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Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de chaque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ► signifie "A SUIVRE ", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filtied at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc.. peuvent dtre film^s i des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6. il est filmd d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ^BP^^ w^^^^^^ wwar '--J)- ■^ AN OUTLINE ,0^ OP THE llHistorlcal Evidence OF THE TRUTH OP THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. ALEXANDER MACKNIGHT, Pro t'essox- of Xhieology, tialifftr, STova Sorttia. #^.*^ •^' A. & VV. MACKINLAY, GRANVILLE STREET, 1876. 3' mmm^Kmmmmmmm %■ I !';-rj- * \ \ ■ ^'^itf. ^< mmmm m^^mmfmm'i^mmKm f -!*-_. AN OUTLINE OF THE Historical Evidence OF THE TRUTH OF TUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. BY ALEXANDER MACKNIGHT, Professor of TUeology, Halifax, Nova Scotia. A. k W. MACKINLAY, GRANVILLE STREET, 187G. - ^. I M I I ' « ll ^^■T^"" % c k ^m m PFip?r I GONTEl^TS. PAOK Preface vii. Chapter I. Introductory i II. Irenaeds and His Aoe 3 1. Creed 4 2. Morality 5 3. Worship 6 4. Scriptures 10 Athcnagoras 12 III. Tatian and Theophilus 17 IV. Justin Martyr 21 V. Papias, and the Epistle to Diognetus 23 VI. Hermas 26 VII. Barnabas 29 VIII. PoLYCARP 32 IX. Pliny 35 X. Ignatius 37 XI. Clement of Rome 40 XII. The Apostle John 44 XIII. Matthew, Mark, Luke 46 XIV. Paul and Peter 47 XV. The Problem :— Sceptical Solutions 48 1. Myth 48 2. Legend 50 3. Hallucination 55 4. Imposture 58 XVI. The Possibility of Miracles 61 XVII. The Credibility of Miracles 67 XVIII. The Connexion between Miracle and Doc- trine 70 XIX. Conclusion 72 ^ PREFACE. Tire following little work is not intended for old disciples, already established in the faith ; but for readers who arc exposed to the assaults of scepticism, and need to make sure of the ground on which they stand. In form it is didactic rather than controversial, the aim being to sketch an outline of the direct historical evidence of the truth of the Gospel history. The most cursory reader will perceive that that evi- dence cannot be narrowed down to a question about the completeness of a catena of quotations from this or that book of the New Testament, embraces a much wider feld. QuoLatioiis and biographical referen- cs are not wanting ; but the faith of the primitive Church, the tenor of s life, private and social, its monumental ordinances, commemorative of fact and symbolical of doctrine, as well as its sacred literature, all for- cibly attest the story of divine love, as displayed in the mission and work of Christ. The force of this kind of evidence, however, is not fully appreciated at a glaiice. A patient study of the facts of history is requisite, if we would place ourselves in the midst of a bye-gone age, and feci that we are among realities, not groping after shadows. Peihaps some scep- tical reader will cast his eye over these pages, and then ask impatient- ly, Is that all ? — Well, it is not all. It is only a sketch. But it indicates a line of research that can be prosecuted, with the aid of translations, by a common English •.t.;der. And it presents evidence sufhcient to establish, at the very lowest estimate, a strong />rima/acie case in favor of the truth of the Christian revelation. A moral obligation is thus laid upon the inquirer to examine into the matter more deeply, .and solve for himself the problem of the origin of Christianity. It is the most mo- mentous problem, whether of history or of philosophy, to which the human mind can bend its powers ; and no man who cares for truth — not to speak of God's favour, or of the life to come — can afford to treat it lightly, or dismiss it with a sneer. An Investigation into the truth of Christianity may be undertaken with the greater hopefulness of success, inasmuch as historical testimony is not the only kind of of evidence in its favour. There is an evidence afforded by the fulfilment of prophecy, which may also be termed his- torical, for the utterance of the prediction is a fact of history, whilst the fulfilment is matter either of history or of observation. There is a biographical evidence afforded by the operation ®f divine grace on the hearts and lives of individuals : — an evidence worthy of the serious con- sideration of inquirers who have not yet experienced the results of any such operation themselves. There is an intuitive or intuitional evidence, based on the accordance of the teachings of Christianity with what we Vlft, teel ourselves to be, to need and to cryve. And the study of this evi- dence will prepare the way for an introduction to an experimental evi- dence, the most satisfactory of all, when we try for ourselves the gospel remedy for human ills, taste the swsetness of that peace which passcth all understanding, behold the beauty of the Lord, and are changet into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord. No man is entitled to pass judgment against the claims ot Christianity who has not honestly and earnestly explored these various lines of in- vestigation ; for the evidence of its truth is the cumulative result of many convergent trains of argument. The manifestation of the super- natural is ' aanifold : in pov/er over the course of nature — usually desig- nated miracle ; in knowledge of the secret, the distant, and the future ; in wisdom, working out the noblest ends through the fittest instru- mentality ; in power over the mind and heart of man — usually designated grace. Christianity, as a phase in the history of human progress ; Christiaaity, as a lululment of Jewish prophecy, and in its turn a pro- phecy of things now receiving fulfilment ; Christianity, as a solution more profound than philosophy can offer ef the mysterieo of being and of destiny ; Christianity, as a moral and spiritual power, enlightening the mind, purg'ng the con8cieiiv,e, enlarging the heart and transforming the life ; — in short, Christianity in all its aspects and activities has to be accounted for, on merely natural principles, before the attitude of the unbeliever can he justified. The attempt thus to account tor its pheno- mena is hopeless ; for assumptions and explanations must be resorted to that are more incredible than revelation, or incarnation, or miracle. The unbeliever would require a stronger faith in his )jhilo8ophy than that of the Chr'stian in his bible. Dartmouth, May, 1876. HHi of this evi-- nental evi- the gospel ch passeth ange^ into f the Lord. hristianity ines of in- 2 result of the super- lally desig- he future; est instru- designated progress ; jrn a pro- a solution being and ilightening ansforming s has to be ude of the its pheno- resorted to >r miracle. lophy than HISTORICAL EVIDENCE FOR CHRISTIANITY. BY PROFESSOR MACKNIGHT. I. INTRODUCTORY. Fashions change, in the clothing of thought, as in other clothing. The aplioristic utterances of an oriental sage, present, to modern taste, as uncouth an aspect as his flowing garments. Singly they may be terse and telling ; bvit the absence of links and ligatures to define their mutual relation, and bind them together into a continuous chain of thmight, is an offence to u». A dittorunt style of loaaoning prcvailiKl in mcdiajval Eiiropo : thought wore the garb of an interminable string of syllogisms. There was no lack of continuity in scientific dis- course, when the Aristotelian logic was dominant. But the palmy days of deductiv'e reasoning are at an end. A syllogism reanires premises ; and we liave become chary, in this unlight- . ued age, of granting the assumptions formerly made and assented to without dispute. Wo must have facts to begin with : — facts patent to eye and ear, measured with balances and foot-rule, verified by experiment unler divorsiiied cimditio'.is. Any amount of wildest theorizing may follow ; but facts m.ist >ill the foreground. This predilection for tiie forms and methods of inductive investigation is largely a matter of fashion. Like other fashions it maj' be pushed to an absurd extreme, as when pure geometry is made an experiir.t'ii'al science. And our pride in this method of discovering and establishing truth has less of solid foundation than we usually suijpose. Aristotle used his eyes and ears as carefully as wo do. It is not denied that a right method is of grent iuiportance, alike for the accpiisititm of knowledge and the communication of it. But a method adapted to one subject is not necessarily adai)ted to all subjects. Were it needful, we might protest against making the method of research emi)loyed in the physical sciences a bed of Procrustes, tu which investigation nuist con- form even in depai'tments of knowledge based not on experinuint but on testimony or moral intuition. The narrowing tendi>ncy of devotion to ono lino of thought — of working constantly in one groove — has often been remarked on. The tanner thinks there is nothing like leather. When the bootir.aker meets with a distinguished visit(jr, he is apt to mark — not the fire of his L. T I !■ : t II eye, ov the dignity of his doraeanour, but — the fit and polish of his boots. The man whose eye is never lifted higher than to the footprints of his Creator may come to see nothing but prints, and conclude that the marks grew of themselves : — that no foot ever made them. We are entitled to protest against the demand of physical philosophers for physical methods in theology as nothing more than one of the idtjla speciis. Nay more, the assertion might be hazarded that even in the physical sciences the mode of discovering general truths is not mevdij inductive, but rather reflective or meditative. Thought that is creative or inventive in its character is usually a kind of regulated reverie. The mind is chained down, by a continuous eftbrt of attention, to a given subject, but allowed to roam freely over all the surroundings of the central theme. The attempt to discover a law or formula that shall embrace all the facts or satisfy all the conditions even of a physical problem, is iiv exercise of mind more like putting together the pieces of a puzzle than solving an algebraic equation. The solution in hit upon, rather than worked out by a semi-mechanical process of inductive logic. When the mind is saturated with the subject by close meditation on it, new views arise and gleam forth as if by inspiiation. The ancient exercise, now banished to the nursery, of solving riddles, would pr(;bably be as useful a training for the art of discovering general laws as the study of inductive method, lu short, niethod is the test and exponent of thought, rather than its creator. However, the inductive fashion reigns. And we may as well submit to it, whether we altogether approve or not ; just as a sensible man conforms to the head-gear of his contemporaries, though, Imd the question been an open one, he might have preferred a cocked hat for incturesqueness, or a tarboosh for comfort. This is onejreason why tlie historical evidence of the truth of Christianity requires re-statement in our day. The old chronological method, beginning with the state of the world nineteen centuries ago, is distasteful to modern savans. The evidence must be presented in temns and after a method adapted to the scientific habits of the age. Anotlier reason for attempting thus to re-cast the material composing the historical evidence, is that the unbelief of the pi'esent day is more radical in its character tlian that of last century, and requires to be met on its own ground. We begin, then, with affirming the existence of Cliristendom : — a fact as incontrovertible as the existence of the Coal Measures, or of the Old lied Sandstone. And the question we propose for consideration is, How is that fact to be accounted for { What is the origiu of the Christian religion ? Is it from heaven or of men ? Christendom embraces a consideral ie proportion of the human race : — the most intelligent and most highly civilized d polish of than to thing but es : — that t against ethods in 'en in the hd is not Tliought a kind of ontinuous to roam ne. The ce all the oblem, is ces of a on :3 hit rocess of e subject forth as I to the useful a study of exponent ly as well ust as a poraries, iht have >osh for je of the The old world 3. The adapted einpting I'idence, 1 in its met on sndom : jasures, pose for What ven or of the ivilized nations of the world — those farthest advanced in the arts and .sciences, aiul animated by the noblest and most generous im- pulses. Whatsoever is greatest and best among mankind is ♦(> be found within tho Christian pale. This fact meets us at the very outset, and ought to weigh, with a serious-minded sceptic, in fcavor of Christianity. Keligions may fairly be judged of by the same practical test as individuals. " By their fruits ye shall know them." The culture and civilization, intellectual, moral, social, political and philanthropic, which have grown out of Hinduism or Buddhism, not to speak of nature- worshi)) or ancestor-worship, can stand no C( mparison with the culnire which has sprung uji in Christian lands and is nurtured by Christian iiitluences. The Brahmin may rival the European in intellectual subtlety ; the Biuldhist may eoual him \\r self- control : but mental keenness and moral force, exercised through centuries of pantheistic speculation; have not availed to create a civilization like that of Christendom. But let us proceed witli our enquiry. Christendom, as it exists to-day, presents us with four things which it will be interesting to trace to their origin, if we can : viz., a Christian creed, a christian morality, a christian worship, and a christian literature. Tho plan of our investigation shall be simple. We shall first shew that Christianity is substantially the same religion as it was seventeen centuries ago ; and then endeavfdir to trace it, through the scanty remains of primitive antiquity, to the time of its alleged origin. ri. IKENAKUS AND HlfS AGE. Christianity is Mibstantinlly the same religion as it was in the last (juarter of tho se';ond century. Since tliat time it has nmhiplied the number of its adherents a hundredfold. And this increaae has been gained, not mainly by the mere natural growth of population, but by conversions from paganism. And these conversions were usually made, not by violence, but by earnest witness-bearing, rational argu- ment, and tlie excellence of an upright, generous, seldgf-enyia life. Throughout tlie third century, as well as in the, stscond paganism was dominant in the Roman Empire, and Christians were a despised and persecuted sect. But tlie more they were persecuted, the more they grow, till at last the-/ gained the upper hand, and in the fourth century Christianity became the religion of the Empire. On the fall of the Roman power before invading hordes of barbarians from the norih, the work of christianizing had to be begun anew. Tribe after tribe waj> converted through the assiduous labors of christian missionaries, till paganism was banished from every corner of Europe. No doubt measures were sometimes taken that a modern missionary ■% i II ■i 1 ' 1 *■• would not approve. The conversion of a King or Queen was sometimes the turning-point in the religious history of a king- dom ; and princes accustomed to the exercise of despotic power naturally employed it more or less iu the sphere of religion as in other things. But a resort to violence occurred only in ex ceptional cases, and within a limited area. The ordinary instrument of conversion was moral suasion. In this respect the propagation of Christianity exhibits a history altogether different from that of Mohammedanism. The lust of military conquest was combined with the religious fanaticism of the Moslem ; and his courage in the battle-field was stimulated by the assurance that if he fell a place of special honor and reward awaited him in heaven. A somewhat similar ardor was roused in Christendom by the crusades ; but their aim was not mission- j.ry ; they sought possession of the holy sepulchre. When a missionary turn was afterwards given to the crusade, it was directed not against paganism but against a purer form of Christianity than that of the crusaders. The destruction of the Albigenses was a loss and not to gain Christianity. It was not by such measures but by preaching of sin and salvation, of the grace of Christ and the judgment to come, that the pagan conqneroi'S of Europe were converted to the Christian faith. They yielded to the power of truth and goodness. Curiously enough, too, this moral triumph was gained in direct opposition to the Darwinian law of the survival of the strongest and most prolific. The missionaries of medifuval Europe were celebates. The history of the spread of Christianity thus affords a pre- sumptive evidence in favor of its claims. This by the way. Let us now advance to the proof of the position already laid down, that Christianity, though largely increased in the volume of its adherents, is substantially the same i-eligion as it was in the last quarter of the second century. There have been deviations, in comparatively minor matters, to the right hand and to the left, developments upward and downward, for good and for evil ; but the great fundamental ideas of the system, as opposed to atheism or pantheism, are altogether unchanged. To prove this, we must review the features of Christianity already specified. 1. Its Creed. Christendom, in spite of all the warfare of contending sects, possesses a common creed — that usually termed the Apostles' Creed. It is used in the Sabbath service of churches that employ a fixed liturgy ; printed at the end of Catechisms ; committed to memory by children, along with the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments. It is too well known to be repeated here. We need only remark that there are three fundamental points in particular on which it is directly opposed to the teachings of infidelity : — viz., the personality of God, the divinity of Christ, (as the only Son of God,) and the future life. Fatherhood is an attribute of personality, and creation is not a physiological development but a definite work, implying intelligence, purpose, will. The same principles are set forth, with cqnal clcavner>r,, hy Irenrons, in his statement of the rule or standard of faith held hy the CInirch : — SeeTransl. (Ante-Nicene Lib.) vol. i. pp. 42, 264. The latter passage runs thus : — " Carefully preserving the ancient tradition, believing in one God, the Creator (jf heaven and earth, and all things therein, by means of Christ Jesus, the Son of God : who, because of his surpassing love towards his creation, condesct,nded to be born of the virgin, he himself uniting man through himself to '^od, and having suffered tinder Pontius Pilate, and rising again, ;,nd having been received up in splendour, shall come in glory, the Saviour of those who are saved, and the Judge of those who are judged, and sending into eternal tire those who transform the truth, and despise his Father and his advent." Three passages of a similar kind, summarizing the faith of the Church, as handed down fi'om earlier times, will be found in Tertnllian, (Ante-Nicene Lib. ,) vol ii. pp. 16, 336; vol iii. p. 164. Irenseus was personally conversant with the teaching of the Church in Asia Minor, Gaul and Rome. Tertullian represents the Church of Africa. If more testimony were needed, it would be easy to produce evidence from the writings of Clement that the same faith was held in the Church of Alexandria. 2. Its Morality. T!.e moral condition of a peoi)le depends on two things : — their moral standard, and the motive power urging them to ccmform to it. A high morality implies the cherishing of a lofty ideal, and the operation of a powerful im- l)ulse towards realizing it. The mere possession of a good theory is of small avail, if we have no working force sti'ong enough to overbear selfishness, subdue passion, and reduce our theory to practice. A Chinaman may be able to quote the sage maxiuis of Confucius, and yet live a life of unmitigated selfishness. Video meliora, proboijiie ; Deteiiora setjiior. The Christian standard of morals presents two characteristic features. It calls for a spirit and temper of general philan- thropy ; and it specially requires the forgiveness of injuries, and love to enemies. And Christianity supplies a peculiar mtjfive power in the hive of Christ. We find the same standard and the same motive power in the last quarter of the second contnry, A few testimonies will suffice to show the superiority of Christian to heathen morality. Thus Irenajus says of the least cultivated christians of his time, ' Those who, in the absence of written documents, have believed this faith, are barbarians, so far as regards our language ; but as regards .doctrine, manner, and tenor of life, they are becnvKe of faith, very wise indeed ; and they do jilease God, ordering their conversation in all righteousness, chastity and wisdom,' (Vol i. p. 265.) % ? m iSii ■l I Clement uxclaiins, in his Exhortation to the Heathen, ' A noble hymn of Ood is an immortal man established in rij»hteous- ness, in whom the oracles of truth are engraved. . . . Those who have betaken themselves to the Father, have proved good fathers to their children ; and good parents to their sons, those who have known the Son ; and good husbands to their wives, those who remeinber the Bridegrootn ; and good Masters to their servants, those who have been redeemed from utter slavery. If thou enrol thyself as one of God's people heaven is thy country, God thy law-giver. And what are the laws ? , . . Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself ; to him who strikes thee on the cheek, present also the other ; thou sh, or.) One more witness to the elevated morality of the Christian Church may here be adduced. TertuUiau says, addressing a persecjitor, ' We have sent this tract to yon in no alarm about ourselves, but in much concern for you and for all our enemies, to say nothing of our friends. For our religion commands ns to love even our enemies, aTid to pray for those who persecute us, aiming at a perfection all its own, and seeking in its disciples something of a higher type than the connnonplace goodness of the world. For all love those who love them ; it is peculiar to Christians alone to lo^e those that hate them.' (Vol. i. p. 40.) And in his Apology he draws a striking contrast between the vile orgies with which the heathens were wont to celebrate the festal days of the Emperors, and the chastity, sobriety and virtue of the Christians. (Vol. i. p. 113.) The next feature of chr'stianity, as it existed towards the close of the second century, which we proceed to notice, is 3. Its Worship. The most essential thing in christian wor- ship is a devout heart. Worship is the utterance to God of desire, trust, gratitude, love and lowly adf)ration. An interesting specimen of the manner and spirit of christian worship may be found in the prayer and hymn to Christ with which Clement concludes his work on Christ as the Instructor of youth : — vol. i. pp. 342-5. The following free translation of the hymn is copied from Schafl"s ' Christ in Song. Sheplierd of tender youtli, (Tiiidiiig in love and trutli Through devious vtnya ; Christ, our triuniiihant King, AVe come thy name to sing, And here our children bring To shout thy lu'aise ! Thou art our Holy Lord The all-stihduing AN'ord, Healer of strife ! ithen, * A rijihtoous- Those oved good rjiis, thoso sir wives, rs to their slavery, heaven is vs ? , . . o strikes not lust, i. p. 96, Christian sent this ti concern friends. s, and t<» otion all her type all lovo e to lo^e Apology th which s of the iristians. irds the lotice, is tian wor- God of teresting may be Clement I : — vol. hymn is Thou didst ThyHelf abase, That from sin's deep disgrace Thou mightest save our race. And give us life. Thou art tlie great High Priest ; Tliou has i)rei)ared the feast ,j Of lieavenly love. While in our mortal pain. None calls on Thee in vain ; Ht^lp thou dost not disdain. Help from above. Ever be Tliou our Guide, Our Shepherd and our Pride, Our Staff and Song ! Jesus, Thoj Christ of God, By thy i)erennial word Lead us where Tliou hast trod, Make our faith strong. So now, and till we die, Sound we tliy praises high. And joyful sing ! Let all the lioly throng Who to Thy Church belong, Unite and swell the song To Christ our King I The devotional spirit ebbs and flows, in chnrches aa in indi- vidual hearts. And it is a hidden thing, which the historian may find it difhcult to trace in the records of past ages. But there are specific observances of worship which may afford the means of establishing the continuity of religious life in the Church's history. We select four of these, viz., Baptism, the Eucharist, the Lord's Day, and Easter. (1.) Baptism. The sacrament of regeneration is referred to by Irenaius in the foUowing extracts : — 'Giving to the dis- ciples the power of regeneration into God, He said to them, Go and teach all naticms, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.' ' He came to save all through means of Himself — all, I say, who through him are born again to God — infants, and children, and boys, and youihs and old men.' (Vol i. pp. 334, 200.) And he describes various modes of baptism practised by heretics who improved upon the ordinance to suit their own fancy — changing the formula, mixing oil with the water, and anointing with balsam, (pp. 81- 84.) Clement exhorts the heathen, * Receive, then, the water of the Word; wash, ye polluted ones; purify yourselves from (idolatrous) custom, by sprinkling yourselves with tlie drops of truth.' (Vol. i. p. 91.) In the ' Instructor' he thus refers to the ordinance, 'Being baptized, we are illuminated ; illuminated, we become sons ; being made sons, we are made perfect ; being made perfect, we are made innnortal. . . This work is variously called grace, and illumination, and perfection, and washing ; washing, by which we cleanr.eaway our sins; grace, by II - i'!W5't'>.T 1 Mi •\ '\r j'l' 1 !Ii I which the penalties accmiiig to transgression* are remitted ; and illumination, by which that holy light of salvation is beheld, that is, by which we see God clearly. Now -ve call that perfect which wants nothing.' Wo are washed from all our sins, and are no longer entangled in evil. This is the one grace of illumination, that onr charactern are not the same as before our washing. And since knowledge springs up with illumination, shedding its beams around the mind, the moment we hear, we who were untaught become di8cii)lea. Does this, I ask, take place on the advent of this instruction ? You cannot tell the time. For instruction leads to faith, and faith with baptism is trained by the Holy Spirit.' (pp. 132 — 5.) Again, ' Milk has a most natural afHnity for water, as assuredly the spiritucil washing has for the spiritual nutriuient. . . Sich as is tlie union of the Word with baptism, is the a,'reement of milk with water ; for it receives it alone of all liquids, an 1 admits of mixture with water, for the purpose of cleansing, as baptism for the remission of sins.' ([>. 147.) (2.) The Eucharist. Irenoeus, exposing the ino msistency of the Gnostics in observing this ordinance, and there!. y oftering to the Father material things belonging to the Demiurge, thus atate.s his own view of its nseaning and effect : — ' A* the bread, which is produced from the earth, when it receives the invo- cation of God, is no longer common bread, but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, "arthly and heavenly ; so also oi>r bodies, when they receive the Eucliarist, are no hiiger cor- ruptible, having the hope of the resurrection to eternity. Now we make offering to Him, not as though He stood in need of it, but rendering thanks for His gift, and thus sanctifyiig what has been created.' (Vi>l. i. p. 435.) Again he says, ' When the mingled cup and the manufactured biead receive the Word of God, and the Eucharist of tbe blood and the body of Christ is made, from which things the substance of our Hesh is in- creased and supported, how can they affirm that the flesh is incapable of receiving the gifts of God, which is life eternal, which (flesh) is nourished from the body and blood of the Lord, and is a member of Him ? (Vol. ii. p. 59.) If the language of Iren.ieus savours of consubstantiation, Clement gives a more spiritual view of the matter. ' The blood ot tlie Lord is twofold. For there is the blood of his flesh, by which we are redeemed from corruption ; and the spiritual, that by which we are anointed. And to drink the blood of Jesus, is to become partaker of the Lord's immortality : the Spirit being the energetic principle of the Word, as blood is of flesh. Accordingly, as wine is blended with water, so is the Spirit with man. And the ime, the mixture of wine and water, nourishes to faith ; while the otlier, the Spirit, conducts to immortality. And the mixture of both — of the water and of the Word — is litted ; and ia beheld, hat perfect ill our sins, I grace of before our iiiuination, lioar, wo ask, take i tell tlie I baptism tin, 'Milk spiritual 1 as is the milk with admits of baptism istency of •ttering to rge, thus he bread, he invo- iucharist, also our iger cor- y- Now 3ed of it, »:g what ' When lie Word )f Christ I is iii- tlesh is eternal, le Lord, tiation, e blood Jsh, by al, that Jesns, Spirit flesh, it with Irishes •tality. rd — is called Hiiihuiint, renowned ami glorious <(raco ; and they who by faith partake of it, are sanctified both in body and soul.' (Vol. i. p. 201.) (3.) The Lord's Day. Clement finds in Plato a fitrealiadow- iny of the Clirintian Sabbath. ' The Lord's Day IMato prophe- tically speaks of in the tenth book of the Jl'imldir, in these words; "And when seven days have jjassed to each of them in the meadow, on the eighth they are to set out and arrive in four days.'" (V(d ii. p. 284) And in another place, after al- luding to the custom of tasting on Wednesday and Friday, he says that a man, * in fullilment of the preco])t, according to the (jiospel, keeps the Lord's Day, when he abandons an evil dispfisition, and asaumes that of the (true) (jinostic, glorifying the Lord's resurrection in himself.' ([). 4('il.) (4.) Easter. Victor, bish p of Rome, liad attempted to put tan end to the diversity of usage existing in dill'ercnt churches as to the time ctf the annual commemoration of the death and resurrec- tion of Christ, by enforcing the Roman pvHctice with a high hand. Iremeus, (m beliiilf of the cliurches in (Jaul, sent him a letter of remonstrance against his conduct in this matter, in the course of which he says, " The controversy is not merely as regards the day, but also as regards the form itself of the fast. For some consider themselves bound to fast one day, others two days, others still more, while others (do so during) forty : the diurnal and the nocturnal hours they measure out together as their fasting day. And this variety among the observers (of the fasts) had not its origin in our time, but long before in that of our predecessors, some of whom probably, being not very accurate in tlioir observance of it, handed down to posterity the custom as it had, through simi)licity or private fancy, been (introduced anuMig them.) And yet nevertheless all these lived in peace one with another, and we also keep peace together. Thus, in fact, the diti'erence (in observing) the fast establishes the harmony of (cmr common) faith. And the pres- byters preceding Soter in the government of the church which thou dost now rule- — I mean Anicetus and Pius, Hyginus and Telesphorns, and Sixtus — did neither themselves observe it (after that fashion), nor permit those with them to do so. Not- withstanding this, those who did not keep (the fast in this way) were peacefully disposed towards those who came to them from other dioceses in which it was (so) observed, although such ob- servance was (felt) in more decided contrariety (as presented) to those who did not fall in with it ; and none were cast out (of the church) for this matter. On the contrary, those presbyters who preceded them, and who did not observe (this custom), sent the Eucharist to those of other dioceses who did observe it. And when the blessed Polycarp was sojourning in Rome in the time of Anicetus, although a slight controversy had arisen among them as to certain other points, they were at once * ) 10 well iiicliiit'il towiifds cixnh ot.licr (witli rc^'aru to tlio iiiiittiir in h:iitcl), not willinii tluit any (|narfel alioiiM iiriHO hotwoeii thom on this licad. Fur noitlu'r conld Anicutus per8\iinlo rolycarp to forego tlio obHorvance (in liis own way), inasmncli as these tlnnj;8 Iiatl l»uon always (ho) obHcrvt'd by Jolin the disinjdo of our Lonl, and by other Apostles with whom ho had binsn con- versant ; nor, on tho oth(;r liand, conhl l*olycarp succeed in [;er- Buadinu' Anicottis to keep (the observance in his way), for he maintained that ho was bound to adhere to the nsayo of tlie presbj'tera who preceded him.' (Vol. ii. p. 159-101.) 4. Its liiteratui'e. The documents comijosini^ cliristian literature are of two kinds — the antliovitative scmrci's of Chris- tianity, and works of a secondary or derivative character, ox- poundiiii,', vindicating or applying it. It is toilie first class of Works that we direct attention. The books now reco;,'ni/e(i a.s autlinritative are collected toi^otlier in the llible, or, so fur as the Christian is distinguished from the Jewish relij^ion, the New Testament. Tlie foi'uiation of tlio Canon, as it is termed, tliat is the sepiiration of tiie authoritative Scrii)tures from other christian books, was vo-y nearly complete in tho time of Iremeus. In his extant woiks there are about nine hundred (lUotations from the New Testament, ranyinL,' over all the books except Philemon und 3 .Fohn. The only peculiarity in the Canon of Ironaens is that it seems to have included the Shepherd of Hernias, an nllegorical woik which has been termed, not inaptly, the Pilgrim's Progress of the primitive church. He gives no formal list of books, but his views regardinj,' the Scrip- tures of the New Testament arc set forth in tho followinj,' ax- tracts : — ' We have learned from none other the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the CJros[)el has como down to \\s, which they did at one time jiroclaim in public, and, at a late period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scrip- tures, to be the ground and pillar of ovu* faith. . . Foi', after our Lord rose from the dead, (tne apostles) were invested with power from on high when tho Holy Spirit came down (upon them), were filled from all (His gifts), and had perfect knowledge. . . Matthew also issued a written gospel among the Hebrews iti their own dialect, while Peter and Paul wore preaching at Rome, and laying the foundations of the Church. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter, Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gosi)el preached by him. Afterwards, John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon his breast, did himself publish a gospel during his residence at Ephesns in Asia. These have .all declared to us that there is one (iod, Creator of heaven and earth announced by the lawand tlie proidieta ; and one Christ, the Son of God.' (Vol i. p. 258.) In a subsequent part of the ii II muttcT in • fii tliom rt»lyt!arp il.S tlU'St' isriplo (»f l)<'l!ll COIl- ■•hI in [HM-- ), for lio of tlio ) cIiri.Htiau s of cliris- acter, ox- st class of >;^iii/,(;(i !>8 so far us j^ioii, tlie is tt'niiod, roin otlutr time of lmn(h-c'(l tin; liooka y in the Slie[)hor(l 1110(1, not ucli. He the Scrip- lowing ax- salvation, ilown to lul, at a tlio iSciij)- . For, 1 invested lino down d perfect lel among anl were Chnrch. of Peter, cached by in a book ! disciple . himself ia. Those if heaven le Christ, irt of the same l)o )k, honteiis, after refntin;^ the (iimatios by copious citations from the towr yosixls, Hiiins up as follows :--* Such, then, arc the first princi]iU)s of the (I'ospul : that there is ono (lod, the maker of the miivorse ; If(( who was also announced by the prophets, and who by Mi).ses .set fortli the ilispensatioii of the law, (principles) which in-oclaim the Father of oiir Lord Jeans Christ, and ignore any ollua* (»od or Father excej)t him. So tirm is the j^ronnd ni)on whioli these (Jospels rest, that the very heretics themsolves ]h:;\v witness to them, and, starting from these (documents), eacli one of tliem endeavours to estab- lish his own peculiar dojtrine. For the Ebionites, who xise Matthew's Cosi)el only, are confuted out of this very same, niakiiii,' false suppositions with regard to the Lord. But Marcion, inutiiating tliat accordin,',' to Luke, is proved to be a blasi)heim'r of the only existing (iod, from those ([»assii;;es) which he still retains. Tiiose, again, who .se[>aiute Jesus from Christ, al- leging that Christ remained iin[>assil)le, V)\it that it was Jesus who suflered, preferring the (Jospel by Mark, if they read it widi a love of trutli, may have Iheir errors ructitied. ' Those, moreover, who follow Yalentinus, making co])ious use of that according to John, to illustrate their conjunctions, shall be proved to be totally in error by means of this very Gospel, as 1 have shewn in the first bixjk. Since, tlieii, our op- ponents do bear testimony to us, and make use of these (docu- ments), onr ])roof derived from them is firm and true.' (P. 293.) lie then goes on to prove, by a variety of fanciful argnnienta, that it is not possible that the Giwpels can be more or fewer in number than they are. There are four zones of the world, four principal winds, four faces of tire cherubim. The only sect he mentions as adding tl. i. [». 380.) ' Wo hiivo, as tho soiirco <»f tofiching, the Ln'cl, htith l)y tlio proiduits*, tlio CJospol, aiul tlio hlcHHod HpoRtlcs, " ill ilivcTHO iminiiora mid lit Kiimlry tiiium," loiidin^^ from tlio Itcyiiiiiiii^' of kiiowl(!(l;^o to tho ond. . . Ho, tliun, who of himself holiovi's tho Scrii»tiiro niul the voice c»f tho Lt)r(l, which l>y thn Lord ivctH to tlio honotitiii;,' <»f inyji, is riyhtly re- garded ndialtlo. Coitaiuly wo uho it as a criterion in the dis- covery of things. (Vol. ii. p. 477.) Clomont (jnotos Horinaa several tiiiios, and on one occasion in siicli a way as to indicate a bolicf ill his inspiration. ' Divinely, theroforo, tho power whicli spoko to Hernias hy revelation, said. ' Tho visi')n8 and revelations are for those who are of donblo mind, who donbt iiitlu ir hcart'i if theno things are or are not. (Vol. i. p. 409 ; Hennas, p. IJIUJ.) Ho also (piotes aomo other ancient books of a similar kind, as tho Preaching of Peter and the Traditions cf Matthew. T'-rtnliian refers to Hernias less respectfully, as 'that Hernias, whose V 'Jug is gonorally inscribed with the titlo The Sh,'.i>her, at tho end of his w< rk against Marcion. These tostimonios may aulHco to shew that tiio Christian re- ligion is in its doctrine, moralit}' and worship, and in tho place of authority it assigns to tho Scriptures of tho Now Testament, substantially tho same as it was in the last (piartor of tho second century. Tliose who are apprehensive that a few detached quotations may convey an iiiadoipiate conception of the church of tliat period, can (ill up the picture for themselves by reading the works of tho three writers we have quoted, viz., Ii'enoous, Clement and Tertullian. Perhaps the same purpose will be served if we sketch tho outline of an Apology written by Athen- agoras, anil adtl.-essed to the Emperors Aurelius and Commodus about A. D. l77. He begins with referring to the legal toler- ation of the worship practised by the ditterent ihations that were subject of tlio sway to R(,me. This toleration was withheld from Christians, for no sulHciont reason. They were persecuted for tho'r mere name, however blameless in their conduct, loyal, and God-fearing. Charges were indeed brought against them, but unsupported by anything worthy of tho name of evidence. No Christian had been convicted of crime ; the popular ru- mours were baseless ; and it did not comport with Roman justice that men charged with crime should be punished before they were convicted. He ajjpeals to the Emperors for a fair trial on bohalf of the persecuted christians, as a matter of com- mon justice. The criminal charges brought against them were three : — of :>i".--,T Vii^^'- 15 Athoisin, Cftnnil»alisrn ami Incest. Atheimgoras takes up theao charges in aticcosaioii, dwollin;- principally on tho tir.st. Tlio Clu'iatiuns worship ono Ood, who mado tlio world, and who is Bcparatud by u widu interval from matter. Ifu show.^ that both poutM and philosophfrH had h'jld similar vimva conournin^ God, without bein;,' accounted Atheists. Thus Euripides doubt- od tho existence of tho [fopular yod.n, and conceived of a (iod poiseused of higher attributes than any of them. Soest tliini on liigli l.iiii wliu witli luuiiid arms, CliiHps hotli tho b(niii(ileH8 etlier unci tlio earth? Uiiu reukun Zeus, and hint rogtird as Uod.' And Soplioclos : — ' Tliurc is one Oo«l, in truth tlicrc is but one. "Who niiule tlio liuavenH, and tho broiid oartli bcnc.-vth ' Tho philosophers also taught his unity. Thus Philolaus said that all thini^s aro included in God as in a stron^ihobl. Plato said, ' To liiid out the Maker and Father of this universe ia difticult, and, when found, it is impossible to declare him to all.' And Aristotle spoke of him as a Living Being, consisting of soul and body — liis body being the othoroal space, with the stars and planets, and his soul the Reason which presides over the niotitm of his body. Tho Christian conception of God is based not only on reason, but also t go to law ; neighbours id beautiful I cand in a lat we shall Ood, who benevolent t we shall 3 be taken >ve for our ■eat Judge.' ns was the xplains that leed blood, of flowers iogniso hia ^loly bands accusation I the cities, »e heathen ise, the in- 1 and tho entertain al-worship. 1 Artificer, the poets ; t of such B artist oi ny, which i abauBdity and shews tting forth explained nes exer- f idolatry, ader, tlie j»(xi, and igcls, and irse with 10 demons :>d of sac- n reality that the therv.iore ship the ch tales lysteries. 