)>-' THE GIFT OF MAY TREAT MORRISON IN MEMORY OF ALEXANDER F MORRISON SiJi JOHN LUBBOCK'S HUNDRED BOOK^ 44 WAKE'S APOSTOLICAL FATHERS SIR JOHN LUBBOCK'S HUNDRED BOOKS. VOLUMES NOW READY. 1. HERODOTUS. Literally translated from the text of Baehr, by Henry Carv, M.A. 3s. 6d. 2. DARWIN'S VOYAGE OF A NATURALIST IN H.M.S. "BEAGLE." 2s. 6d. 3. THE MEDITATIONS OF MARCUS AURELIUS. Translated from the Greek by Jeremy Collier, is. 6d. 4. THE TEACHING OF EPICTETUS. Translated from the Greek, with Introduction and Notes, by T. W. Rolleston. is. 6d. 5. BACON'S ESSAYS. With an Introduction by Henry Morley, LL.D. IS. 6d. 6. MILL'S POLITICAL ECONOMY. 3s. 6d. 7. CARLYLE'S FRENCH REVOLUTION. 3s. 6d. 8. SELF-HELP. By Samuel Smiles. 6s. 9. WHITE'S NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 3s. 6d. 10. THE PICKWICK PAPERS. By Charles Dickens. 3s. 6d. 11. THESHIKING: the Old " Poetry Classic " of the Chinese. Translated by William Jennings, M.A. 3s. 6d. 12. HOMER'S ILIAD AND ODYSSEY. Translated by Alexander Pope. 3s. 6d. 13. VIRGIL'S vENEID. Translated by John Dryden. is. 6d. 14. MONTAIGNE'S ESSAYS. 3s. 6d. 15. MILL'S SYSTEM OF LOGIC. 3s. 6d. 16. LEWES'S HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY. 3s. 6d. 17. THACKERAY'S VANITY FAIR. 3s. 6d. 18. THE SHAH NA'MEH OF THE PERSIAN POET FIRDAUSf. 3s. 6d. 19. CAPTAIN COOK'S THREE VOYAGES ROUND THE WORLD. 3s. 6ci. 20. GOLDSMITH'S VICAR OF WAKEFIELD, is. 6d. 21. SCHILLER'S WILLIAM TELL. is. 6d. 22. SALE'S KORAN. 3s. 6d. 23. CHARLES KNIGHT'S SHAKSPERE. 3s. 6d. 24. BOSWELL'S LIFE OF Dr. JOHNSON. 3s. 6d. 25. SCOTT'S IVANHOE. 3s. 6d. 26. THACKERAY'S PENDENNIS. 5s. 27. THUCYDIDES. Translated by William Smith, D.D. 3s. 6d. 23. DAVID COPPERFIELD. By Charles Dickens. 3s. 6d. 29. BYRON'S CHILDE HAROLD. 2s. 30. THE PLAYS OF /ESCHYLUS. 2s. 31. ADAM SMITH'S WEALTH OF N.-\TIONS. 3s. 6d. 32. CHAUCER'S CANTERBURY TALES. 3s. 6d. 33. GIBBON'S DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. Two Volumes. 7s. 34. DIALOGUES OF PLATO. Translated by Henry Gary, M.A. 2s. 35. ADVENTURES OF DON QUIXOTE. 3s. 6d. 36. SHERIDAN'S PLAYS. 2s. 37. DE FOE'S ROBINSON CRUSOE. 3s. 6d. 38. DRYDEN'S POETICAL WORKS. 3s. 6d. 39. PLUTARCH'S LIVES. Translated by John Langhorne, M.D., and William Langhorne, A.M. 3s. 6d. 40. THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII. By Lord Lytton. 3s. 6d. 41. BUNYAN'S PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 3s. 6d. 42. CARLYLE'S PAST AND PRESENT. 2s. 43. ARISTOTLE'S ETHICS. 3s. 6d. 44. WAKE'S APOSTOLICAL FATHERS. 3s. 6d. SJJi JOHN LUBBOCK'S HUNDRED BOOKS 44 THE GENUINE EPISTLES OF THE APOSTOLICAL FATHERS ST. CLEMENT ST. POLYCARP ST. IGNATIUS ST. BARNABAS THE PASTOR OF HERMAS AND THE MARTYRDOMS OF ST. IGNATIUS AND ST. POLYCARP WRITTEN BY. THOSE WHO WERE PRESENT Being, together with the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, a complete Collection of the most Primitive Antiquity, for a Hundred and Fifty Years after Christ TRANSLATED AND PUBLISHED . . , WITH PRELIMINARY DISCOURSES 3Y '': ARCHBISHOP WAKE LONDON GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS, Limited BROADWAY, LUDGATE HILL MANCHESTER AND NEW YORK 1893 UJi2 y 1 1^3 PEEFAGE. Having, in the second edition of " The Apostolical Fathers/ so far improved the translation I before published of them, as to render it almost a new work, it will be necessary <^ for me to give some account of the changes that have jv. been made in it, and what advantages I have had for the ^ making of them. g The Epistles of St. Clement had been so correctly set forth from the Alexandrian manuscript, by the learned Mr. Patrick Young, that having no other copy to recur to, s: there are no considerable alterations to be expected in the J present edition of them. And yet, even in these, I have 5 not only carefully reviewed my translation, and compared Q it with the original Greek, and corrected whatsoever I S thought to be less exact in it, but, by the help of a new jj and more accurate collation of Mr. Young's copy, with J that venerable MS. from which it was taken, I have . amended some places in the text itself, which had hitherto cc escaped "all the editors of these epistles. For this I was ^ beholden to the friendly assistance of the very learned ^ and pious Dr. Grabe ; to whose ready help these Apostolical ^ Fathers owe a great part of that exactness, with which, I presume, they will appear in this edition of them. ^ The Epistles of St. Ignatius having been lately pub- lished at Oxford, by our Reverend Dr. Smith, not only with a much greater correctness in the text than ever they were before, but with the advantage of his own and Bishop Pearson'.s observations upon the ditficult places of them, it cannot be thought but that I must have very much improved my ti-anslation of those epistles, from the learned labours of two such eminent masters of antiquity ; Q,iA who had taken such great care, not only to restore 429 ?3D vi Preface. those venerable pieces to their primitive purity, but to render them clear and intelligible to the meanest capacities. One of those epistles had never been set forth from any good MS. in its original Greek, when I published my first edition of them. This, together with the martyrdom of that blessed saint, has since been printed by Monsieur RuiNARD at Paris, and from thence by Dr. Grabe at Oxford. I have compared my translation of both with their copy; and not only corrected it where it disagreed with that, but have noted in the margin the chief variations of this last edition, from those which had been published by Archbishop Usher, and Isaac Vossius before. Of the Epistle and Martyrdom of St. Poltcarp, and the Epistle of Barnabas, I have little to say more than that I have revised the translation of them with all the care I could, and rendered it much more correct (especially the Epistle of Barnabas) than it was before. But as for the Books of Hermas, I may without vanity affirm, that they are not only more exact in the translation than they were before, but that the very books themselves will be found in greater purity in this, than in any other edition that has ever yet been published of them. The old Latin version has been entirely collated with an ancient manu- script of it in the Lambeth library ; and from thence amended in more places than could well haVe been imagined. And that very version itself has been farther improved from a multitude of new fragments of the original Greek never before observed; and for the most part taken out of the late magnificent edition of the Works of St. Athanasius ; though that piece be none of his, but the work of the Younger Athanasius, patriarch of the same church, who lived about the seventh century. [See torn. IL p. 251, Doctrin. ad Antioch. Ducem.] Both these advantages I do likewise owe to the same learned person ^ I before mentioned : who not only purposely collated the one for me, but readily communicated to me the extracts he had made for his own use out of the other. Having said thus much concerning the several pieces themselves here set forth, and the translation of them, I 1 Dr. Grab(j, Preface. vii hope, as it now stands, it may be of some use to those who have not any better opportunities of being acquainted with these matters ; and convince them of the j ust regard that is due to the discourses which follow it, upon this double account, both that they were (for the most part) truly written by those whose names they bear, and that those writers lived so near the apostolical times, that it cannot be doubted but that they do indeed represent to xis the doctrine, government, and discipline of the church, as they received it from the apostles ; the apostles from Christ, and that blessed Spirit, who directed them both in what they taught and in w^hat they ordained. What that doctrine, government, and discipline is, I have particularly shown in the eleventh chapter of my discourse. I shall only observe here, that it is so exactly agreeable to the present doctrine, government, and discipline of the church of England by law established, that no one who allows of the one can reasonably make any exceptions against the other. So that we must either say, that the immediate successors of the apostles had departed from the institutions of those holy men from whom they re- ceived their instruction in the gospel of Christ, and by whom they were converted to the faith of it ; or, if that be too unreasonable to be supposed of such excellent persons, who not only lived in some of the highest stations of the Christian church, but the most of them suffered martyrdom for the sake of it, we must then con- clude, what is indeed the truth, that the church of England, whereof we are members, is, both in its doctrine, government, discipline, and worship, truly apostolical ; and in all respects comes the nearest up to the primitive pattern of any Christian church at this day in the world. GENEEAL CONTENTS. Preliminary Discourse relating to the several Treatises^ and the Authors of them. PART I. The First Epistle of St. Clement to the Corinthians, The Epistle of St. Polycarp to the Philippians. The Genuine Epistles of St. Ignatius. A Relation of the Martyrdom of St. Ignatius, written by those who were present at his sufferings. The Epistle of the Church of Smyrna, concerning the Martyr- dom of St, Polycarp. PART II. The Catholic Epistle of St. Barnabas. The Shepherd of St. Hermas, in Three Books. The Remains of St, Clement's Second Epistle to the Corin- thians. A General Index. PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE RELATING TO THE SEVERAL TREATISES HEREIN CONTAINED, AND THE AUTHORS OF THEM. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. 1. Had T designed the following collection either for the benefit or perusal of the learned world, I should have needed to say but very little by way of introduction to it, the editors of the several treatises here put together having already observed so much upon each of them that it would, I believe, be difficult to discover I am sure would be very needless to trouble the reader with any more. 2. But, as it would be ridiculous for mo to pretend to have designed a translation for those who are able with much more profit and satisfaction to go to the originals, so, being now to address myself to those especially who want that ability, I suppose it may not be amiss, before I lead them to the discourses themselves, to give them some account both of tlie authors of the several pieces I have here collected, and of the tracts themselves, and of that wjllection that is now the first time made of them in our own tongue : though, as to the first of these, I shall say the less by reason of that excellent account that has been already given of the most of them by our pious and learned Dr. Cave, whose Lives of the Apostles and Primitive Fathers, with his other admirable discourse on Primitive Christianity, I could heartily wish were in the hands of all the more judicious part of our English readers. 3. Nor may such an account as 1 now propose to myself to give of tlie following pieces be altogether useless to some even of the learned themselves, who, wanting either the opportunity of collecting the several autliors necessary for 2 '' \ I- P^^lvi^vharjn^ Discourse. such i SeJircib,' 551? 'leisjiye to.fxainine them, may not be un- willing -ta' see'" ihat fafthiUlly. brought together, under one short and general view, which would have required some time and labour to have searched out^ as it lay diffused in a multitude of writers, out of which they must otherwise have gathered it. CHAPTER II. THAT THE PIECES HERE PUT TOGETHER ARE ALL THAT REMAIN OP THE MOST PRIMITIVE AND APOSTOLICAL ANTIQUITY. That there are several other Treatises pretended to have been written within the compass of this period ; but none such as truly come up to it Of tlie Epistle of our Saviour Ghrint to Abgarus, and the occasion of it That it is not probable that any such Letter was written by hfm The Epistles ascribed to the Virgin Mary spurious; so is the Epistle pretended to have been written by St. Faul to the Laodiceans Of the Acts, the Gospel, the Preaching, and Revela- tions of St. Peter Of the Liturgy attributed to St. Matthew, and the Discourse said to have been written by him concerning the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Of the Liturgies ascribed to St. Peter, St. Mark, and St. James Of the Gospels attributed to several of the Apostles Of the Apostles' Creed, and the Canons called Apostolical Of the other pieces under the names of St. Clevient and St. Ignatius; and particularly of the Recognitions and Epitome of Clement Of the History of the Life, Miracles, and Assumption of St. John, pretended to have been written by Prochoriis, one of the seven Deacons Of the Histories of St. Peter and St. Paid, ascribed to Linus, bishop of Rome Of the Lives of the Apostles, attributed to Abdias, Bishop of Babylon Of the Epistles of St. Martial Of the Passion of St. Andrew, written by the Presbyters of Achaia Of the Works ascribed to Dionysixis the Areopagite That, upon the whole, the pieces here put together are all that remain of the Apostolical times, after the Books of the Holy Scripture. 1. Having said thus much concerning the several pieces here put together, and the authors of them,^ it is time to go on to the other part of this discourse, and con- sider what may be fit to be observed concerning them all together, as they are now set forth, in our own language, in the following collection. 1 Reference is here made to the preliminary discourses now prefixed to tho respective treatises to which they belong. Treatises falsely called Apostolical. 3 2. Now the first thing that may be fit to be taken notice of is that the following collection is truly what the title pretends it to be, a full and perfect collection of all the genuine writings that remain to us of the apostolical fathers, and carries on the antiquity of the church, from the time of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, to about a hundred and fifty years after Christ. 3. To make this the more evident, it will be necessary for me to consider what those other writings are which some have endeavoured to raise up into the rank of apos- tolical antiquity, and to show that they are indeed writings either of no credit nor authority at all, or, at least, not of such as they are falsely pretended to be. And, to the end I may proceed the more clearly in this inquiry, I will divide the several now to be examined into the three following ranks : The first, of those which are antecedent to any I have here collected ; as being pretended to have been written either by our Saviour Christ himself, or by the Virgin Mary, or by the apostles. The second, of such other tracts as are ascribed to some of those fathers whose genu- ine remains I have here put together. And the third, of such pieces as are said to have been written by some other authors who lived in the apostolical times, and wrote, if we will believe some men, several books much more considerable than any I have here collected. 4. Of the first of these kinds is that pretended letter of our Blessed Saviour to Abgarus, king of Edessa, a little city of Arabia,^ a part of which country was subject to him. Now this may seem to bo of so much the better credit, in that Eusebius ^ tells us he had himself faithfully translated it out of the Syriac language, as he found it in the Archives of Edessa. Nor was it very long after that Ephricm,^ a deacon of that church, made mention of this communication between our Saviour and Abgarus, as the occasion of the first conversion of that place ; and exhorted his people, upon that account, the rather to hold fast to their holy pro- fession, and to live worthy of it, Evagrius,* who wrote 1 Vid, Annot. Valesii in Euseb. pp. 18, 19. -Hist Eccles. lib. i, c, 13. ^Testam. S. Ephru;m. inier Oper. p. 788. '' PJvagrii Hiat, Eccles. lib. iv. cap. 27. 4 Preliminary Discourse. about two hundred years after this, not only confirmed all that had been said by both these, but added from Procopius several other circumstances, unknown, for aught that appears, to either of them ; particularly that of the impression which our Saviour had made of his face upon a napkin, and sent to that prince, which he tells us was of no small advantage to them in the defence of their town against Chosroes, king of Persia, who, by this means, was hindered from taking it. How this circumstance came to be added to this relation, or by whom it was first invented, I cannot tell. But that both the intercourse reported by Eusebius between our Saviour and this prince, and the report of this picture being brought to him, have been received as a matter of unquestionable truth in those parts, the authority of Gregorius Abulpharjus '^ will not suffer us to doubt, who in his history, published by our learned Dr. Pococke, both recites the letters, and records the story in terms very little diflferent from what the Greek writers before mentioned have done. 5. And now, since the addition of this new circumstance to the old account of this matter, it is not to be wondered if the patrons of images among the Greeks, from hence- forth, contended with all earnestness for the truth of both, insomuch that we find they instituted a particular festival in memory of it, August the 16th, and transcribed at large the whole history of this adventure into their Mena30D, and recited it upon it. 6. It is, I suppose, upon the same account that some of our late authors, though they do not care to assert the truth of this story, are yet unwilling to deny all credit to it. Baronius ^ reports both the relation and the epistle from Eusebius, but will not answer for the truth of either. Spondanus ^ delivers the same from the cardinal that he had done from Eusebius, and passes no censure either one way or other upon it ; only in his margin he observes that Gretser the Jesuit, in his Discourse of Images, etc., had vindicated the authority of our Saviour's epistle to Abga- rus from the exceptions of Casaubon, in his Exercitations 1 Hist. Dynast. Lat. p. 71, 72. * Annal. Eccl. ami. xxxi. num. 60. sEpitom. Anual. Baron, annal. xxxi. num. 22. Treatises falsely called Apostolical. 5 upon Baronius, against it. Gerard Vossius,^ in his Scholia upon the Testament of St. Ephraem, contents himself to refer us to the autliority of the ancients for the truth of this relation, who he pretends did, without controversy, look upon it to be authentic. And Valcsius" himself, though he plainly enough shows that he was not out of all doubt concerning the truth of this story, yet neither does he utterly reject it, but rather endeavours to rectify those errors that seemed the most considerable in it. 7. But others, even of the Church of Rome, have not observed so much caution in this particular. They roundly stand by the censure of pope Gelasius,^ who pronounced this epistle of our Saviour's to be apocryphal, and not only show by many probable arguments the falseness of it, but, what is yet more, pass the same censure upon the story of the image too that Casaubon* had done, notwithstanding all that Gretser could say in favour of it. Natalis xVlex- ander' delivers this conclusion concerning it : " The Epistle of Abgarus to our Saviour, and his answer to it, are supposititious and apocryphal ;" and at large answers all that is usually urged in favour of them. And Du Pin" after him, yet more solidly convinces it of such manifest errors as may serve to satisfy all considering persons tliat Eusebius and Ephrasm were too easy of belief in this par- ticular, and did not sufficiently examine into it when they delivered that as a certain truth which from several cir- cumst. iii. Larroc^ue Obscrvut. in Bcvcrog. iloorn- bcck Theolog. Patr. p. 35, &c. 14 Preliminary Discourse. names, but whicli are at present universally acknowledged by all learned men not to have been written by them. Such are the Constitutions and Recognitions of St. Clement, the collection called from the same father the Clementines, the Epitome of Clement, and the other epistles ascribed to Ignatius, besides the seven here set out, which alone were either mentioned by Eusebius, or known to the church for some ages after. ^ 26. I shall not here enter upon any particular enquiry when these several pieces were first sent abroad into the world, or how it came to pass that some, even among the ancients ^ themselves, received several of them for the genuine writings of these holy men, only corrupted, as many others were, by the heretics of those first times, the better to give some colour to their erroi-s. I will only observe that the Recognitions of St. Clement not only the most learned but the most ancient too of any of these, as near as we can guess were not set forth till about the middle' of the second century, and are rejected by Euse- bius ^ as none of his, but as one of those many impostures which were even then published under his name. And for the rest, though some of them have been reputed an- cient too, yet it is evident that none of them come up to the period of which I am now spealcing, nor even to the age of the Recognitions before mentioned.* 27. As for the Epitome of St. Clement, Cotelerius ^ esteems it to have been yet later than any of the rest. Perhaps it was collected by Metaphrastes, whom I take to hav.e been the author of the martyrdom of that holy man, set. out by Surius ^ and Allatius,''' and reprinted by Cote- ^ See this discussed at large by Bishop Usher, Dissert, ad Ignat. cap. V. vi. xix. p. 2. - Epiphan. Hseres. xxx. Ruffinus de Adultcrat. libr. Oiigen. Tract, xxxv. in Marthajum. Author Oper. Imperfect. in Matt, inter Oper. Chrysost. ad Mat. x. et xxiv. 3 Vid. Coteler. Not. in Script. PP. Apost. p. 343. Natal. Alex. sec. I. A. torn. I. p. 126. Du Pin Bibl. vol. I. pp. 80, 81. * Coteler. Annot. in Script. PP. Apost. p. 113. A. 115. D. 403. 431. C. D. Sixt. Senens. Biblioth. lib. ii. in Clement. Possevin. Apparat. p. 328. Bellarm. de Script, sec. I. in Clement. Natal. Alex. sec. I. torn. I. p. 129. Id. ibid. cap. de St. Ignat. p. 139. Du Pin Biblioth. pp. 81, 83, 102, &c. 5 Notre in Script. PP. Apost. p. 431. C. D. g yuriua, ad Nov. 23. ''AUatius in Diatrib. de Symeonum Scriptis. Treatises falsely called Apostolical. 1 5 lerius at the end of the works ascribed to St. Clement. This is certain, that it was composed in some of the latter ages, as was also the account of the miracle pretended to have been wrought at his martyrdom, which goes under the name of Ephraim, archbishop of Cherson ; where (if Du Pin^ be not mistaken) there never was any. And this Cotelerius seems to have been aware of; and therefore, in his annotations upon this relation, calls him archbishop, or bishop, of Cherson. Now that there was such a bishop appears both from the ancient Notitse^ of the province of Europe under the patriarch of Constantinople, and from the subscription which Peter, ^ bishop of this place, made to the council of Chalcedon for Cyriacus, archbishop of Heraclea, in whose province that see lay. And the dis- position of Leo the Sixth,* made towards the latter end of the ninth century, mentions it among the archbishoprics subject to the patriarch of Constantinople ; to which de- gx'ee therefore about that time, or not long before, it seems to have been raised. 28. There is nothing then in any of those pieces which make up the rest of Cotelerius's collection (and are indeed all that still remain under the names of those fathers of which we are now speaking) that can with any good grounds be relied upon as the genuine products of those holy men. Let us see, in the last place, whether any of those discourses which have been sent abroad under the names of some others of the apostolical fathers may de- serve to be received by us as coming truly from them. 29. And here I shall, in the first place, take it for granted that what those who are usualy the most fond of such spurious pieces (I mean the writers of the Church of Rome) have yet almost unanimously rejected as false and counterfeit, may securely be laid aside by us, without any farther enquiry into the condition of them. Such are the History of the Life, Miracles, and Assumption of St. John, pretended to have been written by Procliorus his disciple, and one of the seven deacons chosen by the church of 1 Du I'in Bil)lioth. toiii. I. p. 89. r. 2 Vide Geogr. Sacr. a S. Paulo, pp. 11, 4.S. 3 I))i(l. p. 2.S.3. in Cliersonensc. * Vitle Jus Graico-Kom, Francofort. anuo ly'JG. part I. p. 88, l6 Preliminary Discourse. Jerusalem (Acts vi.), the Histories of St. Peter and St. Paul, said to have been written by Linus, one of the first bishops of Rome, the Lives of the Apostles, ascribed to Abdias, bishop of Babylon, and supposed to have been written by him in the Hebrew tongue ; the Epistles of St. Martial, who is said to have been one of the seventy disciples appointed by onr Saviour, and one of the first preachers of the gospel in France. These are all so evi- dently spurious that even Natalis Alexander-'- himself was ashamed to undertake the defence of them ; and not only he, but all the other writers of the same church, Baronius, Bellarmine, Sixtus Senensis, Possevine, EspencaDus, Bis- ciola, Labbe, (fee, have freely acknowledged the little credit that is to be given to them. 30. But two pieces there are which Alexander is still unwilling to part with, though he cannot deny but that the most learned men even of his own communion have at last agreed in the rejecting of them^ and those are the Passion of St. Andrew, written (as is pretended) by the presbyters of Achaia, and the works set out under the name of Dionysius the Areopagite. 31. As for the former of these, I confess there have not been wanting many, from the eighth century down- wards, who have undertaken the defence of it. Etherius- mentioned it about the year 788 ; Kemigius after ; Peter Damian, Lanfranc, and St. Bernard, still later ; and, in this last age, Baronius, Bellarmine, Labbe, and a few others, have yet more endeavoured to establish its autho- rity. "But then," as Du Pin^ well observes, "we do not find the ancients knew of any Acts of St. Andrew in par- ticular ; nor are the Acts we now have quoted by any be- fore the time of Etherius before mentioned ; and yet, how they could have escaped the search of the primitive fathers, had they been extant in their days, it is hard to imagine." 32. B,ut much less is the credit that ought to be given to the pretended works of Dionysius the Areopagite ; 1 Eccles. Hist. sec. I. torn. I. pp. 95, 115. ^ Vid. Natal. Alex- sec. I. torn. I. p. 109. Labbe tie Script. Eccles. torn. I. p. 3, &c. 8 Nouvelle Biblioth. torn. I. pp. 47, 48. Treatises falsely called Apostolical. 1 7 which, as Alexander* confesses two very great critics" of his own communion to have denied to have been written by that holy man, so has a third'' very lately given such reasons, to show that the writings now extant under his name could not have been composed by him, as ought to satisfy every considering person of their imposture. For, not to say anything of what occurs everywhci'e in those discourses utterly disagreeable to the state of the church in the time that Dionysius lived, can it be imagined that, if such considerable books as these had been written by him, none of the ancients of the fii-st four centuries should have heard anything of them % Or shall we say that they did know of them as well as the fathers that lived after, and yet made no mention of them, though they had so often occasion to have done it, as Eusebius and St. Jerome, not to name any others, had 1 33. In short, one of the first times that we hear of them is in the dispute between the Severians and Catholics, about the year 532, when the former produced them in favour of their errors, and the latter rejected them as books utterly unknown to all antiquity, and therefore not worthy to be received by them. 34. It is therefore much to be wondered that, after so many arguments as have been brought to prove how little right these treatises have to such a primitive antiquity, nevertheless, not only Natalis Alexander, but a man of much better judgment, I mean Emanuel Schclstrat,* the learned keeper of the Vatican librar}', should still under- take the defence of them. When they were written, or by what author, is very uncertain ; but, as bishop Pearson^ supposes them to have been first set forth about the latter end of Eusebius's life, so Dr. Cave" conjectures that tlie elder Apollinarius may very probably have been the author of them. Others^ there are who place them yet later, and suspect Pope Gregory the Great to have had a hand in 1 Natal. Alex. sec. I. vol. I. p. 136. Labbe de Script, torn. I. in Dioiijsio. '^ He might have added several others : sec Bellarm. de Script, p. 56. * Du Pin Nouvelle liibliotli. torn. I. p. ay conclude undoubtedly was so. 11, Such good reason have we, upon all these accounts, to look upon the writings of these holy men as containing the pure and uncorrupted doctrine of our blessed Saviour and his apostles. But now, fifthly, and to advance yet higher, these writers were not only thus qualified by these ordinary means to deliver the gospel of Christ to us, but in all probability were endued with the extraordinary assis- tance of the Holy Spirit too ; so that what they teach us is not to be looked upon as a mere traditionary relation of what had been delivered to them, but rather as an au- thoritative declaration of the gospel of Christ to us, though indeed as much inferior to that of the apostles and evangel- ists as both their gifts and . their commission were inferior to theirs. 12. For, first, that the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit with which tlie apostles were endued and which the Holy Scriptures^ themselves tell us were in tliose days distributed to other believers as well as unto them con- tinued still in the church after their departure, we have the express testimony of Justin Martyr,^ one of the most ancient writers, after those I liavo here subjoined, to assure us. They were communicated not only to men but wo- men. And, tliat we may be sure he spake nothing in this matter but what he could undeniably have made out, we find him boasting of it against Trypho the Jew, and urging it as an unanswerable argument in behalf of Christianity, 1 See 1 Cor. iv. 12. Eplics. i. C, &c. Acts viii. It, 17. xix. 0, &c. - Vid. Kuscl). llibt. Kcclc's. lib. IV. c. l.j. Just. Mart. Uiitl. cum Try ph. p. .'JObl. ^ ibid. p. 315. 24 Preliminary Discourse. and against the Jews, from whom these gifts had a long time been departed. And, even in the fathers whose writings are here put together, there appear sufficient indi- cations of the continuance of these extraordinary powers. 13. This St. Clement^ manifestly declares, in his first epistle to the Corinthians : he tells us that some in that church not only had such gifts, but were even proud and conceited upon tlie account of them. " Let a man," says he, "have faith "^ {i.e. such a faith by which he is able to work miracles) ; " let him be powerful to utter mystical knowledge " (for to that his expression manifestly refers) ; " let him be wise in discerning of speeches " (another gift common in those times) : " still," says he, " by how much the more he seems to excel others," viz. upon the account of these extraordinary endowments, " by so much the more will it behove him to be humble-minded, and to seek what is profitable to all men, and not to his own advantage." And St. Ignatius^ not only supposes that such gifts might be in others, but plainly intimates that he himself^ was endued with a large portion of them. 14. Which being so we cannot doubt, secondly, but that, as It was most reasonable, both the apostles were cai'eful to set those in the chiefest places of honour and authority in their several churches who were the most eminent for those gifts, and that God was also pleased to grant to such per- sons a more than ordinary portion of the Holy Spirit, for the better discharge of those eminent places to which they were called, 15. Concerning the former of these, we are told by St. Paul (Acts vi) that, when the apostles thought it necessiry to establish a new order of ministers in the church, that might take cai'c of those things which they who were of a higher rank could not find leisure to attend to, though their ministry were of the lowest order, and which required much less capacities in those who were to discharge it than theirs whose business it was to govern and instruct the church of Christ, yet they particularly laid it down to the 1 See below, c. xlviii. 