come  to  me,  nor  to  any  one; 
only  at  church  they  receive  the  Eucharist  in  perfect  silence.  And  I  prayed 
the  Lord,  with  fasting,  that  he  would  reveal  to  me  their  manner  of  life. 


164 

Then  I  arose,  and  went  to  their  cell,  that  I  might  see  what  they  did.  When 
I  knocked,  they  opened,  and  saluted  me  silently.  And  when  I  had  prayed, 
I  sat  down  :  and  when  the  elder  had  made  a  sign  to  the  younger  to  go  out, 
he  sat  and  platted  palm  leaves,  without  uttering  a  word.  And  at  the  ninth 
hour  he  struck  the  table  lightly  with  his  mallet,  and  the  younger  came  in 
and  made  a  little  pottage,  and  placed  it  on  the  table  when  the  elder  gave  him 
a  sign  to  do  so  ;  and  he  put  three  cakes  of  bread  upon  the  table,  and  stood 
silent.  And  I  said,  'arise,  let  us  eat;'  and  we  arose  and  ate.  Then  he 
brought  a  pitcher  of  water,  and  we  drank.  And  when  the  evening  came, 
the  elder  said  to  me,  '  wilt  thou  depart  ?'  and  I  said,  '  No  ;  but  I  will  pass 
the  night  here.'  Then  they  spread  a  mat  for  me,  and  when  I  had  laid  down, 
they  spread  their  own  mat  at  my  feet,  and  loosed  their  cinctures,  and  lay 
down  in  their  garments.  Then  I  besought  the  Lord  that  he  would  reveal 
their  spiritual  state  unto  me.  And  at  midnight  the  elder  touched  the  side 
of  the  younger,  and  they  arose  and  girt  themselves,  and  spread  their  hands 
to  heaven.  I  saw  them,  though  they  perceived  it  not,  for  they  supposed 
that  I  slept.  Then  were  my  eyes  opened,  and  I  saw  that  when  the  young- 
est opened  his  mouth  to  pray,  a  lamp  of  fire  went  forth  and  ascended 
upwards  :  but  an  unbroken  column  of  flame  issued  from  the  mouth  of  the 
elder  and  reached  unto  heaven.  And  I  knew  that  the  younger  still  strove 
with  the  wicked  one,  but  the  elder  had  attained  to  perfection.  I  closed  my 
eyes,  and  passed  the  night  in  silent  prayer.  When  I  arose  in  the  morning, 
both  were  laid  upon  their  mat,  but  they  slept  the  sleep  of  death  !  I  called 
the  brethren  together,  saying,  '  come  see  the  martyrdom  of  the  young 
strangers  !'  We  dug  their  grave  in  silence ;  we  girded  them  with  their 
own  cinctures.  We  laid  them  side  by  side,  and  covered  them  with  the 
sands  of  the  desert." 

If  this  be  the  true  spirit  of  Christianity,  far  from  being  a  blessing  to 
mankind,  a  vial  more  fully  charged  with  the  fierceness  of  the  wrath  of  God 
was  never  poured  upon  the  earth,  than  its  entire  dispensation  !  But,  never- 
theless, there  is  a  frightful  earnestness  of  sincerity  in  the  deeply  mistaken 
pietism  of  these  enthusiasts  that  never  fails  to  rivet  my  attention  to  every 
thing  that  relates  to  the  fathers  of  the  desert. 


CHAPTER  XL 


ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY  AND  PERSONS. 

Having  gone  through  the  Ritual  of  Christianity  in  the 
two  first  centuries,  I  now  turn,  reluctantly,  to  the  uninvi- 
ting, (and,  to  a  layman,  invidious)  subject  that  remains, 
before  our  view  of  the  external  discipline  of  the  church, 
during  this  period,  is  completed. 

Upon  the  Ecclesiastical  Polity  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, conscious  of  my  own  inability  to  add  at  all  to  the 
truths  which  have  been  elicited,  by  the  long  and  irritating 
discussions  which  that  question  has  undergone,  I  shall  not 
presume  to  enter  into  any  detail  here ;  but  will  rather 
proceed,  at  once,  to  the  passages  in  the  early  fathers 
which  appear  to  me  to  contain  objectionable  doctrines  on 
the  point,  and  then  give  the  places  of  Scripture  upon 
which  my  objections  are  founded. 

In  the  epistle  of  Clement  to  the  Corinthians,  the  fol- 
lowing passage  occurs  : — "  The  chief  priest  has  his  proper 
services ;  and  to  the  priests  their  proper  place  is  assigned, 
and  to  the  Levites  appertain  their  proper  ministries ;  and 
the  layman  is  confined  within  the  bounds  of  what  is  com- 
manded to  laymen :  let  every  one  of  you,  therefore, 
brethren,  bless  God  in  his  proper  station,  not  exceeding 
the  rule  of  service  that  is  appointed  to  him.  The  daily 
sacrifices  are  not  offered  every  where,  but  only  at  Jerusa- 


166 

lem  :  not  at  any  place  there,  but  only  at  the  altar  before 
the  temple  ;  being  first  diligently  examined  by  the  high- 
priest.  The  apostles  have  preached  unto  us  from  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ ;  Jesus  Christ  from  God,  Christ,  therefore,  was 
sent  by  God,  the  apostles  by  Christ ;  so  both  were  orderly 
sent  according  to  the  will  of  God ; — these,  being  filled  with 
the  Holy  Spirit,  went  abroad,  publishing  that  the  king- 
dom of  God  was  at  hand. — And  thus  preaching  through 
countries  and  cities,  they  appointed  the  first  fruits  of  their 
conversions  to  be  bishops  and  deacons  over  such  as  should 
afterwards  believe,  having  first  proved  them  by  the  Spirit. 

Nor  was  this  any  new  thing  ;  seeing  that  long  before  it 

was  written  concerning  bishops  and  deacons.     For  thus 
saith  the  Scripture  in  a  certain  place,  '  I  will  appoint  their 
bishops   in   righteousness,    and   their  deacons  in  faith.'  ^ 
And  Avhat  wonder  if  they  to  whom  such  a  work  was  com- 
mitted by  God  in  Christ,  established  such  officers  as  we 
have  mentioned  ;  when  even  that  blessed  and  faithful  ser- 
vant in  all  his  house,  Moses,  set  down  in  Holy  Scriptures 
all  things  that  were  commanded  of  him  ?"     After  giving 
the  particulars  of  the  miraculous  selection  of  Aaron  for 
the   priesthood,    as   related    Num.   xvii.,   he   proceeds; — 
"  What  think  ye,  brethren  ?  Did  not  Moses  before  know 
what  should  happen  ?     Yes,  verily  ;  but  to  the  end  there 
might  be  no  division  nor  tumult  in  Israel,  he  did  in  this 
manner,  that  the  name  of  the  true  and  only  God  might  be 
glorified. — So,  likewise,  our  apostles  knew  by  our  Lord 
Jesus    Christ   that   there   should    contentions   arise   upon 
account  of  the  episcopacy. — And,  therefore,  having  a  per- 
fect foreknowledge  of  this,  they  appointed  persons  as  we 
have  before  said ;    and  then  gave  directions  how,    when 
they   died,    other  approved   men  should    undertake  their 
1  Isa.  ix.  17. 


167 

office. — Wherefore,  we  cannot  think,  that  those  may  be 
justly  thrown  out  of  their  office,  who  were  either  appointed 
by  them,  or  afterwards  chosen  by  other  eminent  men,  with 
the  consent  of  the  whole  church  ;  and  who  with  all  lowli- 
ness and  innocency  ministered  to  the  flock  of  Christ  in 
peace  without  self-interest ;  and  were  for  a  long  time  com- 
mended by  all. — For  it  would  be  no  small  sin  in  us, 
should  we  cast  off  those  from  the  episcopate,  who  offer  the 
gifts  holily  and  without  blame. — Blessed  are  those  presby- 
ters who  have  finished  their  course  before  those  times  ;  for 
they  have  now  no  fear  lest  any  one  should  turn  them 
out."2 

In  this  curious  and  very  important  passage  there 
are  three  points  which  demand  our  attentive  consideration. 
These  are,  the  appointment,  the  order,  and  the  authority 
of  the  Christian  ministry.  The  appointment  was  plainly 
in  the  entire  church ;  the  avowal  of  this  fact^  in  the  pas- 
sage before  us,  is  corroborated  by  another,  wherein  he 
advises  the  Corinthian  ministers,  concerning  whom  the 
schism  arose,  to  say,  "  if  there  be  contention,  and  strife, 
and  schisms  through  me,  I  will  leave  you,  I  will  go 
wherever  ye  will,  I  will  do  whatever  shall  he  decided 
by   the   majority.''''*      This    mode    of    appointment    took 

2  Clem.  Ep.  ad  Cor.,  §  40—44. 

3  <ruvtvSoiifi(riiff»s  Tsj;  iKKXriirias  <![a,ffvi?i  u.  s.  §  44.  Henry  Hammond,  an 
advocate  of  the  powers  of  the  clergy,  with  more  zeal  than  discretion,  trans- 
lates  this ;    applaudente,  aut  congratulante  tota  Ecclesia,  and  adds  in  a 

triumphant  parenthesis  (nihil  hie  de  acceptatione  totius  Ecclesiae) Episco- 

patus  Jura,  p.  278.  He  forgot  that  he  was  establishing  a  distinction  without 
a  difference  ;  for  whether  the  church  applauded  or  congratulated  the 
ordaining  ministers,  either  act  necessarily  included  the  approval  of  their 
choice,  and  consequently  the  acceptance  of  the  object  of  it.  Archbishop  Wake 
dare  be  honest ;  and  translates  it  "  with  the  consent  of  the  whole  church ;" 
which  is  certainly,  and  beyond  all  controversy,  the  right  translation. 


168 

place  on  the  death  of  the  apostles ;  while  they  lived, 
they  themselves,  or  their  immediate  companions,  ordained 
elders,^  being  inspired  in  their  choice  of  persons  by  the 
miraculous  agency  of  the  Spirit.  That  an  arrangement  so 
important  as  this  should  not  be  mentioned  or  alluded  to  in 
the  canonical  writings,  is  certainly  a  strong  presumption 
in  favour  of  the  opinion,  that  Ecclesiastical  Polity  formed 
no  part  of  the  New  Testament  Revelation. 

The  order  of  the  Ministry  in  the  primitive  church  is 
plainly  declared  in  this  passage.  It  recognises  two  degrees 
of  rank  only  for  ecclesiastical  persons ;  the  one  named  indif- 
ferently bishops  (overseers)  and  elders,  the  other  deacons 
or  ministers.  Several  individuals  of  both  these  classes  mi- 
nistered to  the  church  at  Corinth.'^  No  very  exact  classi- 
fication, however,  seems  to  have  been  intended,  by  these 
designations ;  the  duties  of  both  are  included  in  the  terms, 
episcopate,^  or  office  of  a  bishop,  and  diaconate,^  or  office 
of  a  deacon  : — agreeing  exactly  with  the  little  we  find 
upon  this  subject  in  the  Scriptures.  The  Ephesian  minis- 
ters are  termed  presbyters,  ^  and  bishops  ;^^  and  in  the 
same  passage,  the  office  of  St.  Paul  the  apostle  is  styled, 
"  the  office  of  a  deacon.*"^*    St.  Peter,  in  the  same  manner, 


5  Tit.  i.  5. 

6  The  endeavour  to  extend  the  superscription  of  this  Epistle  to  the 
whole  of  Achaia  by  the  help  of  the  phrase  t^  lxx.X'/i<ricc  -recpoixturri  KopivB-ov ; 
which  they  translate  "the  church  dwelling  at  and  near  Corinth,"  instead  of 
"  at  Corinth,"  is  a  mere  quibble;  for  which  the  only  excuse  is,  the  spirit  of 
bitter  vehemence  in  which  the  controversy  was  carried  on  by  both  parties. 
See  Hammond,  Ep,  Jur.  Disser.  5.  c.  2. 

7  I'Triirxovn- 

"  XiiTHpy'iu.,  iiccKovia,. 
■'  Acts  XX.  17- 
If  Ver.  28. 

'1    llKKOVIK,   V.   21. 


169 

exhorts  the  presbyters  to  fulfil  the  duties  of  a  bishop  ;^^ 
and  St.  Paul,  in  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  extends  the 
same  exhortation  to  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men  in  the 
church,'^  That  bishops  and  deacons  were  the  only  orders 
known  in  the  apostolic  churches  is  also  evident ;  the  epistle 
to  the  Philippians  is  superscribed  to  the  saints  which  are 
in  that  city,  with  the  bishops  and  deacons. 

The  authority  of  the  Christian  ministry,  is  by  far  the 
most  important  question  which  the  passage  presents  for 
discussion.  So  great  is  the  diversity  of  opinions  upon  this 
point,  that  our  safest  course  will  be  carefully  to  possess 
ourselves  of  the  New  Testament  doctrine  regarding  it, 
before  we  proceed  further. 

The  entire  abolition  of  the  Aaronical  priesthood,  to- 
gether with  the  ritual  administered  by  that  order,  is  so 
unequivocally  declared,  and  made  the  basis  of  an  argu- 
ment which  establishes  one  of  the  offices  of  our  Lord,^* 
that  the  fact  can  be  no  longer  doubtful  with  those  who 
admit  the  authenticity  of  the  Revelation.  It  follows,  "  that 
the  priesthood  being  changed,  there  is  made  of  necessity, 
a  change  also  of  the  law  ;''''^^  and  surely,  the  law  which 
regarded  the  authority  and  maintenance  of  the  order  abo- 
lished, would  be  among  the  first  to  undergo  the  change. — 
No  passage,  therefore,  from  the  Old  Testament,  prescri- 
bing to  either  of  these  particulars,  can,  with  any  shadow 
of  propriety,  be  adduced  in  support  of  similar  claims  on 
the  part  of  the  Christian  ministry.  There  is  an  equal 
impropriety  in  speaking  of  the  ministers  of  Christ  as  the 
successors,  either  to  the  authority  of  the  Jewish  priest- 
hood, or  to  any  of  the  titles  or  offices  attached  to  that 
institution.       Most  justly,   therefore,  in  my  opinion,  did 

12  1  Pet.  V.  1,  2.  13  xii.  15.  M  Heb.  v.  vii_x. 

15  Heb.  vii.  12. 


170 

the  early  seceders  from  the  Church  of  England  object, 
that  in  her  ritual  the  elders  were  distinguished  by  a  title 
not  descriptive  of  their  office,  and  apt  to  mislead  as  to  the 
nature  of  it ;  and  in  a  spirit  of  candour,  of  which  the 
religious  controversies  of  those  days  furnish  us  with  but 
few  examples.  Hooker,  the  great  champion  of  episcopacy, 
defers  to  this  scruple ;  and  admits  the  expediency  of 
naming  the  second  clerical  order  in  the  English  church. 
Presbyters,  rather  than  Priests.^''  It  is  worthy  of  observa^ 
tion,  that  in  the  short  passage  in  which  the  inspired  apostle 
St.  Paul  discusses  the  reasonable  proposition  that,  "  they 
which  preach  the  Gospel  should  live  by  the  Gospel,"^''  he 
seeks  his  Old  Testament  authority  for  it,  in  the  general 
benevolence  of  the  great  Creator,  which  did  not  even 
pass  by  "  the  ox  that  treadeth  out  the  corn,"^^  not  in  the 
ample  provision  which  the  same  law  secured  to  the  Levi- 
tical  priesthood  ;  and  when,  in  a  subsequent  verse  he  does 
allude  to  it,  the  tenor  of  his  allusion  strictly  accords  with 
our  present  view  of  the  question.  He  uses  it  in  illustration, 
not  as  his  authority  :  "  do  ye  not  know  that  they  which 
minister  about  holy  things,  live  of  the  things  of  the  temple  ? 
and  they  which  wait  at  the  altar,  are  partakers  with  the 
altar  .'''"^^  and,  therefore,  it  was  highly  probable  that  a 
similar  provision  would  be  made  for  the  Christian  ministry. 
Such  a  provision,  he  is  autliorised  to  inform  the  Corinthians, 
was  made ;  "for  even  so  hath  the  Lord  ordained,  that  they 
that  preach  the  Gospel  should  live  by  the  Gospel."^  But 
evidently  there  would  be  no  necessity  for  any  new  ordi- 
nance, if  the  ministers  of  Christ  were  the  legitimate 
successors  to  the  right  of  maintenance  enjoyed  by  the 
Jewish  priesthood.     The  idea,  therefore,  of  such  succession 

16  Eccl.  Pol.,  b.  5.  c.  78.  17  1  Cor.  ix.  1—14.  IB  Ver.  9. 

lOVer.  13.  20  Ver.  14. 


171 

cannot,  by  possibility,  have  occurred  to  the  writer  of  this 
passage. 

We  infer  that  the  Christian  ministry  derives  no 
authority  of  prescription  from  the  ordinances  of  the  Levi- 
tical  law,  but  merely  that  of  precedent  or  analogy  ;  and, 
consequently,  that  the  origin  of  their  power,  or  authority, 
must  be  sought  in  the  New  Testament. 

Our  Lord''s  reply  to  the  celebrated  confession  of 
the  apostle  St.  Peter  has  been  interpreted  as  descriptive 
of  the  power  conferred  upon  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel 
generally ;  "  I  will  give  unto  thee  the  keys  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven,  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  on  earth 
shall  be  bound  in  heaven,  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt 
loose  on  earth,  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven."^^  Of  the 
same  import  is  the  charge  which  he  gave  to  his  disci- 
ples on  a  subsequent  occasion,  wherein  he  enjoins  them 
to  appeal  to  the  whole  church,  or  assembly,  against  a 
trespassing  brother,  after  more  private  methods  of  re- 
buke shall  have  failed  to  produce  amendment ;  "  but  if 
he  neglect  to  hear  the  church,  let  him  be  unto  thee  as 
an  heathen  man,  and  a  publican.  Verily  I  say  unto  you, 
whatsoever  ye  shall  bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven, 
and  whatsoever  ye  shall  loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in 
heaven.""^  After  his  resurrection,  our  blessed  Saviour  was 
pleased  still  more  amply  to  confirm  this  commission. 
*'  Then  said  Jesus  unto  them,  (that  is,  to  a  considerable 
number  of  the  disciples,  who  were  assembled  together,) 
peace  be  unto  you !  as  my  father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  send 
I  you.  And  when  he  had  said  this,  he  breathed  on  them, 
and  saith  unto  them,  receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost ;  whose- 
soever sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted  unto  them ;  and 
whosesoever  sins  ye  retain,  they  are  retained."^'' 

21  Matt.  xvi.  19.  22  MaU.  xviii.  15—18.  23  John  xx.  \0—23. 


172 

It  will  be  observed,  that  all  the  passages  before  us 
treat  of  the  same  gift,  or  grace  ;  the  two  first  containing 
promises  that  it  should  be  imparted  to  the  disciples  after- 
wards, and  the  last  being  an  account  of  the  promised 
communication.  It  must  also  be  borne  in  mind,  that  the 
power  of  the  keys,  whatever  it  may  be,  though  in  the  first 
passage  promised  to  Peter  only,  was  afterwards  given  to 
all  the  apostles,  and  probably  to  the  rest  of  the  disciples 
also.  This  consideration  removes  one  of  the  difficulties  in 
the  way  of  a  right  comprehension  of  its  nature.  The 
manner  in  which  it  was  communicated  is  also  important. 
"  Our  Saviour  breathed  upon  his  disciples,  and  said, 
receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost :""  plainly,  therefore,  the  power 
in  question  was  a  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Let  us  now 
endeavour  to  ascertain  its  nature.  It  is  described  to  be, 
the  power  of  binding  and  loosing,  or,  in  other  words,  of 
remitting  or  retaining,  the  sins  of  men,  with  reference  to 
their  future  and  everlasting  condition.  This  promise  is  in 
strict  analogy  with  what  is  revealed  in  other  parts  of  Holy 
Writ.  No  truth  is  more  explicitly  disclosed  than  that 
judgment  shall  be  committed  to  the  saints  of  the  Most 
High.  The  twelve  apostles  "  shall  sit  on  twelve  thrones, 
judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel."^*  "  The  saints  shall 
judge  the  world,"  yea,  "  they  shall  judge  angels  l""-^  And 
though  the  latter  passages  refer  to  times  and  events  per- 
fectly distinct  from  the  former,  yet  we  can  discern,  as 
through  a  glass  darkly,  the  order  and  divine  harmony  of 
that  arrangement  which  employs  the  same  instrumentality 
to  edify  the  church  militant,  in  a  world  that  lieth  in 
wickedness,  and  to  minister  to  the  church  triumphant, 
in  the  new  heavens  and  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  right- 
eousness. 

2i  Mutt.  xix.  28.  25  1  Cor.  vi.  2,  3. 


173 

Taking  from  hence  a  caution  lest  our  interpretations 
of  these,  or  any  places  of  Scripture,  convict  themselves  of 
error  by  their  discordance  with  other  revealed  truths,  let 
us  return  to  the  subject  before  us.  We  ask  with  the 
patriarch  of  old,  "  shall  not  the  judge  of  all  the  earth  do 
right,"^^  and  then  appeal  to  the  understanding  of  any  one, 
if  it  be  possible  to  reconcile  with  this  his  essential  attribute 
of  justice,  the  commission  of  the  final  adjudication  of  the 
eternal  destinies  of  mankind,  to  the  limited  faculties  and 
biassed  judgments  of  their  fallible  and  sinful  fellow-men  ? 
The  reply  will  be  given  unhesitatingly  ;  if  our  conceptions 
of  the  mutual  relations  between  God  and  man  be  taken 
from  Revelation,  a  proposition  could  hardly  be  framed 
which  will  so  grossly  violate  our  notions  of  propriety  and 
justice  on  the  subject,  as  this.  We  willingly  forbear  to 
amplify  on  an  idea  from  which  the  mind  naturally  revolts  ; 
but  at  once  infer,  that,  however  high  the  authority  upon 
which  the  contrary  may  have  been  asserted,  the  notion  that 
the  fiats  of  eternity  were  committed  either  to  the  apostles, 
unassisted  by  the  miraculous  presence  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
or  to  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  in  virtue  of  the  apostolic 
succession,  is  so  plainly  contradictory  to  the  whole  scope  of 
Revelation,  that  such  cannot  possibly  be  the  meaning  of 
the  passages  before  us. 

We  have,  therefore,  to  enquire  into  the  mode  in 
which  this  promise  of  Christ  to  the  apostles  received  its 
fulfilment.  This,  we  conceive,  would  be  accomplished  to 
the  letter,  if  by  miraculously  illuminating  their  under- 
standings, through  the  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  he 
imparted  such  an  insight  into  the  hearts  of  men,  and 
into  the  councils  of  Omniscience,  and  so  supernaturally 
guided   their  judgments  upon  these,   that  what  they  de- 

'^  Gen.  xviii.  25. 


174 

creed  on  earth,  tliat  would  the  God  of  justice  ratify  in 
heaven. 

The  inspired  history  of  the  apostles  informs  us  that 
they  were  actually  possessed  of  this  power.  The  first  in- 
stance of  its  exercise  is  recorded  in  the  melancholy  story 
of  Ananias  and  Sapphira,^'^  the  particulars  of  which  are 
too  well  known  to  need  that  they  should  be  repeated  here. 
The  miraculous  power  exercised  by  St.  Peter  upon  this 
occasion,  was  of  a  very  extraordinary  character.  He  Avas 
inspired  by  the  Spirit  of  Omniscience  with  a  perfect 
knowledge  of  the  transaction  he  rebuked,  though  in  no 
way  whatever  privy  to  it,  and  of  the  thoughts  and  intents 
of  the  hearts  of  its  guilty  perpetrators :  and  thus  instinct 
with  the  Deity,  he  declared  the  sin  of  those  who  attempted 
to  deceive  him  in  his  apostolical  character,  to  be,  "  lying 
unto  the  Holy  Ghost :  lying  not  unto  man,  but  unto  God  :" 
and  the  Lord  confirmed  his  Avords  with  sig-ns  following : 
the  instant  death  of  both  the  offenders,  bore  an  awful  tes- 
timony to  the  literal  truth  of  his  declaration.  That  in 
conferring  these  extraordinary  powers  upon  St.  Peter,  our 
Lord  abundantly  fulfilled  the  promise  he  had  made  to  him, 
will,  I  think,  scarcely  be  denied.  It  was  manifest  that  the 
keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  were  in  his  hands ;  and  that 
which  he  bound  on  earth  was,  by  a  terrific  display  of  the 
divine  vengeance  against  lying  and  hypocrisy,  hurried 
instantly  away  to  the  judgment-seat  of  God,  in  order  that, 
as  we  have  reason  to  fear,  the  fiat  of  the  inspired  apostle 
might  be  ratified  to  all  eternity  in  heaven. 

We  find  St.  Peter  exercising  the  same  miraculous 
power  in  the  case  of  Simon  Magus.^**  By  that  superna- 
tural discernment  of  spirits,  wherewith  he  was  gifted,  he 
denounced  him   as  being  "in  the  gall  of  bitterness  and 

27  Acts  V.  1—12.  20  Acts  viii.  20,  22. 


175 

bond  of  iniquity ;"  though  the  proposal  he  made,  would 
seem,  in  a  young  convert,  to  partake  as  much  of  ignorance 
as  of  sin.^^ 

The  same  fearful  power  of  discerning  the  heart,  and 
decreeing  the  punishment,  was  also  possessed  by  St.  Paul 
the  apostle.  When  his  attempt  to  convince  Sergius  Paulus 
of  the  truth  of  Christianity  at  Paphos,  was  withstood  by 
Elymas  the  sorcerer,  "  he  set  his  eyes  on  him,  being  full 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  said,  O  full  of  all  subtilty,  and 
all  mischief,  thou  child  of  the  devil,  thou  enemy  of  all 
righteousness  l"*^  Now  it  was  not  possible  to  infer  all 
this,  from  the  mere  circumstance  that  he  withstood  the 
the  gospel  when  he  first  heard  it :  the  apostle  himself 
had  done  so,  and  as  he  informs  us,  "  ignorantly  in 
unbelief."  But  the  miraculous  blindness  which  imme- 
diately fell  upon  Elymas,  in  obedience  to  St.  Paul's 
imprecation,  was  an  unanswerable  proof  that  herein  he 
spoke  the  words  of  truth  and  soberness  :  consequently  a 
supernatural  insight  into  the  heart  and  conscience  of  the 
culprit  had  been  afforded  him,  and  full  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  illuminating  his  understanding,  and  directing  his 
judgment,  "  that  which  he  bound  on  earth  was  bound  in 
heaven." 

We  may  observe  the  same,  in  the  healing  of  the  cripple 

29  According  to  the  early  fathers,  Simon  Magus  was  afterwards  the 
author  of  a  very  gross  departure  from  the  true  doctrine  of  the  Gospel.  We 
would  only  observe  that  one  material  part  of  the  story  was  certainly  a  mis- 
take :  they  supposed  that  Simon  had  been  worshipped  at  Rome,  under  the 
title  of  "  the  holy  God."  Probably  the  same  statue  that  was  seen  by  the 
early  Christians,  has  since  been  dug  up  ;  it  is  inscribed  to  the  Sabine  deity, 
Semon  :  they  were  misled  by  the  resemblance  of  the  names.  As  the  whole 
story  hinges  upon  this  mistake,  I  cannot  help  hoping  that  it  is  a  fable,  and 
that  Simon  profited  by  the  good  advice  of  the  inspired  apostle. 

3**  Acts  xiii.  5—12. 


176 

at  the  temple  gate.^^  The  steadfast  beholding  of  him  by 
the  two  apostles,  and  the  command  "  look  on  us,""  which 
are  so  minutely  particvdarized,  doubtless  referred  to  the 
exercise  of  that  supernatural  faculty  which  enabled  them 
to  discern  whether  in  his  heart  he  had  faith  to  be 
healed. 

Here,  then,  is  a  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  literally  ful- 
filling the  terms  of  our  Saviour's  promise,  and  conferred 
upon  St.  Peter  and  the  apostles  :  the  individuals  to  whom 
it  was  promised.  The  purpose  also  which  it  subserved  in 
their  most  arduous  labours  was  that,  to  accomplish  which 
the  power  of  the  keys  was  to  be  imparted.  The  context 
which  introduces  the  promise  of  it  to  St.  Peter  reads, 
"  thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  will  I  build  my 
church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it."^- 
Now  if,  according  to  the  natural  import  of  the  words, 
Peter  was  the  rock  upon  which  the  church  Avas  to  be  built, 
the  promised  power  will  necessarily  be  conducive  to  that 
edification.  And  we  find  that  the  other  passages,  wherein 
it  is  mentioned,  are  also  accompanied  by  allusions  to  the 
same  purpose,  to  be  accomplished  by  it.  But  nothing  was 
of  such  vital  importance  to  laying  the  foundation  of  the 
church  of  Christ,  as  that  discernment  of  spirits  which 
enabled  the  apostles  and  disciples  to  detect  and  expel 
hypocritical  converts :  and  in  the  ordination  of  the  minis- 
try, to  lay  hands  on  such  men  only  as  were  prepared  by 
the  grace  of  God  to  undergo  the  fiery  trial  which  awaited 
them,  and  to  persevere  in  the  work  unto  the  end.  The 
power  of  the  keys,  therefore,  was  a  miraculous  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  imparted  to  the  apostles  and  their  cotempo- 
raries,  for  the  same  purpose  as  the  power  of  working 
miracles  generally,  that  of  laying  the  foundation  of  the 
:»  Acts  iii.  1—8.  ;'-'  Matt.  x\  i.  18. 


177 

church  of  Christ  on  earth.  In  common  with  other  gifts 
of  the  same  nature,  it  Avas  promised  to  the  disciples  by  our 
Saviour  after  his  resurrection,^^  as  well  as  before  his  death  ; 
like  them  also  it  was  promised,  without  any  allusion  what- 
ever to  the  period  of  its  continuance  or  cessation,  by  him 
who  spake,  not  as  man  but  as  God,  who  "  seeth  the  end 
from  the  beginning,"  and  "  with  whom  one  day  is  as  a 
thousand  years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day."  Never- 
theless, we  discover  in  the  mode  of  speech  adopted  by  our 
Lord  on  this  occasion,  a  corroboration  of  the  opinion  we 
have  ventured  to  express.  Peter  with  the  power  of  the  keys 
was  the  rock  upon  which  Christ  would  build  his  church. 
He  was,  therefore,  the  foundation,  not  the  superstruc- 
ture ;  and  the  allusion  is  to  the  commencement,  not  to  the 
progress,  of  the  symbolical  edifice.  We  cannot  speak, 
therefore,  of  the  successors  of  St.  Peter  and  the  apostles 
inheriting  the  power  of  the  keys  in  virtue  of  that  suc- 
cession, without  introducing  an  intolerable  violation  of 
the  propriety  of  the  metaphor ;  for  then  the  church  is 
built,  not  "  upon  the  foundation  of  apostles  and  prophets, 
Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner  stone ;"  but 
upon  the  foundation  of  the  bishop  for  the  time  being, 
every  successive  bishop  being,  of  necessity,  a  new  foun- 
dation. 

The  inference,  we  conceive,  is  inevitable.  The  power 
of  the  keys  was  one  of  those  miraculous  gifts  of  the  Spirit 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  so  soon  passed  away  from  the 
church ;  and,  consequently,  the  claims  of  the  Christian 
ministry  to  authority  cannot,  with  safety,  be  rested  there. 
For  no  inference  is  more  natural,  than  that  all  the  authori- 
tative acts  of  persons  thus  endued,  can  by  no  means  be 
pleaded  as  precedents  for  similar  acts  on  the  part  of  their 
33  See  Mark  xvi.  15—18. 
N 


178 

successors  in  the  ministry,  unless  they  also  are  themselves 
gifted  with  the  same  miraculous  powers.^^ 

Bearing  this  in  mind,  we  proceed  to  the  passages 
which  actually  confer  authority  upon  the  Christian 
ministry. 

The  first  class  of  them  we  shall  notice,  are  those 
which  establish  orders,  or  distinctions,  of  rank  in  the 
church.  St.  Paul,  in  two  places,  illustrates  this  by  the 
analogous  constitution  of  the  human  body  ;^^  which 
consists  of  many  members,  some  in  superior,  and  others 
in  subordinate  capacities ;  but  all  harmonized  into  entire 
subserviency  to  the  head.  In  the  same  manner  is  the 
church  the  body  of  Christ,  the  head,  and  the  indivi- 
duals composing  it,  members  in  particular.  The  meaning 
cannot  be  mistaken  ;  St.  Paul  certainly  adopts  this 
illustration  for  the  same  purpose  as  that  for  which  it  was 
originally  used  in  the  form  of  an  apologue,^^  to  enforce  the 
necessity  of  subordinations  of  rank,  in  all  associations  of 
men,  whether  civil  or  ecclesiastical  ;  and  the  duty  of 
obedience  on  the  part  of  those  in  the  inferior  stations,  to 
those  who  fill  the  superior  ones.  No  more  satisfactory 
authority  could  be  desired,  either  for  the  setting  apart  of  a 
distinct  order  of  men  for  the  office  of  the  ministry,  or  for 
the  deference  and  respect  due  to  them,  from  those  among 
whom  they  minister  in  holy  things. 

The  next  point  which  calls  for  our  consideration  is  the 
power  entrusted  with  the  clergy,  and  the  measure  of 
obedience  to  which  that  order  is  entitled.     The  directions, 

3^  Tertullian  uses  exactly  the  same  argument,  and  from  the  same 
instances  in  Scripture,  though  for  a  very  different  purpose  ;  he  wishes  to 
prove  thereby  that  the  church  has  not  the  same  unlimited  power  of  pardon- 
ing oifences  as  was  possessed  by  the  apostles. — De  Pudicitia,  c.  21. 

^^  Rom.  xii.  4,  5.     1  Cor.  xii.  14—27. 

36  Tit.  Liv.  2,  32. 


179 

though  by  no  means  copious,  for  it  was  not  a  theme  upon 
which  the  apostles,  like  some  of  their  successors,  loved  to 
dwell,  are,  nevertheless,  sufficient  to  guide  us  to  a  right 
perception  both  of  the  nature  and  necessity  of  this  Chris- 
tian duty.  The  disciple  of  Christ  is  required  to  "  know 
them  which  are  over  him  in  the  Lord,  and  admonish  him  ; 
and  to  esteem  them  very  highly  in  love  for  their  work''s 
sake."^^  He  is  exhorted  to  receive  the  ministers  of  his 
Divine  Master,  "  with  all  gladness,  and  to  hold  them  in 
reputation."^  "  They  that  labour  in  the  word  and  doc- 
trine are  to  be  counted  worthy  of  double  honour. "^^  The 
laity  generally  are  also  repeatedly  enjoined  to  submit 
themselves  to  the  ministry.^  The  honorary  titles  applied 
to  the  clergy  perfectly  correspond  with  the  spirit  of  these 
admonitions.  They  are  repeatedly  styled,  "  elders,"  hav- 
ing the  rule  over  their  people  ;^^  "  stewards  of  the  myste- 
ries of  God  ;"^^  nay,  in  their  capacity  of  preachers  of  the 
gospel,  "  ambassadors  of  Christ,  by  whom  God  speaks," 
exhorting  their  people  "  in  Christ's  stead.*"^^  It  will  be 
observed,  that  in  the  places  of  Holy  Writ  here  cited,  the 
claims  to  authority  and  obedience  are  not  founded  upon 
the  supernatural  powers  possessed  by  the  first  ministers  of 
the  Gospel,  but  upon  those  which  they  had  in  common 
with  all  who,  at  any  subsequent  period,  should  faithfully 
discharge  the  duties  of  that  office. — Beyond  all  question, 
therefore,  their  application  is  universal. 

Nor  are  we  left  in  doubt  as  to  the  rule  and  measure 
of  our  obedience  to  the  ministry  ;  it  is  exactly  prescribed, 
and  with  an  exquisite  adaptation  to  the  entire  system  of 
Christianity,  which  conspicuously  shows  forth  the  infinite 

37  1  Thess.  V.  12,  13.  38  phu.  ii.  29.  39  i  Tim.  v.  I7. 

40  1  Cor.  xvi.  16.     1  Pet.  v.  5.,  &c.  41  Heb.  xiii.  I7,  &c. 

42  1  Cor.  iv.  1.  43  2  Cor.  v.  19. 


180 

wisdom  that  contrived  it. — "  Obey  them   that  have  the 
rule  over   you,  (says   the   apostle  to  the  Hebrews,)  and 
submit  yourselves :" — but  it  was  no  blind  subjugation  of 
the  understanding  that  the  apostle  sought  to  accomplish ; 
he  immediately  gives  a  reason  for  it,  of  all  others  the  most 
cogent,  "for  they  watch  for  your  souls  as  they  that  must 
give  account,  that  they  may  do  it  with  joy,  and  not  with 
grief."^^     One  purpose,  therefore,  and  one  only,  is  to  be 
answered  by  the  required  submission ;  the  spiritual  edifica- 
tion of  the  persons  submitting  themselves.     This  doctrine 
is  still  more  unequivocally  laid  down  in  the  same  apostle''s 
account  of  the  spiritual  gifts  of  Christ,  and  of  the  ecclesi- 
astical orders  consequent  thereupon,  in  the  early  church. — 
"  He  gave  some  apostles,  and  some  prophets,  and  some 
evangelists,  and  some  pastors  and  teachers  ;  for  the  perfect- 
ing of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  for  the 
edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ!'"'^^     It  is  not  in  words  more 
exactly  to  define,    or  more  strictly  to  limit,    the   objects 
for  which  spiritual  authority  was  conferred  by  the  Holy 
Ghost.     The  writer  of  this  passage  obviously  regarded  the 
church  of  Christ  as  a  body  mystical,  not  as  a  body  politic; 
and  the  ranks  and  orders  in  which  spiritual  authority  ori- 
ginate were,  in  his  apprehension,  merely  means,  subserving 
the  edification  of  the  mystical  church,  not  the  end,  confer- 
ring a  political  incorporation  upon  tlie  visible  one.     The 
measure,  then,  of   this  obedience,    is  laid   down  in  such 
terms  as  cannot  be  misunderstood.     We  are  required  to 
yield  to  our  spiritual  pastors  that  degree  of  deference  which 
shall   best  subserve   our  own  growth  in  grace,    and   the 
advancement  of  the  work  of  the  ministry.     Nor  is  this  a 
question  left  to  the  decision  of  either  the  rulers  or  the  ruled, 
exclusively:  both  are  required  to  exercise  their  understand- 
44  Heb.  xiii.  I?.  ^r,  gph.  iv.  11,  12. 


181 

ings  upon  it,  as  intelligent  beings,  and  then  in  simplicity 
and  godly  sincerity  to  follow  the  dictates  of  conscience. — 
When  this  is  the  case,  it  will  invariably  be  found  that 
more  than  is  exacted  by  the  one,  will  be  willingly  yielded 
by  the  other. 

With  this  view  of  the  subject,  all  the  passages  of  the 
New  Testament,  touching  ecclesiastical  discipline,  are  in 
perfect  harmony.  Those  that  illustrate  the  constitution  of 
the  church  by  that  of  the  human  body,  to  which  we  have 
already  alluded,  refer  to  the  subordinations  of  the  various 
members,  as  mere  adaptations  to  the  purpose  and  conveni- 
ence of  the  head,  Christ.  And  in  the  same  meek  and 
lowly  spirit,  St.  Paul  speaks  of  his  own  most  successful 
labours  at  Corinth  : — "  Who  is  Paul,  and  who  is  Apol- 
los,  but  ministers'*''  by  whom  ye  have  believed,  even  as 
the  Lord  gave  to  every  man  ?  I  have  planted,  Apollos 
watered,  but  God  gave  the  increase.  So  then,  neither 
is  he  that  planteth  any  thing,  nor  he  that  watereth ;  but 
God  that  giveth  the  increase."'*''  In  another  place  he  dis- 
claims all  idea  of  having  "  dominion  over  the  faith""  of  his 
Corinthian  converts,  and  styles  himself  and  his  brethren 
in  the  ministry,  "  helpers  of  their  joy.'"'*^  With  still  more 
fervency  does  the  same  apostle  disown  all  power  of  author- 
itative interference  in  the  epistle  to  Timothy: — "The 
servant  of  the  Lord  must  not  strive ;  but  be  gentle  unto 
all  men,  apt  to  teach,  patient,  in  meekness  instructing 
those  that  oppose  themselves."^^  Hereunto  also  agree  the 
other  inspired  writers  of  the  New  Testament.  St.  Peter 
exhorts  the  elders  to  "  feed  the  flock  of  God  not  as  lords 
over  God's  heritage,  but  as  ensamples  to  the  flock"".^**  The 
lamp  of  revelation,  then,  sheds  its  clear  and  unerring  light 

46  huKom.  47  1  Cor.  iii.  5—7-  48  2  Cor.  i,  24. 

49  2  Tim.  ii.  24,  25.  so  i  Pet.  v.  2,  3. 


182 

upon  the  general  question  of  ecclesiastical  discipline,  as 
well  as  upon  every  other  point  of  Christian  practice. — 
Avoiding,  as  on  other  questions,  particular  rules,  we  find 
that  two  general  directions  are  deducible  from  what  is 
written  regarding  it.  The  one  is,  that  a  distinct  order  of 
men  is  to  be  set  apart  for  the  work  of  the  ministry  : — the 
other,  that  such  a  measure  of  authority  shall  be  conferred 
upon  them,  as  may  best  subserve,  "  the  perfecting  of  the 
saints,  the  work  of  the  ministry,  the  edifying  of  the  body 
of  Christ.'"'  This  is  its  exact  measure  ;  and  all  deviations 
from  it,  whether  in  defect  or  excess,  are  equally  condemned 
by  the  inspired  writers.  But  our  Lord's  kingdom  is  not 
of  this  world  ;  to  accomplish  direct  changes  in  the  political 
condition  of  mankind,  formed  no  part  of  the  object  of  his 
mission  :  nevertheless,  the  social  relations  of  men  are  so 
modified  by  this  and  other  causes,  as  continually  to  alter, 
at  different  periods,  and  in  different  countries,  the  measure 
of  authority  which  shall  enable  the  ministers  of  Christ's 
religion  effectually  to  discharge  the  functions  of  their 
office.  Hence  it  is,  that  in  a  revelation  which  is  given  for 
all  time,  such  general  principles  alone  are  laid  down  as 
shall  bring  the  question  fairly  within  the  reach  and  com- 
pass of  the  human  understanding  ;  the  framing  of  the 
particular  rules  to  meet  each  emergency  that  may  arise, 
being  left  to  its  conscientious  exercise. 

Such  appears  to  me  to  be  the  New  Testament  doctrine 
on  the  pastoral  authority  of  the  clergy.  We  now  return 
to  Clement  of  Rome,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  opinions  he 
promulgated  upon  this  important  subject. 

If  I  rightly  apprehend  the  scope  and  design  of  the 
entire  epistle,  it  is  to  exhort  the  laity  of  the  church  of 
Corinth  to  obedience  to  the  clergy.  The  question  where- 
upon the  schism  it   rebukes  had  arisen  appears  to  have 


183 

been  one  of  discipline,  not  of  doctrine. — Certain  persona*' 
had  elevated  themselves  to  the  office  of  the  ministry,  or 
been  irregularly  appointed  to  it  by  the  people.  St.  Clement 
wrote  to  the  Corinthian  church  to  procure  their  degrada- 
tion, and  the  establishment  of  the  regular  clergy  ;  who 
had  either  been  ordained  by  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  (both 
of  whom  had  then  suffered  martyrdom,*^)  or  by  other 
eminent  men,  with  the  consent  of  the  whole  assembly.^ 
The  question,  therefore,  of  the  apostolic  succession,  and  of 
the  authority  derived  from  thence  to  the  Christian  ministry 
is  at  issue  ;  and  it  is  material  to  enquire  if  herein  he  has 
written  according  to  the  mind  of  the  Spirit,  which  we  have 
already  endeavoured  to  ascertain  from  Holy  Scripture. 

The  origin  of  this  "  sedition  against  the  presbyters" 
(as  he  calls  it,  c.  47.)  he  declares  to  be  envy.  He  illustrates 
its  evil  effects  by  the  cases  of  Cain  and  Abel,  of  Jacob 
and  Esau,  of  Moses  and  the  two  contending  Hebrews,  of 
Aaron  and  Miriam,  of  Dathan  and  Abiram,  and  of  David 
and  Saul,  (c.  5.)  To  the  workings  of  the  same  bad  pas- 
sion he  ascribes  the  persecution  and  death  of  the  apostles, 
confessors,  and  martyrs  of  his  own  times;  and  he  thus 
completes  his  climax  of  the  evils  which  envy  has  occasioned, 
— "  In  a  word,  envy  and  strife  have  overturned  whole 
cities,  and  rooted  out  great  nations  from  off  the  earth."" 
(cc.  5,  6.) 

He  draws  from  hence  an  exhortation  "  to  come  up  to 
the  rule  of  our  glorious  and  revered  calling,"  and  to 
repentance:  he  endeavours  to  incite  the  Corinthians  to 
seek  after  this  last  grace,  by  the  example  of  Noah  and  the 
antediluvians,  Jonah  and  the  Ninevites,  and  two  passages 
from  the  prophets.**  (cc.  7,  8.)      He  calls  upon  them  to 

51  C.  47.,  et  alibi  passim.  52  c.  5.  53  c.  44. 

5^  Isa.  i.  16,  e.  s.     Jer.  iii.  4,  ly. 


184 

cast  themselves  upon  the  mercy  of  God,  "  laying  aside  all 
vain  labour  and  contentions,  and  envy  which  leads  vmto 
death.""^^  The  repentance  to  which  he  exhorts  them  being 
a  return  to  their  former  submission  to  the  regularly  or- 
dained clergy.  He  proceeds  to  enforce  the  excellencies 
and  advantages  of  obedience,  by  the  examples  of  Abraham 
obeying  the  call  of  God,  of  Lot  leaving  Sodom,  and  the 
not  very  pertinent  one  of  Rahab  the  harlot  and  the  spies. 
(cc.  10—12.) 

Having  thus  endeavoured  to  turn  them  by  repent- 
ance from  their  evil  courses,  the  next  grace  which 
he  recommends  to  their  practice  is  humility : — "  Let  us, 
therefore,  humble  ourselves,  brethren,  laying  aside  all 
pride,  and  boasting,  and  foolishness,  and  anger."  He 
enforces  this  by  quotations  from  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment.^^ His  inference  is  as  follows :" — "  it  is,  therefore, 
just  and  righteous,  brethren,  that  we  should  become  obe- 
dient unto  God,  rather  than  follow  such  as  through  pride 
and  sedition  have  made  themselves  the  ringleaders  of  a 
detestable  emulation."  (c.  14.)  He  exhorts  them  to  meek- 
ness and  gentleness,  and  declares  that  the  regular  clergy 
only  are  men  of  peace,  and  worthy  to  be  obeyed. — The 
intruders  talk  of  peace  indeed,  but  it  is  only  pretence. 
Then  follow  several  perfectly  inapplicable  texts  from  the 
Psalms,  strung  together  by  way  of  invective,  (c.  14.) 

Afterwards,  he  once  more  returns  to  humility,  which 
he  recommends  by  the  example  of  Christ,  whose  proficiency 
in  this  grace  he  endeavours  to  show  by  quoting  the  fifty- 
third  of  Isaiah  entire,  and  part  of  the  twenty-second  Psalm  ; 
(c.  16.) — the  humility  of  Elijah,  Elisha,  and  Ezekiel  the 
prophets,  is  also  commended  ;  it  consisted  in  their  going 
about  in   sheep-skins   and    goat-skins. — Abraham    is  also 

55  C.  9.  5P  Jer.  ix.  23.     Luke  vi.  36.     Isa.  Ixvi.  2.     Id.,  xiii. 


185 

praised  for  his  humility,  because,  in  addressing  the  Almighty, 
he  uttered  the  words,  "  Behold,  I  am  but  dust  and  ashes.''''^^ 
Job  is  commended  in  like  manner,  for  a  similar  confes- 
sion/^ The  humility  of  Moses  is  next  lauded,  in  acknow- 
ledging his  own  want  of  eloquence,  when  God  first  called 
him,^^  (c,  17.)  and  from  him  he  proceeds  to  David,  of  whose 
humility  he  finds  a  pregnant  proof  in  the  fifty-first  Psalm, 
the  whole  of  which  he  quotes,  (c.  18.)  He  reminds  them, 
that  these  examples  were  written  for  their  learning,  and 
then  commends  humility  and  patience  to  them  by  the 
example  of  God  himself;  his  proof  of  the  patience  and 
humility  of  the  Almighty,  he  discovers  in  the  works  of 
Providence,  (cc.  19,  20.) 