1* f IS * But we are so far from practising promiscuous intercourse, that it is not lawful among us to indulge even a lustful look. For, saith He, " he that looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." Those, then, . . to whom a wanton look is adultery, . . and who are to be called to an account for their very thoughts, how can any one doubt that such persons practise self-control ? ' He further testifies that even marriage is used iv. moderation, and that many, both men and women, grow old unmarried, in the hope of living in closer communion with God. And those who do marry are conten' with one marriage ; * for a second marriage is only a specious adultery.' " For whosoever puts away his wife," says He, " and marries another, commits adultery ;" not permitting a man to send away her whose virginity he has brought to &n end, nor to marry again. For he who deprives himself of his first wife, even though she be dead, is a cloaked Adulterer, resisting the hand of God, because in the beginning God made one man and one woman, and dissolving the strictest union of flesh with flesh, formed for the intercourse of the race.' Then as to Cannibalism : — ' What man of sound mind, there- fore, will affirm that we are murderers ? For we cannot eat human flesh till we have killed some one. . . For when they know we cannot endure even to see a man put to death, though justly, who of them can accuse us of raurder or Canni- balism ? Who does not reckon among the things of greatest interest the contests of gladiators and wild beasts, especially those which are given by you ? But we, deeming that to see a man put to death is lauch the same as killing him, have abjured such spectacles. Fow, then, when we do not even look on, lest we should contract guilt and pollution, can we put people to death V — And he goes on to adduce other proofs that the Christian religion promotes tenderness for human life. Procuring abortion, and the exposure of infants, are regarded by christians as murder. He then goes on to show that the doctrine of the resurrection would forbid Cannibalism. * Who that believes in a resurrection would make himself into a tomb for bodies that will rise again ? . . As for those who are persuaded that nothing will escape the scrutiny of God, but that even the body which has ministered to the irrational im- pulses of the soul, and to its desires, will be punished along with it, it is not likely that they will commit even the smallest sin.' In conclusion he appeals to the Emperors for justice, declaring that the christians pray for their government, that they may receive the kingdom, sen from father, and that their empire may receive increase and addition, all men becoming subjects to theii cway. And this was for the advantage of the chris- tians, that they might lead a peaceable and quiet life, and dis- charge all the duties required of them by their religion. The Apology, or plea for toleration, of which we have now i6 sketched the outline, is limited to the discussion of topics that bear directly on its immediate object; yet incidentally it affords sufficient materials to justify the conclusion that the Christianity of Athen,agoraa and his times was substantially identical with the Christianity of our own day. Before leaving the more voluminous writers of the second century, we will record a remark which has occu.red to us again and again in glancing over their works. Their quotations from Scripture, Old and New Testament alike, are often more or less inaccurate. This is, no doubt, due in son^e instances to the text in their hands diflFering in some passages irom that which has come down to us. But generally the simple explanation is, that they quoted from memory, and sometimes adapted the form of a quotation to tho exigencies of their immediate con- text. There were no concordancea in those days. The arbitrary division of a book, for purposes of reference, into chapters and verses, was unknown. There vas thus no convenient way of testing the accuracy of remembrarce bj' turning up the passage. The life of -Aich men as Irenaeiis and Clement was too short and too biiay to admit of their spending half an hour or so on the verification of each reference or allusion to Scripture. Nor did the literary habits of the age call for a pedantic ac- curacy of quotation which requires either an exceptionally retentive memory or diligent use of the concordance. A few examples will give a better idea of the usage of the Fathers in thio matter than any general statement. Thas Ireneeus repre- sents the man of Macedonia in Paul's vision as saying, " Come into Macedonia, Paul, and help us." (Vol i. p. 316 ; Acts xvi. 9.) In another passage he says that Rahab received the three spies, who were spying out all the land, and hid them at her home ; (which three were) doubtless (a type of) the Father and the Son, together with the Holy Spirit (p. 460). In a third place he design-ites Jairus the high priest, whereas he was only a ruler of the Synagogue, and amalgamates the accounts of the raising of his daughter and of the widow's son of Nain in the following narrative : — * (the Scripture) says, " The Lord took the hand of the dead man, and said to him, young nian, I say unto thee, arise. And the dead man sat up, and he commanded that something should be given him to eat ; and he delivered him to his mother." ' (Vul. ii. p. 87 ; Mark v. 22 ; Luke vii. 12.) In Clement we find similar inaccuracies. Thu"- he quotes from Phil. iv. 5, ** The Lord is at hand ; take care that ye be not apprehended empty." (Vol. i. p. 83.) * But,' he continues, ' are ye so devoid of fear, or rather of faith, as not to believe the Lord himself, or Paul, who in Christ's stead thus entreats : Taste and see that Christ is God. (Ps. xxxiv. 8.) Specifying some of the commandments of the Decalogue, he gives as one of them, Thou shalt not corrupt boys (p. 334). 1 Cor. vii. he quotes thus, "So he that giveth his virgin in *^f>pics that •ly it affords Christianity iiitical with the second red to 08 quotations ■en more or ices to the that which «planation apted the iate con- arbitrary pters and it way of 5 passage, short and on the mtic ac- ptionally A few others in s repre- "Come Lets xvi. »e three at her lier and a third as only of the in the I took I say landed ivered • 'e vii. J- he 9 that ';' he i not thus . 8.) I he (34). 1 in 17 marriage dooth well ; and he that giveth her not doeth better ; as far as respects seeuiliness and undistracted attendance on the Lord " (vol. ii. p. 208). Lnke xiv. 26, 27 he quotes thus, " Unless ye haf.e father and mother, and besides your own life, and unless yd having on of man 'over, God lan ill onr n to his (P- 84). * We be- the con- passing '6 Log«)S e became is not »sible for fes, and e end of »t in im- God, it >If it is is is the not the but is • The cphilus eroiix- ff the ' God soul ; niuor- Iso, if Scrip- ', tlie God. ar to and 8 to seek and ear ive. ith, '9 but are obedient to unrighteousness, when they shall have been tilled with adulteries and fornications, and filthiness, and covetousuess, and unlawful idolatries, there shall be anger and wrath, tribulation and anguish, and at the last everlasting fire shall possess such men ' (p. 04). Tatian thus depicts the christian life of his time : * Not only do the rich among us pursue uur pliilosoph}', but the poor en- joy instruction gratuitously ; for the things wliich come from God surpass the requital of worldly gifts. Thus wo admit all who desira to hear, even old women .-md fitriplings ; and, in short, persons of every a^'o are treated by us with respect, but every kind of licentioiisnoss is kopt at a distance. And in speak- ing we do not utter falsohuDd ' (p. 3(>). And he contrasts tlic celebrated women of (Jreik antiquity with the christian women of his own time. ' Sapplio is a lewd, love-sick female, and sirgs her own waiitonness ; but. all onr women are chaste, and the maidens .at their distafffi sing of divine things more nobly than that damsel of yours. Wherefore be ashamed, you who are professed disciples of women, yet scoft' at those of the sex who hold our doctrine, as well f.s at the solemn assemblies they frequent (p. 38). Theophilus, referring to the- manifestation of God in the works of creation, adds : ' If tl)ou perceivesl: these things, O man, living chastely, and holily, and riglitoously, thou canst see God. But before all let faith and the fear of God have rule in thy heart, and then shalt thou understand these things ' (p. 78). He quotes largely, from Oil Testament and New, the moral maxims which govern the chris- tian life, as ' that whatever a man would not wish to be done to himself, he should not do to another ' (p. 100); that we are * not only not to sin in act, but not even in thought. . . . And the voice of the Gospel teaches still more urgently concerning chastity, saying, " Whosoever looketh on a woman who is not his own wife, to lust after lier, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." . . . And the Gospel says ; '^' Love your enemies, and pray for them that dtspitefully use you. For if ye love them who love you, what reward have ye ? This do also the robbers and the publicans." . . Moreover, con- cerning subjection to authorities j;nd powers, and prayer for them, the divine word gives us instructions, in order that wo may lead a r;uiet and peaceable life. And it teaches us to render all things to all, hou(mr to whom honour, fear to whom fear, tribute to whom tribute, to owe no man anything, but to love air (p. lis, lli)). He then repudiates tiio charges of unlawful intercourse and of cannibalism as not only false but incredible, especially as christians were forbidden so much as to witness shows of gladiators, because of tiieir cruelty, or to attend the theatre, because of its impurity. The crimes charged against christians were habitu:ir.y rein-esented on the stage. ' But far be it from chritjtians to conceive any such dee Is; for 20 J ■ ( I with thein temperance dwells, self-restraint is practised, mono- gamy is observed, chastity is guarded, iniquity exterminated, sin extirpated, riyhteousness exercised, law administered, wor- ship performed. Cod acknowledged : truth governs, gracD guards, peace screens them ; the holy word guides, wisdom teaches, life directs, God reigns.' The books of the New Testament are occasionally quoted, usually from momoiy, or in a form adapted to the grammatical structure of the cimtoxt : — as in some of the passages already ;^iven. Sometimes tliere is a direct reference to tlio inspiration of the writers. Thus Theophilus, having referred to God as having uttered his Logos for the purpose of creation, but witli- ii'Ut thereVjy emptying himself of Logos, remarks, ' Hence the holy writings teach us, and all the spirit-bearing men, one of whom, John, says, " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was witli God," shewing that at first God wt.s ahjue, and the Word in Him ' (p. 88). In another passage the gospels are classed with the prophets. * Concerning the righteousness which the law enjoined, confirmatory utterances are found both wi!-h the prophets and in the gospels, because thoy all spoke in- spired by one Spirit of God' (p. 117). And shortly after, the lirst Epistle to Timothy is quoted as the divine word (p. 110), in a passage already given. The fragment ascribed to Caius of Rome, usually referred to as the Muratorian Canon, may here be noticed, as probably dating from the third quarter of the second century. It indi- cates a more imperfect state of knowledge resj)ecting the books entitled to a place in the New Testament than existed in the western church in the time of Irenaeus. The text is in a some- what \insatisfactory condition ; and it is at best a' clumsily executed translation into Latin from a Greek original. It would therefore be hazardous to place much reliance on it as histori- cal evidence, if on any point it did not harmonize with what we know from other sources respecting the state of opinion in tlie latter half of the second century. Still, it is an interesting dccuuient; and its very crudeness is in favour of its high an- tiquity. The writer appears to have been a Roman, as we may infer from a passage in whicl) he refers to the passion of Peter, and familiarly designates Rome as the city (p. Ifil). His Canon embraces the four Gospels, the Acts, thirteen Epistles of Paul, Jude, two Epistles of John, Wisdom, the Apocalypse of John, and one ascribed to Peter — the latter doubtfully, as some would not have it read in the Church. Perhaps there is some confusion between the Apocalypse of Peter and his Epistles, which are not otherwise mentioned, not even the first. There is no mention of the Epistle to the Hebrews, nor of the Epistle of James. The inclusion of the book of Wisdom in the Canon of the New Testament seems unaccountable, and may have oi'iginated in some mistake of the translator. The Pastor of Mi* iSssr^i. ^.. 21 > gracy wisdom llonuas is prononnced worth roadiiic;, but cxcludecl from the C'lUiou — luivin;^ beuii written ' very recently in our times in the city of Rome, while his brother bishop I'iiia sat in the chair of tlif Church of Rome' (p. 102). IV. JUSTIN IMAllTYll. Ju.stin ailJrossod his first Apohigy to Antoninus Pius before the middle (jf the second century (p. 40), and a second Apology to Marcus Aurelius, towards the end of his career, which was ter- minated by martyrdom A. D. 105. His dialogue with Trypho the Jew — the largest of his works- — was written soon after the Tcbellion of Bar Cochba (p. 85), which was suppressed A. D. llio. Other pieces ascribed to liim are of doubtful genuineness. Justin, like other apologists, sets forth the chri-stian belief in 'the most true God, the Father of righteousness and tem- perance and the other virtues, who is free from all impurity. r>ut both 11 im, and the Son who came fcrth from Him and taught us these things, and the host of other good angels who follow and are made like to Him, and the prophetic Spirit, we worship and adore' (p. 11). He describes God as the Father and Creator of all (p. 12) ; and Christ as the Word who took shape and became man (p. 10). He teaches that we ought to worship God alone (p. 20) : so that the angels must be under- stood in the extract just given as recipients of Christ's teaching, and not objects of worship. In referring afterwards to the three Persons as cbjocts of worship, he omits the angels (p. 10). He represents it as the great aim of christians to secure happiness in a future life. ' Imiielled by the desire of the eternal and pure liio, w\^ seek the abode that is with God (p. 12). He thus describes the christian life : ' We who formerly delighted in fornication now embrace chastity alone ; we who formerly used magical arts dedicate ourselves to the good and uubegotteu (jod ; we who valued above all thir.gs the acqui- sition of wealth and possessions, now bring what wo have into the connnon stock, and communicate to everj' one in need; we who hated and destroyed one another, and on account of their diti'erent maimers would not live with men of a dilt'erent tribe, now, since the coming of Christ, live familiarly with them, and pray for our enemies, and endeavour to persuade those who bate us uiijustly to live conformably to the good precepts <>f Christ, to the end that they may become partakers with us ot the same jovfnl hope of a reward from God the ruler of all' (p. H). \ As to worship :- -the Maker of the universe 'has no need of streams of blood and libations and incense ; whom we praise to the utmost of our power by the exercise of prayer and thanks- giving for all things wherewith we are supplied, as we have been taught that tlie onlj' honour that is worthy of Him is not 24 d of the Minatoriiin Canon. 'The proabytor said this. iMiii-k liHvino bccoino the interpreter of Peter, wrote down acciirattly whatsoever ho reinornherod. It was not, liowever, in exaet ■ •rder that ho related the aayinys or deeds of Clirist. For lie neither heard the L )rd nor accompanied him. But afterwards, as I said, ho accompanied Peter, who accommodated his instruc- tion to the necessities [of his hearers], but with no intention of giving a regular narrative of the Lord's sayings. Wherefore Mark made no mistake in thns writing some things as he re- membered thom. For of one thing he took especial care, not to omit anything he had heard, and not to put anything tietitions into the statement.* [This is what is related by Papias regard- ing j\Iark ; but with regard to Matthew he has made the fol- lowing statements] : ' Matthew put together the oracles [of the Lord] in the flebrew language, and each one interpreted them as best he could.' [The same person uses proofs fnmi the First Epistle of John, and from the Epistle of Peter in like manner. And he also gives another story of a woman who was accused of many sins before the Lord, which is to bo found in the Gospel according to the Hebrews]. (Apostolic Fathers, p. 440). The Epistle to Diognetiia is anonymous. It appears, from internal evidence, to belong to the tirst hidf of the second century. The writer speaks of Christianity as this new kind or practice (of piety) which has only now entered into the world (p. 303), and describes himself as having been a disciple of the Apostles (p. 314). In this Epistle the christian conception of God is set forth ju contrast to the gods of paganism. 'God, the Lord and Fashioner of all things, who made all things, and assigned to them their several positions, proved himself not merely a friend to mankind, but also longsuft'ering (in His dealings with them). Yea, he was always of such a character, and still if., and will ever be, k'nuX and good, and free from wrath, and true, and the only one who is (al)snlntely) good ; and he formed in his mind a great and unspeakable concepticni, which he communicated ii his Son .a'ono' (p. 313). The Christology of the writer is ever earthly things, or one of those to whom the government of things in the heavens has been entrusted, bnt the very ^Creator and Fashioner of all things — by whom he made tho Iieavens — by whom he ench)sed thesea within its proper bounds — whose ordinances all the stars faithfully observe — from whom the sun has received the measure of his daily course to be observed. . ^ . As a king sends his son, who is also a ^^r 31 this. HlHik n accurately in exact For Ju; afterwards, liis instrtio- 10 intention ^^ hereforo a.s lie re- al care, iiof ing lictitions pias regard- le the fol- cles fof tlie rctod them •m the First ke manner. ■s accused of the Gcspel 44G). •ears, from the second evv kind or the world 3ii)le of the set forth ..n I Fashioner 'hem their 1 mankind, leu, he was ' he, kind ly one who great and ) his 8on iciually ex- ior of all ed anion jr >mprehen- iir hearti?. men any :icar sway •vernment the very made th(i er bounds ve — from course to is also a •6.f Hennas is pronounced worth readincj, but excluded from tlio Canon — having; been written ' very recently in our times in the city of Rome, while his brother bishop Pius sat in the chair of the Church of Home ' (p. 1()2). IV. Jl'STIN MAUTYlt. Justin addressed his first Ai)ology to Antoninus Pius before the midille of the second century (p. 4(5), and a second Apology to Marcus Aurelius, towards the end of his career, which was ter- minated by martyrdom A. D. 1G5. iiis dialogue with Tryphu the Jew — the largest of his works — was written soon after the rebellion of Bar Cochba (p. So), which was suppressed A. I>. l',io. Other pieces ascribed to liim are of doubtful genuineness. Justin, like other apologists, sets forth the christian belief in ' the most true God, the Father of righteousness and tem- perance and tht other virtues, who is free from all impurity. JJut both Him, and the Son who came ftrth from Him and taught us these things, and the host of other good angels who fcjUow and are made like to Him, and the prophetic Spirit, we worshin and adore' (p. 11). He describes God as the Father and Cioator of all (p. 12) ; and Christ as the Word who took shape and became man (p. 10). He teaches that we ought ti. worship God alone (p. 20) ; so that the angels must be under- stood in the extract just given as recipients of Christ's teaching, and not objects of worship. In referring afterwards to the three Persons as objects of worship, he omits the angels (p. lU), He represents it as the great aim of christians to secure happiness in a future life. ' Impelled by the desire of the eternal and pure life, we seek the abode that is with God (p. 12). He thus describes the christian life : ' We who formerly delighted in fornication now embrace chastity alone; we who formerly used magical arts dedicate ourselves to the good and unbegotten God ; we who valued above all thirgs the aci^ui- sition of wealth and possessions, now bring what we have into the common stock, and communicate to every one in need ; we who hated and destroyed one another, and on account of their difi'erent manners would not live with men of a different tribe, now, since the coming of Christ, live familiarly with them, and pray for our enemies, and endeavour U> persuade those who hate us unjustly to live conformably to the good precepts ot! Christ, to the end that they may become partakers with us of the same joyful hope of a reward from God the ruler of all' (P- H). As to Avorship : — the Maker of the univer^^e ' has no need of screams of blood and libations and incense ; whoiu we praise to the utmost of our [)ower by the e.xercise of prayer and thanks- giving for all things wherewith we are supplied, as we have been taught that the only honour that is worthy of Him is not ^ 24 I ■ ! It i i nf t!io 'Mnratorian Canon. 