2 Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. vi. Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. c. 1. p. .30. ^ See the Salutation to the Sniyrn;uans. 1 Epist. to the Pliilaclelj)hians, sec. VII. To the Tralliaus, sec. V. Autfiority of the following Treatises. 25 brethren, as one of the qualifications that was to be required in those whom they chose for that purpose, that they should be " men well approved of and full of the Holy Spirit, and of wisdom," v. 3. And of one of them, viz. St. Stephen, it is particularly observed (v. 8) that he was " full of faith and power, and did signs and great wonders among the people." And when the Jews disputed against him, we read (v. 10) that they "were not able to stand against the wisdom and spirit by which he spake." 16. Xow, if such was the care which they took in the choice of those who were to be admitted into the lowest ministry of the church, we cannot doubt but that they were certiiinly much more careful not to admit any into the highest rank of honour and authority in it but what were, in a yet more eminent manner, endued with the same gifts. Hence St. Clement tells us that " the apostles did prove by the Spirit the first fruits of their conversions, and out of them set bisliops and pastors over such as should be- lieve."-^ By which we must understand one of these two things (and very probably they were both meant by it), either that the apostles made use of their own extraordinary gift of the Spirit (one use of which was to discern and try the spirits of others ^) in choosing persons fitly qualified for the work of the ministry, or else that, by the extraor- dinary gifts of those whom they pitched upon, they per- ceived that they were worthy of such an employ, and therefore chose them out for it. And the other Clement yet more plainly speaks the same thing : that " St. John, being returned from his banishment in Patmos, went about the country near unto Ephesus, both to form and settle churches, where he saw occasion, and to admit into the order of the clergy such as were marked out to him by the Spirit."^ 17. And then for the other thing observed : it is clear that the very imposition of hamh did, in those days, confer the Holy Sjnrit in an extraordinary manner upon those who were ordained to the ministry of the Cospel. Tliis ' Clem. Kpist. num. xlii. xliv. - 1 Cor. xii. 10. Ifeh. iv. li.'. 3 (Jluiii. Alex, de Divit. 8;ilv. luiin. xlii. Kuhicb. Hist. Ecclea. lili. iii. c. '23. 26 Preliminary Discourse. St. Paul intimates to Timothy, where he exhorts him to Uir up TO yapKTiia, the gift {i.e. the extraordinary power of the Holy Spirit), "which," says he, "is in thee by the imposition of my hands " (2 Tim. i. 6). And, would you know how this ceremony of setting him apart for such a service came to endue him with such an extraordinary power, the same apostle will tell you (1 Tim. iv. 14) that it was given unto him by prophecy, with, or through, the imposition of hands upon him ; that is to say, God who, by bis prophets, had before designed and marked him out for that great office (1 Tim. i. 18) upon the actual ad- mission of him into it by the outward rite of laying on of hands, and upon the solemn prayers that were then withal made for him, did bestow the gifts of his blessed Spirit in an extraordinary manner upon him. 18. Now as thi^ will give us a good ground to conclude that those holy men whose writings we have here collected were endued with a very large portion of the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost, whether we consider the frequency of those endowments in the age in which they lived, or the extraordinary strictness and piety of their lives, or the greatness of those stations to which they were called in the church, or, lastly, tlie judgment which the apostles, who called them to those high offices, were by the Spirit enabled to make of them ; so, thirdly, if we look to those accounts which still remain to us of them, they will plainly show us that they were endued, and that in a very emi- nent manner, with this power and gift of the blessed Spirit. 19. Of Barnabas, the Holy Scripture itself bears wit- ness, that " he was a good man, full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith " (Acts xi. 24). Hermas is another of whom -St. Paul himself makes mention (Rom. xvi. 14) as an early convert to Christianity. And what extraordinary revela- tions he had, and how he foretold the troubles that were to come upon the church, his following visions sufficiently declare. 20. Clement is not only spoken of by the same apostle, but with tliis advantageous character too, that he was the fellow-labourer of tliat great man, and had his name ivritten ill the hook of life. (Phil. iv. 3.) And, when we shall Authority of the folloiving Treatises. 27 consider to how much inferior and worse men these gifts were usually communicated at that time, we can hardly thiuk that so excellent a man, and the companion of so great an apostle, employed first in the planting of the gospel with him, and then set to govern one of the most consider- able churches in the world, should have been destitute of it. 21. As for St. Ignatius, I have before observed that he had this gift ; and by the help of it, warned the Phila- delphians^ against falling into those divisious which he fore- saw were about to rise up amongst them. 22. Polycarp not only prophesied of his own death, biit spake oftentimes of things that were to come;^ and has this witness, from the whole church of Smyrna, that nothing of all that he foretold ever failed of coming to pass accord- ing to his prediction. 23. It remains, then, that the holy men whose writings are here subjoined were not only instructed by such as were inspired, but were themselves in some measure in- spired too ; at least were endued with the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost, for the better fulfilling of those great offices to which God had called them in his church. And therefore we must conclude that they were not only not mistaken in what they deliver to us as the gospel of Christ, but in all the necessary parts of it were so assisted by the Holy Ghost as hardly to have been capable of being mistaken in it ; by consequence that we ought to look upon their writings,^ though not of equal authority with those which we call, in a singular manner, the Holy Scriptures (because neither were the authors of them called in so extraordinary a way to the writing of them, nor endued with so eminent a portion of the gifts of the blessed Spirit for the doing of it ; nor have their writings been judged by the common consent of the church in those first ages of it, when they were so much better qualified than we ai'c now to judge of the divine authority of these kind of writings, 1 Epist. to riiiladclphians, c. vii. Add the Martyrdom of T^Mia- tiiiH, num. xii. ^ Juisel). Hist, l-x'cles. lili. v. c. '20. p. \')\\. a. '^ \\A. Dodwfll. Dissert, in Iron. I'rafat. et JJis.surt. 2. Kt Irtiiauin apud Euseb. Hist. Ecclos. loc. cit. p, lo3. 28 Preliminary Discourse. to be of equal dignity with those of the apostles and evangelists) ; yet worthy of a much greater respect than any composures that have been made since ; however men may seem to have afterwards written with more art, and to have shown a much greater stock of human learning, than what is to be found, not only in the following pieces, but even in the sacred books of the New Testament itself. 24. I shall add but one consideration more, the better to show the true deference that ought to be paid to the treatises here collected ; and that is, sixthly, that they were not only written by such men as I have said instructed by the apostles, and judged worthy by them, both for their know- ledge and their integrity, to govern some of the most emi- nent churches in the world, and, lastly, endued with the extraordinary gift of the Holy Ghost, and upon all these accounts to be much respected by us but were moreover received by the church, in those first ages, as pieces that contained nothing but what was agreeable to sound doctrine, which could scarcely be mistaken in its judgment of them. 25. The epistle of St. Clement was a long time read publicly with the other scriptures in the congregations of the faithful, made a part of their Bible, and was numbered among the sacred writings, however finally separated from them. And not only the apostolical canons, but our most ancient Alexandrian manuscript, gives the same place to the second that it does to the first of them ; and Epiphanius, after both, tells us that they were both of them wont to be read in the church in his time.-'^ 26. The epistle of St. Polycarp, with that of the church of Smyrna, were not only very highly approved of by particidar persons, but, like those of St. Clement, were read publicly too in the assemblies of the faithful. And for those of Ignatius, besides that we find a mighty value put upon them by the Christians of those times, they are sealed to us by this character of St. Polycarp : " that they are such epistles by which we may be greatly profited, for (savs he) they treat of faith and patience, and of all things that pertain to edification in the Lord." ^ Epiphan. Hajres. xxx. num. 15, Authority of the following Treatises. 29 27. The epistle of Barnabas is not only quoted with great honour by those of the next age to him, but, in the ancient stichometry of Cotelerius,^ we find it placed the very next to the epistle of St. Jude, and no diflference put between the authority of the one and the other. 28. And for the book of Hennas, both Eusebius and St. Jerome tells us that it was also wont to be read in the churches. In the same stichometry before mentioned, it is placed in the very next rank to the Acts of the Apostles: and, in some of the most ancient manuscripts of the New Testament, we find it written in the same volume with the books of the apostles and evangelists, as if it had been esteemed of the same value and authority with them. 29. So that now, then, we must either say that the church in those days were so little careful of what was taught in it as to allow such books to be publicly read in its congrega- tions the doctrine whereof it did not approve, or we must confess that the following pieces are delivered to us, not only by the learned men of the first ages of the church, but by the whole body of the faithful, as containing the pure doc- trine of Christ, and must be looked upon to have nothing in them but what was then thought worthy of all acceptation. 30. Now how much this adds to tlie authority of these discourses may easily l)e concluded from what I have before observed. For since it is certain that, in those times, the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were bestowed, not only upon the bishops and pastors of the church (though upon them in a more eminent degree), but also upon a great many of the common Christians too since one particular design of these gifts was for the discerning of prophecies, to judge of what was proposed by any to the cluirch, or written for the use and benefit of it we cannot doubt but that wliat was universally approved of and allowed, not by a few learned men, but by tiie whole church in those days, what was permitted to be read to the faith- ful, for their comfort and instruction, must by this means have received the highest human approbation, and ouglit to be looked upon by us, though not of equal autliority with those books which the same church has delivered to ^ Annot. in Baniab. pp. 9, 10. 30 Preliminary Discourse. us as strictly canonical, yet as standing in the first I'ank of ecclesiastical writings, and containing the true and pure doctrine of Christ in all things necessary to our salvation, without the mixture of any of those errors which have since been so unhappily brought into the churcli, and have been worthily censured as dangerous to if not de- structive of it. CHAPTER IV. OF TUE SUBJECT OF THE FOLLOWING DISCOURSES AND OF THE USE THAT IS TO BE MADE OF THEM. That, in the following Trecatise*, there is delivered to us a good account both of the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church in the xVpostolical times This shown in several particulars What they taught con- cerning God the Father, our Saviour Christ, and the Holy Ghofit Of Angels and Spirits Of the rest of the Articles of the Apostles' Creed Concerning the two Sacraments of Baptism, and the Lord's Supper Of the Holy Scriptures, and the Divine Authority of them What we meet with in these Treatises concerning tlie Go- vernment of the Church Of the necessity of communicating with the Bishops and Pastors of it Of Schismatics, Heretics, and Apostates Of their Public Assembling for the Service of God, and what was done by them in those Meetings Of several other instances of their Discipline, particularly of their Fasting and Con- fession of Sins Of the care which their Bishops had of the whole Church Of the respect that was paid to them Of their Martyrs, and the veneration which they thought due to them Of their practical Instructions, and how severe their Morality was, shown in several particulars That upon the whole, we may here see what the state of Christianity then was and still ought to be. 1. AxD now having shown^ in the foregoing chapter, what deference we ought to pay to the authority of those holy men whose writings I have here collected, it may not be amiss, in the third place, to enquire what it is which they deliver to us what account we find in them of the doctrine and discipline of the church in those times in which they lived. 2. It would be endless for me to go about to make a just catalogue of all the particulars of this kind that occur in the following pieces ; and I have already in a great measure, performed it in the index which I have for that purpose subjoineiuhstaiUiation. * Sec; Index. Scriiiturc. " See Index, JJit>hop8. ' See Index, Bitihops. ^ See Index, Schism, Q 34 Preliminary Discourse, opinion of heretics and apostates : ^ to the latter of which, as they seem even to have denied repentance, if that apos- tacy was joined with blasphemy, so it is manifest that, without it, they thought the others must perish. And in the meantime they declare that we ought not to have any communication with them : only we must pray for them, that they may be converted, which yet they supposed would be very hard. 16. As for those who continued in the doctrine and communion of the church,^ here we may see how zealous they were in attending all the public offices of it, how constantly they assembled together for the worship of God, notwithstanding all the malice and fury of their ene- mies against them upon the account of it. Here we may observe how, from the beginning, they had their set times and places of worship, and how they looked upon such offertories both as more acceptable unto God and more prevalent with him than any private addresses that they could make to him. 17. In these assemblies they not only put up their prayers to God, but received also the holy sacrament ^ of the Lord's Supper ; and in that part of the service none officiated but either the bishop himself or he who was appointed, or allowed of, by him. 18. For this purpose they had in every such place of their assembling one table or altar, xipon which their obla- tions were presented to God by the bishops and priests j * and they communicated after the same manner that our Saviour Christ had set them the example that is to say, both of the consecrated bread and wine ; and the former taken from one common loaf, which was broken and dis- tributed to them, not in little, separate, and unbroken wafers, as some now do. 19. Nor was this all : in these assemblies the Holy Scriptures were read to them ; and, as I have before shown, some of the very treatises I have here subjoined, together with them : and the bishop himself instructed 1 Sec Index, Heretic, Apostate. ^ See Index, Worship, &c. 8 See Index, Sacrament, Binhojy. * Ignat. Epist. to the Eplies. sec. 6. Subject of the following Discourses. 35 the people, and expounded the doctrine of Christ to them.^ 20. By the bishop were the Christians blessed, and joined together in the holy state of matrimony i^ and in- deed without him was nothing done of all that pertained unto religion. 21. In those times the clergy^ were married as well as laity ; nor do we find it esteemed the least scandal for them so to be. 22. Here we may see what the ancient manner of fast- ing* was, and what was thought requisite to render such exercises acceptable to God and profitable to our own souls. 23. In short, hero we may perceive w-hat their opinion was of repentance for sins, ^ and how hardly thoy thought of those who were still repenting and yet still continued to sin on, notwithstanding their frequent repentance. But, especially, here we are told that we must finish our repent- ance before we die, for that there is no place for repentance after. 24. And though they prescribed confession" as one act of repentance, and necessary to be performed in order to our forgiveness, yet we find no confession mentioned to be made to any but to God only, which therefore seems to intimate to us that they accounted that alone to have been sufficient. 25. But the care of their bishops^ in tliose first times was not confined witliin the narrow bounds of their own churches, but extended to all the faithful, wheresoever they were ; and tliey were still ready to look to those who were at the greatest distance from them, whenever they tliouglit their advice or autliority might be eitlicr useful to them or for the honour and benefit of their religion. 2G. From this, and from the general piety and excellence of their lives, '^ joined to the greatness of tlicir character in the church, came that mighty respect that was paid to tlie ' Ignat. Mart. sec. 2. ^ Sec Index, Marr'uKjo, Bishop. See Itxlex, y-'n'e^^ * See Index, Fast. ''See Index, h'rjicnfance. *Seo Index, ConfcHsion, ' See Iguatiua'a Epiatlea and Martyrdom, &c. "See Index, Biahop. 36 Preliminary Discourse. bishops in those days ; and how great it was the following treatises abundantly show. 27, But much greater was their veneration for those who not only governed well, and adorned their holy pro- fession by an exemplary life, but confirmed the truth of it with their blood. ^ They are indeed of opinion that no man ought causelessly to expose himself unto suffering -^ but, if God called anyone to it, they doubted not but that our Saviour Christ would both support him in his conflicts and most gloriously reward him for the enduring of them. Hence was it their opinion that martyrdom blotted out all sins, that they who suffered for the faith should have a degree of glory peculiar to themselves, above all other saints in God's kingdom ; and, when God showed such regard for them, they concluded that they could never do enough to testify their respect to them. 28, To this we must ascribe the care they took to gather up their remains,^ the honour which they paid to them, and the solemnities with which they deposited them in the earth ; hence came their custom, which we here find, of writing down the particulai-s of their conflicts, and sending them abroad to the churches round about ; hence their anniversary meetings at their tombs and monuments, where they recited the acts of their martyrdoms, and sometimes made express discourses in praise of their martyrs, and to exhort one another to the like constancy. 29, But, not to insist any longer upon these particulars, there is yet a third sort of matters contained in these dis- courses, and those of no less use to us than either of the foregoing, and that is the practical rules of life that are here delivered to us. 30, Here we may see what care we are to take, not only not to sin* ourselves, but, as far as in us lies, not to let any that belong to us continue in sin, lest we also become par- takers of their evil doings. 31, Here we are taught not only to have a care of our words and actions,^ but of our very thoughts and desires, which must not be indulged in any instances of sin, nor be 1 See Index, Martyrs. 2 gee Index, Suffer. 3 See Index, Ediqties, Martyrs. * See Index, Sin, 5 Herm. Vis. I. Subject of the follotving Discourses. 37 suffered, if it be possible, to wander on any thing that is in the least measure wanton or irregular. 32. If we will hearken to these holy men, we must learn not only to do the will of God, but, if it be his pleasure, must prepare our minds to endure patiently whatever he shall think fit to lay upon us. We must consider that troubles and afflictions are sent upon us both to punish us for our sins and as monitors to draw us off from them. 33. To convince us the more effectually of this, we are here shown the mighty danger of riches,^ especially where men's hearts are in any degree set upon them, and how very hardly such persons shall be saved ; we are taught what use we should make of our abundance, that so it may not prove a snare to us j but especially we are shown the great advantage of almsgiving to this end, and what mighty engagements there lie upon us to the practice of it. 34. And then, as for our lives, we are here told that a Christian "^ must not only be good, but exemplary ; he must show the truth of liis profession by a suitable con- versation, and be known by his actions rather than by his words. 35. He must pray for all men, even for his enemies, nay, for the very enemies of the church, for heretics and schismatics, for those of whom there is but little hope that they will ever come to repentance, or that God will give them grace so to do. 36. He must be kind and charitable to all men, free from envy and contention ; ho must neither raise any dif- ferences among his brethren, nor follow any in the doing of it. To this end he must carefully observe those duties which relate to his neighbour, as well as those ho is to jjay to God. He must obey magistrates, must respect the aged, must have a due regard to all men. Is he a hus- band, a parent, or a child ? He must be sure to exercise himself in the several duties becoming those several rela- tions. In short, in the following writings we may see in all the parts of our duty towards God, our neighbour, and ourselves what we arc to do, and what to avoid ; ^ See Index, liiches, A/ms'jiviii'j, &c. ^ Sqq Imlex, Chri'illan, 3^ Preliminary Discourse. and are assured that God both sees all our actions now, and will reward or punish us for them hereafter to all eternity. 37. And thus have I given a short prospect of what is more largely contained in the following collection. I need not say either how useful a variety of matter it is, or how worthy to be known by all of us ; but sure I am, whoso- ever shall take the pains impartially to compare what is here found with the sacred writings of the New Testa- ment, he may be able, both with clearness and certainty, to understand whatever is requisite to his eternal salvation, and that with much more satisfaction, and security too, than from many volumes of our later writers, who, for the most part, spend a great deal of time, and take much pains, to obscure, rather than explain, the most easy and intelligible points of our religion. CHAPTER V. OP THE MANNER AFTER WHICH THESE DISCOURSES ARE WRITTEN, AND THE SIMPLICITY OP STYLE USED IN THEM. That the writers of those times used no affectation of Human Elo- quence, but delivered themselves with the greatest Plainness that they were able This manner of writing the best, and most pro- per, for Instruction A short Account of the Occasion of the present Collection, and the Translation that is here made of the following Treatises. 1. There is yet one thing to be observed by me with reference to the discourses here subjoined, and that is, fourthly, concerning the manner after which they are written, and that true primitive simplicity which appears in all the parts of them. 2. It is one property of truth that, as it does not need any disguises, so neither does it seek, by any vain orna- ments of human eloquence, to recommend itself to the approbation of those to whom it is tendered. When the apostles preached the gospel to the world, they did it not " with excellency of speech, nor with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in the demonstration of spirit and of power ; " they gave such convincing proofs of their divine Style of the following Discourses. 39 mission as forced all indifferent persons to acknowledge their authority; and they thought it, after that, too mean a thing to endeavour to catch men's ears, when without any such arts they had before captivated their reason, and forced them to confess the truth of what they delivered. 3. And the same was the method of those holy fathers who succeeded them : they knew the excellency of their doctrine, and the mighty influence which the revelations it made of the future state would be sure to have upon the minds of all considering men ; and therefore they con- tented themselves to lay these things before them in a plain and simple manner, and yet with such efficacy and power as surpassed all the rhetoric in the world ; " for," indeed, " the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power," 1 Cor. iv. 20. 4. Let not, then, the reader be surprised, if in the follow- ing discourses he meets with none of those ornaments that are wont to recommend the writings of others to his per- usal ; but rather let him consider that he has here to do with men who were above such a care. Their business was to instruct, not to please, to speak to men's hearts and consciences, not to their fancies ; and they knew that this is evermore best done by a plain and natural discourse, by solid rules and substantial motives, not by vain words which, if tliey satisfy a man at the present, yet seldom leave any lasting impression behind them. 5. But of the authors of the following treatises, and of the discourses themselves, I have said enough perhaps too much ; though yet, I think, no more than wliat was neces- sary to prepare the English reader, for whom I am now chiefly concerned, to a useful perusal of them. As for the present collection, I shall only say thus much that it is the first of this kind that has been set forth in our own language ; nor were the greatest part of the following pieces ever (that I know of) before translated into it. 6. I confess, when I consider the great usefulness of such a work, and tlie high esteem which not only the ancient fathers, but the most learned of all ages, have had of the treatises here collected together, I liave sometimes wondered that, among so many things as have of late been set forth in tlie English tongue^ none has hitherto undertaken such a 40 Preliminary Discourse. task as this. But, when I came to the trial, I soon found out what may, perhaps, have been one reason of it ; for indeed, could I have foreseen the difficulty of the work, I much question whether I should ever have been persuaded to go about it. And this I say, not to magnify anything that I have done, which I have too much reason to fear will be far from deserving any great commendation, but to suggest an apology for whatever defects those of greater leisure^ more health, and better abilities, shall chance to find in it ; notwithstanding all the care I have taken to guess aright at the intention of my authors, and to deliver what, upon the best examination I could make, I took to bo their meaning. 7. I need not say anything to convince those who are at all acquainted with these matters, and who are alone the competent judges of the present performance, how hard oftentimes it is, with the help of the best copies, to hit upon the true meaning of an author that lived so many ages since as those I have here collected ; and what great defects, in many places, there are in the copies which I have here been forced to make use of, is not unknown to them. But, how- ever, I am not aware of any great errors that I have com- mitted ; and am in some hope that, in this edition of these treatises, I have nowhere very much, nor at all dangerously, mistaken the meaning of those holy men whose sense I have undertaken to represent. 8. This I am sure of, that my design, in this whole un- dertaking, was to minister the best I could to the interest of truth and piety : and I thought myself, at this time, the rather obliged to do it from the press, in that it has pleased God, in some measure, to take me off from the ability of doing it from the pulpit. 9. If it shall be asked how I came to choose the drudgery of a translator, rather than the more ingenious part of publishing somewhat of my own composing, it was, in short, this : because 1 hoped that such writings as these would find a more general and unprejudiced acceptance, with all sorts of men, than anything that could be written by anyone now living, who, if esteemed by some, is yet in danger of being despised by more, whose prejudice to his person will not suffer them to reap any benefit by any Style of the following Discourses. 4 1 thing, though never so useful, that can come from him ; whilst such tracts as these may possibly receive a general respect from all sorts of persons, and meet not only with an entertainment, but an esteem too, from all. 10. These were the motives that first induced me to set about this work, in the reasonableness of which should I chance to be mistaken, yet I cannot but persuade myself that the honesty of my intentions will excuse me to all in- different persons. Let other then, to whom God has given better opportunities and greater abilities, serve the church in better and higher performances. It shall suffice me in any way to minister to the souls of men ; and if, by this present undertaking, I shall but in any measure have contributed to the reviving a true sense of piety and de- votion among tis, and, especially, to the disposing of any number of men to consider more seriously the fatal conse- quences of our present divisions, and to labour what in them lies, towards the composing of them, I shall heartily bless God, both that he had first prompted me to undertake this troublesome task, and has since enabled me, though amidst many infirmities, to go through with it. GENUINE REMAINS OF THE APOSTOLICAL FATHERS, d'C. dc. PART I. IN WHICH ARE COMPRISED The Epistle of St. Clement to the Corinthians. II. The Epistle of St. Polycarp to the Philippians. III. The Epistle of St. Ig- natius. IV. A Relation of the Martyrdom of St. Ignatius. V. A Relation of the Martyrdom of St, Polycarp. PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE ON THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. CLEMENT TO THE CORINTHIANS. Of the value which the Ancients put upon this Epistle Of St. Clement himself, who was the author of it That it was the same Clement of whom St. Paul speaks, Phil. iv. 3 Of his Conversion to Christianity When he became Bishop of Rome, as also whether he suffered Martyrdom, uncertain Of the occasion of his writing this Epistle, and the two main parts of it Of the time when it was written That there is no reason to doubt but that the Epistle we now have was truly Avritten by St. Clement The objection of Tentzelius against it of no force How this Epistle was first pub- lished by Mr. Patrick Yvung : and translated by Mr, Burton into English Of the present edition of it. 1. The first tract which begins this collectiou, and per- haps the most worthy too, is that admirable, or, as some of the ancients have called it, that " wonderful epistle of St. Clement to the Corinthians,"^ which he wrote, not in his own name, but in the name of the whole church of Rome, to them, an epistle so highly esteemed by the ^ Euseb. Hist Eccles. lib. iii. cap. 16. Of St. Clements First epistle. 