In  the  course  of  it,  he  passes  from  this  view  of  his 
subject,  to  another,  that  of  the  order  observed  throughout 
all  his  works  ;  he  infers  that  a  similar  order  has  been 
established  in  the  church,  and,  consequently,  that  all 
departvu'e  from  that  order  is  an  act  of  great  sin. — "  Let  us 
not,  then,  forsake  our  ranks^"  by  doing  contrary  to  his 
will. — Let  us  choose  to  offend  a  few  foolish  and  inconside- 
rate men,  lifted  up  and  glorying  in  their  owii  pride,  rather 
than  God. — Let  us  honour  those  that  are  set  over  us; 
let  us  respect  the  presbyters  that  are  among  us;  let  us 
instruct  the  young  men  in  discipline  by  the  fear  of  the 
Lord."  He  then  digresses  into  a  general  exhortation  to 
Christian  duties ;  (c.  21.)  and,  after  dwelling  upon  them 
at  some  length,  he  again  returns  to  the  subject  of  the 
epistle : — "  Let  us,  therefore,  march  on,  men  and  brethren, 
with  all  earnestness  in  his  holy  laws.  Let  us  consider 
those  that  fight  under  our  earthly  governors :  how  orderly, 
how  readily,   with  what   exact   obedience,    they  perform 

57  Gen.  xviii.  2?.  -^  xiv.  4.  59  Exod.  iii.  11. 

60  KtiToraKriTv,  desert. 


186 

those  things  that  are  commanded  them :  all  are  not  pre- 
fects, or  chiliarchs,  or  centurions,  or  commanders  of  fifty, 
and  so  on  ;  but  every  one  in  his  proper  rank  does  what  is 
commanded  him,  by  the  king  and  those  in  authority  over 
him. — The  great  cannot  subsist  without  the  little,  nor  the 
little  without  the  great. — But  there  must  be  a  mixture  in 
all  things,  and  then  there  will  be  use  and  profit  too.  Let 
us,  for  example,  take  our  body ;  the  head  without  the  feet 
is  nothing:  neither  the  feet  without  the  head. — But  all 
conspire  together,  and  are  subject  to  one  common  vise, 
namely,  the  preservation  of  the  body.  (c.  37-)  Let,  there- 
fore our  whole  body  be  saved  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  let 
every  one  be  subject  to  his  neighbour,  according  to  the 
order  in  which  he  is  placed  by  his  gift.*^^  Let  not  the 
strong  despise  the  weak,  and  let  the  weak  see  that  he  reve- 
rence the  strong."  He  speaks  in  the  same  manner  of  the 
gifts  of  riches,  wisdom,  humility,  and  continence. 

After  another  invective  against  the  schismatical  clergy, 
which  has  more  of  the  character  of  railing,  than  is  consis- 
tent, either  with  the  dignity  or  propriety  of  the  subject, 
(c.  39.)  he  thus  introduces  the  passage  which  is  already 
before  the  reader : — "  Seeing,  then,  that  these  things  are 
manifest  unto  us,  it  will  behove  us  to  take  care  that,  look- 
ino-  into  the  depths  of  the  divine  knowledge,  we  do  all 
things  in  order,  whatsoever  our  Lord  has  commanded  us 
to  do  :  particularly,  that  we  perform  our  offerings  and 
service  at  their  appointed  seasons,""  &c.  A  few  more 
remarks  upon  times  and  seasons  of  worship,  which  we 
have  already  quoted,*'^  precede  the  passage  in  question  ; 
the  argument  of  which  is  of  easy  comprehension. — Be- 

61  ^tt.f:tffi/,a,.     See  1  Cor.  xii.  5. ;  but  no  miraculous  gift  is  here  alluded 
to,  as  the  context  shows. 

62  Chap.  VIII.,  p.  118. 


187 

cause  there  were  courses  of  priests  and  Levites  in  the 
temple  at  Jerusalem,  which  was  then  standing,  therefore, 
there  ought  to  be  orders  in  the  Christian  chvirch  also. — 
And  because  the  apostles  were  sent  by  Christ,  and  Christ 
by  God,  therefore,  those  whom  they  ordained  as  presby- 
ters and  deacons  succeeded  to  their  authority.  This  argu- 
ment he  attempts  to  corroborate  by  the  circumstance, 
that  the  apostles  left  directions  for  the  ordination  of  minis- 
ters after  their  departure :  these  he  conjectures  to  have 
originated  in  their  foreknowledge  of  the  schisms  that 
would  arise  on  account  of  the  ministry.  He  considers  the 
case  to  be  exactly  parallel  with  that  of  the  miraculous 
choice  of  Aaron  ;  and  supposes  it  to  have  been  foretold  in 
an  imknown,  and  probably  accommodated,  Greek  version 
of  a  passage  of  Isaiah.  (We  shall  hereafter  consider  the 
mode  of  quoting  and  explaining  Scripture  used  by  Cle- 
ment and  his  cotemporaries.)  He  infers,  that  in  virtue  of 
the  apostolical  succession,  as  well  as  of  their  innocent  and 
holy  lives,  they  cannot  be  displaced  from  their  office  ;  nor 
can  any  one  refuse  a  degree  of  submission  and  respect, 
which  he  elsewhere  describes  by  the  expression,  "  bending 
the  knees  of  the  heart,''''^  without  being  guilty  of  a  sin 
equal  to  that  of  disobedience  to  God.  To  this  submission 
therefore,  he  exhorts  them  at  considerable  length,  to  the 
conclusion  of  the  epistle. 

It  will  be  perceived  by  this  long  analysis,  which  was 
rendered  necessary  by  the  loose  and  parenthetical  style  of 
the  writer,  that  the  question  regarding  the  ministry  was 
one  of  the  earliest  that  disturbed  the  peace  of  the  church. 
As  he  makes  no  allusion  to  the  plea  upon  which  the  schis- 
matics sought  to  displace  the  Corinthian  ministers,  we  can 
of  course  form  no  judgment  upon  it.     The  cessation  of  the 

63  C.  57. 


J88 

power  of  working  miracles  among  them,  and  the  bolder 
pretensions  to  these  gifts  of  the  intruders,  would  seem  to  be 
a  very  probable  one. 

I    will    commence    my   remarks   upon    this    ancient 
document  by  stating  my  full  belief,  that  the  object  of  St. 
Clement  and  the  church  at  Rome,  in  addressing  this  epistle 
to  the  church  at  Corinth,  was  a  highly  laudable  one.     The 
discarded  clergy  were,  beyond  all  doubt,  men  of  blameless 
and  edifying  conversation  ;  had  it  been  otherwise,  the  fact 
would  not  have  been  stated  so  boldly  and  repeatedly  :  this 
alone  is  enough  to  criminate  the  individuals  who  displaced 
them,    by   whatever   means.       Equally   ready   am    I    to 
acknowledge,   that   it   contains    some   beautiful   passages, 
conceived  in  the  true  spirit  of  primitive  Christianity,     Nor 
do  I  deny  that  parts  of  it  display  considerable  intellectual 
powers  ;  as  for  instance,  the  argument  for  subordination  in 
the  church  from  analogy*^^  is  extremely  well  managed  and 
expressed,  and  will  not  suffer   by   comparison    with  any 
cotemporary  production.     But,  notwithstanding,  there  is 
too  much  evidence  that  upon  the  question  before  us  St. 
Clement  had  grievously  departed  from  the  spirit  and  design 
of  the  New  Testament.    We  have  already  shown  that  there, 
the  authority  of  the  ministry  Avas  viewed  in  no  other  light 
than  that  of  a  means  subserving  an  end,  that  end  being  the 
diffusion  of  Christianity.     But  with  Clement  the  pastoral 
authority  is  the  end,   to  which  he  propounds  the  entire 
cycle  of  Christian  motives  as  means  subservient.     He  cites 
a  cloud  of  witnesses  from  the  Old  Testament ;  but  whatever 
be  the  nature  of  their  virtues  or  their  vices,  he  arranges 
them  all  (in  some  cases  at  a  large  expense  of  sound  reason- 
ing) under  the  two  categories  of  obedience  and  disobedience 
to  spiritual  authority.     Yet,  the  question  was  merely  one 

64  C.  37. 


189 

of  succession  :  no  difference  of  opinion,  upon  any  of  the 
doctrines  of  Christianity,  existed  between  the  regular  and 
schismatical  clergy  at  Corinth  :  such  difference  is  not  even 
hinted  at;  and  his  advice  to  the  apostolic  presbyters  to 
leave  the  church  rather  than  continue  the  schism,  (c.  54.) 
reduces  it  to  an  absolute  certainty.  Had  the  schismatics 
held  also  heretical  opinions,  he  would  unquestionably  have 
called  vipon  them  to  suffer  martyrdom  on  the  spot,  rather 
than  leave  their  flock  to  the  guidance  of  false  teachers. 

It  is  happily  in  our  power  to  produce  a  precisely 
similar  instance,  which  occurred  to  an  inspired  apostle. 
St.  Paul  writes  thus  to  the  Philippians : — "  I  would  ye 
should  understand,  brethren,  that  the  things  which  hap- 
pened vmto  me  have  fallen  out  rather  unto  the  furtherance 
of  the  Gospel ;  so  that  my  bonds  in  Christ  are  manifest  in 
all  the  palace,  and  in  all  other  places ;  and  many  of  the 
brethren  in  the  Lord,  waxing  confident  by  my  bonds,  are 
much  more  bold  to  speak  the  word  without  fear.  Some 
indeed  preach  Christ,  even  of  envy  and  strife ;  and  some 
also  of  good  will ;  the  one  preach  Christ  of  contention,  not 
sincerely,  supposing  to  add  affliction  to  my  bonds  ;  but  the 
other  of  love."''''  Here  is  a  much  worse  case  of  exactly 
the  same  schism  as  that  described  by  St.  Clement.  Here 
is  a  rebellion,  not  against  the  presbyters  ordained  by  the 
apostles,  but  against  an  apostle  himself,  in  the  plenary 
exercise  of  all  the  miraculous  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Taking  a  mean  and  cruel  advantage  of  his  bonds  for 
Christ"'s  sake,  these  schismatics  contemptuously  defied  his 
pastoral  authority,  and  preached  Christ  of  contention,  not 
sincerely  ;  vilifying  his  apostle  at  the  same  time,  in  the 
malicious  hope  of  adding  affliction  to  his  tedious  imprison- 
ment. Their  motive,  also,  in  obtruding  their  unauthorised 
•'s  Phil.  i.  2—17. 


190 

ministrations  upon  the  church  at  Rome,  is  the  same  as  that 
of  the  Corinthian  dissentients,  "  strife  and  envy."  Now 
it  is  impossible,  that  the  sin  of  the  one,  should  not  be  much 
greater  than  the  sin  of  the  other.  At  Corinth  they  only 
rebelled  against  presbyters  whose  highest  honour  it  would 
be,  to  have  received  ordination  at  the  hand  of  an  apostle  ; 
while  at  Rome  they  set  at  nought  the  spiritual  jurisdiction 
of  an  apostle  himself.  Surely  if  St.  Clement  had  scrip- 
tural authority  at  all,  for  the  heinous  and  aggravated 
character  he  assigned  to  the  sin  of  the  Corinthian  church, 
and  for  the  severe  reproof  he  administered  to  the  schisma- 
tics, he  must  have  found  it  in  this  passage.  And  yet  a 
more  perfect  contrast  is  scarcely  conceivable.  The  whole 
thunder  of  St.  Clement's  rebuke  is  aimed  at  their 
intrusion  into  the  office  of  the  successors  of  the  apostles ; 
St.  Paul,  in  the  same  circumstances,  rebukes  nothing  but 
the  contentious  and  envious  spirit,  and  insincerity  of  the 
schismatics.  All  the  fervours  of  St.  Clement's  eloquence 
are  directed  against  the  ministrations  of  the  rebellious  ;  his 
avowed  object  is  to  silence  them,  and  reduce  them  to  the 
most  abject  submission  to  the  regular  clergy :  but  St.  Paul 
rejoices  in  their  ministrations : — "  What  then  !  notwith- 
standing every  way,  whether  in  pretence  or  in  truth,  Christ 
is  preached ;  and  I  therein  do  rejoice,  yea  and  will  rejoice."''*^ 
The  conclusion  is  inevitable :  the  objects  which  these 
eminent  servants  of  God  had  in  view  were  totally  different. 
The  apostle  regarded,  with  a  single  eye,  the  edification  of 
the  mystical  body  of  Christ,  or,  in  other  words,  the  diffu- 
sion of  the  Gospel  among  men  ;  and  in  whatever  promoted 
that  he  rejoiced.  His  successor,  on  the  other  hand,  scarcely 
looked  beyond  the  maintenance  and  enlargement  of  the 
pastoral  authority  of  the  ministry,  in  order  to  the  founda- 
G6  Idem  V.  18. 


191 

tion  and  building  up  of  the  visible  church  on  earth,  as  a 
political  incorporation. 

It  now  becomes  my  painful  duty  to  state,  that  the 
whole  of  Christian  antiquity  is  leavened  with  this  wretched 
error.  When  the  miraculous  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
departed  from  the  earth,  with  the  apostles  and  primitive 
disciples,  it  was  a  natural  and  inevitable  consequence  that 
the  power  and  influence  of  the  Christian  ministry  would  be 
materially  diminished  ;  and  instead  of  resting  their  claims 
upon  the  apostolic  writings,  this  was  the  figment  which 
was  raised  by  their  successors  to  uphold  the  authority  of 
their  order. 

Its  dimensions  are  more  perfectly  developed  in  the 
next  author  to  whom  our  attention  is  to  be  directed. 
Ignatius  soars  with  a  bolder  wing,  and  exalts  the  authority 
of  the  clergy  to  a  still  more  perilous  elevation,  than  even 
Clement. 

We  can  have  no  stronger  proof  of  the  overwhelming 
importance  which  was  attached  to  this  question  by  the 
primitive  church  than  the  circumstance,  that  out  of  the 
seven  extant  epistles  which  this  blessed  martyr  wrote  during 
his  forced  journey  to  Rome,  the  place  of  his  martyrdom, 
six  of  them  are  so  pervaded  with  incessant  and  vehement 
exhortations  to  a  submission  to  the  bishops  and  clergy,  as 
unlimited  and  universal  as  words  can  express,  as  to  render 
it  perfectly  evident  that  this  was  really  the  only  purpose  of 
the  writer  in  sending  them.  So  entirely  absorbed  is  his 
whole  soul  in  the  accomplishment  of  this  purpose,  that 
no  consideration,  either  from  reason  or  Scripture,  seems  to 
have  power,  for  a  moment,  to  check  the  mad  career  of  his 
turgid  and  bloated,  but  often  eloquent,  declamation  ;  or  to 
deter  him  from  working  up  his  exhortations  to  the  highest 
pitch  of  hyperbole. 


192 

In  the  following  extract  from  the  epistle  to  the  Ephe- 
sians,  it  will  be  observed  that  he  follows  the  preceding 
writer  in  loudly  commending  unity  in  the  church, — an 
object  perfectly  scriptural  and  highly  desirable ;  but, 
nevertheless,  we  take  leave  to  doubt  that  the  mode  in  which 
Clement  and  Ignatius  propose  to  accomplish  it  is  either  the 
one  or  the  other  :  the  New  Testament  no  where  enjoins  the 
entire  submission  of  the  faculties  of  body  and  soul,  to  the  ab- 
solute and  uncontrolled  domination  of  the  clergy,  as  the  means 
whereby  the  laity  are  to  promote  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in 
the  bond  of  peace.  But  such  was  the  doctrine  of  Clement, 
and  it  is  still  more  broadly  and  unequivocally  laid  down  by 
Ignatius.  "  As  love  suffers  me  not  to  be  silent  concerning 
you,  I  have  taken  upon  me  to  exhort  you,  that  ye  would 
all  run  together  according  to  the  mind  of  God.  For  even 
Jesus  Christ,  our  inseparable  life,  is  the  mind  of  the 
Father,  even  as  the  bishops  appointed  unto  the  utmost 
bounds  of  the  earth,  are  according  to  the  mind  of  Christ. 
Wherefore  it  will  become  you  to  run  together  according 
to  the  mind  of  your  bishop,  as  also  ye  do.  For  your 
celebrated*'''  presbytery,  worthy  of  God,*"^  is  fitted  as 
exactly  to  the  bishop  as  the  strings  are  to  the  harp :  there- 
fore, in  your  like-mindedness  and  concordant  love,  Jesus 
Christ  is  sung,  and  every  single  person  among  you  makes 
up  the  chorus :  that  so  being  all  consonant  in  love,  and 
taking  up  the  song  of  God,  ye  may  in  a  perfect  unity,  with 
one  voice,  sing  to  the  Father  by  Jesus  Christ ;  to  the  end 
that  he  may  both  hear  you,  and  perceive,  by  your  works, 
that  ye  are  indeed  the  members  of  his  Son.  Wherefore  it 
is  profitable  for  you  to  live  in  a  spotless  unity,  that  ye 
may  always  have  fellowship  with  God.  For  if  I  in  this 
little  time  have  had  such  a  familiarity  with  your  bishop, 


i 


193 

now  much  more  must  I  think  you  happy  who  are  so 
united''^  to  him  as  the  church  is  to  Jesus  Christ  and  Jesus 
Christ  to  the  Father  ;  that  so  all  things  may  agree  in  the 
same  unity  !  Let  no  man  deceive  himself ;  if  a  man  be 
not  within  the  altar,  he  is  deprived  of  the  bread  of  God. 
He,  then,  that  does  not  come  together  in  the  same  place 
with  the  church  is  proud,  and  has  already  condemned 
himself :  for  it  is  written  '  God  resisteth  the  proud.'  Let 
us  take  heed,  therefore,  that  we  do  not  set  ourselves 
against  the  bishop,  that  we  may  be  subject  to  God. 
Whomsoever  the  master  of  the  house  sets  to  be  over  his 
own  household,  we  ought,  in  like  manner,  to  receive  him 
as  we  would  do  him  that  sent  him. — It  is,  therefore,  evi- 
dent, that  we  ought  to  look  upon  the  bishop  even  as  we 
would  do  upon  the  Lord  himself. '''''^^  He  states  the  same 
strange  doctrine,  and,  if  possible,  in  language  still  more 
unequivocal,  in  the  epistle  to  the  Magnesians.  — "  It 
behoves  you  with  all  sincerity  to  obey  your  bishop,  in 
honour  of  Him  whose  pleasure  it  is  that  you  should  do  so. 
— He  that  obeys  him  with  hypocrisy,  deceives  not  the 
bishop,  but  affronts  God."^'  Unity  is  likewise  enjoined, 
and  on  the  same  principle  : — "  I  exhort  you,  that  ye  study 
to  do  all  things  in  a  divine  concord,  your  bishop  presiding 
in  the  place  of  God  ;  your  presbyters  in  the  place  of  the 
council  of  the  apostles  :  and  your  deacons  most  sweet  unto 
me,  being  entrusted  with  the  ministry  of  Jesus  Christ."'^ 
Again,  "  As,  therefore,  the  Lord  did  nothing  without  the 
Father  being  united  to  him — neither  by  himself  nor  yet  by 
his  apostles — so  neither  do  ye  any  thing  without  your 
bishops  and  presbyters :  neither  endeavour  to  let  any 
thing  seem  reasonable  to  yourselves  apart :"  that  is,  do  not 

C3  Mixed.  70  ign.  ad  Ephes.,  cc.  4— G.  7i  C.  3. 

n  c.  c. 


194 

think  for  yourselves,  without  the  sanction  of  the  clergy.'^ 
He  repeats  his  call  to  subjection  at  the  conclusion,  thus  : — 
"  Be  subject  to  your  bishop  and  to  one  another  as  Jesus 
Christ  to  the  Father,  according  to  the  Jlesh.'"''^ 

The  epistle  to  Tralles  only  differs  from  that  which 
precedes  it,  in  stating  the  same  doctrine  still  more  objec- 
tionably : — "  Whereas  ye  are  subject  to  your  bishop  as  to 
Jesus  Christ,  ye  appear  to  me  to  live  not  after  the  manner 
of  men,  but  according  to  Jesus  Christ.  It  is,  therefore, 
necessary  that  without  your  bishop  ye  should  do  nothing : 
also  be  ye  subject  to  your  presbyters  as  to  the  apostles 
of  Jesus  Christ;  in  whom  if  ye  walk  ye  shall  be  found 
in  him.''^  Again,  "  let  all  reverence  the  deacons  as  Jesus 
Christ,  and  the  bishop  as  the  Father ;  and  the  presby- 
ters as  the  Sanhedrim  of  the  apostles.  Without  these 
there  is  no  church^'  He  that  is  within  the  altar  is  pure  ; 
but  he  that  is  without,  that  is,  that  does  any  thing  without 
the  bishop,  and  presbyters,  and  deacons,  is  not  pure  in 
his  conscience."'^'^ 

The  epistle  to  the  Philadelphians  is  addressed  to  those 
especially  of  that  church  who  are  "  at  unity  with  the 
bishop  and  presbyters  who  are  with  him,  and  the  deacons 
appointed  according  to  the  mind  of  Jesus  Christ ;  whom 
he  has  settled  according  to  his  own  will,  in  all  firmness  by 
his  Holy  Spirit."  After  commending  the  holiness  of  the 
bishop  of  Philadelphia  in  a  sti'ain  which  is  somewhat  high 
wrought,  to  say  the  least,  and  vehemently  exhorted  them 
to  follow  him  implicitly,^"  he  proceeds  : — "  As  many  as  are 
of  God  and  of  Jesus  Christ,  are  also  with  their  bishop. — 
Be  not  deceived,  brethren  :  if  any  one  follows  him  that 
makes  a  schism  in  the  church,   he  shall  not   inherit   the 

73  C.  7.  74  C.  13.  "!•'  Ign.  ad  Trail.,  c.  2.  7«  C.  3. 

77  C.  7.  78  Cc.  1,2. 


195 

kingdom  of  God  :  if  any  one  walks  after  any  other  opinion 
he  agrees  not  with  the  passion  of  Christ."'^ 

True  to  the  same  doctrine  he  gives  this  charge  to  the 
church  at  Smyrna  : — "  See  that  ye  follow  your  bishop  as 
did  Jesus  Christ  the  Father :  and  the  presbytery  as  the 
apostles :  and  reverence  the  deacons  as  the  command  of  God. 
Let  that  Eucharist  be  looked  upon  as  well  established 
which  is  either  offered  by  the  bishop,  or  by  him  to  whom 
the  bishop  gives  his  consent.  Wheresoever  the  bishop 
shall  appear,  there  let  the  people  also  be,  as  where  Jesus 
Christ  is,  there  is  the  Catholic  church.  It  is  not  lawful 
without  the  bishop  neither  to  baptize  nor  to  celebrate  the 
holy  communion :  hut  whatsoever  he  shall  approve  of  that 
is  also  pleasing  to  God.^  It  is  a  good  thing  to  have  a  due 
regard  both  to  God  and  to  the  hishoj)  :  he  that  honours  the 
bishop  shall  be  honoured  of  God ;  but  he  that  performs  any 
religious  act  without  his  knowledge  worships  the  devil.''''^^ 
Wide  as  is  the  sweep  of  episcopal  jurisdiction  in  these 
passages,  we  find  in  the  epistle  to  Polycarp,  that  we  still 
fall  short  of  its  full  dimensions : — "  It  becomes  all  such 
as  are  married,  both  men  and  women,  to  come  together 
with  the  consent  of  the  bishop,  so  that  their  marriage 
may  be  according  to  godliness  and  not  in  lust."^^ 

We  will  now  endeavour  to  collect  from  these  passages 
the  exact  doctrine  of  Ignatius  regarding  ecclesiastical 
supremacy.  The  church  on  earth  is  a  political  incorpora- 
tion for  the  purpose  of  divine  worship  ;  but  in  order  to 
that  worship  being  acceptable  to  God,  it  is  needful  that  its 
officers  be  appointed  with  strict  regard  to  a  certain  subor- 
dination of  rank,  (that  of  bishops,  presbyters,  and  deacons,) 
and  that  the  whole  of  the  laity  be  in  a  state  of  unlimited 

79  C.  4.  80  Ad  Smyrn.,  c.  8.  81  c.  9. 

82  Ad  Poly.,  c.  fl. 


196 

subjection  to  them.  This  he  illustrates  by  the  strings  of  a 
harp,  every  one  of  which  must  be  tuned  to  a  nicely 
graduated  harmony  beneath  the  dominant,  or  master  note, 
before  the  instrument  can  be  made  to  discourse  sweet 
music  :^  so,  an  accepted  song  of  praise  can  never  ascend 
from  the  visible  church,  unless  every  individual  member 
thereof  be,  with  equal  exactness,  harmonized  and  adjusted 
to  his  proper  place  in  or  beneath  the  Christian  hierarchy. 
All  these  adjustments  are  to  be  made  after  one  exemplar, 
from  which  no  departure  is  on  any  account  to  be  allowed. 
It  follows,  that  the  acceptable  worship  of  the  church  does 
not  consist,  in  the  divine  mind,  of  the  acts  of  adoration 
of  its  individual  members,  to  whom  God  has  regard  on 
account  of  the  purity  and  sincerity  of  the  motives  that 
prompt  them,  but  is  the  result  of  their  harmonized  combi- 
nation ;  analagous  to  the  pleasing  effect  of  musical  sounds 
so  combined  on  the  human  ear.  And,  therefore,  no 
integrity  of  intention  can  prevent  the  utter  rejection  of 
the  prayers  of  him  who,  by  violating  the  unity  of  the 
church  in  any  way,  shall  thereby  become  a  jarring  string- 
in  this  harmony.  For  it  is  just  as  impossible  that  the 
worship  of  an  individual  Christian  should  of  itself  be 
acceptable  to  God,  as  that  the  twangling  of  one  string  of  a 
harp,  which  is  only  a  single  note  in  the  scale,  contributing 

83  Whether  the  combination  of  musical  sounds  which  is  technically 
termed  by  the  moderns  the  common  chord,  was  known  to  the  ancients  or 
not,  my  want  of  acquaintance  with  the  early  history  of  music  deprives  me 
of  the  means  of  ascertaining.  But  it  has  certainly  occurred  to  me  that 
Ignatius  in  this  passage  hints  at  a  mysterious  analogy,  or  rather  sympathy, 
between  the  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons  of  the  church,  and  the  dominant, 
mediant,  and  tonic  of  the  harmonic  scale.  Without  presuming  to  say  any 
thing  decisive  upon  the  question,  I  would  only  further  observe,  that  such 
an  appeal  to  the  occult  sympathies  of  the  universe  would  have  been  received 
as  an  unanswerable  argument  in  the  second  century. 


I 


197 

to  the  general  effect  by  sequence  or  combination  with 
many  others,  should  produce  agreeable  music.  And  as, 
when  combined  to  form  one  instrument,  the  slightest  devi- 
ation in  any  one  of  the  strings  from  the  intervals  of  the 
scale  produces  dissonance,  so  is  it  also  with  the  company 
of  believers  that  constitute  a  church  :  the  very  thought  of 
dissatisfaction,  or  of  ambition  towards  the  power  of  the 
clergy,  in  any  one  of  the  laity,  is  a  violation  of  its  unity  ; 
and  the  worship  of  the  offending  member  is  discordant  with 
the  whole,  and  therefore  displeasing  and  rejected. 

The  metaphor  is  a  singularly  beautiful  one  ;  and  is  in 
itself  sufficient  to  rescue  Ignatius  from  the  censures  which 
have  been,  in  my  opinion,  somewhat  unadvisedly  cast  upon 
his  style  and  talents,  in  common  with  the  rest  of  the  apos- 
tolical fathers,  by  Dr.  Mosheim.^  It  is  evidently  the 
offspring  of  a  vigorous,  imaginative,  and  highly  cultivated 
mind. 

It  is  also  very  important  to  observe,  that  he  does  not 
make  use  of  a  single  expression  regarding  submission  to 
the  clergy,  which  is  not  strictly  consequential  upon  this 
his  premise.  Grant  but  this,  and  who  can  deny  that  it  is 
a  condition  anterior  to  every  other  obligation  in  the 
Christian  code  ?  For  what  can  be  so  important  as  that, 
for  the  absence  of  which,  in  the  remotest  degree,  no  love  of 

fW  "  The  apostolical  fathers  are  neither  remarkable  for  their  learning 
nor  their  eloquence :  on  the  contrary,  they  express  the  most  pious  and 
admirable  sentiments  in  the  plainest  and  most  illiterate  style." — Mos.  Eccl. 
Hist.  Cent.  J.,  p.  2,  c.  3.,  §  22.  But  the  passage  commented  upon  in  the 
text  would,  in  itself,  furnish  ample  proof  that  Ignatius  was  a  man  of  high 
education.  Music,  in  the  ancient  scholastic  discipline,  was  the  finishing 
accomplishment,  and  taught  only  to  those  who  had  mastered  what  were 
then  accounted  the  lower  degrees  of  learning :  but  Ignatius  was  certainly 
acquainted  with  music.  We  shall  have  other  opportunities  of  pointing  out 
the  incorrectness  of  Dr.  Mosheim's  estimation  of  these  writers. 


198 

God,  no  faith  in  Christ,  no  personal  holiness,  can  compen- 
sate ?  since,  however  eminent  the  Christian  may  be  in  any, 
or  in  all  these,  unless,  by  the  entire  submission  of  his 
inmost  soul  to  the  control  of  the  bishop,  he  be  at  unity 
with  the  church,  his  prayer  is  abomination  to  God ;  his 
every  act  of  religious  worship  is  regarded  as  paid  to  the 
devil !  With  perfect  truth  and  sobriety,  therefore,  does 
he  call  upon  the  laity  to  revere  the  bishop  as  God  the 
Father,  the  presbytery  as  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  deacons  as 
the  Sanhedrim  of  the  apostles,  (that  is,  as  the  Spirit  that 
inspired  the  apostles ;)  not  to  allow  themselves  for  a 
moment  to  imagine  that  any  thing  done  or  ordered  by 
them  can  be  otherwise  than  according  to  the  mind  of  God  ; 
and,  without  a  metaphor,  to  bring  every  thought  into 
captivity  to  the  obedience  of  the  clergy. 

But  we  naturally  enquire  whence  did  Ignatius  learn 
all  this  ?  We  turn  to  the  New  Testament,  but  cannot 
discover  the  doctrine  he  lays  down  :  not  a  vestige,  not  a 
shadow  of  it.  To  say  that  it  is  utterly  opposed  to  the 
whole  tenor  of  that  Inspired  Volume,  is  by  no  means  the 
fact  of  the  case.  It  has  no  relation  whatever,  not  even 
that  of  opposition,  to  any  thing  that  is  to  be  found  there. 
To  attempt,  therefore,  to  confute  it  by  a  series  of  texts, 
would  be  as  judicious  as  to  adopt  the  same  method  to  dis- 
prove the  reality  of  one  of  ^sop''s  fables  !  We  are  saved 
the  trouble  of  further  conjecture ;  our  author  himself 
informs  us  that  he  received  it  not  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment, but  by  inspiration,  and  from  the  traditiotial 
teaching  of  the  apostlesJ^^  This  account  of  the  matter 
proved  satisfactory  to  his  successors  for  many  genera- 
tions ;  and  the  question  between  the  laity  and  the  clergy, 
which  so  fiercely  agitated  the  church  in  the  times  of 
y-''  See  above,  Chap.  IV.,  p.  25.     Mag.  c.  3. 


199 

Clement  and  Ignatius,  seems  to  have  been,  by  this  and 
similar  avowals  of  divine  authority  for  the  domination  of 
the  latter,  entirely  set  at  rest :  we  hear  nothing  of  it 
through  the  remainder  of  the  century. 

TertuUian,  as  we  have  seen,  pleads  a  similar  tradi- 
tional authority  for  certain  ceremonies  which  were  without 
sanction  from  the  Scripture.  Upon  the  subject  of  eccle- 
siastical supremacy,  the  following  passage  will,  I  think, 
sufficiently  evidence  that  he  did  not  more  frequently 
enforce  it  in  his  writings,  only  because  it  was  never  then 
called  in  question.  It  occurs  in  the  course  of  an  argument 
wherein  he  very  properly  refuses  to  contend  with  the 
heretics  out  of  their  own  mutilated  and  corrupted  copies  of 
the  scriptural  books,^^  and  brings  them  back  to  the  pre- 
vious question  of  their  authenticity.  He  claims  the 
victory  on  the  ground  that  the  means  of  authentication, 
whatever  they  were,  remained  in  his  time  with  the  apostolic 
churches,  by  the  admission  of  all  parties;  and  that  the 
copies  to  which  he  referred  were  in  agreement  with  them  : 
and  he  sends  the  whole  argument  triumphantly  home 
by  an  appeal  to  the  tradition  of  those  churches,  which 
repeated  (with  minute  exactness)  the  doctrine  in  these  true 
copies  of  the  Scriptures.  "We  thankfully  receive  even  now 
this  most  powerful  reasoning,  as  a  valuable  aid  in  confir- 

86  De  Praes.  Hser.,  cc.  32 — 38.  The  corruption  of  the  Scriptures  by 
the  heretics  was  attempted  even  in  the  time  of  Ignatius.  "  I  hear  some 
say,  unless  I  find  it  to  be  written  in  the  originals,  (b  to7s  ap^iiois,)  I  will 
not  believe  it  to  be  in  the  gospel ;  and  when  I  answer,  it  is  written  there, 
they  deny  it." — Ad.  Phil.,  c.  8.  The  originals  of  Ignatius,  are  evidently 
tho  same  as  the  authendcm  litterce  of  TertuUian,  in  the  passage  referred  to 
in  the  text — U.  s.,  c.  36.  (See  also  above,  p.  30.,  7iote  II. J  The  fact 
that  the  fidelity  of  transcripts  of  the  canonical  books  was  called  in  question 
at  so  early  a  period,  while  the  church  was  still  in  possession  of  that  most 
unanswerable  of  all  means  of  authentication,  the  autograph  copies  of  them, 
is  a  most  important  one. 


200 

mation  of  our  faith,  and  in  refutation  of  infidel  objections  : 
but  we  much  regret,  that  in  contending  earnestly  for  the 
faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  its  author  should  have 
been  betrayed  by  his  zeal  into  such  a  passage  as  the  follow- 
ing : — "  By  what  right,  O  Marcion,  dost  thou  fell  trees  in 
my  wood  ?  By  whose  permission,  O  Valentinus,  dost 
thou  divert  my  water-courses  ?  Who  gave  thee  the  power, 
O  Apelles,  to  remove  my  landmarks  ?  Why  do  the  rest 
of  the  heretics  till  and  depasture  my  land  at  their  plea- 
sure ?  It  is  my  possession  :  I  inherit  it  of  old  :  I  have  the 
title  deeds,  drawn  by  those  who  first  enclosed  it.  I  am 
the  heir  of  the  apostles.  As  they  appointed  in  their  testa- 
ment, as  they  entrusted,  as  they  required,  all  these  I 
fulfil."^''  We  have  no  difficulty  in  tracing  the  unscriptural 
arrogance  of  this  passage  to  the  unseemly  elevation  given 
by  the  apostolical  fathers  to  the  Christian  ministry,  wherein 
Tertullian  was  a  presbyter.  It  is  but  a  transcript  of  that 
which  Ignatius  so  amply  and  unequivocally  declares,  and 
for  which  his  avowed  authority  is  inspiration  and  tradition. 
Having  already  dealt  with  his  inspiration,^^  we 
proceed  to  another  of  those  thorny  questions  which  beset 
oiu'  path  at  almost  every  step.  It  may  be  thus  stated  : 
did  there  exist,  in  the  early  church,  certain  maxims 
reo-ardino-  clerical  orders  and  authority,  and  the  ceremonial 
of  divine  worship,  which,  being  taught  by  the  inspired 
apostles  to  the  primitive  bishops,  and  by  them  to  their 
successors,  remain  with  her  thenceforward  as  an  ecclesi- 
astical tradition  .?  Bearing  in  mind  the  arguments  which 
appear  to  refute  the  notion  of  traditional  doctrines,^''  we 
shall  find  that  they  apply  also  with  considerable  force  to 
tradition  generally,  as  a  vehicle  of  divinely  communicated 

"7  De  Pr.xs.  Haer.,  c.  3G.  ««  Above,  p.  25.,  e.  s. 

»9  See  above,  Chap.  III. 


201 

knowledge,  independently  of  the  sanction  of  Scripture. 
We  imagine  that  their  tendency  is  to  establish  a  prin- 
ciple regarding  all  Christian  tradition,  as  well  as  the 
disproof  of  the  traditional  existence  of  one  class  of  facts. 
We  do  not  perceive  that  the  improbability  that  our  Lord 
would  have  recourse  to  this  mode  of  conveying  divine 
truths  to  successive  periods  of  his  church,  is  at  all  affected 
by  the  nature  of  the  truths  to  be  handed  down.  His  own 
rebuke  of  oral  tradition  would  apply  with  equal  force 
against  himself,  whether  the  truths  entrusted  to  that  mode 
of  perpetuation  regarded  the  polity  of  his  church,  and  the 
authority  of  his  ministers,  or  his  own  nature  and  his  peo- 
ple's duties. — The  argument  drawn  from  the  fact  there  is 
in  the  New  Testament  no  allusion  to  any  tradition,  except 
to  that  which  (as  the  early  fathers  inform  us^*')  itself  con- 
tains, is  equally  universal  in  its  application,  and  bears 
upon  the  whole  question  as  strongly  as  upon  any  branch 
of  it.  Of  the  same  nature  is  the  admirable  argument  for 
which  we  are  also  indebted  to  the  early  fathers,  from  the 
accordance  between  the  apostolical  tradition  and  the  apos- 
tolical writings  :^'  nor  is  it  at  all  weakened  in  its  present 
application,  by  the  circumstance,  that  they  themselves 
limit  it  to  traditional  doctrines,  and  assert  the  existence  of 
traditional  ceremonies.  To  make  this  apparent,  we  have 
only  to  debate  the  point  of  difference  with  them  prescrip- 
tively,  as  Tertullian  phrases  it  f^  that  is,  to  apply  their 
own  argument  to  their  own  limitation.  Early  in  the  second 
century,  Valentinus,  one  of  the  philosophical  heretics,  suc- 
ceeded in  imposing  upon  a  multitude  of  individuals,  a 
crude  mass  of  mad  impieties  regarding  the  divine  nature, 
which  he  professed  to  have  received  from  the  oral  tradition 

yi'  De  Praes.  Haer.,  cc.  25,  20.  91  See  above,  p.  119,  &c. 

92  UM  Supra,  c.  35. 


202 

of  the  apostles. — The  cotemporary  fathers  of  the  church 
answer  him,  that  this  must  be  a  fabrication,  because  the 
apostolical  tradition  coincided  minutely  and  in  every  parti- 
cular with  the  apostolic  epistles : — and  no  such  doctrine 
was  to  be  found  there.  About  the  same  period,  Ignatius 
also  states  a  doctrine  regarding  clerical  supremacy,  than 
which,  nothing  can  be  more  utterly  at  variance  with  the 
spirit,  and  tenor,  and  design  of  the  entire  New  Testament, 
and  upon  the  same  authority.  Now  here  are  two  cotempora- 
ries,  or  nearly  so,^^  both  claiming  the  sanction  of  tradition 
for  doctrines  equally  opposed  to  the  New  Testament. 
How,  I  shall  be  glad  to  know,  can  an  exception  be  taken 
in  favour  of  the  one,  which  is  not  also  an  important 
admission  on  behalf  of  the  other  ?  Concede  but  the  apo- 
theosis of  the  bishop  to  Ignatius,  and  Sophia  Achamoth^^ 
and  the  Eons  of  Valentinus  will  leap  through  the  same 
gap. — The  whole  value  of  the  argument  consists  in  its 
integrity.  Let  it  but  stand  as  a  fence  round  our  faith, 
whole  and  unbroken,  and  it  is  a  wall  of  brass,  which  no 
error,  from  this  quarter,  shall  ever  be  able  to  surmount ; 

93  Ignatius  wrote  A.  D.  218.     Valentinus  first  made  his  appearance  at 

Rome,  at  the  commencement  of  the  reign  of  Antoninus  Pius,  A.  D.  237 

Iren.,  lib.  3,  c.  4,  p.  20C. 

94  One  of  the  thirty  Eons,  or  concentric  circles,  which  constitute  the 
divine  nature,  or  pleroma,  according  to  this  heretic.  Sophia  {<ro(pia)  is  the 
Septuagint  rendering  of  the  word,  which  denotes  the  female  impersonation 
of  Wisdom  in  the  first  nine  chapters  of  the  Book  of  Proverbs.  Achamoth 
(a;^;a^wa)  is  the  Greek  transcription  of  the  same  Hebrew  word;  mnan.  A 
very  able  epitome  of  this  wild  fantasm  occurs  in  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln's 
TertuUian,  pp.510 — 519.  There  are  many  very  remarkable  resemblances 
between  the  system  of  Valentinus  and  that  of  the  Jewish  Cabbalists.  The 
notions  of  the  divine  nature  in  concentric  circles,  of  male  and  female  Eons, 
and  of  wisdom  slipping  out  of  the  pleroma,  and  gambolling  in  the  nether 
world  appear  to  be  common  to  the  two. — Sec  Irira,  Porta  cmlorum  in  Cab. 
Dennd.,   Vol.  II. 


203 

but  break  it  down  in  a  single  point,  and  it  becomes  utterly 
worthless.  Allow  but  the  authority  of  one  tradition, 
plainly  new  and  additional  to  the  doctrine  contained  in  the 
Inspired  Volume,  and  all  comparisons  of  other  asserted 
traditional  doctrines  therewith  is  at  an  end.  —  It  is  no 
longer  the  test  by  which  their  truth  is  to  be  ascertained. 
One  such  admission  as  effectually  disqualifies  it  as  a 
hundred. 

Neither  have  we  any  difficulty  in  discovering  the 
reason  why  Valentinus,  and  the  rest  of  the  heretics,  never 
availed  themselves  of  this  argument  against  the  fathers ; 
they  were  at  least  as  much  interested  in  the  doctrines  of 
Clement  and  Ignatius,  as  the  latter  could  possibly  be ; 
and  as  anxious  that  the  question  of  ecclesiastical  suprem- 
acy should  remain  a  dormant  one^  For  nearly  all  the 
heresiarchs  were  ecclesiastics,  disappointed  in  their  hopes 
of  advancement  f^  and  their  errors  invariably  tended  to 
the  elevation  of  themselves,  as  "  the  Paraclete,""  or  "  the 
great  power  of  God,"  to  the  rank  of  inspired  promul- 
gators of  a  new  doctrine.  No  wonder,  therefore,  that 
they  never  raised  the  question,  when  the  view  of  it  taken 
by  the  opponents,  so  powerfully  contributed  to  the  sup- 
port of  their  own  pretensions. 

With  the  Church  of  England  then,  we  utterly  deny 
that  "  it  is  in  the  power  of  tradition  to  ordain  any  thing 
against  God's  word  ;^*'  and  therefore  we  reject  the  doctrine 
of  clerical  supremacy  advanced  by  the  apostolical  fathers 
and  maintained  by  the  early  ones. 

The  whole  question  of  Tradition  being  now  general- 
ized, and  one  rule  being  made  applicable  to  every  possible 
case,  it  is  needless  to  detail  our  opinions  upon  each  of 
them.     We  cannot  better  express  the  conclusion  to  which 
95  See  Tert.  adv.  Valen.,  c.  4.,  &c.  96  Article  34. 


204 

this  enquiry  has  conducted  us,  than  in  the  words  of  the 
high  authority  to  which  we  have  just  appealed. — "  It  is 
not  necessary  that  traditions  and  ceremonies  be  in  all 
places  one  and  utterly  alike ;  for  at  all  times  there  have 
been  divers,  and  may  be  changed  according  to  the  diver- 
sities of  countries,  times,  and  men's  manners,  so  that 
nothing  be  ordained  against   God*'s  word.'"'^'^ 

The  tendency  of  the  error  we  are  considering,  to  cor- 
rupt the  clergy,  by  assigning  to  them  an  improper  measure 
of  authority,  and  to  degrade  the  laity,  by  the  prescription 
of  an  undue  degree  of  deference,  is  sufficiently  manifest. 
The  most  obvious  evil  consequence  that  immediately  fol- 
lowed upon  this  state  of  tilings,  was  the  deplorable  igno- 
rance in  which  the  great  mass  of  professing  Christians 
were  sunk  by  it,  rendering  them  an  easy  prey  to  the  many 
deceivers  that  arose  in  those  unhappy  times.  For  it  is 
quite  evident  that,  far  from  encouraging  the  mere  lay- 
man in  the  pursuit  of  religious  knowledge,  the  doctrine 
in  question  virtually  denounced  all  such  enquiries,  as 
the  most  dangerous  that  could  possibly  engage  the  atten- 
tion of  ordinary  Christians,  because  of  their  inevitable 
tendency  to  incite  men  to  think  for  themselves  rather  than 
by  proxy  ;  and,  consequently,  to  weigh  and  consider  the 
evidence  of  all  religious  tenets,  before  they  received  them, 
by  whomsoever  they  were  presented  to  their  credence.  But 
should  this  reflection  raise  even  the  shadow  of  a  doubt 
regarding  the  doctrine  or  practice  of  the  clergy,  the  un- 
happy enquirer  would  thereby  be  involved  in  the  sin  of 
schism,  and  his  eternal  salvation  placed  in  the  utmost 
jeopardy.  There  is  satisfactory  evidence  of  this,  in  the 
abstruse  and  learned  character  of  nearly  all  the  extant 
works  of  the  early  fathers  ;  they  are  condones  ad  clerum  : 
'■17  Article  3G. 


205 

not  intended  for  the  comprehension  or  edification  of 
any  one,  of  attainments  beneath  those  of  a  philosopher  : 
and  in  the  complete  lists  of  their  writings,  preserved  by 
Eusebius,  we  find  that  those  which  are  lost,  were  also  of 
a  precisely  similar  character.  How  the  mere  laity  were  to 
acquire  religious  knowledge  in  those  times,  we  are  at  a 
loss  to  conjecture. 

Accordingly  we  shall  find  the  distinguishing  mark  of 
the  church''s  history  at  the  period  now  under  review  to  be, 
the  number  and  pestilent  nature  of  the  heresies  that  then 
made  their  appearance,  and  the  extraordinary  rapidity 
with  which  they  diffused  themselves.  The  wretches  with 
whom  they  originated  seem,  with  a  wanton  impudence  of 
profanity,  to  have  vied  with  each  other  in  the  invention  of 
rank  and  rampant  blasphemies  regarding  the  divine  nature, 
or  whatever  else  is  accounted  most  sacred  in  religion  ;— 
but,  nevertheless,  the  success  with  which  they  propagated 
their  fantastical  hell-dreams,  is  absolutely  without  a  paral- 
lel. No  depth  of  absurdity,  no  height  of  madness,  seem 
to  have  been  the  slightest  impediment  to  their  instant  and 
hearty  reception,  not  only  by  individual  professing  Chris- 
tians, but  by  entire  churches,  yea,  by  whole  nations. — 
The  numerous  works  in  which  the  cotemporary  fathers 
oppose  these  errors  furnish,  of  themselves,  sufficient  proof 
of  the  imminent  nature  of  the  danger  they  apprehended 
from  them.  They  knew  well  that  the  nascent  church  had 
infinitely  more  to  fear  from  the  falsehood  that  "  ate  as  doth 
a  canker'''  within,  than  from  the  persecution  that  thundered 
without.  The  one  would  soon  exhaust  its  impotent  rage 
upon  walls  and  bulwarks,  as  impregnable  as  the  word 
and  truth  of  God  could  make  them  ;  but  under  the  bane- 
ful influence  of  the  other,  the  very  foundations  of  the 
whole  fabric  were  rapidly  crumbling  to  dust. — It  was  on 


206 

this  account,  that  the  later  fathers  of  this  period  ahnost 
entirely  passed  by  the  controversy  of  Christianity  with 
Jews  and  Heathens,  and  devoted  their  whole  energies  to 
the  refutation  of  the  heretics  :  and  to  their  efforts,  under 
God,  perhaps  more  than  to  any  other  external  cause  what- 
ever, are  we  their  successors  indebted  for  the  pure  and 
undefiled  record  of  Christ''s  religion  which  has  been  trans- 
mitted to  us. — For,  never,  so  far  as  I  understand  ecclesi- 
astical history,  was  the  very  existence  of  Christianity  upon 
earth  in  such  instant  peril  as  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
second  century.  When  the  educated  among  the  Christians 
were  mixing  up  the  pure  precepts  of  the  Gospel,  with  the 
mock  morals  and  dreamy  reveries  of  Pythagoras  and 
Plato ;  while  the  giddy  multitude  rushed  by  thousands  in 
mad  pursuit  of  the  foul  distorted  spectres  raised  by  Mar- 
cion  and  Valentinus,  which  were  hurrying  them  with 
frightful  velocity  into  the  deepest  and  darkest  abyss  of 
Heathenism. 

Melancholy  as  is  the  picture,  and  strange  as  it 
may  seem,  that  such  corruptions  should  follow  so  closely 
upon  the  first  propagation  of  Christianity,  there  is  nothing 
in  all  this  for  which  the  error  we  are  considering  does  not 
furnish  us  with  an  amply  sufficient  cause. — The  laity  of 
the  church  were  enjoined  upon  an  authority  which  to  them 
was  as  inspiration, — to  do  nothing  without  the  clergy,  to 
let  nothins;  in  religion  seem  reasonable  to  themselves  with- 
out  the  concurrence  of  their  pastors,  or,  in  other  words, 
only  to  think  through  the  clergy  :  and  the  slightest  devia- 
tion from  the  most  literal  strictness  of  these  injunctions, 
constituted  the  damning  sin  of  schism. — The  consequence 
is  obvious  ;  the  conscientious  layman  would  not,  dare  not, 
seek  after  religious  knowledge,  lest  his  researches  should, 
by  any  chance,  lead  him  to  conclusions  not  in  accordance 


207 

with  those  of  his  ministers.  But  at  the  same  time,  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  sink  into  that  state  of  apathy  and 
indifference  regarding  religion,  which  is  the  consequence 
of  ignorance  in  quiet  times. — He  could  not  forget  that 
which  every  human  being  around  him  was  incessantly  dis- 
cussing ;  he  could  not  be  indifferent  to  that  for  which  he 
might,  at  any  moment,  be  called  upon  to  suffer  martyrdom. 
His  mental  powers,  therefore,  were  constantly  directed  to 
a  subject  upon  which  he  was  very  imperfectly  informed: 
— circumstances  of  all  others  the  most  favourable  to  the 
workings  of  the  imagination.  Men  would  naturally  seek 
to  supply  from  some  source  their  lack  of  knowledge  upon 
a  subject  so  all-important,  and  so  universally  interesting  : 
and,  in  consequence,  the  creations  of  their  own  fancies 
filled  the  place  which  the  truths  of  God's  word  would  have 
occupied,  had  those  truths  been  accessible  to  them.  In 
these  circumstances  originated  the  wild  fantastical  heresies 
of  the  second  century. — The  church  was  possessed  with  a 
taste  for  the  marvellous  :  and  it  was  to  pander  to  this  taste 
that  the  heresiarchs  invented  their  gaudy,  glittering  false- 
hoods, which  the  ignorance  of  the  generality  afforded  them 
no  means  of  detecting.  Another  circumstance  would  pow- 
erfully co-operate  with  this  prepossession  in  favour  of  the 
heretical  doctrines.  Their  first  propagators  were  (as  we 
have  seen)  ecclesiastics ;  and,  consequently,  the  laity  were 
prohibited,  by  the  canon  of  Ignatius,  from  calling  in 
question  any  thing  advanced  by  them  in  their  sacred 
character.  In  readily  embracing  their  doctrines,  therefore, 
they  complied  with  the  dictates  of  conscience,  as  well  as 
inclination. 