'The presbyter aaiil this. Marl*' havinji becoino the interpreter of Peter, wrote down aecnrately whatsoever ho reinembered. ft was not, howevur, in exaet order that ho related the sayi-^'s or deeds of Clirist. For hi' neither heard the F-ord nor iiecnmiianied him. IJut afterwards, as 1 said, lie aocoinpanied Peter, who acconunodated liis instruc- tion to the necessities [of hi.s hearers], b>it with no intention of giving a reynlar narrative of the Lord's sayin{,'8. Whereforo I\lark made no mistake in thna writim,' some thing's as ho ro- membored them. For of one thinfj; lie took especial care, tut to omit anything ho had heard, and not to put anyrhint,' fictiticnis into the statement.' [This is what is related l)y Papias rcyard- iu;ives another story of a woman who was accused of many sins before the Lord, which is to lie found in the Gospel .according to the Hebrews], (Apostolic Fathers, p. 44t»). The E[)iKtle to Diognetus is anonj'inons. It appeiirs, from internal evidence, to belong to the lirct half of the second century. Tho writer speaks of Christianity as this new kind or practice (of piety) which has only now entered into the world ([). 303), and describes himself as having been a disciple of the Apostles (p. 314). In this Epistle the christian conception of God is set forth in contrast to the gods of paganism. 'God, the Lord and Fashioner of all things, who made all things, and assigned- t(j them t'neir several positions, proved himself not nierelj' a friend to mankind, but also longauUei'ing (in His dealings witli them). Yea, he was always of such a character, and still is, and will ever l)e, kind fuid good, and free from wrath, and true, and the only one who is (absolutely) good ; and he formed in his mind a great Mid unspeakable concei)tion, whicli he communicated to liis 8on alone' (p. 313). The Chri.stology of the writer is equally ex- plicit. ' God himself, who is almighty, the Creator of all things, and invisible, has sonr from heaven, and placed among men, (Him who Is) the Truth, and the holy and incomprehea- aiblc Word, and has (irmly established Him in their heart-'. He did not, as one might have imagined, send to men any .servant, or angel, or luler, or any one of those who boar sway over earthly things, or une of those to whom the government of things in the heavens has been entrusted, but the very Crea.tor and Fashionei; of all things — by wliom he made tiu' heavens — -by whom he enclosed the sea within its proper bounds — whose ordinanci.'s all the stars faithfully observe- — fro^n whom the sun has received tlw) measure of his daily course to bo observed. . . . As, a king sends hia son, who is also ■«. 1^ 9 A* t!iis. Mark ,11 Hccnriitely ur, ill exaof 'st. For hi' t uftcrwards, 1 liis instnic- iio intention \Vlioief(n'i' H aa ho 10- ;ial caro, not linij fictitious .ipi.is reyard- ulii tho fol- rach'a fof tho •[.'vetccl tlicui ifoni tJie First liko nijinnor. was acunscd of ill tlic Oospol [I. 44ti). ippt'.irs, from if tho socontl i new kind or ito tho world ilisoiple of thi) is sei, fortli in and Fashioner to them their d to mankind, Yen, lie was 'ver he, kind I only one who a great p..ni\ [ to liis Son is ecjnally ex- roator of all )laced amoni,' incomprohoii- tlieir heart?. to men any ho bear sway ! government nit the very lio made the proper honnds bserve — from ily conrae to who is also a ■% -•'* 25 king, so sent Ho Hiin ; na (j!od He sent Him ; as to men Ho sent Him; an a Saviour Ho sont Him, and as seeking to persnado, not to compel ns ; for violenee lias no j>lacu in tin? charaeter of (!od. As callinj,' us Hesent Him, not ;us \engefully |inr.snini{ ns, as lovinj^ us He sent Him, not as judying us. Foi- Ho will yet semi Him to jml^e us, and wlio shall onduro His ap])earin<^ T ([). i^Oil). And he thus expatiates on tlio work of (Miri.st : (iod ' f^ave his own Son as a ransom for us, the holy Om; for trans- ;„'ressros, the bhinioless Ono for tho wicked, the ri^lltooua Quo for the unri;,'htcous, the incorrui)til)lo One for tiie corruptible, the immortal Oiieforthom that are mortal. For what other tliinjj; WHS capalile of ooverihg our sins but His rii^hteousness ? By what other one was it possible that we, tho wicked and uii- tjodly, could be justified, than by the only Son of God ? O sweet exchange I O benefits surpassing all expectation ! that the wickedness of many should be hid in a single righteous One, and that the righteous One should justify many transgressions!' ([). 312). He looks forward to a future life of blessedness, for which ciiiistiaiiM may well on. biro persecution here. ' Tli«^ immortil soul dwells in a mortal tabernacle ; ami christians dwell as sojourners in corruptible (bodies), hooking for an inor- rnptiblo dweiling in the heavens' (p. ,'{09). ' Tlien shalt thoii condemn the deceit and error of tho world, when thou shalt know what it is to live truly in heaven, when thou .shalt despise that which is hero ostoeined to be death, when thou shalt f(!ar what is truly death, which is reserved for those who shall be condemned to the eternal fire, which shall afflict those even to tho end that ar(^ committed to it' (p. .'H4). The christian life is thus depicted :-— ' They' dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with oth.ers, and yet endure all thuigs as if foreigners. Every f^oreign land is to them as their native cmintry, and ever}^ laud of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all (others) ; they beget children ; but they do not destroy their ofll-ipring. They have a connnon table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. The pass tiieir days on earth, but they aro citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at tho same tune surpass tho laws by tlieir lives. Tlicj" love all men, und are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned ; they are put to death and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich ; they are in lack of all things, and yet abimnd in all ; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour ure glorified. Thej"- are evil s])okeii of, and yet are justilied; they aro reviled, and bless ; they are insulted, and re^iay tho insult with honour ; they do good, yet are punished as evil- doers' (p. 307). ' How will yoti love Him who has first so loved yon ? And if .you love Him, you will be an imitator of His kindness. . . . Ho who takes upon himself the burden :S M' I .i nil I ^f i I (Jnicos, viz., Faith, Solf-rcHtmint, Siiiii»licity,({iiiK'loHRiios8,CIm.s- tity, Intflli^L'iico iind Love. * Wlidovur dovutis liiiiiMulf to tht'so, ;iii(l is ul)lt' ti) hold fiiMt by thiiir works, «hull lifivo his dwolliiiy ill tin; tower witli tlio Siiiiit.H of (Jod' (p. ;5K)). In ii Hiinihir vision ill tlio third book tho stones nsod in biiiUling tho tower iiri' Oiirriinl throji'^h tho ;,'iiti! iihn;uly ini-ntiontid I)y tv.olvo vir- '^iiiH, wlioHO ii;iiiu!s iiro F;iitli, C, l*ow(!r, I'liticnco ; Simplicity, Iiir ncunco, F'liiity, (Jlioerfnliiusn, Trntii, ("ndor- stfuidiiii,', irarinony iind Lovo. ' Thoao vir!,'ins are tho powers of tho Son of (Jod. If ynii l»c;ir His iiaino but ixiasoss not His [iiiwor, it will bo in vuiii lluit yon l>(!;ir His naim;. . .' Every oiiL' who boiir» tho iiatno of tho Son of (Jod, on'^lit to iioar tlu* names also of those ; for tho Son hinistlf boars tho iiainos tjf tlio.so viri,'in8. As many stones as yon saw coino into tho Imikl- iiii^ of tho tower throrgh the hands of lln'.io virgins, and re- nnunin;,', have been clothed with thoir strom^th. For this rea- son yon see that tho tower became of one stone with tho r<»ck. So also they who have believed in (Jod through His Son, and are clothed with those spirits, shall bocomo ono spirit, one body, and tho ctdonr of their .jiinnents shall be ono. And t.e dwelling of .sr.ch as bear the names of the virgins is in the tower. '' He who bears these names and that of the Son of God will be able to enter into tho kingdom of CJ(»d (p. 416-9). On the .subject of second marriages Hennas takes dilTeront gronnd from that afterwards maintained by Tcrtnllian and the M(m- tanists. ' There is no sin in marrying again ; bnt if they re- main unmarried, they gain greater honour and glory from the Lord ; bnt if they marry they .do not sin' (p. 355). C •ininandmont ninth is an exhortation to [>ray without doubt- ing. Faith is from above, and has great power. Ask of the Lord without (h)nbtiiig, and you will know the multitude of hi.s tender mercies (p. 3G3-4). The following passage relates to the observance of public worship :- -' When a man having the Divine Spirit comes into an assembly of righteous men wlio have faith in tlio Divine S[)Irit, and this assembly of men offers up Pi,', -or to God, then tlie angel of the prophetic Spirit, who is de-t'ut d for him, tills the man ; and tlio man being hllcd with the Koly Spirit, speaks to tha multitude as tho Lord wishes (p. 368). Prominence is given to the ordinance of Baptism. * Hear why the tower is built upon the waters. Jt is because your life has been, and will be, saved through water' (p. 335). ' Do you wish to know who are the other (stones) which fell near the waters, but could not be rolled into them ? These arc tliey who have heard tlie Word, and wish to be baptized in the name of the Lord ; but when the chastity demanded by the truth comes into their recollection, tliey draw back, and again walk after their own wicked desires' (p. 338-9). So closely is bap- tism a.ssociated in his mind with forgivone.s3 that he submits a qnestii)n to the Sliepherd respecting the teaching of those who 25 ssiioss, rims- <'If to tllf'.SO, ii-1 tlwulliiiu 1 II Hiinilar ,' tliu tower tv.olvo vir- Puticncn ; til, f'lidor- tlu) [xiworH S0S8 not His .' Every to i»oiir thf iiaiiuis oF to tlio !)nil(l- •IS, and re- 'or this roa- tli tlio rock, is Son, and s]>irit, one And t.A'. > is in the s Son of God H6-9). On ont ground ' the Moji- if they re- Y from tlio hout doiibt- Ask of the titndo of ]ii.s relates to having tlie men Vrim ■ men otfcrs 'irit, who is tilled with wishes (|i. sni. ' Hear 10 your life 35). ' Do !ll near the iiro tiiey 1 the name the truth xgain walk ly is bap- snbmits fi hose who kin?', so sent He Ilim ; a^ (jod He sent Him ; as to men He ii'nt Him; as a Saviour Ho Himt Him, aii'i as seeking to persuade, iiot to compel US ; for violence has no place in the character of • lod. Ah callitig us He sent Him, not as vengefully 'nirsuing us, IS loving us He Rent Him, not as judLjing us. For He will yet send Him to Judge us, nua who shall eiiilure His appearing .'' ([\ 300). And ho thus exi)atiates on the work ot Clirist : Ciod 'gave his own Son as a ramom torus, the holy One for trans- gressriiK, (he blameless Oni for the wicked, the righteous One for the unrighteous, the inc< rruiitii)le One for the corrnptibie. the immortal One for them i hat are mortal. For what other thing w;in capable of coveriiig our sins but His righteousness .' By what other one was it possiiiile that we, the wicked and un- godly, could be justified, than by the only Son of fiod ? O sweet exchange ! O benefits sni passing all expectation ! that the wickedness of many should be lid in a single righteous One, and that the righteo\is One should justify many transgressions I' (p, 312). Ho l(H)ks forward to a future life of blessedness, tor which christiaiKi may well en. lure persecution here. * The immortal soul dwells in a mort d tal)erniicle ; and christians dwell as .sojourners in corniptible ''bodies), looking for an inc >r- ruptible dwelling in the heavens' '^p. 309). ' Then shalt tjiou condenni the deceit and error of the world, when thou slialt know what it is to live truly in hca\en, when thou shalt despise that wliicli is hero esteemed to bo death, wJ' . thou shalt fear what is truly death, which is reserved for ^hoso who shall be condemned to the eternal tire, which shall afllict those even to the end that are committed to it' (p. 314). The christian life is thus depicted: — 'They dwell in their own countries, but siuiply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and ytt endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth ai'. a land of strangers. They marry, as do all (others) ; they beget children ; but tliey do not destroy their otlspring. They ba^'e a commou table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. The ]iass their days oi, earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prei^cribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws l)y their lives, '-''hey love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned ; they are i^ut to death and restored to life. They are i)oor, yet make many rich ; they are in lack of all things and yet abound in all ; they are dishonoured, and yet in their verj' dishonoui- are glorified. Thej- are evil spoken of, and yet are justified ; they are reviled, and bless ; they are insulted, ind repay the insult with honour ; they do good, yet are punished as evil- doers' (p. 307). ' How will you love Him who lias first so loved you ? And if you love Him, you will be a.i imitator of His kindness, . , . He who takes upon hiinselt f he burden. 28 m (iniccs, viz., Fiiith, Solf-restraiiit, Sim[>licity, (iiiilv.lessncss, Cliaa- tity, Iiitelli.^'eiico aud Love. ' Wlioever duvotus himself to the.se, and is able to hold fa.st by their works, shall have liis dwelliuj^ in the tower with the Saints of God' (p. 340). In a similar vi.sio!i in tlie third book thii .stones n.scd in building tlie tower !iru carried through th.e gate already mentioned by twelve vir- gins, whose names are Faith, Continence, Power, Patience ; .Simplicity, Innocence, Purity, Cheerfnlnoss, Truth, Under- standing, Harmony and Love. ' These vir^dns arc the powers of the Sun of (jod. If you bear His name but possess not Hi.s power, it will he in vain tli.it you bear }{[< name. . . Every one who bears the name of the Son of (iod, ought to bear the names also of those ; for the Son himself beai'.s the names of tliese virgins. As many stones as you saw come into the bnild- jng of the tower throrgh the hands of tlie^o virgins, and re- maining, have been cl')^hed with their strength. For this rea- son you cce that the tower became of one stone with the rock. So also thev who have believed in (Jod through His Son, and are clotlied with these spirits, shall becom'3 one s])irit, one body, and the colour of their garujents shall be one. And the dwelling of such as bear the names of the virgins is in the tower. " He w ho bears these names and that of the Son of God will be able to enter int'.i the kingdom of (Jod (p. 416-9). On the subject . 355). Ccmimandmeut ninth is an exhortation to pray without doubt- ing. Faith IS from above, and has great power. Ask of the Lord without doubting, and you will know the multitude of his tender mcrcie.^ (p. 3G3-4). The following passage relates to the oliservanco of public worship : — ' When a man having the Divine Spirit comes into an asseml)ly of righteous men who Iiave faith in tlie Divine Spirit, and this a.saembly of men offers up jirayer to God, then the angel of the projihetic Spirit, who is destined for him, tills the man ; and the man lieing Hllod with the Holy Spirit, speaks to tliB multitude as the Lord wishes (p. 368). I'rominence is given to the ordinance of Baptism. ' Hear why the tower is built upon the waters, ft is because your life has been, and will be, saved through water' (p. 335). ' Do j-ou wish to know who are the other (stones) which fell near the waters, but could not be rolled into them / These are they who have heard the Word, and wish to be baptized in the name of the Lord ; but whe!i the chastity d(.'manded by the truth comes into their recollection, they draw back, and again walk after their own wicked desires' (p. 338 9). So ch).sely is bap- tism associated i"! his mind with forgiveness that he submits a quostion to the Shci)herd rcs[)ecling the teaching of those who 29 isness, Chii.s- elf to these, is chvellii]!'- I a siiiii];ir the tower twelve vir- I*ationco ; ■li; Undor- ;ho powers Bss not fJi.s . Every > bear the names of the build- , and re- • this rea- the rock. Son, and >ii'it, one And the ^■1 in the )n of God i-9). On t ground he Mon- they re- froni the it doubt- k of the do of his ilates to 'ing tlie en who en off'eis ■, wlio i.s 3d with shes (j). ' Hear our life . 'Do lear the e tliey c name tnitli II walk is bap- )mitp a c who * maintain that there is no other repentance than that wliich takes place, ^vhou we descended into the water and received re- mission of our former sins' (p. 354). The answer is carefully guarded. He who has received remission of his sins ought not to sin any more. If he sins, he has opportunity to repent but once. A still more striking development of the idea that bap- tism is the sacrament of remission will be found in the position that it was administered by the Apostles and their fellow- labourers to the Old Testament saints in Hades. The righteous men of former generations were represented in the visi(m by certain stones ascending out of a pit, to be applied to the build- ing of the tower. * They were obliged to ascend through water in order that they might be made alive. . . Accordingly, those also who fell asleep received the seal of the Son «>f God. The soul, then, is the water : they descend into the water dead, and they arise'alive. And to them, accordingly, was this seal preached, and they made use of it that they might enter into the kingdom of God. . . The Apostles and teachers who preached the name of the Son of God, after falling asleep in the power and faith of the Son of Godj preached it not only to those who were asleep, but themselves also gave them the seal of the preaching. Accordingly they descended with them into the water, and again ascended' (p. 420). Hermas does not formally quote the Scriptures of the New Testament. But there is a general allusion to them as the word of the Lord (p. 415). And expressions occur which are evidently derived from the New Testament. ' Those that love the tirst seats' (p. 341) may be referred to Mat. xxiii. (> ; Luke xi. 43 ; XX. 40. His mighty beast with fiery locusts proceeding out of its mouth (p. 345) reminds us of the dragon of the Apocalypse, and the locusts that came out of the smoke of the oottomlcss pit (Rev. ix. 3). ' Better were it for them not to have been born' (p. 346) is an echo of Mat. xxvi. 24. * If he put his wife away and marry another, he also commits adultery' (p. 353), is a misapplication of INIat. v. 32 ; xix. 9. ' Fear Him who lias all power, both to save and destroy' (p. 374), is taken freely from Mat. x. 28 ; Luke xii. 5. The ex- pression ' to save and destroy' is from James 4. 12 — a passage that was evidently in the mind of Hermas when shewing how unreasonable it is for man to be vindictive, when God is mer- ciful to the penitent (p. 425). VII. BAIINABA.S. The Epistle of Bcarnabas is quoted seven times by Clement f>f Alexandria, and ascribed without hesitation to the fellow- labourer of the Apostle Paul. From this we may fairly infer rhat it had been in circulation for a considerable time^ — say. at least half a century — before the time of Clement. Its contents 30 «i are unworthy of Barnabas ; but it is an interesting document, as exhibiting the earliest form of the christian gjionis which was eultivatod specially at Alexandria. It is of later date than the destruction of Jerusalem, as it refers (p. 129) to that event : how much later, we have no means of determining. We may safely assign it to a date at least as early as the Shepherd of Hernias. His disapproval of a solitary life (p. 107) indicates that the pristine simplicity of the Christian faith had not yet been corrupted in favour of a rigid asceticism. The Father consulted the Son in creating man. ture says concerning us, while he speaks to the make man after our image. * The Scrip- Son, Let us These things were spoken to the Son' (p. 111). It was the Son of God who suffered for us. ' If the Son of God, who is Lord [of all things], and who will judge the living and the dead, suff"ered, that his stroke might give us life, let us believe that the Son of God could not have suffered except for oursakes (p. 112). His work was fore- told by the prophets. ' If the Lord endured to suffer for our soul, ho being Lord of all the world, . . understand how it was that he endured to suffer at the hands of men. The prophets, having obtained grace from him, pre, ' ''ied concern- ing him. And He (since it behoved him ' . t^^ear in flesh), that he might abolish death, and reveal the resurrection from the dead, endured [what and as he did], in order that he might fulfil the promise made unto the fathers, and by preparing a new people for himself, might shew, while he dwelt on earth, that He, when he has raised mankind, will also judge them. More- over, teaching Israel, and doing so great miracles and signs, He preached the truth to him, and greatly loved him. But when he chose his own Apostles who were to preach his gospel, [He did so from among those] who were sinners above all sin, that he might show he came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Then he manifested himself to be the Son of God. For if he had rot come in the ilesh, how could men have been saved by beholding him ? Since looking upon the sun, ' 'h is to ce.ase to exist, and is the work of his hands, their i: , :rr not able to bear his rays (p. 108). The way in which u. . :t in this life determin-js their future destiny. ' It is well t ? he who has learned the judgments of the Lord, as many as have been written, should walk in them. For he who keepeth these shall be glorified in the kingdom of God ; but he who chooseth other things shall be destroyed with his works. On this account there will be a resurrection, on this account a re- tribution. 