43 primitive church that we are told it was wont to be pub- licly read in the assemblies of it;^ and, if we may credit one of the ancient collections of the canon of Scripture,^ it was placed amongst the sacred and inspired writings. Nor is it any small evidence of the value Avhich in those days was put upon this epistle that in the only copy which, for aught we know, at this day remains of it, we find it to have been written in the same volume with the books of the New Testament,^ which seems to confirm what was before observed concerning it, that it was heretofore wont to be read in the congregations together with the Holy Scrip- tures of the apostles and evangelists. 2. But of the epistle itself I shall take occasion to speak more particularly by and by. It will now be more proper to enquire a little into the author of it, and consider when and upon what occasion it was written by him. 3. And, first, for what concerns the person who wrote this epistle, it is no small com-mendation which the Holy Ghost, by St. Paul, has left us of him, Phil. iv. 3, where the apostle mentions him, not only as his fellow-labourer in the work of the gospel, but as one whose name was written in the book of life a character which, if we will allow our Saviour to be the judge, ftir exceeds that of the highest power and dignity, and who therefore, when his disciples began to rejoice upon the account of that au- thority which he had bestowed upon them, insomuch that "even tlie devils were subject unto them" (Luke x. 17), though he seemed to allow that there was a just matter of joy in such an extraordinary power, yet bade them not to rejoice so much in this, that those spirits were subject unto them, " but rather," says he, " rejoice that your names arc written in the book of life." 4. It is indeed insinuated by a late very learned critic * as if this were not that Clement of whom we are now dis- coursing, and whose epistle to the Corinthians I have here subjoined. But, besides that he himself confesses tliat tlie person of whom St. Paul there speaks was a Roman, both 1 Idem. lib. iii. cap. 12. - Ciiiioii. Apostul. Can. ult. MS, Alex. (Jrot. Aiinot. in I'lul. iv. '6. 44 Preliminary Discourse. Eusebius and Epiphanius, and St. Hicrome,^ expressly tell us that the Clement there meant was the same that was afterwards bishop of Rome ; nor do we read of any other to whom either the character there mentioned, of being the fellow-labourer of that apostle, or the eulogy given of having his name " written in the book of life," could so properly belong, as to him ; whom therefore the generality of learned men, both of the ancient and present times, without scruple conclude to have been referred to in that passage, 5. I shall not say any thing of what is reported by some ^ concerning his noble birth and family, of his studies at Athens, and of the occasion and manner of his conversion to Christianity, which they tell us was wrought by St. Peter, whom he met with Barnabas at Csesarea, and who there first declared to him the doctrine of Christy and inclined him to a good opinion of it : all which is very uncertain, and justly doubted of by many. I shall choose rather to observe that, whatever his condition was before he became a Christian, he was held in no small reputation after, but merited such a character from the ancient fathers as is hardly given to any besides the apostles. Nay, some of them doubt not in plain terms to call him an apostle;^ and though St. Hierome durst not go so far as that, yet he gives him another title but little short of it ; he tells us that he was an "apostolical man,"* and, as Ruffinus adds, " almost an apostle."* 6. To declare more particularly how he spent the first part of his life, after his conversion, is neither necessary to the design I have now in hand, nor can any certain account be given of it, only, as we are told in the general that he was St. Peter's disciple, so it may not be im- probable that for some time he attended his motions and was subject to his direction. 7. But whatever he was, or wherever he laboured be- ^ Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. cap. 12. Epiph. lib. i. adv. Carpocr. n. 6. Hieronyin. de Script. Eccles. Et Comment, in loc. Item, lib. i. adv. Jovin, Photii Cod. mem. 11.3, &c. ^ Vid. Eucher. Ludg. de Contempt. Mundi, et Chron. Albert. Stad. inter Testimonia a Junio citata. ^ Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. iv. * Hieron. in Isaiam. c. 52. ^ De Adulterat. lib. Originis. Of St. Clement's First Epistle. 45 fore, in this I tliink antiquity is absolutely agreed, that he at last came to be bishop of Rome, and was placed in that see by the express direction of one or both the apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul. To whom he succeeded, or at what time to fix his entrance on that great charge, is a point that I suppose will never be agreed upon among learned men. If any could have settled this matter beyond dispute, it had without question been done by those of our own nation,^ who, as they have the latest searched with all possible diligence into it, so never were there any better qualified for the determination of it. But as their mutual disagree- ment, '^ after all their endeavours to fix this point, shows that one of them must have been mistaken, so I doubt not but it will sufficiently satisfy all such as shall consider the high character they have so justly obtained, both by their learning and judgment in this kind of disquisitions, that they are points not to be determined, and that he who shall do the best upon them may only be said to have made a good guess, in a subject too hard for any at this distance clearly to decide.' 8. Nor is there any less controversy, among learned men, concerning the death of St. Clement, than there has been about the order and time of his succession to his bishopric. That he lived in expectation of martyrdom, and was ready to have undergone it should it have pleased God to have called him to it, the epistle we are now speak- ing of sufficiently shows us.* But that he did glorify God by those particular sufferings which some have pretended is, I confess, to me a matter of some doubt. For, first, it must be acknowledged that Rufiinus' is one of the first authors we have that speak of him as a martyr. Neither Eusebius" (who is usually very exact in his observation of such things), nor any of the fathers yet nearer his time, as Irena3us, Clemens Alexandrinus, Tertullian, (fcc, take any notice of it. And fur the account which some others have yet more lately given us of th.e manner of his death, 1 Pearson, Di-sscrt. de Success, prim. RR. PP. cum Append. Hen. Dodwelli. Pearson, Dissert. Posthuin. eap. v. num. 7. - Doduelli Dissert, singul. cap. xv. p. 220. * Il>id. cap.xi. p. 151. ^ (loni. Ejiinllc to the. Corinth, num. vii. ^ De Adulterat, lib. Orig. ^ Hist. Kcclea. lib. iii. c. 34. 46 Preliminary Discourse. besides that in some parts it is altogether fabulous, it is not improbable but that, as our learned Mr. Dodwell has ob- served, ^ the first rise of it may have been owing to their confounding Flavins Clemens, the Roman consul, with Clement, bishop of Rome ; who did indeed suffer martyr- dom^ for the faith about the time of which they speak, and some other parts of whose character, such as his relation to the emperor and banishment into Pontus, they mani- festly ascribe to him. 9. However, seeing Eusebius refers his death to the third year of Trajan,^ famous for the persecution of the church, and may thereby seem to insinuate that Clement also then suffered among the rest, and that Simeon Metaphrastes has given a long and particular account of his condemnation,^ to the mines first, and then of his death following thereupon, as I shall not determine any thing against it, so they who are desirous to know what is usually said concerning the passion of this holy man may abundantly satisfy their curiosity in this particular from the accurate collection of Dr. Cave^ in the life of this saint, too long to be transcribed into the present discourse. 10. And this may suffice to have been observed, in short, concerning St. Clement himself. As for the epistle we are now speaking of to the Corinthians, I have already taken notice how great a value was put upon it in the most primitive ages of tiie church, and what a mighty com- mendation has been left us of it by the writers of those times. Nor indeed does it at all come short of the highest praises which they have given to it; being a piece com- posed with such an admirable spirit of love and charity, of zeal towards God and of concern for the church of Christ, of the most excellent exhortations, delivered with the greatest plainness and simplicity of speech, and yet pressed many times with such moving eloquence too, that I cannot imaojinc what could have been desired in such an 1 Dodwelli Addit. ad cap. vi. Dissert. Posthum, Pearson, num. 22. p. 215. 2 Vid. Euseb. Chron. Anno xcvii. Et in Euseb. Annot. Scalig. p. 205. b. Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. cap. 18. 3 Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. cap. 34. * Apud Coteler. Patr. Apostol. torn. I. Of St. Clements First Epistle. 47 epistle more proper for the end for which it was composed, what could have been written more becoming an apostolical age, and the pen of one of the most eminent bishops of it. 11. But, that it maybe the better understood by those who shall now think fit to peruse it, there are a few things which it will be necessary for me, in this place, to observe concerning it. 12. And the first is the occasion that was given for the writing of this epistle ; for, however we have no particular account what it was, yet may we, from the subject of it, give a very probable guess at it. When St. Paul wrote his first epistle to the Corinthians the two great things that seemed to have especially called for it were, first, the divisions of that church upon the account of their teachers, and through their vain conceit of their own spiritual gifts ; and, secondly, the great mistake that was getting in among them concerning the nature of the future resurrection. And however the apostle, by his writing and authority, did for the present put a stop to the one, and set them right as to the other, yet it seems, after his death, they began again to fall not only into the same contentions, but into the same error too, that had caused them so much trouble before. 13. Now this gave occasion to St. Clement to write the present epistle to them, in which, having first taken notice of the rise of those new seditions that were broken out among them, and exhorted them to a Christian composure of them, he, in the next place, goes on, by many arguments, to establish the undoubted truth and certainty of the future resurrection, whicli was the other thing in which St. Paul liad before observed them to have been greatly and danger- ously mistaken. 14. Tliis then was the occasion and is the main subject and design of the following epistle. But now about wiiat time it was written is not so easy to determine. Junius^ supposes it was written by St. Clement, in the name of the church of Rome, about two years before his martyrdom, and that from the ])lace of his banishment ; wliich also Beems to have been the opinion of our learned ^Ir. Pui-ton, ' Vid. in Annot. in Kpist. Clem, in pi incip. 48 Preliminary Discourse. in his notes upon this epistle.^ Baronius places it six or seven years sooner, about the twelfth year of Domitian.'' With him Cotelerius agrees;' only he supposes the per- secution was then drawing towards an end, it being other- wise xinlikely that such an embassy could have been sent from Rome with the epistle, as by the close of it we find there was. But Mr. Dodwell,* with much greater proba- bility, thinks it to have been written yet sooner, "-iz., im- mediately after the end of Nero's persecution ; and to that refers those troubles complained of by St. Clement in the very beginning of his epistle,^ and in which he elsewhere speaks of St. Peter and St. Paul, as some of the latest; instances of any that had died for the sake of their re- ligion.^ 15. Now that which seems yet more to conntenance this opinion is that St. Clement, iu another part of his epistle, '^ speaks of the temple service not only as still con- tinuing, but as being in such a state as necessarily sup- poses all things to have been yet in peace and quiet at Je- rusalem. From whence that learned man,^ with great reason, concludes that this epistle must have been written somewhat before the twelfth year of Nero, in which the Jewish wars first broke out. Let us add to this, that in the close of this epistle we find mention made of Fortu- natus,^ as the person whom the church of Corinth had probably sent to Rome with an account of their disasters, and by whom, together with the two delegates of their own, the Roman church returned this epistle to the Co- rinthians. Now Fortunatus is expressly said, by St. Paul, to have been an old disciple in his time, insomuch that he places him with Stephanas, who was the first fruits of Achaia. 1 Cor. xvi. 15, 17. And therefore we must con- clude that this epistle could not have been written so late as some would have it, seeing this man was not only still alive, but in a condition of undertaking so great a journey as from Corinth to Rome ; for from thence, it is most 1 Annot. 2. p. 41. - Baron. Annal. ad Ann. xcv. num. 1. 3 Cotoler. Not. in Clem. Epist. p. 82. ^ Dodwelli Append, ad cap. vi. Dissert. 2. Pearson, p. 219. num. 2-4. ^ Epist. c. i. " Ibid. c. 5. '' Cap. xli. ** Dodwelli, loc. supr. cit. " Ep. c. lix. Of S/, Clements First Epistle. 49 likely, he was sent with a letter from that church to Rome, and so became the bearer of this epistle, which was written in the name of the church of Home in answer to it. 16. I conclude, then, that this epistle was written shortly after the end of the pei-secution under Nero,^ between the G-tth and 70th year of Christ ; and that, as the learned defender of this period supposes, in the vacancy of the see of Rome, before the promotion of St. Clement to the government of it. But of this last circumstance, as there is no certainty, so the express authority of Tertullian ^ that St. Clement was made bishop of Rome by St. Peter, and this delivered as the tradition of the Roman church in the days that he lived, has inclined others rather to think that he must have been bishop of that church when he wrote this epistle ; though neither can this bo affirmed as certain and indubitable. 17. But this is not all : there is still a difficulty remain- ing, and that of much greater consequence tlian any I have hitherto mentioned ; namely, whether the epistle we now have be, after all, the genuine epistle of St Clement, so much applauded by the ancients, so long looked upon as lost to us, and so lately discovered in the last age.^ And this I mention, not that I think tlicre is any real oc- casion offered to incline us to doubt of it, but because I find there are some who would seem still to make a ques- tion of it.* 18. And here I would, in the first place, ask these wary men what mark they can propose, whereby to distinguish the true work of any ancient writer from a false and sup- posititious, that does not occur in the present piece. 19. That St. Clement ^ wrote an epistle to the Corinth- ians, that he wrote it on the same occasion that we find expressed in this we now have, that this epistle was of great reputation, so as to be piiblicly read in tlie churches heretofore; all this the authority of the ancient fathers 1 Doilwell, loc. supr. cit. Add. Cave, Hist. Liter.ar. in Clement. ?i. IS. Compare Dr. Gr;ibe, Spicile^. toin. I. p. 'i.j;"), &c. - J)o 'nuscript. adv. Ila-rcs. cap. 32. See Dr. (Jnibe, loc. cit. p. 2j!j. * Calloviiis, liibl. IlluHtr. N. 1\ tom. II. Exam. I'nvf. (irot. in 1 Cor. p. 2")0. Vofitius, Paraliji. p. 1107, edience ; that it is im- possible to escape the Vengeance of (Jod, if we continue in Sin. XXIX. Tiiis farther enfurccd from the consideration of tlieir Relation to God, as liis elect. XXX. How we must live tli.it we may please (Jod. X X X r. , XX X 1 r. We are justified by fait h. XXXllI. Yet tliis must not lessen our care to live well, nor our ])lcasure in it. 55 56 Contents, XXXIV, This enforced from the Examples of the Holy Angels, and from the exceeding greatness of that Reward which God has prepared for us. XXXV., XXXVI. We must attain unto this Reward by Faith and Obedience. XXXVII. Which we must carry on in an orderly pursuing of the Duties of our several Stations, without Envying or Con- tention. XXXVIII. The necessity of different Orders among Men. We have none of us anything but what we received of God, whom, therefore, we ought in every condition thankfully to obey. XXXIX., &c. From whence he exhorts them to do everything orderly in the Church, as the only way to please God. XLII. The Orders of Ministers in Christ's Church established by the Apostles, according to Christ's Command. XLIII, And after the Example of Moses, XLIV. Therefore, they who have been duly placed in the Minis- try, according to their Order, cannot, without great Sin, be put out of it. XLV,, &c. He exhorts them to Peace from Examples out of the Holy Scriptures, XL VII., XLVIII. Particularly from St. Paul's Exhortation to tliem. XLIX. The value which God puts upon Love and Unity : The Effects of a true Charity. L. Which is the Gift of God, and must be obtained by Prayer. LI., LII. He exhorts such as have been concerned in these Divi- sions to repent, and return to their Unity, confessing their Sin to God, LIIL, LIV. Which he enforces from the Example of Moses. LV Nay, of many among the Heathen : and of Judith and Esther among the Jews. LVI. The Benefit of mutual Advice and Correction. LVII. He entreats them to follow that which is here given to them. LVIII. Recommends them to God. LIX. Desires speedily to hear that this Epistle has had a good Effect upon them. LX. And so concludes, THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. CLEMENT TO THE CORINTHIANS. The Church of God which is^ at Rome to the Church of God which is^ at Corinth, elect,^ sanclijfed, hy^ the will of God, through Jesns Christ our Lord : grace and peace from the Almighty God, hy Jesus Christ, be multiplied unto you.^ Brkthrex, The sudden and unexpected dangers and calamities that have fallen upon us have, Ave fear, made us the more slow in our consideration of those things which you enquired of us; as^ also of that wicked and detestable sedition, so unbecoming^ the elect of God, which a few heady and self-willed men have fomented to such a degree of madness that your venerable and renowned name, so worthy of all men to bo beloved, is greatly blasphemed thereby. For who that has ever been'^ among you has not experimented the firmness of your faith, and its fruitful- ness in all good works, ^ and admired the temper and moderation of your religion in Christ, and published abroad the magnificence of your hospitality, and thought you happy in your perfect and certain knowledge of the gospel ? For yo did all things without respect of persons, and walked according to'-* the laws of Cod ; being subject to those who had the rule over you, and giving the honour that was fitting to such as were tlie agcd^" among you. Ye commanded the young men to think those things that were modest and grave. The women ye exhorted to do all things with an unl)]amablc, and seemly, and i)ure con- ' Sojonriu.th. * Callnl. Sec Dr. Haniniond on Matt. xx. c. 3 dr. //(. * Sec Bi.shop I'ear.son'H note on tliis place, ed. Colonie.sii, p. 2. ^ And. "(Jr. Strain/i; to. ^ (;,. J.dihicd at a slra)i(jcr. B Adnrnrd irit/i all mann<'.r of virtacH. " In. '" I'rt^hyttra. 57 58 St. Clement's First Epistle science ; loving their own husbands, as was fitting ; and that, keeping themselves within the bounds^ of a due obedience, they should order their houses^ gravely, with all discretion.^ II. Ye were all of you hiimble-minded, not boasting* of anything ; desiring rather to be subject than to govern, to give than to receive ; being content with the portion God had dispensed to you : ^ and, hearkening diligently to his word, ye were enlarged in your bowels,''' having his suffer- ings^ always before your eyes. Thus a firm, and blessed, and profitable^ peace was given unto you; and an unsatiable desire of doing good, and a plentiful effusion of the Holy Ghost, was upon all of you. And, being full of good designs,'- ye did, with great^^ readiness of mind, and with a religious confidence, stretch forth your hands to God Al- mighty, beseeching him to be merciful unto you, if in any- thing ye had unwittingly sinned against him. Ye contended day and night for the whole brotherhood ; that with com- passion, and a good conscience, ^^ the number of his elect might be saved. Ye were sincere, and without offence towards each other ; not unmindful of injuries. All sedition and schism was an abomination unto you. Ye bewailed every one his neighbour's sins, esteeming their defects your own. Ye were kind one to another, without grudg- ing, ^^ being ready to every good woi'k ; and, being adorned with a conversation altogether virtuous and religious, ye did all things in the fear of God, whose commandments were written upon the tables of our hearts.-^* III. All honour and enlargement was given unto you ; and so was fulfilled that which is written, " My beloved did eat and drink, he was enlarged and waxed fat, and he kicked."^ ^ From hence came emulation, and envy, and strife, and sedition, persecution and disorder,^" war and cap- tivity. So they who were of no renown lifted up them- 1 Canon, rule. - Themselves do their own business. Vid. Not. Junii in loc. s Temperance, Sobriety, 1 Pet. v. 5. ^ Proud. 5 Acts XX. 35. ^ 1 Tim. vi. 8. ^ Embraced it in your very bowels. 8 n^^rif^xra. See Dr. Grabe's Addit. to Bp. Ball's Def. Fid. Nic. p. 60,61. 9 Gr. ?.iTapa. ^^ Holy counsel, or purpose, or vd/l. ^^Gr. Good. 1^ With mercy and conscience. i3 Ye vjere without repentance in all loell-doiwj. Titus iii. 1. i^ I'rov. vii. 3. '^^ Dent, x.xxii. 15, i** Confusion, tumidts, &c. to the Corinthians. 59 selves against the honourable ; those of no reputation against those that were in respect ; the foohsh against the wise, the young men against the aged. Therefore righteous- ness and peace are departed from you, because every one hath forsaken the fear of God, and is grown blind in his faith, nor walketh by the rule of God's commandments, nor liveth as is fitting in Christ ; biit every one follows ' his own wicked lusts, having taken up an unjust and wicked envy, by which death first entered into the world. IV, For thus it is written : ^ "And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof : and the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering. But unto Cain and unto his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very sorrowful, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou soiTowful? and why is thy countenance fallen ] ^ If thou shalt offer aright, but not divide aright, hast thou not sinned % Hold thy peace : unto thee shall be his desire, * and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain said unto Abel his brother, let us go down into the field. And it came to pass, as they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him," Ye see, brethren, how envy and cmula- tioiv wrought the death of a brother.* For this " our father Jacob fled from the face of his brother Esau. It was this that caused Joseph to be persecuted even imto death, and to come into bondage. '^ Envy forced Moses ^ to flee from the face of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, when he heard his own countrymen ask him, " Who made thee a judge and a ruler over us ? Wilt thou kill me as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday % " '-^ Through envy Aaron and ^liriam were shut out ^" of the camp from the rest of the congregation seven days.^^ Emulation sent ^- Dathan and Abiram quick into the gi-ave,^'* because they raised up a sedition against Moses, the servant of God. For this David was not only hated ^* 1 Walh.th rtfltr. 2 Qc^. iv. ,S, itc. 3 TXuh is according to tlio LXX, 'A'T'xrrfo^'n, coiiverHWU. ' Fratridild. " Kiny. Gen, xxviii. '' (Jen. xxxvii. ** Exoil. ii. ];"). "J Kxo So much as hix rc- penfmire. ^'' Ke]>'-nt from. Kzok. xviii. .SO, '.VI. '< Isaiah i. ^^ Jer. iii. 4, 19. '^ Isu. i. 10. -" Ecil frum your souls. 62 St Clement's First Epistle the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord : though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow ; though they be red as crimson, they shall be as wool.^ If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land ; but, if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." These things has God established by his al- mighty will, desiring that all his beloved should come to repentance, IX. Wherefore let us obey his excellent and glorious will, and, imploring ^ his mercy and goodness, let us fall down upon our faces before him, and cast ourselves upon his mercy, ^ la^ying aside all vanity,^ and contention, and envy, which leads unto death. Let us look up to those who have the most perfectly ministered to his excellent glory. Let us take Enoch for our example, who, being found righteous in obedience/ was translated, and his death was not known.*' Noah, being proved '' to be faith- ful, did, by his ministry, preach regeneration to the world ; and the Lord saved by him all the living creatures that went with one accord together into the ark. X. Abraham, who was called God's friend,^ was in like manner found faithful, inasmuch as he obeyed the com- mands ^^ of God. By obedience he '^'^ went out of his own country, and from his own kindred, and from thy father's house -y that so, forsaking a small country, and a weak affinity, and a little house, he might inherit the promises of God. For thus God said unto him : " Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from his father's house, iinto a land that I will show thee. And I will make thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name gi'eat, and thou shalt be blessed. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee : and in thee shall all the families of tlie earth* be blessed."^- And again, ^Yhen he separated himself from Lot, God said 1 I will mahe (hem v:hite as wool. - Becomiivj suppliants of, &c. 3 Turn ourselves to his mercy. * Vain labour. ^ Gen. v. 24. ^ Found. "^ Being found. Gen. vi. vii. viii. ^ In unity. ^ Jam. ii. 23, Isaiah xli. 8. ^ Words. ii This man, i- Gen. vii. 1. to the Corinthians, 63 tihto him: "Lift up now thine eyes,^ and look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and east- ward, and westward ;" for all the land which thou scest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that, if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered." And again he saith, " And God brought forth Abraham, and said unto him, Look now towards heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them ; so shall thy seed be. And Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness."^ Through faith and hospitality, he had a son given him^ in his old age ; and through obedience he offered him up in sacrifice to God, upon one of the mountains which God showed unto him. XT. By hospitality and godliness was Lot saved out of Sodom, ^ when all the country round about was destroyed by" fire and brimstone, the Lord thereby making it mani- fest, that he will not forsake those that trust in him, but will bring the disobedient^ to punislmient and correction. For his wife, who went out with him, being of a different mind, and not continuing in the same obedience,^ was for that reason set forth for an example,'-* being turned into a pillar of salt unto this day. That so all men may know that those who are double-minded, and distrustful of the power of God, are-^ prepared for condemnation, and to be a sign to all succeeding ages. XIL By faith and hospitality was Rahab the harlot saved. ^^ For when the spies were sent by Joshua the son of Nun to search out Jericho, and tlie king of Jericho knew that they were come to spy out his country, he scut men to take them, that so^" they might be put to death, llahab, therefore, being hospitable, ^^ received tlicm, and hid tlicm under the stalks of flax on the top of her house. And when the messengers tliat were seijt by the king came iGcn. xiii. 14. 2 "Jovard^ the nea. 3 Gen. xv: 5.' * y/ ,so tcow given jtn/o him. '^ Gen. xix. 2 Pet. ii. C. Jiulc ? > Sec No(. Junii in loc- or punished with. ^ /rut those that turn aiwthtr way he put''T(iO. * We nay. '^ To lhe.se, those al.so that hare hecn ii:if,- ne/tx'd of. 6 den. xviii. 27. ^ Job. i. 1. Jol) xiv. 4. '> MS- txfifif i HtJj rot 'lirpariX lia ruv fiaVTiyut. ^^ Exod. iii. 11. '> Ibid. iv. 10. 68 St. Clemenfs First Epistle tified of iu the Holy Scriptures, to whom God said, " I have found a man after my own heart, David, the son of Jesse; with my holy oil I have anointed himV-*^ But yet he himself saith unto God : " Have mercy upon me, God, according to thy loving kindness ; according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my trans- gressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my trans- gi-essions, and my sin is ever before me. Against tliee, thee only, have 1 sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Behold I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou de- sirest truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean ; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, God ; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free Spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. For thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it ; thou delightest not in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit ; a broken ant a contrite heart, God, thou wilt not despise."^ XIX. Thus has the humility and godl_^ fear^ of these great and excellent men,* recorded^ in :he Scriptures, through obedience, made not only us, but a 'so the genera- tions before us better; even as many as ha ^^e received his holy oracles with" fear and truth. Having therefore so 1 Psal. Ixxxix. 29. " Psal. li. to ver. 17, accorling to the He- brew. '^ Fearfulness. ^ So great and such kind of men. '' Wit- neftsed of, or celebrated. In. to the Corinthians. 69 many and such great and glorious examples,* let us return to that peace which was the mark that from the boginninjj; was set before us ; " let us look up to the Father and Creator of the whole world, and let us hold fast to his glorious and exceeding gifts and benefits of peace. Let us consider and behold with the eyes ^ of our understanding * his long-suffering will ; and think how gentle and patient he is towards his whole creation, XX. The heavens, moving by his appointment, are sub- ject to him in peace. Day and night accomplish the courees that he has allotted unto them, not disturbing one another. The sun and moon, and all the several compa- nies and constellations of the stars, run the courses " that he has appointed to them in concord, without departing in the least from them. The fruitful earth yields its food plentifully in due season, both to man and beast, and to all animals that are upon it, according to his will ; not disputing, '^ nor altering anything of what was ordered by him. So also the imfathomable and unsearchable floods of the deep are kept in by his command : ^ and the con- flux ^ of the vast sea, being brought together by his order into its several collections, passes not the bounds tliat he has set to it : but as he appointed it so it remains. '^^ For he said, " Hitherto shalt thou come, and thy floods shall be broken within thee." The ocean, unpassable to man- kind, and the worlds that are beyond it, are governed by the same commands of their great master. Spring and summer, autumn and winter, give place peaceably to each other. The several quarters ^^ of the winds fulfil their work^- in their seasons, without oft'ending one another. The ever flowing fountains, made both for pleasure and health, never fail to reach otit their breasts to support the life of men. Even the smallest creatures live together ^'^ in peace and concord with each other. All these lias the great Creator and Lord of all commanded to observe peace and concord, being good to all, but especially to us who 1 De^ds, or icorks. - I.tt us rttnrn to tlic mark of prare. (jiven to ns from tht fxiijinniv'j . ^.S'ee h'nn vilh our iiinlirstmxJ'nKi. * Soul. " ChoruM-.t. Jiouvdx. 