The  argument  may  be  thus  summed  up.  The  detes- 
table heresies  of  the  second  century  could  never  have  been 
widely    diffused    among    persons   professing    Christianity, 


208 

unless  they  had  been  sunk  in  the  grossest  ignorance ;  but 
we  have  shown  that  the  false  doctrine  of  Ignatius  regard- 
ing the  clergy  had  a  direct  tendency  to  promote  ignorance 
among  the  laity  ;  and  therefore,  we  do  not  hesitate  to 
denounce  it  as  one  principal  cause  of  their  success. 

The  disastrous  consequences  of  this  ignorance  may  be 
easily  traced  through  the  successive  periods  that  elapsed, 
until  the  mystic  harlot  was  firmly  enthroned  upon  the 
seven  hills  of  imperial  Rome ;  and  to  her  abandoned  im- 
pudence it  was  left  to  glory  in  this  shame,  by  declaring  e.j; 
cathedra  that  "  ignorance  is  the  mother  of  devotion." 

We  cannot  but  express  our  astonishment,  that  one 
who  had  been  the  hearer  of  the  inspired  apostles  should 
have  propounded  the  doctrine  we  are  considering.  That 
he  should  have  altogether  forgotten  that  the  God  with 
whom  he  had  to  do  would  not  give  his  glory  to  another ; 
and  that  when  the  triple  ministerial  order  was  installed  in 
the  throne  of  the  ever-blessed  Trinity,  his  religion  became 
idolatry.  We  might  have  imagined,  the  holy  martyr  did 
not  perceive  that  the  commandment  regarding  this  sin  "  was 
exceeding  broad  ;""  and  that  he  who  paid  divine  honours  to 
any  being  in  the  universe,  save  God  alone,  was  guilty  of 
this  most  heinous  offence,  whether  the  object  of  his  ado- 
ration Avere  a  graven  image  or  a  living  man.  But  this  plea 
cannot  be  urged  in  favour  of  Ignatius,  who,  at  the  very 
time  he  wrote  his  epistles,  was  on  his  way  to  Rome  to 
suffer  martyrdom  for  refusing  to  burn  incense  to  the 
emperor  Trajan.  Yet,  that  Trajan  derived  the  imperial 
power  from  God,  was  as  clear  and  imequivocal  a  doctrine 
as  any  in  the  New  Testament  ;'•"'  and  much  more  of  the 
appearance  of  an  argument  from  Scripture  might  be  got 
up  in  justification  of  the  worshij)  of  an  emjieror,  than  of 

'•8  Rom.  xiii. 


209 

paying  divine  honours  even  to  an  apostle.  Truly  it  is  a 
strange  picture  that  we  have  to  contemplate  ; — a  Christian 
bishop  on  his  way  to  martyrdom,  for  refusing  to  pay  one 
single  act  of  outward  adoration  to  an  emperor,  employs  his 
last  moments  in  earnestly  enjoining  upon  all  the  churches 
within  the  sphere  of  his  influence,  an  infinitely  grosser 
heart-idolatry  of  himself,  and  his  brethren  in  the  ministry  ! 
We  can  only  reconcile  the  anomaly  by  concluding  that 
there  are  other  phases  of  the  human  mind,  besides  mad- 
ness, wherein  the  intellectual  powers  exercise  no  influence 
whatever  over  the  course  of  action.  For  we  cannot  at  all 
admit  of  the  excuse,  that  Ignatius  had  a  very  fervent 
imagination,  and  that  he  often  employed  Oriental  imagery. 
This  is  mere  drivelling :  it  is,  unhappily,  no  question 
either  of  taste  or  fancy.  The  statement  of  Ignatius  was 
received  as  exact  and  literal  truth  by  his  cotemporaries, 
and  successors.  The  single  blot  in  the  beautiful  epistle  of 
Polycarp  to  the  Philippians  is  a  command  to  "  obey  the 
presbyters  and  deacons  as  God  and  Christ,""^  and  to  pre- 
cisely the  same  purpose  are  the  few  references  made  by  the 
other  fathers  of  the  same  century  to  a  subject  then  entirely 
at  rest.  We  are  not  combatting,  therefore,  a  rhetorical 
flourish  of  Ignatius,  but  the  doctrine  of  the  church  in  the 
second  century. 

The  great  importance  of  the  subjects  we  have  been 
considering,  and  the  subtle  nature  of  the  errors  we  have 
endeavoured  to  expose,  will  sufficiently  justify  a  brief 
synoptical  statement  of  them,  in  conclusion  of  this  long 
chapter. 

We  have  made  out  the  existence  of  one  error  with  a 
two-fold  bearing.  That  error  consists  in  an  entire  misap- 
prehension of  the  nature  and  character  of  Christ's  church 

99  C.  5. 


210 

on  earth,  as  revealed  in  the  New  Testament :  the  doctrine 
of  which,  upon  this  point,  cannot  be  better  conveyed  than 
in  the  inimitable  language  of  the  Church  of  England : — 
"  The  visible  church  of  Christ  is  a  congregation  of  faithful 
men  in  which  the  pure  word  of  God  is  preached,  and  the 
sacraments  be  duly  administered  according  to  Christ's 
ordination ,""^-'°  and,  therefore,  the  only  purpose  for  which 
they  are  so  congregated  is,  that  those  ministrations  may, 
through  the  Spirit,  be  attended  with  the  greatest  possible 
success,  in  the  edification  of  the  saints,  and  in  the  conver- 
sion of  sinners.  To  this  purpose,  and  to  this  alone,  the 
power  and  authority  entrusted  with  the  ministers  of  the 
church  were  to  be  entirely  subservient.  It  is  not  possible 
that  the  doctrine  of  the  New  Testament  reg-ardinff  the 
church  can  be  more  clearly  stated,  and  we  can  hardly  con- 
ceive of  any  thing  more  entirely  at  variance  with  it  than  the 
tradition  of  the  apostolical  and  early  fathers.  With  them, 
the  church  was  an  association  politically  incorporated  by  the 
Almighty,  and  having  offices  of  dignity  of  many  degrees 
in  rank.  In  these  offices  is  vested  a  very  large  measure  of 
the  divine  power,  in  virtue  of  the  apostolic  succession.  The 
purpose  for  which  this  power  was  imparted  they  do  not 
inform  us.  From  hence  the  error  proceeds  in  a  two-fold 
direction.  They  regarded  the  church  as  consisting  not 
of  the  people  (with  the  New  Testament  and  the  Church 
of  England)  but  of  the  ministers  ;^"^  that  it,  and  therefore, 
they  were  the  only  media  of  communication  between  God 
and  man.  In  the  other  direction  of  the  error,  they  altoge- 
ther mistook  the  Scripture  regarding  the  unity  of  the 
Spirit,  which  they  taught  to  be,  so  entire  a  subjection  of 
all  the  mental  faculties  of  the  laity  to  those  of  the  clergy, 
that  when  the  latter  shall  address  God  in  the  name  of 
""^  Article  19.  i'*i  Ign.  ad  Trail.  3.     Supra,  p.  194. 


211 

the  congregation,  they  shall  speak  as  with  one  mind  and 
one  will. 

Here  the  two  branches  of  the  error  again  converge ; 
for  the  duties  of  the  laity,  as  taught  in  the  second  century, 
are  legitimate  conclusions  from  both.  They,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  were  not  allowed  to  act  either  in  their  reli- 
gious or  civil  duties,  without  the  consent  of  the  clergy ; 
they  were  not  even  to  think  without  them ;  they  were  to 
render  them  the  homage  of  the  heart  and  spirit,  as  well  as 
of  the  body  ;  and  to  have  them  in  reverence,  exactly  similar 
both  in  kind  and  degree,  to  that  which  they  paid  to  God 
himself.  The  sanctions  which  enforced  these  precepts  were 
tremendous.  The  slightest  mental  dissent  from  any  thing 
advanced  by  the  clergy  implicated  the  dissentient  in  the 
sin  of  schism,  cut  him  off  from  the  unity  of  the  church, 
and,  therefore,  shut  out  all  hope  for  him  of  acceptably 
approaching  God  ;  all  other  Christian  virtues,  yea,  the 
sacrifice  of  Christ  himself,  notwithstanding. 

The  mode  in  which  these  opinions  would  seem  to  have 
co-operated  with  other  causes,  in  giving  success  to  the  rank 
heresies  of  the  times,  we  have  considered  at  length :  and  by 
showing  that  the  homage  demanded  by  the  clergy  was 
clearly  idolatrous,  we  have  obviated  the  necessity  of  any 
scriptural  disproof  of  it. 

Nor  are  we  at  all  at  a  loss  for  the  origin  of  the  error. 
It  is  merely  a  Christianized  version  of  the  maxims  of  social 
government  of  every  kind,  which  were  then  universally 
current.  The  ideas  of  responsible  authority,  and  of 
government  for  the  benefit  of  the  governed,  received  no 
countenance  whatever  from  the  practice  of  those  times^ 
On  the  other  hand,  dignitaries  of  every  rank,  both  civil 
and  religious,  assumed  exactly  the  lofty,  God-deputed  bear- 
ing with  which  Ignatius  carries  it,  on  behalf  of  the  Christian 


212 

ministry.  We  must  also  call  to  mind  here  our  former 
observation,  that  it  was  not  the  divine  purpose,  in  revealing 
Christianity,  to  teach  mankind  politics ;  but  to  impart  a 
rule  of  life  that  should  adapt  itself  to  the  political  circum- 
stances of  society,  whatever  they  might  be.  And  nothing 
is  more  certain  than  that  when  such  harsh  and  arbitrary 
notions  prevailed  universally,  a  larger  measure  of  authority 
would  be  required  to  give  full  effect  to  the  ministrations 
of  the  clergy,  than  in  times  when  milder  and  more  rational 
theories  of  government  were  entertained.  We  have  great 
satisfaction  in  being  able  thus  to  mitigate  the  error  of 
Ignatius  ;  whose  name,  as  one  of  the  early  martyrs  to  the 
faith,  must  always  be  fragrant,  and  whose  writings  abound, 
nevertheless,  in  passages  of  pure  piety  and  exquisite 
beauty. 

The  nature  and  general  bearing  of  the  error  upon  the 
Christian  system,  is  the  only  point  that  remains  to  be 
considered.  These  we  shall  find  to  be  in  melancholy 
uniformity  with  the  aberrations  from  the  doctrine  of 
Scripture  which  have  already  engaged  our  attention.  It 
interposed  another  cloud  between  the  heart  of  the  believer, 
and  that  sun  of  righteousness,  whose  full  splendour  it  was 
the  purpose  of  this  perfect  revelation  to  unveil.  Like  the 
other  errors  of  the  period,  it  debased  and  sensualized 
Christianity,  rendering  it  more  a  concern  of  time  and  less 
of  eternity — it  cast  another  defilement  on  the  pure  spiri- 
tuality of  its  motives,  by  infusing  into  it  a  gross  and  earthy 
element ;  it  destroyed  the  simplicity  of  its  moral  code,  by 
enjoining,  as  imperative  duties,  acts  which  the  Bible 
denounces  as  grievous  sins :  and  thus,  by  introducing 
into  Christ''s  religion  absurd  and  irrational  motives,  and 
anomalous  and  incongruous  precepts,  it  marred  the  har- 
mony of  the  entire  system  :  and  reduced  that,  whose  exact 


213 

arrangements  and  nice  adaptations,  otherwise,  loudly  and 
sweetly  utter  forth  the  praises  of  the  infinite  wisdom 
which  framed  so  fair  a  plan,  to  a  chaotic  mass  of  hopeless 
confusion. 

It  was  not  possible,  but  that  great  and  grievous  prac- 
tical evils  should  ensue  upon  a  derangement  like  this. 
Besides  those  immediate  effects  which  we  have  endea- 
voured to  trace,  it  were  easy  to  show  the  rapid  advances  of 
the  clergy  in  arrogance,  intolerance,  and  secularity,  through 
this  and  succeeding  centuries  ;  until  "  the  man  of  sin,  the 
son  of  perdition,"  was  unveiled  in  the  fulness  of  his  gigantic 
dimensions.  But  we  rather  turn  to  that  which,  being  the 
necessary  consequence  of  the  error,  must  always  appear 
under  whatever  circumstances  it  is  entertained,  and 
however  carefully  it  may  have  been  purified  from  the 
idolatrous  grossness  of  Ignatius. 

Christianity  knows  nothing  of  degrees  of  requisition  ; 
she  asks  the  dedication  of  the  whole  heart  and  affections,  of 
all  the  faculties  and  powers,  without  the  slightest  reserva- 
tion, to  her  service  ;  it  is  impossible  to  overstate,  either  the 
comprehensiveness  or  the  universality,  of  her  demands. 
She  can  ask  no  more  from  the  clergy  ;  she  demands  not 
one  whit  less  of  the  laity.  The  one  and  the  other  are 
equally  exhorted  "  to  present  their  bodies'"  (and  therefore 
all  their  outward  actions)  "  a  living  sacrifice,  holy  and 
acceptable  to  God,""  and  this,  and  this  alone,  "  is  their 
reasonable  service.*"  Evidently,  nothing  can  be  more 
abhorrent  to  the  spirit  of  a  religion  like  this,  than  the 
notion  of  a  vicarious  performance  of  its  duties :  of  the 
supererogatory  labours  of  one  class  in  the  church,  supply- 
ing the  lack  of  service  of  another.  Yet,  that  this  is 
elementary  to  the  error  in  question,  is  equally  apparent. 
To  make  this  clear,  let  us  contemplate,  for  a  moment,  the 


214 

situation  in  which  a  lay  Christian  of  the  second  century 
was  placed  by  it.  We  have  already  shown  that,  according 
to  the  then  prevalent  theology,  the  only  mode  by  which 
man's  acts  of  devotion  could  pass  through  the  invisible 
world  to  the  ear  of  Him  to  whom  they  were  addressed, 
was  by  the  free  agency  of  a  universe  of  angels.  We  now 
find  that,  even  in  this  world,  the  layman  had  access  to  his 
heavenly  Father,  only  through  the  medium  of  the  bishop 
and  clergy.  Thus  separated  by  a  double  remove  from  the 
object  of  his  worship,  it  would  infallibly  be  concluded  that 
religion  was  an  affair  in  which  the  layman  had,  compara- 
tively, but  little  concern ;  and  that  his  safest  course 
regarding  it,  was  to  keep  on  as  good  terms  as  possible  with 
the  clergy  below,  and  with  the  angels  above,  and  to  leave 
the  rest  to  be  managed  between  them. 

This  is,  of  course,  an  extreme  case,  arising  out  of  the 
gross  character  of  the  unhappy  times  we  are  considering. 
But  is  not  the  same  consequence  inevitable  upon  every 
shade  of  the  same  error,  however  attenuated  ?  Is  the  entire 
figment  of  a  church  on  earth,  the  only  authorised  expositor 
of  the  word  of  God,  in  virtue  of  the  apostolical  succession 
of  her  clergy,  (a  notion  as  utterly  destitute  of  Scripture 
warrant  as  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope)  any  thing  more 
than  a  dilution  of  the  doctrine  of  Clement  and  Ignatius, 
from  which  the  deduction  of  the  Romish  church,  that 
therefore  the  Scripture  is  to  be  denied  to  the  laity,  has 
been  somewhat  illogically  severed  ?  And  is  it  possible  to 
escape  the  inference,  that  therefore  the  laity  will  do  well 
to  leave  a  very  exact  and  curious  attention  to  religion,  to 
those  whose  holy  orders  confer  upon  them  the  advantages 
for  such  pursuits,  whatever  they  may  be,  which  accrue 
from  the  apostolic  succession  ;  and  not  to  busy  themselves 
with  encjuiries  which  they  must   necessarily  pursue  under 


215 

unfavourable  circumstances,  and  with  whicJi  they  have,  in 
strictness,  no  right  whatever  to  intermeddle  ? 

That  all  this,  and  worse  than  this,  has  been  avowed 
and  defended  by  Protestant  divines,  I  should  find  no 
difficulty  in  establishing  by  a  host  of  authorities :  but  I 
willingly  forbear.  The  subject  has  been  throughout  an 
invidious  and  unpalatable  one ;  and  at  such  a  moment 
as  the  present,  I  shall  certainly  not  arm  the  adversaries  of 
the  Christian  church  to  which  I  esteem  it  my  privilege  to 
belong,  with  a  weapon  of  which  they  too  often  take  an 
improper  advantage,  by  charging  upon  every  individual  of 
whom  that  church  is  composed,  the  opinions  of  a  few  of 
her  wrong-headed  members.  Another  circumstance  also, 
happily  obviates  the  necessity  of  such  an  exposure.  The 
avowal  of  these  offensive  opinions  has  been,  for  some  years 
past,  of  very  rare  occurrence  in  the  writings  of  the  divines 
of  the  Church  of  England  ;  and  the  whole  tenor  of  her 
theology,  in  the  present  day,  affords  a  blessed  and  unan- 
swerable testimony  that,  before  the  bright  beams  of 
Christ's  gospel,  this  error  also  is  fast  fading  away.  And 
while  I  rejoice,  in  common  with  all  who  profess  the  name 
of  Christianity,  in  the  larger  diffusion  of  scriptural  know- 
ledge which  has  occasioned  this,  I  cannot  refrain  from 
acknowledging  that  my  joy  is  enhanced  by  the  reflection, 
that  no  Christian  community  upon  earth  has  laboured  more 
abundantly  in  the  promotion  of  this  knowledge  than  the 
Church  of  England. 

But  we  are  dwelling  upon  the  tokens  for  good  which, 
as  our  hope  and  prayer  is,  are  bringing  to  its  catastrophe 
the  mystery  of  iniquity  which  has  been  so  long  enacted 
upon  the  earth  :  whereas  we  are  now  considering  those 
rapidly-growing  corruptions  that  introduced  it.  We  turn 
from  the  blaze  of   Scripture  light    which   irradiates   the 


216 

nineteenth  century,  and  whose  clear  shining  well  nigh 
kindles  the  ardent  faith  of  the  believer  to  the  full  assurance 
of  hope,  to  plunge  once  more  into  the  thick  and  palpable 
darkness  of  the  second .  when  the  faith,  as  well  as  the 
patience,  of  the  saints,  was  subjected  to  trials  more  severe 
than  perhaps  at  any  other  period.  And  we  state  unreser- 
vedly, that  an  error  more  deeply  fraught  with  evil  conse- 
quences, never  vexed  the  church  of  Christ,  than  the 
apotheosis  of  the  clergy .^"^ 

102  gee  Appendix. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


MARTYRDOM. 

The  error  that  arose  in  the  early  church,  touching  the 
honour  conferred  by  the  crown  of  martyrdom,  has  so  little 
connection  with  any  opinion  now  received  by  Protestants, 
that  it  is  only  enumerated  here,  for  the  purpose  of  further 
illustrating  the  nature  of  the  mistakes  with  which  Chris- 
tianity was  corrupted  by  its  early  professors. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  conceive  that  the  memory  of  those 
who  loved  not  their  lives  unto  the  death,  "  for  their  Lord 
and  for  the  word  of  his  testimony,"  should  be  very  precious 
in  the  hearts  of  his  surviving  disciples  on  earth.  Nor  can 
such  a  feeling  be  too  highly  commended.  But,  unhappily, 
the  utmost  latitude  of  interpretation  can  never  bring  the 
terms  in  which  the  martyrs  are  invariably  spoken  of  by  the 
fathers  of  the  second  century  within  any  allowable  limit. 
We  have  already  seen  their  proneness  to  assign  to  ecclesi- 
astical ceremonies  the  efficacy  which  belongs  to  the  grace 
of  God  alone,  and  to  ecclesiastical  persons  the  honour 
which  is  due  to  the  God  of  all  grace  only,  and  in  the 
instance  now  before  us  we  have  another  melancholy  illus- 
tration of  it. 

The  Shepherd  of  Hermas  speaks  thus  of  the  martyrs : 
— "  Whosoever  have  suffered  for  the  name  of  the  Lord  are 
esteemed  honourable  by  the  Lord,  and  all  their  offences 


218 

are  blotted  out,  because  they  have  suffered  death  for  the 
name  of  the  Son  of  God."^ 

Irenaeus  tells  us  that  "  the  martyrs  despised  death, 
and  bore  their  testimony,  not  through  the  infirmity  of  the 
flesh,  but  through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit.""^  An 
expression  whereby  he  seems  to  indicate  that  the  Spirit  was 
with  the  martyrs,  not  in  his  ordinary  sanctifying  influences, 
but  miraculously.  And  the  expressions  of  TertuUian 
render  it  pretty  certain  that  such  was  the  universally 
received  opinion  at  the  time.  He  addresses  certain  martyrs 
in  prison  thus : — "  In  the  first  place,  beloved,  grieve  not 
the  Holy  Spirit  that  hath  gone  with  you  to  prison  ;  for  if 
he  had  not  gone  with  you,  ye  would  not  now  have  been 
there.  Give,  therefore,  all  diligence,  that  he  may  remain 
with  you  there,  and  that  he  may  lead  you  thence  unto  the 
Lord."3 

The  martyrs  were  to  be  the  judges  of  their  persecutors 
in  the  future  state.  Irenaeus  commits  those  who  despise, 
as  well  as  those  who  persecute  them,  to  the  martyrs  them- 
selves :*  and  TertuUian,  in  the  most  eloquent  address  we 
have  quoted,  tells  the  prisoners  to  whom  he  writes  : — "  the 
world  expects  its  judge,  but  ye  are  to  judge  your  judges."  ^ 

The  intercession  of  a  martyr  was  always  attended  to 
by  the  church  on  behalf  of  the  backsliding  penitent :  *• — a 
beautiful  and  affecting  custom,  conceived  in  the  true  spirit 
of  Christianity,  and  to  which  neither  TertuUian,  nor  any 

1  Sim.  9,  28. 

2  Adv.  Hffir.  5,  9. 

3  Ad  Martyres,  c.  1.  The  occasion  of  which  he  addressed  them  was, 
that  disputes  and  dissensions  had  arisen  among  themselves  ;  a  circumstance 
l)y  no  means  without  a  parallel,  however  extraordinary  it  may  seem. 

4  Lib.  :i,  20.,  p.  247. 

5  U.  s.,  c.  2. 

6  Id.,  C.  1. 


219 

one  else  in  their  senses,  could  discover  the  slightest  objec- 
tion ;  though  afterwards,  when  he  had  fallen  into  the  dotage 
of  Montanism,  he  attacked  it  in  a  furious  rant  of  coarse 
unfeeling  sarcasm.^ 

If  the  confessor  escaped  with  his  life,  the  prerogative 
of  martyrdom  gave  him  an  undisputed  claim  to  the  highest 
ecclesiastical  dig-nities.''  If  he  underwent  the  last  and 
most  perfect  test  of  the  sincerity  of  his  profession,  the 
spiritual  privileges  that  awaited  him  were  such  as  to  render 
martyrdom,  to  a  mind  of  any  enthusiasm,  a  consummation 
earnestly  to  be  sought  after.  This  is  the  second  laver, 
the  baptism  of  blood,  whereby  the  blessed  receiver  is 
glorified,  as  by  water  baptism  he  has  been  purified ;  this 
is  the  perfection  of  all  the  blessings  which  Christianity 
can  bestow  upon  man  :  and  to  which  there  is  no  other 
mode  whatever  of  attaining.^  For  while  the  souls  of  ordi- 
nary Christians  remain  for  a  very  long  period  in  a  state  of 
incomplete  happiness,  the  spirit  of  the  martyr  rushes 
exulting  from  his  mangled  corpse  into  the  heaven  of 
heavens,  and  plunges  into  the  ocean  of  perfect  bliss  that 
flows  round  the  throne  of  the  Most  Highest.^'' 

When  doctrines  like  these  were  publicly  professed  and 

7  De  Pudic,  c.  22. 

f  Martyrii  prserogativa Adv.  Valent.  c.  4. 

9  Clement  of  Alexandria  was  of  a  different  opinion.  "  If  martyrdom 
be  to  confess  God,  whoever  orders  his  life  virtuously,  through  the  know- 
ledge of  God,  and  obeys  his  commands,  is  a  martyr  in  life  and  conversation, 
by  whatever  means  he  comes  by  his  death ;  for  he  pours  forth  his  faith  like 
blood  throughout  his  whole  life,  and  even  at  his  death." — 4  Strom.  §  4.  But 
this  writer  certainly  entertained  notions  regarding  martyrdom,  which  he  had 
borrowed  from  the  philosophical  heretics,  rather  than  from  the  orthodox  ; 
though  in  the  same  chapter,  he  indignantly  repudiates  the  notion  which 
some  of  them  held,  that  this  perfection  was  the  only  martyrdom— jSee 
above,  p.\(ii^  A^ote  32. 

"^  TertuUian  de  Baptismo,  c.  16. 


220 

firmly  believed,  what  wonder  that  Ignatius  should  write  to 
the  church  at  Rome,  expressly  forbidding  them,  either  by 
prayer  to  God,  or  intercession  with  the  imperial  authorities, 
from  hindering  him  of  the  crown  of  martyrdom  ? — "  Now 
that  the  altar  is  already  prepared,"  he  exclaims,  "  ye 
cannot  do  me  a  greater  kindness  than  to  suffer  me  to  be 
sacrificed  unto  God."  It  is  good  for  me  to  set  from  the 
world  unto  God,  that  I  may  rise  again  unto  him.  I 
beseech  you  that  ye  show  not  an  unseasonable  good  will 
towards  me.  Suffer  me  to  be  food  to  the  wild  beasts,  by 
whom  I  shall  attain  unto  God  :  for  I  am  the  wheat  of  God, 
and  shall  be  ground  by  the  teeth  of  the  wild  beasts,  that  I 
may  be  found  the  pure  bread  of  Christ.  Encourage,  then, 
the  beasts,  that  they  may  become  my  sepulchre ;  pray  unto 
Christ  for  me,  that  by  these  instruments,  I  may  be  made 
the  sacrifice  of  God.""^^  As  if  for  the  purpose  of  showing 
that  he  was  no  empty  boaster,  dealing  merely  in  general 
declamation,  he  does  not  scruple  to  detail  and  dwell  upon 
all  the  horrible  particulars  of  the  fate  that  awaited  him. 
"  May  I  enjoy  the  beasts  that  are  prepared  for  me  ;  which 
also  I  wish,  may  exercise  all  their  fierceness  upon  me,  and 
whom,  for  that  end,  I  will  encourage,  that  they  may  be 
sure  to  devour  me.  Yea,  if  they  will  not  do  it  willingly, 
I  will  provoke  them  to  it.  Welcome  fire  and  the  cross  ; 
welcome  the  rage  of  the  wild  beasts  ;  welcome  breaking  of 
bone,  and  rending  of  flesh,  and  tearing  off  of  members ; 
let  the  shattering  in  pieces  of  the  whole  body,  and  all  the 
wicked  torments  of  the  Devil,  come  upon  me,  only  let  me 
enjoy  Jesus  Christ."^^ 

He  knows  but  little  of  human  nature,  who  is  not  well 
aware  of  the  highly   contagious  character  of  enthusiasm 
like  this :  or  who  is  at  all   surprised  to  be  informed  that, 
•I  Ign.  ad  Rom.,  c.  2.  '^  Id.,  c. :}.  i'»  Id.,  c.  S. 


221 

with  the  rewards  we  have  described  set  before  her,  and 
with  an  advocate  and  example  so  eloquent  and  influential 
as  Ignatius,  a  bright  hot  fire  of  false  zeal  was  kindled  in 
the  Christian  church,  wherein  the  love  of  life  and  the  fear 
of  death  were  alike  entirely  consuntied.  She  clapped  her 
hands  for  joy  at  the  sound  of  persecution.  Her  members 
rushed  in  crowds  to  the  judgment-seats  of  their  tormentors, 
each  vieing  with  the  other  in  the  boldest  profession  of 
Christianity,  and  the  most  contemptuous  defiance  of  their 
malice.  The  more  merciful  of  the  Roman  governors  were 
openly  insulted,  spit  upon,  and  even  struck  in  open  court, 
by  frantic  zealots  who  called  themselves  Christians,  in  their 
eagerness  for  the  crown  of  martyrdom.  The  idea  of  flight 
in  persecution  was  disdainfully  scoffed  at.  Our  Saviour''s 
express  injunction  to  this  effect  was  limited  merely  to  the 
apostles.'*  Persecution,  on  the  other  hand,  they  declared 
to  be  an  express  appointment  of  God  ;  and  as  God  could 
appoint  nothing  but  what  was  good,  to  fly  from  it  was  to 
decline  that  which  is  good.'^  It  was  the  divinely  instituted 
means  for  separating  the  wheat  of  confession  from  the  chaff 
of  denial ;  he,  therefore,  that  fled  from  it,  counteracted, 
as  much  as  in  him  lay,  the  purpose  of  infinite  wisdom.'^ 
Besides,  flight  was  altogether  in  vain  ;  instances  were 
adduced  of  persons  who  had  attempted  to  evade  persecu- 
tion, and  upon  whom  the  vengeance  of  heaven  had  brought 
ten-fold  tortures  from  the  persecutors,  before  they  were 
committed  to  the  flames  of  martyrdom. '''  "  How,"  it  was 
triumphantly  asked,  "  could  the  blessings  promised  to 
those  that  confessed  Christ  before  men,  that  endured  per- 
secution for  his  name's  sake,  that  continued  unto  the  end, 
be  obtained,  if  it  were  lawful  to  fly  from  persecution."'^ 

!•*  Matt.  X.  23.     TertuUian  de  Fuga  in  Persecutione,  c.  6. 
15  Id.,  cc.  1,  3.  16  Id.,  c.  1.  17  Id.,  c.  5.  18  Id.,  c.  7. 


222 

The  idea  of  purchasing  the  privilege  of  professing 
Christianity  with  money,  was  even  still  more  contemptu- 
ously rejected.  "  God  pronounced  a  blessing  upon  the 
poor,"  say  their  admirable  logicians,  "  how  then  can  a  man 
be  blessed  by  his  riches  ?  We  cannot  serve  God  and  Mam- 
mon ;  how  then  can  we  be  redeemed  by  God  and  Mammon  ? 
Or  who  serves  Mammon  more  than  he  whom  Mammon 
redeems  ?  We  who  are  bought  with  blood,  pay  neither 
blood-money  nor  head-money ;  for  Christ  is  our  head. 
Wilt  thovi  redeem  that  with  thy  money  which  Christ 
redeemed  with  his  blood  .-^"^^ 

Now  we  greatly  admire  the  ingenuity  of  all  this  ;  we 
produce  it  as  a  very  talented  specimen  of  the  arguments  of 
a  school  of  reasoners,  who,  by  the  help  of  a  few  flimsy 
fallacies  for  which  they  quote  Scripture,  and  of  strong 
fierce  appeals  to  the  conscience,  founded  upon  these  falla- 
cies, can  make  the  Bible  say  any  thing  :  and,  we  regret 
to  add,  (for  the  school  still  flourishes)  often  with  astonish- 
ing success.  But,  nevertheless,  we  entirely  deny  that  the 
word  of  God  sanctions  or  enjoins  the  sin  of  murder  under 
any  circumstances.  Nay,  it  appears  to  us,  that  he  who 
promotes  his  own  murder,  either  by  daring  a  tribunal,  or 
by  wilfully  neglecting  any  lawful  means  whereby  it  might 
be  prevented,  is  guilty  of  a  crime  of  a  much  deeper  dye 
than  that  of  his  murderer :  the  one  is  the  sinner,  but  the 
other  is  the  tempter.  But  our  author  quotes  the  case  of 
St.  Paul,  who  refused  to  stay  from  Jerusalem  where 
Agabus^''  prophesied  that  bonds  and  imprisonment  awaited 
him,  and  this  he  trumpets  forth  as  a  triumphant  and  final 
settlement  of  the  question  in  his  own  favour.^^  What 
wretched  paltering  is  this  !  Could  a  case  of  more  perfect 
disproof  have  been  possibly  selected  ?      For  in   the  first 

1!'  C.  12.  20  Acts  xxi.  10—14.  21  pg  Fuga,  c.  C,  a.  f. 


223 

place,  the  apostle  was  inspired  as  well  as  Agabiis  ;  and  the 
same  Spirit  that  revealed  the  fact  to  the  one,  revealed  also 
his  course  of  conduct  to  the  otlier.  When  this  argument 
suits  his  purpose,  no  one  is  more  sensible  of  the  force  of  it, 
or  uses  it  more  dexterously  than  Tertullian.  But  in  the 
next  place,  the  predicted  imprisonment  did  not  terminate 
in  martyrdom,  but  in  the  apostle's  liberation  ;  this  was 
also  foreshown,^^  and  this  is  surely  not  unimportant  to  the 
tendency  of  his  example.  But  lastly,  though  the  apostle 
refused  to  release  himself  by  the  illegal  act  of  bribing  the 
Roman  governor,  yet  he  pleaded  with  the  utmost  fervour 
for  his  life ;  and  on  all  occasions,  exhibited  the  greatest 
solicitude  for  its  preservation  from  the  many  perils  that 
surrounded  him.  And  yet  this  fierce  fanatic  can  pass  by 
all  such  considerations,  and  ground  upon  the  mere  act  of 
his  going  to  Jerusalem  a  vehement  exhortation  to  his 
fellow  Christians,  first  to  provoke  the  unsheathing  of  the 
sword  of  persecution,  and  then  to  precipitate  themselves 
upon  its  point ! 

Upon  this  particular  question,  however,  the  views  of 
Tertullian,  though  very  prevalent  in  the  second  century, 
were  not  universal.  The  school  of  Alexandria  promulgated 
opinions  more  consonant  with  Scripture  and  reason  ;  for 
which,  as  we  have  before  observed,  they  drew  upon  them- 
selves from  their  meek  opponents  the  epithet  of  "  sensual- 
ists."^^  They  do  not  at  all  scruple  to  affirm  that  God  is  not 
the  author  of  persecution,  nor  of  any  other  evil.^^  They 
also,  and  with  justice,  extend  thecommand^^  to  the  whole  of 
Christ's  disciples.  "  We  are  to  flee  from  persecution,"  say 
they,  "  not  because  we  fear  death,  or  because  it  is  an  evil 
to  undergo  persecution,  but  because  God  will  not  have  us 

22  See  Acts  xxi.  13.  23  See  above,  p.  151,  Note  10. 

24  4  Strom.,  §  12.  25  Matt.  x.  23. 


224 

to  be  the  authors  or  abettors  of  evil,  either  in  ourselves,  or 
our  persecutors.  He  who  disobeys  this,  throws  himself 
rashly  and  unadvisedly  into  danger.  Whoso  slays  a  righ- 
teous man  commits  murder ;  and  he  who  offers  himself  to 
the  persecutors  participates  in  the  guilt  of  his  own  murder. 
He  who  refuses  or  neglects  to  avoid  persecution,  does  what 
in  him  lies  to  abet  the  guilt  of  his  persecutors  ;  but  he  who 
provokes  his  tormentors  is  as  much  the  cause  of  his  own 
death  as  he  who  throws  himself  in  the  way  of  a  wild  beast. 
It  would  be  just  as  proper  to  term  one  who  suffers  for  a 
theft  a  martyr  as  such  a  person  ;  both  are  alike  the  authors 
of  their  own  execution."'"^  This  is  manly,  scriptural,  and 
rational.  We  may  safely  leave  Tertullian  to  Clement  of 
Alexandria  ;  and  should  any  one  in  his  ignorance  presume 
that  the  patristical  writings  contain  nothing  worthy  of 
notice,  we  conceive  we  have  only  to  point  him  out  such  a 
passage  as  this,  and  he  has  his  answer  in  full. 

We  regret,  however,  that  it  is  only  upon  this  point 
that  we  can  commend  the  doctrine  of  Clement  regarding 
martyrdom.  Like  the  rest  of  his  cotemporaries,  he  held 
martyrdom  to  be  the  entire  purification  from  all  past  sins, 
and  the  infallible  induction  of  the  happy  subject  of  it  into 
the  fulness  of  heavenly  felicity.  Nay,  he  goes  even 
beyond  this  ;  "  our  Lord  drank  the  cup  of  martyrdom  only 
for  those  unbelievers  that  plotted  against  him.  The  apos- 
tles suffered  for  the  churches  they  had  foimded :  and  it 
behoves  the  true  and  wise  martyr  to  imitate  their  blame- 
lessness  of  life,  in  order  that  his  martyrdom  may  also  be 
efficacious.""^  I  do  not  carry  this  out  to  all  the  conse- 
quences of  which  it  is  capable  ;  because  it  is  plain,  from 
the  rest  of  his  writings,   that  he  had   no  intention  either  of 

26  4  Strom.,  §  10.;  see  also  §  4,  of  the  same  book,  a.  f. 
2"  4  Strom.,  §  9. 


225 

undervaluing,  or  limiting,  the  atonement  of  our  Saviour  : 
— but,  nevertheless,  he  certainly  did  hold,  with  the  uni- 
versal church  in  the  second  century,  that  martyrdom  was 
in  some  way  efficacious  as  an  expiatory  act.  He  agrees, 
likewise,  with  the  preceding  writers  in  accounting  it  a 
necessary  part  of  the  Christian  economy,  its  crown  and 
perfection  :  this,  he  tells  us,  arises  from  the  martyi-''s 
assimilation  to  the  divine  impatibility  :  and  he  enforces 
the  Pythagorean  figment,  of  striving  after  the  indifference 
of  God  to  earthly  pains  and  pleasures,  as  the  best  prepa- 
rative for  it.^^ 

Yet  the  New  Testament  only  teaches,  that  he  "  who 
endureth  persecution"  is  "  blessed,""  as  well  as  he  whose 
life  exemplifies  the  other  Christian  graces  ;^  and  that  he 
"  who  abideth  to  the  end  shall  be  saved. "'^'^  And  far 
from  any  thing  meritorious  in  the  act  of  martyrdom,  we 
are  expressly  told  concerning  it  that,  "  he  who  giveth 
his  body  to  be  burned,  and  hath  not  charity,  it  profiteth 
him  nothing.*"^^ 

We  could  not  have  selected  a  question,  which  more 
forcibly  displays  the  total  neglect  of  the  spirit  of  the  New 
Testament  that  prevailed  in  the  early  church,  than  the 
opinions  of  the  fathers  of  the  two  first  centuries  upon  the 
subject  of  martyrdom. 

28  See  §  19,  21.    This  last  opinion  seems  to  have  been  peculiar  to 
himself. 

2»  Matt.  V.  10—12,  &c. 

30  Id.  xxiv.  13. 

31  1  Cor.  xui.  3. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  ROME. 

The  error  we  are  now  about  to  consider,  like  that  of  the 
preceding  chapter,  does  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  our 
original  design  ;  inasmuch  as  it  is  expressly  repudiated  by 
all  the  Protestant  churches,  and  by  many  of  the  ancient 
ones.  The  history  of  its  origin  and  progress,  however, 
are  not  without  instruction  upon  a  point,  on  which  the  eye 
of  the  visible  church  is  intensely  fixed  at  the  present 
moment ;  and  it  therefore  seemed  desirable,  to  conclude 
our  analysis  of  the  ecclesiastical  opinions  of  the  second 
century  with  a  brief  account  of  them. 

The  Supremacy  of  the  See  of  Rome,  is  a  doctrine 
which,  pretending  to  no  scriptural  sanction,  and  resting 
solely  on  the  unwritten  tradition,  we  shall  not  waste  a 
word  upon  its  confutation,  but  at  once  proceed  with  its 
history. 

The  circumstance  that  Clement  of  Rome  addressed  to 
the  Corinthian  church,  the  epistle  to  which  we  have  so 
frequently  referred,  has  been  eagerly  seized  upon  by  the 
Romanists  as  an  early  avowal  of  the  supremacy  of  the 
former  see ;  and  the  writer  has,  in  consequence,  been 
honoured  with  the  style  and  title  of  Pope  St.  Clement: 
though  nothing  can  be  more  humble,  or  less  popish  than 
the  tone  and  temper  of  the  entire  production,  whatever 


227 

may  be  said  of  tlie  purport  of  it.  He  enforces  no  authority 
but  that  of  argument  and  persuasion :  and  though  he 
writes,  not  in  his  own  name,  but  in  that  of  the  church  at 
Rome,  yet  internal  evidence  is  not  wanting,  that  the 
Corinthian  clergy  had  appealed  to  him  rather  than  to  any 
other  bishop,  merely  because  he  had  formerly  been  a  pastor 
of  the  church  at  Corinth,  and  was,  therefore,  familiar  with 
the  circumstances  in  which  the  schism  originated.^  And, 
far  from  the  assumption  of  any  authority  as  bishop  of 
Rome,  that  city  is  never  once  mentioned,  except  in  the 
superscription.  These  considerations  lead  me  to  conclude, 
that  the  dogma  of  Rome''s  supremacy  receives  no  counte- 
nance whatever  from  the  epistle  of  Clement :  a  conclu- 
sion, be  it  remembered,  altogether  unimportant  to  my 
view  of  the  question,  having  already  admitted  that  other 
false  doctrines  had  an  equally  early  origin. 

The  superscription  of  Ignatius''s  epistle  to  the  Romans 
addresses,  "  the  church  which  presides  in  the  region  of 
Rome,  worthy  of  God,  most  becoming,  worthy  to  be  most 
blessed,  worthy  to  be  praised,  most  worthy  to  have  her 
prayers  answered,  most  pure,  presiding  in  love,  named 
after  Christ  and  the  Father."  This  is  certainly  a  mode  of 
speaking  which  strongly  favours  the  doctrine  in  question  : 
if,  indeed,  the  whole  of  the  epithets  have  not  been  art- 
fully interpolated  at  a  later  period  ;  which  I  cannot  help 
suspecting. 

Shortly  afterwards,  also,  Irenaeus  declares  it  in 
terms  which  cannot  be  mistaken,  in  the  passage  we  have 
already  referred  to,  regarding  the  apostolic  tradition : — 
"  Since  it  would  be  tedious,  in  a  volume  like  this,  to 
enumerate  the  successions  of  all  the  churches,  we  the 
rather  insist  upon  that  of  the  very  great,  and  most  ancient, 
'  Clem,  ad  Cor.,  c.  1. 


228 

and  universally  celebrated  church,  which  was  founded  and 
constituted  at  Rome  by  the  two  most  glorious  apostles  Peter 
and  Paul."^  He  proceeds  to  inform  us  that  it  was  needful 
for  the  churches  every  where^  to  resort  to  Rome,  because 
that  city  was  the  seat  of  government  ;*  and,  therefore,  they 
had  made  her  the  depository  of  their  apostolical  tradition. 
The  reason  here  given  for  the  supremacy  in  question  is  a 
very  probable  one.  The  circumstance  that  Rome  was,  at 
that  time,  the  metropolis  of  the  world  in  every  sense  of  the 
word,  would  have  an  inevitable  tendency  to  confer  a 
corresponding  metropolitan  dignity  upon  the  church  esta- 
blished there. 

Tertullian  thus  enumerates  the  apostolical  churches, 
to  which  he  exhorts  the  heretics  to  repair,  in  order  that 
they  might  there  hear  for  themselves  the  tradition  of  the 
apostles,  and  compare  it  with  their  inspired  epistles.  "  Is 
Achaia  near  thee  ?  thou  hast  Corinth.  Art  thou  not  far 
from  Macedonia  ?  there  is  Philippi.  Wilt  thou  go  into 
Asia  ?  there  thou  wilt  find  Ephesus.  If  thou  livest 
adjacent  to  Italy,  thou  hast  the  Roman  church  ;  whence 
the  authority  (of  the  apostolic  tradition)  is  immediately 
derived  to  us,  (at  Carthage.)  Blessed  church,  to  whom 
the  apostles  poured  forth  their  whole  doctrine,  along  with 
their  blood ;  where  Peter's  passion  was  likened  to  that  of 
the  Lord,  (crucifixion)  where  St.  Paul  was  crowned  with 
John  Baptist's  martyrdom,  (decollation,)  whence  St.  John, 
after  he  had  been  plunged  into  boiling  oil  and  suffered 

2  Adv.  Haer.,  lib.  3.  c.  3.  I  strongly  suspect  that  here  also,  the 
epithets  have  been  inserted  by  the  Romanists. 

3  Undique. 

4  "  Propter  potentiorem  principalitatem."  The  allusion  is,  doubtless, 
to  the  many  appeals  which  the  Christians  had  to  prefer  to  the  emperors 
against  the  governors  of  provinces,  as  Grabe  unanswerably  demonstrates  in 
his  note  on  the  place. — Edit,  Oxon.,  p.  201. 


229 

nothing,  was  banished  to  Patmos.  Let  us  see  there,  what 
these  holy  men  said  and  taught."^ 

It  appears  to  me,  that  these  passages  betray  consider- 
able anxiety,  on  the  part  of  their  authors,  to  give  to  the 
Roman  see  the  full  benefit  of  the  advantages  which  her 
situation  in  the  metropolis  of  the  world  conferred  upon  her. 
Else,  why  does  Irenaeus  heap  laudatory  epithets  upon  the 
church  at  Rome,  because  of  a  privilege  which  she  only 
enjoyed  in  common  with  so  many  others  of  the  apostolic 
churches  ?  Or  why  does  Tertullian  enumerate  privileges 
peculiar  to  that  church,  the  value  of  which  it  is  not  very 
easy  to  estimate  ?  That  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  were 
martyred  at  Rome,  and  that  St.  John  was  there  exposed  to 
a  cruel  torture,  from  which  he  was  miraculously  delivered, 
are  somewhat  singular  reasons  why  the  supremacy  should 
be  conferred  upon  that  see  !  Our  Saviour  was  of  a  very 
different  opinion  regarding  Jerusalem. 

We  find  from  other  passages  of  the  same  authors,  that 
the  early  church  had  a  more  cogent  reason  than  any  that 
are  expressed  in  our  citations,  for  upholding  the  supremacy 
of  Rome.  The  well-known  prophecy  of  St.  Paul  regard- 
ing the  man  of  sin,^  was  always  interpreted  by  her  of 
antichrist ;  whom  she  supposed  to  be  a  man  who  was  to 
possess  himself  of  the  dominion  of  the  world,  and,  by 
means  of  unheard-of  cruelties  towards  the  Christians,  to 
succeed  in  re-establishing  the  Roman  idolatry,  and  the 
worship  of  himself  as  its  supreme  god.''  His  destruction, 
which  would  speedily  follow,  was  to  usher  in  the  consum- 
mation of  all  things,^  and  the  end  of  the  world.  In  the 
course  of  the  prophecy,  St.  Paul  thus  addresses  the  Thes- 
salonians  : — "  Remember  ye  not  that  when  I  was  yet  with 

^  De.  Praes.  Haer.,  c.  .3(i.  6  2  Thess.  ii.  1—12. 

7  See  Irenceiis.,  lib.  5.  c.  25.  "  Idem,  c.  2fi. 


230 

you,  I  told  you  these  things.  And  now  ye  know  what 
withholdeth  that  he  might  be  revealed  in  his  time.  For  the 
mystery  of  iniquity  doth  already  work  ;  only  there  is  that 
which  withholdeth  until  it  be  taken  out  of  the  way  ;  and 
then  shall  that  man  of  sin  be  revealed,"  &c.^  It  was  the 
uniform  belief  of  the  early  fathers,  that  this  hindering,  or 
restraining,  power  was  the  Roman  empire :  that  its  dis- 
memberment into  ten  kingdoms,  and  the  revelation  of  the 
man  of  sin  were  to  be  cotemporary  events. ^^  The  following 
passage  from  the  apology  of  TertuUian  affords  us  an 
insight  into  the  practical  effect  of  this  belief;  it  occurs  in 
the  course  of  an  endeavour  to  show  that  the  Christians 
were  not  rebellious  subjects.  After  citing  the  passages 
from  the  New  Testament,  which  enjoin  that  prayer  should 
be  offered  for  kings,  he  proceeds : — "  but  there  is  another 
and  greater  necessity  laid  upon  us  that  we  should  pray  for 
the  emperors,  as  well  as  for  the  whole  empire,  and  for 
Roman  affairs  in  general,  who  know  that  a  very  great 
destroying  power  now  imminent  over  the  whole  world,  and 
threatening  dreadful  afflictions,  yea,  the  end  of  all  things, 
is  retarded  by  the  continuance  of  the  Roman  empire. 
Therefore,  we  would  not  experience  these  things  ourselves ; 
and  while  we  pray  that  they  may  be  deferred,  we  ask  for 
the  lone;  duration  of  Rome.""^^ 

I  feel  persuaded,  that  here  we  have  the  true  reason 
why  the  early  church  manifested  such  extraordinary 
anxiety  to  foster  the  popular  prepossession  in  favour  of  the 
political  supremacy  of  Rome,  by  elevating  the  church  in 

!>  2  Thess.  ii.  5—8. 