1 beseech you who are .superiors, if you will receive any counsel of my good-will, have among yourselves those to whom yt)u may show kindness : do not forsake them. For the day is at hand on which all things shall perish with the evil [one]. The Lord is near, and his reward (p. 134). Barnabas sets forth in detail the maxims which regulate the christian life. The way li^. ig document, ds K'])ich waa late than the that event : We may Shepherd of ) indicates «id not yet * The Scrip- on, Let us were spoken suffered for 9j, and who hia stroke d could not rk was fore- ver for our ■stand how- men. The id concern- ill flesh), ction from ^t he might iring a new 22irth, that ni. More- ^ signs, He But when >spel, [He I sin, that sinners to 3n of God. lave been D, ' ^;h r . . ■; -ly;--- Tell r i many as ) keepeth he who •ks. On nt a re- II receive ihose to ' the day »e]. The forth in he way SI of light is as follows. ' If any one desires to travel to tlie ap- pointed place, he must be zealous in his works. . . Thou shalt love Him that created thee : thou shalt glorify Him that redeemed thee from death. . . Thou shalt be meek : thou shalt be peaceable. . . Thou shalt not be mindful of evil against thy brother. . . Thou shalt love thy neighbour more than [or as] thine own soul. . , Thou shalt not issue orders with bitterness to thy maid-servant or thy man-servant, who trust in the same [God]. . . Thou shalt conimu- nicato in all things with thy neighbour ; thou shalt not call things thine own ; for if ye are partakers in common of things which are incorruptible, how much more [should j'ou be] of those things which are corruptible ! . . Thou shalt love, as the apple of thine eye, every one that speaketh to thee the word of the Lord. Thou shalt remember the day of judgment night and day' (p. 131-3). Baptism was foreshadowed in the Old Testament. * Con- cerning the water, indeed, it is written, in referencs tn the Israelites, that they should not receive that baptism which leads to the remission of sins, but should procure another for themselves. . . What saith he in reference to the Son ? " His water is sure." . . And again, . . The man who doeth these things shall be like a tree planted by the courses of waters' (p. 120-1). The Lord's Day commemorates the resur- rection of Christ. * He says to them, " Your new moons and your Sabbaths I cannot endure." Ye perceive how he speaks : your present Sabbaths are not acceptable to me, but that is which I have made, [namely this,] when, giving rest to all things, I shall make a beginning of the eighth day, that is, a beginning of another world. Wherefore, also, wo keep the eight day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose from the dead. And when he had manifested himself, he as- cended into the heavens' (p. 128). Prophecying is one of the gifts of the church. ' Having received the forgiveness of sins, and phiced our trust in the name of the Lord, vve have become new creatures, formed again from the beginning. Wherefore in our habitation God truly dwells in us. How ? His word of faith ; his calling of promise ; the wisdom of the statutes ; the commands of the doctrine ; he himself prophecying in us ; ho himself dwelling iu \is ; opening to us who were enslaved by death tlie doors of the temple, that is, the mouth. . . He, then, who wishes to be saved, looks not to man, but to Him who dwelleth in him, and speaketh in him' (p. 130). Barnabas quotes the New Testament with the formula, as it is written. 'Let us beware lest we be found [fulfilling that, saying], as it is written, " Many are called, but few are chosen' " (p. 107 : ^lat. XX. 16 ; xxii. 14). The same formula is used immediately after, in quoting from Isaiah. The saying referred 32 to was taken from a book, and a book equally sacred and authoritative with the Scriptures of the Old Testainont. In various passages we find evidence of the uso of the New Testament. Thus : ' ^he Lord will judge the world without' respect of persons (1 Pet. i. 10). Each will receive as he has done ; if he is riyhteous, his rijjihteousness will precede him ; if he is wicked, the reward of wickedness is before him' (p, 107 ; 1 Tim. V. 24, 25). * When he chose his own Apostles who were to preach his gospel, [he did so from among those] who were siinicrs above all sin, that he might shew ho came not to eaU the righteous, but sinners to repentance' (p. 108 : Mat. ix. 13 : Mark ii. 17 ; Luke v. 32). The single case of Matthew the publican fiirmed but a narrow basis for so sweeping an as- sertion ; but the quotation is obvious. ' Ho has created us anew by his Spirit' (p. Ill; Eph. iv. 24). 'Having received the forgiveness of sins, and placed our trust in the name of the Lord, we have become new creatures, formed again from the beginning' (p. 130 ; 2 Uor. v. 17 : Gal. vi. 15). ' We have been refiishid almighty, and from the Lord Jestis Christ our Saviour, be multiplied' (p. 60). A similar invocation occurs towards the close. * May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ himself, who is the Son of God, and our everlasting high priest, build you up in faitii and truth, and in all meekness, gentleness, patienci.*, long-su leering, for- ^4 • «i, •hj bearanco and purity' (p. 76). Ho strenuously affirms the reality of the incarnatinenition' (p. 10). Tho various sacrifices of the Mosaic ritual aro described as being offered in Jerusalem (p. 30). It is true that usages now obsolete might bo described, in a dramatic style, by verbs in tho ])resent tense ; but the natural impression convoyed by tho passage is that Jerusalem had not yet been destroyed. In tho language of Clement, as in the Now Testament, bishop and presbyter are convertible terms (pp. 37, 3'.), 41). With Ignatius it is otherwise : the bishop is as distinct from tho presbyter as tho presbyter from tho deacon ; and wo can scarcely suppose that the change thus indicated, both in tho organi?ation of the Church and in the moaning attached by usage to tho word bishop, could h.' ■> been silently effected in so short a period as ten years. Or xore, the absence of tho Logos doctrine points to tho same c< .»on, Tho combination of diversity with unity exemplified in the relation of Word to him who speaks it, fuiuished the fathers of the second century with their favourite explanation of the way in which tho Son stands related to tho Father. Tho absence of all trace of it may be held as indicating that Clement's Epistle was written at an earlier date than the Gospel of John. But this is far from certain. Clement's doctrinal allusions are only incidental ; he may have been no Platonist ; and one or two passages are suggestive, at least, of an origin in John's writings. It appears that Hegesippus assigned the division in the Church of Corinth to the last five years of the reign of Domitian. Christ is God; ' Content with the provision which God had made for you, and carefully attending to his words, ye were inwardly filled with his doctrine, and his sufferings were before your eyes' (p. 8 : compare Acts xx. 28). * Our Lord Jesus Christ, the sceptre of the majesty of God, did not come in the pomp and pride of arrogance, although he might have done so, but in a lowly condition' (p. 18). * Concerning his Son the Lord spoke thus : Thou art my Son, to-day have I begotten thee' (p. 33). It was he that taught in the Old Testament : * He himself by the Holy Ghost has addressed us : Come, ye m 0* 41 children, hoarkoii unto me, Ac' (p. 23). * On acconnt of tho love lie boro us, Jubus Oliriat our Lord giivo his bhjod for us by the will of God ; hi« Uosh for our lleah, Jind his aoul for our souls' (p. 4M). ' Let us look steiidfiistly to tho blood of Christ, and see how precious that bh)od is to («od, which, hav- iuij been sliod for our salvation, has set the yraco of repentance before the whole world' (p. 12). Allruing to the scarlet thread by which Kaliab's house was to be distinguished, Clement re- marks : ' Thus they [the spies] made it manifest that redemp- tion should How through tho bhuHl of tho Lord to all them that believe and hope in God* (p. 1(5). * Let us reverence tho Lord .Jesus Christ, whoso blood was given f(jr us' (p. 23). He is ' the High Priest of all our offerings, the defander ai»d helper of our inlirmity. By him we look up to tho heights of heaven. By him we behold, as in a glass, Hia [God's] immaculate and most excellent visage' (p. 33). He rose from the dead. ' Let us consider, beloved, how the Lord continually proves to u» that there shall be a future resurseotion, of which he has ren- dered the Lord Jesus Christ the first fruits by raising him fron» the dead' (p. 25). Speaking of the Apostles, he says : ' Having received their orders, and being fully assured by the resurrec- tion of our Lord Jesua Christ, and established in the word of God, with full assiirance of the Holy Ghost, they went forth proclaiming that the kingdom of (Jod was at hand' (p. 37). There is a future life of blessedi ss awaiting those who fear God. ' All the generations from Adam even unto this day have passed away ; but those who, through the grace of God, have been made perfect in love, now possess a place among the godly, and shall be made manifest at tho revelation of the king- dom of Christ. For it is written, ' Enter into thy secret chambers for a little while, until my wrath and fury pass away ; and I will remember a propitious day, and will raise you out of your graves' (p. 43). The practical tone of the Epistle may be judged of from the followin;^ extracts. ' Let him who has love in Christ keep the comuiandments of Christ. Who can describe the [blessed] bond of the love of God ? What man is able to tell the excellence of its beauty, as it ought to be told? The height to which love exalts is unspeakable. Love unites us to God. Love covers a multitude of sins. Love beareth all things, is long-sufiering in all things. There is nothing base, nothing arrogant in love. Love admits of no schisms : love gives rise to no seditions : love does all things in harmony. By love have all the elect of God been made perfect ; without love nothing is well-pleasing to God' (p. 42). * We know many among ourselves who have given themselves up to bonds, in order that they might ransom others. Many, too, have surrendered themselves to slavery,, that with the price which they received for themselves they might provide food for others' (p. 4G). ' Yo were all dia- i 42 tinguialied by humility, and were in no respect puffed up with pride, but yielded obedience rather than extorted it, and were more willing to fjive than to receive' (p. 8). * Let the wise man display his wisdom, not by [mere] words, but through good deeds. Let the humble not bear testimony to himself, but leave witness to be borne to him by another. Let him that i» pure in the flesh not grow proud of it and boast, knowing that it was another who bestowed on him the gift of continence' (p. 34). Clement alludes to a definite Church organization, with its- two sotu of officers, viz, bishops or presbyters, and deacons, and with its stated times for worship. ' It behoves us to do all things in [their proper] order, which the Lord has commanded us to perfonn at stated times. . . Let every one of you, brethren, give thanks to God in his own order, living in all good conscience, and not going beyond the rule of tlxe ministry prescribed to him' (p. 35, 36). Many passages of the New as well as the Old Testament are incorporated in the Epistle. In one place there is a direct reference to the inspiration of Paal. ' Take up the E{)istlo of the blessed Apostle Paul. What did he write to you at the time when the Gospel first began to bo preached ? Truly, under the inspiration of the Spirit (or spiritually) he wrote to- you concerning himself and Cephas and Apollos, because even then parties had been formed among yon. Bnt that inclina- tion for one above another entailed less guilt upon yoa, inasmuch as your partialities were then shown towards Apostles, already of high reoutation, and towards a man whom thoy approved' (p. 41). In another place he introduces a quotation from 1 Cor. by saying, ' Let us act according to that which is written, for the Holy Spirit saith, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, &c.' (p. 16)4 Tiie book of the New Testament most frequently used by Clement is the Epistle to the Hebrews. Next to that, in fre- quency of reference, come the Epistles of Paul to the Corinth- ians. There .are also many coincidences with the Epistle-: ot James and Peter. Passing by these books, the use of which will scarcely be disputed, we find evidence that Clement was acquainted with the other books in such passages as the follow- ing. •' Remember the words of our Lord Jesus Cnrist, how he said, Woe to that man ! It were better for him that he had never been born, than that he should cast a stumbling-block before one of my elect. Yea, it wp*"^ better for him that a mill- stone should be hung about [his neck], and he should be sunk in the depths of the sea, than that he should cast a stumbling-block before one of my little ones' (p. 40, 41 ; Mat. xxvi. 24 ; Luke xvii. 2 ; Mat. xviii. 6 ; Mark ix. 42). * Being especially mindful of the words of the Lord Jesus which he spake, teach- ing us meekness and long-suftering. For thus ho spoke : Bo H'ere Mian I good but It is, J that ['(p. p its- land ali fcled all itry 43 ye merciful, that ye may obtain mercy ; forgive, that it may be forgiven to you ; aa ye do, so shall it be done unto you ; ;i8 ye judge, so shall ye be judged; as ye are kind, so shall kind- ness be shown to you' (p. 1(5 ; Mat. vi. 12-15 ; vii. 2 ; Luke vi. 36-38). ' [The Scripture] saith in a certain place, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me' (p. 17 ; Mark vii. 6). In chapter xlix (p. 42. 43) there arc expressions which suggest a reference to John's Gospel and First Epistle as their probable source. The sentence already quoted, * Let him who has love in Christ keep the command- ments of Christ,' has a Johannino ring about it, though it dilleis from John xiv. 15 not only in words but in sense. To have love in Christ is to have a love inspired by Christ. Still, Clement's exhortation seems to be modelled on that of the Master, as reported by John. ' By love have all the elect of God been made perfect:' Compare 1 John iv. 12, IV, 13. 'In love has the Lord taken us to himself. On account of the love He bore us, Jesus Christ our Lord gave his blood for us by the will of God.' Compare John iii. IG ; 1 John iv. 9. But we might refer to other texts, as Ron? v. 8. * More willing to give than to receive' (p. 8) is from Acts xx. 35, though the language is varied. In next sentence occurs a parallel to verse 28 of the same chapter, to which we have already referred. • Ye never grudged any act of kindness, (p. 8) may allude to Rom. xi. 29. From Jacob ' was descended the Lord Jesus ac- cording to the flesh' (p. 29) : — an expression taken from Rom. ix. 5. ' Of Ilira are all things' (p. 31 ; Rom. xi. 3G). ' For they that do such things are hateful to God, — and not only they that do thorn, but also those that take pleasure in them that do them' (p. 32) : — an obvious reference to Rom. i. 32. * We are members one of another' (p. 40 ; Rom. xii. 5). In the expression * His sufferings were before your eyes' (p. 8) there may be an allusion to Gal. iii. 1. * Have we not [all | one God and one Christ I Is there not one Spirit of grace poured out upon us ? And have we not one calling in Christ' ? (p. 40 ; Eph. iv. 4-6). ' Let them display their love, not by partialities' (p. 23), is similar to 1 Tim. v. 21, ' doing nothing by partiality.' ' Ready to every good work' (p. 9) is from Tit. iii. 1. God ' chose our Lord Jesus Christ, and r.s through him to be a peculiar people' (p. 48 : Tit. ii. 14). In the quotation, ' Behold, the Lord [cometh], and his reward is before his face, to render to every man according to his wor!<' (p. 31), Clement combines the language of Isaiah with that of Rev. xxii. 12. Thus we have direct evidence that Clement was ac([uainted with nearly all the books of the New Testa- ment. They contributed to form his stylo. They gave a biblical colouring to his mode of thought. Even when he is not quoting them with any apprf)ach to verbal accuracy, lie betrays their influence. With him our patristic investigation i I 44 closes. We have traced the christian reli<,'ion and Church backwards from the last quarter of the second century to the last quarter of the first. We have found that Christianity, whether true or false, maintained its continuity as a phase «>f religious belief and life throughout that period. The scanty literature of the time has been sufficient to prove that there Was no break in the continuity. Belief in Christ as a divine Saviour, and in the fact of his resurrection from the dead ; hope in the inheritance of future blessedness that he provides for those who love him ; a life of purity and humility, of expansive benevolence, atid of self-denial for the good of others ; a social organization, with recognised officers, and stated times and ordinances of worship ; and lastly, an authoritative religions literature, consisting of the same books tliat we possess to the present day : — these vital feature" of the christian religion we have traced backwards, step by step, through intervening apo- logists, from Ironreus to Justin Martyr ; from Justin, throu;,'h Melito and tlio Epistle to Diognetus, to Hernias or Pseudo- Hernias and Barnabas or Pseudo-Barnabas ; from these to the Epistles of Polycarp and Pliny and Ignatius, near the begin- ning of the century; and from these to Clement, whose Epistle, though it should have been written as late n'i A. D. 97, sets forth the same gospel which ho had preached in his youth, as a valued fellow-labourer of the Apostle Paul (Phil. iv. 3). The evidence we have presented is but an outline; for exhaustive treatment of the subject the student must be referred to such works as Lardner's Credibility of the Gospel History ; or, still better, to the Works of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, as published by T, and T. Clark of Edinburgh. XIL TUE APOSTLE JOHN. In passing from patristic to scriptural testimony, it may be well to guard against misapprehension in the outset, by stating explicitly that in conducting this investigation into the oriL'in of the christian religicni we make no assumptioji respecting the attribute) of inspiration which the fathers ascribed to the sacred liooks. We have quoted their allusions to the subject, as shewnig the high estimation in which these books were held by the christian community. But the question of inspiration — in so far as it difters from that of the reality of a divine revelation — is one to be discussed by believers amongst tiieai- selves, and decided upon evidence which an uiibeliov'er is not prepared to recognise as authoritative. It would be an imper- tinence on our part to introduce it at this stage of our histocical inquiry into the origin of Christianity. And it is equally im- pertinent on the part of the unbeliever to introduce it for the purpose of obscuring the main issue— whether Clirist was in- n rrch the of Inty [ere fine )pe [for Jive ;ial ]nd rns Iwe 45 deed the bearer of a divine revelation to men — by waging a guerilla warfare about little difficulties aTid discrepancies, whether real or only apparent. Adhering, then, to our scien- tific method, we use the historical documents contained in the New Testament simply as historical documents throwing light on the origin and early history of the christian religion. Onr right so to use them is unquestionable ; for there are no books of similar antiquity vouched for by a tenth part of the mass of evidence which attests their authenticity — ancient MSS., ancient versions, quotations by subsequent writers, and the moral and social results produced by their influence from the earliest times. The Apostle John lived till near the close of the first cen- tury ; and his Gospel and Epistles were probably not written till about or after A. D. 80. He was an eye-witness of his Master's death, and saw him repeatedly after his resurrection. The following extract bears upon the reality of his death ! — * When they came to Jesus, and saw that lie was dead already, they brake not his legs ; but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthvvith came thereout blood and water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true ; and be knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. For these things were done, that the Scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken' (John xix. 33-36). The fulfilment of prophecy gave its special significancy tf) the incident here recorded, alike for John himself and for his Jewish readers ; but the incidental evidence that our Lord's heart was pierced by the soldier's spear, afi^jrds conclusive proof of the reality of his death. Theories of swooning or suspended animation are put out of the question. Then John was the first of the Apostles to look into the empty sepulchre, and see the cast-off shroud, suggesting a return to life whic' neither he nor Peter had anti- cipated : * For as yet they knew not the Scripture, tliat he must rise again from the dead' (xx, 0). On the evening of the same dcay he was present in the assembly of the disciples, when Jesus came and stood in the midst, greeting them witii kindly salutation, and shewing them his hands and his aide (xx. 1 '), 20). John had previously witnessed the resurrection of Laznrus, and other miracles. In Christ's fulness of grace and tnitli as well as of power John had beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father (i. 14). And he formally presents him- self in the attitude of a witness to these things. ' That wliich was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have looked upon, and our liands have handled of the Word of Life ; . . . that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you' (1 John i. 1-3). Clearer testimony to the facts of tlio Oospel jjistory, or a more competent witness, we could not conceive of. I J), i i .