7 Donhthvj. ** Vid. edit. Colonies. ]). t?t. " Hollow, or (Icjith. ^'' Commaiidul, w it (/oci. ^' Stations. ^- Service. '-^ Mix to'jtthn: 7<5 St. dementis Pirst Epistle flee to his mercy through our Lord Jesus Christ ; to whom be glory and majesty for ever and ever. Amen. XXI. Take heed, beloved, that his many blessings be not to us " to condemnation except we shall walk woi'thy of him, doing with one consent ^ what is good and pleasing in his sight. " The Spirit of the Lord is a candle, search- ing out the inward parts of the belly." ^ Let us, therefore, consider how near he is to us, and how that none of our thoughts, or reasonings, which we frame within ourselves, are hid from him.* It is therefore just that we should not forsake our rank, by doing contrary to his will. Let us choose to offend a few foolish and inconsiderate men, lifted up, and glorifying in their own pride, ^ rather than God. Let us reverence our Lord Jesus Christ, whose blood was given for us ; let us honour those who are set over us ; let us respect the aged that are amongst us ; and let us instruct the younger men in the discipline and fear of the Lord. Our wives let us direct to do that which is good. Let them show forth a lovely habit of purity in all their con- versation, with a sincere affection ^ of meekness ; let the government ^ of their tongues be made manifest ^ by their silence ; let their charity be without respect ^of persons, alike towards all such as religiously fear God. Let their children be bred up in ^'^ the instruction of Christ; and especially let them learn how great a power humility has with God how much a pure and holy charity avails with him how excellent and great his fear is and how it will save '' all such as turn to him with holiness in a pure mind. For he is the searcher of the thoughts and counsels of the heart ; whose breath is in us, and when he pleases he can take it from us. XXII. But all these things must be confirmed by the faith ^ ^ which is in Christ ; for so he himself bespeaks us by the Holy Ghost ; " Come, ye children, and hearken unto me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is there that desireth life, and loveth to see good days 1 '^ All of lis. "^ With concord. ^ pj-ov. xx. 27. ^ That nothing ia hid to him of our thoughts or redsonings. ^ In the pride of their oivn speech, or reason. ^ Connect or amend. "^ Will or counsel. 8 Moderation. ^ Let them manifest. i" Partaking of, ii Saving. ^2 The faith confrms. to the Corinthians. yi Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips that they speak no guile. Depart from evil and do good ; seek peace and ensue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers. But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the re- membrance of them from the earth. The righteous cried, and the Lord heard him, and delivered him out of all his troubles. Many are the troubles '^ of the wicked ; but they that trust in the Lord, mercy shall encompass them about."^ XXIIL Our all-merciful and beneficent Father hath bowels of compassion towards them that fear him, and kindly and lovingly bestows his graces upon all such as come to him with a simple mind. Wherefore let us not waver, ^ neither let us have any doubt in our hearts of his excellent and glorious gifts. Let that be far from us which is written,* "Miserable are the double-minded, and those who are doubtful in their hearts, who say. These things have we heard, and our fathers have told us these things. But, behold, we are grown old, and none of them has hap- pened unto us. ye fools! consider the trees," take tlie vine for an example : first it sheds its leaves, then it buds ; after that it spreads its leaves, then it flowers ; then come the sour grapes, and after them follows the ripe fruit." Ye see how in a little time the fruit of the trees comes to maturity. Of a truth, yet a little while, and his will shall suddenly be accomplished. Tlie Holy Scripture itself "^ bearing witness, " that he shall quickly come and not tarry, and that the Lord shall suddenly come to his temple, even the Holy One whom ye look for." XXIV. Let us consider, beloved, how the Lord does continually show us, that there shall be a future resurrec- tion, of which he has made our Lord Jesus Christ the first- fruits, raising him from the dead. Let us contemplate,'-^ beloved, the resurrection that is continually madc^'* before our eyes. Day and nigiit manifest a resurrectiou to us. The niglit lies down, and the day arises ; again the day dc- 1 Sccunj'is. * Psal. xxxiv. 11. * Be, douhlc-jnindrd. * Let the. lorUinxj he far from us. ^ Jaincs i. 8. ^ Comjmrc yoiirselve^ unto a tree. 7 Ex MS. omitted hy Junius Hah. ii. S. Mai. iii. 1. * 'AyyO.t;, Aii'jd. " Scc. 1" Mudt evuy ataaun. y2 St. Clemeni^s First Epistk parts, and the night comes on. Let us behold the fruits of the earth : every one sees how the seed is sown : the sower goes forth, ^ and casts it upon the earth, and the seed which, when it was sown, fell upon the earth dry and naked, in time dissolves ; and from the dissolution the great power of the providence of the Lord raises it again, and of one seed many arise, and bring forth fruit. XXV. Let us consider that wonderful type ^ of the resxirrection which is seen in the Eastern countries : that is to say, in Arabia. There is a certain bird called a phoenix : of this there is never but one at a time, and that lives five hundred years ; and, when the time of its dissolution draws near that it must die, it makes itself a nest of frankincense, and myrrh, and other spices ; into which, when its time is fulfilled, it entei's and dies. But its flesh, putrifjnng, breeds a certain worm, which, being nourished with the juice of the dead bird, ^ brings forth feathers; and, when it is grown to a perfect * state, it takes up the nest in which the bones of its parent ^ lie, and carries it from Arabia into Egypt, to a city called Heliopolis : and, flying in open day, in the sight of all men, lays it upon the altar of the sun, and so returns from whence it came. The priests then search into the records of the time ; and find that it returned precisely at the end of five hundred years. XXVL And shall ^ we then think it to be any very great and strange thing for the Lord of all to raise up those that religiously serve him in the assurance of a good faith, when even by a bird he shows us the greatness of his power to fulfil his promise? For he says, in a certain place, " Thou shalt raise me up, and I shall confess unto thee." And again, "I laid me down and slept, and awaked, because thou art with me." '' And again. Job says, " Thou shalt raise up this flesh of mine that has suffered all these things." ^ XXVIL Having therefore this hope, let us hold fast ^ to him who is faithful in all his promises, and righteous in all his judgment, who has commanded us not to lie : ^ yVent forth ; and so in the rest. - S'ujn. ^ Animal. * Strong. 6 Progenitor. Do. "^ Psal. iii. 5. ^ Job. ix. 27. " Let our minda be fastened. to the Corinthians. 73 how much more will he not himself lie? For nothing ia impossible with God but to lie. Let his faith then be stirred up again in us ; and let us consider that all things are nigh unto him. By the word of his power ^ he made all things, and by the same word " he is able [whenever he will] to destroy them. "Who shall say unto him, What doest thou ? or who shall resist the power of his strength V ^ When and as he please he will do * all things ; and nothing shall pass away of all that has been determined by him. All things are open before him ; nor can anything be hid from his counsel. " The * heavens declare the glory of God : and the firmament showeth his handy-work. Day unto day iittereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard." ^ XXVIII. Seeing then all things are seen and heard by God, let us fear him, and let us lay aside our wicked works, which proceed from ill desires, that through his mercy we may be delivered "^ from the condemnation ^ to come. For whither can any of us flee from his mighty hand ? or what world shall receive any of those who run away from him? For thus saith the Scripture in a certain place, " Whither shall I flee [from thy Spirit], or where shall I hide myself from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there : if I shall go to the utmost parts of the earth, there is thy right hand : if I shall make my bed in the deep, thy Spirit is there." ^ Whither then shall any one go, or whither shall he run, from hina that comprehends all things? XXIX. Let us therefore come to him with holiness of heart, -^^ lifting up chaste and undefilcd hands unto him; loving our gracious and merciful Father, who has made us to partake '^ of his election. For so it is written, " When the Most High divided the nations, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the nations, according to tiie number of his angels : his people Jacob became the portion of the Lord, and Israel the lot of his inheritance."^ - "^ Majf^ty. ^ His vnrd. " Wisdom xii. 12. * M.S. nii^iri/. ^Ifthf,kc. " I'sal. xix. 1. '' Cortrul. ^Judiimoil. I'sal. cxxxix. 7. ^^ Mind. ^^ A part. ^- Dcut. xxxi'i. 8, 9. 74 ^^- elements First Epistle And in another place he saith, "Behold,^ the Lord taketh unto himself a nation out of the midst of the nations, as a man taketh the first fruits of his flour ; and the Most Holy shall come out of that nation.^ XXX. Wherefore, we being the portion of the Holy One, let us do all those things that pertain unto holiness ; fleeing all evil-speaking against one another^ all filthy and impure embraces, together with all drunkenness, youthful lusts, abominable concupiscences, detestable adulter}', and execrable pride. " For God," saith he, " vesisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble." ^ Let us therefore hold fast to those whom God has given his grace.* And let us put on concord ; being humble, temperate, free from all whispering and detraction, and justified by our actions,' and not our words. For he saith, " Doth he that speaketh and heareth many things, ^ and that is of a ready tongue, suppose that he is righteous'? Blessed is he that is born of a woman that liveth but a few days : use not therefore much speech." "^ Let our praise be of God, not of our- selves ; for God hateth those that commend ^ themselves. Let the witness of our good actions be given to us of others, as it was given to the holy men that went before us. Rashness, and arrogance, and confidence, belong to them who are accursed of God ; but equity, and humility, and mildness to such as are blessed by him.^ XXXI. Let us then lay hold of his blessing, and let us consider what are the ways by which we may attain unto it.-"^^ Let us look back upon ^^ those things that have hap- pened from the beginning. For what was our father Abraham blessed 1 Was it not because that, through faith, he wrought righteousness and truth % Isaac, being fully persuaded of what he Icnew was to come, cheerfully yielded himself up for a sacrifice. ^^ Jacob with humility departed out of his own country, fleeing from his brother, and went 1 So the LXX. 2 Dcut. iv. 34. 3 Num. xxvii. < Ja. iv. 6. 1 Pet. V. 3. 5 7Vte (jrar.e of God has been given. * Work. 7 He that speaketh many things shall also hear, &c. Job. xxi. 2, 3. LXX. ^ Be not much in words. ^ Are praised of. i" See what are the ways of his blessing. " Unroll. 12 With full persuasion , foreknoioing what was to be, p)leasingly became a sacrifice. to the Corinthians. 75 unto Laban, and served him : and so the sceptre of the twelve tribes of Israel was given unto him. XXXII. Now what the greatness of this gift was will plainly appear, if we shall take the pains distinctly to con- sider all the parts of it : ^ for from him came the Priests and Levites, who all ministered at the altar of God ; from him came our Lord Jesus Christ, according to the flesh : from him came the kings, and princes, and rulers in Judah ; nor were the rest of his tribes ^ in any small glory ; God having promised that ''thy seed [says he] shall be as the stars of heaven." ^ They were all therefore greatly glori- fied,* not for their own sake, or for their owu works, or for the righteousness that they themselves wrought, but through his will. And we also, being called by the same will in Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, neither by our own wisdom, or knowledge, or piety, or the works which we have done in the holiness of our hearts : " but by that faith by which God Almighty has justified all men from the beginning ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. XXXIII. What shall we do therefore, brethren 1 Shall we be slothful in well-doing, and lay aside our charity ] God forbid that any such thing should be done by us ! But rather let us hasten, with all earnestness and readiness of mind, to perfect every good work ; for even the Creator and Lord of all things himself rejoices in his own works. By his Almighty ^ power he fixed the heavens, and by his incomprehensible wisdom he adorned them : he also divided the earth from the water, with which it is encompassed ; and fixed it, as a secure tower, upon the foundation of his own will : he also by his appointment, commanded all the living creatures that are upon it to exist : so likewise the sea, and all the creatures that are in it, having first created them, he inclosed them therein by his power. And, above all, he with his holy and pure hands formed man the most excellent, and, as to his understanding, truly the greatest of all earthly creatures the character of his own ' TTif f/l/t'^ that T.-ere giirn hy him iroro, he xhall hioir vhofOivt.rii'iU, one hy one, carefully and di>itinrtly considtr thrni. - Scrplrcs : Si;e Jun. Arinot. ^ (j^, ^xii. 17. * Glorified and miKjniJkd " In holint-tH of heart . * All-'jr(.a/est. y6 S^. Clement's First Epistle image. For so God says, " Let us make man in our image, after our own likeness : so God created man, male and female created he them." ^ And, having thus finished all these things, he commended all that he had made, and blessed them ; and said, " Increase and multiply." ^ We see how all righteous men have been adorned with good works ; 'v\herefore even the Lord himself, having adorned himself with his works, rejoiced. Having therefore such an^ example, let us without delay fulfil'* his will, and with all our strength work the work of righteousness. XXXIV. The good workman with confidence receives the bread of his labour ; ^ but the sluggish and lazy can- not look him in the face that sets him on work. We must therefore be ready and forward in well-doing ; for from him are all things. And thus he foretells us, " Behold, the Lord Cometh, and his reward is with him, even before his face, to render to every one according to his work." " He warns us therefore beforehand with all his heart, to this end, that we should not be slothful and negligent in well- doing. '^ Let our boasting, therefore, and our confidence be in God : ^ let us submit ourselves to his will. Let us consider the whole multitude of his angels, how ready they stand to minister unto his will ; as saith the Scripture, " Thousands of thousands stood before him, and ten thou- sand times ten thousand ministered unto him." ^ "And they cried, saying, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Sa- baoth ! ^ ^ The whole earth ^ ^ is full of his glory ! " Where- fore let us also, being conscientiously gathered together in concord with one another, as it were with one mouth cry eai'nestly unto him, that he would make us partakers of his great and glorious promises. For he saith, " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that wait for him." ^^ XXXV. How blessed and wonderful, beloved, are the gifts of God ! life in immortality brightness in righ- 1 Gen. i. 26, 27. Gen. i. 28. 3 TMs. * Come to. " Work. ^ Isaiah xl. 10; Ixii. 11. ^ Every good loorlc. ** Hhn. Dan. vii. 10. i** Isa. vi. 3. " Every creature. ^' Isa. Ixiv. 4. 1 Cor. ii. 9. to the Corinthians. yy teousness truth in full assurance faith in confidence temperance in holiness ! And all this has God ^ subjected to our understandings : what, therefore, shall those things be which he has prepared for them that wait for him 1 The Creator and Father of spirits,' the Most Holy, he only knows both the greatness ^ and beauty of them. Let us therefore strive with all earnestness, that we may be found in the number of those that wait for him ; that so we may receive the reward * which he has promised. But how, beloved, shall we do this ? We must fix our minds by faith towards God, and seek those things that are pleasing and acceptable unto him. "We must act conform- ably ^ to his holy will, and follow the way of truth, casting off" from us all unrighteousness and iniquity, together with all covetousness, strife, evil manners, deceit, whispering, detractions, all hatred of God, pride and boasting, vain- glory and ambition : for they that do these things are odious to God ; and not only they that do them, but also " all such as approve of those that do them." ^ For thus saith the Scripture, " But unto the wicked God said, what hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth ; seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee ? When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers. Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother ; thou slanderest thine own mother's son. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence ; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself : but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver. Whoso offereth praise glorificth me : and to him tnat disposeth his way aright will I show the salvation of God." ^ XXXVI. This is the way, beloved, in which wo may find our Saviour," even Jesus Christ, the high priest of all ^ He. ' Afjes. ^ Quant itij. * Gift.'^. '^ If wc Khali. ^'Per- form thoxe thin'js that, are aijrtiahh. " Jioin. i. ',\1. ** I'sal. i. 16, &c. according io the llcb. " 'J'hat ichich has the }>oivtr to nave u.i. 78 Sf. Clement's First Epistle our offerings, the defender and helper of our weakness. By him we look up to the highest heavens,^ and behold as in a glass his spotless and most excellent visage. By him are the eyes of our hearts opened ; by him our foolish and darkened understanding rejoiceth to behold his wonderful light. By him would God have us to taste the knowledge of immortality, " who, being the brightness of his glory; is by so much greater than the angels as he has by inhe- ritance obtained a more excellent name than they." ^ For so it is written, "Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire." ^ But to his Son thus saith the Lord, ''Thou art my Son, to-day have I begotten thee." ^ " Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy pos- session." ^ And again he saith unto him, " Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." ^ But who are his enemies? Even the wicked, and such who oppose their own wills to the will of God. XXXVII. Let us therefore march '^ on, men and bre- thren, with all earnestness in his holy laws. Let us con- sider those who fight under our earthly governors; how orderly, how readily, and with what exact obedience, they perform those things that are commanded them ! all are not generals,^ nor colonels,^ nor captains, ^"^ nor inferior officers ; ^^ but everyone, in his respective rank, does what is commanded him by the king, and those who have the authority over him. They who are great cannot subsist without those that are little ; nor the little without the great. But there must be a mixture in all things j and then tiiere will be use and profit too. Let us, for example, take our body : the head without the feet is nothing, nei- ther the feet without the head ; ^ ^ and even the smallest members of our body are yet both necessary and useful to the whole body. But all conspire together, and are sub- ject to one common use,^^ namely, the preservation of the whole body. ^ * 1 1/eicjUts of heaven, - Heb. i. 3, 4. ^ Psal. civ. 4. Heb. i. 7. 4Heb. i. 5. s Comp. Psal. ii. 7, 8. ^Heb. i, 13. Psal. ex. 1. I War. ^Prefects. ^ Commanders of a thousand. '^^ Centurions. II Commanders of fifty, and so on. ^- 1 Cor. xii. 13. ^^ jjse on common subjection. i-* MS. To irw/ta. to the Corinthians, 79 XXXVIII. Let therefore our whole body bo saved in Jesus Christ : and let every one be subject to his neigh- bour, according to the order in which he is placed ^ by the gift of God, 2 Let not the strong man despise the weak ; and let the weak see that he reverence the strong. Let the rich man distribute to the necessity of the poor ; and let the poor bless God that he has given unto him by whom his want may be supplied. Let the wise man show forth his wisdom, not in words but in good works. Let him that is humble not bear witness to himself, but let him leave it to another to bear witness of him. Let him that is pure in the flesh not grow proud of it, knowing that it was from another that he received ^ the gift of con- tinence. Let us consider therefore, brethren, whereof * we are made who, and what kind of men we came into the world, as it were out of a sepulchre, and from utter darkness. He that made us, and formed us, brought us into his own world, having prevented * us with his benefits even before we were born. Wherefore, having received all these things from him, we ought, in everything, to give thanks unto him ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. XXXIX. Foolish and unwise men, who have neither prudence nor learning,^ may mock and deride us, being willing to set up themselves in their own conceits. "But'^ what can a mortal man do ] Or what strength is there in him that is made out of the dust?" For it is written, *' There was no shape before mine eyes ; only I heard a sound ^ and a voice. For what ? Shall men be pure be- fore the Lord ] Shall he be blameless in his works ? Be- hold, he trusted not in his servants ; and his angels ho charged with folly. Yea, the heaven is not clean in his sight ; how much less they that dwell in houses of clay, of which also we ourselves were made ! He smote them as a moth ; and from morning even unto the evening they en- dure not. Because they were not able to help themselves 1 Aa also he has heai placed. " I/is gift. * Another that r/ave him. *0/vhat matter. ^ Prepared for us. '' .-liid ini/jrudent and irithout iTuiruclion. '^ For. ^ An air. Job iv, 10, &c. xv. 1'), iv, 19. 8o S/. Clemenfs First Epistle they perished : He breathed upon them, and they died, because they had no wisdom." "Call now,^ if there be any that will answer thee ; and to which of the angels wilt thou look % For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth him that is in error. I have seen the foolish taking root ; but, lo ! their habitation was presently consumed. Their children were far from safety ; they perished ^ at the gates of those who were lesser than themselves ; and there was no man to help ^ them. For what was prepared for them the righteous did eat : * and they shall not be de- livered from evil. XL. Seeing then these things are manifest unto us, it will behove us to take care that, looking into the depths of the divine knowledge, we do all things in order what- soever our Lord has commanded us to do ; and, particu- larly, that we perform, our offerings and service to God, at their appointed seasons : for these he has commanded to be done, not rashly ^ and disorderly, but at certain deter- minate times and hours, and therefore he has ordained, by his supreme will and authority, both where, and by what persons, they are to be performed, that so, all things being piously done unto all well-pleasing, they may be ac- ceptable unto him.^ They therefore who make their offer- ings at the appointed seasons are happy and accepted ; because that, obeying the commandments of the Lord, they are free from sin, "And the same care must be had of the persons that minister unto him : " "^ for the cliief priest has his proper services ; and to the priests their proper place is appointed ; and to the Levites appertain their proper ministers ; and the layman is confined within the bounds of what is commanded to laymen. XLL Let every one of you therefore, brethren, bless God in his proper station, with a good conscience,^ and with all gravity, not exceeding the rule of his service that is appointed to him. The daily sacrifices are not offered everywhere, nor the peace-ofl^"erings, nor the sacrifices ap- pointed for sins and transgressions, but only at Jerusu- 1 Job V. 1, &c. 2 ff^e^e crushed upon. ^Deliver. *Ate. ^ By chance. ^ To his ivill. '' See Coteler. in loc. ^ Being in a good conscience. to the Corinthians. Si leni : nor in any place there, but only at the altar before tlie temple ; that which is oiFered being first diligently ex amined by the high priest and the other ministers we be- fore mentioned. They therefore who do anything which is not agreeable to his will are punished with death. Con- sider/ brethren, that by how much the better knowledge God has vouchsafed unto us, by so much the greater danger are we exposed to. XLIl. The apostles have preached to us from our Lord Jesus Christ ; Jesus Christ from God. Christ tlierefore was sent by God, the apostles by Christ; so both were orderly sent," according to the will of God.^ For having received their command, and being thoroughly assured by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and convinced by the word of God, with the fulness * of the Holy Spirit, they went abroad, publishing that the kingdom of God was at hand. And thus, preaching through countries and cities, they appointed the first fruits of their conversions ^ to be bishops and ministers over such as should afterwards believe, having first proved them by the Spirit. Nor was this any new thing, seeing that long before it was written concerning bishops and deacons. For thus saith the Scrip- ture, in a certain place, ^ "I will appoint their overseers^ in righteousness, and their ministers in faith." XLin. And what wonder if they, to whom such a work was committed by God in Christ, established such officers as we before mentioned, when even that blessed and faith- ful servant in all his house, Moses, set down in the Holy Scriptures all things that were commanded him? Whom also all the rest of the prophets followed, bearing witness with one consent to those things that were ai)pointed by him ; for he, perceiving an emulation to arise "^ among the tribes concerning the priesthood, and that there was a strife about it, which of them should be adorned with that glorious name, command their twelve captains to bring to him twelve rods,^ every tribe being written upon its rod, according to its name. And he took them and bound 1 Fe M_p,. 2 Done. ^ 1 I'hess. i. 5. * With the fidl asam'ance, Vid. Coteler. in loc. Isa. Ix. 17. '' Jii'ihopt, dtacoiv*. ^ Sif/- ni/ii-d, ^ An tmulatioii happeninij. ^" Numb. xvii. 6" 2 St. Cleinenfs First Epistle them together, and sealed them with the seals of the twelve princes of the tribes ; and laid them up in the tabernacle of witness, upon the table of God. And when he had shut the door of the tabernacle, he sealed up the keys of it in like manner as he had done the rods ; -^ and said unto them. Men and brethren, whichsoever tribe shall have its rod blossom, that tribe has God chosen to perform the office of a priest, and to minister ^ unto him in holy things. And, when the morning was come, he called together all Israel, six hundred thousand men, and showed to their princes the seals, and opened the tabernacle of witness, and brought forth the rods. And the rod of Aaron was found not only to have blossomed, but also to have fruit upon it. What think you, beloved % did not Moses before know what should happen 1 ^ Yes, verily ; but, to the end there might be no division nor tumult in Israel, he did in this manner, that the name of the true and only God might be glorified : to him be honour for ever and ever. Amen. XLIV. So likewise our apostles knew, by our Lord Jesus Christ, that there should contentions arise upon ac- count of the ministry,* And therefore, having a perfect foreknowledge of this, they appointed persons, as we have before said, and then gave direction, how, when they should die, other chosen and approved men should succeed in their ministry.^ Wherefore we cannot think that those may justly be thrown out of their ministry who were either appointed by them, or afterwards chosen by other eminent men, with the consent of the whole church, and who with all lowliness and innocency ministered to the flock of Christ, in peace and without self-interest, and were for a long time commended by all. For it would be no small sin in lis, should we cast off those from their ministry '^ who holily, and without blame, fulfil the duties ^ of it. Blessed are those priests who, having finished their coi;rse ^ And the. rods. ^ To exercise the office of the priesthood, and to minister, &c. 3 That this should he so. * About the name of the bishopric. " Le/t a list of other chosen and approved persons, irho should succeed them in their ministry. See Dr. Arden's Disc, upon tliis passaj,'e, and Dr. Hammond's Power of the Keys, c. iii. p. 413. 6 Bishopric, '^ Offer the gifts. to the Corinthians. 83 before these times, have obtained a fruitful and perfect dissolution ; for they have no fear lest anyone should turn them out of the place which is now appointed for them. But we see how you have put out some who lived reputably among you from the ministry, which by their innocence they had adorned. XLV. Ye are contentious, brethren, and zealous for things that pertain not unto salvation. Look into the Holy Scriptures, which are the true words of the Holy Ghost. Ye know that there is nothing unjust or counter- feit written in them. There you shall not find that righ- teous men were ever cast off by such as were good them- selves. They^ were persecuted, it is true, but it was by the wicked and unjust : they were cast into prison, but they were cast in by those that were unholy : they were stoned, but it was by transgressors : tbey were killed, but by accursed meUj^and such as had taken up an unjust envy against them. And all these things ^ they underwent glo- riously. For what shall we say, brethren 1 Was Daniel cast into the den^ of lions by men fearing God ? Ananias, Azarius, and Misael, were they cast into* the fiery fur- nace by men professing the excellent and glorious wor- ship of the Most High 1 God forbid ! What kind of persons then were they that did these things 1 They were men abominable, full of all wickedness, who were incensed to so great a degree as to bi-ing those into sufferings who with a holy and unblamable purpose of mind w^orshipped God ; not knowing that the Most High is the protector and defender of all such as with a pure conscience'^ sei've his holy name : to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. But they who with a full persuasion have endured these things are made partakers of^ glory and lionour ; and are exalted^ and lifted up by God, in their memorial through- out all ages. Amen. XLVI. Wherefore it will behove us also, brethren, to follow^" such examples as these; for it is written, "Hold 1 Just men. 2 Svffering them thinga they undenvent them r/lori- ously. ^ Ban. vi. 16. " * Shut into. '^ Dan. iii. 20. Worship- pinrj the ironhip. '' Full of virtue, Have inherited, Have been exalted. i" To cleave to. 84 St. Clements First Epistle fast to such as are holy ; for they that do so shall be sanc- tified." And again in another place he saith,i " With the pure thou shalt be pure ['^and with the elect thou shalt be elect], but with the perverse man thou shalt be per- verse."