"*  "  Qui  nunc  tenet  teneat,  donee  de  medio  fiat.  Quis  ?  nisi  Romanus 
status,  cujus  abscessio  in  decern  reges  dispersa  antichristum  superducet." — 
TertuUian  de  Res.  Carnis.,  r,  24.  See  adv.  Marc,  lib.  5.  c.  16.  See  also 
Ircnaeus,  ul)i  supra. 

11  Apol.,  c.  31. 


231 

that  city  to  a  corresponding  ecclesiastical  dominion.  She 
wished  to  retard  the  coming  judgment :  a  motive  perfectly 
scriptural  and  proper  :  but  instead  of  searching  diligently 
in  her  own  bosom  for  that  "  mystery  of  iniquity"  which 
the  prophet  had  informed  her  "  did  already  work,"  even 
in  his  time,  she  addressed  her  whole  energies  to  the  prop- 
ping up  and  continuance  of  that  impediment,  concerning 
which  it  was  the  declared  purpose  of  the  divine  mind  that 
it  should  be  removed.  She  was  plainly  forewarned  by  the 
terms  of  the  prediction  that  the  danger  was  from  within, 
and  not  from  without ;  but  far  from  profitting  either  by 
this,  or  by  the  examples  which  Scripture  afforded  her,  of 
timely  repentance  delaying  the  progress  of  threatened 
judgments,  she  madly  strove  to  counteract  the  decrees  of 
Omnipotence.  '  Woe  unto  him  that  striveth  with  his 
Maker  I"* — By  these  her  efforts  she  accomplished  the  very 
consummation  which  she  had  hoped  to  defeat :  she  herself 
conceived,  and  gave  birth  to,  that  '  man  of  sin,"*  who  even 
to  this  day,  '  as  God  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God,  showing 
himself  that  he  is  God.' "12 

12  Ver.  4. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


MODES  OF   INTERPRETING  SCRIPTURE  ADOPTED  BY   THE 
EARLY  CHURCH. 

We  have  now  completed  our  survey  of  those  dogmas 
mamtained  by  the  early  Christians,  which  affect  the  disci- 
pline and  ministrations  of  the  church.  Those  that  remain 
to  be  considered  are  points  of  doctrine,  professedly 
derived  from  Scripture:  it  becomes,  therefore,  important 
that  we  should,  in  the  first  place,  endeavour  to  acquaint 
ourselves  with  the  mode  in  which  they  interpreted  the  text 
of  the  sacred  volume :  as  upon  this,  of  course,  the  value 
of  their  opinions  will  altogether  depend. 

It  is  quite  needful  to  premise  here,  that  they  ulti- 
mately appeal,  upon  all  occasions,  to  the  inspired  writings, 
as  their  only  authority  for  the  doctrines  they  teach.  Even 
Clement  of  Alexandria  only  claims  the  sanction  of  tradition 
for  certain  mystical  interpretations  and  accommodations  of 
the  text,  never  for  any  doctrines  independent  of  it.  The 
Protestant  may  triumphantly  point  to  the  fathers  of  the 
first  and  second  centuries  as  his  precedent  and  exemplar  in 
the  pursuit  of  a  similar  course.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that 
they  did  not  thus  defer  to  the  sense,  as  well  as  to  the  letter 
of  Scripture. 

We  set  out  with  only  one  principle:  regard  being 
had  to  the  scope  and  drift  of  the  passage   that  contains  it. 


233 

the  meaning  of  an  inspired  sentence  is  that  which  a  similar 
collocation  of  the  same  words  will  convey,  under  any 
circumstances,  to  the  greatest  number  of  sentient  and 
rational  beings.  If  this  be  not  true,  that  is,  if  the  inspired 
writings  do  not  mean  what  they  say,  an  infinite  series  of 
revelations  will  be  required,  each  in  explanation  of  the 
preceding  one.  Of  this  plain  and  obvious  principle  the 
writers  we  are  considering  appear  to  have  altogether  lost 
sight.  Nothing  can  exceed  the  licentiousness  of  the  canon 
of  interpretation  adopted  by  all  of  them.  The  sense  and 
meaning  of  Scripture  are,  in  their  works,  engaged  in  an 
interminable  game  at  hide  and  seek  with  each  other ;  so 
that,  upon  their  showing,  it  is  morally  impossible  to  decide, 
either  what  they  do  mean,  or  what  they  do  not  mean. 

If  the  tradition  of  the  fathers,  as  scriptural  inter- 
preters, is  to  be  received,  we  must  certainly  concede  to  the 
Roman  Catholics  that  the  Bible  is  the  most  difficult  book 
in  the  world,  and  of  all  others,  the  most  dangerous  to  be 
entrusted  with  the  laity. 

This  part  of  the  subject  has  been  necessarily  antici- 
pated in  a  measure,  by  the  course  of  our  enquiry.  But, 
nevertheless,  our  view  of  the  writings  of  the  early  fathers 
would  be  a  very  defective  one,  if  it  did  not  include  as  well, 
a  special  notice  upon  so  important  and  prominent  a  feature 
in  them.  We  shall,  therefore,  endeavour  to  make  such  a 
selection  from  the  numerous  passages  that  present  them- 
selves, as  shall  put  the  reader  fully  in  possession  of  the 
subject,  and  at  the  same  time,  do  as  little  violence  as  may 
be  to  that  feeling  of  reverential  regard  for  the  words  of 
Holy  Writ,  the  wide  diffusion  of  which  is  the  glory  of  our 
age  and  country. 

The  early  fathers  often  enforce  and  illustrate  scrip- 
tural doctrines  by  metaphors,  or  phrases,  not  employed  in 


234 

Scripture^  and  apt  to  convey  notio?is  and  impressions 
regarding  them,  devoid  of  scriptural  authority ,  and  there- 
fore false. 

We  have  already  noticed  and  observed  upon  more 
than  one  instance  of  this  somewhat  subtle  mode  of  false 
interpretation  ;  the  following  partake  of  the  same  cha- 
racter. 

Clement  of  Rome  thus  illustrates  the  resurrection  • — 
"  Let  us  consider  that  wonderful  sign  of  the  resurrection 
which  is  seen  in  the  eastern  countries  ;  that  is  so  say,  in 
Arabia.  There  is  a  certain  bird  called  a  Phoenix  ;  of  this 
there  is  never  but  one  at  a  time ;  and  that  lives  five 
hundred  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  strong,  it  takes  up  the  nest  in  which  the 
bones  of  its  progenitor  lie,  and  carries  it  to  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."  ^ 

Now  here  is  a  most  absurd  fable,  invented  by  the 
idolatrous  priests  of  Egypt  to  countenance  their  system  of 
fraud  and  imposture,  and  having,  therefore,  an  obvious 
bias  in  favour  of  heathenism.  Yet  a  Christian  writer 
does  not  at  all  scruple  to  make  the  pretended  occurrence  of 
this  false  fact,  a  sign  of  the  fulfilment  of  one  of  the  most 
important  and  momentous  truths  of  his  religion.     Was  he 

1    C.  25. 


235 

not  afraid,  we  naturally  ask,  lest  the  sign  and  the  thing 
signified  should  share  the  same  fate  in  the  estimation  of  his 
readers  ?  and  that  the  failure  of  the  one  would  necessarily 
produce  in  their  minds  disbelief  in  the  other.  The  excuse 
that  has  been  so  often  urged  in  behalf  of  Clement,  that  he 
only  believed  this  fable  in  common  with  Tacitus,  Pliny, 
&c.,  is  not  an  available  one.  These  authors  were  hea- 
thens, and,  therefore,  willingly  listened  to  a  story  which 
told  so  decidedly  for  the  religion  they  professed :  but  this 
very  circumstance  ought  to  have  raised  a  suspicion  in 
the  mind  of  Clement.  For  the  appearance  of  the  Phoenix 
was  never  regarded  by  any  one  as  a  mere  fact  in  natural 
history,  but  as  a  miracle.^  And  to  what  agency,  but 
that  of  evil  spirits,  could  Clement  ascribe  such  a  control 
over  the  volitions  of  a  bird,  as  should  constrain  it  to 
bring  incense  to  the  altar  of  an  idolatrous  temple,  to  be 
there  consumed  in  honour  of  the  idol  ?  Besides,  the 
heathen  writers  themselves  speak  of  the  circvimstance  with 
considerable  doubt  and  hesitation  ;^  and  ought  not  Cle- 
ment to  have  been  equally  careful,  that  the  fact  which  he 
propounded  to  a  Christian  church  as  a  sign  of  the  resur- 
rection, was  a  true  one?  Notwithstanding,  then,  the  very 
high  authority  which  I  know  to  be  against  me,  I  hesitate 
not  to  assert  that  there  is  no  defence  for  a  Christian 
minister,  who,  misled  by  a  foolish  vanity  of  displaying 
his  learning,  and  of  improving  vipon  St.  Paul,  (and  I 
perceive  both  in  the  passage  before  us,)  hesitates  not  to 
suspend  the  faith  of  his  readers  in  one  of  the  most  awful 
verities  of   Christianity,    upon  their  credulity   of  one  of 

2  "  Post  longum  saeculorunn  ambitum,  avis  Phoenix  in  ^gyptum  venit, 
praebuitque  materiem  doctissimis,  multa  super  eo  miraculo  disserendi."— 
Tacitus  A)inal.,  lib.  6.  c.  28. 

^  "  HcEc  iiicerta  et  fabiilosis  ■A\.ic[a..''.—  TacUus.  u.  «. 


236 

the  lying  wonders  of  heathenism.*  But  I  may  be  asked, 
did  any  evil  effects  follow  upon  it  ?  I  answer  that  they 
did.  The  orthodoxy  and  the  heresy  of  the  succeeding 
century  differed  from  each  other  in  this  only,  that  while 
the  one  was  Christianity  more  or  less  leavened  with  the 
dogmas  of  the  heathen  philosophy,  the  other  consisted  of 
the  same  Christianity  in  all  possible  stages  of  admixture 
with  the  fables  of  the  heathen  mythology ;  from  the 
paganising  errors  of  Marcion  and  Hermogenes,  down  to 
the  heathen  Gnostics,  who  worshipped  the  idols  of  Egypt 
and  of  Greece  with  prayers  and  incantations  taken  from 
the  Bible.  And  did  not  the  occurrence  of  such  a  passage, 
in  an  author  so  highly  esteemed  as  St.  Clement,  furnish 
both  with  something  like  a  precedent  ? 

Ignatius  writes  thus  to  the  Ephesians  : — "  Ye  are  the 
stones  of  the  Father's  temple,  ready  to  be  built  in  by  God 
the  Father ;  being  drawn  up  on  high  by  the  engine^  of 
Jesus  Christ,  that  is  the  cross :  the  Holy  Ghost  being  the 
rope,  your  faith  being  your  sling,^"  and  love  being  the 
groove'^  which  guides,  or  conducts,  you  up  to  God."    Here 

4  There  is  one  defence  of  this  passage  which  it  requires  a  considerable 
exercise  of  forbearance  seriously  to  answer.  The  Christian  fathers,  of  a  later 
period,  frequently  make  the  same  use  of  the  phoenix.  So  they  do  ;  but  it  is 
only  upon  the  authority,  and  often  in  the  very  words,  of  the  passage  before 
us.  It,  therefore,  only  proves  that  Clement  originated  the  practice  in  the 
Christian  church  of  holding  up  an  idolatrous  fable  as  a  sign  of  the  resur- 
rection ;  which  is  not  a  defence,  but  an  aggravation.  See  Teriullian  de 
Res.  Car.,  c.  13. ;  consult  also  the  references  to  the  other  fathers  given  by 
Junius. — Notce  in  Clem.,  p.  34. 

6  Kvayuyius-  "  Quod  alligatur  alicui  rei  quasi  ad  earn  sustoUendam." 
— Eustathius. 

7  oVos.  Either  the  groove  or  fixed  pulley  in  which  the  rope  ran  ;  or 
more  probably  the  ivell  in  the  scaffolding,  through  which  the  suspended 
stones  passed  in  their  progress  upwards. 


237 

he  changes  the  metaphor  :^  — "  All  ye,  therefore,  fall  into 
your  places  in  that  procession  j*^  as  God-bearers,  and  Christ- 
bearers,  and  shrine-bearers,  and  bearers  of  purity,^"  being 
altogether  adorned  with  the  commands  of  Christ  as  with 
festal  garments."^^  (c.  9.)  This  most  extraordinary  passage 
commences  with  an  amplification  upon  St.  Peter's  meta- 

8  The  very  abrupt  transition  here  was  probably  suggested  to  the  writer 
by  the  stupendous  machinery  employed  in  ancient  architecture,  by  the 
agency  of  which,  many  blocks  of  stone  were  probably  drawn  up  to  the 
builders  at  the  same  time.  Ammianus  Marcellinus  describes  the  engines 
used  in  the  erection  of  an  obelisk  at  Rome,  in  a  passage  which  is  not  with- 
out interest  as  an  illustration  of  the  place  before  us. — Rerum  Gestarum, 
lib.  17-  c  4.  He  wrote  at  a  period  when  great  architectural  undertakings 
were  of  rare  occurrence  there ;  and  consequently,  the  forest  of  poles  and 
beams  which  he  describes,  high  usqtie  periculum,  crossed  in  all  direc- 
tions by  cables  of  enormous  length  and  thickness,  while  many  thousand 
men  worked  at  the  winches,  were  a  sight  seldom  to  be  witnessed,  and 
therefore  exciting  the  more  attention. 

9  Irs  iv  Kcci  (Tuvohoi  "^avri;.  The  word,  iruvaSaj,  synod,  is  used  for  the 
great  assembly  of  all  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  authorities,  in  the  propylon 
or  outer  court  of  an  ancient  temple,  which  took  place  on  the  occasion  of  a 
grand  procession  of  the  idols.  They  met  there  for  the  purpose  of  assuming 
the  symbols,  or  sacred  implements,  which  they  were  privileged  to  bear,  and 
of  taking  their  places  in  the  procession. 

10  9-io(popoi  Kai  vao(popoi  •(;piroipopi>i,  a.'yto(popoi.  These  are  titles  of  honour, 
descriptive  of  the  sacred  symbols  which  those  upon  whom  they  were  con- 
ferred bore  in  the  procession,  and  by  which  their  places  in  it  were  regulated. 
They  were  objects  of  ambition  with  persons  in  the  most  exalted  stations, 
among  the  ancients.  We  learn  from  the  Greek  inscriptions  and  papyri, 
recently  recovered  in  Egypt,  that  under  the  Ptolemaic  dynasty,  members  of 
the  royal  family,  and  even  the  Ptolemies  themselves,  gloried  in  the  titles  of 
a.^Xo(p'opoi,  crown-bearers,  Kix.vvi(popoi,  basket-bearers,  &c.,  in  the  religious  pro- 
cessions of  the  Egyptian  deities. 

u  K!t]a,  Tta^ra  Kixo(Tfi'/iiJt,ivoi.  The  word  is  used  generally  for  ornamental 
dress.  He  alludes  to  the  splendid  costumes  of  those  who  took  part  in  these 
processions.  By  the  phrase  kuIo.  vravTa,  he  intimates,  that  the  festival  to 
■which  he  invites  them  is  one  of  peculiar  solemnity,  in  which  none  of  the 
ornaments  and  insignia  they  were  entitled  to  wear  must  be  omitted  ;  or,  as 
we  should  phrase  it  in  English,  a  full  dress  occasion. 


238 

phor,^^  in  the  technical  language  of  ancient  masonry.  The 
doctrine  it  conveys  is  perfectly  scriptural,  and  it  is  by 
no  means  destitute  of  ingenuity,  though  the  writer  has 
certainly  not  succeeded  in  improving  upon  the  inspired 
apostle.  But  it  was  the  latter  part  that  gave  occasion  for 
its  introduction  in  this  place,  as  another  glaring  instance 
of  the  impropriety  we  have  just  remarked  upon.  He 
abruptly  changes  the  figure,  and  describes  the  Christian 
walk  and  conversation  in  terms  and  expressions  altogether 
peculiar  to  the  marshalling  of  those  solemn  processions  of 
the  idols,  which  formed  so  conspicuous  a  part  of  the  ritual 
of  worship  in  the  ancient  heathen  temples.  I  willingly 
admit  that  the  metaphor  is,  throughout,  finely  conceived, 
and  clothed  in  vigorous  and  glowing  language.  But  its 
introduction  into  an  address  to  Christians  but  recently 
converted  from  heathenism,  and  still  surrounded  by  it, 
in  the  plenitude  of  its  gorgeous  attractions,  appears  to  me 
as  strange  a  violation  of  all  the  ordinary  maxims  of 
prudence  and  propriety,  as  I  remember  to  have  met  with. 
The  reader  need  scarcely  be  informed  that  about  a  century 
afterwards,  Christianity  walked  in  procession  as  well  as 
heathenism.  And  so  deeply  was  the  ceremonial  of  the  one 
indebted  to  that  of  the  other,  that  when,  after  upwards  of 
a  thousand  years  of  separation,  the  two  met  once  more  in 
India,  through  the  medium  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
missionaries,  they  instantly  recognised  each  other  as  near 
relations.  And  matters  have  since  then  been  so  dexter- 
ously managed,  by  means  of  a  few  further  concessions  on 
the  part  of  the  Catholics,  that  in  an  Indian  city  now,  it 
requires  a  practised  eye  to  distinguish  between  a  procession 
of  Christian  idols,  and  a  procession  of  heathen  ones. 

The  same  father  uses  the  following  expression,  in  his 

12  1  Pet.  ii.  T). 


289 

epistle  to  the  Magnesiaiis  : — "  There  is  one  God  wiio  has 
manifested  himself  by  Jesus  Christ  his  son ;  who  is  his 
Eternal  Word,  not  coming  forth  from  silence. ''''^^  Here 
is  an  equivocation  upon  two  of  the  meanings  of  the  Greek 
word  Xoyog.  We  merely  remark  upon  it,  that  when  the 
second  person  of  the  Trinity  is  spoken  of  as  the  Logos,  or 
Word,  the  allusion  is  to  the  sense  of  reason.,  the  action  of 
the  mental  powers,  not  to  the  other  sense  of  which  the 
same  word  is  capable,  speaking,  as  opposed  to  silence. 

He  cautions  the  Trallians  against  the  errors  of  the 
Phantastics,  (who  denied  our  Lord''s  humanity,  and  taught 
that  the  crucifixion  was  an  optical  illusion)  in  these  terms : 
— "  Flee  these  evil  boughs  which  bear  deadly  fruit,  of 
which  if  any  taste  he  shall  presently  die.  These  are  not 
of  the  Father"'s  planting.  If  they  were,  they  would  have 
shown  themselves  to  be  branches  of  the  cross,''*  and  their 
fruit  would  be  immortal.""'^  This  passage  equivocates 
upon  the  double  meaning  of  the  word  ^vXov,  which  we 
have  stated  to  signify  both  "  the  cross"  and  "  a  tree"  in 
the  Greek  Bible.'"^ 

The  evil  effects  of  this  mode  of  writing  (which  the 
epistle  of  Barnabas  seems  to  have  originated)  are  perfectly 
apparent  in  the  fathers  of  the  second  century.  A  system- 
atic   mode   of   interpretation   was  established,    called    by 

13  "Os  ifiv  ccutS  X'oyo;  atiio;  hk  a-ro  iriyris  TpaiXS-Mv.  C.  8.  Here  is  an 
evident  allusion  to  the  error  which  was  afterwards  maintained  by  Valen- 
tinus  :  he  taught  that  silence  ("Siy/i)  the  second  Eon  in  the  Pleroma,  was 
the  mother  of  the  Logos. — IrencBus,  lib.  I.  cc.  1,5.  This  heretic,  it  appears 
from  hence,  did  not  invent  his  system,  but  adopted  it. 

There  are,  besides,  other  allusions  to  silence  in  the  epistles  of  Ignatius, 
which  I  do  not  very  well  understand. — Ad  Ephes.  cc.  6,  15,  9.  ad  Rom.  3. 

''*  xXaooi  t3  ?'ccvp5. 

15  C.   11 . 

16  Supra,  p.  7!>,   Note  36. 


240 

them,  that  of  the  AmphihoUa  or  double  meaning,  which 
they  justified  in  theory,  and  applied  in  practice.  Upon 
this  we  shall  presently  enter  more  at  large. 

With  respect  to  the  subject  now  before  us,  the  fore- 
going examples  will  suffice  to  establish  the  existence  of  such 
a  method  of  comment.  The  instances  might  have  been 
greatly  multiplied  from  the  fathers  of  the  second  century  : 
but  with  these,  unscriptural  metaphors  rather  assume  the 
character  of  offences  against  good  taste,  than  of  sources  of 
erroneous  doctrine  ;  because  their  writings  exercised  a 
more  limited  influence  over  their  successors,  than  was 
conferred  upon  those  of  the  apostolical  men,  by  the  cir- 
cumstances under  which  they  were  written. 

The  early  fathers  frequently  profess  to  Jind  the 
truths  of  Christianity  in  passages,  where  obviously  no 
such  meaning  was  intended. 

Of  this  nature  is  the  place  in  St.  Clement's  epistle,^''  in 
which  he  attempts  to  show  that  Rahab  the  harlot  believed 
in  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement,  because  she  hung  a  scarlet 
thread  out  of  the  window  of  her  house  as  a  sign  to  the 
Israelites  •}^  a  notion  which  is  copied  by  Justin  Marty r^^ 
and  Irenaeus  ;^'^  the  latter  author  improves  upon  it,  and 
discovers  in  the  three  spies,  the  three  Persons  of  the 
Trinity  ! 

Some  of  the  scriptural  quotations  in  this  epistle,  which 
we  have  before  noticed,  p.  184,  &c.,  are  also  liable  to 
censure  on  the  same  ground.  I  am  very  doubtful  either 
that  Elijah,  Elisha,  and  Ezekiel  went  about  in  sheep-skins 
and  goat-skins,  as  Clement  informs  us  they  did,  or  that  we 
can  learn  from  thence  the  lesson  of  humility  which  he 
wishes  to  inculcate.     I  feel  still  more  hesitation  in  accept- 

17  V.  12.  l«  Josh.  ii.  ''•'  Dial.  cum.  Tryph.,  ri.3«  D. 

-'"  Lib.  4.  l:  :«7. 


241 

ing  the  humbling  expressions  regarding  themselves,  made 
use  of  by  Abraham  and  Job,  when  in  the  immediate 
presence  of  God,  as  proofs  of  the  humility  of  those  per- 
sonages ;  and  when  I  am  informed  that  Moses  pleaded 
with  God  his  own  want  of  eloquence,  in  the  exercise  of  the 
same  virtue,  I  can  only  reply  that  Clement  must  have  been 
mistaken  ;  because  this  plea  is  spoken  of  in  Holy  Writ  as 
an  act  of  sinful  diffidence  in  the  divine  power ;  and  that 
which  Clement  commends,  God  reproves.  But  I  really 
lack  patience  to  listen  to  the  praises  of  David's  humility 
in  penning  the  fifty-first  Psalm  !  Is  then  the  confession 
of  guilt  of  a  criminal  openly  convicted  of  adultery  and 
murder,  to  be  held  up  as  a  bright  example  of  one  of  the 
Christian  graces  ?  This  most  excellent  gift  would  rather 
have  manifested  itself  (in  my  apprehension  of  it)  in  such 
a  deep  mistrust  of  his  own  heart,  and  such  earnest  and 
persevering  prayer  for  help  against  sin  in  the  time  of 
temptation,  as  should  have  procured  him  deliverance  from 
the  guilt  thereof.  I  readily  grant  that  it  is  a  beautiful 
expression  of  the  "  true  godly  sorrow  that  worketh  repent- 
ance unto  salvation,"  and  that  humility  is  one  ingredient 
of  that  sorrow  :  but  it  is  by  no  means  a  peculiar  one, 
inasmuch  as  humility  is  implied  in  all  expressions  of 
contrition  for  guilt,  even  when  they  are  only  prompted 
by  "  the  sorrow  of  the  world  that  worketh  death  !" 
Clement  thus  introduces  the  Psalm  : — "  What  shall  we 
say  of  David,  so  highly  testified  of  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
ture, to  whom  God  said,  I  have  found  a  man  after  my 
own  heart,  with  my  holy  oil  have  I  anointed  him  .?"^^ 
But  it  was  not  David's  holiness,  but  David's  sin  that 
prompted  the  Psalm  in  question.  And,  therefore,  I  com- 
plain that  it  is  a  glaring  violation  of  decency  and  propriety, 

21   Ubi  Supra. 
R 


242 

to  hold  up  the  confession  of  an  offendei*,  in  the  grossest 
sins  by  which  he  could  have  transgressed  against  God 
and  man,  as  an  illustration  of  the  humility  of  the  New 
Testament. 

Let  it  not  be  imagined,  for  a  moment,  that  there  is 
any  thing  severe  and  hypercritical  in  these  remarks :  and 
that  in  making  them,  we  demand  of  these  primitive  writers 
more  than  their  limited  acquirements  enabled  them  to 
furnish.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind,  that  the  times  in 
which  they  flourished  can  be  called  primitive,  only  in 
relation  to  their  proximity  to  the  period  of  the  first  propa- 
gation of  Christianity  ;  and  that  the  effort  to  connect  sim- 
plicity with  this  primitivity,  Avhich  has  been  made  by  some 
Protestant,  and  many  Roman  Catholic  writers,  partakes 
largely  of  the  nature  of  cant.  Both  the  literature  and  the 
manners  of  the  first  and  second  centuries  were  remarkable 
for  any  thing  rather  than  simplicity  :  and  the  epistles  both 
of  Clement  and  Ignatius  bear  palpable  marks  of  being  the 
productions  of  such  a  period.  I  know  of  no  writer  who 
goes  further  out  of  the  way  for  the  purpose  of  displaying 
his  learning,  both  sacred  and  secular,  than  Clement :  nor 
would  it  be  easy  to  find  a  more  extensive  dealer  in  well- 
weighed  words  and  measured  phrases  than  Ignatius.^^  As 
to  their  style,  upon  which  we  have  already  quoted  the 
criticism  of  Mosheim,^^  it  is  plain  and  unadorned,  but  not 
more  so  than  that  of  the  cotemporary  classical  writers 
generally.      Improprieties    may    certainly   be   detected   in 

22  I  imagine  that  the  striking  passages  which  ahound  throughout  the 
epistles  of  this  writer,  were,  in  reality,  those  which  he  had  been  for  years 
in  the  habit  of  using  in  his  public  addresses,  and  which  he  took  this  mode 
of  bequeathing  to  the  church  universal : — his  stock  pieces,  if  I  may  be 
allowed  the  expression.  There  are  many  similar  examples  both  in  ancient 
and  modern  oratory. 

2'J  Page  197,  Note  «4. 


243 

both  ;  but  the  Latinisms  of  Clement  and  the  Orientalisms 
of  Ignatius  are  nothing  more  than  might  have  been  ex- 
pected of  persons  writing  in  a  foreign  language,  and  more 
intent  upon  the  thoughts  they  were  expressing  than  upon 
the  words  in  which  they  clothed  them.  The  same  remarks 
will  apply  to  the  epistle  of  Barnabas,  and  to  the  visions  of 
Hermas  :  though  they  (and  especially  the  latter)  are  the 
productions  of  very  inferior  minds.  It  would  be  a  strange 
mistake  to  talk  of  the  simplicity  of  Hermas  :  his  concep- 
tions, on  the  other  hand,  are  clumsily  elaborate ;  there 
is,  throughout  his  books,  abundant  evidence  of  a  dull 
imagination  and  feeble  intellect,  but  none  whatever  of 
simplicity.^^ 

We  conclude  that  the  apostolical  fathers  have  not  the 
excuse  of  simplicity  and  want  of  learning,  for  the  vague 
and  equivocal  mode  of  comment  of  which  their  writings 
afford  so  many  instances,  in  addition  to  those  we  have 
extracted. 

Let  us  now  endeavour  to  trace  the  effect  of  this  their 
example  upon  the  fathers  of  the  succeeding  period. 

Justin  Martyr,  in  his  dialogue  with  Trypho  the  Jew, 
seems  to  have  entirely  neutralized  the  effect  of  his  many 
pertinent  and  admirable  quotations  of  Scripture  upon  his 
antagonist,  by  the  introduction  of  such  places  as  Isa.  Ivii.  1., 
which  he  declares  to  be,  a  prophecy  concerning  the  death 
of  Christ  ;^'''  a  sense  of  which  it  is  plainly  incapable.  In  the 
same  passage,  he  quotes  six  Psalms  entire,  all  of  wliich 

2-1  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  apostolical  fathers  have  acquired  the 
reputation  of  simplicity  from  a  peculiarity  in  their  writings,  which  seems 
to  have  escaped  notice.  They  studiously  copy  the  style  of  the  canonical 
epistles.  They  affect  the  tone  of  inspiration.  This  circumstance  certainly 
gives  a  simple  air  and  character  to  their  writings,  which  will  not  be  found 
to  stand  the  test  of  a  closer  examination. 

25  Opera,  p.  234  C. 


244 

he  applies  to  the  exaltation  of  our  Saviour  ;^''  though  four 
of  them  only  will  so  admit  of  such  an  interpretation  as  to 
render  them  available  in  an  argument  with  a  Jew.  He 
proceeds  to  assert  that  Elijah's  complaint  to  God^  was  a 
prophecy  regarding  the  unbelieving  Jews  in  his  (Justin's) 
time,  and  that  the  divine  reply-^  was  also  prophetic  of  the 
few  that  embraced  Christianity.^^  We  are  not  much  sur- 
prised at  Trypho's  answer  to  all  this :  "  Thovi  ravest  at  a 
strange  rate ;  I  would  have  thee  to  know  that  I  think  thee 
mad."''*'  Undaunted  by  this  rebuke,  Justin  overwhelms 
the  astonished  Jew  with  another  deluge  of  misinterpre- 
tations. He  tells  the  unbeliever,  that  his  own  paschal 
lamb,  roasted  whole,  with  the  hind  legs  tied  to  the  spit, 
and  the  forelegs  stretched  out,  is  a  type  of  the  cross ; 
that  the  oblation  of  fine  flour  for  the  leper,  shadowed 
forth  the  Christian  eucharist  ;^^  and  that  the  high-priest, 
with  twelve  bells  at  the  hem  of  his  garment,^^  was  a 
symbol  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  twelve  apostles.  It  was 
inevitable,  that  the  mind  of  a  prejudiced  person  should 
dwell  upon  absurdities  like  these,  to  the  entire  oblivion 
of  the  many  powerful  scriptural  reasons  with  which  his 
antagonist  intermixed  them.  When  I  state  that  this  is 
little  more  than  an  average  specimen  of  his  general  mode 

26  Psa.  ex.,  Psa.  Ixxii.,  Psa.  xxiv.,  Psa.  xlvii.,  Psa.  xcix.,  Psa.  xlv.  He 
calls  the  47th  Psalm  the  46th,  the  99th  the  98th,  and  the  45th  the  44th. 
These  numbers  are  still  retained  in  the  Septuagint  enumeration  of  the 
Psalter. 

-7  1  Kings  xix.  14. 

28  Id.,  xix.  18. 

29  257  D.,  &c. 

30  258  B. 

31  259  B.,  &c. 

32  260  D.  Trypho  would  probably  hear,  for  the  first  time,  of  the  exact 
number  of  bells  on  the  high-priest's  garments ;  there  is  no  direction  upon 
that  point  in  the  Pentateuch — Exod.  xxviii.  33.,  xxxix.  25.,  &c. 


245 

of  interpretation,  and  that  there  are  not  many  passages  of 
equal  length  throughout  the  dialogue,  which  contain  a 
smaller  number  of  such  perversions,  I  need  scarcely  add, 
that  the  conference  between  Justin  and  Trypho  ended 
in  the  interchange  of  polite  expressions  ;  and  that  the 
former  was  not  successful  in  convincing  the  latter  of  his 
error  s.^^ 

Irenaeus,  though  in  my  judgment,  superior  to  Justin 
both  in  talent  and  learning,  was  equally  misled  in  his  rule 
of  interpretation,  by  the  example  of  the  apostolical  fathers. 
The  following  instances  will  sufficiently  show  that  his 
comments  upon  Scripture  are  often  vague  and  unsatis- 
factory. He  wishes  to  prove  that  the  second  person  of  the 
Trinity  administered  the  Mosaic  dispensation.     "  In  that 

33  371  B.  C.  There  are  one  or  two  points  regarding  this  dialogue,  upon 
which  considerable  diiFerence  of  opinion  exists.  It  is  doubted  by  many 
that  such  a  conference  took  place  at  all ;  while  among  those  that  maintain 
its  reality,  an  equally  difficult  question  arises  as  to  the  city  in  which  it 
occurred  :  the  latter  does  not  deserve  discussion :  as  to  the  other  point, 
without  presuming  in  any  way  to  decide  upon  it,  I  think  the  suggestion  of 
the  Bishop  of  Lincoln  is  fully  borne  out  by  the  evidence  contained  in  the 
work  itself.  A  discussion  certainly  took  place  between  Justin  and  a  Jew 
named  Trypho  somewhere ;  but  the  "  dialogue"  is  by  no  means  an  exact 
account  of  it :  that  was  committed  to  writing,  probably  long  afterwards,  by 
the  former,  at  the  suggestion  of  a  friend  ;  and  is  an  attempt  to  embody  the 
whole  question  between  Judaism  and  Christianity.  The  bishop  has  pointed 
out  the  very  suspicious  circumstance  of  the  close  rasemblance  between  the 
commencement  of  it,  and  those  of  the  philosophical  dialogues  of  Plato  and 
Cicero  ;  and  there  is  a  similar  resemblance  between  his  account  of  his  own 
conversion  to  Christianity  by  a  mysterious  old  man,  whom  he  met  on  the 
sea-shore,  after  he  had  tried  all  the  various  sects  of  philosophy  in  vain, 
(220  A.,  &c.),  and  the  passage  in  the  introduction  to  the  Stromates  of 
Clement,  of  which  we  have  already  given  some  account,  (See  above,  p.  21, 
note  8.)  The  suspicion  is  certainly  raised,  that  these  are  merely  the  ficti- 
tious  embellishments  of  which  the  teachers  of  new  philosophical  doctrines 
so  frequently  availed  themselves ;  and  as  they  then  deceived  no  one,  the  use 
of  them  scarcelv  amounted  to  the  sin  of  falsehood. 


246 

our  Lord  says,  '  Henceforth,  I  call  you  not  servants,'^^ 
he  plainly  indicates  that  he  himself  bound  men  to  the 
servitude  of  the  law,  as  well  as  delivered  them  unto  the 
liberty  of  the  gospel."^^  The  text  contains  no  allusion  to 
the  doctrine  in  question ;  our  Saviour  is  speaking  upon  a 
subject  altogether  distinct  from  it.  He  is  comforting  his 
disciples  in  the  prospect  of  his  immediate  departure,  by 
informing  them  that,  after  that  event,  they  will  stand  in  a 
closer  and  more  endeared  relation  to  him.  During  his 
sojourn  upon  earth,  he  constantly  called  them  his  ser- 
vants ;^  but  he  tells  them  that  "  henceforth,"  that  is,  after 
his  death  and  resurrection,  "  I  call  you  not  servants  bvit 
friends."  We,  therefore,  complain,  that  though  the  doc- 
trine of  Irenaeus  is  perfectly  true,  his  quotation  ajfFords  no 
proof  of  it. 

He  thus  confutes  the  assertion  that  there  were  cer- 
tain traditional  sayings  of  Christ  which  contradicted  the 
gospels.  "  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  truth,^'^  and  there 
is  no  lie  in  him.  David  prophecied  of  him  who  was  born 
of  a  virgin,  and  who  is  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  when 
he  said,^**  '  Truth  hath  sprung  out  of  the  earth.'' ''"'^^ 
This  has,  at  first  sight,  the  air  of  a  somewhat  ingeni- 
ous and  pretty  comment ;  but  it  is  equally  objectionable 
with  the  former.  If  we  admit  that  the  interpretation  is 
correct,  it  is  an  instance  of  the  bad  practice  which  greatly 
prevailed  with  the  early  fathers,  of  resorting  for  their 
scripture  authorities  to  obscure  passages,  in  preference  to 
plain  ones.  But  the  place  in  question  does  not  admit  of 
the  meaning  which  Irenaeus  assigns  to  it.  The  expression 
quoted  neither  alludes  to  the  human  nature  of  Christ,  nor 

34  John  XV.  14.  •'d  Adv.  H;Er.,  lib.  4.  c.  27. 

30  See  iMatt.  x.  24,  25. ;  John  xii.  26.,  &c.  37  John  xiv.  fi. 

38  Psa.  Ixxxv.  12.  3r)  ^dv.  Ila-i.,  lib.  \).  c.  5. 


247 

to  his  resurrection  from  the  dead,  nor  to  any  quality 
whatever  inherent  in  the  person  of  our  Saviour :  but,  as 
the  context  shows,  is  a  prophetic  description  of  the  happy 
effects  of  his  sacrifice  and  death  ;  whereby  the  mercy  and 
the  truth,  the  righteousness  and  the  benevolence  of  God 
towards  fallen  man  are  once  more  harmonized,  so  that  he 
can  "  be  just,  and  yet  justify  the  believer."  Here  also, 
then,  our  author  fails  in  producing  satisfactory  Scripture 
authority  for  his  doctrine  ;  even  when  that  doctrine  is  one 
so  easy  of  proof,  as  our  Lord's  veracity. 

The  impropriety  and  absurdity  of  the  following,  need 
no  exposure.  He  interprets  Matt.  xxiv.  28.,  "  Where  the 
carcass  is,  there  will  the  eagles  (aquilcB)  be  gathered 
together,"  of  the  multitude  of  believers  coming  to  Christ ; 
and  supposes  it  to  be  a  parallel  prophecy  to  Isa.  xliii.  6., 
"  I  will  say  to  the  North  (Aquiloni)  give  up :"  alluding, 
as  it  appears  to  me,  to  the  resemblance  between  the  two 
Latin  words  in  the  version  he  made  use  of.^^ 

"  Hosea  the  prophet  took  a  wife  of  fornication  ;^^  pro- 
phecying  thereby  that  '  the  Land,"*  that  is,  the  inhabitants 
thereof,  '  had  departed  by  fornication  from  the  Lord.'  But 
of  such  persons  it  pleased  God  to  take  himself  a  church,  to 
be  sanctified  by  communication  with  his  Son ;  even  as  was 
the  sinful  woman  by  communication  with  the  prophet : 
and,  therefore,  St.  Paul  says,'*^  '  The  unbelieving  wife  is 
sanctified  by  the  believing  husband.'  "^^ 

"  Moses  married  an  Ethiopic  woman,  whom  he  made 

40  Lib.  4.  c.  28.,  j).  316.  The  Greek  of  this  portion  of  Irenaeus  is  not 
extant ;  but  the  allusion  is  very  apparent  in  the  Latin  version,  and  I  see  no 
reason  to  doubt  that  the  translator  found  it  in  the  original. 

41  Hos.  i.  2,  3.,  &c. 

42  1  Cor,  vii.  14. 
«  Lib.  4.  c.  37. 


248 

an  Israelite,^^  to  show  that  '  the  wild  olive  would  be 
grafted  into  the  olive  tree,  and  partake  of  its  fatness.'^^ 
For  since  he  who  was  born  Christ  was  enquired  after  by 
his  own  people,  that  they  might  slay  him,  and  was  saved 
in  Egypt,  that  is,  among  the  Gentiles ;  and  there  he 
sanctified  the  infants,  whereof  he  afterwards  composed  his 
church,  (for  Egypt  was  Gentile  from  the  beginning,  like 
the  Ethiopic  woman)  so  by  the  marriage  of  Moses,  the 
nuptials  of  Christ  are  shown  forth  :  and  the  Gentile  church 
is  typified  by  the  Ethiopic  bride.  It  was  on  this  account 
that  they  who  derided  and  slandered  her^^  were  struck  with 
leprosy  and  cast  forth  of  the  camp."'*^ 

Similar  instances  of  misapplication  abound  throughout 
the  works  of  this  father. 

The  same  remark  is  also  true  of  Tertullian  ;  of  whose 
mode  of  interpretation  several  examples  are  already  before 
the  reader.  In  order  to  show  that  the  error  of  quoting- 
texts  of  Scripture  in  proof  of  doctrines  to  which  they 
make  no  allusion,  prevailed  universally  in  the  second 
century,  we  give  a  few  additional  instances  from  his  tract 
against  the  Jews  :  a  point  of  controversy  depending 
altogether  vipon  the  mode  of  interpreting  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and,  therefore,  necessarily  giving  occasion  for  the 
appearance  of  this  error.  He  informs  us  at  the  outset*^ 
that  God  hath  called  the  Gentiles  in  these  latter  days,  lest 
the  Jews  should  be  too  much  lifted  upon  by  the  expression 
in  Isaiah,  "  Behold  the  Gentiles  are  accounted  as  a  drop  of 
a  bucket,  and  as  the  dust  of  the  threshing-floor.'"''''  And 
in  the  same  passage,  in  expounding  the  account  of  the 
birth  of  Jacob  and  Esau,  with  a  particular  reference  to  the 

44  Excd.  ii.  21.  45  Rom.  xi.  17. 

4'^  Num.  xii.  47  IHii  supra.  4n  Adv.  .Tudieos,,  c.  I. 

4!)  Isa.  xl.  15. 


249 

expression  "  the  elder  shall  serve  the  younger,"^"  he  inter- 
prets Jacob,  the  progenitor  of  the  Jews,  as  a  type  of  the 
Gentiles,  and  Esau,  the  father  of  a  Gentile  nation,  as  the 
representative  of  the  Jews  !  Shortly  afterwards  (cc.  2,  5.) 
he  finds  the  same  truth  prefigured  in  the  rejected  sacrifice 
of  Cain  and  the  accepted  one  of  Abel ;  (Cain  was  of  course 
the  Jews,  and  Abel  the  Gentiles  :)  and  mars  an  admirable 
train  of  reasoning,  showing  that  a  divine  law  existed  pre- 
vious to  the  Mosaic  one,  by  endeavouring  to  demonstrate 
that  the  inhibition  on  our  first  parents  in  Paradise  from 
the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  knowledge,  includes  in  itself  the 
whole  Decalogue  !  He  often  refers  to  those  interpretations 
in  the  course  of  his  book,  and  even  expounds  other  places 
by  them.  As  for  instance,  after  having  interpreted  the 
desolations  described  in  the  first  chapter  of  Isaiah,  of  the 
dispersion  of  the  Jews  by  the  Romans,  he  thus  comments 
upon  the  passage  at  the  commencement  of  the  following 
chapter : — "  '  Come  ye,  let  us  go  up  to  the  mountain  of  the 
Lord,  to  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob.""  The  prophet 
here  predicts  that  a  new  law  would  come  forth,  not  from 
Esau,  the  elder  people,  (that  is,  the  Jews,)  but  from 
Jacob,  the  younger  people,  that  is,  from  us,  the  Gentiles, 
whose  mountain  is  Christ;  the  stone  of  whom  Daniel 
prophesied/^  that  it  should  become  a  great  mountain,  and 
fill  the  whole  earth."^- 

The  commentator  here  has  not  touched  upon  a  single 
point  on  which  he  is  not  mistaken.  The  introduction  to 
Isaiah's  prophesies  is  a  description  of  the  Jews  and  Judea 
at  the  time  they  were  written  ;  and  so  many  allusions  in  it 
limit  the  predictive  parts  to  periods  immediately  suc- 
ceeding, that  with  no  shadow  of  propriety  can  it  be 
interpreted  of  any  other.     The  jiromise  also,  with  which  it 

50  Gen.  XXV.  23.  51  Dan.  ii.  35.,  &c.  ^2  c.  3. 


250 

is  concluded,  predicts  blessings  to  the  same  land  which  the 
prophet  had  just  described  as  desolate  ;  the  Mount  Zion 
being  put,  by  a  well-known  figure,  for  the  whole  land  of 
Judea :  the  gross  impropriety,  therefore,  of  pointing  to 
another  mountain,  and  of  interpreting  that  of  the  rejection 
of  the  Jews  which  was  intended  for  their  consolation,  is 
sufficiently  obvious.  Moreover,  while  we  admit  that  the 
comparison  of  this  place  with  the  prophecy  of  Daniel  holds 
good  in  some  particulars,  we  altogether  deny  that  the 
mountain  he  speaks  of  is  Christ.  The  figure  of  the 
mountain  filling  the  whole  earth  is  certainly  taken  from  the 
temple  worship  on  Mount  Zion  :  and  signifies  the  establish- 
ment of  a  ritual  of  true  worship,  in  which  the  inhabitants 
of  the  whole  earth  should  participate,  even  as  all  the 
dwellers  in  the  Holy  Land  worshipped  at  Mount  Zion. 
It  typifies,  therefore,  the  Christian  church,  as  distinguished 
from  the  Jewish  temple ;  not  the  person  of  Christ.  The 
whole  of  the  works  of  this  father  evidence  that  he  was  well 
able  to  have  detected  the  true  meaning  of  these  passages, 
and  to  have  estimated  the  importance  of  adhering  to  it. 
But  so  loose  and  vague  were  the  notions  of  scriptural 
interpretation  that  prevailed  in  his  day,  that  probably  he 
would  have  been  justified  before  his  cotemporaries  had 
he  stated  the  true  reason  for  his  false  gloss :  namely,  that 
it  rounded  his  period  better,  and  was  a  somewhat  harder 
hit  at  the  Jews. 

From  the  works  of  Clement  of  Alexandria  the  diffi- 
culty of  selection  becomes  ten-fold,  inasmuch  as  he  scarcely 
quotes  a  text  of  Scripture  upon  which  he  does  not  give  an 
objectionable  comment. 

The  ground-work  of  one  of  his  longest  tractates  is  as 
silly  a  notion  as  ever  entered  into  the  heart  of  man.  He 
calls   it    the    Paedagoguc,    and    gives    you    Scripture   for 


251 

including  the  whole  of  the  Christian  life  under  figures 
taken  from  the  internal  regimen  of  a  school.  We  have  the 
plan  of  the  establishment :  it  is  an  academy  for  an  unlimited 
number  of  young  ladies  and  gentlemen.^^  The  moral, 
intellectual,  and  disciplinary  qualifications  of  the  Paeda- 
gogue  himself  are  next  described.^*  We  have  also  an 
account  of  the  lessons  he  teaches,^^  and  amongst  other 
particulars,  of  his  modes  and  implements  of  punishment,  all 
of  which  are  in  exact  conformity  with  ordinary  usage,  and 
all  of  course  proved  by  passages  of  Scripture.''''  One  of 
his  punishments  deserves  to  be  noticed,  as  perhaps  some- 
what inconsistent  with  the  character  of  mildness  with  which 
he  elsewhere^"^  invests  him  : — "  As  the  shipman  guides  his 
unmanageable  vessel  through  the  storm  by  holding  the 
helm  : — so  our  good  pasdagogue  lays  hold  on  the  rudder  of 
his  unruly  boys,  that  is  their  ears,^^  and  never  quits  them 
until  he  has  steered  them  safely  into  the  harbour  of  sub- 
mission."''^ Well  may  the  reader  turn  with  a  scornful 
smile  from  the  perusal  of  such  a  tissue  of  blattering  idiocy, 
or  doting  anility.  But  his  contempt  will  rise  to  indigna- 
tion, when  he  is  informed  that  the  being  thus  degraded  and 
vilified,  is  no  other  than  the  divine  nature  of  our  Lord,  the 
second  person  of  the  Trinity ;  and  that,  therefore,  it  is  the 
blasphemy,  as  well  as  the  folly,  of  such  writing,  which  we 
are  called  upon  to  reprove. 

A  very  imperfect  idea,  however,  is  conveyed  even  by 

53  Paedag ,  lib.  1.  c.  4. 

54  Idem,  cc.  2,  3,  7,  8,  10. 

55  C.  11. 

5<5  C.  9.     I  decline  giving  the  texts  thus  desecrated. 

57  C.  3. 

58  I  need  not  say  that  he  alludes  to  preaching. 

59  C.  7-     This  is  the  most  assiniiie  metaphor  1  ever  happened  to  fall 
in  with. 


252 

this,    of  the   depths   of  folly    to   which    our  philosopher 
descends  in  search  of  gnostical  wisdom. 