^-wmoWKrMtWrtfi 46 I* XIII. MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE. The synoptical Gospels, as they are usually termed, bear a close resemblance to each other. They were probably written in different parts of the world, quite independently of one another ; their (general acjreemont in the selection and arrange- ment of topics being easily accounted for, as they all embody the substance of an oral tradition which was repeated from time to time in the christian assemblies, and which mnst have tended to assume a tolerably detinite form, embracing a limited range of topics, in consequence of this frequency of i-epetition. The verbal coincidences between them have been appealed to as indicating a direct dependence of one upon the other. But it is more probable that the writers made use of some of those comparatively in\perfect narratives referred to by Luke in the Proem to his Gospel. These gospels contain many incidents that are omitted by Johii ; and John supplies incidents and discourses not contained in them. The relation of the first three go3[)el8 to the fourth niay be compared with that of Xenophon to Plato, in the account they give of the life and teaching of Socrates. Matthew's Gospel is suppo.sed to have been the earliest in 'date. Whether it was written originally in Hebrew or Greek or both, need not be here discussed. The Hebrew Matthew, as well as the Gospel to the Hebrews, which seems to have been an altered and enlarged edition of it, is no longer extant. The Greek text has not the air of a translation. If we may rely on ancient tradition, Mark's Gospel must have been written about the time of Peter's martyrdom. Luke's Gospel was written before the book of Acts, which closes with Paul's two years of imprisonment at Rome. The natnral supposition is that he bronght down his narrative to the date of writing. If so, both books may have been written, or revised and completed, during the two years referred to. As witnesses, the three evangelists do not stand on exactly the same footing. Matthew, like Johu, was an Apostle, and thus an eye-witness of rawst of the events which he narrates. Luke, on the other hand, simply claims to have thoroughly in- formed himself by personal communication with the eye-wit- nesses. Mark, so far as concerns the circumstances connected with the crucifixion, was probably an eye-witness. There is speared to his disciples before his ascension ; sometimes to one ; sometimes to the eleven as a body ; and one occasion to above five hundred brethren at once, most of whom were yet alive (1 Cor. xv). The preaching of Peter, as reported in the Acts and repre- sented by his first Epistle, gives the same prominent place to the resurrection of Christ, of which he was one of the original witnesses. ' Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten lis again to a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from tlie dead' (1 Pet. i. 3). Baptism doth now save us, ' by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God ; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him (iii. 21, 22). The doctrine that God sent his own Son into the world, to die for our sins and rise again for our justification, was pro- claimed by Peter to the circumeision, and by Paul to the Gen- tiles. The Apostles presented themselves as witnesses of the sufferings of Christ, and of his triumph over death. They had seen him, heard him, talked witli him after his resurrection. They had witnessed his ascension from Olivet till the clouds received hint out of their sight. Their testimony was confirmed by signs following. On this testimony the Church was founded : small at first ; cruelly maligned and persecuted ; but earnest and energetic. It grew, in spite of the world's hostility, and triumphed over the paganism that strove to crush it. Through- out the struggle of centuries its strength lay in adhering to the truths proclaimed on the memorable day of Pentecost. The 48 IS. more closely wc study the writinjpia ot John and Matthew, of Peter and his Latin interpreter Mark, of Paul and his assistant Luke, the clearer will our conviction become that the doctrine of the Creed was the doctrine of Christendom from its very earliest beginning as an obscure and persecuted sect. w w in I^ w tm XV. THE rK01JLEM:-SCEPTICAL SOLUTIONS OF IT. Li m >. V- Thus far we have ii'>t proved the truth of Christianity. We have only tracud its continuity as a phase of belief and life, a system of thou;^ht, feeling and action, from Irenaaus to Clement of Rome, and flora Clement to John and Matthew, Peter and Paul. We have traced Christendom backwards to its cradle, and found that in the dimensions of infancy it had the same form as in its larger growth. Its hands and feet, its eyes and ears, its nerves tingling with sensation, and its arteries pulsing with life-blood — all were the same, though on a smaller scale. True, some differences might also be discerned. The beard 1) A not yet grown. It was innocent of alb or chasuble, of mitre or crozier But these are minor matters. In all that is vital the faith, hope and life of a christian in the middle of the first centmy were the same as those which cheer the heart and adorn the career of a christian in these latter days. The ques- tion remains to be considered : Where did the infant come from ? What is the true origin of Christianity ? Is it from heaven, re* eye-witnesses of it, and gave utterance to their tes- timony wherever they went. If the miraculuns features of the gospel narrative had not formed part of the Apostolic testimony, they would have been promptly d is "-edited by the Apostles, ■whose honesty is not now in rjuestion. Strauss's special hypothesis, that the gospel myths were formed in the midst of u community of ignorant and superstitions people in the remote corners of Galilee, is therefore utterly inadmissible. Such a community could not have given their faith to the churches that were planted by the Apostles all over the woi-ld. But (3) let us examine this hypothesis a little more closely. A community of uncultured rustics are full of the Jewish ex- 53 pectation of the comiui; Messialj. Daniel's seventy works of years Iiavinj,' expired, tliey are on the tiptoe of exjiectancy. Jeans of Nazareth appcara iipon the Hcene. In the; cmirse of his peregrinations through rialilee he happens to |)uy them a visit. They are entranced by the winsomeness of liis manner, the wisdfHn of his words, tljo beauty of his descfi|itiiins of a pure and heavenly kingdom of which he invites tli in to be- come the subjects. They accept him as the promisi"! Saviour, and tlioir joy is unbounded. After a few days iio dcpiirts, and returns to them no more. lint he has fuscinated theui, as by a strange magnetic power ; and tlie spell abides ii|. .11 them for the re.st of their lives. They hcjir of his ointed, if it had been otherwise. Thoy see Ih;ii no more, but expect that he will return to earth again, to i t-ibliah his kingdom. In the meantime his image — the iinpri^ oiintion of all that is true and beautiful ajid good — is enshrii ■ ! in their hearts. He is the theme of their talk by day, n^\' 'ii' central figure in their dreams by night. In talking of hn., t!!^-y iden- tify hi'ii with the Messiah of prophecy, and in tin 1 i^ituplicity ascribe to hitn the miracles of healing — opening bud eyes, un- stopping deaf ears, &c., — which belong to the p' hhotic por- traiture. As minds untrained to abstract thoiiLiM Ti.itnrally threw their conceptions into a c(^ncrete form, thes. imnicles are dramatized ; time, place, circumstance, are sup])1i('i', ;i. them ; a body of legendary nnrrative accumulates ; and j rhaps even dreams C(mtribute to the stock. This spontaneous Mi>wth of marvellous incident engrafted on the life of Jesns ;,m( s on with- in a rude Ebionite commr.nity for about forty j'e.us . \vl\en there arise some members of a literary turn, who set ti cni.solves to collect the leirends, and arrange them, together with such in- formation as they could obtain respecting the ordii ;'ry human life of •fosns, in something like chronological order licJice our Goapels. Apostolic names may have been affixed 1-- them, to I, » '-^i^m^x- $4 i li ■■:t give them wider cnrroncy ; or they may have boon originally Rnonymons, and their iwoription to the writoru whose iiamoH they now boar, may have been the work of uncritical readers.- — Such is an outline of the kind of process by which it may. bo imagined that the 1,'oapel history jjrow into its present shai)u. liut is such a yrowth imaginable 1 Apart from the insufiiciency of the time allowed {even Strauss claims only forty years, and we have shewn that the religion of Christ had taken literary shape within twenty-live years of his death) ; apart also from the fact that Jewish fishermen and vinedressers were more in- telligent than the superstitions barbarians who framed the logeixds of mediaeval Europe, and less likely to mistake dreams or fancies for facts ; it remains to be explained how the mythic literature of a small Ehionite community could gain acceptance and authority througliout Christendom. If the miraiculous ftMjts recorded iu that literature formed part of the nnvl teach- ing of Apostles and Apostolic men before they were so recorded, the hypothesis is useless ; Christendom rose into being indepen- dently of its aid. But if on the other hand the miracles of the gospel history did not form part f Christ are simple and unostentatiouf* and kindly. Their aim is not to nuiko the ordooker stare, but to comfort and relievo distress. And they are full of spiritual meaning. They are acted parables. They exhibit power as ministering to love, in healing the diseased and (inickening the dead. The narratives in which they are related can stand a sifting criticism, and come forth from the ordeal unscathed. A visit to the scenes which they describe impresses the traveller with a vivid sense of reality. The New Testament history, taken as a whole, is not only free from contradiction but full of hidden harmonies, which by their incidental character prove- that the several documents rest ou a common basis of historical truth. 3. Hallucination. There are two kinds of hallucination, viz., sensory and mental. The senses, especially that of sight, may bear fallacious testimony froni a variety ctf onuses, aa catalepsy, or the delirium of fever. Mistaken perception, aris- ing from external circumstances, as a peculiar condition of the atmosphere, or the dexterous movements of a juggler, may be placed under the same head. Hallucination of this kind, whether arising from a disordered state of sense, or from peculiar external conditions, is usually transient, though sometimes it may be recurrent. Mental hallnein*tio», i, e,, monMrnania, i» more apt to be ehroni*. This source of explanation of the origin of Christianity brings ns nearer the original actors in the scones of gospel history than those we have thus far considered. A myth or legend in its ultimate form is the sum or integral of all the exaggerations and distortions through which a fact or narrative has passed, from imperfect apprehension, inaccurate remembrance, and further inaccurate recital. The nltimate basis or constant quan- tity, in the case of the pure myth, is some natural phenomenon, as the course of the sun ; in the case of the legend, it is the human history of Jesus, wheii divested of the miraculous. Hallucination is ascribed to the original eye-witnesses, or even to Jesus himself. The principal events explained on this prin- ciple by sceptical writers, are the conversion of Paul, the be- lief of the Apostles in Clirist's resurrection, and Christ's own belief in hi.s- digiaty as the Messiah, **: u :i ■ \r4 i m 56 (1.) The conversion of Paul is thus explained by Renan (Fisher, p. Gil). Paul, ou his way to Damascus, had niis- }^ivini;a as to whether he was not withstanding the work of God. Often ardent s(jnl3 experiejice terrible reactions. He had been struck with the demeanour of those whom he had persecuted, and especially of Stephen. At tinies he thought he saw the figure of their Master regarding him with pity and rebuke. As he approached Damascus he was fatigued with the journey, and perhaps suffering from inflauimation of the eyes. People in the vicinity of Damascus are sometimes seized with fever and become delirious. He had a stroke, which Ciist him, senseless, ou tht earth. His brain was aflc cted, whether by sun-stroke, «.)r ophtlialmia, or from being struck with lis^htning. In this abnormal state he had a vision of Jcfsus, which he mistook for matter of fact reality, the nature cf delirium or trance not being well understood in those ignorant times. On returning to consciousness he found that he was blind. Having heard of Ananias, and of miraculous cures wrotight by christians, he sought an interview, was kindly received, and became calm when Ananias placed his hands on him. He was thus cured by a psychological process, his malady being chiefly nervous. This explanation assumes a good deal, partly witlout and partly against evidence. There is no proof that his eyes were inflamed, or that he was predisposed to mental illusions. So far from having any misgivings, he acted, as he said afterwards, in all good conscience, and verily thought that he was doing God service. The goads against which he was kicking were not the upbraidings of an evil conscience, but the controlling providence of God, who had sent the Saviour, and was giving efficacy to his word. Paul had an energetic will and a strong understand- ing, so that there is no ground for ascribing to him the conflict of emotion depicted by Kenan. Then as to his cure, blindness is not nervousness, that a soothhig interview with Ananias should cure it. And Kenan's remark respecting his conversion — * that he had only changed his fanaticism' — does not ac- count for his moral and spiritual transforiKraion. He no longer relied on force, but sought to win liis opponents by love. In- stead of seeking to compass their death, he was ready to die for them. He not only joined a new party but became a new man. (2.) The belief of the Apostles that their Master had risen from the dead, is also explained by Renan as a delusion (Fisher, ]). G06). Mary Magdalene, lingering near the empty sepulchre, hears the familiar voice of Jesus, and sees his form, but cannot touch him. The spectre disappears, for her vision is the pro- duct of an excited imagination. But she goes to the disciples and reports that she has seen the Lord. All the subsequent interviews of Jesus with his disciples are of the same character — «pcctral illusions. Tlie removal of his body from the 57 sepulchre, however, i^resents a grave difficulty. It could not have b'en done by the eleven disciples, or with their privity, for their ho.jpsty is not in (question. It could not have been done by the Jews, else they would have produced the corpse to disprove his resurrection. Joseph of Arimathea, the owner of the sepulchre, would not be likely to disturb its occuj)ant. Perhaps some Galilb.m friends had removed the body, and held their peace about it. The folding of the gravo-clothes suggests that a woman had been there : perhaps it was Mary Magdalene ! Such is Kenan's account of the matter. Is it credible ? One point may be conceded. An excitable woman, who had re- cently been insane, and whose nature had been moved to its depths by the hairowing spectacle of the crucitixion of her best friend, might be a fit subject for sftcctral illusion. It may be remai'ked, however, that her failure, at first, to recognize either the voice or the form of Jesus — she supposing him to be the gardener — scarcely comports with the theory, even in her case. But what (. f Peter I Of Cleopas and his companion ? Of James ( Of Thomas and the other ten ? Of the five hundred brethren in Galilee ? Did none of them think of testing the correctness of what they saw, by the sense of touch ? Did they a J see the same spectre in the same place at the same time, and hear it speak the same words I An illusion, involv- ing not vision only biit prolonged conversations, afi'ecting so many persons simultaneously in precisely the same way, and recuiring at intervals in different companies, now to one group CI disciples, now to another, is more incredible than the resur- rection itself. And be it remembered that these witnesses were not hystericiil women but men of firm nerve and tough sinew and brawny arm — not overwrought thinker."?, with exhausted brain, and verging upon madness, from continuous toil over the midnight lamp — not gamblers, worn out with excitement and prostrated by ruin — not drunkards, haunted by the visions of delirium tremens — but healthy, hardy fishermen, accustomed to ply the oar, and prosecute their craft through the live-long night upon the sea of Galilee. (3.) The Messianic consciousness of Jesus is ascribed to hal- lucination. Strauss approves of a remark of Schleiermacher, that * Christ must have been convinced from the depths of his inward consciousness that no one else but he was referred to in the Messianic prophecies contained in the sacred writings of his people' (Christlieb on Modern Doubt, p. 380). He moreover holds it certain that Christ connected the epoch of the world's consummation with a miraculous change to be produced by God, and that he spoke of his second coming in glory to judge the world. In this respect, Strauss says, ' he appears to us not only as an enthusiast, but as guilty of undue self-exaltation* (ibid, and p. 420). He was expected, as the Messiah, to per- form miracles. Sufl'erers everywhere tried to touch his gar- 58 ' i ments. Some received benefit, through the power of an ex- cited imagination ; and these instances of cure were ascribed to his miraculous power. Successes of this kind, especially in the cure of disorders ascribed to demoniacal possession, would confirm the illusion as to his Messianic dignity. This opinion of Strauss, that Christ was a visionary, who believed himself to be the Messiah of ancient prophecy, and the future judge of the living and dead, cannot stand exaii.ina- tion. If Christ was no more than an ordiiiary man, his self- esteem cannot be regarded as the foible of a sane man ; it amounted to monomania. In appropriating to himself the Mosoianic character, he believed that he was performing the most astounding miracles from day to day — not nierely casting out devils, but healing the lame, the palsied, the dropsical, the lepr(nis, giving sight and hearing and speech to the blind and the dumb. He even undertook to raise the dead. In this career his self-cumplaconcy never failed him. And strange to say the poor monomaniac gathered a following of disciples, who Avere constant witnesses of his c induct, and v.'lio un;iccountably believed in the reality of these fancied wonders, and reported them to the world. The myth-making process did not, after all, originate in the superstitious gossip of a remote Galilean community, but in the brain of a lunatic. His case admits of no comparison with that of Mohammed. The Arab visionary wrought no miracles ; he simply claimed to be a prophet. But the JMessianie character could not be supported without miracles; the same logic which compelled his Galilean admirers to as- cribe them to him, compelled him to assume the role of a thaumaturgist, and he was so insane as to believe himself suc- cessful. On this theorj' how are we to account for the sim- plicity,propriety, beneficence and spiritual instructiveness of his mythic miracles I How are we to explain his calmness, his self-consistency, his breadth of vieWj the marvellous wisdom of all his utterances ? How comes it that never man spake like this man ? How strange the fact, on the supposition of his lunacy, that ho was believed on in the world ! Suppose that a patient, possessed with the idea of his Messiahship, were sent forth from an Asylum, to fouufi a spiritual kingdom amongst men, what would be his chanc;is of ruling the civilized world for eighteen centuries to come ? 