^ Let us therefore join ourselves to the innocent and righteous ; for such are the elect of God. Wherefore are there strifes, and anger, and divisions, and schisms, and wars among us ? Have we not all one God and one Christ 1* Is not one Spirit of grace poured out among us all? Have we not one calling in Christ 1 Why then do we rend and tear in pieces the members of Christ, and raise seditions against our own body % And are come to such a height of madness as to forget that we were " mem- bers one of another?"^ Remember the words of our Lord Jesus, how he said,''^ "Woe to that man [by whom offences come] !^ It were better for him that he had never been born than that he should have offended one of my elect. It were better for him that a millstone should be tied about his neck, and he should be cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of my little ones." Your schism has perverted many, has discouraged many ; it has caused diffidence in many, and grief in us all. And yet your sedition continues still. XLVII. Take the epistle of the blessed Paul the apostle into your hands. What was it that he wrote to you at the first preaching of the gospel among you ? Verily he did by the Spirit admonish you'-" concerning himself, and Ce- phas, and Apollos, because that even then ye had begun to fall into parties^ '' and factions among yourselves. Ne- vertheless your partiality then led you into a much less sin, forasmuch as ye placed ^^ your affections upon apostles, men of eminent^ ^ reputation in the church ; and upon an- other who was greatly tried and approved of by them. But consider, we pray you, who were they that have now led you astray, and lessened the reputation i* of that bro- 1 Psal. xvii. 2. 2 Omitted by Junius, and now restored from the MS. s Turn aside. *Eph. iv. 4. 1 Cor. xii. ^ Rom. xii. 5. 7 Fo7- he said. ^ Luke xvii. See Mr. Dodwell's Add. ad Pearson. Chronol. p. 223. Dr. Grabe'a Spicileg. tom. I. p. 256. ^'^Spiritually send to you. 1 Cor. i. 12. ^^Inclinations [for one above another-1. "^"^ Inclined i ^^ Witnessed of . ^-^ Gravity. to the Corinthians. 85 therly love that was so eminent* among you? It is a shame, my beloved, yea a very great shame, and unworthy of your Christian profession,^ to hear that the most firm and ancient church^ of the Corinthians should, by one or two persons, be led into a sedition against its priests. And this report is come not only to us, but to those also that differ from us : insomuch that the name of the Lord is blasphemed through your folly, and even ye yourselves are brought into danger by it. XLVIII. Let us, therefore, with all haste, put an end to* this sedition; and let us fall down before the Lord, and beseech him with tears that he would be favourably reconciled* to us, and restore us again to a seemly^ and holy course of brotherly love. For this is the gate of righteousness, opening unto life : as it is written, " Open unto me the gates of righteousness ; I will go in unto them and will praise the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord : the righteous shall enter into it."^ Although there- fore many gates are opened, yet this gate of righteousness is that gate in Christ at which blessed are all they that enter in, and direct their way in holiness and righteous- ness, doing all things without disorder. Let a man be faithful ; let him be powerful in the utterance of know- ledge; let him be wise in making an e.xact judgment of words ; let him be pure in all his actions : but still by how much the more he seems to be above ^ others by reason of these things, by so much the more will it behove him to be humble-minded, and to seek what is profitable to all men and not his own advantage. XLIX. He that has tlie love that is in Christ, let him keep the commandments of Christ. For who is able to express the obligation'* of the love of God ? What man is sufficient to declare as is fitting the excellency of its beauty ? The height to whicli charity leads is inexpress- ible. Charity unites'"^ "^ us to God: charity " covers the multitude of 8ins:"ii charity "endures all things," 1- is 1 So much spohn of. 2 Institution. 3 gee Mr. DocUvell, 1. c. p. 2'2'2. * 'J'aknaicay. ^ lU coming favourable. '^(!r I'sal. cxli, 5. go Sf. Clement's First Epistle shalt laugh at the wicked and sinners ; neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth. The wild beasts shall be at peace with thee : then shalt thou know that thy house shall be in peace ; and the habitation of thy taber- nacle shall not err. Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thy offspring as the grass of the earth. Thou shalt come to thy grave as the ripe corn that is taken in due time, like as a shock of corn cometh in its season." ^ Ye see, beloved, how there shall be a defence to those that are corrected of the Lord ; for, being a good instructor, he is willing to admonish us by his holy dis- cipline. LVII. Do ye, therefore, who laid the first foundation of this sedition, submit yourselves unto your priests ; ^ and be instructed unto repentance, bending the knees of your hearts. Learn to be subject, laying aside all proud and arrogant boasting of your tongues ; for it is better for you to be found little, and approved in the sheepfold of Christ,^ than to seem to yourselves better than others, and be cast out of his fold. * For thus speaks the excellent and all- virtuous AVisdom, " Behold, I will pour out the word of my spirit upon you ; I will make known my speech unto you. Because I called, and ye would not hear, I stretched out my words, and ye regarded not ; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof, I will also laugh at your calamity, and mock when your fear cometh. "When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you, then 'ye shall call upon me, but I will not hear you. The wicked shall seek me, but they shall not find me ; for that they hated knowledge, and did not seek the fear of the Lord. They would not hearken unto my counsel ; they despised all my reproof : therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own ways, and be filled with their own wickedness."^ *** *** -it--** LVIII. Now God, the inspector of all things, the Father " 1 Job. V. 17, &c. - Eklcrti, 3 See Junius in loc. i See Coteler. in loc. * Prov. i. 2.3, &c. Master. to the Corinthians. 91 of spirits, and the Lord of all flesh who hath chosen our Lord Jesus Christ, and us by him to be his peculiar people grant to every soul of man that calleth upon his glorious and holy name, faith, fear, peace, long-suftering, patience, temperance, holiness, and sobriety, unto all well-pleasing in his sight ; ^ through our high priest and protector Jesus Christ, by whom be glory, and majesty, and power, and honour, unto Him, now and for evermore. Amen, LIX. The messengers whom we have sent unto you Claudius Ephebus, and Valerius Bito, with Fortunatus send back to us again, with all speed, in peace and with joy, that they may the sooner acquaint us with your peace and concord, so much prayed for and desired by us, and that we may rejoice in your good order. LX. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, and with all that are anywhere called by God through him, to whom be honour and glory, and might, and majesty, and eternal dominion, by Christ Jesus, ^ from everlasting to everlasting. Amen. ^ 7b hh name. 2 fjim. PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE ON THE EPISTLE OF ST. POLYCARP TO THE PHILIPPIANS. Of the time when St. Polycarp wrote this Epistle The reason of its being placed before the Epistles of Ignathis That St. Polycarp wrote several other pieces yet nothing of his now remaining but only this Epistle Whether this Epistle has been interpolated as those of Ignatius were The latter part of it vindicated against the exceptions of Mo?is. DailM, and some others Of the translation of it into our own language by Dr. Cave and of the present edition of it. 1. The next piece that follows in the present collection is the epistle of St, Polycarp to the Philippians, in placing of which I have followed the example, not so much of our most reverend Archbishop Usher, ^ as of St. Polycarp him- self : though, in the order of time, the epistles of Ignatius ought to have had the precedence, St. Polycarp not writing this letter to the Philippians till about, or a little after, the time that glorious martyr suffered for the faith of Christ ; as from several passages in the epistle itself may plainly be made to appear. 2. For, first, having in his ninth chapter exhorted the Philippians to "obey the word of righteousness, and to exercise all patience," after the examples of those holy men whom they had seen among them, he particularly instances in Ignatius ^ as one of them. Now the Acts of the martyrdom of that holy bishop tell us that the time when they beheld his " patience set forth before their eyes " was when he passed by them in chains to Rome, in order to his being cast to the wild beasts, according to the sentence pronounced upon him by the emperor Trajan : ^ by conse- quence that this epistle must have been written some time after his condemnation. 3. But St. Polycarp goes yet farther, and in the next words supposes that Ignatius might have been dead at the 1 Fklit. Polycarp. et Ignat. Oxon. Annot. 1644. 2 Epist. of Volycarp, num. ix. 3 Mart, of Igiiat. num. x. 92 On St. Polycarp's Epistle. 93 time that he wrote to them. For, enforcing his exhorta- tion to them to follow the examples of Ignatius, and the rest of those excellent men whom he there names, he sub- joins, "Being confident of this, that all these have not run in vain, but in faith and righteousness, and are gone to the place that was due to them from the Lord, with whom also they suffered; for they loved not this present world, but him who died and was raised again by God for us." In which words he evidently implies that Ignatius too, as well as the rest of those whom he there mentions, was by this time gone to the " place that was due to him from the Lord, upon the account of his sufferings ; " and by consequence had finished his martyrdom. 4. It was, then, about the time of Ignatius's death that St. Polycarp wrote this epistle to the Philippians. And yet that if this holy man had suffered, it was but a very little time that he had done so, as is clear from another passage of the same epistle, " where he desires the Philip- pians to send him word " what they had heard with any certainty concerning Ignatius, and those that went to Rome with him. From whence it appears that, though he sup- posed that Ignatius by that time might have suffered, yet he had not received any certain account of it, but was still to learn the manner and circumstances of his passion. 5. Now this will lead us to a yet more exact conjecture of the time of St. Polycarp's writing the following epistle, viz. that it must have been just about the time of St. Ig- natius's death : it being no way probable that, had Igna- tius been any long time dead, so great a bishop, and so dear a friend of his as St. Polycarp was, should have been still to learn the certainty of it. 6. And this may serve, by the way, not only to fix the time when this epistle was written, namely, at the cud of the year of our Lord 116, or in the beginning of 117; but also to show how groundless the exception of those men '^ is against the authority of it, who pretend to find out a contradiction between the two passages I have now mentioned, and would from thence infer either the utter 1 Epist. of Polycarp, num. xiv. 2 Dailhoua in Paeudepigr. cap. xxxii. p. 428. Lurroquc Obbcrvnt. in Pearson, p. C'J. 94 Preliminary Discourse falseness of this whole epistle, or at least conclude that this latter part of it is none of Polycarp's, but added by- some later hand, to give the greater credit to the epistles of St. Ignatius, which they are resolved by all means to reject as none of his. For, indeed, were not men willing to be contentious, where is the contradiction they so much boast of between the two places I have before alleged ? Is it that in the former of them he sets before them the suf- ferings of St. Ignatius, and exhorts them to follow the ex- ample of his patience? But it is evident the sufferings that he there speaks of were those which the Philippians had seen in him, the weight of his chains, the hardships of his journey, the rudeness of the soldiers that guarded him, and of which the blessed martyr himself complains, in one of his epistles ; ^ and, to add no more, the expecta- ,tion of that cruel death he was suddenly to undergo. 7. But I suppose the contradiction lies in what follows, that in one place ^ he speaks of him as if he had already suffered ; and yet, in the other, desires the Philippians to send him word what they had heard of it. Now what is there in all this that does not very well agree together ? St. Polycarp, either by the computation of the arrival of Ignatius at Eome, or by the consideration of the solemn festival that was wont at that time to be held there, and at which it was usual to exhibit such kind of spectacles to the people, or it may be, lastly, from the accounts which he had received of this holy martyr from some .of those that were with him, did suppose, nay, if you will, did not doubt, but that Ignatius was dead when he wrote his epistle to the Philippians. Yet, having not hitherto re- ceived any certain account of it, and not being absolutely sure whether he had suffered or not, or, if he had, how he had been treated by his enemies, and how he had be- haved himself in his last encounter with the beasts, de- sires the Philippians, who were much nearer to Rome than he was, and might, therefore, very, probably have heard much later from thence than he had done, to send him a certain account of what they knew as to this matter. 1 Ignat. Epist. to the Romans, cap. v. Vid. Daillasum et Larroquo, loc. cit. On St. Polycarp^s Epistle. 95 What is there in all this, I do not say that looks like a contradiction, but that is not very natural, and particularly most becoming the love and friendship of the blessed Poly- carp towards him concerning whom he so diligently en- quired? I am sure Photius,^ who had not only read this epistle, but transcribed this last passage out of it, though a severe critic as any that have ever perused it since, saw no contradiction in it to anything that went before ; for, if he had, he was not of a humour to have let it pass without making some reflection or other upon it. 8. Let me add yet more, that neither could those see the contradiction here pretended, who, in our present times, would have been as forward as any to have made use of it to the disadvantage of this epistle, had they had but the least grounds so to do. I shall instance only in two : the first, the late learned divine of Leyden, Mons. le Moyne ;^ who, though he judged the passage relating to St. Ignatius's epistles which was wanting in his manu- script to be abrupt, and would from thence argue against the authority of it, yet has he made no reflection on the words immediately following, in which those others will have the contradiction to lie. 9. The other that I shall mention, in opposition to this pretence, is a yet later writer, Ernestns Tentzelius f who, though no great friend to this epistle, which he supposes to have been corrupted, no less than those of Ignatius were in the ancient editions of them, yet utterly refuses to com- ply with this objection, as not apprehending that there w-as the least ground for it. 10. But, to return from this digression, in answer to the exceptions of two of the most learned adversaries of this epistle against the credit of it, though, as I have now sliown, St. Polycarp wrote not to the lMiili|)pians till after the death of St. Ignatius, and consequently this cfjistle, in order of time, ought to have l)ccn placed after those which the other wrote immediately before it, yet was it fit t give this the precedency in tlie following collection, both as containing a most proper introduction to the epistles of 1 I'hotius liiljl. tmcm. cxxvi. p. 305. * Prolog, ad. Var. Sacr. In Polycarp. ^ Kxorcit. Select, cxerc. iv. num. xlii. p. 157. g6 Preliminary Discourse Ignatius, and as having, in all probability, been first sent, in the same order, by St. Polycarp to the Philippiaus. 11. For thus we find that holy man speaking to them in the close of his letter : ^ "The epistles of Ignatius, which he wrote unto us, together with what others of his have come to our hands, we have sent unto you according to your order : which are subjoined to this epistle." So both Eusebius "^ transcribed it out of the original Greek, and so we find it in our ancient Latin version,^ which is all that remains of that part of this epistle. From whence our learned Archbishop Usher,* with great reason, concludes that St. Polycarp caused the copies of St. Ignatius's epistles to be immediately added at the end of his own, and sent them to the Philippians together with it. 12. And this, perhaps, may have been one great means of preserving this epistle of St. Polycarp from the fate that has attended all the rest of his writings. For, being wont to be transcribed together with those of Ignatius, and commonly placed at the front of them, they mutually helped to secure one another : whilst the rest of his writ- ings, for want of being thus collected together, have for a long time been so utterly lost to the world that neither Photius,*^ nor St. Hierome,^ nor Eusebius,'' seem to have had any particular catalogue of them. Nor hath Irenajus, the disciple of St. Polycarp, given us such a one. 13. Indeed, for what concerns the last of these, I mean Irena3us,^ he tells us that this great man did write several epistles, not only to the neighbouring churches, to confirm them in the faith, but even to particular persons, for their instruction and admonition. But what they were, or to whom they were sent, neither does he say, nor does Euse- bius, where he speaks of the writings of St. Polycarp, mention any more than that epistle to the Philippians of Avhich we are now discoursing. And though a few later authors^ pretend to give us tlie very titles of some other ^ Polycarp. Epist. num. xiii. ^jjuseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. cap. 36. 3 Apud. Usser. p. 24. ^Dissert, de Ignat. Epist. cap. ii. 6 Photii Bibl. tmem. cxxvi. p. 305. ^ Y)q Script. Eccles. in Poly- carp. ^Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. c. 15. ^Iren. Epist. ad Florin, apud Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. v. c. 20. S. Maximua Prolog, in Dionys. Areop, Suidas in Polycarp, &c. Vid. Usserii On St. Polycarp's Epistle. 97 of his works, yet have we reason to doubt, from this silence of those who lived the nearest to his time, that their au- thority is but small ; nor can we say that even the pieces which they name are anywhere to be found at this day. 14. Nor shall I except here those fragments lately pub- lished by Fevardentius/ out of Victor Capuanus, and re- printed by Bishop Usher, ^ in his appendix to Ignatius; in which, as there are some things which neither Father Hal- loix nor our learned Usher ^ could approve of as written by St. Polycarp, so the distance of him * who was the first collector of them from the time of that blessed martyr, and the manifest proofs he has, on other occasions, given of his little care and judgment in distinguishing the works of the ancient fathers who lived any long time before him (not to say anything of the passages themselves ascribed to St. Polycarp, but little agreeable to the apostolic age) ; all these considerations have justly restrained learned men from giving any great credit to those fragments, or from receiving them as belonging in any wise to so ancient an author. 15. But, whatever becomes of these fragments, certain it is that the epistle which I have here subjoined is the genuine work of this holy man, and worthy of that great character which antiquity has given of it. Even Mons. Daille * himself confesses that, excepting only the close of it, against which it was necessary for him to declare him- self, there is nothing in it that either ought to offend any, or that may be thought unworthy of Polycarp. But Le Mojne "^ goes yet farther : he tells us that he does not see how any one can entertain the least suspicion against it that there is not, perhaps, any work extant that has more certain evidences of its being genuine than this in short, that, if it sliall be lawful to doubt of this, there will be no Dissert, de Script. Ignat. p. 4, 5. Tcntzcl. Exerc. Select, de Poly- carp, num. xxxvi. xxxvii. ^ Ad lib. iii. c. \\. Iieiijci. '^ Lond. 1647, p. 31. 3 U.s.serii Annot. loo. cit. pp. 72, 73. * Victor Capuanus : lie lived anno 54"). ' Cave Hist. Liter, in Polycarp. p. 28. Le Moyne Prol. ad Var. Sacr. Tentzol. Exercit. Select, iv. de Polycarp. n. xlix. Du Pin: Bibl. lOccl. in Polycarp. &c. " De Scriptia Ignatian. cap. xxxii. ^ Prol. ad Var. tiacr. torn. i. in Polycarp. O 98 Preliminary Discourse monument of antiquity left which we may not as well call in question, and reject as spurious. 16. Indeed, so general is the reception which learned men,^ on all sides, have given to this epistle, that I might well omit any farther discourse in confirmation of the credit and authority of it; but yet, seeing there have been two things started by some of late, if not utterly to destroy, yet at least to lessen the reputation of this piece, I will consider, in short, what may fairly be replied to both their exceptions. 17. Now the first is that of Tentzelius,^ in his exercitation upon this epistle ; who, though he allows it to be undoubt- edly genuine, yet supposes it to have been corrupted by the same hand that we confess ^ did corrupt the epistles of Ignatius, about 600 years after Christ. But to this I reply, first, that it is allowed that there is nothing in this epistle that may give any just grounds for the suspicion of any such fraud as this, it being acknowledged, even by Monsieur Daill6 himself (one of the greatest adversaries of it) to be an epistle in all respects worthy of St. Poly- carp, excepting only in the close of it, which I shall more particularly consider by and by. So that either we have this epistle pure and uncorrupted as it was first written, or at least we have it so little prejudiced by any alterations that may have been made in it that there is nothing in the epistle, as it now is^ dangerous, in point either of faith or manners, or that might not have well enough been written by St. Polycarp. But this was not the case with the epis- tles of St. Ignatius,^ which not only laboured under many impertinences unbecoming the character of that great man, but were fraught with many things that were altogether fabulous; nay, if we may credit Archbishop Usher, ^ had some passages in them that tended to corrupt the very faith of Christ, in one of the most considerable points of it. 1 Vid. apud Tentzel. de Polycarp. Dissert, iv. num. xli. p. 157. 2 Exercit. Select. Exercit. iv. num. xlii. &c. 47. ^ Usserii Dissert. de Epist. Ignat. cap. vi. p. 33. * Vid. Dissert. Usser. c. x. xi. p. 63, &c. 5 Ibid. c. XV. p. 103. This Dr. Grabe has confirmed, proving the interpolator of Ignatius'a Epistles to have been an Arian. Spicileg. PP. sec. ii. pp. 225, 22G. On St. Polycarp's Epistle. 99 18. But, secondly, that the epistles of St. Ignatius had been corrupted was evident from disagreement ^ of the copies which we usually had of them from the quotations of the ancient fathers of the first five centuries out of them. Now this was a most unquestionable demonstra- tion of their having been changed from what they were in those first ages in which those fathers lived : and accord- ingly proved to be so, when the old Latin version of Bishop Usher first, and then the Florentine Greek edition of the learned Isaac Vossius, came to be compared with those editions that had before been extant of them. But neither does this exception appear against the present epistle, which agrees with what is quoted both by Eusebius ^ and others out of it ; and thereby clearly shows our present copy to be sincere and uncorrupted. 19. Seeing then there is nothing but a mere conjecture for the depravation of this epistle, and such a just reason to conclude that there is no good foundation for it (to be sure none that may compare with the arguments we have against it), I think we may conclude that, for anything yet appearing to the contrary, we not only have the genu- ine epistle of St. Polycarp, but this epistle free from any de- signed corruptions or depravations of it. 20. Nor is there any more, I do not say that there is much less, weight, in the other supposal of Monsieur Daille, continued and abetted by his learned defender, Monsieur Larroque,^ though without any other or greater proof than what had been before fully answered by our most learned and judicious Bishop Pearson ; namely that this epistle originally ended at the doxology which wo meet with in chapter the twelfth, and tluit what fullows con- cerning the epistles of St. Ignatius has been added to it by some later hand. But now what proof do they ofter of this 1 what authority have they to support such a sup- position ? This they pretend not to. All they have to say is that the doxology which wo find there seems to im- ply that the epistle originally went no farther, and that in Usserii DiHsert. Ignat. cap. iii. p. 12. ' Kuscb. Hist. Ecclcs. lib. iii. c. 30. Photiua IJibl. trneni. cxxvi. p. 305. * Vid. Larroejae Obscrv. iu Vind. Pear&. p. 65, 66. 100 Preliminary Discourse what follows there is a flat contradiction to what went before ; the close of the epistle, speaking of Ignatius as if he were still alive, whom the true Polycarp had before set forth to the Philippians as having "suffered," and "been gone to the place that was prepared for him." 21. As for what concerns the latter of these suggestions, I have already shown how vain and groundless it is. Nor can we reasonably suppose that any one who designed to serve a turn, by corrupting such an epistle as this, would have been either so negligent as not once to read over the piece he was about to make so considerable an addition to, or, having read it, would have been so foolish as to have, without any need, subjoined a request to the Philippians, directly contrary to what the true Polycarp had told them before, and which, by consequence, would be sure to dis- cover the fraud, and frustrate the design of it. 22. So little appearance of reason is there in this sug- gestion, which yet these learned men insist upon as their main argument against the latter part of this epistle. As for the other objection which they bring against it, viz. that St. Polycarp must have concluded at the twelfth chapter, because of the vow which he there makes for those to whom he wrote ; I reply first, that this is at the best but a very uncertain guess : seeing it is notorious, to all that have ever read the epistles, either of the apostles or those that fol- lowed after, that nothing is more common than to meet with such kind of conclusions, not only in the end, but in the beginning ^ and middle ; - in short, in all the parts of their epistles. To look no farther than the epistle with which we have begun this collection, of St. Clement to the Co- rinthians, how many of these sorts of stops may we find in the progress of it ? I am sure there are not less than seven or eight of them. But I suppose he would be thought very ridiculous who should therefore reject all that fol- lowed the first of these as none of St. Clement's, but pieced on to the end of his epistle by some other hand, merely because the doxology seemed to imply his having con- cluded there. 1 See 1 Tim. i. 17. sEphes. iii. 20. Rom. xv. 33. Dr. Hammond Annot. in Rom. xiv. On St. Pcly carp's Epistle. lOt 23. But to lay aside conjectures, and proceed to that which will put a final end to this difficulty, I observe, secondly, that this passage, -whjch tbefe men deny to be St. Polycarp's, and suppose tc have been addoo to it by some later hand, is expressly quoted by Eiisebius. ' in his Ecclesiastical History, as a part of this epistle. _ If there- fore it be the addition of* some other hand,' it is evident it was made to it before Eusebius's time, that is to say, within two hundred years after the time of St. Polycarp's writing of it ; and whether this be probable we will now more particularly enquire. 24. For the better clearing of which, I must observe that this epistle of St. Polycarp, like that of St. Clement foregoing, was for several hundreds of years wont to be publicly read in the churches of Asia : so St. Jerome ^ informs us ; or, as his interpreter Sophronius renders him, in the synod or convention of Asia ; by which a learned man ^ supposes we are to understand some common meet- ings of the Christians in those parts, answerable to the like assemblies of the Gentiles there ; and that in these this epistle was wont to be read to them. 25. Hence Ircnseus * speaks of it as an epistle that was in everj'body's hand, and obvious to be read by any, for the benefit of their faith and manners ; which being so, it can hardly be supposed but that so inquisitive a searcher into antiquity as Eusebius was must needs have been very well acquainted with it, and doubtless have had a true and genuine copy of it. Seeing then he produces this passage as a part of this epistle, which was generally received as authentic in his days; and that the epistle itself, being spread into all hands, and publicly read in the Eastern churches, immediately after the death of its greater author, could not have been corrupted or altered but the cheat must needs have been discovered (of which yet we have not the least intimation in all antiquity) ; I think it cannot be doubted but that this, as well as the rest of that epistle, was written by St. Polycarp himself, and not added to his 1 Enseb. Hist. Pkclcs. lib. ill. c. 38. 2 Hicron. de Script, in Polycaq). ' Lo Moyne I'rolegoin. ad Var. Sacr. < Apud Euseb. Hist. Ecclea. ib. v. cap. 14. 102 Preliminary Discourse, &c. epistle by some latei' hand, as is suggested, not only with- out all ground, but against such plain and unanswerable evidence to the contrary. _ 26. Havirig said thus r.iiuch in vindication of this epistle, and to ckar it.frqm those prejudices that have of late been raised' agajii^t /it,', it remains .only for me to observe that, though the following translation was truly made from the Greek and Latin copies of it set out by Bishop Usher first, and since reprinted by Cotelerius in his collection of the apostolical fathers, yet this is not the first time that this epistle has appeared in our language. For our most dili- gent and learned countryman Dr. Cave, having a just respect to the worth of a piece so highly applauded among the ancients, and so well deserving the esteem of all good men, thought it would be no unuseful digression to present to his reader so venerable a monument of the primitive church, and therefore subjoined it entirely to his account of the life of St. Polycarp, in a most accurate English translation of it. 27. It would, no doubt, have been more to the reader's satisfaction to have met with that translation of this epistle here, than to find another, which he may have just reason to suppose can never equal that which was finished by so great a hand. And indeed I could have been glad to have rendered the following collection more considerable, by the reputation of a translation made by so eminent an author. But, however, as it now is, I hope it may not be unaccept- able to the pious peruser of it, who, whatever other defects he may find in it, may yet, I am pretty confident, depend upon the exactness of the translation ; seeing, I perceive, by an after collation of it, that it does not differ, in any- thing that is material, from that of the judicious and worthy Dr. Cave. ^ Dr. Cave'a Lives of the Apostolical Fathers, in St. Polycarp. CONTENTS OF ST. POLYCARP'S EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. After the Salutation, ). He commends the Piiilippians for their respect to those who suffered for the gospel, and for their own faith and piety. I. 2. He exhorts them to continue in both ; and that, particularly, from the consideration of the resurrection and judgment to come. II. For their better accomplishing whereof, 3. He advises them to call to mind the doctrine which St. Paul had taught them, whilst he was in person among them, and after wrote to them in his epistle. 