The  following  is  distressingly  foolish.  He  is  endea- 
vouring to  extend  the  term  childhood,  as  used  in  Scrip- 
ture, to  persons  of  adult  years  also,  "  I  discover,"  says  he, 
"  a  spiritual  childhood  (vmUx)  even  in  Isaac.  For  Isaac 
signifies  laughter  ;  '  and  the  curious  king  saw  him  sporting 
(vuli^Mv)  with  his  wife  Rebecca."^*^  The  king's  name  was 
Abimelek,  which  appears  to  me  to  denote  the  supermun- 
dane wisdom,''^  looking  into  the  hidden  mystery  of  this 
childhood.  Rebecca  means  patience.  O  !  what  a  wise 
sport  was  this  !  Laughter  is  at  play  with  patience,  and 
the  king  looks  on  from  the  window."  He  soon  discovers 
in  Abimelek  a  type  of  Christ :  and  then  proceeds  thus  : — 
"  But  what  was  the  window  through  which  the  Lord 
showed  himself?  Doubtless  it  was  the  flesh  wherein  he 
was  manifested."*^^  Bad  as  all  this  is,  let  it  not  for  a 
moment  be  imagined  that  "  the  force  of  nonsense  can  no 
further  go."  What  follows  is,  in  my  judgment,  infinitely 
worse.  It  is  an  avowed  comparison  between  two  passages. 
The  one  is,  "I  have  fed  you  with  milk  and  not  with 
meat  ;"^^  the  other,  "  I  will  bring  you  into  a  good  land 
flowing  with  milk  and  honey ."""^  He  tells  us  at  the  outset, 
that  he  is  met  with  a  formidable  difficulty  :  if  perfection 
consists  in  abstinence  from  meats,^-*  whence  is  it  that  St. 
Paul  takes  a  directly  opposite  view  of  the  subject,  and 
terms  those  who  eat  meat,  spiritual,  and  men,  and  those 
who  abstain  from  it,  and  restrict  themselves  to  milk  only, 
carnal  and  babes  ?  The  mode  in  which  he  gets  over  this, 
is   very   ingenious.      He  calls   in    to   his   aid    two   other 


fi'^'  Gen.  XX vi.  8.  d^  voipia  ns  avui  vTipxitrimos- 

«2  Pacd.,  lib.  1.  c.  5.  «3  }  Cor.  iii.  2.  <'>*  Exod.  iii.  8. 

''■"'  Sco  above,  Page  1(J3,  Note  32. 


253 

passages  : — "  My  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  my  blood  is 
drink  indeed  C"""^  and  the  expression  of  St.  Peter,  "  the 
milk  of  the  word.""^^  He  discovers  that  the  apostle  does 
not  say  I  have  suckled  you,  but  I  have  fed  you  with 
milk,  I  have  given  you  milk  to  drink  (sTroTJcra,)  and 
that  this,  and  the  Greek  word  translated  "  drink,"  in 
the  other  place  (ttoVj?)  are  both  from  the  same  root. 
Here  he  begins  a  physiological  dissertation  upon  the 
several  properties  of  milk,  blood,  and  flesh  :  the  first, 
he  informs  us,  is  blood  spiritualized  by  contact  with  air 
in  the  arteries ;  flesh,  on  the  other  hand,  is  blood  solidi- 
fied.*"^  After  running  off  into  a  digression  upon  concep- 
tion, &c.,  which  is  utterly  unquoteable,  he  returns  to  the 
question,  for  the  purpose  of  identifying  the  expressions, 
"  blood  of  Christ,"  and  "  milk  of  the  word  ;"  both,  he 
tells  us,  are  descriptive  of  the  same  substance,  the  milk 
that  flows  from  the  person  of  Christ.  Then  he  bursts 
forth  into  a  rapturous  address  to  Christ  the  mother'  of  the 
church,  suckling  his  spiritual  children,  and  discharging 
towards  them,  at  once,  the  functions  of  father,  mother, 
schoolmaster,  and  nurse !  Now,  the  only  remaining  diiB- 
culty  is  Avith  the  "  meat,"  of  which  St.  Paul  speaks. 
This  he  disposes  of  at  first,  by  identifying  it  with  the 
"  honey"  in  the  other  passage ;  but  he  soon  strikes  out  a 
more  satisfactory  solution.  "  Meat,"  or  flesh,  we  have 
seen,  is  blood  solidified  ;  the  apostle,  therefore,  spoke  not 
of  the  prohibited  meats,  but  of  milk  solidified,  that  is, 
cheese.^^    I  am  not  called  upon  to  insult  the  reader's  under- 

66  John  vi.  55. 

67  1  Pet.  ii.  2. 

68  These  were  the  opinions  received  by  the  physicians  of  the  day ;  for 
these,  therefore,  our  author  is  not  accountable. 

69  TI//..S.     Paed.,  lib.  1.  c.  6. 


254, 

standing,  and  degrade  my  own,  by  a  formal  exposure  of 
such  aberrations  as  these.  Their  unutterable  absurdity  is 
surely  sufficiently  apparent !  I  have  only  one  remark  to 
make  upon  the  latter  of  them.  In  extracting  this  passage, 
I  have  taken  the  main  shoot  of  his  reasoning,  lopping  off 
the  digressions  which  it  throws  out  in  every  direction,  all 
of  which  are  to  the  full  as  objectionable  as  the  comment ; 
so  that  my  extract  conveys  far  too  favourable  an  impression 
of  the  qvialifications  of  Clement  as  a  commentator. 

Many  other  modes  of  false  interpretation  were  in  use 
among  the  early  fathers.  But  those  that  will  now  require 
consideration  must  be  classed  under  that  particular  system 
of  comment  which  is  termed  by  themselves  a/x^Ji/SoXia,  or 
equivocation.^^  The  fundamental  principle  of  this  system 
may  be  thus  stated.  The  Septuagint  being  an  inspired 
version,''^  any  word  in  the  Greek  Bible  may  be  interpreted 
with  any  meaning  of  which  it  is  capable  in  the  whole  com- 
pass of  that  langaage,  without  regard  to  the  obvious  sense 
of  the  sentence  in  which  it  occiu's.  As  a  direct  proof  fhat 
the  principle  is  here  correctly  stated,  I  give  two  comments 
from  Clement  of  Alexandria.  The  one  is  upon  Psa.  xlviii. 
9,  10.,  LXX.  : — "  He  shall  live  for  ever ;  he  shall  not  see 
corruption,  for  he  seeth  that  the  wise  men  (croipoJj)  die." 
This  he  declares  to  be  a  prophecy  of  the  destruction  of  the 
sect  of  the  Sophists,  to  whose  mode  of  philosophising  he 
had  a  rooted  antipathy ."^  The  other  is  from  Eccles.  v.  2.  : 
— "  Let  thy  words  be  few  ;"'"'''^  which  he  supposes  to  be  a 
caution  against  giving  too  much  attention  to  verbs  prnx.a.ra.?^ 
This  new  sense  being  once  struck  out,  the  same  word 
may  be  so  interpreted  wherever  it  occurs  in  either  Testa- 
ment, without  the  slightest  regard  to  the  context ;  and  by 

70  Clem.  Alex.,  1  Strom,  §  9.  71  Sec  above,  p.  32. 

72  1  Strom.,  §  10.  73  ^;,  ^oXv;  h  fnii-ati  y'lvn.  74  Ubi  supra. 


255 

the  collation  of  a  number  of  such  passages,  the  commentator 
supposed  that  he  arrived  at  the  second,  or  hidden,  meaning 
of  which  the  Word  is  capable,  in  addition  to  the  primary 
one  which  appears  on  the  surface,  and  which  is  plain  and 
obvious  to  any  understanding.  Thus,  they  held  the  Bible 
to  be  an  occultation^''"  as  well  as  a  revelation  ;  it  was 
not  given  merely  for  the  insipid  purpose  of  teaching  a  few 
truths,  of  easy  comprehension,  to  simple  and  unlearned 
persons  ;  but  also  for  one  much  more  congenial  to  the 
pride  of  philosophy.  Besides  these  ordinary  senses,  the 
words  of  Holy  Writ  contained  also  the  mysterious  and 
recondite  truths  of  a  sublimer  system,  wrapt  up  in  them, 
as  in  dark  sayings  and  enigmas  :  and  the  same  text  of 
Scripture,  which  only  confirmed  the  faith,  assured  the 
hope,  and  kindled  the  love,  of  the  common  Christian,  the 
professor  of  philosophical  Christianism  cast  into  the  alem- 
bick  of  his  philology,  subjected  to  many  a  strange  and 
uncouth  process,  resolved  into  its  primary  elements,  and 
at  length  pointed  out,  with  an  air  of  triumph,  amid  the 
dense  fumes  which  enveloped  it,  the  subtle  drop  of  true 
gnostical  wisdom  that  his  art  had  elicited,  often  too  subtle 
for  perceptions  less  practised  than  his  own. 

We  will  endeavour  to  trace  the  error  along  one  or  two 
of  its  principal  ramifications. 

This  system  of  interpreting  afforded  the  facility, 
which  was  so  eagerly  taken  advantage  of  at  a  very  early 
period,  of  inoculating  Christianity  with  heathen  philosophy. 
The  philosophical  enquirer  had  only  to  assign  to  such 
words  as  voJj,  evvoja,  yvoJo-jj  in  the  Sacred  Writings,  the  senses 
in  which  they  were  accepted  by  the  sect  to  which  he 
belonged,  and  to  accommodate  the  context,  which,  in  a 
language  so  copious  in  meanings  as  the  Greek,  was  seldom 
7-5  See  5  Strom.,  §  5. 


256 

attended  with  much  difficulty  ;  and  then  the  Bible  taught 
the  Platonic,  or  Aristotelean  doctrines,  according  to  the 
prepossession  of  the  commentator. 

"We,  for  the  present,  pass  by  this  part  of  the  subject ; 
and  proceed  to  another  branch  of  the  error  which  is  more 
pertinent  to  the  matter  in  hand :  the  process  by  which  the 
early  fathers  extracted  these  hidden  meanings  from  the 
text  of  Scripture,  by  the  aid  of  the  oi[i<pi(3oXla. 

We  have  already  mentioned  the  epistle  of  Barnabas, 
as  the  probable  means  of  introducing  this  mode  of  comment 
into  Christianity.  This  production  has  received  less  atten- 
tion than  the  other  writings  of  the  apostolical  fathers, 
because  its  authenticity  is  now  generally  doubted.  The 
internal  proofs  of  it  are,  notwithstanding,  to  the  full  as 
strong  in  this  as  in  any  of  them.  It  was  written  very 
shortly  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus,'*"  and 
is  principally  directed  against  the  errors  of  the  Judaising 
Christians,  which  that  event  would  have  a  natural  tendency 
to  diffuse  and  aggravate.  Its  tone  and  temper  is,  I  think, 
more  becoming  a  hearer  of  the  apostles,  than  any  thing 
that  is  ascribed  to  the  apostolical  fathers,  except  the  epistle 
of  Polycarp.  It  is  conceived  in  a  meek  and  gentle  spirit ; 
in  which  the  writings  of  Clement  and  Ignatius  are  very 
defective.  Nor  are  the  passages  which  evince  the  writer''s 
experimental  acquaintance  with  the  peculiar  doctrines  of 
Christianity  inferior,  in  point  of  piety,  to  those  which  have 
been  collected  from  the  cotemporary  fathers,  as  we  shall 
presently  have  the  opportunity  of  showing. 

As  the  objections  to  its  authenticity  principally  hinge 

upon  certain  strange  and  absurd  comments  that  occur  in 

it,  concerning  which  they  assume  the  impossibility,   that 

one  so  highly  privileged  and  gifted  as   Barnabas,   should 

76  Cc.  4,  16.,  Ed.  Ox. 


257 

have  been  their  author,  I,  in  the  first  place,  refer  to  the 
unanswerable  demonstration  of  Archbishop  Wake,^''  that 
such  a  mode  of  comment  was  in  use  among  the  cotemporary 
Jews.  It  may  then  subserve  a  double  purpose,  if  I  so 
arrange  the  instances  of  the  aju,<^»(3oA/a  which  I  propose  to 
lay  before  the  reader,  as  to  demonstrate  that  the  very 
passages  in  this  epistle  on  which  the  objection  is  founded, 
are  proved  to  be  authentic  by  the  circumstance,  that  they 
are  quoted  by  an  unbroken  series  of  writers,  down  to  the 
commencement  of  the  third  century  ;  when  they  are 
expressly  ascribed  to  St.  Barnabas  by  Clemens  Alexan- 
drinus.^^ 

We  have  before  stated  that  with  this  father  originated 
the  amphibological  meanings  of  the  word  ^uXov  (Cross, 
tree,  wood) :  and  we  have  just  seen  that  Ignatius  has  also 
copied  him. 

We  will  now  give  instances  of  the  same  interpretation 
from  the  fathers  of  the  second  century.  Justin  Martyr 
thus  addresses  Trypho  the  Jew : — "  The  tree  (^wAov)  of 
the  cross,  after  he  had  been  crucified  upon  it,  of  whose 
glorious  advent  the  prophets  foretold,  became  a  symbol 
of  the  tree  (^vXov)  of  life,  which  is  planted  in  the  paradise 
of  God.     Moses  by  a  rod  (pa/3Soj  shoot  of  a  tree)  accom- 

77  Ubi  supra.     Prelim.  Disser.  pp.  81 — 80". 

78  Tertullian  also  mentions  St.  Barnabas  as  the  author  of  an  epistle ; 
but  the  quotation  he  ascribes  to  him  occurs  in  St.  Paul's  to  the  Hebrews. 
As  there  is,  however,  no  other  evidence  to  connect  it  with  Barnabas,  and  as 
its  author  is  satisfactorily  demonstrated  to  have  been  St.  Paul,  it  seems 
probable  that  this  fiery  and  impetuous  writer  has  confounded  St.  Paul's 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  or  Jewish  converts,  with  that  of  St.  Barnabas  to  the 
Judaising  Christians, — a  mistake  which  this  similarity  would  easily  occa- 
sion. The  probability  is  heightened  by  the  circumstance  that  the  quotation 
occurs  in  ths  tractate  de  Pudicitia,  which  is  one  of  his  most  frenzied  pro- 
ductions, written  under  the  influence  of  a  fierce  exacerbation  of  the  madness 
of  Montanism. 


258 

plished  the  deliverance  of  the  children  of  Israel ;  with  that 
rod  he  divided  the  Red  Sea,  and  caused  the  water  to  flow 
from  the  rock.  Casting  a  tree  (^uXov)  into  the  bitter  waters 
of  Mara,  he  made  them  sweet.^'*  Jacob  made  his  uncle's 
sheep  conceive  by  casting  rods  (pa/38o»)  into  the  water.^" 
The  same  Jacob  boasts  that  with  his  rod  he  passed  the 
river.**'  He  also  anointed  the  stone  in  Luz  with  oil,  to 
signify  that  Christ  was  anointed  a  king.  The  rod  of 
Aaron,  that  budded,  proclaimed  Christ  to  be  a  priest  :^^ 
for  he  was  the  rod  that  was  to  spring  out  of  the  stem  of 
Jesse,  as  Esaias  'says  :^^  and  David  speaks  of  him  '  as  the 
tree  ^vXov  planted  by  the  rivers  of  water,  which  beareth  its 
fruit  in  its  season.'^^  God  appeared  to  Abraham  from  the 
tree  (^Jx«);  as  it  is  written,  '  from  the  oak  in  Mamre.''"^ 
The  children  of  Israel,  in  passing  through  the  wilderness, 
found  seventy-two  palm  trees  and  twelve  wells."''  David 
said  that  he  was  comforted  by  the  rod  and  staff  of  God."^ 
Elisha  cast  wood  (^uXov)  into  the  river  Jordan,  and  raised 
the  head  of  the  axe,  wherewith  the  children  of  the  prophets 
were  about  to  fell  trees  (^JXa)  to  build  a  house,  that  they 
might  therein  meditate  on  the  law  of  God ;""  and  we  also, 
sinking  and  being  submersed  in  the  waters  of  baptism, 
through  the  weight  of  our  most  heavy  transgressions,  are 
delivered  by  one  Christ  crucified  upon  the  tree,  (^vAh)  who 
purifies  us  by  water,  and  makes  us  a  house  of  prayer  and 
worship."""  It  is  impossible  to  withhold  our  admiration,  at 
the  familiarity  of  acquaintance  with  the  sacred  text  which 

7!)  Exod.  XV.  25.  «"  Gen.  xxx.  37,  .38. 

"1  Idem  xxxii.  10. 

fi2  Sec  above,  p.  HJO.  "■>  Chap.  xi.  1. 

"•*  Psa.  i.  .'{.     Barnabas  makes  the  same  comment  on  this  passage,  c.  1 1 . 

!t5  'TTfos  t5)  S/Jui  rj)  Ma.f/,p>pn.     Gen.  xviii.  1.     LXX. 

'!*;  Kxod.  XV.  27.  "7  Psa.  xxiii.  4.  SS  2  Kings  vi.  6. 

»"  .Iiistini  Opera,  p.  312   D.  ct  seq. 


259 

tills  passage  displays/'''  however  deeply  we  may  regret  the 
use  to  which  the  writer  applies  it. 

That  the  obstinacy  of  the  Jew  was  proof  against  such 
an  appeal,  will  be  matter  of  no  surprise  to  us :  but  it  was 
very  differently  estimated  by  his  cotemporaries.  Irenseus 
has  deemed  it  worthy  of  introduction  into  an  argument  to 
prove,  against  the  Marcionites,  that  the  Creator  of  the 
world  sent  Jesus  Christ.  As  he  has  made  many  variations 
and  additions,  we  will  also  give  his  version  of  it : — "  Christ 
destroyed  the  hand- writing  that  was  against  us  and  nailed 
it  to  his  cross,  that  as  by  a  tree  we  became  debtors  to  God, 
by  a  tree  also,  our  debt  might  be  cancelled.  This  is 
plainly  shown  in  many  parts  of  Scripture,  and  especially 
by  Elisha  the  prophet.  When  the  prophets  who  were 
with  him  were  felling  ivood  to  build  a  tabernacle,  and  the 
head  of  their  axe  fell  into  the  river,  and  they  could  not 
find  it,  Elisha  came  to  the  place.  And  when  he  learnt 
what  had  happened,  he  threw  a  stick  into  the  water,  and 
the  iron  swam,  and  they  took  it  from  the  surface.  The 
prophet  showed,  by  this  miracle,  that  the  word  of  God  was 
sure :  and  that  what  we  had  lost  by  the  tree  of  knowledge, 
nor  could  find,  we  shovdd  recover  by  the  dispensation  of 
the  tree  of  the  cross.  For  the  word  of  God  is  like  a 
hatchet.  John  Baptist  says  of  it,  '  and  now  the  axe  is 
laid  to  the  root  of  the  tree  :'  and  Jeremiah  in  like  manner, 
*  the  word  of  God  is  as  a  hatchet  that  cutteth  a  rock.'^^ 
This,  even  the  dispensation  of  the  cross,  hath  manifested 
to  us  that  which  before  was  hidden  :  since,  as  we  have 
already  said,  we  lost  by  the  tree  that  which  by  the  tree  is 

90  It  must,  of  course,  be  borne  in  mind,  that  the  apparatus  of  indexes, 
concordances,  lexicons,  &c.,  which  afford  such  incalculable  advantages  to 
the  biblical  student  now,  had  no  existence  in  Justin's  time. 

9'  uii  ysX^I  xoir'Jwv  vr'irfcct.     .ler.  xxiii.  29.  LXX. 


260 

again  manifested  unto  all,  showing  in  itself,  (that  is,  the 
cross,)  height,  and  length,  and  breadth.  By  the  extension 
of  its  arms  (the  transverse  beam)  gathering  two  people 
(Jews  and  Gentiles)  to  one  God.  Two  arms,  because  it 
gathers  in  two  dispersed  people  from  the  ends  of  the  earth ; 
one  summit,  because  unto  one  God."-'^  It  may  be  observed, 
that  the  same  gloss  is  applied  to  very  different  purposes  by 
these  divines ;  according  to  the  interpretation  of  the  one, 
Elisha''s  miracle  was  a  type  of  baptism ;  but  if  we  are  to 
defer  to  the  authority  of  the  other,  it  was  symbolical  of  the 
fall  of  man  by  the  tree  of  knowledge,  and  of  his  recovery 
by  the  tree  of  the  cross.  The  incoherence  and  perplexity 
of  metaphor,  which  either  meaning  introduces,  are  suffi- 
ciently apparent. 

We  proceed  to  show,  that  not  only  was  St.  Barnabas's 
gloss  current  with  the  early  church,  but  that  his  interpre- 
tations were  also  received  with  the  same  deference.  He 
thus  treats  the  preceding  subject,  that  of  the  cross : — 
"  The  Lord  determines  concerning  the  cross  by  Moses, 
(when  Israel  was  fighting  with,  and  beaten  by,  Amelek :) 
yea,  the  Holy  Spirit  put  it  into  the  heart  of  Moses  to 
represent  both  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  of  him  that  was 
to  suffer ;  that  so  they  might  know  that  if  they  did  not 
believe  in  him  they  should  be  overcome  for  ever.  Moses, 
therefore,  piled  up  armour  upon  armour,  in  the  middle  of 
a  rising  ground,  and  standing  up  high  above  all  of  them, 
stretched  forth  his  arms,  and  so  Israel  conquered.  But 
no  sooner  did  he  let  down  his  hands,  but  they  were  again 
slain.  And  why  so  ?  to  the  end  they  might  know,  that 
except  they  trust  in  him  they  cannot  be  saved."^''     It  is  not 

9^  Iren.,  lib.  5.  c.   l?-     There  is  an  allusion   to  the  crucifixion  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  passage  which  I  preferred  omitting. 

t<3  c.  12.     However  strongly   I  may  object    to    the   entire  system   of 


261 

surprising  that  the  early  fathers  should  have  been  greatly 
captivated  with  this  comment,  and  adopted  it,  with  the 
addition  of  the  many  embellishments  of  which  it  is 
evidently  capable.  Justin  Martyr  gives  the  following- 
version  of  it : — "  When  the  Jews  had  waged  war  against 
Amalek  and  the  son  of  Nun,  whose  name  was  I>)(r«Vj 
(Jesus)'''*  fought  in  the  fore-front,  Moses  himself  prayed 
to  God  with  his  arms  stretched  forth,  and  Hor  and  Aaron 
held  them  up  the  whole  day,  lest  he  should  let  them  fall 
when  he  was  weary.  For  Avhen  he  at  all  relaxed  from  the 
perfect  figure  of  the  cross,  Amalek  prevailed,  but  so  long- 
as  the  figure  remained  perfect,  Amalek  was  conquered. 
Plainly  indicating  that  the  battle  was  won  through  the 
cross.  For  it  was  not  because  Moses  prayed  that  Israel 
conquered  ;  but  because  (the  name  of  Jesus  being  at  the 
fore-front   of  the   battle)    he    exhibited   the   sign   of  the 

Tertullian  also  agrees  with  Justin.  "  Why  did  Moses, 
when  Jesus  fought  against  Amelek,  only  pray,  standing 
upright,  and  with  his  hands  stretched  forth,  when  he 
ought  rather,  under  such  urgent  circumstances,  to  have 
commended  his  prayers  by  genuflexion,  with  his  hands 
smiting  his  breast,  and  his  face  in  the  dust  ?'■*'     Doubtless 

doubtful  interpretation,  I  cannot  help  remarking  upon  the  great  beauty  of 
this  passage.  The  prophet  king  standing  in  the  midst  of  the  battle,  upon 
piles  of  armour,  with  his  arms  stretched  forth ;  at  once  the  ensign  around 
which  the  discomfited  Israelites  were  to  rally,  the  token  of  the  divine  pre- 
sence through  which  they  were  to  conquer,  and  the  symbol  of  that  more 
glorious  dispensation  whereby  all  the  Israel  of  God  were  at  length  to 
overcome  their  spiritual  enemies,  is  a  fine  conception  ;  betraying  nothing  of 
the  illiterate  simplicity  which  Dr.  Mosheim  charges  upon  the  apostolical 
fathers. 

94  That  is  Joshua. 

i'S  Dial.,  317  D.     See  also  361  A. 

0*5  See  Justin.,  u.  s.  31B  B. 


262 

the  reason  was,  that  wherever  the  Devil  is  to  be  conquered, 
in  the  name  of  Jesus,  the  form  of  the  cross  must  also  be 
exhibited,  whereby  alone  Jesus  himself  gained  the  vic- 
tory.'"''^  No  comparison,  perhaps,  will  more  strikingly 
elicit,  either  the  decline  of  doctrinal  piety  in  the  second 
century,  or  the  danger  of  the  entire  system  of  the  ap.(p»/3oA»a. 
We  can  find  nothing  to  reprehend  in  the  doctrine  of  Bar- 
nabas ;  it  is  pure  scriptural  truth :  he  sets  forth  the 
atonement  and  sacrifice  of  him  Avho  was  extended  on  the 
cross  as  the  only  means  whereby  either  Jew  or  Gentile  can 
be  saved :  we  only  complain  that  this  truth  is  fancifully 
and  not  wisely  illustrated.  But  the  fathers  of  the  succeed- 
ing period  adopt  his  illustration,  for  the  purpose  of 
introducing  a  new  and  most  portentous  doctrine  into 
Christianity.  Israel  conquered  Amalek,  not  because  God 
heard  the  prayers  of  Moses,  but  through  certain  hidden 
virtues  which  reside  in  the  name  of  their  leader,  (Joshua, 
or  Jesus,)  and  in  the  figure  of  the  cross  which  the  person 
of  Moses  exhibited ;  the  one  acting  after  the  manner  of  a 
spell,  or  incantation,  the  other  as  a  charm,  or  amulet. 

There  are  other  passages  in  the  epistle  of  Barnabas, 
whence  his  successors  have  deduced  the  same  false  doc- 
trine. He  thus  paraphrases  the  Mosaic  account  of  the 
brazen  serpent  :'* — "  Moses  made  a  tyy)e  of  Jesus  to  show 
that  he  was  to  die,  and  then  that  he,  whom  they  thought 
to  be  dead,  was  to  give  life  to  others,  in  the  sign'"'  of  those 

W  Adv.  .Judaeos.,  c.  10. 

98  Num.  xxi.  4—10. 

9^  iv  (Tn/iiiu.  This  is  the  Septuagint  rendering  of  the  word  translated 
"  pole"  in  the  English  Bible.  Both  the  English  and  the  Greek  give  the 
meaning  of  the  Hebrew  word  correctly  (D3  Num.  xxi.  8)  :  it  signifies  the 
pole  on  which  a  standard  is  set  up  ;  but  Barnabas's  gloss  is  amphibological : 
he  adopts  another  meaning  of  the  Greek  word,  that  of  a  siyn  or  type.  For 
this  he  was  indebted  to  the  HcUcnising  Jews.     See  Wisdom,  c.  lf>. 


263 

that  fell  in  Israel.  For  God  called  all  sorts  of  serpents  to 
bite  them,  and  they  died ;  forasmuch  as  by  a  serpent 
transgression  began  in  Eve :  that  so  he  might  convince 
them  that  for  their  transgressions  they  shall  be  delivered 
into  the  pains  of  death.  And  so  the  same  Moses,  who  had 
commanded  them,  saying,  '  ye  shall  not  make  to  yourselves 
any  graven  image,  or  molten  image,  to  be  your  God,'  yet 
now  did  so  himself  that  he  might  represent  unto  them  a 
type  of  Jesus.  For  he  made  a  brazen  serpent,  and  set  it 
up  on  high,^^*  and  called  the  people  together  by  proclama- 
tion. And  when  they  begged  of  Moses  that  he  would 
offer  sacrifice  for  them,  and  pray  that  they  might  be 
healed,  he  said  unto  them  :  if  any  one  among  you  is  bitten 
let  him  come  to  the  serpent,  which  is  placed  upon  the 
tree,^*^^  and  let  him  believe  with  hope,  that  though  it  be 
dead  yet  it  can  make  alive,  and  immediately  he  shall  be 
saved  ;  and  they  did  so.  Ye  have  also  here  the  glory  of 
Jesus,  in  whom,  and  to  whom,  are  all  things."^^^  There 
appears,  at  first  sight,  little  of  any  thing  to  except  against 
in  this  passage.  That  "  Moses  lifting  up  the  serpent  in 
the  wilderness"  was  a  type  of  "  the  lifting  up  of  Him  unto 
whom  "  all  the  ends  of  the  earth  were  to  look  and  to  be 
saved,"  we  know  upon  inspired  authority. ^'^^  The  ortho- 
doxy and  the  piety  of  the  writer  are  again  very  apparent : 
and  as  to  his  making  the  pole  a  symbol  of  the  cross,  and 
one  or  two  other  little  embellishments,  by  which  he  hoped 
to  commend  his  annotations  to  his  readers,  they  were  the 

100  IvSols/j,  honourably. 

101  l^rJ  T»  ^uKu.  He  returns  to  the  sense  in  which  the  word  a-ttf^uon 
was  used  in  the  Greek  Bible ;  that  of  a  pole  or  flag-staff.  These  double 
meanings  constitute  the  a,fii.(pifii>xic/.. 

102  c.  12. 

103  John  iii.  14. 


264 

taste  of  the  times  ;  and  after  all,  it  may  be  asked,  Where 
was  the  great  harm  in  them  ?     We  shall  see. 

Justin  Martyr  thus  improves  upon  Barnabas : — 
"  When  the  Israelites  went  forth  from  Egypt,  and  were 
in  the  wilderness,  they  were  met  by  many  venomous  crea- 
tures, of  all  kinds ;  vipers,  asps,  and  serpents,  and  the 
people  were  slain.  But  Moses,  by  the  inspiration  and 
operation  of  God,  took  brass  and  made  the  sign  of  the 
cross,  and  set  it  upon  the  holy  tabernacle,  and  said,  '  if  ye 
look  upon  this  type,  and  believe  in  it  ye  shall  be  saved."* 
When  this  was  done,  we  are  told  that  the  serpents  died 
and  the  people  escaped."  ^^^  It  is  abundantly  evident  here 
that  Justin  adopted  the  comment  of  Barnabas  ;  but  in 
transfusing  it  into  his  own  language,  he  has  made  many 
changes,  and  all  for  the  worse.  Barnabas  only  hints  at  the 
pole  upon  which  the  serpent  was  lifted  up,  as  a  type  of  the 
Lord's  cross.  But  with  Justin  it  becomes  a  brazen  figure 
of  the  cross.  The  former  says  that  it  was  erected  in  a 
conspicuous  place,  the  latter  places  it  on  the  summit  of  the 
tabernacle.  But  worst  of  all,  the  heartfelt  allusions  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  atonement,  which  cover  such  a  multitude  of 
minor  faults  in  the  gloss  of  Barnabas,  are  entirely  omitted ; 
and  scarcely  even  the  cold  orthodoxy  of  the  passage 
remains.  It  is  to  the  efficacy  of  the  figure  of  the  cross, 
not  of  the  atonement  of  him  who  died  thereon,  that  Justin 
directs  the  faith  of  his  readers. 

Tertullian  completes  the  work  which  Barnabas  had  so 
vmconsciously  begun.  "After  Moses  had  prohibited  making 
the  similitude  of  any  thing,  why  did  he  set  forth  a  brazen 
serpent,  placed  upon  a  cross,'"''  and  hanging  therefrom,  as 
a  healing  sight  for  the  children  of  Israel,  when  the  people 

J'»^  .Justin.  Apol.  I.,  93  A.  Jt«  Lignum. 


265 

were  slain  by  serpents  for  their  idolatry  P^*^  Surely 
hereby  he  intended  the  Lord''s  cross ;  and,  at  the  same 
time,  pointed  to  that  serpent  the  Devil,'^^  showing  forth 
that  whoever  was  bitten  by  such  snakes,  that  is,  his  angels, 
and  looked  upon  the  dispensation  of  the  cross  of  Christ, 
should  be  saved  .""^^^ 

Every  circumstance  in  the  sign  is  now  harmonised 
with  the  thing  signified.  The  pole  on  which  the  brazen 
serpent  was  set  up,  was  a  cross,  and  denoted  the  cross  of 
Christ.  The  serpent  itself,  hanging  thereupon,  shadowed 
forth  to  the  arch  enemy  that  destructiou  of  his  works 
which  awaited  him,  through  the  sufferings  of  the  Saviour 
of  the  world.  And  the  Israelites  were  healed,  and  the 
fiery  serpents  destroyed,  by  the  occult  virtues  residing  in 
the  brazen  image  of  a  cross  with  a  serpent  hanging  upon 
it,  which  Moses  placed  on  the  summit  of  the  tabernacle. 
All  this  tissue  of  strange  and  idolatrous  fiction  originated 
in  the  pious  and  well-meant  comment  of  St.  Barnabas. 

As  this  double  sense  has  certainly  the  appearance  of 
scriptural  authority,  it  is  quite  needful  that  we  should 
here  endeavour  to  point  out  in  what  the  mistake  of 
Barnabas  consisted.  Our  Saviour  applies  the  healing 
miracle  of  the  brazen  serpent  to  his  own  atonement  in  the 
following  terms  : — "  As  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the 
wilderness,  even  so  must  the  son  of  man  be  lifted  up ;  that 

106  This  thought  of  St.  Barnabas  seems  to  have  been  considered  by  the 
early  fathers  as  a  very  powerful  argument  against  the  Jews.  Justin  makes 
Trypho  admit  that  he  was  himself  greatly  puzzled  by  the  divine  command 
to  Moses  to  perform  an  act  which  the  second  commandment  had  prohibited, 
and  that  he  had  frequently  referred  his  doubts  to  his  own  Rabbins  without 
obtaining  any  solution  of  them Dial.  p.  322  B.  C. 

107  This  idea  has  been  adopted  from  Barnabas  by  Justin  (tibi  siipraj 
as  well  as  by  Tertullian. 

108  Adv.  Jiid.,  c,  10. 


266 

whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  eter- 
nal life."'^^  It  may  be  observed,  that  the  type  bears  upon 
the  antitype  in  two  particulars,  and  in  two  only.  The  lift- 
ing up  of  the  serpent  resembles  the  lifting  up  of  the  Son  of 
Man,  and  as  they  who  looked  upon  the  one  were  healed,  so 
also  shall  they  who  believe  in  the  other  be  saved ;  and  as 
the  slightest  extension  of  the  metaphor  introduces  the 
intolerable  solecism  of  Christ  typified  by  a  serpent,  this 
limitation  is  obviously  imposed  upon  it,  in  the  strictest 
sense.  That,  therefore,  which  is  in  no  case  desirable,  (the 
amplification  of  Scripture  types  and  metaphors,)  is,  in  the 
present  instance,  absolutely  inadmissible.  But,  unhappily, 
Barnabas,  in  his  zeal  and  anxiety  to  multiply  the  points  of 
resemblance  between  the  type  and  the  antitype,  has  taken 
very  unwarrantable  liberties  with  the  text  of  Moses.  It 
is  evident  that  there  is  not  the  allusion  to  the  serpent  that 
beguiled  Eve,  which  he  and  his  imitators  have  pointed  out, 
in  the  instrument  here  employed  by  the  Almighty  to 
chastise  the  murmurings  of  the  Israelites.  This  could 
only  have  been  the  case,  had  the  plague  of  venomous 
serpents  been  the  invariable  mode  in  which  the  divine 
indignation  was  expressed,  during  their  whole  sojourn  in 
the  wilderness.  The  selection,  in  this  instance,  merely 
exemplifies  a  rule  to  which  all  the  miracles  recorded  in 
Scripture  will  be  found  conformable.  The  supernatural 
agency  is  there  exerted,  where  it  will  least  interfere  with 
the  established  order  of  nature.  We  have  another  example 
of  it  in  the  miracle  of  the  quails."'^  Vast  flocks  of  these 
birds  traverse  the  same  regions  even  now ;  and  instances 
are  upon  record  of  their  alighting  through  fatigue,  in 
masses  as  dense  as  those  described  in  Holy  Writ,  when 
they  have  been  deflected  from  tlieir  ordinary  course  of 
10!)  John  iii.  14,  15.  ""  Exod.  xvi.  13.  ;  Num.  xi.  31.,  &c. 


267 

migration  by  sudden  storms.  The  miracle  consisted  in  so 
controlling  the  agency  of  the  wind  as  to  direct  the  living 
shower  to  the  camp  of  the  Israelites.  Thus  was  it  also 
with  the  miracle  we  are  now  considering.  Israel  mur- 
mured against  God  in  the  desert  that  lies  at  the  foot,  of  the 
mountains  of  Edom :  and  he  employed  the  agency  of  the 
venemovis  serpents  which  abound  there,  even  to  this  day, 
to  chastise  their  ingratitude ;  by  causing  them,  contrary  to 
their  natural  instincts,  to  infest  the  camp  in  countless 
multitudes.  On  these  accounts,  therefore,  while  we  are 
fully  aware  of  the  pious  intentions  of  St.  Barnabas,  and 
readily  grant  the  perfect  propriety  of  associating  our 
scriptural  annotations  with  reminiscences  of  an  event  so 
important  as  the  fall,  wherever  the  text  will  bear  such  an 
allusion,  we,  notwithstanding,  contend  that  his  gloss  in  the 
present  instance,  is  an  accommodation  of  the  text  which 
can  on  no  account  be  permitted. 

That  Moses,  in  making  the  brazen  serpent,  apparently 
violated  the  second  Commandment,  is  mere  folly.  This 
prohibition  is  only  directed  against  the  fabrication  of  idols 
for  the  purpose  of  worship  :  by  no  means  against  the  whole 
art  of  sculpture,  of  which  such  ample  use  was  made  in  the 
construction  both  of  the  tabernacle  and  the  temple.  As 
then  the  serpent  was  not  intended  to  be  worshipped,  there 
was  no  more  appearance  of  sin  against  the  second  Com- 
mandment in  casting  it,  than  in  constructing  the  cherubs 
that  overshadowed  the  mercy  seat.'^^ 

Ill  The  difficulty  upon  this  point,  which  Justin  puts  into  the  mouth  of 
Trypho,  is  a  strong  presumption  that  this  ])art  of  the  dialogue  is  fabulous. 
A  well-read  Jew  like  Trypho,  would  at  once  have  overthrown  his  antago- 
nist's argument  by  replying,  that  the  brazen  serpent  was  not  intended  to  be 
worshipped ;  and  that  afterwards  it  was  destroyed  by  Hezekiah,  acting 
under  the  inspiration  of  God,  because  the  apostate  Jews  had  included  it 
among  the  objects  of  their  idolatry 2  Kings  .vviii.  4. 


268 

There  are,  besides,  instances  where  Barnabas  accom- 
modates the  inspired  narrative  to  the  antitype.  This 
account  informs  us  that  Moses  prayed  to  the  Lord,  because 
the  people  came  and  humbled  themselves  when  they  were 
bitten,  and  received  instructions  to  make  the  brazen 
serpent  as  an  answer  to  his  prayer.  According  to  Bar- 
nabas, Moses  first  erected  the  serpent  upon  the  pole,  and 
then  called  the  people  together  by  proclamation.  In  the 
Scripture  narrative,  the  people  entreated  Moses  to  pray 
for  them.  Barnabas  says  they  entreated  him  both  to 
pray  and  to  make  an  atonement^^^  for  them.  The  one 
merely  reads,  that  when  those  who  were  bitten  beheld,  or 
looked  upon,  the  brazen  serpent,  they  lived.  But  in  St. 
Barnabas  we  find,  that  Moses  told  the  people  they  were  to 
come  to  the  serpent,  and  believe  in  its  powers  of  vivifi- 
cation,  before  they  could  be  saved.  Now  I  entirely 
acquit  this  venerable  writer  of  wilful  fravid  and  perversion 
here.  He  evidently  quoted  the  book  of  Numbers  from 
memory  ; — a  frequent  practice,  as  it  appears  to  me,  with 
the  early  fathers ;  and  one  for  which  the  great  scarcity 
of  copies  of  the  sacred  books  in  those  times,  will  satis- 
factorily account  :  and  nothing  is  more  probable  than 
that  he  should,  unconsciously,  alter  the  text,  so  as  to 
accommodate  it  to  the  purpose  for  which  he  quoted  it. 
But  let  it  be  observed,  that  his  successors  construct  their 
versions  entirely  upon  the  corrupted  and  interpolated 
readings  of  Barnabas.  They  do  not  give  one  point  of 
resemblance  which  is  not,  either  in  his  comment,  or 
founded  upon  his  mistakes. 

We  can,  therefore,  have  no  hesitation  in  rejecting  the 
whole  of  the  gloss  with  which  the  early  fathers  have 
supplied   us  upon  this  passage.     The  pole  upon  which  the 

112    Or  oblationy   nm^ip'.n. 


269 

brazen  serpent  was  suspended,  was  neither  a  brazen  figure 
of  the  cross,  nor  a  type  of  it :  nor  do  we  find  in  the  brazen 
serpent  a  clumsy  inapposite  representation  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  Satan.  The  resemblance  holds  in  the  points 
indicated  by  our  Lord,  and  in  no  other ;  and,  consequently, 
the  relation  which  he  establishes,  between  the  two  events, 
may  be  properly  termed  illustrative,  rather  than  typical. 

This  false  comment  has  the  same  tendency  as  the 
preceding  ones  ;  to  set  forth  the  hidden  virtues  of  the 
cross.  There  are  also  other  places  in  St.  Barnabas,  of 
which  the  same  use  has  been  made  by  his  successors.  He 
thus  paraphrases  the  Scripture  account  of  Jacob  blessing 
the  sons  of  Joseph  :  ^^^ — "  Joseph  brought  Manasseh  to  the 
right  hand  of  Jacob  because  he  was  his  first-born,  and 
Ephraim  to  the  left ;  but  Jacob,  by  the  Spirit  foresaw  the 
token^^^  of  the  people  that  was  to  come  afterwards,  and 
he  crossed  his  hands,  and  put  his  right  hand  upon 
Ephraim,  the  younger  son."^^''  Even  an  obscure  and 
casual  hint,  like  this,  at  their  favourite  subject,  was  not 
lost  upon  his  successors.  Tertullian  amplifies  it  to  its 
full  dimensions.  "  The  Christian  ceremony  of  the  impo- 
sition of  hands,"  he  informs  us,  "  is  derived  from  the 
ancient  dispensation,  wherein  Jacob  blessed  Ephraim  and 
Manasseh,  by  putting  his  crossed  hands  upon  their  heads : 
and  they  were  extended  cross-wise  unto  them,  that  thus 
forming  the  symbol  of  Christ,  they  might  foreshow  the 
blessing  that  was  to  come  in  him."^^*'  The  folly  of  all 
this  will  now  no  longer  surprise  us  ;  we  merely  notice 
that  here  is  another  emphatical  allusion  to  the  figure  of 
the  cross. 

The   fathers   of   the    second   century   by    no   means 

U3   Gen.  xlviii.  14.,  &c.  H^    rv^rav.  "5   Bar.  Ep.,  c.  13. 

lie   De  Baptismo,  c.  7- 


270 

confined  themselves  to  the  adoption  of  St.  Barnabas'** 
comments :  they  also  profitted  by  his  example.  They, 
too,  could  discover  the  figure  of  the  cross  in  Scriptui'e, 
by  the  help  of  the  ajw.(pj/3oX/a.  The  following,  from  Justin 
Martyr,  is  highly  ingenious  : — "  '  His  beauty  is  as  the 
first  begotten  of  a  bull,  his  horns  are  as  the  horns  of  an 
unicorn."*  "^^^  In  this,  the  blessing  of  Joseph,  God  by  Moses 
indicates  the  power  of  the  mystery  of  the  cross.  For 
'  the  horns  of  an  unicorn'  can  have  no  other  signification 
than  that  of  a  type  thereof.  One  of  the  beams  is  upright, 
and  when  the  transverse  beam  is  fastened  to  it,  the  two 
ends  of  this  stick  out  like  the  horns  of  a  bull,  while  the 
summit  of  the  other  stands  up  like  the  horn  of  an  unicorn. 
That  also  which  projects  from  the  middle  of  the  upriglit, 
and  sustains  the  weight  of  the  crucified  person,  is  shaped 
like  a  horn,  so  that  the  cross  seems  made  up  of  horns. 
'  And  with  them  shall  he  gore  the  nations  even  unto  the 
ends  of  the  earth. '^^^  This  predicts  what  is  now  fulfilled 
among  all  nations.  For  some  every  where  are  transfixed 
by  the  horns  of  the  cross ;  that  is,  are  converted  by  that 
mystery  from  the  worship  of  vain  images  and  demons.'*''  "" 
This  is,  perhaps,  a  more  vigorous  conception,  and  better 
expressed,  than  any  thing  else  that  remains  of  this  not  very 
striking  writer.  The  double  meaning  he  elicits  has,  in 
addition,  the  merit  of  being  capable  of  extensive  and 
convenient  application.  He  himself  gives  us  an  instance, 
in  another  place,  of  the  same  dialogue.  The  expression  in 
the  twenty-second  Psalm,  "  save  me  from  the  mouth  of  the 


117  Upuroroxe;  ravpH  ro  xaX\o;  aura'  Kipara,  fitvaxipuTos  to,  Kipura,  alirS. 
-Deut.  xxxiii.  17-  LXX. 

118  Iv  cciiToTf  'iS-vri  KipuriiT  afict  'Icof  arr   axpn  y?;.— Deut.  U.  s. 

119  Dial.,  p.  31«  C. 


271 

lion,  and  my  liumility  from  the  horns  of  the  unicorns,"  ^-" 
he  declares  to  have  been  spoken  of  our  Lord,  signifying  by 
what  death  he  should  die  ;  the  unicorn's  horn  being  a  type 
of  the  cross.  ^^^ 

Tertullian  has  deemed  both  these  comments  worthy 
of  adoption  and  amplification  ;  and  as  his  version  further 
illustrates  the  nature  of  the  entire  system  of  the  ajU-^Ji/SoA/a, 
we  will  lay  this  also  befoi'e  the  reader.  "  Joseph  was  a 
type  of  Christ,  not  only  in  being  persecuted  by  his  bre- 
thren, because  God  had  favoured  him,  even  as  was  Christ 
by  his  brethren  in  the  flesh,  the  Jews,  when  the  Father 
had  blessed  him,  but  also  in  these  words,  '  His  beauty 
is  that  of  a  bull,  his  horns,'  &c.  (u.  s.)  By  the  unicorn 
here,  the  prophet  did  not  allude  to  a  rhinoceros,  nor  to  a 
ivild  hulP—  by  the  two-horned  creature, ^^^  but  Christ  is 
denoted  by  the  entire  passage.  He  was  to  be  a  bull  in 
both  his  offices,  fierce  to  some,  as  a  judge,  gentle  to  others, 
as  a  Saviour ;  whose  horns  would  be  the  extremities  of 
the  cross :  for  the  two  points  of  the  transverse  beam 
thereof  are  called  horns  i^""*  and  the  upright  is  like  the 
horn  of  an  unicorn.  Thus  armed  with  the  virtue  of  the 
cross,  and  so  horned,  he  now  tosses  all  nations  by  faith, 
throwing  them  up  from  earth  to  heaven  ;    but  hereafter 

120  'Satrov  fit  ix  7of/,artig  kiovTo;,  xu)  a.-!ra  xiparuM  fiovoxipurav  rri 
ra.'jntvoxTiv  im Psa.  xxi.  21.,  LXX. 

121  U.  s.,  p.  332  D. 

122  Minotaurus. 

123  Bicornis. 

124  He  terms  the  transverse,  antenna,  "  a  sail  yard ;"  the  two  ends  of 
which  are  frequently  named  cornua,  "  horns,"  by  the  Latin  poets.  This  is 
both  clever  and  learned ;  though  it  will  be  observed,  here  as  well  as  else- 
where, that  the  early  fathers  were  not  all  particular  as  to  the  language  in 
which  they  found  their  double  meanings.  They  equally  availed  themselves 
of  them,  whether  they  occurred  in  Latin,  Greek,  or  Hebrew  ! 


272 

lie  will  toss  them  in  judgment,  casting  them  down  from 
heaven  to  earth.  The  same  bull  is  alluded  to  in  the 
prophecy  of  Jacob,  regarding  Simeon  and  Levi,  that  is, 
the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  for  such  is  its  spiritual  interpre- 
tation. He  says  of  them,  '  in  their  anger  they  slew  men,"* 
that  is,  the  prophets,  *  and  in  their  fierce  anger  they 
houghed  a  bull,"*^^^  that  is,  Christ  ;  whose  sinews  they 
lacerated  with  nails,  after  they  had  slain  the  prophets."  ^^^ 
The  mode  in  which  the  double  meaning  here  multiplies 
itself  is  somewhat  remarkable.  The  horns  are  a  symbol 
of  the  cross,  and,  therefore,  the  bull  that  wears  the  horns 
is  a  type  of  Christ  ;  and  any  text  in  Scripture  which 
contains  that  word,  may  be  so  interpreted.  The  cool 
unceremonious  manner  in  which,  without  a  single  expla- 
natory remark,  he  tranfers  the  imprecations  upon  Simeon 
and  Levi  to  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  is  somewhat 
amusing.  But  the  writers  and  admirers  of  such  interpre- 
tations were,  of  course,  far  superior  to  the  weakness  of 
endangering  so  ingenious  a  comment  by  the  nice  investi- 
gation of  trifles  like  these. 

The  early  fathers  discovered  the  cross  in  Scripture  by 
another  process,  (borrowed  probably,  like  the  preceding, 
from  the  Jewish  Cabbalists,)  which  St.  Barnabas  also 
introduced  into  Christianity,  in  the  following  passage : — 
"  Understand,  children,  these  things  more  fully,  that 
Abraham,  who  was  the  first  that  brought  in  circumcision, 
looking  forward  in  the  Spirit  to  Jesus,  circumcised,  having 
received  the  mystery  of  three  letters.     For  the  Scripture 

125  Ey  ^M  ^ufiS  a'lTuv  u-priKTHvav  av9-j4;;r8j,  xai  Iv  tv  I'Ti^v/iia,  ahruv 
iviUfOKO'irriffav  raifoyi. — Gen.  xlix.  6.,   Sept. 

126  Adv.  Marcio7iem,  lib.  3.,  c.  18.  Nearly  the  identical  passage  also 
occurs,  Adv.  Judaeos,  c.  10.  In  the  same  places  will  also  be  found  Justin's 
comment  on  the  22nd  Psalm,  which  Tertullian,  with  the  Septuagint,  calls 
the  21st.     See  Note  20. 