4. Imposture. Modern unbelief is ostentatiously polite, and disclaims all responsibility for the charges of wilful decep- tion that were Hung at the heroes of gospel history by the in- fidels of a ruder age. More profound and at the same time more charitable views are entertained respecting the origin and development of religions belief. The alternative is no longer between worshipping Christ as a God or execrating him as a charlatan. A middle way has been discovered. Jesus is ranked with Socrates, Zoroaster and Confucius j perhaps he 59 may be placed above them. His maxims are g,n excellent counteractive to selfisliness. And his wisdom may be called divine, ascribed to inspiration, and all tliat, with the under- standing that these high-sounding phrases are not to be under- stood as denoting anything really supernatural. As to miracles, they are to be ascribed to misconception, exaggeration, or any- thing else that will enable us to retain our coniidence in the un- broken order of nature. Unfortunately it is difticult to main- tain this attitude of dignified courtesy all through. An expo- sition of the subject may begin with praising Christ and his Apostles, and end with accusations of fraud and falsehood ; just iS a writer may make great parade of candor and impar- tiality, and yet fill his book with the most illogical special- pleading. The sources of explanation thus far reviewed are fairly available only within narrow Jimits ; and their further application loses all verisimilitude. The theory of pure myth is no better than a joke ; for men who have no faith in Justin, Polycarp, Clement, John, Peter or Paul, will at least believe in Pliny and Tacitus. The theory of mixed myth or legend may seem to promise better results. But it is hemmed in by time-limits. Societies maintaining, in spite of unpopularity and persecution, all the distinctive features of christian belief and practice, were to be found in the principal cities of the Roman Empire within a (puirter of a century from the death of Christ. It is further limited in respect to the area of that society within which the myths nuist have arisen. They could not have come to the body of tlie christian community ah extra, in the way Strauss suggests, because the Apostles were still alive, and would have rejected stories imported from any such source. The myth-makers must have been the Apostles them- selves ; and the extent to which a supernatural glory in the form of miraculous events could have been unconsciously thrown over the prosaic contents of memory must have been very limited indeed : — the more sn. as the Apostles met each other occasion- ally, and thus had o['^ .rtuuity of testing the accuracy of their remeniluance by talking over the scenes in which they had been fellow-w nesses if not fellow- actors. The tl )ry of hallucination also fails. If Christ's messianic conscious) ^s was the delusion of a weak mind, he must have attempted, in his character of Messiah, to w(jrk miracles, and exposed himself by utter failure to the scorn or pity of the multitude ; for insanity does not confer omnipotence. His success in attaching disciples to himself is inconsistent with the supposition that he believed himself possessed of a supernatural power which he failed to manifest. And if he wrought no miracles, wnence the belief in them, on the part of his disciples i Myth, legend, hallucination, are all insufficient to account for the gospel histcry. Hence it becomes necessary to fall back, as a last resort, on the old accusation of imposture. This is 6o done even by Strauss, aud still more freely by Renan. Strauss represents the resurrection of Lazarus as an intentional fraud. ' Tired of the cold reception with which the kingdom of God Jiad met in the capital, the friends of Christ were desirous of a great miracle, in order that they might strike a heavy blow at the unbelief of Jerusalem. Lazarus and his two sisters under- took the chief part in this fraud' (Christliob, p. 431). His suggestion that perhaps it was Mary Magdalene who removed the body of Jesus from the sepulchre, and thus gave occasion to the belief in his resurrection, has been already noticed. The miracles performed by Jesns were not such as an impostor could imitate. Think of a juggler walking on the sea, or feed- ing thousands of hungry men with an armful of bread ! But a still more conclusive refutation of the charge of imposture is sui)plied by his character. Had he been an impostor his in- culcation of sincerity and tn th would have been a constant invitation to those around him to unmask his hypocrisy and pour out on him the vials of their indignation. An impostor is never free from the risk of exposure, and naturally provides for that contingency. The creation of a high-toned moral sen- timent is the creation of a scourge for his own back. It is manifestly for his interest that he should rather undermine men's sense of truth, and deaden the power of conscience, that ao his conduct may be regarded with the less abhorrence if his true character should be brought to Ifght. An honest regard for the ideal of purity and perfection which Christ presented to otliers would have prevented the use of imposture ; and con- sciousness of imposture would have led to a debasement of the moral standard. Then as to the Apostles, if their Master was dead, they had nothing further to expect from him ; they had no motive to induce them to propagate a false report of his re- surrection. They exposed themselves to endless toils and suf- ferings by their testimony to the fact that- he had risen. Lives of self-denying labor and deaths of martyrdom attest their sin- cerity. The problem remains unsolved. The several sceptical theories, of myth and legend, of hallucination and imposture, fail to give a rational account of the origin of Christianity. The only other account that can be given of it is that supplied by the gospel history. It remains that we examine the grounds on which it is affirmed by sceptics that that history is incredible^ as involv- ing a belief in miracles. There are three points to be considered, in reference to miracles — their possibility, their credibility, and their connexion with doctrine. 6i XVI. THE POSSIBILITY OF MIRACLES. The question whether miracles are possible depends on the question whether there is a God. A miracle is a supernatural event, i. e. an event which does not form part of the common course of nature, but is due to tlie will and manifests the power of a supernatural Being, If there are no living Powers behind and above the course of nature, there can be no miracle. As disbelief in the existence of a Mind and Will higher than man's — whether in the naked form of atheism or in the poetic garb of pantheism — underlies much of the opposition to miracles in the present day, it is necessary to indicate some of the sources of evidence on behalf of Theism. There are three leading lines of argument — the cosmological, psychological, and teleologijal. 1. The cosmological argument infers the existence of a great First Cause from a general view of the world around us. The following particulars will suffice by way of illustration. (1.) A First Cause may be inferred from the irregular distri- bution of matter in space. Tlie universe, according to the re- vived philosophy of Epicurus, consists of atoms and empty space. Why is not all space equally empty or equally full ? The distribution of matter is arbitrary, or appears so. Why should it be here and not there ? Moreover, there are many diflerent kinds of matter, and all of them are distributed in an irregular way through limited parts of space. How is this to be accounted for '' If matter possessed the ground of its ex- istence within itself, we should expect to find that existence everywhere, and everywhere alike. For there appears to be no reast)n conceivable why an absolute and ultimate necessity of physical being should stand more closely related to one part of space than to another. What is eternally necessary in one place should be eternally necessary in all places. As this is not the case, we conclude that the disposal of matter, if not also its very existence, is due to a higher Being. It is one of the functions of Will — not the highest or noblest, but one of its functions — to decide among things indifferent, or presenting ob- jectively equal claims — to exercise sovereignty of choice. Mechanical force possesses no such power. It may be objected that matter, in a still earlier stage of its existence than that of nebula, may have been uniformly dif- fused through space ; and that it ujay have been broken up into patches through the operation of its own essential proper- ties of attraction and repulsion. Such a supposition, however, is not admis.sible. If the distribution of matter througli the inliniiude of space was perfectly uniform, each intinitesimal part of it must have been equally acted on in all directions, and therefore must have remained for ever in a state of equilil)rium. The theory of cosuiical development recpiires an irregularly- 62 il ll Pi •t 1 ,« i i 1 I! 1 m shaped nebula to start from, and we could never derive that from a necessarily-existing substance nnifurmly filling all space. The arbitrary distribution of matter, then, is a faet to be ac- counted for ; and the only intelligent account of it wo can sug- gest is that it indicates the prior existence and exercise of an arbitrium., a sovereign will, on the part of the great First Cause. And if matter owes its distribution to the will of a supreme Being, it may owe its existence to him as well. (2.) The world contains many things that begin to be. Every plant and animal has a definite beginning of its existence as a living being. And not only individuals but species had a be- ginning. For the investigations of geologists shew that there was a time when there wa» no life on the globe. (a.) Thfi origin of individual plants and animals — above all, of individual men — has to be accounted for. I am conscious of being more than so vanny pounds of bone and muscle. I am a person, not a corpse. My personality came into existence a few years ago. Whenae came it ? The first answer to this qwestioa will of course refer us to the law of reproduction. But that law itself needs explanation. It is only & general phrase denoting a series of facts. Parentage is the channel through which a new personality is ushered into the world. But it does not unfold to our intelligence the origin of souls. That origin may be referred to an immediate creation. Or the souls of the parents may be supposed to contribute of their substance to form the soul of their offspring. Or humanity may be conceived of as a whole, which was created in the first man, and is distributed among his offspring. Or the doctrine of pre-existence may be carried still further back, to a former state of spirit-life and spirit-probation — say in the body of a pre-adamite ichthyosaurus. But all these doctrines carry us back ultimately to creation. The breath of the Almighty gave me understanding. And it would be absurd to suppose that he gave man a higher nature than his own. He that teachath* masi knowledge, shall not He know I (b.) The origin of species, and especially of the human species, has to be accounted for. Even if parentage could be regarded as accountirg for the individual, it does not account for the species as a whole. The first parents must have been created by God. For whatever may be thought of the abstract con- ceivability of a parental succession stretching back ad ii\/initum, geology leaves no room for such a supposition. Man's appear- ance upon the earth is comparatively recent. And there was a time, vastly more remote, when even the lowest forms of life had not yet sprung into existence. The higher forms of life are supposed, by evolutionists, to have been developed from the lower ; but the germs of life must have existed in the ancient fire-mist, if they were not created after the solidification of the eacthV crust. How they could survive the temperature of 1 - ■ ' i 63 molten rock, ia one of many things which the theory of evolution leaves unexplained. That a fortuitous concourse of raere material atoms could produce a being endowed with the faculties of thought, feeling and will, is altogether incredible. (3.) A supreme disposer of matter, and author of all forms of life and intelligence, being ascertained or assumed to exist, it simplifies our view of the origin of the world to ascribe to Him the creation of inorganic matter as well as of vital functions. -Let us say that there are sixty different kinds f matter — ultimate or simple elements. Then the question is between ascribing the origin of the world to one self-existent being and ascribing it to sixty-one, A Being who could origi- nate all the vital and mental forces exercised by organized ex- istences, might surely be entrusted with the humbler work of originating the physical forces of inorganic nature as well. It is a maxim of plain common sense that we should not assume more causes than are necessary to account for the phenomena. One God is sufficient to account for the origin of all things. We only embarrass our cosmology with needless complexity it we fill the eternal past with sixty-one great First Causes. The originator of the vegetable and animal kingdoms, and disposer of the Cosmos, may as well be the creator of its inorganic materials. 2. The Psychological argument is based on the operations of mind — especially those exercises of thought and emotion which are of a religious character. The idea of God arises in our minds, with peculiar vividness and force, on special occasions. Thus : — (1.) We think of the power of 'God, when we need help from him. Our strength is overtasked : wo are entangled in a net- work of perplexities : we are beset by powerful enemies : or sudden danger appalls us. We need help, guidance, protec- tion, deliverance. In our distress we cry to him. An instinct of self-preservation impels us, when other help fails, to call on the Almighty. Man is a dependent being. In circumstances of difficulty or danger his sense of dependence calls into exer- cise his faith in the supernatural, and prompts to the utterance of prayer. (2) We think of the goodness of God, as capable of satisfying us, when earthly enjoyments are withheld, or pall upon our taste. Amid severe privations or sufferings we think of God as blessed himself, and blessing those whom he receives into his favour ; and we endeavour so to comport ourselves as that we may hope to enjoy his fellowship. Even when every appetite is indulj^ed to satiety, and every taste regaled, we are not con- tent. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with heari'.jg. In this respect, if man is to be regarded as merely a terrestrial animal, he is of all animals the most bounteously pro«vided for, and yet of a31 aniaials the nuost miserable. He r '.tmMiMMi^ «4 'J. lias a craving f(ir happiness that never says, It is enough. And this craving points ultimately to the enjoyment of Clod. Whom have I in heaven hut Thee ? And there is nono in all tho earth that I desire besides Thee. (3.) We think of the justice of God, when we either suffer wrong or commit it. In the one case, we appeal to him as an avenger ; in the otlier, wo fear him as a judge. Conscience speaks with an authority which cannot well bo understood or accounted for otherwise than by regarding it as the voice of God within us. And when that voice is flagrantly disregarded, we instinctively anticii)ate that he will reckon with tho transgressor. The sense of obligation and of responsibility — obligation to do right, responsibility if we do wrong — is practically the most powerful of arguments for theism. Thus the vicissitudes of ordinary life are continually present- ing occasions that are suggestive of tho idea of God. A feeling of dependence, a craving for happiness, a sense of responsi- bility, from time to time raise our thoughts to Him whose power can aid our weakness, whose favour and fellowship constitute our highest good, and of whom wo ai'e assured that as judge of all the earth ho will do right. In some minds this play of tho religious emotions is moro prominent and powerful than in others. But it is a general characteristic of humanity. And it is frequently exhibited with peculiar force in the deepest and noblest natures. How is it to be accounted for ? Does it pro- ceed from no cause 1 Is it an ignis fatnus ? How can it be explained otherwise than by regarding the mind of man as the workmanship of God ? An engineer stamps his name on the machine he hao constructed. A parent chooses to be trusted, loved and obeyed by his children. If God is our maker, that accounts for our bearing his signature, and for the implantation in our nature of aftections and impulses that point towards hira as the disposer of one lot, and tho arbiter of our destiny. If, on the other hand, we are the creatures of blind chance, our religious instincts are without a cause as well as without an object. It may be asserted, in reply to this argiiment, that our re- ligious ideas and emotions are the product of education and the plastic iniluence of circumstances. Nor do we deny that there is some truth in the statement. Our religious views and feel- ings are largely influenced by instruction, example, and the whole course of our experience in chiUliiood and youth. The child is dependent on a mother's care, and aided by a mother's kindness. The youth is subject to domestic authority and law, enforced by rewards and punishments. Habits of fraternal as- sociation and mutual helpfulness, and respect for authority, acquired in the family circle, find wider scope when he grows up to manhood and takes his place as a citizen. But why should this respect be transferred to an imaginary Being, an invisible 65 parent conjured into existence by a freak of fancy ? The rc[)]y is that successive generationn are taut,'lit by their parents to believe in the supornatural. But two ihinijs rer-i.tin unex- plained : — the origin of the tradition, and its vi'^^ality. Wiiy should such a belief have takon possession of tljo whole human race, if there is no jiroper ground for it in tlio constitution of our nature ? And how coidd it retain possession ? .Antiquated errors die out in course of time ; but the belief in the super- natural is probably as strong to-day as it ever was. The fair conclusion is that it has its root in tlio structure of the human mind. The universality of religious belief of some kind amongst the lowest savages is strikingly attested by Mr. Tyler (Primitive Culture, vol. i. p. 384) ; — ' So far as I can judge from the im- mense mass of accessible eviilence, we have to admit that the belief in spiritual beings appears among all low races with whom we have attained to thoroughly intimate acijuaintance, whereas the assertion of absence of such belief iinist apply either to ancient tribes, or to more or less imperfectly described modern ones.' 3. The Teloological argument is based on evidences of design, in the adaptation of means to ends. The works of God afford evidence not only of his power but of his intelligence. For they exhibit adjustments so complicated and so accurate that it is impossible to believe the adaptation accilental. AVo m.iybo unable to grasp the ultimate end of the universe as a whole ; but the special end contemplated in particular adjustments may be as easily discerned in the Avorks oi God as in the works of man. In such cases the phenomena are not accounted for un- less we recognise final as well as efticient causes. The ends worked out in God's providence are various, and shed an interesting light on his character. (1.) There are ends which we may term simply physical, relating to the maintenance of things in substantially their pre- sent order. Thus the equilibrium of the planetary system is maintained by giving each planet a velocity culHcient to counterbalance the attractive foi'ce, and no more. If the velocity of the earth were greater than it is, it would move away from the sun in a widening curve till its iniiabitants perished in a region of per- petual frost. If it were less, t!ie earth would be drawn inwards till its inhabitants were burnt up with scorching heat. Other adjustments secure the vicissitudes of the seasons, and the filter- nation of day and night. The preservation of an animal through the successive stages of its existence is secured by a multiplicity of adaptations, of organ to external element, of structure and instijict to each other, and both to habitat, on which wo need not dwell. Tiie preservation of species is secured by a combination of organs, appetencies and social instincts — such as the maternal ^m»m^ 66 I m afiection — without which the earth would be depopulated in a few years. (2.) Esthetic purposes are abundantly provided for. The earth might have been a smooth plain, without hill or vale — a boundless cahbage-gaiden, unadorned with tree or flower'. But it is otherwise. The variety of scene is endless. Mtijestio mountain and frowning precipice, dark glen and foaming catar- act, leaf and flower of every hue, placid lake and roaring ocean, the dread artillery of heaven, the gems that sparkle on the brow of night : — there is everything to cultivate and to gratify a taste whether for the beautiful or the sublime. The author of the Cosmos is a Qod of order; but the order is diversified by every imaginable phase whether of the lovely or of the grand. How natural the conclusion, if we had not been expressly as- sured of the fact, that when he beholds his handiwork he pro- nounces it very good ! (3.) Many of the contrivances of nature indicate benevolent design. In the life of sentient beings generally there ia much more of enjoyment than of suffering. Even sensitiveness to pain often proves a blessing, by putting us on our guard against fatal