111. The sum of all which he now goes on particularly to set before them : I. As TO Practical Duties. 1. Faith, hope, charity. III. 2. Against covetousness. IV. 3. The duties of husbands, wives, widows. lb; 4. Of deacons, young men, virgins. V. 5. Uf presbyters. VI. All which he again enforces with the consideration of that account we must one day give to God of all our actions. II. As TO Matters of Faith. 1. What we are to believe concerning our Saviour Christ, his nature, and sufferings. VII. 2. Of the future resurrection and judgment. lb. Which being thus set forth, he finally exhorts them, 1. To prayer. VII. 2. To steadfastness in their faith. VIII. 103 104 Contents. Enforced from the examples of the patience and constancy. Of our Saviour Christ. lb. Of his apostles and saints. IX. 3. To carefulness in all well-doing. X. And more particularly yet, from the miscarriage of Valens, who had been a presbyter among them, he exhorts them, 4. To beware of covetousness. XI. 5. Not to be too severe towards such persons, either in their censures of them, or behaviour towards them. XII. He prays for them, and then exhorts them, 6. To pray for all others. lb. And having thus done with what was instructive of his epistle, he advertises them of his sending Ignatius's epistles to them, XIII. And desires an account of him from them. XIV, And, lastly, he recommends Crescens, by whom he wrote this epistle, together with his sister, to their favour and assist- ance, lb. THE EPISTLE OF ST. POLYCARP TO THE PHILIPPIANS. Polycarp, and the Presbyters that are with him, to the Church of God ichich is i at Philippi : inercy unto you, and peace, from God Almighty, and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour, be multiplied. I. I REJOICE greatly with you, in our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye received the images of true love, and accompa- nied as it behoved you those who are in bonds, becoming saints, which are the crowns of such as are truly chosen by God and our Lord : as also that the root of the faith, which was preached from ancient times, remains firm in you^ to this day, and brings forth fruit to our Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered himself to be brought even to the death, for our sins. " Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death : " * " whom, having not seen, ye love ; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory ; " * into which many desire to enter, knowing that " by grace ye are saved," ^ not by works, but by the will of God, through Jesus Christ. ir. Wherefore, girding up the loins of your mind, serve the Lord with fear, and in truth ; ^ laying aside all empty and vain speech, and the error of many ; " believing in him that raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, and hath given him glory " ^ and a throne at his right hand ; to whom all things are made subject, " both that are in heaven, and that are in earth ; " ^ whom every living crea- ture^ shall worship ; who shall come to be the judge of the quick and dead ; whose blood God shall require of ' 'ojoumeth. * Firm root remains in you. ^ Acts ii. 24. * 1 Pet. i. 8. Eph. ii. 8. i ivt. i. 13. ^ y^.^i n n. 1 Pet. i. 21. Phil. ii. 10. i" Breath. 05 lo6 The Epistle of St. Poly carp them that believe not in him. But he that raised Christ ^ up from the dead shall also raise up us in like manner, if we do his will, and walk according to^ his commandments, and love those things which he loved ; abstaining from all unrighteousness,^ " inordinate* affection, and love of money, from evil speaking, false witness; not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing," or striking for striking, or cursing for cursing ; but remembering what the Lord has taught us, saying, "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged : forgive, and ye shall be forgiven." Be ye merciful, and ye shall obtain mercy : " for with the same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to you again." ^ And again, " Blessed are the poor, and they that are persecuted for righteousness' sake ; for theirs is the kingdom of God." ^ III. These things, my brethren, I took not the liberty of myself to write unto you concerning righteousness, but you yourselves before encouraged me to it ; for neither can I, nor any other such as I am, come up to the wisdom of the blessed and renowned Paul, who, being himself in person with those who then lived, did with all exactness and soundness teach the word of truth, ^ and, being gone from you, wrote an espistle^ to you : into which if you look, you will be able to edify yourselves in the faith that has been delivered unto you, which is the mother of us all ; being followed with hope, and led on by a general love, both towards God, and towards Christ, and towards our neighbour. For, if any man has'^^ these things, he has ful- filled the law of righteousness ; for he that has charity is far from all sin. IV. But "the love of money is the root of all evil."'^-'- Knowing therefore that, as " we brought nothing into this world, so neither may we carry anything out;"^'^ let us arm ourselves^ ^ with the armour of righteousness, and teach ourselves first to walk according to the command- ments of the Lord, and then our wives to walk likwise 1 Him. 2 /tj, 3 Injustice. * Eph. iv. 19. Coloss. iii. 5. 1 Pet. iii, 9. * Said to us teaching. Matt, vii, 1, Luke vi. 37, 38. '' Matt, v, iii. 10. Luke vi. 20. 8 ^j^j i.\nhUs, con- cerning truth. ^Epistles, Vid. Annot, Coteler. inloc. "^^ Be within. li Beginning of all troubles or difficulties, ;^aXtfay. ^'^ 1 Tim. vi. 7. 13 Be armed. to the Phittppiani. I07 according to ^ the faith that is given to them in charity ^ and in purity, loving their own husbands with all sincerity,' and all others alike with all temperance ; and to bring up their children in the instruction and * fear of the Lord. The widows likewise teach that they be sober as to what concerns the faith of the Lord, praying always for all men j being far from all detraction, evil-speaking, false witness, from covetousness, and from all evil ; knowing that they are the altars of God, who ^ sees all blemishes, and from whom nothing is hid ; who searches out the very reason- ings, and thoughts, and secrets of our hearts. V. Knowing therefore that God is not mocked, we ought to walk worthy both of his command and of his glory. Also the deacons must be blameless before him, ^ as the ministers of God in Christ, and not of men ; not false accusers, nor double-tongued ; not lovers of money, but moderate '' in all things ; compassionate, careful ; walk- ing according to the truth of the Lord, who was the ser- vant of all ; whom if we please in this present world, we shall also be made partakers of that which is to come, according as he has promised to us that he will raise us from the dead, and that, if we shall walk worthy of him, we shall also reign together with him, if we believe. In like manner the younger men must be unblamable in all things ; above all taking care of their purity, and to re- strain themselves from all evil. For it is good to be cut off from the lusts that are in the world ; because every such " lust warreth against the spirit," ^ and "neither for- nicators, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, shall inherit the kingdom of God," ^ nor they who do such things as are fooh'sh and unreasonable. Wherefore ye must needs abstain from all these things, being subject to the priests ^ and deacons, as unto God and Christ. The virgins admonish to walk in a spotless and pure conscience. VL And let the elders '^ ^ be compassionate and merciful towards all ; turning ^^ them from their errors ; seeking out 1 /ra. 2/^ore. ^ Truth, * Of the. ^ And that he. ^ IJU ri'jhtf.ounne.'iii. ^ Conlintnt. ** 1 Pet. ii. 11. "1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. 1" Eldtra, " Prtubylcra. ^- Ezek. xxxiv. 4. io8 The Epistle of St. Poly carp those that are weak ; not forgetting the widows, the father- less, and the poor; but always " providing what is good both in the sight of God and man : " ^ abstaining from all wrath, respect of persons, and unrighteous judgment; and especially being free from all covetousness : not easy to believe ^ anything against any ; not severe in judgment, knowing that we are all debtors in point of sin. If there- fore we pray to the Lord that he would forgive us, we ought also to forgive others, for we are all in the sight of our Lord and God, and " must all stand before the judg- ment-seat of Christ." ^ and shall every one give an account of ^ himself. Let us therefore serve him in fear, and with all reverence, as both himself hath commanded and as the apostles who have preached the gospel unto us, and the prophets who have foretold the coming of our Lord, have taught us ; being zealous of what is good ; abstaining from all offence and from false brethren, and from those who bear the name of Christ in hypocrisy, who deceive vain men. VIL For '* whosoever does not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, he is antichrist ; " ^ and whoever does not confess his suffering upon the cross ^ is from the devil ; and whosoever perverts the oracles of the Lord to his own lusts, and says that there shall neither be any resurrection nor judgment, he is the first-born of Satan. Wherefore, leaving the vanity of many, and their false doctrines, let us return to the word that was delivered to us from the beginning ; " watching unto prayer," "^ and persevering in fasting ; with supplication beseeching the all-seeing God " not to lead us into temptation," ^ as the Lord hath said, " The spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is weak." ^ VIIL Let us therefore, without ceasing, hold steadfastly to him who is our hope, and the earnest of our righteous- ness, even Jesus Christ, " who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree ; who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth," ^^ but suffered all for us, that we 1 Rom. xii. 17. "^Swiftly believing]. 3 Matt. xii. 36. Rom. iv. 10. 2 Cor. V. 10. * For. 1 John iv. 3. The martyr- dom of the cross. 7 1 Pet. iv. 7. ^ Matt. vi. 13. Matt. xxvi. 41. 1" 1 Pet. ii. 22, 24. to the Philippians. 109 might live through him.^ Let us, therefore, imitate his patience, and, if we suffer for his name, let us glorify him ; for this example he has given us by himself, and so have we believed. IX. Wherefore I exhort all of you, that ye obey the word of righteousness, and exercise all patience, which ye have seen set forth before your eyes, not only in the blessed Ignatius, and Zozimus, and Rufus, but in others among yourselves, and in Paul himself, and the rest of the apos- tles. Being confident ^ of this, that all these have not run in vain, but in faith and righteousness, and are gone to the place that was due to them from the Lord, with whom also they suffered ; for they loved not this present world, but him who died, and was raised again by God for us. X. Stand therefore in these things, and follow the ex- ample of the Lord ; being firm and immutable in the faith, lovers of the brotherhood, lovers of one another : com- panions together in the truth, ^ being kind and gentle towards each other,* despising none. When it is in your power to do good, defer it not ; for " charity delivereth from death." * " Be all of you subject one to another, having your conversation honest ^ among the Gentiles ; " that, by your good works, both ye yourselves may receive praise, and the Lord may not " be blasphemed through you." ^ But woe be to him by whom the name of the Lord is blasphemed. Therefore teach all men sobriety, in which do ye also exercise yourselves. XI. I am greatly afflicted for Valens, who was once a presbyter among you, that he should so little understand the place that was given to him in the church. Wlierefore I admonish you that ye abstain from covetousness," and that ye be chaste, and true of speech. " Keep yourselves from all evil." ^ For he that in these things cannot govern himself, how shall he be able to prescribe them to another 1 If a man does not keep himself from covetousncss,^^ he shall ^ In. 1 Pet. iii. 14, &c. 2 Persuaded. ' Associated in truth. * Yif'ldliifi to each other 171 the mildness of the Lord. ^ Tobit xii. 9. ' 1 I'et. ii. 12. ^ Unreprorcahle. * Rom. ii. 24. Titus ii. 5. ' Concupiscence, or immoderate and flthy lusts. So Dr. Haiiiniond on Rom. i. 29. i. '" 1 Tliess. v. 22. Eph. v. 5. Coloss. ii. 5. " Aa befora, I)r. Hammond on 1 Cor. v, 10. 1. no The Epistle of St. Poly carp be polluted with idolatry, and be judged as if he were a Gentile. But who of you are ignorant of the judgment of God] Do we not know that the saints shall judge the world," 1 as Paul teaches ] But I have neither perceived nor heard anything of this kind in you among whom the blessed Paul laboured, ^ and who are named in the begin- ning of this epistle : for he glories of you, in all the churches, who then only knew God ; for we did not then know him. Wherefore, my brethern, I am exceedingly sorry both for him and for his wife, to whom God grant a true repentance. And be ye also moderate upon this occasion, and look not upon such as enemies ; but call them back as suffering and erring members, that ye may save your whole body ; for by so doing ye shall edify your own selves. XII. For I trust that ye are well exercised in the Holy Scriptures, and that nothing is hid from you : but at pre- sent it is not granted unto me to practice that which is written,^ " Be angry and sin not : " and again, " Let not the sun go down upon your wrath." Blessed is he that believeth and remembereth these things, which also I trust you do. Now the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. and he himself, who is our everlasting high priest, the Son of God, even Jesus Christ, build you up in faith and in truth, and iu all meekness and lenity, in patience and long-suffering, in forbearance and chastity ; and grant unto you a lot and portion among his saints, and us with you, and to all that are under the heavens who shall believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, and in his Father, who " raised him from the dead."* Pray for all the saints ; pray also for "kings ^ and all that are in authority,"*^ and for those who persecute you and hate you, and for the enemies of the cross, that your fruit may be manifest in all, and that ye may be per- fect in Christ.'' XIII. Ye wrote to me,^ both ye and also Ignatius, that if any one went from hence into Syria he should bring your letters with him, which also I will take care of as ^ Cor. vi. 2. ^ Phil. i. ^ Said in these Scriptures. Psal. iv. 5. Eph. iv. 26. * Gal. i. 1. 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2. Powers and Princes. ' Him. ^ See Annot. Usser in loc. to the Philippians. Ill soon as I shall have a convenient opportunity, either by myself or him whom I shall send upon your account. The epistles of Ignatius, which he wrote unto us, ^ together with what others of his have come to our hands, we have sent to you according to 3'our order, which are subjoined to this epistle, by which ye may be greatly profited ; for they treat of faith and patience, and of all things that pertain to edification in the Lord^ Jesus. XIV. What you know certainly of Ignatius, and those that are with him, signify unto us. These things have I written unto you by Crescens, whom by this present epistle I have recommended to you, and do now again commend; for he has had his conver- sation without blame among us, and I suppose also with you. Ye will also have regard unto his sister when she shall come unto you. Be ye safe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in favour with all yours. Amen. ^ ' I.E., to himself, and to the church of Smyrna. ^ Our Lord. 3 IJis grace he with you all. Ameu. PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE ON THE EPISTLES OF ST. IGNATIUS. Of the different editions of St. Ignaiius's Epistles, which are here translated from that of Isaac Vossius, and according to the enume- ration made by Eiisehius of them The authority of these Epistles vindicated against the objections raised of late against them The Epistle to St. Polycarp one of those mentioned by Eusebius The exception against it taken from the substance of the Epistle it- self answered A short account of the following translation of all of them. 1. Before I enter upon that account which I am to give of the epistles of St. Ignatius (the next that follow in the present collection), it will be necessary for me to ob- serve that there have been considerable differences in the editions of the epistles of this holy man, no less than in the judgment of our later critics concerning them. To pass by the first and most perfect of them, the best that for a long time was extant contained not only a great number of epistles falsely ascribed to this author, but even those that were genuine so altered and corrupted that it was hard to find out the true Ignatius in them. 2. The first that began to remedy this confusion and to restore this great writer to his primitive simplicity, was our most reverend and learned Archbishop Usher, in his edition of them at Oxford, anno 1644. But still he wanted a correct copy of the original Greek : the epistles set out by him, though exceedingly more sincere than any we had seen before, yet consisting only of the old Latin trans- lations of them. Now this was in great measure pei'formed by the learned Isaac Vossius in the edition printed by him at Amsterdam, anno 1646 : in which, from the Florentine manuscript, he published six of the epistles of this holy martyr mentioned by Eusebius in their ancient and pure Greek, and the seventh so happily amended from the an- cient Latin version that there was but little doubt to be made of the integrity of that too. But to remove all scru- ple concerning this one epistle, Mr. Ruinart has also 113 On the Epistles of St. Ignatius. 1 1 3 published that from a Greek uninterpolated copy in the Acts of the Martyrdom of this holy man set forth by him at Paris, amio 1689.^ And concerning these epistles of St. Ignatius enumerated by Eusebius, and set out accord- ing to their primitive purity by those learned men whom I have before mentioned and from them translated into the following collection, there are two things to be considered and proved by me in this place : first, that St. Ignatius did write such epistles as those I have here translated ; ^ and, secondly, that those epistles we here have are the very epistles which he wrote. 3. That Ignatius did in general write such epistles to the churches about him, however it has been denied by some, is yet I think now universally allowed, even by those who are the greatest opposers of these epistles which we affirm to be his.^ That he wrote to those particular churches to which the epistles here subjoined are addressed we have both St. Polycarp and Eusebius to assure us. For, first, St. Polycarp * in the close of his epistle (which I am now to look upon as sufficiently proved to be his), speaking to the Philippians of this holy man, tells them that he had sent them all such epistles of his as Ignatius had either written to himself or to his church at Smyrna, or as had hitherto come to his hands. So that here then we have a plain account of two of those epistles which we affirm Ignatius to have written: one to St. Polycarp him- self, another to the church of Smyrna, of which he was bishop. 4. But Eusebius will enable us to carry this testimony yet farther. Whilst assuring that he wrote four epistles from Smyrna, namely, to the churches of Ephcsus, Mag- nesia, Trallcs, and Kome, he gives ns just grounds to conclude that these also must have been part of St. Poly- carp's collection ; and have been some of those others, besides the two before mentioned, which he tells us he sent to the Philippians, unless we should suppose that 1 Acta Martyr. Sinccra et Select. Paris, 1689. ^Vul.Vossii Pr.Tfat. in Ignat. ad Lectorem. 3 Vid. Vindic, Pearson, in Proccm. p. 20. I'olycarp's Epiat. num. xiii. Annot Cotcl. in loc. Poly- carp, p. 48G. B. H 114 Preliininary Discourse either he knew not of Ignatius's writing (though every day, almost every hour, with him at the time he wrote them), or else that, knowing of it, he took no care to preserve the copies of his epistles, which yet w^e see he put the highest value that can well be imagined upon. Seeing, therefore, we cannot with any reason suppose either that St. Polycarp did not know of Iguatius's writings to these churches, nor is it probable that, being present with him at the writing of them, and acquainted with it, he should not have kept any copies of his letters to them, seeing, lastly, he him- self tells us that he had copies of more of the epistles of this great saint, besides those that were sent to Smyrna, and that what he had he sent to the Philippians, neither can we reasonably doubt but that these we're also in his hands, and sent by him to the church at Philippi. 5. And thus liave we, I think, upon very good grounds, concluded that six of the seven epistles which we affirm to have been written by St. Ignatius, were collected by St. Polycarp, and sent together with his own epistles to the Philippians. Let me add yet farther that neither can we reasonably question but that the seventh too was at that time in the hands of St. Polycarp ; and by consequence that what we now have is no other collection than what he made, and by that means helped to preserve to after ages, of the epistles of this holy martyr. Now this I conclude not only from the nearness of the church of Philadelphia, to which it was written, to that of Smyrna, in which St. Polycarp resided, and from the great respect which all the neighbouring churches paid to him as a kind of uni- versal bishop of the whole lesser Asia, but from the con- clusion of the epistle itself, which tells us that it was sent by Ignatius to the Philadelphians, not only from the same place and at the same time that he wrote to St. Polycarp himself and to his church of Smyrna, but also by the same person that carried the other two, and that person St. Polycarp's own deacon, whom he had sent with Ignatius to Troas, and by whom Ignatius wrote back that epistle. 6. St. Polycarp therefore certainly knew of Ignatius's writing to the Philadelphians, and very probably sent on Burrhus, his deacon, from Smyrna to Philadelphia with his letter. And then, I think, we may very reasonably con- On the Epistles of St. Ignatius. 1 1 5 elude that he brought back with bim the copy of it ; and that St. Polycarp had that epistle too in his hands when he wrote to the Philippians. 7. Such good grounds are there to believe that the col- lection we now have of St. Ingnatius's epistles was no other than what St. Polycarp himself made, and referred to in that passage of his own epistle to the Philippians which I have before shown to be truly his, and not the addition of any later hand. And the same is the account which Euse- bius ^ himself has given us of this matter. He tells us that, as Ignatius was on his way to Rome, where he was to be cast to the wild beasts, he not only confirmed the churches that were in the places through which he passed, by his exhortations, but wrote to the chiefest of those others that were near such epistles as these of which we are now speaking ; and that, as he goes on, in this follow- ing order : First, from Smyrna, ^ where he tarried some time with his old acquaintance and fellow-disciple, St. Polycarp, he wrote to the Ephesians, Magnesians, Tral- lians, and Romans ; and, being gone farther on his way to Troas, he from thence wrote to the Philadelphians and Smyrnaans; tStws tc tw ravT-)]ph.- v. 2. ^- See the old Jjxt. ed. of Bishop Usher. '^ Poaness, 125 126 St. Ignatius^ s Epistle II. For what concerns my fellow-servant Burrhus, and your most blessed deacon in things " pertaining to (Jod, I entreat you that he may tarry longer both for yours and your bishop's honour. And Crocus also, worthy both our God and you, whom I have received as the pattern of your love, has in all things refreshed me, as the father of our Lord Jesus Christ shall also refresh him ; together with Onesimus, and Burrhus, and Euplus, and Fronto, in ^ whom 1 have, as to your charity, seen all of you. And may I always have joy ^ of you, if I shall be worthy of it. It is, therefore, fitting that you should by all means * glo- rify Jesus Christ, who hath glorified you that by a uni- form obedience^ "ye may be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment, and may all speak the same things concerning everything;" ^ and that, being subject to your''^ bishop and the presbytery, ye may be wholly and thoroughly sanctified. III. These things I prescribe to you, ^ not as if I were somebody extraordinary (for though I am bound for ^ his name, I am not yet perfect in Christ Jesus), but ^ now I begin to learn, and I speak to you as fellow-disciples to- gether with me. For I ought to have been stirred up by you, in faith, in admonition, in patience, in long-suflFering. But, forasmuch as charity suffers me not to be silent to- wards 11 you, I have first taken upon me to exhort you that ye would all run together, according to the will of God. For even Jesus Christ, our inseparable life, is sent by the will 12 of the Father; as the bishops, appointed unto the ut- most bounds of the earth, are by the will of Jesus Christ. IV. Wherefore i^ it will become you to run together ac- cording to the will of your bishop, as also ye do. For your famous 1* presbytery (worthy of God) is fitted as ex- actly to the bishop as the strings are to the harp. There- fore, in your concord and agreeing charity, Jesus Christ is sung, and every single person among you makes up the chorus; that so, being all consonant in love, i^ and taking 1 Blessedin oil things. ^ By. =* See Philem. 20. Wisdom XXX. 2. * In all manner of ways. ^ In one. ^ICor. i.lO. ''The. 8 Command you. ^ In. ^'^ For. ^i Concerning . i- Mind, counsel, opinion, &c. ^' Whence. " Worthy to he named. ^^ Concord. to the Ephesians. \1j up the song of God, ye may in a perfect unity, with one voice iing to the Father by Jesus Christ, to the end that he may both hear you, and perceive by your works that ye are indeed the members of his Son : wherefore it is profitable for you to live in an tinblamable unity, that so ye may always have^ a fellowship with God. 5. For if I in this little time have had such a familiarity \vith your bishop (I mean not a carnal, but spiritual ac- quaintance with him), how much more must I think you happy, who are so joined to him as the church is to Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ to the Father, that so all things may agree in the same unity ! Let no man deceive him- self ; if a man be not within the altar^ he is deprived of the bread of God. For, if the prayer of one or two" be of such force as we are told, how much more powerful shall that of the bishop and the whole church be ! He there- fore that does not come together in the same place with it is proud and has^ already condemned* himself. For it is written, " God resisteth the proud." ^ Let us take heed, therefore, that we do not set ourselves against the bishop, that we may be subject to God. 6. The^ more any one sees his bishop silent the more let him revere him. For whomsoever the master of the house sends to be over his own household, we ought in like manner to receive him as we would do him that sent him. It is, therefore, evident that we ought to look upon tlie bishop even as we would do upon the Lord himself. And indeed Onesimus himself does greatly commend your good order in God that you all live accoriling to the truth, and that no heresy dwells among you. For neither do ye hearken to any one more than to Jesus Clirist, Bpeaking to you in truth. 7. For some there are who carry ''^ about the name of Christ in deceitfulness,'^ but do things unwortliy of God; whom ye must flce,^ as ye would do so many wild beasts ; for they are ravening dogs, who bite secretly against whom ye must guard yourselves, as men hardly to be 1 Partake of. ^ Matt, xviii. 19 ^ la already proud and has, &c. * Judgi'.d or separated. ' Jaines iv. 6. * And the, ^ Accuion. ^Comp. Eph. ii. 20, 21, 22. 1 Pet. ii. 5. 10 The building of God the Father. 1' By the engine of the cross, &c. Pearson, ib. part. ii. cap. 12. 1^ Carriers. ^^ 'I hese things I write. to the Ephesians. 129 works, if they will be no other way. Be ye mild at their anger, humble at their boasting ; to their blasphemies, re- turn your prayers ; to their error, your firmness ^ iu the faith : when they are cruel, be ye gentle ; not endea- vouring to imitate their ways : (let us be their brethren in all kindness and moderation, but let us be followers of the Lord: for who was ever more ^ unjustly usedl more des- titute? more despised?) that so no herb of the devil may be found in you ; but ye may remain in all holiness and sobriety both of body and spirit in Christ Jesus. ^ XI. The last times * are come upon us ; let us, there- fore, be very reverent, and fear the long-suffering of God, that it be not to us unto condemnation. For let us either fear the wrath that is to come, or let us love the grace that we at present enjoy; that by the one or other of these we may be found ** in Christ Jesus, unto true life. Besides him,'^ let nothing be worthy of you ; ^ for^ whom also I bear about these bonds, those spiritual jewels, in which I would to God that I might arise through your prayers ; of which I entreat you to make me always partaker, that I may be found in the lot of the Christians of Ephesus, who have always agreed with ^ *^ the apostles, through ^ ^ the power of Jesus Christ. XII. I know both who I am, and to whom I write : I, a person condemned ; ye, such as have obtained mercy : I, ex- j)0sed to danger ; ye, confirmed against danger. Ye are the passage of those that are killed for God : the companions of Paul in the mysteries of the gospel the holy, the martyr, ^^ the deservedly most happy Paul ; at whose feet may I be found, when I shall have attained unto God ; who^^ through- out all his epistle makes mention of you in Christ Jesus. XIII. Let it be your care, therefore, to come more fully together, to the praise and glory of God. For when ye meet fully together in the same place, the powers of the devil are destroyed, and his mischief^* is dissolved by the unity ^^ of your faith. And indeed notliing is better than ^ />'e ye.jirm. ^ Who has ban more, &c. ^ In Jvhil-h Christ, both bodily and i^jiirihudly. 