273 

says  that  Ab)aham  circumcised  three  hundred  and  eighteen 
men  of  his  house.  But  what,  therefm-e,  was  the  mystery 
that  was  made  known  unto  him  ?  Mark,  first  the  eighteen 
and  next  the  three  hundi-ed  ;  for  the  numeral  letter  of  ten 
and  eight  are  iv;,  and  these  denote  Ivjo-aj  Jesus.  And 
because  the  cross  was  that  by  which  we  were  to  find  grace, 
therefore,  he  adds,  three  hundred,  the  note  of  which  is  t 
(the  figure  of  the  cross.)  Wherefore,  by  two  letters  he 
signified  Jesus,  and  by  the  third  his  cross."^^-^  We  again 
object  to  this  comment,  that  Barnabas  quotes  Scripture 
incorrectly.  The  number  of  persons  whom  Abraham 
circumcised  is  not  specified  in  Scripture.'^^  We  find  that 
long  before  that  event  he  led  forth  three  hundred  and  eigh- 
teen armed  servants  to  the  battle  with  the  five  kings ;  ^^^ 
and  as  every  male  of  his  household,  from  eight  days  old 
upwards,  underwent  the  rite,  we  conclude  that  the  number 
of  persons  circumcised  would  be  much  greater.  Bar- 
nabas has  evidently  confounded  the  two  passages.  This  is 
the  only  serious  objection  I  shall  offer  to  a  comment,  the 
whole  of  which  has,  nevertheless,  been  deemed  worthy  of  a 
serious  defence. ^^"^  His  erroneous  quotations  of  Scripture 
I  have  before  endeavoured  to  account  for,  and  in  some 
measure  to  excuse.  But,  in  the  present  instance,  it  must 
be  borne  in  mind,  that  his  comment  is  grounded  altogether 

127  Bar.  Epis.,  c.  9. 

128  See  Gen.  xvii.  23—27- 

129  Gen.  xiv.  14. 

130  The  defence  rests  upon  a  similar  use  of  the  Greek  enumeration  by 
St.  John,  in  the  Apocalypse,  xiii.  17,  18.  But  I  do  not  see  how  the  appli- 
cation of  numerals  to  a  name  by  an  inspired  author,  who  wrote  in  Greek, 
and  at  a  time  when  such  applications  were  common,  establishes  the  proba- 
bility that  a  mystical  number  involving  a  prophecy,  should  be  revealed,  ages 
before  the  invention  of  the  cypher  which  was  to  be  the  key  to  the 
mystery. 

T 


274 

upon  his  blunder.  He  wishes  to  show  that  Abraham,  in 
instituting  the  seal  of  the  old  covenant,  typified  the  sign  of 
the  new  one,  that  is,  Christ  crucified,  (Itjo-hj  g-aupw^sjf)  in 
the  number  of  persons  whom  he  circumcised :  and  it  is, 
therefore,  the  more  to  be  regretted  that  he  should  have 
wound  up  such  a  comment  in  the  following  terms : — "  He 
who  put  the  engrafted  gift  of  his  doctrine  within  us  knows 
that  I  never  taught  to  any  one  a  more  certain  truth  !"  ^^^ 
With  due  deference  to  the  apologists  of  this  comment, 
both  ancient  ajid  modern,  there  is  one  difficulty  connected 
with  it,  which  the  early  fathers,  and  especially  Clement  of 
Alexandria,  were  well  able  to  have  apprehended.  Since 
Abraham  lived  some  ages  before  Cadmus,  the  inventor  of 
the  Greek  alphabet,  how  came  he,  notwithstanding,  to  be 
so  well  acquainted  with  it  ^  This  objection  had  already 
been  very  skilfully  applied  by  Irenseus,  in  confutation  of 
the  not  more  absurd  numerical  mysteries  of  the  heretic 
Marcus. ^^-  Yet  even  this  consideration  was  not  powerful 
enough  to  overcome  the  love  of  this  species  of  the  marvel- 
lous that  possessed  Clement  of  Alexandria :  he,  oddly 
enough,  introduces  it  into  a  long  argument  intended  to 
allay  the  fears  of  a  large  class  of  his  cotemporaries, 
"  who,"  as  he  says,  "  were  as  much  afraid  of  the  Greek 
philosophy  as  children  of  hobgoblin s."^^^  He  wishes  to 
show  the  great  advantages  which  religion  may  derive,  not 
only  from  the  metaphysical  pursuits  of  philosophy,  but 
also  from  her  researches  in  the  natural  sciences ;  by  citing 
the  example  of  certain  Old  Testament  worthies  who  had 

131  This  claim  of  inspiration,  for  a  comment  founded  upon  a  misquo- 
tation of  Scripture,  satisfactorily  disposes  of  all  similar  claims  on  the  part 
of  the  apostolical  fathers.     See  above,  pp.  25.  e.  s. 

'■■'2  Adv.  Hoer.,  lib.  I.e.  12.,  §  4. 

\Xi  f^nffj.aXvKia..     6  Strom.,  §  10. 


275 

successfully  cultivated  them  :  David,  for  instance,  who 
was  a  proficient  in  the  theory  and  practice  of  music ;  and 
Moses,  whose  attainments  in  geometry  are  so  conspicuous 
in  his  account  of  the  dimensions  of  the  tabernacle.  Abra- 
ham also  rose  "  through  nature  up  to  nature's  God"  by 
that  long  series  of  observations  upon  the  starry  heavens, 
and  upon  the  motions  of  the  planetary  bodies,  which  have 
given  him  so  high  a  reputation  for  skill  in  astronomy  ;  '^'* 
and  he  also  arrived  at  an  equal  proficiency  in  the  sister 
science  of  arithmetic.  This  he  demonstrates  in  the  follow- 
ing terms  : — "  When  Abraham  heard  that  Lot  was  carried 
away  captive,  he  armed  his  three  hundred  and  eighteen 
trained  servants,'^^  attacked  the  enemy,  and  conquered  a 
greatly  superior  force.  It  is  said  that  the  numeral  for 
300  (t)  is  the  sign  of  the  Lord"'s  cross,  and  that  the  iota 
and  eta  (j»]),  which  stand  for  18,  denote  the  saving  name 
(I>](7»f  the  Saviour.)  Showing  forth,  therefore,  that  they 
are  the  servants  of  Abraham,  as  it  respeets  salvation,  who 
fly  to  the  cross  and  name  of  the  Lord,  and  overcome 
those  that  lead  into  captivity,  and  the  many  Gentile 
nations  who  follow  them."^^''  Here  it  will  be  observed, 
that  Clement  tacitly  corrects  the  blunder  of  Barnabas,  but, 

134  Por  this  notion  he  was  indebted  to  Philo  Judaeus,  Ttpi  Afipda//.., 
p.  282  B.  A  book,  the  purport  of  which  is  to  show  that  Abraham  attained 
to  the  knowledge  of  divine  things,  with  which  he  was  favoured,  by  dint  of 
his  researches  in  astronomy  and  other  branches  of  philosophy.  Clement's 
Christianity  was  built  altogether  upon  Philo's  Judaism.  The  wretched  phi- 
losophising of  Josephus  and  Philo  upon  the  miracles  of  the  Old  Testament, 
is  now  taken  much  advantage  of  by  the  infidel  writers  on  the  Continent. 

It  has  long  been  a  prevalent  notion  in  the  East,  that  Abraham  was  a 
great  astronomer.  The  origin  of  it  being  merely  that  he  was  a  native  of 
Chaldaea,  which  was  afterwards  celebrated  for  such  pursuits. — Fab.  Cod. 
Pseud.  Vet.  Test.     Vol  /.,  pp.  341.,  e.  s. 

135  Gen.  xiv.  14. 
'36   C  Strom.,  §  11. 


276 

notAvithstanding,  is  quite  as  successful  in  giving  a  pious 
application  to  the  mystery.  It  is,  therefore,  evidently  of 
no  importance  whether  the  mystical  cypher  represent  the 
number  of  Abrahan^s  trained  servants  that  went  forth  to 
fight,  or  (by  a  mistake  of  the  commentator)  the  number  of 
males  in  his  household  who  underwent  the  rite  of  circum- 
cision. For  we  find  that,  though  the  mistake  suggested 
the  interpretation,  a  little  ingenuity  has  discovered  an 
equally  edifying  paraphrase  upon  it,  when  the  blunder  is 
corrected  !  But  we  are  by  no  means  to  imagine,  that  the 
principal  of  the  school  of  philosophy  at  Alexandria  would 
rest  contented  with  the  humble  office  of  copyist  and  cor- 
rector of  Barnabas.  He  also  has  favoured  us  with  his 
own  variations  upon  so  promising  a  theme.  It  is  in  the 
following  strain  of  sublimity  : — "  The  number  three 
hundred  is  a  triad  in  a  century  :  the  decad  (10)  is, 
without  controversy,  the  all-perfect  number :  and  the 
eight  is  the  first  cube,  having  equality  in  all  its  dimensions 
length,  breadth,  and  thickness.  '  The  days  of  man,"  says 
the  word,  '  shall  be  one  hundred  and  twenty  years ;'  ^^ 
this  number  is,  by  synthesis,  the  fifteenth  from  the 
monad,'^^  and  the  moon  becomes  full  on  the  fifteenth  day. 
Otherwise,  120  is  a  triangular  number,  (a  multiple  of 
three),  and  is  composed  of  the  numbers  64  and  56. 
Sixty-four  is  composed  of  the  first  cube  8,  being  an 
even  number  of  uneven  parts  ascending  in  arithmetical 
progression  from  the  monad  ;^^  fifty-six  is  compounded  of 

137  Gen.  vi.  3. 

i3i(  1+2  +  3  +  4  +  5  +  6-^7  +  8  +  9+   10+11 

+  12  +  13  +  14  +  15  =  120. 

i.i:»  1    +    3    +    5   4-    7    +    9    +    11    +    13    +    lo  =   64. 

He  means  that  there  are  eight  terms  in  this  progression,  and  that  all  of 
them  are  odd  numbers. 


i 

I 


277 

an  odd  number  of  even  parts,  commencing  with  the  dyad, 
(2)  that  odd  number  being  seven,  one  of  the  perfect 
numbers,^^*'  By  another  signification,  120,  is  compounded 
of  four  numbers,  fifteen  a  triangle  (3x5);  twenty-five  a 
square  (5^  ):  thirty-five  a  pentagon  (7x5);  forty-five  a  hex- 
agon ;^^^  these  numbers  are  constructed  upon  the  analogy 
of  the  number  five,  which  is  the  basis  of  all  of  them.  Now 
the  number  twenty-five  is  said  to  be  the  symbol  of  the 
tribe  of  Levi,"^^^  &c.  &c.  &c.  Mr.  Faber,  in  his  admirable 
work  on  projihecy,  speaks  of  a  school-boy  with  a  slate  and 
pencil  adjusting  the  numerical  name  of  the  seven-headed 
monster  in  the  apocalypse  !  I  would  only  remark  upon 
the  preceding  quotation,  that  I  know  what  the  school-boy 
would  deserve,  who  should  prostitute  his  slate  and  pencil 
to  the  intolerable  nonsense  which  our  Alexandrian  philo- 
sopher gravely  propounds  as  the  very  summit  and  perfec- 
tion of  Christian  knowledge.  Let  me  not  be  told  that  the 
Pythagoreans  and  Cabbalists  had  already  awakened  a  taste 
for  researches  into  the  hidden  properties  of  numbers,  and 
that  Clement  merely  wrote  in  accordance  with  the  philo- 
sophy of  the  times.  The  perfect  Revelation  of  God  is 
invested  with  a  dignity  and  simplicity  which  ought  always 
to  have  guarded  it  against  such  profanations,   from  those 

140  2  +  4  +  6  +  8  +  10  +  12  +  14  =  56.  This  progres- 
sion consists  of  seven  even  numbers. 

141  So  says  the  author,  and  so  it  certainly  ought  to  be,  to  answer  the 
purpose  of  his  argument ;  but,  unfortunately,  there  is  an  arithmetical 
objection  to  the  arrangement,  which  probably  he  got  over  thus  : — g  ^  5 
=:  30  the  hexagon  ;  and  the  remaining  fifteen,  which  completes  the  forty- 
five,  is  a  repetition  of  the  triangle,  with  which  the  series  commenced. 
15  H-  25  -I-  35  -f  45  (that  is,  30  +  15)  =  120.  I  suppose  that 
this  is  the  philosopher's  meaning ;  if  it  is  not,  "  I  am  free  to  confess"  that  I 
dont  know  what  he  meant. 

142  6  Strom.,  §  11. 


278 

who  profess  themselves  its  defenders.  And,  moreover,  the 
entire  insanity  of  mystical  arithmetic  had  been  already 
most  ably  exposed,  and  by  his  immediate  predecessor, 
Irenaeus  ;  with  whose  works  he  was  evidently  very  familiar. 
I  have  the  more  pleasure  in  laying  before  the  reader  an 
extract  from  his  masterly  argument,  because  I  have  to 
acknowledge  that  it  has  completely  exploded  a  few  grains 
of  this  folly,  which  still  lurked  in  my  own  mind,  regarding 
the  triad  and  the  heptad.  He  is  confuting  the  dogma  of 
the  Marcosian  heretics,  that  the  divine  nature  existed  in 
ogdoads,  or  eights : — "  We  will  grant  that  their  argument 
is  a  perfectly  true  one ;  and  that  the  instances  they  give  us 
of  the  occurrence  of  the  number  eight  in  Scripture,  are 
deduced  from  thence  by  a  correct  rule  of  interpretation, 
and  to  be  received. ^^^  But  we  contend  that  there  is  another 
number,  which  neither  aids  their  argument,  nor  concurs 
with  their  figment,  but  which,  nevertheless,  rests  upon  a 
much  more  extended  basis  of  Scripture  authority.  There 
axe  Jive  letters  in  the  name  SwTrjp  Saviour,  and  the  words 
TraTvjp  father,  and  ayuitfi  love,  are  formed  also  of  the  same 
number.  Our  Lord  blessed  Jive  loaves,  and  with  them 
satisfied  the  hunger  oi  Jive  thousand  persons.  He  also 
informs  us  that  there  were  Jive  wise  virgins  and  Jive 
foolish.  Again,  there  were  Jive  persons  with  our  Lord 
at  his  transfiguration,  Peter,  James,  John,  Moses,  and 
Elias ;  Dives,  in  hell,  told  Abraham  that  he  had  Jve 
brothers.  The  pool  of  Bethesda  had  Jive  gates.  The 
form  of  the  cross  has  Jive  points;  the  four  extremities  of 
the  two  beams,  and  that  in  the  middle,  which  sustains  the 

'•13  Adv.  Haer.,  lib.  2.  c.  42.  I  have  here  somewhat  paraphrased  the 
original,  in  order  to  connect  it  with  the  subject  of  the  two  preceding  chap- 
ters ;  in  which  he  shows  the  foolish  and  unwarrantable  liberties  they  have 
taken  with  the  text  to  obtain  the  number  thfv  wanted. 


279 

person  to  be  crucified.*"**  There  are  also  Jive  fingers  on 
each  hand ;  Jive  books  of  Moses,  Jive  Commandments  on 
each  of  the  tables  of  the  Decalogue.  Five  priests  were 
consecrated  in  the  desert ;  Aaron,  Nadab,  Abihu,  Eleazar, 
and  Ithamar.  Their  garments  were  woven  of  Jive  co- 
lours.**^ There  were  also  Jive  kings  of  the  Amorites, 
whom  Joshua  shut  up  in  the  cave.  And  many  thousands 
of  such  coincidences  upon  this  number,  may  be  found  by 
any  one  who  will  be  at  the  trouble  of  looking  for  them, 
either  in  the  Word  of  God,  or  in  the  works  of  nature. 
But  we  do  not,  on  this  account,  teach  that  there  are  Jive 
aeons  in  the  pleroma  above  the  demiurge  (creator)  ;  nor  do 
we  consecrate  the  pentad  (5)  as  something  divine  ;  nor  do 
we  endeavour  to  corroborate  such  ravings  by  this  our  vain 
labour ;  wresting  the  well-ordered  creations  of  God  into 
types  which  have  no  existence,  and  introducing  thereby, 
impious  and  wicked  dogmas,  which  any  one  of  ordinary 
understanding  may  overturn."  How  Clement  of  Alexan- 
dria, or  any  one  else  in  his  senses,  could  withstand  the 
overwhelming  force  of  this  reasoning,  and  persevere  in 
such  trifling,  I  cannot  comprehend. 

After  these  quotations  the  following  will  appear  but 
vapid :  He  thus  defends  the  use  of  instrumental  music : — 
"  *  Praise  him  on  the  ten-stringed  Psaltery.'**^  By  the 
ten-stringed  Psaltery  we  are  to  understand  the  incarnate 
Word :  for  the  cypher  for  10  is  iota  (j)  which  is  also 
the  first  letter  in  Ivjo-wj  Jesus."**''  '*  Our  paedagogue  is 
firm  and  upright ;  this  is  denoted  by  the  first  letter  in  his 

144  According  to  later  authorities,  the  scabella,  or  footstool.     There  is 
the  same  allusion  in  our  quotation  from  Justin  Martyr,  p.  270. 

145  Exod.  xxviii.  l_-5. 

146  Psa.  xxxiii.  2. 

147  Pad.,  lib.  2.  c.  4. 


280 

name,  I  in  Ir)<r«f.""^  These,  however,  further  illustrate  the 
use  of  the  numerical  mode  of  the  «/^4;»/3oXja;  the  instances 
of  which  are  not  of  very  frequent  occurrence  in  the 
writings  of  the  early  fathers,  and  will  not,  therefore, 
require  any  more  particular  observations. 

Our  amphibolical  quotations  hitherto  have  borne 
altogether  upon  the  cross.  We  have  noticed  a  constant 
effort  to  multiply  the  number  of  scriptural  allusions  to  it, 
by  giving  such  a  meaning  to  the  most  improbable  places. 
All  the  particulars  of  its  external  appearance  are  diffusively 
dwelt  upon.  That  which  in  the  first  century  was  ascribed 
to  the  divine  energy  of  him  who  was  crucified,  is,  in  the 
writers  of  the  second,  (frequently  by  implication,  and 
more  than  once  by  express  declaration)  taught  to  be  the 
effects  of  certain  magical  virtues  residing  in  the  figure  of 
the  cross.  This  error,  like  so  many  of  the  preceding  ones, 
soon  yielded  its  fruits.  Very  shortly  afterwards,  all  who 
professed  the  Christian  name  were  called  upon,  not  to 
prostrate  their  hearts  before  Christ  crucified,  but  their 
persons  before  the  crucifix  ;  and,  instead  of  worshipping 
''  him  who  died  on  tree,"  to  pay  their  adorations  to  the 
tree  on  w  hich  he  died  ! 

It  will  also  have  been  observed,  that  several  of  the 
glosses  which  we  have  quoted,  equivocate  vipon  the  names 
and  titles  of  our  Lord.  As  this  is,  with  the  early  fathers, 
an  ordinary  mode  of  applying  the  canon  of  comment  we 
are  considering,  we  will  exemplify  it  by  an  instance  or  two, 
which  will  again  illustrate  the  influence  which  the  epistle 
of  St.  Barnabas  exercised  over  the  church  in  the  second 
century. 

"  Jesus  (that  is,  Joshua)  is  said  to  have  circumcised 
the  people  a  second  time  '  with  stone  knives,''^''  because 
it«  Pcxd.,  lib,  1.  c.  n.  Hf  f^ax«.''(ccs  rirplvx;.     Josh.  v.  2.  LXX. 


281 

Jesus  Christ  is  the  herald  of  that  circumcision  wherewith 
he  hath  circumcised  us  from  stones  and  other  idols.  And 
he  hath  made  '  heaps  of  the  foreskins'^^"  of  those  that  were 
uncircumcised  from  the  error  of  the  world,  who  are  now 
circumcised  with  the  '  stone  knives'*  of  Jesus  our  Lord, 
that  is,  with  his  words.  For  Jesus  is  often  called  by  the 
prophets  '  a  stone"*  and  '  a  rock  :'  by  stone  knives,  therefore, 
we  are  to  understand  his  words,  whereby  so  many  who 
were  in  error  through  uncircumcision  have  been  circum- 
cised with  the  circumcision  of  the  heart.  All,  therefore, 
who  enter  into  the  heavenly  Canaan,  undergo  this  circum- 
cision by  the  stone  knives  of  Jesus."'"'^^'  "  When  the  ark  of 
the  covenant  had  been  taken  by  the  men  of  Ashdod  and 
was  returned  by  them  on  account  of  the  plagues  wherewith 
they  were  smitten, ^^^  the  heifers  that  drew  the  car  which 
contained  it,  under  no  mortal  guidance,  took  it  to  the  field 
of  a  certain  man  named  Jesus,  (that  is,  Joshua,^  and  stood 
still ;  whereby  we  are  to  understand  that  they  were 
directed  by  the  power  of  that  name.''*'''"'^ 

I  will  mention  here  an  objection  to  the  practice  of 
throwing  the  narratives  of  the  Old  Testament  into  types  of 
the  New  Dispensation,  Avhich  appears  to  me  an  important 
one.  Has  it  not  a  direct  tendency  to  raise  and  to 
confirm  the  infidel  notion  that  the  events  there  narrated 
ai'e  by  no  means  to  be  viewed  in  the  light  of  literally 
historical  facts,  but  of  mere  parables,  founded  indeed 
upon    history,   but   embellished  by  the  narrator,    to   suit 

150  /38V0?  Tuv  UKpoliu^iZv.       Id. 

151  Justin.  Dial.,  p.  341  A.  The  extract  is  preceded  by  much  more 
to  the  same  purport,  and  followed  by  a  dissertation  at  length  upon  Christ 
the  stone ;  I  have  only  taken  what  appeared  to  be  the  most  remarkable 
passage. 

152  1  Sam.  vii.  7—14. 

153  Uhi  supra.,  p.  362  B.,  where  see  more. 


282 


the  purpose  for  which  he  relates  it  ?  The  idea  that  the 
two  dispensations  of  God  have  been  so  ordered  that  the 
one  is,  not  merely  the  type,  but  the  very  protoplast  of 
the  other  ;  the  resemblance  holding  throughout  every 
possible  particular,  with  such  minute  exactness,  as  to 
justify  the  obscure,  and  scarcely  comprehensible  allusions 
which  the  early  fathers  so  often  discover,  and  of  which 
our  present  quotations  afford  us  the  example,  is,  in  itself, 
so  complex,  and,  therefore,  so  discordant  with  every 
thing  that  is  revealed  to  us  regarding  the  divine  mode 
of  operation,  that  we  are  not  surprised  that  they  who 
maintain  it  should  endeavour  to  rid  themselves  of  the 
difficulty  by  the  invention  of  some  easier  expedient;  by 
the  supposition  that  the  inspired  historians  altered  and 
embellished  their  narrations  in  the  spirit  of  prophecy, 
or,  in  plainer  terms,  that  they  lied  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  ^^* 
Philo,  who  wishes  to  identify  Judaism  with  philosophy, 
was  certainly  of  this  opinion  ;  and  I  am  not  prepared  to 

154  That  my  meaning  may  not  be  misconceived,  I  will  further  illus- 
trate  it  from  the  example  before  us.  There  is  a  perfect  propriety  in  eluci- 
dating the  captivity  of  the  world  to  sin  by  the  Egyptian  bondage ;  the 
conversion  to  Christianity,  of  which  water  baptism  is  the  figure,  by  the 
passage  through  the  Red  Sea ;  the  vicissitudes  of  the  Christian  life,  by  the 
sojourn  in  the  wilderness  ;  and  the  "  rest  that  remaineth  for  the  people  of 
God"  by  the  promised  land  of  Canaan  :  because  for  all  these  we  have  scrip- 
tural authority.  Nor  am  I  insensible  to  the  beauty,  as  well  as  the  propriety, 
of  the  illustration.  But  the  connection  between  the  two  is  purely  metapho- 
rical ;  it  partakes  not  at  all  of  the  nature  of  protoplasm,  or  sympathy  ;  we 
allow  of  nothing  beyond  that  air  of  general  resemblance  which  justifies  the 
use  of  the  figure.  In  the  instances  before  us,  therefore,  we  cannot  hesitate 
to  deny  that  there  is  any  relation,  typical,  or  sympathetical,  between  the 
names  of  the  son  of  Nun  and  the  Son  of  God,  because  such  an  application 
runs  the  metaphor  aground,  which  is  a  greater  oflcnce  in  divinity  than  even 
in  literature.  And  besides,  the  inspired  writings  connect  the  two  names, 
not  in  the  way  of  type,  but  of  antithesis.     Hcb.  iv. 


283 


say  that  the  philosophical  Christianism  of  the  second 
century  was  entirely  free  from  it.  I  have  sometimes 
been  led  to  entertain  the  suspicion  in  perusing  the  works 
of  its  professors. 

The    following    very     objectionable     comment    well 
exemplifies,    both  the  evil  of   these  historical  types,  and 
the  extent  of   licence   allowed    in  the  second    century    to 
the  a/i(pj/3oA/« ;   which,   it  will  be   seen,  was  by  no  means 
confined  to  the  cross  and  names  of    Christ,    but  applied 
to  every  thing  relating    to  him.     "  If  any  one  will  look 
into  the  acts  of  Jacob,  he  will  find  them  not  unmeaning, 
but  full  of  dispensation.     In  the  first  place,  at  his  birth  ; 
he  was  called  Jacob,  a  supplanter,    because  he  laid  hold 
on   his  brother's  heel ;    holding,  not  being  himself  held ; 
binding  feet,    not  being  bound  himself ;    holding    in  his 
hand  the  heel  of  his  adversary,  that  is  the  victory.     Even 
unto  this  also,    the  Lord  was  born,   of  whom  Jacob  was 
the  type  as  well  as   the  progenitor  ;   and  of   whom  John 
says  in  the  Apocalypse  :    '  he  went  forth  conquering  and 
to  conquer.'     Jacob  then  attained  the  primogeniture,  when 
his   brother   despised    it,    even  as    also  we,    the  younger 
people,  obtained  Christ,  when  our  older  brethren  in  grace 
(the  Jews)  rejected  him,  saying,  '  we  have  no  king  but 
Caesar,'     There  is  a  universal   blessing-  in  Christ ;    and, 
therefore,  the  Father's  blessing  upon  the  first  people  the 
last  stole  away  :  even  as  Jacob  got  the  blessing  from  Esau. 
And  as  on  this  account  he  was  greatly  persecuted  by  his 
brother,   so  also  the  church  at  this  day  suffers  persecution 
from  the  Jews.     The  descendants  of  Jacob  became  twelve 
tribes,    and    Christ    hath   founded   his    church  upon   the 
twelve-pillared  basis  of  the  apostles.      The  spotted  sheep 
were  Jacob's  wages  ;^*^  and  the  wages  of  Christ  are  men 
1^5  Gen.  XXX.  .32. 


284 

of  various  and  differing  nations,  gathered  together  into  one 
cohort,  and  made  of  one  faith  ;  as  the  Father  hath  pro- 
mised, '  Ask  of  me  and  I  will  give  thee  the  heathen  for 
thine  inheritance.'^^^  And  as  Jacob's  numerous  family 
were  prophetic  of  the  multitude  that  should  be  bom  unto 
the  Lord,  it  was  needful  that  he  should  beget  them  of 
two  sisters,  even  as  Christ's  children  came  from  two  laws, 
of  one  and  the  same  lawgiver.  A  part  of  Jacob's  family 
was  also  by  two  hand-maidens  ;  signifying  how,  according 
to  the  flesh,  Christ  makes  the  sons  of  God  both  of  bond 
and  free,  giving  the  Spirit  that  quickens  vis,  unto  all. 
But  Jacob  did  all  things  for  the  sake  of  her  who  had 
beautiful  eyes,  even  Rachel,  who  prefigured  the  church 
on  account  of  which  Christ  suffered.  No  part  of  Jacob's 
history  is  without  significancy."^^'^ 

There  is  a  gravity  in  the  style  of  Irenseus,  as  well 
as  an  ingenuity,  in  the  application  of  the  amphibolical 
meanings  in  this  passage,  which  gives  it,  at  first  sight,  a 
very  imposing  and  plausible  appearance  :  but  a  slight 
examination  will  suffice  to  detect  its  real  character ;  it  is 
a  tissue  of  wretched  trifling,  surpassed  in  utter  absurdity, 
yea  buffoonery,  by  nothing  which  is  before  the  reader. 
Nor  can  we  better  expose  the  folly  of  the  entire  system, 
than  by  comparing  it  with  the  gloss  we  have  already 
given  from  Tertullian  upon  the  same  passage  ;^^*'  when 
it  will  be  observed  that  the  same  Jacob  and  Esau,  in 
whom  the  one  discovers  a  type  of  Gentiles  and  Jews,  the 
other  finds  to  be  an  equally  instructive  symbol  of  Christ 
and  Satan  ;  and  that  the  very  events  which  the  one  inter- 
prets as  predictive  of  the  acceptance  of  the  Gentiles,  and 
the  rejection  of  the  Jews,  the  other,  with  the  aid  of  the 
aju,<^i/3oX»a,  applies  to  the  victories  of  Christ  and  the  dis- 

'■''fi   Psa.  ii.  8.  '''7   Iron.,  lib.  1.  c.  :{».  ^-'^  Page  249. 


285 

comfiture  of  his  enemies :  and  tliat  both  are  equally 
fortunate  in  the  discovery  of  coincidences.^^^ 

We  will  conclude  our  view  of  the  mode  in  which 
the  early  fathers  interpreted  the  Scriptures,  by  a  few 
examples  of  their  comments  upon  the  ceremonial  law. 
These,  like  the  last  quotation,  are  also  strictly  and  pro- 
perly amphibolical ;  they  only  differ  from  the  others  in 
equivocating  upon  the  sense  of  a  sentence,  instead  of  upon 
the  meaning  of  a  word.  These  also  originated  with  the 
epistle  of  Barnabas,  and  the  argument  for  its  authenticity 
is,  therefore,  placed  in  this  commanding  position ;  the 
whole  of  those  passages  which  were  supposed  to  throw 
discredit  upon  it,  we  can  authenticate  by  a  host  of 
authorities  from  the  works  of  his  immediate  successors. 
Consequently  the  identity  of  no  book  out  of  the  sacred 
canon  rests  upon  so  firm  a  basis  of  evidence  as  the  epistle 
of  Barnabas. 

The  reasons  of  the  Mosaic  precepts  and  prohibitions 
regarding  animal  food  have  formed  a  favourite  subject 
of  speculation  both  with  Jewish  and  Christian  mystics 
in  all  ages :  and  even  commentators  of  a  graver  and 
more  solid  character  seem  to  become  mystical  when  they 
approach  this  portion  of  Holy  Writ.  Professing  the 
utmost  regard  for  the  general  character  of  many  admirable 
commentaries,  which  give  an  ethical  interpretation  to  the 
eleventh  of  Leviticus  and  the  fourteenth  of  Deuteronomy, 
and  teach  us  to  regard  the  natural  habits  of  the  animals 
there  permitted  and  prohibited,  as  types  of  moral  qualities 

159  The  fact  that  certain  prophecies  regarding  the  advents  of  our  Lord 
have  received  an  inchoate  accomplishment  at  the  first,  and  wait  until  his 
second  coming  for  their  complete  fulfilment,  gives  no  countenance  whatever 
to  these  interpretations :  which  refer  to  events  chronologically  identical, 
and  point  out  the  same  historical  personages,  as  types  of  two  different  sets 
of  actors  in  the  same  drama. 


286 

in  men,  the  possessors  of  which  are  in  like  manner  to  be 
sought  or  avoided,  I  would  submit,  that  it  is  by  no  means 
an  ordinary  mode  of  the  divine  procedure  to  wrap  up  rules 
and  maxims  which  regard  the  ordinary  conduct  of  life  in 
amphibologies  and  enigmas.  Types  and  figures  are  em- 
ployed in  the  Bible  to  foreshadow  future  events  and 
dispensations,  not  to  "  darken  the  council""  of  moral 
precepts.  Another  formidable  difficulty  also  arises  from 
the  circumstance,  that  we  have  not  yet  ascertained  the 
animals  which  many  of  the  names  employed  in  these 
passages  are  intended  to  designate :  and  as,  until  this 
question  is  set  at  rest,  we  certainly  cannot  decide  upon 
the  qualities  which  their  habits  are  to  symbolise,  it  must 
of  course  be  conceded,  even  by  those  who  maintain  that 
such  is  their  true  meaning,  that  the  whole  subject  demands 
further  investigation  ;  and  I  feel  persuaded,  that  if  the 
enquiry  be  properly  conducted,  it  will  be  fully  elucidated. 
If  I  may  be  permitted  to  hazard  a  conjecture  upon  a 
matter  as  yet  so  imperfectly  known,  I  suspect  that  they 
merely  embody  the  customs  upon  the  subject  of  animal 
food  which  the  Israelites  had  adopted  during  their  long 
sojourn  in  Egypt ;  and  that  they  were  so  sanctioned  for 
the  purpose  of  purifying  them  from  the  idolatrous  asso- 
ciations with  which,  in  that  nation  of  animal  worshippers, 
they  were  sure  to  be  mixed  up.  For  if  we  carefidly 
observe  the  mode  in  which  the  revelations  of  God  have 
invariably  borne  upon  those  nations,  or  families  of  men, 
to  whom  they  were  immediately  vouchsafed,  we  shall  find 
that  not  only  have  all  needless  interferences  with  the  exist- 
ing customs  of  ordinary  life  been  avoided,  but  the  new 
dispensation  has,  in  certain  instances,  been  so  framed  as 
expressly  to  adopt  and  sanction  them.  The  case  before 
us,  (should    my    conjecture  prove    correct),    will    furnish 


287 

an  example  of  this  :    and  similar  ones  occur  also  in  the 
Christian,  as  well  as  in  the  Jewish,  economies. 

Barnabas  thus  spiritualises  the  precepts  in  question : 
— "  Why  did  Moses  say  '  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  the  swine, 
neither  the  eagle,  nor  the  hawk,  nor  the  crow,  nor  any  fish 
that  has  not  a  scale  upon  him  P'^""  I  answer,  that  in  the 
spiritual  sense  he  comprehended  three  doctrines  that  were 
to  be  gathered  from  thence.  Besides  which,  he  says  to  them 
in  the  book  of  Deuteronomy,  '  and  I  will  give  my  statutes 
to  this  people.''^*'^  Wherefore  it  is  not  the  command  of 
God  that  they  should  not  eat  these  things ;  but  Moses  in 
the  spirit  spoke  unto  them.^"^  Now  the  sow  he  forbade 
them  to  eat ;  meaning  thus  much :  thou  shalt  not  join 
thyself  unto  such  persons  as  are  like  unto  swine :  who, 
whilst  they  live  in  pleasure,  forget  their  God ;  but  when 
any  want  pinches  them,  then  they  know  the  Lord :  as  the 
sow  when  she  is  full  knows  not  her  master  ;  but  when  she 
is  hungry  she  makes  a  noise ;  and  being  again  fed,  is 
silent.  '  Neither,"*  says  he  '  shalt  thou  eat  the  hawk  nor 
the  kite,  nor  the  crow  ;'  that  is,  Thou  shalt  not  keep 
company  with  such  kind  of  men  as  know  not  how  to  labour 
and  sweat  to  get  themselves  food  :  but  injuriously  ravish 
away  the  things  of  others ;  and  watch  how  to  lay  snares 
for  them  ;  when,  at  the  same  time,  they  appear  to  live  in 
perfect  innocence.  So  these  birds  seek  not  food  for  them- 
selves, but,  sitting  idle,  seek  how  they  may  eat  of  the  flesh 

160  Lev.  xi.  9—19.     Deut.  xiv.  9—19. 

161  Deut.  iv.  8. 

162  He  probably  meant  to  say,  that  the  part  of  the  Mosaic  writings 
upon  which  he  is  commenting  was  not  inspired  to  the  same  degree  as  the 
Decalogue.  This  notion  of  degrees  of  inspiration  originated  with  the  Hellen- 
ising  Jews,  from  whom  Barnabas  adopted  this  comment,  and  is  closely 
allied  to  the  error  that  the  Scripture  narratives  are  parables,  which  we  have 
traced  to  the  same  source. 


288 

which  others  have  provided,  being  destructive  through 
their  wickedness.  '  Neither/  says  he,  '  shalt  thou  eat 
the  lamprey,  nor  the  polypus,  nor  the  cuttle  fish  ;""  that 
is,  thou  shalt  not  be  like  such  men  by  using  to  converse 
with  them  ;  who  are  altogether  wicked  and  adjudged  to 
death. ^'^  For  so  these  fishes  alone  are  accursed  which 
wallow  in  the  mire,  nor  swim,  as  other  fishes,  but  tumble 
in  the  dirt  at  the  bottom  of  the  deep.  Moses,  therefore, 
speaking  as  concerning  meats,  delivered  three  great 
precepts  to  them  in  the  spiritual  signification  of  these 
commands :  but  they,  according  to  the  desires  of  the  flesh, 
understood  him  as  if  he  had  only  meant  it  of  meats.  And, 
therefore,  David  took  aright  the  knowledge  (yvwcrig)  of  this 
three-fold  command,  saying  in  this  manner,  '  Blessed  is 
the  man  that  hath  not  walked  in  the  counsel  of  the 
ungodly  ;'  as  the  fishes  before  mentioned  in  the  bottom  of 
the  deep  in  darkness ;  '  nor  stood  in  the  way  of  sinners,' 
as  they  who  seem  to  fear  the  Lord  and  yet  sin  as  the  sow. 
'  And  hath  not  sat  in  the  seat  of  the  scorners  ;'""*  as  those 
birds  who  sit  and  watch  that  they  may  devour.  Here  you 
have  the  law  perfectly  set  forth  according  to  the  true 
knowledge  of  it.  But  says  Moses,  '  ye  shall  eat  all  that 
cleaveth  the  hoof  and  cheweth  the  cud;^^^  signifying 
thereby  such  a  one  as  having  taken  his  food,  knows  him 
that  nourisheth  him  ;  and  resting  upon  him  rejoiceth  in 
him.     But  why  might  they  eat  those  that  cleave  the  hoof.? 

"53  I,  for  obvious  reasons,  omit  here  his  comment  upon  the  prohibitions 
regarding  the  hare,  the  hyasna,  and  the  weasel : — their  gross  absurdity,  and 
filthy  indecency,  are  too  well  know-n  already.  Clement  of  Alexandria  makes 
this  passage  in  Barnabas  the  text  of  an  extended  and  elaborate  comment, 
Paed.,  lib.  2.  c.  10.,  concerning  which,  it  may  suffice  to  remark,  that  in  both 
the  qualities  just  specified  he  far  surpasses  his  original. 

164  psa.  i.  1. 

"''•"'  Lev.  xi.  3,  &c 


289 

because  the  righteous  liveth  in  this  present  world  ;  but  his 
expectation  is  fixed  upon  the  other.  See,  brethren,  how 
admirably  Moses  commanded  these  things."''^*' 

This  comment,  which  is  little  more  than  the  adoption 
and  Christianization  of  certain  philosophical  speculations 
upon  the  Mosaic  law  by  the  semi-infidel  Jew,  Philo,  '^'^ 
was  both  copied  and  imitated  by  the  fathers  of  the  second 
century.     We  will  give  a  single  instance. 

Irenaeus  quotes  two  texts^*"^  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  that  men  may,  with  propriety,  be  compared  to 
beasts,  and  then  proceeds  thus : — "  The  law  also  hath 
figuratively  predicted  all  these  things,  delineating  men  by 
animals.  Those  that  divide  the  hoof  and  chew  the  cud 
it  declares  to  be  clean,  but  those  that  fail  in  either  of 
these  are  unclean.  Who  then  are  clean  ?  They  who  walk 
firmly  by  faith  in  the  Father  and  the  Son  ;  this  is  the 
cloven  hoof  that  imparts  firmness  unto  them  :  '  and  who 
meditate  in  the  words  of  God  day  and  night  ;*'^^^  this  is 
their  power  of  ruminating.  The  unclean  are  those  who 
have  neither  a  cloven  hoof  nor  ruminate,  that  is,  who 
have  neither  faith  in  God  nor  meditate  upon  his  word, 
which  is  the  abomination  of  the  Gentiles.  By  them  '  that 
chew  the  cud  but  divide  not  the  hoof,'  the  Jews  are 
figuratively  described  ;  who  have,  indeed,  the  Word  of 
God  in  their  mouths,  but  do  not  rootedly  establish  them- 
selves in  the  Father  and  the  Son.  On  this  account  they 
are  liable  to  stumble  ;  for  whole  hoofed  animals  easily  slip, 
but  those  that  are  double  hoofed  walk  with  a  firmer  step, 
because  the  one  hoof  supports  the  other.  They  also  are 
unclean  '  which  cleave  the  hoof  and  chew  not  the  cud  ;' 

160  Barn.  Ep.  Cath.  c.  10. 

1(57  He/))  Tiupyia;.     Opera,  pp.  160  F.  et  seq. 

168  Psa.  xlix.  20. ;  Jer.  v.  8.  169  Pga.  i.  2.     See  Barnabas  above. 


290 

this  shows  forth  the  heretics,  and  tliose  who  do  not  meditate 
upon  the  Word  of  God,  nor  adorn  it  with  good  works  ; 
of  whom  the  Lord  says,  '  Why  say  ye  unto  me,  Lord, 
Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  which  I  tell  you  P'^'^^  They 
who  are  such  say  indeed  that  they  believe  in  the  Father 
and  the  Son,  but  they  never  meditate  on  the  Word  of  God 
as  they  ought,  nor  are  they  adorned  with  good  works ; 
but  as  we  have  said  they  live  the  life  of  swine  and  dogs, 
giving  themselves  over  to  impurity  and  gluttony. — Justly, 
therefore,  are  such  termed  by  the  apostle  '  carnal,'^''^  and 
by  the  prophets,  cattle  and  wild  beasts."^'^^ 

This  grievous  perversion  and  waste  of  great  inge- 
nuity of  conception,  and  remarkable  neatness  of  construc- 
tion and  application  is  evidently  founded  upon  the  gloss 
of  St.  Barnabas  ;  and,  therefore,  proves  that  it  was 
accepted  by  his  successors  as  the  standard  comment  upon 
the  passage. 

Clement  of  Alexandria  also  repeatedly  quotes  and 
adopts  this  interpretation, ^'^^  and  in  two  places^'^  expressly 
ascribes  it  to  St.  Barnabas  As  this  is  the  passage  upon 
which  the  objection  to  the  authority  of  the  epistle  has 
mainly  rested,  we  may,  I  think,  fairly  presume  that  the 
doubt  regarding  it  is  satisfactorily  set  at  rest. 

Having  now  sufficiently  shown  the  mode  of  comment 
and  interpretation  of  the  Word  of  God  which  the  early 
fathers  employed,  the  arguments  by  which  they  justified 
and  defended  it,  will  next  claim  our  brief  consideration. 

One  principal  purpose  of  the  Stromates  of  Clement  of 

170  Luke  vi.  46. 

171  1  Cor.  ii.  14. 

172  Adv.  H.xr.,  lib.  5.  c.  8. 

173  Pa»d.  2.  c.  8.,  3.  c.  11.,  &c. 

174  2  Strom.,  §  15. ;  5  Strom.,  §  8.     He  frequently  quotes  him  :   some- 
times with  the  title  napvafias  0  xroroXo;.     2  Strom.,  §  7-5  &c. 


291 

Alexandria  is  the  defence  of  the  a/x^-i/SoA/a,  which  he 
grounds  upon  one  of  those  fancied  analogies,  or  sympa- 
thies, by  which  the  ancients  so  often  allowed  themselves 
to  be  misled.  These  glosses  held  in  Christian  doctrine 
the  corresponding  place  to  asceticism  in  Christian  practice; 
and  together  constituted  its  highest  style,  its  consumma- 
tion and  perfection  :  and  he  whose  life  and  opinions 
exhibited  this  combination,  was  the  only  true  professor 
of  Gnosticism, ^'^^  by  which  title  he  was  honourably  distin- 
guished. His  gifted  eye  pierced  through  the  mere 
external  sense  of  the  written  word,  and  surveyed  the  inner 
mysteries  of  Christianity  ;  those  sublime  and  recondite 
truths  to  which  the  amphibolies  we  have  quoted  were  the 
introduction,  which  it  was  one  purpose  of  Revelation  to 
conceal,  (if  the  solecism  be  allowed)  and  which  were, 
therefore,  not  to  be  written,  lest  they  should  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  uninitiated.  "  Some  of  the  secret  doctrines," 
says  Clement,  "  I  of  purpose  pretermit,  having  made  a 
selection,  and  fearing  to  write  that  which  I  must  have 
warned  some  against  reading.  Not  that  I  envy  others  the 
possession  of  them  ;  that  would  be  unjust ;  but  I  was 
afraid  lest  they  should  prove  the  means  of  leading  men 
into  error.  And  thus  we  should  have  been  found  to  have 
given  a  child  a  sword  to  play  with,  as  the  proverbialists 
have  it."^^''  Again  he  says,  "  I  am  afraid  to  cast  these 
pearls  before  swine,  lest  they  trample  them  under  their 
feet  and  turn  again  and  rend  us ;  for  it  is  difficult  to  speak 
pure  and  perspicuous  words  concerning  the  true  wisdom 
to  swinish   and    unlearned  auditors,    who   will  laugh    at 

175  I  need  scarcely  remark  that  this  is  an  amphibolical  interpretation  of 
the  New  Testament  word,  yvairis. 

176  1  Strom.,  §  1.     Had  he  exercised  this  discretion  soundly,  his  eight 
books  of  Stromates  would  have  shrunk  into  a  very  small  compass. 


292 

mysteries  which  men  of  loftier  intellect  deem  most  won- 
derful, and  redolent  of  inspiration,"^^-^  His  defence  of  these 
hidden  meanings,  and  of  the  mode  of  interpretation  which 
elicits  them,  is  so  scattered  through  the  whole  of  this 
diffuse  and  parenthetical  production,  that  I  find  great 
difficulty  in  collecting  and  arranging  it.  He  sometimes 
justifies  them  by  arguments  drawn  from  the  nature  of 
things  :  thus,  "  When  truth  is  exhibited  covered  with  a 
veil  it  appears  greater  and  more  majestic,  as  ripe  fruits 
seen  in  a  vessel  of  clear  water  are  invested  with  a  bi'ighter 
and  softer  beauty  ;  and  as  all  things  seem  larger  and 
more  important  beneath  the  folds  of  a  mantle.""^'^  He 
cites  the  example  of  our  Saviour,  who,  by  his  account, 
repelled  the  temptations  of  Satan  by  means  of  amphibo- 
lical  applications  of  Scripture  ;^'^  of  Moses,  the  whole  of 
whose  five  books  are  an  enigma  admitting  of  a  quadruple 
solution,^^*^  or,  if  it  be  considered  as  a  law,  of  a  triple 
reception  ;^^^  and  of  the  prophets,  whose  writings  so  abound 
with  mystic  sayings  and  equivocations  that  it  would  be 
tedious  to  bring  them  together.^^^  He  also  quotes  Scrip- 
ture in  defence  of  this  mode  of  interpretation ;  but  his 
comments  are  themselves  amphibolical  in  almost  every 
instance.^^^     He  does  not  seem  to  have  been  aware,   that 

177  1  Strom.,  §  12.  If  this  is  the  standard  of  intellectual  superiority,  I 
certainly  must  acknowledge  myself  to  be  one  of  "  the  swinish  multitude." 

178  5  Strom.,  §  9. 

J  78  1  Strom.,  §  9.     This  is  a  mistake. 

180  It  may  be  interpreted  historically,  nomothetically,  (or  legally,) 
physically,  or  Theologically. 

1"!  It  may  be  received  as  a  sign  revealing,  as  a  command  exhorting,  or 
as  a  prophecy  predicting — 1  Strom.,  §  28.  He  probably  found  this  non- 
sense in  Philo. 

l«2  5  Strom.,  §  G. 

1«3  See  1  Strom.,  §  9—12. ;  2  Strom.,  §  2. ;  5  Strom.,  §  4.,  a.  f. ;  like- 


293 

when  he  made  his  rule  prove  itself  he  was  arguing  in  a 
circle. 

But  the  most  important  and  instructive  part  of  his 
defence  remains  to  be  considered.  He  justifies  the  double 
meanings  in  the  Bible,  and  the  secret  doctrines  to  be 
deduced  therefrom,  by  the  example  of  the  Egyptian  hiero- 
glyphics, which  were  used  for  the  purpose  of  conceal- 
ment ;^^*  of  the  Greek  wise  men,  philosophers,  and  poets, 
all  of  whom  had  their  dark  sayings  ;^^^  —of  Pythagoras, 
Avhose  aphorisms  were  capable  of  no  other  mode  of  inter- 
pretation ;^^  and  finally  by  the  universal  practice  of  all 
idolatries,  both  Greek  and  barbarian,  of  wrapping  up 
certain  abstruse  dogmas  of  their  religion  in  types  and 
mysteries  which  were  not  revealed  but  to  the  initiated. ^^^ 

This  invaluable  admission  at  once  furnishes  us  with 
the  key  to  that  which  must  have  hitherto  appeared  so 
extraordinary  and  unaccountable.  The  same  heathenism 
which  warped  the  opinions  and  dogmas  of  the  early 
fathers  upon  every  point  of  divinity  we  have  hitherto 
considered,  we  now  find  to  have  dictated  even  their 
mode  of  interpreting  the  Scriptures.  They  regarded 
them  exactly  in  the  light  of  the  jaJ^oi  or  sacred  books 
of  idolatry. — As  these  consisted  altogether  of  ridiculous, 


wise  sections  6,  8,  and  10,  of  the  same  book,  where  absurdities  will  be 
found  far  surpassing  any  thing  we  have  quoted.  In  the  12th  Section  also 
will  be  found  a  number  of  texts  cited  in  defence  of  these  secret  doctrines, 
which  have  no  other  relation  to  the  subject  than  that  they  contain  the  word 
Kfv-^luv,  "  to  hide,"  or  some  of  its  compounds. 