injury. In the case of our own race there would be less suffering if there were less sin : anr • have no right to blame the constitution of our nature for thu consequences of our own misdeeds. Still it must be confessed that there is a formidable residuum of suffering in the world, of which we can give no satisfactory explanation. B\it the mystery that overhangs ex- ceptyonal phenomena should not blind us to the lesson taught by the general course of providence, in doing ns good, sending rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. (4.) Mot-al ends — the encouragement of virtue and the punishment of vice — are extensively promoted by the ordina- tions of providence. The inherent misery of evil passions, the remorse following their indulgence, their mischievous efiect, whether on bodily health or in the formation of evil habits, the disapprobation and resentment of society, and the course of events that seem fortuitous, are often wielded as scourges and correctives of evil. The inference is that God is a mcrsil Gov- ernor — that he loves good and hates iniquitj'. These are some of the principal lines of evidence for Theism afforded by the constitution and course of nature. If the uni- verse is God's handiwork and subject to his control, there is a power in existence that is capable of performing miracles. Whether it may be his will to perform them, is another ques- tion ; but they are not impossible. u % inH 67 XVII. THE CREDIBILITY OF MIRACLES. Paley'a maxim, * Once believe in a God, »nd all is easy,' does not meet with universal acceptance. The idea of physi* \\ law, as reigning supreme in the material world, presents a serious obstacle in the way of accepting the miraculons. The existence of law is no new discovery ; it is pre-suppored by miracle. Jf there were no settled course of nature rocognizod, a deviation from that course would afford no evidence of the intervi iition of a supernatural power. But some scientitic men are not con- tent with the recognition of law ; they insist on its absolute supremacy. ' In an age of physical research like the present,' says Baden Powell (Essays and Reviews, Am. ed. p. 150), all highly cultivated minds and duly advanced intellects have im- bibed, more or less, the lessons of the inductive philosophy, and have, at least in some measure, learned to appreciate the grand foundation conception of universal law ■ to ree*)gnixe the impossibility even of any two material atoms subsisting together without a determinate relation ; of any action of the one on the other, whether of eqnilibrinm or of motion, without reference to a physical cause ; of any modification whatsoever in the existing conditions of material agents, unless through the in- variable operation of a series of eternally impressed consequences, following in some necessary chain of orderly connection, how- ever imperfectly known to us.' That the same substance, when placed in the same circumstances, will always act in the same way, must of course be assumed aa a guiding maxim in physical research. An interposition of supernatural power, when it does occur, is a new circumstance, and accounts for an unusual result. The laws of causation are not suspended, bat a new cause is brought into play. So far, however, as concerns scientific in- vestigation into the powers and processes of nature, we may dismiss the subject from our thonghts. That Jesus walked on the sea of Galilee one stormy night some eighteen centuries ago, does not affect the specific gravity of the human body, or the normal properties of water. Miracles are rare ; and when wrought for evidential purposes they announce their own char- acter as deviations from the ordinary course of nature. The assumption, however, that no modification in the con- dition of matter is possible, except as the necessary result of an eternal series of physical operations, though put forward as the crowning generalization of cosmical science, is altogether un- scientific in its character, and cannot be established by any inductive reasoning. This doctrine of the unbroken reign of physical law may be considered on two sides — in relation to its alleged proof, and in relation to what it excludes or denies. On the positive side, it is put forth as the goal to which the progress of science inevitably tends. The advance toward it ia t > 68 h:>i < II thuH iloscribed l»y Dr. Toiiii)lo(ibi(l. p. 4H8) : — ' One idea is now emergiiiy into Buproumcy in scienco, a snpruinacv which it never posHOHHotl l)t)foro, and for which it Htill hiiH to figlit a b.iftle; and that is tlio idoa of hivv. Ditforont orders of natural pheno- mena have in time past Ix'lmi hold to 1h> wxenipt from that idoa, eithor tacitly or avowedly. The woathor, the thunder and li;ihtonifig, the crops of the earth, the progress of disease, whether over a cuiintry or in an individual, these liave been considered as roijnlated b}' sonio speeial intorfereniu, even when it W.18 already known that the rccnrronco of the seasons, the motions of the planets, the periodic windf, and other pheno- mena of the same kind, were snlijtct to invariable laws. But the steady march of science lias now reached the point whore men are tempted, or rather compelled, to jump at once to a universal conclusion : all analo^'y points one way, and none another. And the student of science is learninj^ to lo«di upon fixed laws as universal.' — Is it true that all analogy pcints one way i There is a force o[)erative in the world which does not fall under the physical cato-^ory- the force of will. Tiud cau- not be weighed in the scales or examined with the mnii'OI0n^)8 { a dead man is as heavy as he was when .ilive. Tha*; Will is determined by molecular changes in the matter of the brain, and these by the action of external nature, cannot be proved by any investigations in cerebral physiology, and is directly dis- proved by consciousness. We will to do this or that, not from physical compulsion, but freely, and wo know it. Microscopic changes in the brain may attend volition, but they are its ellecta rather than its causes. It is true that mind has its laws as well as matter — its regular modes of operation — but they are not of such a kind as to destroy its freedom. For instance, we usually act, in matters of serious importance, under the in- fluence of definite motives. But the measure of that influence cannot be fixed by any objective standard of compari- ."'on. On the contrary we are conscious of possessing power to decide one w.ay or other, in accordance with this set of motives or w.'th that. We give artificial strength to one set of motives by dwelling on then), brooding over them, filling the huagination with t lem. We divest another set of motives of their natural weight by voluntarily shutting them out of our thoughts. And let it 'iot be said that these experiences are obscure, and capalie of being explained on the theory of a rigid detei-minism. The.e is no part of our knowledge less obscure than our con- sci nisncss of free agency ; and this consciousness is utterly illusive, if our action is mechanically determined by our en- vironment. Nay more, our consciousness of will-power lies at the root of that very doctrine of causation which is invoked to crush it. Will-power is the form of causality that we best understand, because it is the only form of it of which we are directly conscious. Observation and experience lead us to re- ri: if V i 1 <9 rognizy l.iwor forma of cuisjiJity, in winch thie voluntary olemont — tho freodnm tc o,hu(i8» ur to vef>«^d H >wan4iw}{. But the pm- bfthiUty U that if we woro u»»lo<»»U>i|ulU o^boiuiij causos, through (ha ex»U'()l»B of volilioii, the ult>u w^l (ihuh* wculld uover entor o\\v u»iutU. Now this will-f.uvM, ,if «vhiti|i no Hcieatitiu sophistry WUlBVer danrivti «•, ii tofohuioniziuu; Otu course of physic il jiheiiuiut'nn i>v»uy lUy. Thw luwhaulo who constructs n stcaui- enyiuo ilntw uMU'ti I i (^htttlge th»» f«o«J of uHture than did all tho inil'ttulea (»< Mu» U»wp»l hintovy VUiW»'d tvt uiore phyaical events. Phynioal law ia ho far flom lutiiiy 8U|il-wut» Umt we deliberately travprsn it evory hour of our waldtitj exiateuco. There ia no beast (if thw fii'Mi ««> \\m\\\ rtH Uol to have a kick at it. Furewfll to tOlVson, as v^wllftH to fruudou* '\\\\\ iiisiiouaihility, if the ino- eHi\Ui('«l attrj^otion nt»i\ »'wp» vated, are of good service to us, and are to tj used, not hid under a bushel. We may be poor mathematicians, .^nd yet know that two and two do not make five. We may bo poor casuists, and yet feel ccmfident that selfishness and self-will are not the noblest things in man. The applicability of the first test — that of accordance with know^ truth — lies mainly in the negative direction. Attes- tation of what is false, if miraculous, must bo diabolical. The second — accordance with our sense of what is right — admits of wider application on the positive as well as the negative side. Attestation of what is wrong, if miracuhuis, must be diabolical. But on the other hand a study of the moral character of the christian revelation affords strong evidence in favor of its heavenly origin. The wisdom and beneficence of Christ's miracles, the blamelessness and beauty of his personal character, the purifying and elevating tendency of his instructions, power- fully corroborate the conclusion naturally drawn from the exer- cise of supeniatural power, that he was indeed a teacher come from God. n To aura up : the natural inipression produced b}' an act of supernatural power is that it proceeds from God. But whatever proceeds from God must be true and good \ and on the other hand Satan would not waste his energies in destroying his own kingdom. His miracles W(,ald exliibit his signature in their tendency to mislead, to ensnare, to [tromote in some way the cause of evil. We must therefore examine the nature of the miracle, the character of the human worker, and the doctritie ho presents for our acceptance. If these are good, they are from God ; if evil, they are from the evil one. XIX. CO^"CLUSION. Let us now gather up tlie results of our investigation, and mark the general conclusion to which they lead us. The origin of Christianity doec not lie in the depths of a pre-histovic age, that we should have to divine the circumstanccp. of its rise and growth by felicitous conjecture. Christ lived at a time when men wrote books and read them. A large jjart of the litr^r- ature of that age, and of the times immediately following, has, indeed, been lost ; but enough remains to form a stable ground- work for liistorical research. The word Chriatianiiy represents a complex system of be- lief and life. The leading articles of chrisitian belief are summed up in the Apostles' Creed — the most characteristic being those which relate to the person of Christ, his dignity as the Son of God, his mission into our world to sf vt binnera, his death on the cross under Pontius Pilaie, his resurrection, and ascension to heaven, where he prepares "i hohie of endless happiness for his people. Looking beneath acts to principles, the nrssion of Christ is a manifestation of divine love. The christian life cor- responds to this doctrine, and springs out of it. Family and sicial relations are recognibcd, in accordance with the dictates of general ethics ; but the ruling principle of christian lite is higher than domestic kindliness or enlightened patrl )tisnu ' The love of Christ coustraincth us.' That love to man which Christ inspires makes no exception even in the case of uucmies ; for when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. Love to God finds expression in devout wuiship, and in lives of submission to his will and oonsocratiou to his service. Some of the special ordinances of \,orshiii pos- sess a monumental character, by commemorating particular facts in the Gospel history. Thus the Lord's Supper commo- morates the death of Christ ; and the weekly observance of the Lord's day, as well as the yearly observance of Easter, com- memorates his resurrection. Baptism, in its unchansjing formula, conserves the primitive creed of Christendom. T.iis combina- tion of faith and life — faith in the love of God, wiio sent hb of lit Id Jre in [If Bie 73 Son to save ns, and life, moral and religious, wherein we mani- fest a love like his — is sot furth and cominendod in those authoritative documents which depict the teaching and the career of Christ and his anostles. Clearlj', then, we do not account for the origin of Cliristiaiiity nnloss we explain the formation of the christian creed, tlie adoption of the cliristian mox-ality, with its self-denial and its readiness to forgive, the historical signiQcance of the ordinances of Christian worship, and the place occupied, from the earliest times, in the esteem of the Church, by the christian Scriptures. Starting then, with the undisputed tact that Christianity exists to day, in the hearts and lives of multit'.ides who believe its doctrine, practise its nmralit}', ol^erve its ordinances, and treasure as a sacred possession its authoritative literature, we have traced it backwards, up tlie stream of time, to within a (quarter of a century of the death of Christ. Here it was neces- sary to pause, before announcing a final conclusion. When we examine the Gospel narrative, wo are brought face to face with miracles. Now it is not denied that there is an improbability at- taching to narratives of the miraculous. The (luestion there- fore naturally arises, wliether the origin of Christianity can be rationally accounted for, independently of miracle. Various theories were glanced at — as of mj'th, of legend, of hallucina- tion, of imposture — only to be rejected. The difiiculty cannot be evaded. We must look it in the face. Are miracles im- possible ? As the matter depends on tlie will of God, and his will is guided by his wisdom, it is evident that in one case a miraculous interposition would be incredible, viz,, when the ends accomplished by it are unworthy of the divine wisdom. It is jwssible, however, that the standard by which we estimate the relative importance of things may be different from God's. And ■whilst our attention is occupied with some tiifling conse- ([uence of a miracle, its true end may escape our scrutiny. It becomes us, therefore, to guard against precipitation in reject- ing a miracle en account of the seeming silliness of its purpose. Admitting, however, that many narratives of the miraculous are deservedly rejected on this ground, the ([uestion remains, whether a divine interposition is io be held as incredible, when a worthy object may bo secured by it. When God made the world, did he take a vow that he would never touch it with his finger ? Did liu make a covenant with each atom of matter that he would never mar or modify the action of its forces ? If the world consisted of mere material atoms, and nothing more, it might be admitted as probable that there would be nothing better than to let things take their course. But God is a moral governor. His subjects require to be dealt with accord- ing to their conduct. That conduct is free, and does not form part of the mere course of nature. Obedience or disobe«lience has no necessary connexion with the obliquity of the ecliptic 74 I or the course of the trade-winds. And it does not aeem pro- bable or even conceivable that a concatenation of physical sequences that has no necessary connexion with the course pur- sued by free r.gents should be adequate to accomplish all the purposes of moral <;;overnment in relation to them. To some extent we know that moral ijurposes are worked out by means of physical law, as when a man's health is destroyed by sinful in- dulgences. Hut it is only to a limited extent that the pur- poses of moral government are thus secured. All analogy of the human to the divine would lead us to expect the occurrence of emergencies that would call for direct interposition ; and the wonder is, not that such interposition should take place, but rather that tliere is not more of it. The mission of Christ, however, is no mere act of ordinary administration, as it would be to strike down a daring blasphemer, or rescue a persecuted saint. The end secured by it — the salvation of sinners, and their restoration to God's fellowship — is the noblest we can con- ceive of. God is thereby glorified, whilst man is blessed. Whilst, then, the miraculous, viewed generally and in the ab- stract, is improbable, man's need of redemption from sin and sorrow, from darkness and death, lends credibility to the Saviour's mission, with all its miraculous attestations. The strength of the evidence for the miracles of the New Testament far outweighs any improbability that can be reasonably charged against them. That evidence consists not merely in the tes- timony of the writers who narrate them — as John and Matthew — but the testimony of the whole christian Church of primitive times, partly as witnesses themselves, and partly as recipients of the testimony of other witnesses besides those who wrote the books of the New Testament. Th.it testimony was com- municated, for the most part, orally; but there werrnificance. Wo have traced the existence oi a ''ommuuity founded on a beliet of these lants back to the middlvj of the first century. We have shewn that at that early period there were christian churches in the leading cities of the Reman empire. TI,«v were exposed to i)ersecution, which tested their sincerifc|. T; j 75 faith they clung to was not an ahstract speculation, like the emanation theory of tho Gnostics, but a series of plain matters of fact, whicli had transpirefl twenty or five and twenty years before, that is, at a time within the distinct retneuilnance of men of middle age. A large portion of the meiiibt-iship of these churches consisted of Jews, many of whom had been resident in Palestine at the time of Christ's jjublio ministry, and were more or less personally cognisant of the circumstances connected with his death, resurrection and ascension. Those who had not been eye-witnesses had at least como iiUo contact with eye-witnesses, and heard their testimony. The existence of the cliristian church at the time when Pa\il w!( tc liis first Epistle to the Thessah)nians — its hold on Palestine, Syria and Asia Minor, not to speak of countries further west — and its largely Jewish membership, cannot be rationally accur.nted for otherwise than by the actual occurrence of tlie facta on which it was based, and to which it testified. For these things were not done in a corner : their publicity was a guarantee against deception. And they were not of such a character as to hold outnny inducement to a false Jissertion of them ; for tlie name of a dcul man could promise no reward for a life of anxiety and danger, often of suffering, sometimes closed by martyrdom, in bearing witness to a lie. The reaurrection of Christ was the most prominent fact set forth in the preaching of the Apostles; and of tliis fact the witnesses were not a few. It was more- over att'sred by the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and by the miracles which confirmed the Apostolic testimony. The resistless force of such evidence accounts for the firm faith of christians in the middle of the iirst century ; and on no anti-miraculous theory can that fait'; be, in the cir- cumstarici.s, adequately explained. T!ie aooordaneo of the gospel history with the messianic expectatii'us of tiie Jews was very in>|)erfect. They expected the anointed Piinco of ancient prophecy to lie a conqueror, not a martyr. iJnt had the ac- cordance been closer than it was, it could not have created an illusive belief in the plain paliiable facts recotdi d in the evan- gelical narrative. It is true that the relij-'ii") "f the Old Testa- ment w.us a preparation for that of the iN'ev,-. if.s ritual exer- cised tho moral sense, setforth the need f expiation fur sin, and gave ex[)re8siou to faith in the placability of God. Its prophecy told of brighter days to come, and of a son of David who should bo David's Lord. But its mcL;siai;ic utterances were not easily harmonized with one another. Th'-'y v.ere like pieces of a puzzle, which we know not how to tit together. They a'vaited the actual life of Christ, as the key to .solve their difficulties, and combine them all into one consistent picture. Thus it is the historical Christ that explains prophecy, rather than prophecy that acc(mnts for a belief m Christ. A sinillar remark may bo made with reference t.':he uoctrine ..* »-rt.^*15*!«P'"'»' 1#M WW HIH u»»» >■ ^^flf=«s. m^ 7(i of a futnro life. It was not al'.ogetlier unknown uiulcr tli '^Id Te3*^aiu?nt ; but it occnpicu only a suliordiuate placo. i'he subject wivs aeldiiui albided to ; and allusions to it, when tiioy did occur, were usually v.i^ue and indefinite. Lifo and im- mortality were brs not so much in the moral .stamlard it prescribes as in the motive power it ap- plies to brivig UB up to t\8 star 'ard. A f msc of the love of Christ, in laying down his lifo U.: us, evokes a deptli of gr.^iti- tudo, and an GTithusiasm of admiration for the herdi.sm of.self- sacridce, by which we are impelled to ft>11o>v in his footstep?. The moral elevation of the christian character, as C'^ntrasted ■with the seltisliiioss and vice of paganism, was very con.'spicuous in the earlie.st ages of the churcli, and is best understood as an inspiration Ihiwing from the presence and exainple