1 Cor. vii. M. * A'tmahi, or, For it remains. ^ Is jtr'( come you. ''In. i" ^- Kiiit(d to. ^' In. ^- Wi/nrs.scd of. ^'-^ Vid. Cotelor. in loc. Tears. \'in(l. Igii. par. 2. cap, lU. '^ IJeslrUi-tion. ' Concord. I 130 St Ignatius' s Epistle peace; by which all war, both spiritual aud earthly/ is abolished. XIV". Of all which nothing is hid from you, if ye have perfect faith and charity in Christ Jesus, which are the beginning and end of life ; for the beginning is faith, the end charity. And these two, joined ^ together, are of God ; but all other things which concern a holy life are the consequences of these. No man professing a true faith sinneth ; neither does he who has charity hate any. The tree is made manifest by its fruit ; ^ so they who pro- fess themselves to be Christians are known * by what they do ; for Christianity is not the work of an outward pro- fession ; but shows itself in the power of faith, if a man be found faithful unto the end. XV. It is better for a man to hold his peace, and be than to say he is a Christian, and not to be. It is good to teach, if what he says he does ^ likewise. There is, therefore, one Master who spake, and it was done ; and even those things which he did without speaking are wor- thy of the Father. He that possesses the word of Jesus is truly able to hear his very silence, that he may be perfect ; and "^ both do according to what he speaks, and be known by those things of which he is silent. There is nothing hid from God, but even our secrets are nigh unto him. Let us, therefore, do all things as becomes those who have God ^ dwelling in them, that we may be His temples, and He may be our God : as also He is ; and will manifest himself before our faces, by those things for ^ which we justly love him. XVI. Be not deceived, my brethren ; those that cor- rupt families ^ ^ by adultery shall not inherit the kingdom of God. If therefore they who do this according to the flesh have suffered death, ^ ^ how much more shall he die, who by his wicked doctrine corrupts the faith of God, for which Christ was crucified'? He that is thus defiled^ ^ shall depart into unquenchable fire, and so shall he that hearkens to him.^^ 1 Of things in heaven, and of things on earth. ^ Being in %inity. s Matt. xii. 33. * Shall be seen, or made manifest. ^ Sj)ealdng, not to he. ^ If he who says, does. ^ That he may. ^ Him. Out of. ^0 The corriLpters of houses. 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. ^^ 1 Cor. X, 8. 1- Such a one becoming defiled. i3 Hears him- to the Ephesians. 131 XVII. For this cause did the Lord suffer the ointment to be poured on his head ^ that he might breathe the breath of immortality into his church. Be not ye there- fore anointed with the evil savour of the doctrine of the prince of this world \ let him not take you captive from the life that is set before you. And why are not we all wise ; seeing we have received the knowledge of God, which is Jesus Christ ? Why do we suffer ourselves foolishly to perish, 2 not considering ^ the gift which the Lord has truly sent to us ? XVIII. Let my life be sacrificed * for the doctrine of the cross, which is indeed a scandal to the unbelievers, but to us is salvation and life eternal. " Where is the wise man ? Where is the disputer % " ^ Where is the boasting of those who are called wise % For our God Jesus Christ was, according to the dispensation of God, conceived " in the womb of Mary, of the seed of David, by.' the Holy Ghost; he was '^ born and baptized, that through his passion he might purify water, " to the wash- ing away of sin." XIX. Xow the virginity of Mar\', and he who w^as born of her, wore kept in secret from the prince of this world ; as was also the death of our Lord : three of the mysteries the most spoken of ^ throughout the world, yet done in secret ^ by God. How then was our Saviour manifested to the world % A star shone in heaven beyond all the other stars, and its light was inexpressible, and its novelty struck terror into men's minds. All the rest of the stars, together with the sun and moon, were the chorus to this star ; but tliat sent out its light exceediugly above them all. And men began to be troubled ^^ to think wlicnce this new star ^- came so unlike to all tlie others. '^^ Hence all the power of magic became dissolved ; and every bond of wickedness was destroyed;^* men's ignoi'ance was taken away, and the old kingdom abolished ; God himself ap- 1 A'ectirc ointmtnt. I'sal. xliv. 8. cxxxii. 2. ^ ^,.g wefoolUhly de-- Mys/i ri' -i of iioisi . ^" Sili tire or qnidnvss. Sco Roin. xvi. 2o. i' 'J'/itre icu-^ a dinorder. ^- yvcilli/. ^' 'Hum. 132 S/. IgnatiiLs's Epistle to the Ephesians. pearing ^ in the form of a man, for the renewal of eternal life. From thence began what God had prepared ; from thenceforth things were disturbed ; forasmuch as he de- signed to abolish death. XX. But if Jesus Christ shall give me grace through your prayers, and it be his will, I purpose, in a second epistle, which I will suddenly write unto you, to manifest to you more fully the dispensation, of which I have now begun to speak, unto the new man, which is Jesus Clirist ; both in his faith and charity, in his suffering and in his resurrection ; especially if the Lord shall make known 2 un- to me, that ye all by name come together in common in one faith, and in one Jesus Christ (who was of the race of David according to the flesh) the Son of man, and Son of God ; obeying ^ your bishop and the presbytery with an entire affection ; * breaking one and the same bread, which is the medicine of immortality, our antidote that we should not die, but live for ever in Christ Jesus. XXI. My soul be for yours, and theirs whom ye have sent, to the glory of God, even unto Smyrna, from whence also I write to you ; giving thanks unto the Lord, and loving Polycarp even as I do you. Remember me, as Jesus Christ does remember you. Pray for the church which is in Syria, from whence I am carried bound to Rome ; being the least of all the faithful which are there, as I have been thought worthy to be found to the glory of God. Fare ye well in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ our common hope. Amen. To the Ephesians. 1 Beijig made manifest. ^ Reveal. 3 That they may obey. * Mind. CONTENTS OF ST. IGNATIUS'S EPISTLE TO THE MAGNESIANS. After the Salutation, he declares, I. The occasion of his writing to them, and to the other churches that were about them ; and tlien mentions, II. The arrival of Damas, their bishop, and of the rest whom they had sent unto him. III. He exhorts them to all due reverence and subjection to their bishop ; notwithstanding he ^ was but a young man, and luvd not long been in that great office among tliem. IV. Which also they must show if they will be Christians in- deed. V. That we must all die in a little time ; and then be for ever eitiier happy or miserable. VI. He exhorts them, therefore, to live orderly, and to maintain a unity among each other. VII. And that especially by a due subjection to their bishop and presbyters. VIII., IX., X. He cautions them against false opinions, especially those of Ebion - and tlie Judaising Christians. XI. He apologises for this advice, which he gave not to reprove, but to forewarn them. XII. Whose faith and f^iety he here greatly commends ; and XIII. Exhorts them to go on and increase in both. XIV. He desires their prayers, both for himself and his church at Antioch. XV. And then concludes all with the salutations of those who were present with him at tlie writing of this epistle. ^ Vid. Coteler. in loc, - reurson. Vind, Ign. par. ii. cap. 4. I The EPISTLE OF ST. IGNATIUS TO THE MAGNESIANS. Ljnatius, who is also called Theophoms, to the blessed [church^'] by- the rjrace of God the Father in Je--ms Christ our Saviour ; in ichom I salute the church ichich is at Alaynesia, near the Mceander, and wish it all joy in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ. T. "VYhen I heard of your -well-ordered love and charity in ^ God, being full of joy, I desired much to speak unto you in the faith of Jesus Christ. For having been thought worthy to obtain a most excellent name,* in the bonds which I carry about, ^ I salute ^ the churches ; wishing in them a union both of the body and spirit of Jesus Christ, our eternal life : as also of faith and charity, to which nothing is preferred ; but especially of Jesus and the Fa- ther ; in whom if we undergo '^ all the injuries of the prince of this present world and escape, we shall enjoy God. II. Seeing then I have been judged worthy to see 3-ou by Damas, your most excellent ^ bishop ; and by your very worthy presbyters Bassus and Apollonius ; and by my fellow-servant Sotio, the deacon, in whom I rejoice,^ foras- much as he is subject unto his bishop as to the grace of God, and to the presbytery as to the law of Jesus Christ ; I determined to write unto you. ^^ iVid. Interpr. Lat. Epist. Interpol. "In. ^According to. ' Been vouchsafed a name carrying a great deal of divinity in it. ^ See Bishop Pearson. Vind. Ign. par. ii. cap. 12. p. 14G. ^ Sing, commend. "> Undergoing, escaping. 8 Worthy of Cod. Whom may I enjoy. ^" Apud Vet. Lat. Interpr. Gloi-ijicato Deum Fa- trem D. nostri Jesu Christi. St. Ignatms's Epistle to the Magnesians. 135 III. Wherefore it will become you also not^ to use your bishop too familiarly upon the account of his youth, but to yield all reverence to him according to the power of God the Father as also I perceive that your holy pres- byters do not considering his age, "which indeed to ap- pearance is young, ^ but as becomes those who are prudent in God, submitting to him, or rather not to him, but to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Bishop of us all. It will, therefore, behove^ you with all sincerity,* to obey your bishop in honour of Him whose pleasure it is^ that ye should do so, because he that does not do so deceives not the bishop whom he sees, but affronts" Him that is in- visible : for whatsoever of this kind is done^ it reflects not upon man,^ but upon God, who knows the secrets of our hearts. IV. It is therefore fitting that we should not only be called Christians, but be so. As some call, indeed, their govei'uor bishop ; but yet do all things without him : but I can never think that such as these have a good con- science, seeing they are not gathered together thoroughly'-^ according to God's commandment. V. Seeing then all things have an end, there are these two indifferently '^^ set before us, death and life : and every one shall depart liuto his proper place. For there are two sorts of coins, the one of God, the other of the world ; and each of these has its proper inscription engraven^^ upon it. So also is it here. The unbelievers are of this world ; but the faithful, through charity, have the cha- racter of God the Father by Jesus Christ: by whom if we are not readily disposed to die, after the likeness of his passion, his life is not in us. VI. Forasmuch, therefore, as I have in the persons be- fore-mentioned seen all of you^- in faith and charity, I exhort you, tiiat ye study to do all things in a divine con- cord :^'* your bishop ijrcsiding in the phice of God; your presbyters in the place of the council of the apostles ; and 1 Vid. Voss. Annot: in loc. Pearson". Pra;f. ad. Vind. Ignat. 2 SutmxiKj youthful ftate, ^ It is Ixxominrj. * Without any hypo- criny. * W ho wilkth it. ''Deludes. ^Vid. Epist. Inteipr. ad eoc. 8 /''ifsh. Firmly. '" 7br/tther. n Character net. Your whole nudtitude. " 7 he concord 0/ Uod. 136 St. Ignatius^ s Epistle your deacons, most dear^ to me, being entrusted with the ministry of Jesus Christ, who was with the Father before all ages, and appeared^ in the end to us. Wherefore, tak- ing the same holy course,^ see that ye all reverence one another ; and let no one look upon his neighbour after the flesh ; but do you all mutually love each other in Jesus Christ. Let there be nothing that may be able to make a division among you ; but be ye united to your bishop, and those who preside over you, to be your pattern and di- rection in the way to immortality. VII. As therefore the Lord did nothing without the Father being united to him* neither by himself, nor yet by his apostles so neither do ye anything without your bishop and presbyters ; neither endeavour to let anything appear rational to yourselves apart ; but, being come to- gether into the same place, have one common^ prayer, one supplication, one mind, one hope, in charity and in joy undefiled. There is one Lord Jesus Christ, than whom nothing is better. Wherefore come^ ye all together as unto one temple of God ; as to one altar, as to one Jesus Christ who proceeded from one Father,^ and exists in one, and is returned to one. VIII. Be not deceived with strange^ doctrines, nor with old fables, which are unprofitable : for if we still continue to live according to the Jewish law, we do confess our- selves not to have received grace. For even the most holy^ prophets lived according to Christ Jesus : and for this cause were they persecuted, being inspired by his grace, to convince^ the unbelievers and disobedient that there is one God, who has manifested himself by Jesus Christ his Son; who is his eternal word,^i (not coming forth from silence), who in all things pleased Him that sent him. IX. Wherefore, if they who were brought up in these ancient laws^- came nevertheless to the newness of hope, no longer observing Sabbaths, but keepingi'^ the Lord's day in which also our life is sprung up by him, and ^ Sweet. - IFas made vianifest. Heb. ix. 26. ^ Hahit of God. <:John X. 30. xiv. 11, 12. xvii. 21, 22. Eph. iv. .S 6. 6 Run. 7 John xvi. 28. ^ Heterodox. Most divine. I'' Fully to satisfy. " John i. 1. 12 Things. " Qr, living according to. to the Magnesians. I37 through his death, whom^ yet some deny ; by which mys- tery we have been brought^ to believe, and therefore wait that we may be found the disciples of Jesus Christ, our only master how shall we be able to live diflferent from* him, whose disciples the very prophets themselves being, did by the Spirit expect him as their master % And there- fore, he whom they justly waited for, being come, raised them up from the dead.* X. Let us not then be insensible of his goodness ; for should he have dealt with us according to our works, ^ we had not now had a being. Wherefore, being become his disciples, let us learn to live according to the rules of Christianity : for whosoever is called by any other name besides^ this, he is not of God. Lay aside, therefore, the old, and sour, and evil leaven, and be ye changed into the new leaven, which is Jesus Christ. Be ye salted in him, lest any one among you should be corrupted ; for by yoiu* Saviour ye shall be judged. '^ It is absurd to name Jesus Christ, and to Judaise. For the Christian religion did not embrace^ the Jewish, but the Jewish the Cliristian ; that so every tongue that believed might be gathered to- gether into God. XL These things, my beloved, I write unto you, not that I know of any one among you, that lie^ under tliis error : but, as one of the least among you,''^^ I am desirous to forewarn you that ye fall not into the snares^^ of vain doctrine, but that ye be fully instructed in the birth, and Buffering, and resurrection of Jesus Christ our hope ; which was accomplished in the time of the government of Pontius Pilute ; and that most truly and certainly ;i ^ and from which God forbid that any among you should be turned aside. XI L May I, therefore, have joy of you in all things, if I shall be worthy of it. For though I am bound, yet I am not worthy to be compared to one of you that are at liberty. I know that ye are not puffed up ; for ye have Jesus Christ in your hearts. ^^ And especially when I com- 1 Or, wh,ir}i. 2 Received. 3 Without. Matt, xxvii. r>2, ' Viil. Annot. Voss. in loc. Should he have imitated our worl's. (ir. * More than. ' Convicted, overthrown, * /itlieve. " J/ave yonr-ifdvex ho. ^'> Leaser than you. ^i Hooks, ^^ Firmly. '' In younelves. 138 St Ignatius s Epistle to the Magnesians, mend you, I know that ye are ashamed ; as it is written, "The just man condemaeth himself."^ XIII. Study therefore to be confirmed in the doctrine of our Lord, and of his apostles, that so, whatsoever ye do, ye may prosper both in body and spirit in faith and charity in the Son, and in the Father^ and in the Holy Spirit in the beginning, and in the end ; together with your most worthy bishop, and the well-wrought ^ spiritual crown of your presbytery, and your deacons which are according to God. Be subject to your bishop, and to one another, as Jesus Christ to the Father according to the flesh ; and the apostles both to Christ, and to the Father, and to the Holy Ghost ; that so ye may be united both in body and spirit.^ XIV. Knowing you to be full of God, I have the more briefly exhorted you. Be mindful of me in your prayers, that I may attain unto* God ; and of the church that is in Syria, from which ^ I am not worthy to be called : for I stand in need of your joint prayers in God, and of your charity, that the church which is in Syria may be thought worthy to be nourished" by your church, XV. The Ephesians from Smyrna'^ salute you (from which place I write unto you, being present here to the glory of God, in like manner as j-ou are), wlio have in all things refreshed me, together with Polycarp, the bishop of the Smyrnaans. The rest of the clnu'ches, in the honour of Jesus Christ, salute you. Farewell,^ and be ye strength- ened in the concord of God, enjoying^ his inseparable spirit which is Jesus Christ. To the Maornesians. ^ Prov. xviii. 17. Sept. ~ IVorthily comjilicated. ^ There may he a union both fleshly and spirihcal. Eph. iii. 4. ^ Find, enjoy. ^ IV hence. ^Bedewed. Vid. Epist. Inteqwl. in loc. " IThich came to Smyrna on my account, ^ "E^/aa-^s. Possessing. CONTENTS OF ST. IGNATIUS'S EPISTLE TO THE TRALLIANS. The Salutation. I. He acknowledges the coming of their bishop, and his receipt of their charity by him. II. He commends them for their orderly subjection to their bishops, priests, and deacons ; and exhorts them to con- tinue in it, III. He enforces tlie same exhortation, commends their bishop, and excuses his not writing more fully to them of tliis matter ; IV. Whicli he docs not, lest he should seem to take too much upon him, and be too much exalted in his own conceit, which would be very dangerous to him, who is afraid even of his over-great desire to suffer, lest it should be preju- dicial to him. V. Another reason why he did not write more largely to them was, lliat at present they were not able to bear it. VI. He warns them against heretics, who poison the sound ^\ ord of Christ ; and VII. Kxiiorts tliem, by humility of mind, and unity with the cliurcli, to guard tliemselves against tliem : VIII. And this he does, not tliat he knows of any present need they had of his advice, but to prevent any njischief from falling u])on them ; IX. To which end, lie briefly sets before them the true doc- trine concerning Christ ; X. And particularly exposes the error of some, who taught that he seemed only to die, but did not really sufl'er, XI. From these he would have them flee. XII. lie returns again to his exhortation of them to unify : and desires their prayers, of which he was much in need ; XIII. Which also he begs for his church at Antioch. And having given them tlie salutations of those who were with hini, and once more exhorted them to due submis- sion to their bishop, (fee, he concludes. ^39 THE EPISTLE OF ST. IGNATIUS TO THE TRALLIANS. Ignatius, rvho is also called Theophorus, to the holy church, tohich is at Tralles in Asia; beloved of God the Father of Jesus Christ ; elect, and worthy of God, having peace through ^ the flesh, and blood, and jiassion of Jesus Christ, our hope in the resm'rection tvhich is by- him; which also I salute in its fulness, continuing in the apostolical character; wishing all joy and happiness unto it. I. I HAVE heard of ^ your blameless and constant dis- position ^ through patience, which not only appears in your outward conversation, but is naturally rooted and grounded in yovi ; in like manner as Polybius, your bishop, has de- clared unto me, who came to me to Smyrna, by the will of God and Jesus Christ ; and so rejoiced together with me in my bonds ^ for Jesus Christ, that in effect I saw your whole church '^ in him. Having therefore received the testimony of your good-will ^ towards me for God's sake,^ by him, I seemed to find you,i as also I knew that ye were the followers ^ ^ of God. n. For whereas^" ye are subject to your bishop as to Jesus Christ, ye appear to me to live not after the manner of men, but according to Jesus Christ, who died for us, that so believing in his death, ye might escape ^^ death. It is therefore necessary, that as ye do, so without your bishop you should do nothing ; also be ye subject to your presbyters, as to the apostles of Jesus Christ, our hope ; in whom, if we walk, we shall be found in him. The dea- 1/71. "^Unto. ^ Known. ^ Inseparable 7nind. ^ IVhirh you have not according to use, but according to j'ossession. *> IFho am bound. ''Multitude. '^ Your benevolence. '> According to God, 1'' F2(i. Vossimn in loc. '^'^ Imitators. ^- Ulicn. '^'^ Flee from. 140 St. Ignatius' s Epistle to the Trallians. 141 cons, also,^ as being the ministers of the mysteries of Jesus Christ, must by all means please all : for they are not the ministers^ of meat and drink, but of the church of God. Wherefore they must avoid all offences as they would do fire. III. In like manner, let all reverence the deacons as Jesus Christ ; and the bishop as the Father ;^ and the presbyters as the sanhedrim of God, and college of the apostles. Without these there is no church.* Concerning all which I am persuaded that ye think ^ after the very same manner : for I have received, and even now have with me, tiie pattern of your love, in your bishop, whose very look is instructive," and whose mildness powerful ;'^ whom, I am persuaded, the very atheists themselves can- not but reverence. But because I have a love towards you, I will not write any more sharply unto you about this matter, though I very well might ; but now I have done so, lest, being a condemned man, I should seem to prescribe to you as an apostle. IV. I have great knowledge^ in God ; but I refrain^ myself, lest I should perish in my boasting. For now I ought the more to fear, and not hearken to those that would puff me up ; for they that speak to me in my praise chasten me : for I indeed desire^*^ to suffer, but I cannot tell whether I am worthy so to do. And^i this desire, though to others it does not appear, yet to myself it is for that very reason the more violent. I have therefore need of moderation/--^ by which the prince of the world is de- stroyed. V. Am I not able to write to you of heavenly things] But I fear lest I sliould harm you, who are yet but babes in Christ (excuse me this care) ; and lest perchance, being not able to receive them ye should be choked witli theui. I'or even I myself, although I am in bond.--, yet am I not therefore able to understand heavenly things as the ' Vid. Vossium in loc. '^ Deacons. ^ As also the bishop, like Jesus Christ the Son of the Fathtr. Vossius in loc. Vid. .alitor Cotoler. * A church is not called. ^ So do. ^ llaliit oj hody is fjrcal iivilrnction. "^ Pou:cr. Vid. Vossium et Ussti-iiun in loc. ** / undtrst'tnd many thiii'js. ^ Measure. ^" Love. 1' Vid. Annot. \'o.sbii in loc. ^- Mildness. 142 S^. Ignatius s Epistle places^ of the angels, and the several companies of them, under their respective princes things visible and invisible ; but in these I am yet a learner. For many things are wanting to us that we come not short of God. Vf. I exhort you, therefore, or rather not I, but the love of Jesus Christ, that ye use none but Christian nour- ishment, abstaining from pasture which is of another kind ; I mean heresy. For they that are heretics^ confound to- gether the doctrine of Jesus Christ with their own poison, whilst they seem worthy of belief,^ as men give a deadly potion mixed with sweet wine, which he who is ignorant of does with the treacherous pleasure sweetly drink in his own death. VII. Wherefore guard yourself against such persons : and that you will do if you are not puffed up ; but con- tinue inseparable from Jesus Christ our God, and from your bishop, and from the commands of the apostles. Ho^ that is within the altar is pure ; but he that is without, that is, that does anything without the bishop, and pres- byters, and deacons, is not pure in his conscience. VIII. Not that I know there is anything of this nature among you ; but I forearm you, as being greatly beloved by me, foreseeing the snares of the deviL Wherefore put- ting on meekness, renew yourselves in faith, that is, the flesh of the Lord ; and in charity, that is, the blood of Jesus Christ. Let no man have any grudge^ against his neighbour. Give no occasion to the Gentiles, lest, by means of a few foolish men, the whole congregation of God be evil spoken of : for woe to that man througli whose vanity'' my name^ is blasphemed by any. IX. Stop your ears, therefore, as often as any one shall speak contrary to^ Jesus Christ, who was of the race of David, of the Virgin Mary ; who was truly born, and did eat and drink ; was truly persecuted under Pontius Pi- late J was truly crucified and dead ; both those in heaven 1 Orders. - Vid. de hoc loco conjocturas Vossii, Cotelerii, et Junii apud Usscritini. Comp. Epist. Interpol, in loo. Et Voss. Annot. iu Epist. ad Phil. p. 281. 3 Being believed for their dignify. i Vid. U.sserii Obs. Marg. Comp. Coteler. ib. ^ Anything. < Through ivhom in vanity, ' Isaiah lii. 5. ^ Without. to the Trallians. 143 and on earth, and under the earth, being spectators of ^ it. Who was also truly raised from the dead by his Father,* after the manner as He ^ will also raise up us who believe in him, by Christ Jesus, without whom we have no true life. X. But if as some who are atheists that is to say, in- fidels pretend that he only seemed to suifer, (they them- selves only seeming to exist,) why then am I bound ] why do I desire to fight with beasts 1 Therefore do I die in vain : therefore I will not speak falsely against the Lord. XI. Flee, therefore, these evil sprouts * which bring forth deadly fruit, of which if any one taste, he shall presently die. For these are not the plants of the Father ; seeing, if they were, they would appear to be the branches of tiie cross, and their fruit would be incorruptible, by which he invites you through his passion, who are members of him. For the head cannot be without its members, God having promised a union, that is, Himself. XII. I salute you from Smyrna, together with the churches of God ^ that are present with me, who have re- freshed me in all things, both in the flesh and in the spirit. My bonds, which I carry about me, for the sake of Cliiist (beseeching him that I may attain unto God), exhort you that you continue in concord among yourselves,^ and in prayer with one another ; for it becomes every one of you, especially the presbyters, to refresh the bishop, to the honour of the Father, of Jesus Clirist, and of the apostles. I beseech you, that you hearken to me in love, that I may not, by those things which I write, rise up in witness against you.''^ Pray also for me, who, through the mercy of God, stand in need of your prayers, that I may be wor- thy of the portion which I am about to obtain, that I be not found a reprobate, XIII. Tlie love of those who are at Smyrna, and Ephe- suS; salute you. Remember in your prayers the church of Syria, from which I am not worthy to be called, being one of tlie least of it.^ Fare ye well, in Jesus Christ, being subject to your bishop as to the command of God, and so ' Scf.inrf^orlookiu'j on. 2 ITi.i Father raifbuj II im. ^ Tlic Fa- ther. Plantf. * I.E., the ilelc^'.itcs of the churclics. " '/'lie concord of yon. '' Be a tisllt/ioinj ainomj ijov, irrltimj. s 7'h( ni. 144 'S'/. Ignatius s Epistle to the Trallians. likewise to the presbytery. Love every one his brother with an unfeigned J- heart. My ^ soul be your expiration not only now, but when I shall have attained unto God ; for I am yet under danger. But the Father is faithful in Jesus Christ, to fulfil both mine and your petition, in whom may we be found unblamable. To the Trallians. 1 Undivided. * Vid. Annot. Vossii et Coteler. in loc. CONTENTS OF ST. IGNATIUS'S EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. The Salutation. I. He testifies his desire to come unto them ; and his hopes of suffering for Christ, unless they prevent it, II. Which he earnestly entreats tliem not to do ; III. But rather to pray for him, that God would strengtJicn him to the combat unto which he had called him. IV. He expresses the great desire he had to suffer martyrdom, v., VI. And the mighty advantage it would be to him so to do ; VIL, VIII. And therefore again entreats them, that they would not do anything to prevent it. IX. He desires their prayers for his church at Antioch ; and expresses the kindness of the Christians to him on his way to tliem ; X. And then concludes, with his recommendations of those who came from Syria with him, and were gone before to Rome, to their favourable acceptance. In the Second Edition this epistle was compared with the Greek set out by Di;. Gkabe in his Spicilcg. toni. ii. p. 13, &c. US THfi EPISTLE OF ST. IGNATIUS TO THE ROMANS. Ignatiiis, who is also called TTieophorus, to the church which has obtained mercy ^ from the Majesty of the most Hitsun/. Gr.] i^Vi.l. Csser. Annot. N. .31. ^^ Forbid me. ^* Te not. !<> Vid. Lat. Vet Iiittipr. El. Annot. Uascr. N. Xi. ^^ Flutter. 148 Sf. Ignatius^ s Epistle sepulchre, and may leave nothing of my body ; that being dead, I may not be troublesome to any : then shall I be truly the disciple of Jesus Christ, when the world shall not see so much as my body. Pray therefore unto Christ for me, that by these instruments I may be made the sacri- fice A of God. I do not, as Peter and Paul, command you. They were apostles, I a condemned man ; they were free, but T am even to this day a servant. But if I shall suffer, I shall then become the freeman of Jesus Christ, and shall rise free.^ And now, being in bonds, I learn not to desire anything.^ V. From Syria even unto Rome I fight with beasts, both by sea and land, both night and day ; being bound to ten leopards ; that is to say, to such a band of soldiers, who, though treated with all manner of kindness, are the worse for it. But I am the more instructed by their inju- ries ; "yet am I not therefore justified.* May I enjoy the wild beasts that are prepared for me ; which also I wish may exercise all their fierceness upon me : ^ and whom, for that end, I will encourage,^ that they may be sure to de- vour me, and not serve me as they have done some, whom, out of fear, they have not touched. But, and if they will not do it willingly, I will provoke them to it. Pardon me in this matter ; I know what is profitable for me. Now I begin to be a disciple ; '' nor ^ shall anything move me, whether visible or invisible, that I may attain to Christ Jesus. Let fire and the cross : let the companies ^ of wild beasts; let breakings of bones and tearing i^of members; let the shattering '' ^ in pieces of the whole body, and all '^ ^ the wicked torments of the devil come upon me ; only let me enjoy ^^ Jesus Christ. VI. All the ends ''^* of the world, and the kingdoms of it,^^ will profit me nothing: I would rather die for ^^ Jesus Christ, than rule to the utmost ends of the earth. 1 Desunt. Gr. ^ p,-qq {jj Jii^^, Gr. 3 ^jiy loorldly, or vain things. Gr. ^ 1 Cor. iv. 4. ^ yij, Voss. in loc. Usser. Annot. N. 48. May he ready for me. Gr. ^ Usser. Aimot. N. 48. 7 Luke xiv. 27. mdi Coteler. in loc. Rom. viii. 38, 39; * Force, or rage. ^^ Let tearings and rendings. Gr, ^^ Vid; Usser. Annot. N; 56; I'^Ib. N. 57. ^^ That I may enjoy, ^^Gr. Pleasures. ^^0/ this age. ^'^Gr. Unto. to tJj Romans. 1 49 Him ^ I seek who died for us ; Him I desire who rose again for us. This is the gain ' that is kid up for me. Pardon me, my brethren ; ye shall not hinder me from living : [nor, seeing I desire to go to God, may you separate me from him for the sake of this world j ^ nor seduce me by any of the desires * of it]. Suffer me to enter into ^ pure light ; where being come, I shall be indeed the servant ^ of God.'' Permit me to intimate the passion of ray God. If any one has Him within himself, let him consider what I desire ; and let him have compassion on me, as knowing how I am straitened.