184  5  Strom.,  §  4.  This  is  the  well-known  passage  which  contains  an 
explanation  of  the  systems  of  writing  in  use  among  the  Egyptians.  See 
also  §  7,  9- 

183  Ubi  supra.,  §  9,  10,  11,  &c. 

186  §  a. 

187  §  8. 


294 

and  often  unclean,  fables,  it  became  customary  to  uphold 
their  authority  by  the  fiction,  that  imder  them  were 
concealed  (as  in  parables  and  allegories)  disclosures 
regarding  the  visible  and  invisible  creation,  profound 
maxims  of  wisdom,  and  other  abstruse  and  hidden  veri- 
ties :  the  literal  meaning  being  the  veil  by  which  they  were 
enshrined  from  the  vulgar  gaze,  and  which  was  lifted  up 
to  those  only  who  submitted  themselves  to  that  series  of 
washings  and  other  probationary  ceremonies  which  consti- 
tuted initiation  into  the  mysteries,  as  it  was  then  termed. 
By  a  very  natural  process,  this  notion  passed  from  the 
religion  into  the  philosophy  of  the  ancient  world.  We 
have  the  exoteric  and  esoteric,  the  outer  and  inner  doctrines 
of  the  Aristoteleans.  Pythagoras  also  constructed  two 
sets  of  interpretations  of  his  own  dogmas,  as  well  as  two 
codes  of  discipline,  for  the  two  classes  of  his  followers  : — 
the  one  for  those  who  mingled  in  the  affairs  of  life ;  the 
other,  which  was  much  more  abstruse  and  mystical,  for  the 
ascetics  who  conformed  to  the  more  rigid  code. — The  same 
peculiarity  is  also  observable  of  the  Essenes ;  a  sect  amongst 
them,  probably  distinguished  by  the  title  of  Therapeutae 
(devotees),  were  remarkable  for  the  severity  of  their  disci- 
pline, and  for  the  lofty  mysticism  of  their  strain  of  comment 
upon  the  sacred  text.  So  that  the  union  of  mysticism  with 
monasticism  was  by  no  means  the  invention  of  the  early 
Christians,  but  was  borrowed  by  them  from  the  source  to 
which,  as  we  have  already  seen,  so  many  of  their  opinions 
are  to  be  traced.  Neither  can  they  be  charged  with 
inventing  the  a/A<p«/3oAia  ;  the  Jews  had  long  before  dis- 
covered the  art  of  extracting  equivocal  and  doubtful 
meanings  from  the  writings  of  the  Old  Testament,  as 
from  mythic  fables  : — and  nothing  can  be  more  evident 
than  that    Barnabas,  its  originator  in   Christianity,    had 


295 

found  it  in  the  school  of  Judaism ;  though  his  successors 
improved  upon  his  model  by  still  further  assimilations, 
through  philosophy,  to  the  heathenism  whence  it  had  at 
first  been  derived. 

The  strange  and  absurd  comments,  therefore,  which 
we  have  been  compelled  to  lay  before  the  reader,  are  now 
abundantly  explained  and  accounted  for.  Their  authors 
looked  upon  the  word  of  God  as  a  mythology ;  of  which, 
the  only  parts  to  be  understood  in  their  literal  sense  were 
those  that  treated  of  the  invisible  world,  of  the  divine 
nature,  character,  and  attributes,  of  the  mode  of  the  di- 
vine existence,^^^  and  other  similar  topics.  All  the  rest  they 
considered  dark  and  enigmatical ;  the  apparent  meaning  be- 
ing merely  the  veil  that  concealed  "  those  allegorical  senses 
in  which  the  gnostical  truth  delivers  itself,  whereby  one 
thing  is  shown  and  another  meant;"  as  Clement  phrases  it.  ^^^ 

188  That  the  early  fathers  were  orthodox  upon  these  subjects  has  been 
abundantly  demonstrated  ;  I  need  scarcely  name  the  elaborate  Defensio 
Fidei  N'lcasncB  of  Bishop  Bull,  and  the  admirable  treatises  upon  the  works  of 
Tertullian  and  Justin  Martyr  by  the  bishop  of  Lincoln,  as  embodying  every 
thing  that  can  be  desired  upon  the  question.  It  appears  to  me  that  these 
were  the  only  doctrines  upon  which  these  authors  accepted  aright  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Scriptures.  Their  comments  upon  all  texts  relating  to  the  divine 
nature,  are  characterised  by  a  scrupulous  anxiety  to  give  the  literal  unsophis- 
ticated  meaning  of  the  passage  :  so  much  so,  that  they  needlessly  refine 
upon  it :  and  the  later  creeds  will  be  found  more  accurately  to  define  the 
revealed  truth  upon  these  mysterious  subjects,  than  the  works  of  the  Anti- 
Nicene  fathers  ;  because  the  former  are  constructed  upon  the  scope  of  the 
whole  Bible,  whereas  the  latter  make  a  series  of  separate  deductions  from 
the  sense  of  particular  passages.  This  peculiarity  in  the  early  fathers  I 
would  thus  explain : — The  nature  and  mode  of  existence  of  divine  person- 
ages were  precisely  the  subjects  upon  which  the  heathen  mythologies  were 
supposed  to  speak  plainly,  and  without  figure  or  parable :  and,  therefore, 
the  early  church  forbore  to  equivocate  or  amphibolise  upon  them ;  she 
expected  that  the  sacred  books  should  instruct  her  upon  these  points  in 
plain  and  direct  language. 

i«f>  1  Strom,,  §  14. 


296 

And,  therefore,  he  who  would  attain  to  the  perfection  of 
Christianity  must  pass  over  the  obvious  import  of  the  inspired 
word,  and  endeavour,  by  the  exercise  of  his  ingenuity  and 
philosophy,  to  develope  the  hidden  meanings.  Thus  then, 
"  they  made  the  word  of  God  of  none  effect  by  their  tradi- 
tion :"  with  them  it  was  not  "  a  light  unto  the  feet,  and  a 
lamp  unto  the  path"  of  the  believer,  but  a  dark  lanthorn  ; 
emitting,  indeed,  a  few  glimmerings  of  light  through  a  cre- 
vice or  two,  by  the  help  of  which  the  vulgar  and  common 
Christian  might  possibly  find  his  way  to  heaven  ;  but  these 
only  kindled  the  ardour  of  the  aspirant  after  gnostical 
wisdom  to  withdraw  the  slide,  and  to  gaze  upon  the 
splendour  it  concealed  ;  which,  however,  was  secured  by  a 
clasp  of  so  rare  and  ingenious  a  device,  that  the  most 
vigorous  exertions  of  his  astuteness  and  philosophy  were 
required  to  unloose  it. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


PECULIAK  DOCTRINES  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

I  HAVE  now  met  with  an  important  question  which  is 
certainly  previous  to  any  other,  in  the  present  stage  of  our 
enquiry.  Is  not  every  useful  purpose  of  our  investigation 
already  answered  ? — or  are  the  opinions  of  those  who  have 
erred  to  the  extent  of  the  early  fathers  in  their  mode  of 
interpreting  the  Sacred  Volume,  at  all  to  be  regarded  upon 
those  portions  of  the  Christian  scheme  of  which  they  could 
really  know  nothing  but  from  thence  ?  We  certainly  deal 
thus  with  writings  of  a  more  recent  date.  Who  troubles 
himself  to  investigate  the  precise  shade  of  the  Calvinism 
of  Jacob  Behmen,  or  of  the  Sabellianism  of  Emmanuel 
Swedenborg  ?  Yet  both  these  enthusiasts  were  men  of 
respectable  talent,  and  extensive  scriptural  knowledge ;  we 
only  contemn  their  opinions  on  divinity,  because  of  the 
frantic  absurdity  of  their  ordinary  mode  of  scriptural 
comment :  and  I  really  know  of  nothing  in  either  of  their 
works,  which  would  not  successfully  dispute  the  palm  both 
for  sanity  and  sobriety,  with  the  aja^sjjSoXi'a  of  the  early 
fathers  ! 

But  passing  by  this  consideration,  some  of  the 
erroneous  opinions  which  they  maintained,  had  a  necessary 
tendency  to  influence  and  bias  their  doctrinal  deductions 
from  the  sacred  text.—Upon  the  all-important   subject  of 


298 

inspiration,  we  have  seen  that  their  opinions  were  very 
vague  and  incoherent ;  they  held  the  verbal  and  even 
literal  inspiration  of  the  Septuagint :  they  often  appealed 
to  spurious  and  apocryphal  books  as  to  inspired  authority  ; 
they  also  invariably  assign  a  measure  of  this  gift  to  the 
teachers  of  the  Greek  and  barbarian  philosophies :  and 
when  we  add  to  all  this,  that  they  held  that  every  inspired 
sentence  involved  two  meanings,  the  one  obvious,  and  the 
other  mystical,  I  see  not  how  it  is  possible  to  avoid  con- 
cluding a  priori,  that  the  doctrinal  inferences  of  Theolo- 
gians thus  grossly  erring  upon  vital  points  ought,  by  no 
means,  to  be  invested  with  any  degree  of  authority  in  our 
estimation ;  much  less  are  they  to  be  followed  as  the  guides 
of  our  faith. 

Their  claims  to  authority  have  always  rested  upon 
their  proximity  to  the  apostolic  times  :  of  these  we  have 
already  disposed  ;  but  I  will  here  state  an  opinion  regard- 
ing the  apostolical  tradition,  concerning  which  I  have  only 
to  observe,  that  it  has  been  suggested  to  me  by  the  perusal 
of  all  that  remains  of  early  Christian  antiquity,  and  that 
I  offer  it  with  the  utmost  diffidence.  It  would  appear  that 
the  apostles  were  inspired  with  the  truths  they  revealed, 
under  those  mental  aspects  alone  in  which  they  have 
recorded  them  :  they  were  not  so  disclosed  to  their  under- 
standings, as  that  they  were  able  also  to  view  them  under 
other  aspects,  and  declare  of  them  from  thence  infallibly, 
and  by  inspiration.  So  strict  was  the  limitation,  that  they 
seem  to  have  varied  little,  if  at  all,  upon  any  occasion, 
even  in  the  phraseology  and  diction  by  which  they  con- 
veyed them,  either  in  speaking  or  writing  :  so  that  had 
one  of  the  bold  enquirers  of  these  latter  days  into  "  free 
will,  foreknowledge,  fate,"  been  privileged  to  propound 
his  doubts  and  his  deductions  to  an  inspired  apostle,  the 


299 

only  reply  that  he  would  have  received,  would  probably 
have  been  a  rebuke  of  his  impertinence,  and  a  reference  to, 
or  repetition  of,  that  which  is  written  ;  the  apostle 
would  not,  because  he  could  not,  have  satisfied  his  curi- 
osity. Nothing,  then,  can  be  more  erroneous  than  the 
notion,  that  the  doctrinal  opinions  of  the  apostolical  and 
early  fathers  are  inspired  glosses  upon  the  New  Testament, 
handed  down  by  tradition  from  the  apostles ;  not  only  do 
they  never  assume  such  an  authority  for  them,  but  the 
tenor  of  their  writings  makes  it  evident  that  such  glosses 
had  no  existence ;  and,  therefore,  the  hearer  of  the  apos- 
tolical preaching  had,  in  this  respect,  no  advantage  what- 
ever over  the  reader  of  the  apostolical  epistles ;  since  both 
would  receive  the  same  truths,  and  probably  in  the  same 
words. 

Repeating,  therefore,  the  inference  at  which  we  had 
before  arrived,^  that  the  early  fathers  had  no  inspired  or 
traditional  authority  for  their  doctrinal  opinions,  of  which 
we  are  not  ourselves  also  in  possession,  we  proceed  to 
to  enquire,  whether  there  is  evidence  in  their  writings  that 
these  their  errors  have  influenced  the  views  they  entertained 
of  those  fundamental  principles,  by  which  their  doctrinal 
deductions  would  necessarily  be  determined. 

We  will  take  the  much  tossed  question  regarding 
the  Freedom  of  the  Will ;  upon  which  there  will  be  no 
necessity  that  we  should  disturb  any  point  in  discussion 
between  the  Calvinist  and  the  Arminian :  the  doctrine  of 
the  church  upon  it  in  the  second  century,  being  utterly 
valueless  in  that  controversy,  and  not  possessed  of  the 
weight  even  of  a  feather  in  either  scale  ;  inasmuch  as  it  is 
not  derived  from  the  Bible  at  all,  nor  was  any  such  origi- 
nation pretended  for  it  by  its  supporters.    This  interminable 

1  See  Chapters  II.  and  III. 


300 

controversy  was  as  fiercely  debated  between  the  Stoics  and 
the  Platonists  in  the  schools  of  Athens  during  the  second 
century,  as  between  the  Calvinists  and  Arminians  at  the 
synod  of  Dort  in  the  seventeenth.  The  philosophers  of 
the  Porch  asserted  that  all  things  came  to  pass  by  the 
decrees  of  fate ;  of  a  stern  iron  necessity  which  exercised 
as  invincible  a  control  over  the  volitions  of  the  human 
mind,  as  over  the  motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies.  This 
was  vehemently  denied  by  the  rival  philosophy  of  the 
Grove,  which  asserted  the  entire  and  perfect  free  agency 
of  man.  At  the  time  we  are  considering,  the  Halls  of 
Philosophy  had  rung  with  these  wranglings  for  a  long 
period  ;  and  there  were  evident  symptoms  that  the  combat 
would  speedily  terminate,  in  the  rapid  decline  of  the  stoical 
doctrines,  and  the  triumphant  advance  of  those  of  the 
Platonists. 

But  the  circumstance  that  of  all  others  most  power- 
fully contributed  to  the  establishment  of  the  Platonic 
theory  regarding  the  freedom  of  the  will,  in  the  Christianity 
of  the  second  century,  was  the  conversion  of  Justin  the 
philosopher.  This  event  probably  took  place  at  a  period, 
when  not  many  of  the  same  standing  and  pretensions  in 
literature  had  embraced  the  tenets  of  the  then  despised 
and  persecuted  sect  of  the  Christians  :  and  it  is  pretty 
certain,  that  Justin  was  the  first  of  the  rank  of  a  philo- 
sopher who  set  the  seal  of  martyrdom  to  the  sincerity 
of  his  profession.  These  incidents  conferred  upon  his 
writings  an  astonishing  degree  of  authority  and  influence 
with  his  cotemporaries  and  successors,  for  which  we  should 
scarcely  find  any  thing  to  account,  in  the  intrinsic  merits  of 
those  of  them  that  remain.  But  Justin  had  been  a  rigid 
disciple  of  Plato :  he  informs  us  that  it  was  from  hence 
that  he  passed  into  the  scliool  of  Christ ;  and  the  tenor  of 


301 

his  narrative  would  make  it  appear  that  the  transition  was 
not  a  very  difficult  one :  ^  for  his  Christianity  was  so 
framed  as  to  include  the  whole  of  his  Platonism,  which  he 
grasped  as  firmly  and  retained  as  jealously  as  his  philoso- 
pher's cloak :  ^  and  if  there  was  any  one  tenet  of  that 
philosophy  to  which  he  clung  more  firmly  than  another,  it 
was  that  of  the  to  avre^ova-iov,  the  unlimited  freedom  of  the 
will  of  angels  aud  of  men.  There  is  a  passage  in  his 
second  apology  which  goes  far  to  account  for  this :  he 
speaks  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Stoics  regarding  necessity, 
with  a  warmth  and  bitterness  which  certainly  implies  that 
he  had  controverted  that  question  with  them,  long  before 
his  conversion  to  Christianity.  "*  This  hostility  was  the 
immediate  cause  of  his  death  ;  the  information  upon  which 
he  was  brought  before  the  Emperor  Marcus  Antoninus, 
(when  he  delivered  his  second  Apology)  was  laid  by  one 
Crescens  a  Stoic,  whose  licentious  life  sufficiently  evinced 
the  abominable  nature  of  the  doctrines  he  maintained ;  and 
it  was  upon  this  occasion  that,  according  to  Eusebius,  he 
suffered  martyrdom.  ^  The  wretch  took  this  mode  of 
revenging  himself  on  Justin  for  a  defeat  which  he  had 
sustained  from  him  in  a  public  disputation ;   and  I  cannot 

2  Dial.,  pp.  223—225. 

3  Id.,  p.  217  C.  He  frequently  quotes  the  writings  of  Plato,  Apol.  I., 
pp.  81  C,  &c. 

4  P.  45  D.  See  also  Dial.,  p.  318  D.,  where  he  says  that  the  Stoics 
knew  nothing  of  God,  and  taught  that  such  knowledge  was  unnecessary : 
and  it  is  not  impossible  but  that  some  individual  among  them  may  have 
covered  his  own  ignorance  by  returning  such  an  answer  to  an  enquirer. 
But  I  must  observe  upon  it,  that  no  sect  of  philosophy  speculated  so  boldly 
and  so  freely  upon  the  divine  nature  as  the  Stoics:  and,  also,  that  no 
imputation  was  so  likely  to  cast  a  contemptuous  reproach  upon  any  mode 
of  philosophising  in  the  second  century,  as  such  an  answer  to  a  question 
then  so  universally  popular  and  under  discussion  as  that,  de  natura  Deorum. 

5  Eccl.  Hist.,  lib.  4. 


302 

help  thinking  that  they  had  often  before  been  antagonists. '' 
This,  in  my  judgment,  is  the  true  reason  of  Justin's  very 
decided  opinions  regarding  the  freedom  of  the  will ;  it  was 
a  subject  in  which  his  feelings  were  already  warmly  inte- 
rested, when  he  embraced  Christianity  ;  and  upon  which 
he  was  most  probably  fully  committed  in  the  schools.  It 
is  on  this  account  that  he  never  once  quotes  scripture  autho- 
rity for  the  doctrine,  nor  does  he  even  cite  that  or  any 
thing  else  in  proof  of  it,  but  he  invariably  assumes  it  as 
an  axiom  antecedent  to  all  proofs 

Thus,  the  example  and  authority  of  Justin  combined 
with  other  circumstances  to  identify  this  tenet  of  Platon- 
ism  with  Christianity,  in  the  divinity  of  the  second  cen- 
tury. 

irenaeus  dogmatises  upon  the  entire  freedom  of  the 
will  in  the  same  style  as  his  predecessor  :^  and  also  endea- 
vours to  establish  it  from  Scripture.  His  mode  of  proof 
is  sufficiently  comprehensive:  every  hortative  passage  in 
the  Sacred  Volume  which  addresses  man  as  a  rational  and 
accountable  being,  he  conceives  to  be  unanswerable 
demonstration  of  his  unlimited  free  agency.  Nor  does  he 
at  all  scruple  to  carry  the  doctrine  out  to  all  the  conse- 
quences of  which  it  is  capable.     Man  is  the  author  of  his 

6  Though  the  occasion  will  excuse  almost  any  thing,  it  is,  nevertheless, 
to  be  regretted,  that  Justin  should  have  been  betrayed  in  the  intemperate 
language  he  uses  regarding  this  man  ;  he  terms  him  o  <ptXo4'ii(poi  xai  <fii\c- 
Ko/jbrro;  »  yaf  iptXiifo(pi>v  I'l'Tiiv  a%ieiv  Tov  av^pa,^  p.  46  D.,  shortly  afterwards  he 
applies  to  him  the  epithet  xwwxos,  p.  47  C,  evidently  not  in  its  conventional, 
but  in  its  literal  sense ;  in  the  former  it  merely  denotes  a  professor  of  the 
Cynical  philosophy  (the  earliest  form  of  Stoicism)  ;  but  in  the  latter,  it  is  an 
opprobrious  nickname,  the  meaning  of  which  will  be  best  conveyed  to  the 
English  reader  by  translating  it,  Dog^s-face. 

7  Apol.  I.,  pp.  58  C,  71  B.,  80  D.  Apol.  II,  ubi  supra.  Dial., 
pp.  3)«  A.,  329  A.,  &c. 

8  Adv.  Ha;r.,  lib.  4.  cc.  7,  29,  71,  76,  &c. 


303 

own  faith  ;^  he  accomplishes  at  the  first  his  own  election, 
and  he  achieves  at  the  last  his  own  salvation  l^^ 

Tertullian  did  not  allow  his  own  antipathy  to  philo- 
sophy to  prevent  him,  either  embracing  the  doctrine  of 
Plato,  or  availing  himself  of  the  argument  by  which  that 
philosopher  supported  it.  He  contends  at  great  length 
for  the  freedom  of  the  human  will,  on  the  ground  that 
without  it  there  can  be  no  human  responsibility  :^^  which 
is  the  Platonic  argument. ^^ 

Regarding  Clement  of  Alexandria  I  would  observe, 
that  I  suspect  there  was  some  hypocricy  in  the  pompous 

9  C.  72. 

10  Ubi  supra. 

11  Adv.  Marcion.,  lib.  2.  cc.  5 — 9. ;  also  c.  27.  It  is  an  argument  to 
show  that  the  fall  of  man  neither  proved  that  the  Creator  was  a  wicked  spi- 
rit, nor  that  he  was  ignorant  of  the  future,  as  had  been  impiously  asserted 
by  his  opponent.  His  commencing  sentence  is  a  highly  characteristic  one  : 
— "  Jam  hinc  ad  quaestiones  omnes  canes  quos  foras  Apostolus  expellit, 
latrantes  in  deum  veritatis. — Haec  sunt  argumentationum  ossa  qu£E  ohro- 
ditis,''^  c.  5. 

12  Plato  was  hampered  in  this  question,  with  human  responsibility  on 
the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other,  with  the  notion  of  destiny,  which  then 
formed  so  important  an  article  of  the  popular  belief.  The  mode  in  which 
he  reconciles  the  difficulty  is  beautifully  ingenious.  He  teaches  that  destiny 
exerts  no  direct  control  over  the  course  of  human  action,  but  acts  as  a  law 
connecting  events  in  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect.  He  thus  illustrates 
it : — the  rape  of  Helen  was  not  predestinated ;  but  it  was  decreed  that  if 
that  event  took  place,  the  destruction  of  Troy  should  follow.  His  Christian 
admirers  and  imitators  had  also  to  deal  with  another  jarring  element  in  the 
question,  that  of  the  goodness  of  God ;  but  their  escape  from  the  difficulty 
was  by  no  means  equally  felicitous.  Since  those  times,  seventeen  hundred 
years  of  bitter  experience  have  taught  the  church  of  Christ  an  apparently 
simple  and  obvious  principle,  which  completely  forestalls  this  and  all  simi- 
lar inquiries.  She  has  very  recently  discovered  that  where  the  premises  are 
matters  so  entirely  out  of  the  sphere  of  human  cognizance  as  man's  respon- 
sibility and  God's  sovereignty,  the  conclusion  is  to  be  sought,  not  in  the 
deductions  of  the  human  understanding,  but  in  the  declarations  of  the  word 
of  God. 


304 

boast  of  eclectioti,  with  which  he  commences  the  Stromates : 
the  tenor  of  this  work  abundantly  evidences  that  its  author 
was  a  Platonist  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  word.  We 
have  already  stated  that  he  claims  a  considerable  measure 
of  inspired  authority  for  philosophy,  which  he  considers  to 
have  been  imparted  to  the  Greeks  for  the  same  purpose  as 
the  Old  Testament  to  the  Jews."  We  have  also  noticed 
that  one  of  the  sources  from  which  it  derived  a  measure  of 
divine  truth  was  the  writings  of  Moses.^"*  The  reasons  by 
which  he  supports  this  opinion,  are  such  as  might  have 
been  anticipated  in  behalf  of  a  notion  so  utterly  devoid  of 
foundation  in  probability.  One  of  his  modes  of  proof  is 
by  the  amphibolical  interpretation  of  Scripture.  Thus,  he 
interprets  the  expression,  "  all  that  ever  came  before  me 
are  thieves  and  robbers,"^^  not  of  the  false  Christs,  of  whom 
so  many  made  their  appearance  about  the  time  of  our 
Saviovir's  coming,  but  of  the  Greek  philosophy,  which  was 
not  sent  from  God,  but  came  from  him  surreptitiously  and 
by  stealth.  God  was,  of  course,  not  ignorant  of  this, 
though  he  did  not  prevent  it,  but  so  directed  the  course  of 
events  as  to  make  it  subservient  to  the  purposes  of  his 
providence.''^     He  finds  another   proof  in  the   occasional 

13  See  above,  p.  33. 

14  See  above,  p.  55,  Note  lOJ).  This  notion  originated  with  Justin, 
Apol.  I.,  pp.  81  D.,  92  C. 

15  John  X.  8. 

16  1  Strom.,  §  17.  In  the  same  passage  he  uses  expressions  which 
would  seem  to  imply,  that  this  revelation  had  been  made  to  the  Gentiles 
throu"h  the  agency  of  some  power  or  angel,  who  knew  the  truth  and  con- 
tinued not  in  it  :  the  inspiration  of  the  Greek  philosophy,  and  the  direction 
of  its  professors  to  the  writings  of  Moses,  being  the  offence  in  which  his  fall 
consisted.  We  have  already  seen  that  there  was  nothing  in  the  theology  of 
those  times  to  exclude  either  three  or  any  greater  number  of  angelic  defec- 
tions. See  also,  G  Strom.,  §  8,  17,  where  he  argues  that  philosophy  may 
not  be  evil  in  itself,  even  though  the  Devil  inspired  it. 


305 

adoption  of  expressions  from  the  Greek  poets  by  St.  Paul. 
But  his  main  argument  is  to  show  that  the  early  Greeks 
must  have  been  acquainted  with  the  writings  of  Moses  and 
the  prophets  ;  and  that  from  thence  they  derived  know- 
ledge of  every  description,  as  well  as  philosophy.  To  the 
former,  especially,  they  were  indebted  for  the  regal,  legis- 
latorial, and  military  wisdom  which  their  history  so 
largely  evidences.'^  His  proof  that  Moses  taught  the 
Greeks  the  art  of  war  is  not  a  very  convincing  one :  he 
asserts  that  the  strategics  of  Miltiades  at  the  battle  of 
Marathon,  were  entirely  derived  from  the  Mosaic  account 
of  the  Exodus  !•« 

But  of  all  the  Grecian  sages  and  philosophers,  there 
was  no  one  who  had  borrowed  so  extensively  from  Moses, 
and  drunk  so  entirely  into  his  spirit,  as  Plato.  He  styles 
him  "  the  Hebraizing  Philosopher  ;"'"  yea,  "  Moses 
Atticising  '^-^  and  often  prefaces  the  quotations  from  his 
works,  which  abound  throughout  the  Stromates,  with 
remarks,  calling  to  mind  the  high  authority  to  which  the 
opinions  of  Plato  are  entitled  on  this  account.^'  It  is 
scarcely  needful  to  add,  that  Clement  of  Alexandria 
enforces   the   freedom   of  the   will    to   the  full  extent  in 

17  1  Strom.,  §  22— 2G. 

18  §  24. 

19  0  i%  E(ipa!&iv  (piXotrixpo;  TlXoiruiv.      1  Strom.,   §  1. 

20  M(U(r>)s  arrmilcav .  Id.,  §  22. ;  that  is,  Moses  in  an  Attic  dress, 
writing  according  to  the  taste  of  Attica  ;  he  has  borrowed  this  piece  of 
flippant  foppery  from  Numenius,  a  Hellenising  Jew. 

21  1  Strom.,  §  25. ;  5  Strom.,  §  14.,  &c.  He  gives  only  one  or  two 
instances  of  this  resemblance  between  Moses  and  Plato,  upon  which  he 
insists  so  largely  ;  they  are  so  ridiculously  trivial,  that  they  would  not  at  all 
repay  the  trouble  of  the  long  explanation  which  would  be  required  to  make 
them  intelligible.     1  Strom.,  §  1,  24. ;  5  Strom.,  §  1,  14,  &c. 

X 


306 

which  it  was  maintained  by  the  Platonists,^^  and  frequently 
upholds  his  opinion,  by  the  express  sanction  and  authority 
of  passages  from  the  works  of  Plato.-^ 

We  are  now  saved  the  trouble  of  all  further  investi- 
gation :  the  opinions  of  the  early  fathers  upon  free-will,  we 
have  traced  in  an  unbroken  line  of  descent  from  Justin, 
the  Platonist,  down  to  Clement,  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
school  of  the  New  Platonics ;  and  we  have  found  that 
none  of  them  appeal  to  any  authority  in  support  of  their 
doctrine,  but  that  of  Plato ;  and  that  they  only  attempt  to 
countenance  it  from  Scripture  by  citing  passages  in  which 
men  are  addressed  as  rational  and  responsible  agents : 
which  is,  of  course,  to  beg  the  entire  question,  if  there  be 
one,  between  Plato  and  the  Bible. 

If,  then,  the  ultimate  appeal  upon  this  most  momen- 
tous question  is  to  be  made  to  the  Scriptures,  nothing  can 
be  more  certain,  than  that  the  opinions  of  the  fathers  of  the 
second  century  are  utterly  unimportant  and  valueless  in 
the  controversy  ;  since  they  only  prove  that  Plato  main- 
tained the  entire  freedom  of  the  will : — a  fact  with  which 
we  were  already  acquainted,  upon  the  more  unexceptionable 
authority  of  his  own  extant  works. 

What  would  be  the  fate,  with  these  writers,  of  the 
portion  of  the  Christian  scheme  which  depends  upon  the 
solution  of  this  question,  and  which,  since  the  Reforma- 
tion, has  been  comprehended  under  the  technical  expression 
doctrines  of  Grace,  it  is  not  very  difficult  to  divine.  The 
large  and  liberal  canon  of  scriptural  interpretation  then  in 
use,  or,  in  a  case  of  emergency,  the  timely  aid  of  the 
ajU,^j|3oXja,  could  scarcely  fail  to  remove  all  impediments 

22  1  Strom.,  §   17,  18.;    2  Strom.,  §  4,  6,   12,  1.3.  ;  3  Strom.,  §  5,  ; 
4  Strom.,  §  24. ;  5  Strom.,  §  3,  12,  14. ;  7  Strom.,  §  2. 
^■'5  Strom.,  §  14.,  &c. 


307 

from  this  quarter,  to  a  system  of  divinity  in  entire  harmony 
with  the  Platonic  principle.  And  such  is  certainly  the 
fact  of  the  case.  Upon  these  points,  the  Bible  is  only 
quoted  to  be  disregarded,  or  explained  away  where  it 
seems  to  oppose  the  doctrine  to  be  proved  :  it  is  perfectly 
powerless  against  this  their  prepossession.  If  we  are  saved 
by  faith  alone,^*  faith  is  merely  that  assent  of  the  under- 
standing, which,  by  the  express  doctrine  of  both  the  Stoics 
and  Platonists,  is  in  our  own  power .^^  If  the  grace  of  God 
be  needed  at  all,  beyond  the  ordinary  grace  of  baptism,  it 
is  only  for  those  whose  ambition,  and  whose  nerve,  have 
prompted  and  enabled  them  to  climb  to  perilous  elevations 
on  the  giddy  eminences  of  gnosticism^^  and  martyrdom.^ 
If  there  be  any  thing  like  depravity  in  human  nature,  it 
is  that  which,  it  is  entirely  within  the  power  of  the  will  to 
rectify  ;  nor  does  it,  in  any  one  of  the  fathers  of  the  second 
century,  overstep  the  dimensions  which  the  academic  philo- 
sophy had  assigned  to  it ;  namely,  that  man  has  a  pure 
soul  dwelling  in  an  impure  body.^^  We  may,  indeed,  in 
our  anxiety  to  apologise  for  the  early  representatives  of  the 


24  M/a   xxB-oXiKti    rtis    avS-pedTomro;  treor^pla,   Tiri; Clem.   Alex.,    Paed. 

lib.  1.  c.  6. 

25  Irenaeus,  ubi  supra,  Clem.  Alex.  2  Strom.,  §  12. ;  in  tbe  same  book 
he  speaks  of  tjjv  'ncoviriov  ttitiv,  §  2. ;  he  also  terms  faith,  T£;^;^»  (putriKv, 
in  the  sixth  section,  which  is  an  argument  to  prove  that  it  is  a  voluntary 
act  of  the  understanding,  and  only  to  be  called  divine  on  account  of  its 
excellent  nature  and  properties:  he  uses  the  same  argument  §  11.  See 
also  5  Strom.,  §  13. 

26  5  Strom.,  §  12,  13. 

27  See  above,  p.  218. 

28  Tertullian  de  Anima.  c.  41.  Clem.  Alex.,  2  Strom.,  §  3.  ;  4  Strom., 
§  3. ;  5  Strom.,  §  1.,  &c.  It  was  this  notion  which  gave  rise  to  the  error  of 
the  Basilideans  and  Marcionites,  that  the  soul  was  created  by  a  good  god, 
and  the  body  by  an  evil  one.     See  the  last  section  of  the  4th  book. 


308 

visible  church,  cite  passages  from  the  works  of  Justin,^ 
which  apparently  give  some  degree  of  countenance  to  these 
doctrines  ;  but  thovigh  I  readily  acknowledge  that  more  of 
this  phraseology  will  be  found  there  than  in  the  writings 
of  his  successors,  yet  I  cannot  help  fearing  that  they  will 
not  admit  of  an  orthodox  interpretation,  without  doing 
considerable  violence  to  the  entire  scope  of  the  author''s 
meaning.  And  I  feel  compelled  to  state,  unhesitatingly, 
that  upon  this  part  of  the  great  question  between  God  and 
man,  which  constitutes  religion,  the  fathers  of  the  second 
century  were  the  disciples,  not  of  Christ,  but  of  Plato  : — 
nor  are  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  to  be  found 
in  their  works,  and  for  this  most  obvious  reason,  because 
they  did  not  maintain  them. 

We  have  no  difficulty  in  accounting  for  this  circum- 
stance. Their  mode  of  interpretation  has  already  shown  us 
that  they  regarded  the  Bible  in  the  light  of  a  mythology ; 
revealing  certain  truths  regarding  the  divine  nature  and 
worship,  but  concealing,  under  the  semblance  of  moral 
maxims,  twisted  together  in  amphibologies,  or  enshrined 
in  allegorical  histories,  the  elemental  germs  of  an  ethical 
system,  which  it  was  the  province  of  philosophy  to 
develope.  And  to  what  philosophy  could  they  so  naturally 
apply  for  this  assistance,  as  to  that  from  whence  the  proto- 
martyr  of  this  phase  of  Christianity  had  stepped  into  the 
new  religion  ;  which  had  already  been  applied  as  the 
solvent  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation  by  the  Hellenising 
Jews;  and  the  intellectual  beauties  of  whicli  project  the 
shadow  of  an  apology  for  those  who  have  denominated  its 
founder,  the  divine  Plato  ? 

As  the  rule  which  we  have  hitherto  invariably  fol- 

29  See  the  bishop   of    Lincoln's  Justin.,    pp.  74 — 7^-  ;    also    Milner'i 
Church  History,  Vol.  I. 


309 

lowed,  of  endeavouring  to  point  out  wherein  the  error  we 
have  to  expose  consists,  is  at  this  advanced  stage  of  our 
enquiry  necessarily  made  absolute,  it  gives  me  the  most 
sincere  pleasure  to  be  able  to  state,  that  my  view  of  the 
question  of  free-will  pretends  to  nothing  new  or  original ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,   is  now  so  generally  entertained, 
that  a  very  brief  notice  of  it  will   suffice.     It  appears  to 
me,  that  whichever  part  v/e  take  in  this  controversy,  we 
are  ultimately  thrown  upon  insuperable  difficulties.     We 
soon  refute  the  Calvinist,  as  we  imagine,  upon  the  imputed 
injustice  of  unconditional  election  and  reprobation,  or  pre- 
tention.    But  does  he  not  turn  our  own  argument  against 
us,  and  with  exactly  equal  force,  in  the  next  step  of  the 
enquiry,  upon  the  imputed  injustice  of  the  original  permis- 
sion of  evil  ?     As  this  is,  notwithstanding,  a  subject  on 
which  it  is  plainly  needful   that  man  should  know  some- 
thing, here  is  a  strong  case  in  favor  of  a  revelation.     That 
revelation   has  been  imparted,  and  its  purport  is  entirely 
embodied  in   the  following  passage : — "  Work   out  your 
own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling :  for  it  is  God  that 
worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  own  good 
pleasure.""^''     I  readily  grant  that  here  is  no  solution  of  the 
metaphysical  difficulty  ;    but,    nevertheless,   every   ethical 
purpose  for  which  such  knowledge  was  required  is  abun- 
dantly answered  by  it.     Here  is  a  rule,  so  regulating  the 
faith  of  the  devout  enquirer,   that  receiving  the  whole  of 
that  it  hath  pleased  God  to  disclose  to  him  upon  these 
mysterious  subjects,  he  ascribes  all  "  to  the  praise  of  the 
glory  of  his  grace,"  from  the  first  movement  of  conviction 
in  his  heart,   to  that  blessed  manifestation  of  the  divine 
presence,   which   (as  his  hope  is)  shall  at  the  last  enable 
him  "  to  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death, 

30  Phil.  ii.   12,  l.'i. 


310 

and  fear  no  evil ;"  yet,  at  the  same  time,  so  directing  the 
practical  bearing  of  the  question  regarding  the  will,  that 
he  shall  be  constrained  to  labour  as  anxiously,  as  earnestly, 
and  as  perseveringly,  "  to  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  his 
Saviour  in  all  things,"  as  though  the  whole  work  of  his 
salvation  depended  upon  himself.  This  is  the  purpose  for 
which  the  revelation  was  imparted,  and  it  will  answer  no 
other  :  for  the  Bible  was  not  intended  to  make  men  meta- 
physicians, but  Christians ;  and,  therefore,  it  leaves  the 
question  between  the  Stoics  and  the  Platonists  exactly 
where  it  found  it. 

Our  task  then  is  accomplished ;  we  have  ascertained 
that,  almost  from  the  moment  they  issued  from  the  hallowed 
lips  of  the  apostles,  the  doctrines  of  Christianity  suffered 
by  amalgamation  with  the  prepossessions  of  their  Gentile 
hearers.  Their  immediate  disciples  and  cotemporaries  did 
indeed  retain  perfectly  those  of  them  which  form  the 
distinguishing  features,  the  peculiar  characteristics,  of 
Christ*'s  religion,  though,  upon  many  other  points,  they 
erred  grievously  :  but  even  these  soon  disappear  from  the 
writings  of  their  successors  ;  and  nothing  of  Christianity 
remains  in  them,  beyond  the  facts  recorded  in  the  Bible. 
All  the  rest  is  a  mash  of  Platonism  and  heathenism. 

If,  then,  it  be  objected  to  the  peculiar  doctrines  of 
the  Gospel,  that  they  were  unknown,  or  disregarded,  at  so 
early  a  period  as  the  second  century,  we  appeal  at  once 
from  the  fathers  of  that  era  to  their  immediate  prede- 
cessors. We  will  convey  the  view  of  Christianity  for 
which  we  contend,  in  the  words  of  the  apostolical  fathers ; 
for  in  no  uninspired  language  can  they  be  more  perfectly, 
or  more  beautifully  embodied.  "  God  glorified  his  saints 
of  old,"  says  St.  Clement,  "  not  for  their  own  sake,  or  for 
their  own  works,   or  for  the  righteousness  that  they  them- 


311 

selves  wrought,  but  through  his  will.  And  we  also  being 
called  by  the  same  will  in  Jesus  Christ,  are  not  justified 
by  ourselves,  neither  by  our  own  wisdom,  or  knowledge, 
or  piety,  or  the  works  which  we  have  done  in  holiness  of 
heart :  but  by  that  faith  by  which  God  Almighty  has 
justified  all  men  from  the  beginning :  to  whom  be  glory 
for  ever  and  ever. — Amen.  What  shall  we  do,  therefore, 
brethren  ?  shall  we  be  slothful  in  well-doing,  and  lay  aside 
our  love  ?  May  God  keep  us,  that  such  things  be  not 
wrought  in  us  !  But  rather  let  us  give  all  diligence,  that 
with  earnestness  and  readiness  of  mind  we  may  perfect 
every  good  work."^^  In  another  place  of  the  same  epistle 
the  following  passage  occurs  : — "  How  excellent,  beloved, 
are  the  gifts  of  God.  Life  in  immortality  !  glory  in 
righteousness  !  truth  in  confidence  !^^  faith  in  full  assu- 
rance !  continence  in  holiness  !  All  these  are  comprehen- 
sible to  us.  But  what  shall  those  things  be  which  he  hath 
prepared  for  them  that  wait  for  him  ?  The  Creator,  the 
Everlasting  Father,  the  All-Holy  ;  he  only  knows  their 
greatness  and  their  beauty.  Let  us  then  agonise,  that  we 
may  be  found  among  the  number  of  those  that  abide  in 
him,  that  we  may  be  made  partakers  of  the  free-gifts  he 
hath  promised.  But  how  shall  this  be,  beloved  ?  If, 
having  our  minds  confirmed  in  faith  towards  God,  we 
seek  those  things  which  are  pleasing  and  acceptable  unto 
him  ;   fulfilling  that  which  is  agreeable  to  his  holy  will ; 

31  I  ad  Cor.  cc.  32,  33. 

32  ak^9-iia.  In  ^etppfiirla,  literally  "  truth  with  freedom  from  doubt ;"  so 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  Hxxui  m  -xipi  aknS-iia;  xiyii,  aXXiuj  «  aX^'S^s/a 
eawTjjy  ipfittvtuii'  iTipov  i'o^aiTfcos  aX>j9-6/'a;,  iTSpov  h  aXri^sia'  aXX  oofioiuris,  aWo 
auro  TO  ov.  1  Strom.,  §  7-  To  perceive  the  force  and  beauty  of  these  allu- 
sions, we  must  call  to  mind  the  doubts  and  perplexities  regarding  religion, 
and  the  state  after  death,  from  whicli  Christianity  liberated  its  early 
converts. 


312 

and  following  the  way  of  truth,  we  cast  off  from  us  all 
unrighteousness  and  iniquity.  This  is  the  way,  beloved, 
wherein  we  find  our  salvation,  even  Jesus  Christ,  the  high- 
priest  of  all  our  offerings,  the  support  and  help  of  our 
infirmities  ;  by  (faith  in)  him  we  gaze  upon  his  pure  and 
most  exalted  countenance,  and  behold  therein,  as  in  a 
glass,  the  heights  of  the  heavenly  felicities.^^  By  liim  are 
the  eyes  of  our  hearts  opened  ;  by  him  our  foolish  and 
darkened  understandings  rejoice  to  behold  his  marvellous 
light.""^^  This  is  the  Christianity  for  which  we  contend  ; 
these  are  the  doctrines  which  our  Saviour  and  his  apostles 
taught,  and  of  which  scarcely  a  trace  is  to  be  found  in  the 
fathers  of  the  second  centvu'y. 

Nor  is  St.  Clement  the  only  witness  to  the  correctness 
of  our  deduction,  that  such  is  the  religion  of  the  New 
Testament.  The  misguided,  and  not  very  wise,  author  of 
the  epistle  of  St.  Barnabas,  was  also  thoroughly  indoctri- 
nated in  the  same  blessed  truths.  In  addition  to  the 
quotations  from  thence  upon  which  we  have  already 
remarked,  we  give  the  following  passage,  which  is  cer- 
tainly inferior  in  point  of  diction  to  those  from  St. 
Clement,  though  it  enforces  the  same  doctrines,  and  with 
equal  zeal  and  fervour.  It  commences  with  a  reproof  of 
the  folly  of  the  Jews  who  had  put  their  trust  in  the 
temple  at  Jerusalem  ;  in  the  mere  house,  and  not  in  the 
God  who  created  the  builders  thereof.  Through  their 
fightings  and  violences,  that  temple  had  been  just  razed  to 
the  ground  by  their  enemies.     But  was  God,  therefore,  to 

33  Such  I  imagine  to  have  been  the  writer's  meaning ;  it  is  evidently 
an  allusion  to  2  Cor.  iii.  18..  There  would  appear  to  be  an  error  of 
transcription  in  this  sentence  in  the  original  ;  the  sense  is  scarcely 
intelligible. 

■*  Idem.  cc.  3o,  'M- 


313 

remain  without  a  temple  in  the  earth  ?  He  quotes  certain 
passages  from  the  prophets  which,  as  he  supposes,  prove 
that  another  temple  was  to  be  erected,  and  thus  explains 
them  : — "  Before  that  we  believed  in  God,  the  habi- 
tation of  our  heart  was  frail  and  corruptible,  even  as 
a  temple  merely  built  with  hands.  For  it  was  a  house 
full  of  idolatry,  a  house  of  demons ;  inasmuch  as  there 
was  done  in  it  whatsoever  was  contrary  unto  God.  By 
what  means  shall  a  house  like  this  be  gloriously  rebuilt  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord  ?  I  will  tell  you.  Having 
received  remissio7i  of  our  sins  through  faith  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord,  we  are  made  anew,  being  created  as  it  were 
from  the  beginning.  Then  God  truly  dwells  in  our  house, 
that  is,  in  us.  But  how  does  he  dwell  in  us  ?  By  the 
word  of  his  faith,  by  the  calling  of  his  promise,  by  the 
wisdom  of  his  righteous  judgments,  by  the  commands  of 
his  doctrine ;  he  himself  speaks  within  us,  he  himself 
dwelleth  in  us,  and  openeth  to  us  who  were  in  bondage  of 
death,  the  gate  of  our  temple,  that  is  the  mouth  of  wisdom, 
having  given  repentance  unto  us.  By  this  means  he  hath 
made  us  an  indestructible  temple.  He  then  that  desireth 
to  be  saved  must  not  look  for  help  to  man,  but  to  him 
that  dwelleth  in  his  servants,  and  speaketh  by  them. 
This  is  the  spiritual  temple  that  is  built  unto  the  Lord."^ 

We  could  not  have  more  satisfactory  evidence  than  is 
afforded  by  these  quotations,  that  the  doctrines  of  grace 
were  maintained  and  taught  by  the  companions  of  the 
inspired  apostles. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  writings  of  those  that 
represent  to  us  the  Christian  church  in  the  succeeding 
generation,  and  who  had,  in  their  early  youth,  been  the 
liearers  of  the  apostles.      From  the  epistles  of    Ignatius 

^•'  Bam.  Epis.,  c.  Iti. 


314 

and  Polycarp,  I  feel  compelled  to  give  extracts  of  this 
character,  at  the  risk  of  repeating  that  which  is  already 
familiar  to  the  religious  literature  of  the  day,  because,  were 
"the  reader  to  form  his  judgment  of  either  of  these  eminent 
servants  of  God,  upon  the  quotations  that  have  hitherto 
been  given  from  the  former,  he  would  arrive  at  a  very 
unjust  and  false  conclusion  regarding  them.  Ignatius 
thus  addresses  the  Ephesians : — "  Nothing  shall  be  hidden 
from  you  if  ye  have  perfect  faith  and  love  to  Jesus  Christ, 
which  is  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  life.  For  the 
beginning  is  faith,  and  the  end  is  love,  and  these  two 
joined  together  are  of  God ;  and  all  other  things  that 
concern  a  holy  life  are  the  effects  of  these.  No  man 
professing  a  true  faith  sinneth ;  neither  does  he  who  hath 
love  hate  any.  The  tree  is  made  manifest  by  its  fruit :  so 
they  who  profess  themselves  Christians  are  to  be  judged  by 
what  they  do.  For  Christianity  is  not  the  work  of  an 
outward  profession  ;  but  the  power  of  faith  enduring  unto 
the  end."^  This  is  "  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints"  in  perfect  purity.  Nor  is  there  a  single  allusion  to 
these  subjects  throughout  his  epistles  which  is  not  in 
harmony  with  it.  With  all  his  errors,  therefore,  Ignatius 
declared  to  the  visible  church  the  truth  of  God,  untainted 
by  the  leaven  of  heathen  philosophy,  at  the  commencement 
of  the  second  century. 

I  have  already  expressed  my  admiration  of  the  epistle 
of  St.  Polycarp  to  the  Philippians,  which  was  written  at 
the  time  of  the  martyrdom  of  Ignatius,  and,  therefore, 
immediately  after  his  epistles,  though  the  pious  author 
long  survived  him  ;  and  according  to  the  tradition  of  the 
church,^^  suffered  in  the  persecution  of  Antoninus  Pius, 
and  about  the  same  time  as  Justin.  The  beauty  of  this 
36  Ignatius  ad  Eph.,  c.  14.  ■>'  Ens.  Eccl.  Hist.,  lib.  4. 


315 

production  consists  altogether  in  its  close  adherence  to  the 
spirit  of  the  New  Testament.  Here  are  no  displays  of 
learning,  no  flights  of  rhetoric,  no  bold  essays  to  assume 
the  tone  and  style  of  inspiration.  The  chastened  and 
humble  mind  of  its  author  had  no  other  ambition  than  to 
sit  at  the  feet  of  the  apostles,  and  to  write  to  the  church 
at  Philippi,  not  as  they  wrote,  but  that  which  they 
delivered ;  and,  therefore,  he  did  not  disdain  frequently  to 
adopt  their  oAvn  language.  Many  other  proofs  of  the  same 
blessed  frame  and  temper  are  to  be  found  in  it,  some  of 
which  I  cannot  refrain  from  laying  before  the  reader. 
Ignatius  and  others  had  shortly  before  passed  through 
Smyrna  bound,  condemned  by  the  irreversible  decree  of 
the  emperor,  on  their  way  to  Rome,  the  place  of  their 
martyrdom,  and  rejoicing  that  they  were  counted  worthy 
to  suffer  for  the  name  of  the  Lord.  We  can  find  no  scrip- 
ture sanction  for  their  mode  of  rejoicing,  and,  therefore, 
can  bestow  no  commendation  upon  it.  But  though  the 
entire  church  of  Christ  was,  as  we  have  seen,  carried  away 
by  the  force  of  an  example  so  illustrious  as  that  of  Igna- 
tius, the  deep  humility  with  which  Polycarp  Avas  invested, 
seems  effectually  to  have  defended  him  from  their  specious 
and  seductive  error.  I  gather  this  from  the  following 
passage: — "Brethren,  watch  unto  prayer,  and  strengthen 
yourselves  therein  with  fasting :  with  supplication  beseech- 
ing the  all-seeing  God  not  to  lead  us  into  temptation  ;  for 
the  Lord  himself  hath  said,  '  the  Spirit  is  willing  but  the 
flesh  is  weak."*  Let  us,  therefore,  without  ceasing,  hold 
unto  him  who  is  our  hope  and  the  pledge  of  our  righteous- 
ness, even  Jesus  Christ :  '  Who  his  own  self  bare  our  sins 
in  his  own  body  on  the  tree  :'  '  who  did  no  sin,  neither  was 
guile  found  in  his  mouth  :''  but  suffered  all  for  us  that  we 
might  live  through  him.     Let   us,  therefore,   imitate  his 


316 

patience :  and  if  we  suffer  for  his  name,  let  us  glorify 
him  ;  for  this  example  he  himself  hath  set  before  us,  that 
believing  in  him  we  might  follow  it.  Wherefore,  I  exhort 
all  of  you,  that  obeying  the  word  of  his  righteousness,  ye 
exercise  yourselves  unto  all  the  patience  which  ye  your- 
selves have  beheld,  not  only  in  the  blessed  Ignatius,  and 
Zozimus,  and  Rufus,  but  in  Paul  also,  and  the  rest  of  the 
apostles ;  being  confident  of  this,  that  all  these  have  not 
run  in  vain,  but  in  faith  and  righteousness  ;  and  are  gone 
to  the  place  which  was  prepared  for  them  of  the  Lord, 
with  whom  also  they  suffered.  For  they  loved  not  this 
present  world ;  but  him  who  died  and  was  raised  again  by 
God  for  us."38 

The  meek  and  lowly  spirit  of  this  passage  contrasts 
very  beautifully  with  the  lofty  assuming  tone  of  Ignatius. 
While  he  is  courting  persecution,  eager  for  the  crown  of 
martyrdom,  forbidding  his  friends  from  preventing  him 
of  it  by  supplication  to  God  or  man,  writing  boastful 
letters  to  various  churches,  calling  upon  them  to  observe 
his  zeal  for  his  master,  and,  to  the  utmost  of  his  power, 
making  his  progress  towards  martyrdom  a  triumphal  pro- 
cession of  which  he  was  himself  the  hero ;  his  humbler 
friend  and  brother  in  the  Lord,  Polycarp,  who  was 
exposed  to  the  same  danger,  and,  doubtless,  expected  every 
hour  to  be  in  the  same  condition,  is  fervently  praying  not 
to  be  led  into  temptation,  bemoaning  his  own  weakness 
and  inability  to  endure  the  fiery  trial,  and  staying  himself, 
in  the  exercise  of  faith,  upon  Jesus  Christ  and  him  cruci- 
fied, and  upon  him  alone. 

The  prudent  and  guarded  manner  also,  in  which, 
while  speaking  of  Ignatius  and  his  companions  with  all 
the  affection  and  respect  he  so  evidently  felt  for  them,  he, 

••'3  Poly,  ad  Pliilii).  cc.  fi.  f». 


317 

at  the  same  time,  gently  draws  off  his  readers  from  the 
then  very  recent  event  of  their  martyrdom,  to  the  contem- 
plation of  the  soberer  and  safer  examples  of  our  Lord  and 
his  apostles,  is  greatly  to  be  commended. 

If  any  reliance  whatever  is  to  be  placed  upon  the 
highly  embellished  account  of  this  holy  man's  martyrdom, 
preserved  by  Eusebius,  the  God  who  had  begun  a  good 
work  in  him  also  perfected  it  in  the  day  of  trial.  For 
while  Ignatius,  upon  the  same  authority,  rushed  into  the 
presence  of  the  emperor  Trajan  to  avow  himself  a  Chris- 
tian, Polycarp  gave  better  evidence  of  his  fitness  to  glorify 
his  Lord  in  the  flames  of  martyrdom,  by  exactly  fulfilling 
his  commandments.  "  When  they  persecuted  him  in  one 
city,  he,"  in  obedience  thereto,  "  fled  to  another  :*"  though 
at  the  last,  no  one  in  the  annals  of  the  church  professed  the 
faith  of  Christ  more  nobly,  or  submitted  to  his  tormentors 
more  cheerfully  than  St.  Poly  carp.. ^^ 

^^  Eusebius,  lib.  4.  With  respect  to  miraculous  martyrdoms,  I  may 
perhaps  be  permitted  to  observe  that  I  have  read  too  many  of  such  narra- 
tives not  to  feel  the  utmost  hesitation  in  giving  credence  to  them.  It  was 
not  the  occasion  upon  which  miraculous  interference  ordinarily  took  place  ; 
and  when  it  was  exerted  at  all,  the  interposition  was  invariably  an  effectual 
one  ;  as  in  the  cases  of  Daniel,  of  the  three  Holy  Children,  and  of  St.  Peter. 
I,  therefore,  hold  it  to  be  incredible  that,  by  a  miraculous  agency,  the  flames 
should  enshrine  the  person  of  Polycarp  without  injuring  it,  swelling  from 
him  on  all  sides  like  the  distended  sails  of  a  ship,  and  yet  that  the  confector 
should  be  allowed  to  dispatch  him  :  for  when  God  will  work,  who  shall  let 
it  ?  Had  the  divine  energy  been  there,  doubtless  it  would  also  have 
unnerved  the  executioner's  arm,  or  rendered  innocuous  the  point  of  his 
lance.  If  we  are  to  include  narrations  like  these  among  the  verities  of 
Christianity,  with  what  show  of  reason  can  we  reject  the  fables  of  the  mar- 
tyrologists  under  the  Dioclesian  persecution,  not  more  than  a  hundred  years 
after  ;  as  for  instance,  of  the  Egyptian  saint  Aj^a  Til,  who,  according  to  an 
eye-witness,,  suffered  martyrdom,  after  being  cut  to  pieces  ten  times  in  the 
course  of  as  many  days,  by  the  tyrant  Maximin,  and  every  night  put  toge- 
ther again  by  the  archangel  Gabriel  ?     See  Georgi.  Acta  S.  Coluthii, 


318 

There  is  another  evidence  of  the  depth  and  sincerity 
of  St.  Polycarp's  humility,  which  has  occurred  to  me  as 
even  still  more  remarkable.  He  had  just  before  received 
the  highest  honour  that  Christianity  could  confer  upon 
him.  While  all  the  churches  of  Asia  were  contending;  for 
the  privilege  of  a  missive  from  Ignatius  on  his  way  to 
martyrdom,  and  deemed  them  sufficiently  important  to 
dispatch  special  messengers  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining 
them,  that  eminent  personage  not  only  wrote  an  epistle  to 
Smyrna,  the  church  over  which  he  presided,  but  also 
addressed  one  of  the  same  public  character  to  Polycarp 
himself ;  wherein  he  commends  his  Christian  graces  in  the 
following  terms  : — "  Having  known  that  thy  mind  towards 
God  is  fixed,  as  it  were,  upon  an  immoveable  rock,  I 
exceedingly  give  thanks  that  I  have  been  counted  worthy 
to  behold  thy  guileless  countenance,  wherein  may  I  always 
rejoice  in  God :""  he  also  exhorts  him  "  by  the  grace  of 
God,  with  which  he  is  clothed,  to  press  forward  in  his 
course  :*"  nay,  he  points  him  out  as  a  chosen  and  appointed 
instrument  whereby  great  good  was  to  be  accomplished  to 
the  church.^^  "  We  look  unto  thee  in  these  times,  even  as 
the  ship  that  is  tossed  in  a  tempest  to  the  haven  of  rest :" 
and  the  purpose  of  his  address  is  to  commission  Polycai'p 
to  answer  some  of  the  many  churches  who  had  applied  for 
epistles  from  Ignatius,  but  which  his  guard  prevented  him 
from  sending,  by  suddenly  determining  to  sail  from 
Troas.''^  It  is  not  easy  to  conceive  of  a  severer  test  for  the 
humility  of  any  man,  than  the  praise  to  this  extent,  from 
him  whom  all  were  praising  :  for  whatever  may  be  asserted 
to  the  contrary,  Christianity,  in  its  highest  style,  was  not 
intended  to  annihilate,  either  the  proper  love  of  approbation, 
or  any  other  generous  and  exalting  sentiment  of  which  our 

411  Ign.  ad  Polyc.  cc.  1,2.  "i  idem.,  c.  8. 


319 

nature  is  capable:  but  even  from  this  trial  the  humble 
spirit  of  Poly  carp  came  forth  unblemished.  In  addition 
to  the  proofs  of  this  we  have  already  given,  it  is  not  in 
words  to  express  more  unfeigned  humility  than  the  conclu- 
sion of  his  opening  address  to  the  Philippians  : — "  These 
things  concerning  righteousness,  my  brethren,  I  should  not 
have  taken  the  liberty  of  myself  to  write  unto  you,  had  not 
you  yourselves  before  encouraged  me  to  it."^^  And  we 
find  in  another  passage,^^  that  full  of  the  same  blessed 
spirit,  this  was  the  only  pastoral  letter  he  presumed  to 
indite.  He  complied  with  the  last  request  of  Ignatius, 
by  transmitting  to  the  churches  which  had  applied  for 
missives,  copies  of  all  the  epistles  he  wrote  before  his 
departure  from  Troas. 

In  what  but  the  pure  doctrines  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, could  this  beautiful  exemplification  of  the  spirit 
of  Christianity  have  originated.''  Upon  the  subjects  we 
are  now  considering,  they  dwelt  in  the  heart  of  St. 
Polycarp  undefiled  with  the  slightest  admixture  of  error. 
We  require  no  other  evidence  of  this  than  the  passage 
with  which  his  epistle  commences.  "  Polycarp  and  the 
presbyters  that  are  with  him  in  the  church  of  God, 
which  is  at  Philippi :  mercy  unto  you,  and  peace  from 
God  Almighty,  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour, 
be  multiplied.  I  rejoiced  greatly  with  you  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  that  the  root  of  the  faith  which  was  preached 
from  the  beginning  remains  firm  in  you,  and  brings  forth 
fruit  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  suffered  himself  to  be 
brought  even  to  the  death  for  our  sins.  '  Whom  God 
hath  raised  up,  having  loosed  the  pains  of  death.'  '  Whom 
having  not  seen  ye  love,  in  whom,  though  now  ye  see  him 
not,  yet  believing,  ye  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full 

42  C.  3.  43  c.  13. 


320 

of  glory,"'  into  which  ye  earnestly  desire  to  enter  ;  knowing 
that  by  grace  ye  are  saved ;  not  by  works,  but  by  the  will 
of  God  through  Jesus  Christ .■"^•* 

Whatever  errors,  then,  were  introduced  into  Chris- 
tianity by  the  apostolical  fathers,  it  is  perfectly  evident, 
that  upon  the  doctrines  of  grace,  the  written  and  unwritten 
traditions  of  the  church  were,  in  their  times,  in  perfect 
harmony.  Both  taught  plainly  and  unequivocally,  that 
there  was  none  other  name  under  heaven  given  among  men 
whereby  we  must  be  saved,  but  only  the  name  of  Christ : 
according  to  both  creeds,  man  through  the  depravity  and 
moral  corruption  of  his  nature,  had  no  power  of  himself  to 
help  himself,  nor  was  there  any  other  help  for  him,  save 
the  special  grace  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ.  And  as  the 
apostolical  fathers  are  not  one  whit  behind  the  apostles  in 
enforcing  upon  the  consciences  of  Christians,  all  the  details 
of  a  holy  life,  as  the  fruit  and  only  evidence  of  that  saving 
faith  which  God  works  in  the  hearts  of  his  people,  so 
neither  do  they  at  all  come  short  of  them  in  earnestly 
disclaiming  the  efficacy  of  good  works,  as  the  meritorious 
and  procuring  causes  of  our  salvation,  and  ascribing  it 
altogether  to  the  undeserved  grace  of  God."' 

"We  have  already  pointed  to  the  Platonism  of  Justin 
as  the  first  apparent  cause  of  the  disturbance  of  this  har- 
mony. We  have  also  remarked  upon  the  rapidity  with 
which,  through  the  force  of  his  example,  and  through  the 
popularity  of  the  Platonic  philosophy  in  the  second  century, 
the   opinions   of    Plato,   and    the   doctrines   of    the    New 

44  Polyc.  ad  Phil.,  c  1. 

45  It  will  be  observed,  that  the  ofiice  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  not  assigned 
in  these  extracts  from  the  apostolical  fathers.  It  may  be  given  as  a  further 
proof,  that  the  early  church  did,  in  some  sort,  confound  the  second  and  third 
persons  of  the  Trinity.  To  this  subject  we  have  already  frequently 
alluded. 


3^ 

Testament,  were  then  identified,  as  far  as  the  historical 
facts   of  the   latter    admitted   of    such    a   process.      The 
atonement    of    Christ    they    certainly    taught   to  be  the 
ground  of  their  hope  of  salvation  ;    but   beyond  this,  it 
seems  to  have  remained   altogether  in  abeyance   in  their 
system  of   divinity  ;    it   acted    no  part   therein  ;    it  was 
denuded   of  all   practical    bearing  :    the  writers   of   this 
period   can  treat  of  the  subject  to  which,    of   all  others, 
it  would    seem    the  most  indispensible,    that  of   the   for- 
giveness  of   sins,    as    though    no    such    doctrine  were  in 
existence  :    never  once  alluding  either  to  the  atonement, 
or  to  the  necessity   of   faith  in   it."*^     They  also  mistook 
both  the  extent  and  nature  of  its  efficacy  ;    they  taught 
that  the  blood  of  the  martyr  washed  away  his  own  sin, 
and,    in    some   sense,    the   sins    of    others    also  :*''   it  was 
likewise    their   opinion,    that    its  purifying    efficacy   con- 
sisted   in    certain    hidden   virtues,    residing   in    the    cross 
and  names  of  Christ,'*^  rather  than   in  his  merits.     With 
regard  to  all  the  peculiar  doctrines,  they  manifested  more 
anxiety  to  square  their  Christianity  with  their  Platonism, 
than   their   Platonism  with  their  Christianity.       In  utter 
disregard  of  the  Bible,  they  maintained  the  boundless  free- 
agency  of  man,  as  it  was  taught  by  the  academics.     They 
admitted  the  corruption  of  human  nature  only  in  the  extent 
to  which   Plato  admitted  it.      They  totally  deprived  the 
grace  of   God  of   speciality  ;     they   interpreted  all  scrip- 
tural allusions  to  it,  of  those  extended  and  general  senses 
in  which  all  things  may  be  ultimately  referred  to  God  as 
to   the    First  Cause  :'^    if  any    thing  more  than  this  was 

46  Supra.,  p.  120.,  e.  s. 

47  Page  224.,  &c. 

48  Page  261.,  &c. 

49  Justin.  Dial.,  p.  280  B.,  &c.  &c.  ;  so  Irenaeus  defines  grace  to  be, 

Y 


322 

given  or  required  in  any  case,  it  was  only  upon  great  and 
special  occasions,  as  at  baptism,  or  martyrdom  ;  and  even 
then,  it  acted  merely  by  the  suggestion  of  good  thoughts 
and  emotions,  after  the  manner  of  the  demon  of  Socrates.^*' 
It  was  inevitable  to  such  a  scheme,  that  a  large  measure 
of  value  and  efficacy  should  be  ascribed  to  good  works. 
We  have  already  laid  before  the  reader  their  opinions  of 
the  power  and  prevalence  with  God  of  fasting,  and  the 
other  ceremonies  of  religion  ;  and  that  they  would  assign 
the  same  value  to  the  fulfilment  of  the  moral  law  of  the 


"  consilium  bonum  omnibus  a  Deo  datum.,"  lib.  4.  c.  T\.  And  it  certainly 
occurs  to  me  that  Tertullian  generally  means  nothing  more  than  this,  when 
he  speaks  of  the  grace  of  God.  (See  de  Anima.  c.  21.,  adv.  Marc,  lib.  2. 
c.  5 — 8.)     See  also  above,  p.  120.,  the  doctrine  of  Hermas. 

no  'I.  The  divinely  imparted  vpisdom,  which  is  the  power  of  the  Father, 
excites  our  free  will." — CI.  Alex..,  5  Strom.,  §  13.  In  the  same  passage  he 
interprets  the  expression  "  I  will  pour  out  of  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh," 
Joel  ii.  28.,  of  the  Spirit  that  is  in  all  of  us,  not  as  a  part  of  God,  but  pro- 
bably merely  as  an  emanation  from  him  at  the  first.  He  evidently  means  to 
say,  that  there  is  no  promise  of  divine  assistance  in  the  passage,  beyond  the 
presentation  of  some  good  suggestion  to  the  free-will  of  man.  What  Cle- 
ment intended  by  this  spirit  in  man,  he  proposed  to  explain  in  his  work  on 
the  soul,  which  has  not  come  down  to  us.  Tatian,  however,  supplies  this 
deficiency.  He  informs  us  that  our  first  parents  were  created  with  two 
spirits,  or  souls  ;  the  one  material,  the  other  immaterial,  and  emanating 
from  God.  All  their  offspring  are  also  similarly  created;  they  have  an 
earthy  and  an  heavenly  spirit.  But  when  Adam  and  Eve  sinned,  the  latter 
quitted  the  former,  because  it  refused  to  obey  its  suggestions,  and  returned 
to  heaven.  In  this  situation  also  are  all  their  descendants ;  they  have  a 
material  soul  within  them,  and  an  immaterial  soul,  or  in  Platonic  language, 
a  demon,  in  heaven.  The  material  soul,  however,  has  a  spark  of  the  divine 
nature  still  in  it ;  and  is  able,  by  the  exercise  of  its  free-will,  to  exalt  itself 
above  the  earthy  taint  it  had  contracted,  so  as  to  be  fitted  for  receiving 
the  suggestions  of  its  immaterial  counterpart,  without  which  it  can  never 
attain  the  knowledge  of  heavenly  things. — Contra  Grcecos.,  pp.  150 — 153. 
I  strongly  suspect  that  this  rhapsody  embodies  the  universal  belief,  in  the 
second  century,  on  the  subject  of  divine  grace. 


323 

New  Testament,  is  a  corollary  too  self-evident  to  require 
that  we  should  work  it  out. 

This  was  the  doctrinal  religion  of  the  fathers  of  the 
second  century.  If  the  tradition,  either  of  the  apostles, 
or  the  apostolical  fathers,  is  to  be  received,  it  was  not 
Christianity.  If  the  works  of  Plato,  and  their  own  con- 
stant admissions  are  to  be  regarded,  it  was  Platonism. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


CONCLUSION. 


Wk  conclude  with  a  brief  resumption  of  the  course  of  rea- 
soning with  which  we  commenced.  From  the  well-known 
fact,  that  the  older  dispensations  of  God  were  preparing 
mankind  for  that  of  the  New  Testament,  we  there  inferred 
that  when  its  divine  origin  was  once  demonstrated,  this 
last  was  broadly  distinguished  from  them  by  a  mark  of 
completion,  or  perfection,  in  which  they  were  deficient  ; 
consisting  in  the  absence  of  all  necessity  for  further  mira- 
culous interference.  Now  the  new  circumstances  in  which 
the  relations  between  God  and  man  were  hereby  placed, 
evidently  point  out  the  commencement  of  a  new  epoch  in 
the  divine  economy  ;  differing,  in  this  particular  (amongst 
others)  from  those  that  had  preceded  it.  Miracles  were 
no  longer  to  be  employed  for  the  purpose  of  coercing 
the  assent  of  the  human  understanding,  through  the 
evidence  of  the  outward  senses.  "  The  weapons  of  the 
warfare,"  which,  in  the  terms  of  its  first  annunciation,  it 
declared  against  sin  in  its  origin  in  the  heart,  and  sin  in  all 
its  consequences  in  the  world,  and  will  never  cease  to  pro- 
secute until  it  has  obtained  the  victory,  were  not  to  be, 
even  in  this  sense,  "  carnal."  Tlie  first  diffusion  of 
Christianity  once  accomplished,  and  the  laws  of  nature 
resumed  their  sway  over  the  universe,  never  again  to  be 


325 

disturbed  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  religion  to  mankind. 
The  manifestations  of  the  power  of  God,  whereby  the 
high  purpose  for  which  Christianity  was  sent  into  the 
world  was  to  be  fulfilled,  were  thenceforward  to  be 
restricted  to  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  making 
effectual  upon  the  heart  the  presentation  of  its  truths  to 
the  understanding.  These,  whatever  part  they  may  have 
acted  in  the  older  dispensations,  constitute,  as  we  have 
already  shown,  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  the 
new  one. 

At  the  outset  of  our  enquiry,  we  also  observed 
upon  the  operation  of  a  law  by  which  the  whole  of  the 
visible  works  of  God  are  regulated :  that  of  the  crude- 
ness  and  imperfection  of  the  earlier  modes  of  all  existences, 
and  of  all  dispensations.  We  might  have  conjectured  that 
Christianity  would  throw  no  discord  into  this  sublime 
harmony,  which  blends  into  indissoluble  oneness  our  con- 
ception of  the  Mind  by  whom  all  things  were  created,  and 
are  administered :  and  the  declarations  of  the  Word  of  God 
entirely  confirm  our  conjecture.  The  glories  of  the  latter 
days  are  dwelt  upon  by  the  prophets,  both  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testament,  in  terms  which  it  is  needless  that  we 
should  here  repeat ;  inasmuch  as,  in  anticipation  of  their 
near  accomplishment,  they  are  now  in  the  heart  and  on  the 
lips  of  all  who  name  the  name  of  Christ.  While,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  apostles  themselves  complain  of  monstrous 
and  rapidly  growing  corruptions  in  their  times,  which  even 
their  authority,  armed  with  the  miraculous  gifts  of  the 
Spirit,  was  unable  to  repress.  Christianity  then  formed 
no  exception  to  this  canon  of  the  created  universe.  To 
adopt  the  metaphor  of  its  divine  founder,  when,  by  mira- 
culous agency,  "  it  was  first  sown  in  the  earth,  it  was, 
indeed,  the  smallest  of  seeds ;"  and  its  first  symptoms  of 


326 

organic  existence  were  as  crude,  as  imperfect,  bearing  as 
little  resemblance  to  the  productions  which  would  be 
thrown  forth  by  its  maturer  growths,  as  the  first  leaves 
from  a  grain  of  mustard-seed.  If  by  this  our  appeal  to 
the  remaining  records  of  early  Christianity,  we  have  in  any 
degree  developed  this  truth,  and  made  it  more  evident, 
our  purpose  is  accomplished. 

Whence,  then,  did  they  derive  their  information,  who 
babble  of  the  fountain  being  purest,  nearest  its  source ; 
who  talk  of  Christianity  in  its  nascent  state  as  Christianity 
in  perfection  ?  Where  did  they  discover  that  in  regard  of 
the  purity  and  moral  efficacy  of  her  doctrines,  she  was 
only  sent  into  the  world  to  sicken  and  to  languish  ?  That 
she  has  never  recovered  the  shock  of  her  first  collision 
with  human  depravity  ;  that  if  we  would  contemplate  any 
thing  like  the  effect  of  her  proper  influence  upon  the  hearts 
of  men,  we  must  confine  our  regards  altogether  to  the 
primitive  times ;  for  her  subsequent  history  has  been  little 
else  than  a  series  of  deteriorations  and  corruptions,  which 
at  length  have  reduced  her,  in  our  day,  to  so  abject  a  state 
of  anile  decrepitude,  that  heaven  and  earth  wait  with 
impatience  for  the  fiat  that  shall  consign  her  to  unlamented 
oblivion,  and  establish  in  her  place  some  new  economy  of 
miracles  ?  Such  jaundiced  and  distorted  views  may,  per- 
haps, soothe,  in  some  degree,  the  impotent  rage  of  foiled 
and  baffled  Papistry,  or  prove  a  convenient  medium  for 
the  exhibition  of  the  wild  phantasms  of  our  modern  Fifth- 
Monarchy-men  ;  but  we  have  endeavoured  to  show  that 
they  are  no  more  the  true  reflections  of  tlie  page  of  history, 
than  of  that  of  inspiration. 

We  assert,  therefore,  upon  the  authority  of  its  own 
declarations,  that  the  New  Testament  is  the  last  revelation 
which   God  will  vouchsafe  during   the  continuance  of  the 


327 

present  economy  :  and,  consequently,  that  the  Bible  is  thi' 
only  instrument  whereby,  through  the  agency  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  mankind  are  to  be  instructed  in  the  duties  and 
obligations  comprehended  under  the  term  religion,  to 
the  end  of  time.  And  we  further  state,  as  the  result  of  the 
investigation  we  are  concluding,  that  there  has  been  no 
miscalculation  here,  on  the  part  of  Omniscience :  the  pro- 
vision is  abundantly  sufficient  to  meet  the  emergency. 
The  oppositions  and  dangers  with  which  Christianity  has 
had  to  contend,  from  the  day  wherein  the  Spirit  was  first 
effused  on  the  primitive  disciples  until  now,  and  over 
which  it  has  invariably  triumphed,  have,  in  our  times, 
rendered  needless  any  very  painful  exercise  of  faith  to 
discover  her  efficacy  to  accomplish  the  work  that  remains 
for  her  on  the  earth. 

Let,  then,  the  zeal  of  the  church  of  Christ  be  damped, 
and  her  energies  unnerved,  no  longer,  by  these  puling 
lamentations  over  the  departed  purity  of  the  primitive 
times.  There  is,  probably,  no  question  in  religion,  upon 
which  greater  misapprehension  prevails,  than  here.  In 
thus  speaking  of  the  early  church,  it  is  too  common  to 
include  in  our  conception,  the  miraculous  dispensation 
whereby  Christianity  was  first  established ;  whereas  that 
formed  no  part  whatever  of  this  world's  economy.  It  was 
as  "  the  great  sheet,"  in  St.  Peter's  vision,  "  let  down  to 
the  earth,"  indeed,  but  "  knit  at  the  four  corners,"  in 
heaven.  They  upon  whom  the  miraculous  gifts  were 
effused,  were  "  in  the  world  but  not  of  the  world,"  in  a 
more  emphatic  sense,  than  even  that  in  which  the  apostle 
employed  the  expression.  They  walked  the  earth,  as 
Lazarus  is  said  to  have  done  after  his  resurrection.  It  was 
not  the  mere  power  of  working  miracles  that  distinguished 
them  from   ordinary  men  ;  in  all  the  varied  circumstances 


328 

through  which  they  passed  during  their  sojourn  here,  the 
bright  line  of  demarcation  which  separated  them  from 
things  visible,  and  connected  them  with  the  world  of 
spirits,  was  constantly  apparent  throughout  its  whole 
extent.  Such  was  certainly  the  impression  of  the  early 
church  ;  for  whatever  anxiety  she  may  have  betrayed  to 
retain  these  gifts,  it  was  with  feelings  not  at  all  allied  to 
surprise  or  astonishment,  that  she  beheld  the  entire  dispen- 
sation of  miracles  "  received  up  again  into  heaven." 

The  church  on  earth,  then,  they  never  represented,  at 
any  period  which  comes  properly  within  the  scope  of  eccle- 
siastical history.  An  overwhelming  majority  of  the  early 
converts  necessarily  consisted  of  those,  whose  prepossessions 
and  w^hose  ignorance  had  called  forth  this  display  of  the 
divine  power.  And  they  were  exactly  in  the  situation  of 
men  translated  in  a  moment,  from  total  darkness  to  the 
unclouded  blaze  of  noon.  That  truth,  in  search  of  which 
they  had  groped  in  vain  in  every  corner  of  their  prison- 
house,  and  which  was  still  the  subject  of  their  anxious 
enquiry,  had  been  shot  at  once  into  their  hearts  and 
understandings  by  the  energy  of  Omnipotence.  And  we 
are  not  surprised  to  find,  that  they  were  dazzled  and 
confounded  with  the  intensity  of  the  light  it  diffused  : 
their  overwhelming  astonisliment  being  far  more  excited 
by  the  undoubted  certainty  and  vast  importance  of  the 
truths  which  Christianity  revealed,  than  by  the  miracles 
which  had  first  called  their  attention  to  them.  The 
whole  tenor  of  their  works  evidences  this :  and  I  speak 
it,  to  the  shame  of  modern  infidelity.  But  we  maintain 
that  persons  so  circumstanced  were  no  more  qualified  for 
the  office  of  commentators  and  expositors  of  the  doctrines 
of  the  New  Testament,  than  the  just  liberated  prisoner 
to  gaze  upon  the  noon-day  sun.     Their  errors  are  exactly 


329 

what  might  have  been  anticipated,  under  the  circumstances 
in  which  they  were  placed.  They  were  not  able  to  endure 
the  direct  I'ays  of  the  divine  truth  ;  and,  therefore,  they 
endeavoured  to  shade  their  aching  eyes  with  the  veil  of 
their  former  prepossessions,  and  to  look  upon  Christianity 
through  the  medium  of  certain  notions  which  they  drew 
from  the  ritual  of  heathenism,  and  from  the  Platonic 
philosophy. 

The  testimony  of  the  early  fathers,  then,  to  the 
authenticity  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  to  their  sole 
authority  as  the  guide  of  our  faith,  is  invaluable.  But 
this  is  the  only  material  purpose  in  religion  which  their 
writings  will  subserve.  It  is  a  grievous  and  dangerous 
error  to  set  them  forth,  either  as  the  infallible  expositors  of 
the  Christian  faith,  or  as  the  authorised  exemplars  of 
Christian  practice.  We  have  endeavoured  to  show,  how 
largely  the  doctrine  and  spirit  of  Christ's  religion  were 
corrupted  and  adulterated  in  passing  through  their  works : 
and  to  trace  to  their  several  sources  the  many  evil  admix- 
tures wherewith  they  were  there  defiled. 

It  now  only  remains  that  we  state  the  inevitable 
conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  these  considerations,  as  our 
general  inference.  The  tradition  of  the  early  fathers  is 
possessed  of  no  power  of  prescription  whatever  over  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  succeeditig  ages.  Like  the  opinions 
of  authors  of  any  other  period,  it  is  to  be  received  "  so 
far  as  it  is  agreeable  to  God's  word,"  and  no  further. 

As  several  of  the  errors  which  they  introduced  into 
Christianity,  still  remain  in  the  creeds  of  many  churches 
and  individuals,  and  upon  the  sole  authority  of  their 
tradition,  (under  one  aspect  or  another)  if  we  have 
succeeded  in  establishing  the  premises  upon  which  this  our 


330 

conclusion  rests,  our  labour  will  not  have  been  altogether 
in  vain. 

I  have  hitherto,  by  abstaining  from  the  many 
ethical  deductions  that  presented  themselves  to  my 
mind  in  the  course  of  my  investigation,  studiously 
endeavoured  to  avoid  the  appearance  of  invading  the 
sacred  function.  There  is  a  decorum  in  leaving  to  those 
"  who  minister  in  holy  things"  the  discussion  of  the  sub- 
jects proper  to  their  office,  which  I  feel  the  utmost 
unwillingness,  in  any  degree,  to  violate.  But,  notwith- 
standing, one  of  these  deductions  has  so  close  a  connection 
with  the  obligations  of  Christianity  which  are  peculiar 
to  our  own  times,  that  I  cannot  refrain  from  recording- 
it,  before  I  finally  take  leave  of  the  subject. 

No  prophecy  regarding  the  final  triumphs  of  Mes- 
siah's kingdom,  can  possibly  have  received  its  accomplish- 
ment, in  the  circumstances  of  the  first  propagation  and 
establishment  of  Christianity  in  the  earth.  If  I  have 
read  their  history  aright,  its  corruption  always  kept  pace 
with  its  diffusion,  during  these  early  periods.  Let,  then, 
those  who  bear,  in  our  days,  the  ark  of  the  New  Covenant 
between  God  and  man,  and  all  who  have  joined  the 
solemn  and  mysterious  procession  whereby  it  is  rapidly 
borne  onwards,  "  thank  God  and  take  courage."  The  clouds 
of  ignorance  and  of  error  lower  in  dense  and  accumulated 
masses,  over  the  perilous  paths  which  were  the  scenes  of  the 
early  progress  of  this  precious  depository  of  the  hopes  of 
the  human  race:  the  future,  and  the  future  only,  is 
refulgent  with  the  glory  of  God  ! 


APPENDIX. 


I  HAVE  felt  myself  called  upon^  in  the  pieceding  woi'k,  to  avow 
my  attachment  to  the  Church  of  England.  And  the  circum- 
stances of  the  times  seem  also  to  render  imperative  upon  me,  the 
duty  of  stating  my  reasons  for  that  attachment,  on  such  parts  of 
the  question  between  her  and  her  opponents,  as  have  been 
brought  under  my  notice  in  the  course  of  the  investigation. 

I  commence  with  the  subject  of  church  government ; 
regarding  which,  I  hesitate  not  to  repeat  my  conviction,  that 
its  details  do  not  come  within  the  scope  of  the  revelation  of  the 
New  Testament ;  because  it  is  absolutely  impossible  for  any 
church  to  arrange  its  internal  polity  in  exact  uniformity  with  the 
exemplar  of  the  primitive  times,  unless  its  membeis  be  also 
endued  with  the  same  miraculous  gifts.  We  cannot  entertain  the 
supposition,  that  the  presence  or  absence  of  so  important  a 
circumstance  would  in  no  way  modify  or  influence  the  form  of 
church  government:  it  is  in  itself  highly  imi^robable,  and  is, 
moreover,  directly  contradicted  by  the  inspired  writers.  No  list 
of  ecclesiastical  dignities  occurs  in  the  New  Testament,^  in  which 
all  the  higher  ranks  are  not  assigned  to  those  who  were  miracu- 
lously  gifted  ;    to   apostles,    prophets,    evangelists,^     &c.     The 

1  1  Cor.  xii.  28.     Eph.  iv.  12. 

2  If  any  distinct  office  is  designated  by  the  title  evangelist,  and  of  this 
there  can  be  but  little  doubt,  it  probably  consisted  in  a  miraculous  power 
conferred  on  certain  of  the  immediate  disciples  of  our  Lord,  of  detailin"-  the 


332 

ordinary  offices,  whether  they  be  termed  those  of  pastors,  or 
teachers,  or  bishops,  or  presbyters,  or  deacons,  are  invariably 
spoken  of,  either  directly  or  by  implication,  as  subordinate  to 
these.  We  have  admitted  that  two  distinct  functions  only  of  this 
nature  existed  in  the  primitive  church  ;  and  that  the  same  state 
of  things  continued  in  the  time  of  Clement  of  Rome ;  the  date 
of  whose  epistle,  from  casual  allusions  to  certain  historical  facts, 
we  are  able  to  limit  to  within  five  years  of  the  death  of  the  Apos- 
tles St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul.  But  half  a  century  afterwards,  when 
Ignatius  wrote,  we  find  that  a  change  had  taken  place  in  the 
mode  of  enumerating  these  offices.  A  third  and  superior  order 
had  been  erected  over  the  other  two,  for  the  purpose  of  over- 
looking the  entire  concerns  of  the  church  ;  of  which  duties 
the  title  of  bishop  is  descriptive.  Let  it  be  observed  that  I  only 
quote  this  author  as  an  evidence  to  the  fact :  my  opinion  of  the 
strain  of  mad  blasphemy  in  which  he  enforces  the  authority  of 
the  clergy,  I  have,  I  trust,  not  at  sll  scrupled  to  give  elsewhere. 

Hermas  also,  his  contemporary,  or,  perhaps,  his  predecessor, 
speaks  to  the  same  purjjort  of  "  the  bishop  who  is  also  the  presi- 
dent :"^  and  I  believe  it  has  never  been  denied  that  this  order 
prevailed  uninterruptedly  in  the  church,  from  their  times  down 
to   the  period   of  the   Reformation. 

I  feel  no  doubt  that  this  change  in  church  government, 
which  took  place  during  the  latter  half  of  the  first  century, 
originated  in  the  disorders  and  confusions  that  disturbed  the 
church,  after  the  removal,  by  death  or  martyrdom,  of  those  who 


acts  and  discourses  of  their  divine  Master,  with  perfect  and  undeviating 
accuracy.  I  think  there  is  an  allusion  to  some  such  gift  possessed  by  the 
apostle  St.  John,  in  the  epistle  of  IreniEus  to  Florinus,  (see  above,  p.  13.)  ; 
and  nothing  is  more  certain,  from  the  whole  tenor  of  the  early  Christian 
writings,  than  that  the  facts,  afterwards  recorded  in  the  Gospels,  were  very 
sedulously  detailed  to  their  converts  universally,  by  the  first  propagators  of 
Christianity ;  a  circumstance  which  pretty  clearly  shows  the  necessity  of 
the  supernatural  endowment  we  are  supposing. 
^  Episcopus  qui  ct  pra-s^cs. 


3B3 

were  possessed  of  miraculous  gifts,  and  who  in  virtue  of  them, 
exercised  a  supreme  authority  therein.  We  know  well,  that  it 
was  against  these,  that  the  sword  of  persecution  was  especially 
unsheathed,  and  that  they  were  always  among  the  first  to  suffer. 
Nothing,  therefore,  is  moi-e  probable  than  that,  when  the  apostles 
had  all  returned  to  him  that  sent  them,  and  the  gifts  of  prophecy 
and  evangelism  had  well  nigh  passed  away,  great  and  grievous 
inconveniences  would  be  experienced,  from  the  want  of  their 
superintendence  and  authority.  It  was  in  vain  that  their  succes- 
sors called  upon  their  spiritual  charges  for  the  same  deference 
which  had  been  willingly  paid  to  the  inspired  and  gifted  apostles : 
they  asked  for  the  visible  credentials  which  these  gifted  persons 
had  presented  to  them,  but,  in  the  great  majority  of  instances, 
they  had  them  not ;  and,  therefore,  most  probably,  (for  unhap- 
pily we  have  no  historical  records  to  guide  us,)  they  hesitated  to 
entrust  with  an  uninspired  and  ungifted  man,  the  powers  which 
hitherto  had  only  been  exercised  by  the  accredited  ambassadors 
of  heaven. 

The  epistle  of  Clement  to  the  Corinthians  establishes  two 
points  in  favour  of  our  assumption.  The  one  is,  that  great  con- 
fusions and  disorders  agitated  the  church  at  the  time  it  was 
written ;  not  confined  to  Corinth,  but  diffused  very  widely.  The 
other  is,  that  all  these  originated  in  the  refusal  of  the  jieople  to 
yield  to  the  clergy  that  degree  of  deference,  which  was  deemed 
needful  for  the  maintenance  of  ecclesiastical  discipline. 

Evidence  of  the  same  state  of  things  is  also  to  be  found  in 
the  Shepherd  of  Hermas,  which  was  probably  composed  in  order 
to  procure  for  its  author  the  credit  of  inspiration.  And  many 
unintelligible  places,  in  his  Visions  and  Similitudes,  are  probably 
allusions  to  persons  and  events  connected  with  the  quarrels  in  the 
Christian  community  to  which  he  was,  in  some  way  or  other, 
immediately  attached. 

We  have  also  seen  enough  in  the  writings  of  Ignatius  and 
Polycaip,  to  show  that  the  question,  in  their  time,  remained  a 
very  sensitive  one. 


334 

We  know,  then,  that  the  church  was  agitated  with  continual 
dissensions  regarding  the  authority  of  the  clergy  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  first  century  : — that  the  persons  upon  whom  the 
Holy  Ghost  had  conferred  miraculous  gifts  at  the  first  annuncia- 
tion of  Christianity  by  the  apostles,  must,  in  the  course  of  nature, 
have  died  somewhere  about  this  period,  (and  we  have  historical 
evidence  that  many  of  them  had  then  already  suffered  martyr- 
dom) ;  we  have  also  ascertained,  that  these  persons  exclusively 
administered  the  supreme  authority  in  the  church ;  the  symbol 
by  which  they  held  their  high  offices  being  the  superna- 
tural powers  possessed  by  them.  We,  therefore,  draw  the 
conclusion  that  these  divisions  originated  in  the  absence  of  mira- 
culous endowments,  from  the  ministerial  qualifications  of  their 
successors. 

We  conceive  that  these  are  the  circumstances  which  led  to 
the  change  in  question.  The  supreme  authority  which  had  been 
exercised  by  the  apostles,  was  still  found  to  be  indispensable  to 
the  maintenance  of  ecclesiastical  discipline,  and  was,  therefore, 
vested  in  one  of  the  presbyters  of  each  church,  to  whom,  as  the 
functions  of  the  several  orders  became  better  defined,  the  title  of 
bishop  was  appropriated.  Nor  am  I  prepared  to  deny,  that  the 
foundation  of  such  an  arrangement  may  have  been  laid  at  an  earlier 
period.  St.  Clement  mentions  the  triple  order  of  High  Priest, 
Priest,  and  Levite,  in  the  Jewish  economy,  in  an  argument  which 
certainly  implies,  (though  he  does  not  formally  express  it)  the 
existence  of  a  corresponding  triple  order  in  the  Christian  church, 
(Epist.  ad  Cor.  I.  c.  40.,  adjtnem.)  And  the  title  PrcL'ses,  Piesi- 
dent,  which  the  bishop  retained  up  to  the  end  of  the  second 
century,  seems,  at  a  very  early  period,  to  have  been  aj)plicd  to 
one  among  their  number,  in  each  synod  of  Presbyters. 

But  waiving  this  point  altogether,  the  mode  of  ecclesiastical 
polity  for  which  we  contend,  was  first  adopted  immediately  upon 
the  cessation  of  miracles,  and  remained  unquestioned  to  the  time 
of  the  Reformation.  And  though  no  one  can  possibly  estimate  the 
logical  force  of  this  consideration,  unaided  by  other  circumstances. 


335 

more  lightly  tliaii  I  do ;  though  I  readily  grant  that  there 
are  also  errors  of  equal  antiquity;  which  maintained  their  influ- 
ence in  the  church  with  almost  equal  uniformity  :  yet,  I  require 
to  be  shown,  that  the  presbyter-bishops  and  deacons  of  the  pri- 
mitive church  administered  the  whole  of  her  affairs,  in  entire 
independence  of  the  control  and  superintendence  of  the  apostles, 
before  I  concede  this  to  be  no  longer  tenable,  as  one  of  the 
defences  of  episcopacy.  If  this  be  not  demonstrated,  (and  in  my 
judgment,  it  never  can  be)  I  contend  that  the  two  uninspired 
orders  of  the  New  Testament  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  ques- 
tion ;  inasmuch  as  they  were  subjected  to  an  authority  and 
control  from  these  gifted  personages,  far  more  extensive  than 
that  which  we  claim  on  behalf  of  the  bishop,  over  the  corres- 
ponding orders  in  our  own  church. 

I  have,  however,  denied,  and  I  still  deny,  that  there  is  any 
pi'escription  whatever  of  the  details  of  ecclesiastical  polity.  It  is 
a  question  of  discipline :  one  of  those  which  (as  we  have  before 
remarked)  revelation  brings  within  the  compass  of  the  human 
undeistanding,  and  leaves  there.  If,  then,  it  can  be  shown,  that 
the  retention  of  the  episcopal  order  has  a  tendency  to  impede  the 
progress  of  vital  Christianity  in  the  hearts  of  men,  by  an  appeal 
to  facts ;  by  demonstrating  the  superiority,  in  life  and  doctrine,  of 
those  Christian  communities  which  have  discarded,  over  those 
which  have  retained  it,  (a  corroboration  which,  as  the  experiment 
has  now  been  tried  for  upwards  of  three  centuries,  we  have  a  per- 
perfect  right  to  demand,)  we  concede,  that  this  would  be  a  Justi- 
fication of  the  change  in  question.  But  though  this  is  too 
invidious  a  view  of  the  subject  to  be  dwelt  upon  for  a  moment, 
we  venture  to  say,  it  is  not  upon  this  ground  that  our  antagonists 
will  choose  to  argue  the  question  with  us. 

Episcopacy,  then,  being  neither  contrary  to  God's  Word, 
nor  subversive  of  true  godliness,  we  ask  those  who  are  at  this 
moment  so  loudly  calling  upon  us  to  forsake  the  old  paths,  and 
to  follow  them  through  new,  and  to  us,  untried  ones,  what  is  the 
argument  whereby  they  will  prove,  a  priori,  that  such  a  superin- 


336 

tendence  is  either  inexpedient  or  unnecessary,  in  ecclesiastical 
discipline  ?  Can  they  produce  one,  which  is  not  refuted,  even 
by  their  own  universal  practice  ?  For  where  is  the  widely 
extended  and  flourishing  community  among  them,  in  which  the 
power  and  authority  of  the  bishop  are  not  fully  represented, 
though  the  name  be  abolished  ? 

In  this  state  of  the  question,  the  example  of  the  early  church 
seems  to  me  of  very  great  importance  to  its  final  decision.  This, 
in  my  judgment,  is  exactly  the  case  wherein  the  earliest  precedent 
is  the  most  valuable.  Nay,  for  myself,  I  go  even  further  than 
this  :  I  deny  that  I  have  any  right  to  change  an  institution  of  the 
visible  church,  of  so  venerable  an  antiquity,  either  by  way  of 
experiment,  or  for  any  other  reason,  short  of  a  conscientious 
conviction  that  it  is  a  plain  infraction  of  the  recorded  will  of  God. 
I  feel  that  in  that  case  I  should  be  justly  amenable  to  the  "  open 
rebuke,"  which  the  Church  of  England  directs  to  be  administered 
to  such  as  "  offend  against  the  common  order  of  the  church,  by 
willingly,  purposely,  and  openly  breaking  the  traditions  thereof, 
which  be  not  repugnant  to  the  Word  of  God."*  But  I  beg  to  be 
understood,  that  I  strictly  limit  the  decision  to  my  own  case.  I 
am  not  called  upon  to  decide  the  conscientious  scruples  of  others, 
and  it  is  as  far  from  my  right  as  from  my  inclination,  to  dictate 
the  faith  of  any  man.^ 

The  other  debated  point  in  the  controversy,  upon  which  our 
subject  has  any  particular  bearing,  will  require  but  a  brief  notice. 
It  is  now  asserted  that  National  Religious  Establishments  are  not 
only  National  evils,  but  evils  also  to  religion  itself,  of  the  most 
heinous  and  aggravated  nature.  Volumes,  I  understand,  (for  I 
have  not  seen  them,)  are  written,  comprehending  in  their  "  grasp 
enorm,"  the  history  of  the  human  race,  from  the  expulsion  from 
Paradise,  down  to  the  year  of  their  publication  :  their  general 
purport  being  to  trace  to  this  "  horror  of  horrors,"  (such,   I  am 

*  Art.  34. 

•''  Sed  nee  religionis  est  cogere  religionein,  qujE  sponte  suscepi  debeat 
lion  vi. —  Tertullian,  ad  Scap.  c.  2. 


337 

informed,  is  the  plirase,)  all  the  evils  that  have  afflicted  human- 
ity ;  and  their  particular  one,  to  ascribe  the  existing  corruptions 
of  the  Christian  religion  altogether  to  its  national  establishment 
by  Constantine.  According  to  these  Christian  writers,  the  atro- 
cities of  a  Nero,  or  a  Diocletian,  shrink  into  nothing  when 
compared  with  his  unpardonable  crime,  in  declaring  Christianity 
to  be  the  religion  of  the  empire  !  Of  those  they  are  altogether 
oblivious :  it  is  at  the  memory  of  Constantine  that  they  "  void 
their  rheum"  incessantly.  My  answer  to  all  this  shall  be  confined 
to  a  single  chronological  observation.  The  perpetrator  of  the 
enormity  in  question  did  not  succeed  to  the  imperial  power  until 
the  commencement  of  the  fourth  century.  At  the  period  I  have 
been  considering,  (which  is  limited  to  the  two  first  centuries  of 
ecclesiastical  history,)  the  temporal  affairs  of  the  church  were 
administered  exactly  in  the  way  which  they  so  vehemently 
recommend  for  universal  adoption.  On  their  own  showing, 
therefore,  I  have  merely  to  introduce  to  their  notice  the  state  of 
Christianity  at  that  time,  as  a  practical  illustration  of  the  work- 
ing of  "  the  voluntary  system."  What  hecomes  of  the  argument, 
I  leave  those  who  have  advanced  it  to  determine :  I  really  do 
not  take  sufficient  interest  in  its  fate,  to  pursue  it  any  further. 

I  am  aware  that  there  are  many  excellent  persons,  who 
conscientiously  dissent  from  the  discipline  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  who,  notwithstanding,  greatly  disapprove  of  the 
wanton  and  unprovoked  aggression  she  is  now  sustaining.  I  am 
also  aware  that  those  who  hold  such  opinions  have  ground  of 
complaint  upon  certain  points  in  politics.  I  only  regret  that  the 
character  of  fierce  partisanship,  hy  which  the  jjresent  times  are 
distinguished,  will  no  more  allow  me  to  co-operate  with  them  in 
obtaining  their  removal,  than  it  will  permit  them  openly  to  disa- 
vow the  conduct  of  these  aggressoi'S ;  though  I  am  well  satisfied 
of  their  disapprobation  of  it. 


LEEDS: 

PRINTED  BY  A.  PICKARD,  CROSS-COURT,  TOP  OF  BRIGGATE. 


DATE  DUE 

/ 

w 

CAVLORO 

rRINTEDIN  USA. 

nnceton   Theological  Sem.nary-Speet 


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