^ VII. The prince of this world would fain carry me away, and corrupt my resolution ^ towards my God. Let none of you therefore,^" help ^^ him ; rather do ye join with me, that is, with God. Do not speak with Jesus Christ, and yet covet the world. Let not envy dwell with you : no, not though I myself, when I shall be come unto you, should exhort you to it, yet do not ye hearken to me, but rather believe what I now write to you. For though I am alive at the writing this, yet my desire is to die. My love is crucified ; [^ -and the fire ^ ^ that is within me does not de- sire any water ; but being alive and 1* springing with me, says]. Come to the Father. I take no pleasure in the food of corruption, nor in the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is ^^ the flesh of Jesus Christ, \y^ of the seed of David ; a/id the drink that I long for] is his blood which is incorrui)tible love.^' VIII. I have no desire to live any longer after the man- ner of men ; neither shall I,^^ if you consent. Be ye there- fore willing, that ye yourselves also may be pleasing i'' to 1 For wTiat U d man profited if he .shall gain the whole xcorld and lose his oxen soul? (Jr. Add. - U.-^urrj. (4r. Vid. Voss. Correct, p. ."501. ^Xor desire that I should dif, who seek to go to God, njoice not in the world. (jr. * Jhj matter. ^ Take, lay hold on. ^ ^fan. '' Vid. Annot. Voss. in loc. ^ What things constrain me. "J/uja, will. ^" ll^ho are prtsent. ^^ Vid. Voss. Annot. in loc. \^'- And there is not any Jire within me that loves matter, but living and spiaking v:ater saying within me. Cr.] ^^Cotc- Icrius alitor explicat. Annot. in loc. Usser. N. 79. ^^ Voss. in loc. Contr. C'oteler. q. v. '^ 'J'he heavenly bread which is. (ir. ['' 7'he son of God made in the.ne last times of the seed of David and Abraham, and the drink of God that I long for. Gi\] '" iSor. Vid. Annot. in loc. ' Vid. Vossii Annot. in Kp. ad tSniyrn. p. 2U1, 8ce below, p. 2GG. sect, x, 156 St Ignatius s Epistle to the Philadelphians. good person, who has followed me even from Syria, not regarding his life : these also bear witness unto you. And I myself give thanks to God for you, that ye receive them as the Lord shall receive you. But for those that dis- honoured them, may they be forgiven through the grace of Jesus Christ. The charity of the brethren that are at Troas salutes you, from whence also I now write by Burrhus, who was sent together with me, by those of Ephesus and Smyrna, for respect sake. May our Lord Jesus Christ honour them, in whom they hope, both in flesh, and soul, and spirit, in faith, in love, iu unity. Farewell in Christ Jesus our common hope. CONTENTS TO ST. IGNATIUS'S EPISTLE TO THE SMYRN^ANS. The Salutation. I. He declares the joy he had to hear of their firmness in the gospel : the substance of which, as to what concerns the person of Christ, he briefly repeats to them : II. And this against such as pretend that Christ suffered only in show, and not really. Against these, III. He assures them that he knew Christ was a true man, even after his resurrection ; and did give manifest proofs to his disciples of his being such. IV. He exhorts them, therefore, to have nothing to do with those heretics whom he iiere opposes ; nor believe that lie would suffer so much for the faith of Christ, unless he were very sure of the truth of it. V. He shows them, farther, the danger of the doctrine before mentioned ; and how they who held it did, in effect, deny Christ. VI. How dangerous this is ! And how different thtse who maintain this doctrine are, in all otiier respects, from the church of Christ ? VII. That it will, therefore, become them to guard themselves against such persons. VIII. To this end, he exhorts them to follow their bishop and pastors ; but especially their bishop. IX. He thanks them for their kindness to himself. X. And to those that were with him, whicii (iod will reward. XI. He acquaints them with the ceasing of the persecution at Antioch : he exhorts them to send a messenger thither, to congratulate with them on this occasion. XII. He concludes with his own salutation, and the remem- brances of those tliat were with him, to them all in gene- ral, to several in particular. '57 THE EPISTLE OF ST. IGNATIUS TO THE SMYRN^ANS. Ignatius, icho is also called Theophorus, to the church of God the Father, and of the beloved Jesus Christ ; tvkich God hath mercifully blessed i loith every good gift, being filled with faith and charity, so that it is loanting in no gift ; most worthy of God. and fruitful in saints ; the church which is at Smyrna in Asia, all in joy, through his immaculate Spirit, and the Word of God. I. I GLORIFY God, even Jesus Christ, who has given you such wisdom : for I have observed that you are settled in an immovable faith, as if you were nailed to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, both in the flesh and in the spirit, and are confirmed in love through the blood of Christ, being fully persuaded of those things which relate unto our Lord, ^ who truly was of the race of David ac- cording to the flesh, but the Son of God according to the will and power of God ; truly born of the Virgin, and baptized of John : that so all righteousness might be ful- filled by him.'^ He was also truly crucified by Pontius Pilate and Herod the tetrarch, being nailed for us in the flesh, by the fruits of which we are saved, even by the most blessed passion, that he might set up* a token for oil ages through his resurrection, to all his holy and faithful servants, wdiether they be Jews or Gentiles, in one body of his church. n. Now all these things he suffered for us, that we might be saved. And he suffered truly, as he also truly raised 1 Comp. 1 Cor. vii. 25. 2 u(^ (j^^ Lord. 2 j\iatt. iii. 15. * Vid. Voss. Annot, in loc. St. Ignatiu^s Epistle to the Sntyrncsans. 159 up himself ; and not, as some unbelievers say, that ho only seemed to suffer, they themselves only seeming to be. ^ And as they believe, so it shall happen unto them ; when being divested of the body, they shall become mere spirits. '^ III. But I know, that even after his resurrection, he was in the flesh ; and I believe that he is still so. And when he came to those who were with Peter, he ^ said unto them, " Take, handle me, and see that I am not an incorporeal demon." And straightway they felt him and believed ; being convinced both by his flesh and spirit. For this cause they despised death and were found to be above it.* But after his resurrection he did eat and driuk with them, as he was flesh ; although as to his spirit^ he was united to the Father. IV. Now these things, beloved, I put ^ you in mind of, not questioning but that you yourself also believe ^ that they are so. But I arm you beforehand against certain beasts in the shape of men, whom you must not^ only not receive, but if it be possible must not meet with. Only you must pray for them, that if it be the will of God, they may repent ; which yet will be very hard. But of this our Lord Jesus Christ has the power, who is our true life. For if all these things were done only in show by our Lord, then do I also seem only to be bound. And why have I given up myself to death, to the fire, to the sword, to wild beasts ? But now the nearer I am to the sword, the nearer I am to God : whea I shall come among the wild beasts, I shall come to God. Only, in the name of Jesus Christ, I undergo all, to suffer together with him ; He who has made a perfect man strengthening me. V. AVhom some not knowing, do deny ; or rather have been denied by him, being the advocates of death rather than of the truth. Whom neither the prophecies, nor the law of Moses have persua'led, nor the gospel itself, even to this (lay, nor the sufferings of every one of us ; for they think also the same things of us. For what does a man ' I.E., Christians. - Incorporeal and iltmoniac. 3 Kx Kvang. Sec, Helir. Sec Dr. Orahe, 8picileg. torn. ii. p. 25. < Death. '^ Adinoninh, ^ Ilava m l6o Si. Ignatius^ s Epistle profit me, if he shall praise me, and blaspheme my Lord ; not confessing that he was truly made man?! Now he that doth not say this, does in effect deny him, and is in death. But for the names of such as do this, they being unbelievers, I thought it not fitting to write them unto you. Yea, God forbid that I should make any mention of them, till they shall repent to a true belief of Christ's passion, which is our resurrection. VI. Let no man deceive himself : both the things which are in heaven, and the glorious angels and princes, whether visible or invisible, if they believe not in the blood of Christ, it shall be ^ to them to condemnation. " He that is able to receive this, let him receive it." ^ Let no man's place * or state in the world pufF him up : that which is worth all is faith and charity, to which nothing is to be preferred. But consider those who are of a different opinion from us, as to what concerns the grace of Jesus Christ, which is come unto us, how contrary they are to the design of God ! They have no regard to charity ; no care of the widow, the fatherless, and the oppressed; of the bound or free, of the hungry or thirsty. Vn. They abstain from the eucharist, and from the public offices,^ because they confess not the eiicharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of his goodness, raised again from the dead. And for this cause, contradicting the gift of God, they die in their disputes. But '^ much better would it be for them to receive '' it, that they might one day rise through it. It will therefore become you to abstain from such persons, and not to speak with them, neither in private, nor in public ; but to hearken to the pro- phets, and especially to the gospel, in which both Christ's passion is manifested unto us, and his resurrection perfectly declared. But flee all divisions as the beginning of evils. VIII. See that ye all follow your bishop, as Jesus Christ the Father ; and the presbytery, as the apostles ; and reverence the deacons, as the command of God. Let no man do anything of what belongs to the church separately 1 Had true flesh, ^ It is. Matt, xix, 12, 4 Vid. Epist. Interpol. " Vid. Annot, Cotcler, in loc Or, prayers, 6 Vid. Cotel, Aunot, '' Lovo. to the Smyrncsans. l6i from the bishop. Let that eucharist be looked upon as well established, which is either offered by the bishop, or by him to whom the bishop has given his consent. Wheresoever the bishop shall appear, there let the people ^ also be : aa where Jesus Christ is, there is the catholic church. It is not lawful without the bishop, neither to baptize, nor to celebrate the holy communion ; " but whatsoever he shall approve of, that is also pleasing unto God ; that so what- ever is done, may be sure and well done. IX. For what remains, it is very reasonable that we should repent,^ whilst there is yet time to return unto God. It is a good thing to have a due regard both to God, and to the bishop ; he that honours the bishop, shall be honoured of God. But he that does anything without his knowledge, ministers * unto the devil. Let all things, therefore, abound to you in charity ; seeing ye are worthy. Ye have refreshed me in all things ; so shall Jesus Christ you. Ye have loved me, both when I was present with you, and now, being absent, ye cease not to do so. May God be your reward ; for whom whilst ye undergo all things, ye shall attain unto him. X. Ye have done well in that ye have received Pliilo, and Rlieas Agathopus,^ who followed me for ^ the word of God, as the deacons of Christ our God. Who also gave thanks unto the Lord for you, forasmuch as ye have re- freshed them in all things. "^ Nor ^ shall anything that you have done be lost to you. My soul '-^ be for yours, and my bonds, which ye have not despised nor been ashamed of. Wherefore neither shall Jesus Christ, our perfect faith, bo ashamed of you. XI. Your prayer is come to the church of Antioch which is in Syria ; from whence being sent, bound with chains, becoming God, I salute the ^" churches; being not worthy to be called from thence, ^^ as being the least among them. Nevertheless, by the will of (iod, I have been thought worthy of this honour ; nor for that I think I have deserved it, but by the grace of God ; which I wish may 1 Multitude. ^ Make a lox-c-ftaHt . ^ Ihturn to a sound mind. ^ Dot^Hicomhip. ^\'n\. Vosh. Aimot. in loc. ' Unto. ' \\'(ti/s. Vi.l. Epistol. Interpol. " Sj>iri/. '^' A/l the. n I.E. the bishop of tliut cliurch. L 1 62 St. Ignatius 5 Epistle to the SmyrncBans. be perfectly given unto me, and through your prayers I may attain unto God. And, therefore, that your work may be fully accomplished both upon earth and in heaven, it will be fitting, and for the honour of God, that your church * appoint some worthy delegate, who being come as far as Syria, may rejoice, together with them, that they are in peace ; and that they are again restored to their former state, ^ and have again received their proper body. Wherefore I should think it a worthy action to send some one from you with an epistle, to congratulate with them their peace in God ; and that through your prayers they have now gotten to their harbour. For inasmuch as ye are perfect yourselves, you ought to think those things that are perfect. For when you are desirous to do well, God is ready to enable you ^ thereunto. XII. The love of the brethren that are at Troas salute you ; from whence I write to you by Burrhus, whom ye sent with me, together witJi the Ephesians, your brethren ; and who has in all things refreshed me. And I would to God that all would imitate him, as being a pattern of the ministry of God. May his grace fully reward him ! I salute your very worthy bishop, and your venerable pres- bytery ; and your deacons, my fellow-servants, and all of you in general, and every one in particular, in the name of Jesus Christ, and in his flesh and blood ; in his passion and resurrection, both fleshly and spiritually ; and in the unity ^ of God with ^ you. Grace be with you, and patience, for evermore. XIII. I salute the families of my brethren, with their wives and children ; and the virgins ^ that are called widows. Be strong in the power of the Holy Ghost. Philo, who is present with me, salutes you. I salute the house of Tavias, and pray that it may be strengthened in faith and charity, both of flesh and spirit. I salute Alee, my well-beloved, together ^ with the incomparable Dapbnus, and Eutech- nus, and all by name. Farewell, iu the grace of God. To the Smyrn Beans from Troas. 1 Vid. Voss. Annot. in loc; ^ Bvlk, greatness. ^ Help you. * Vid; Voss. Annot. in loc. ' And. ^ I.E. the deaconesses. Kee, for tlie reason of this name, Voss. Annot. in loc. Add. Coteler. ib. 1 See Annot. ex Epist, Interpol. CONTENTS OF ST. IGNATIUS'S EPISTLE TO ST. POLYCARP. The Salutation. I. He blesses God for the firm establishment of Polycarp in all piety, aiul gives him many particular directions for his improve- ment in it, II. But especially with relation to the church over which he was bishop. III. IV. He continues his advice to him ; and V. Teaches him what advice he should give to others : VI. In which he continues ; and especially enforces unity among themselves, and subjection to their bishop. VII. He recounts to Polycarp the peace of his church in Syria ; and directs him to appoint some messenger to go to Antioch to rejoice with them on that occasion; VIII; He desires Polycarp to write to the same efTect to the neigh- bouring churches, whicli he had not himself time to do ; And then concludfs all with his salutation both to Polycarp and to several of the church of Smyrna, by name 1C3 THE EPISTLE OF ST. IGNATIUS TO ST. POLYCARP. Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to Polycarp, bishop of the church tvhich is' at Smyrna ;^ their overseer, hut rather him- self overlooked by God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ ; all happiness. I. Having known that thy mind towards God is fixed, as it were, upon an immovable rock, I exceedingly give thanks that I have been thought worthy to behold thy blessed- face, in which may I always rejoice in God. Wherefore, I beseech thee by the grace of God, with which thou art clothed, to press forward in thy course, and to exhort all others, that they may be saved. Main- tain thy place, with all care, both of flesh and spirit:'^ make it thy endeavour to preserve unity, than which no- thing is better. Bear with all men, even as the Lord with thee. Support all in love, as also thou dost. " Pray with- out ceasing : "^ ask moi'e understanding than what thou already hast. Be watchful, having thy spirit always awake. Speak to everyone according as God shall enable thee. ^ Bear the infirmities*' of all, as a perfect combatant. Where the labour is great, the gain'' is the more. II. If thou shalt love the good disciples, what thank is it 1 But rather do thou subject to thee those that are mis- chievous, in meekness. Every wound is not healed with the same plaister : if the accessions of the disease be vehe- ment, mollify them with soft remedies f be in all things " wise as a serpent, but harmless as a dove." For this cause thou art composed of flesh and spirit, that thou '^ Of the Smyrnaiansi ^Innocent. s Vid. 1 Cor. vii. 34: * Be at leisure, &c. ^ Vid; Voss. in loC aliter Vet. Lat. Tnterpr. " 7 'he diseases. '' Is much'. ^ Sujierfusions: '- Matt. x. IG. 164 Sf. Ignatius^ s Epistle to St. Polycarp. 165 mayest mollify those things that appear before thy face. And as for those that are not seen, pray to God that he would reveal them unto thee, that so thou mayest be wanting in nothing, but mayest abound in every gift. The times demand thee, as the pilots the winds, and he that is tossed in a tempest the haven whei'e he would be ; that thou mayest attain unto God. Be sober, as the combatant of God ; the crown^ proposed to thee is immortality and eternal life, concerning which thou art also fully per- suaded. I will be thy surety in all things, and my bonds, which thou hast loved. III. Let not those that seem worthy of credit, but teach other doctrines, disturb thee.^ Stand firm and immovable, as an anvil when it is beaten upon. It is the part of a brave combatant to be wounded,^ and yet to overcome. But especially we ought to endure all things for God's sake, that he may bear with us. Be every day better * than other ; consider the times ; and expect him, who is above all time, eternal, invisible, though for our sakes made visible : inpalpable and impassable, yet for us sub- jected to sufferings, enduring all manner of ways for our salvation. IV. Let not the widows be neglected : be thovi, after God, their guardian. Let nothing be done without thy knowledge and consent : neither do thou anything but according to the will of God ; as also thou dost with all constancy.'' Let your assemblies be more full; enquire into all by name. Overlook not the men and maid- servants ; neither let them be puffed up ; but rather let them be the more subject, to the glory of God, that they may obtain from him a better liberty. Let tlicm not desire to be " set free at the public cost, that they be not slaves to their own lusts. V. Flee evil arts ;'' or, rather make not any mention of them. Say to my sisters that they love the Lord ; and be satisfied with their own husbands, both in the flesh and spirit. In like maimer, exhort my brethren, in the name of 1 Vid. W)^^. Aiinot. in loc, (."ollat. cum Cotcler. ib. - Ama':o. thic.. "* /Ic.atciiy * More .Hiu'lioiis, dili(jt7if, ' Bdii'j will HtUkd. " Vid. Annot, Cotelcr. in loc, ^ Or, trades. 1 66 St. Ignatius s Epistle to St. Poly carp. Jesus Christ, that they love their wives^ even as the Lord the church. If any man can remain in a virgin state, to ^ the honour of the flesh of Christ, let him remain with- out boasting: but if he boast he is undone. And if he desire to be more taken notice of than the bishop, he is corrupted. But it becomes all such as are married, whether men or Avomen, to come together with the consent of the bishop, that so their marriage may be according to godli- ness, and not in lust. Let all things be done to the honour of God. VL Hearken unto the bishop,^ that God also may hearken unto you. My soul be security for them tliat submit to their bishop, with their presbyters and deacons. And may my portion be together with theirs in God. Labour with one another ; contend together, run together, suffer together, sleep together, and rise together ; as the stewards and assessors, and ministers of God. Please him under whom ye war, and from whom ye receive your wages. Let ribne of you be found a deserter ; but let your baptism remain as your arms your faith as your helmet your charity as your spear your patience as your whole armour. Let your works be your charge,^ that so you may receive a suitable reward. Be long-suS'ering, there- fore, towards each other in meekness, as God is towards you. Let me have joy of you in all things. VII. Now, forasmuch as the church of Antioch in Syria is, as I am told * in peace through your prayers, I also have been the more comforted, and without care in God,^ if so be that by suffering I shall attain unto God, that, through your prayers, I may be found a disciple of Christ. It will be very fit, most holy Polycarp, to call a select council,'' and choose some one whom ye particularly love, and who is patient of labour, that he may be the messenger of God ; and that going unto Syria, he may glorify your incessant love, to the praise of Christ. A Christian has not the power of himself, but must always be at leisure for ^ Vid, Annot. Vossii et Coteler, in loc. 2 Observe, from the foregoing section, that Ignatius licre speaks not to Polycarp, but through him to the church of Smyrna, 3 That ichich is committed to your custody to keep secure, * It has been manifested unto me, '" In the security of God. ^ Most becoming God. Sf. Ignatius' s Epistle to St. Polycarp. 167 God's service. Now this work is both God's and yours, when ye shall have perfected it. For, I trust, through the grace of God, that ye are ready to every good work that is fitting for you in the Lord. Knowing, therefore, your earnest affection to the truth, I have exhorted you by these short letters.^ yill. But forasmuch as I have not been able to write to all the churches, because I must suddenly sail from Troas to Neapolis (for so is the command of those to whose pleasure I am subject) do you write to the churches that are near you, as being instructed in the will of God, that they also may do in like manner. Let those that are able send messengers ; ^ and let the rest send their letters by those who shall be sent by you j that you may be glorified to all eternity,^ of which you are worthy. I salute all by name, particularly the wife of p]pitropus, with all her house and children. I salute Attains, my well- beloved. I salute him who shall be thought worthy to be sent by you into Syria. Let grace be ever with him, and with Polycarp, who sends him.* I wish you all happiness in our God, Jesus Christ ; in whom continue, in the unity and protection of God. I salute Alc^ my well-beloved. Farewell iu the Lord. To Polycarp. 1 Viz. to the Smyrnjeans, and this to himself^ See Pearson in loc'; J Footmen. ^ Vid. Voss. in loc. In the. eternal work. * Ex Vet. Interpr. Vid. Voss. Annoti PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE OF THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. IGNATIUS, AND OF THE FOLLOWING RELATION OF IT, WRITTEN BY THOSE WHO WERE PRESENT AT HIS SUFFERINGS. Of the life of St. Ignatius Whence he was called Theophorus That he never saw Christ, but was converted to Christianity' by the apostles ; and by them made bishop of Antioch How he behaved himself in that station Of his death Why he was sent from An- tioch to Rome, in order to his suffering there Metaphraste-s' ac- count of the effect which his death wrought upon the emperor Trajan, rejected How the persecution of the Christians came to be mitigated about the time that he suffered An enquiry into the time of his martyrdom. 1. In the foregoing chapter I have given such an ac- count of the epistles of St. Ignatius as seemed necessary to vindicate the authority of them, and to remove those prejudices which some had of late endeavoured to raise against them. I am now to pass from the writings of this holy man to his truly great and heroical sufferings : an account whereof is in the next place subjoined, in the re- lation of those who accompanied him from Antioch to Rome, and were there the eye-witnesses of his martyrdom. 2. But before I come to the consideration of this last and noblest part of his life, I cannot but think it will be expected from me to give some account of the foregoing passages of it ; that so we may have at once a full view of this great saint, and perceive by what steps he prepared himself for so constant and glorious a death. 3. And here it will be necessary for me, in the first place, to consider the character which he gives of himself iu the beginning of all his epistles, and which he freely asserted before the ^ emperor himself, at his examination ; namely, that of Theophorus. Now this, according to the different pronunciation of it, may be expounded after a different manner ; and signify either a 2^''>'son carried hy ^ Acts of Ignatius, num. iv., v. i68 Of the Martyrdom of St. Ignatius. 169 God^ or else a divine person ; one who carries God in Ids breast. And in both these significations we find this name to have been given to this holy man. 4. For, first, as to the former signification, we are told, by some of the writers of his life, that St. Ignatius was the child whom our blessed Saviour took in his arms, and set before his disciples as a pattern of humility, when he told them, that "unless they should be converted, and become as little children, they should in no wise enter into tiie kingdom of God ; " i- and that from thence he took the name of Theophorus, one who was borne or carried by God. And thus not only Metaphrastes - and Nicephorus ^ among the Greeks, but as our learned Bishop Usher * tells us, " Some Syriac writers, more ancient than they, both interpret this name, and give an account of its being attributed to this blessed martyr." 5. But as stories of this kind seldom lose in the relation, so we find the Latins ^ making a farther improvement of the present fable. For having confirmed the truth of what these men had before observed, of St. Ignatius being taken up by our Saviour into his arms ; they add, that for this reason the apostles, when they made him bishop of An- tioch, durst not lay their hands upon him, " He having been before both commended by our Saviour Christ, and sanctified by his touching of him." 6. There is so much of romance in all the latter part of this story, and so little grounds for the former, that 1 shall not need to spend any time in the confuting of either. It is enough that St. Chrysostom has assured us, that this holy man never saw the Lord, and tliat all the other an- cient writers are silent as to this particular ; which makes me the ratlier wonder at the endeavour of a late learned writer ^ of our own country to give countenance to such a fable; which, if not destitute of all probabilit}', yet at least wants any good authority to support it ; and, as our ' !Miitt. xviii. .3. - Metaphrast. apiul Cotelcr. p. 991. 3 Niceph. Hist. Eccl. HI), ii. cap. ;{.">. * Usser. Annot. in Act. Mart. Ign. num. iv. " Vid. Annot. in Concil. (Mcnni. viii. (."oncil. Lab. torn. viii. p. 904. d. ^ Ilomil. in S. Ignat. torn. I. Fcvardcnt. p. 409, 50G, B.C. '' Montac. Origin. Eccles. tuni. II. p. 211, '2\-2. 1 70 Preliminary Discourse learned Bishop Pearson ^ very reasonably conjectures, was first started about the time of the eighth general council, by the party of that Ignatius who was then set up in opposition to Photius ; and from thence derived both to Anastasius among the Latins, and to Metaphrastes among the Greeks. 7. To pass, then, from this fabulous account of this title, let us come to the consideration of the true import of it. Now, for that as we cannot have any better, so neither need we desire any other account than what this holy man ^ himself gave the emperor of that name. When being asked by him, *' Who was Theophorus ] " he replied, " He who has Christ in his breast." And in this sense was this name commonly used among the ancients ; as has been shown in a multitude of examples, by Bishop Pearson ^ in his elaborate vindication of Ignatius's epistles. I shall offer only one of them, that of St. Cyril, who anathematises those who should call our Saviour Christ, Theophorus ; "lest," savs he, "he should thereby be imderstood to have been no other than one of the saints." 8. It remains, then, that Ignatius was called Theophorus, for the same reason that any other divine or excellent person might have been so called ; namely, upon the ac- count of his admirable piety : because his soul was full of the love of (Jod, and sanctified with an extraordinary por- tion of the Divine grace ; as both his life showed, and the earnest desire he had to be dissolved and to be with Christ, and his joy when he saw himself approaching towards it ; and (to mention no more) his constancy in his last and most ter- rible conflict with the wild beasts will not suffer us to doubt. 9. But though the story of our Saviour's taking St. Ig- natius into his arms be of no credit, yet thus much St. Chrysostom tells ^ us, that he was intimately acquainted with the holy apostles, and instructed by them in the full knowledge of all the mysteries of the, gospel. What was the country that gave birth to this blessed saint, or who his parents were, we cannot tell. Indeed, as to the former of these, his country, a late author ^ has endeavoured, from 1 Vind; Ignat. part II. cap. xii. p. 149. 2 Acts of Ignat. num. V. 3 Vind. Ignat. part II. p. 144. * Homil. in Ign. p. 499. torn. I. Fevardent. ^ Ernest. Tentzel. Exercit. Select. III. num. ii. p. 47. Comp. Dr^ Grabe Spicileg. torn. ii. p. 1. of the Martyrdom of St. Ignatius. 171 a passage in Abulfaragus, set out by our incomparable Dr. Pococke, to fix it at Nora in Sardinia ; a place which still retains its ancient name with very little variation. This is certain, that growing eminent both in the knowledge of the doctrine of Christ, and in a life exactly framed ac- cording to the strictest rules of it, he was, upon the death of Euodius, chosen by the apostles that were still living, to be bishop of Antioch, the metropolis of Syria ; and, whatever Anastasius pretends-*- received imposition of hands from them. 10. How he behaved himself in this great station, though we have no particular account left to us, yet wo may easily conclude from that short hint that is given us of it, in the relation of his martyrdom,^ where we are told that he was " a man in all things like unto the apostles ; that as a good governor, by the helm of prayer and fast- ing, by the constancy of his doctrine and spiritual labour, he opposed himself to the floods of the adversary ; that he was like a divine lamp illuminating the hearts of the faith- ful by his exposition of the Holy Scriptures ; and lastly, that to preserve his church, he doubted not freely, and of his own accord, to expose himself to the most bitter death." This is in general the character of his behaviour in his church of Antioch ; a greater than which can hardly be given to any man. Nor indeed can we doubt but that he, who, as Eusebius ^ tells us, and as his epistles still remain- ing abundantly testify, was so careful of all the other churches, to confirm them in a sound faith, and in a con- stant adherence to their holy religion, was certainly much more vigilant to j)romote the interests of piety within his own diocese, which was blessed with his government above forty years.* 11. Hence we may observe wliat a tender concern he expresses in all his e[)istle3 for his church at Antioch ; with what aft'cction he recommends it to the prayers of those to whom he wrote; and especially to the care of his 1 Vi(l. Clirysost. Orat. in Laud. Ignat. Tlicodoret. torn. iv. p. .33. Dial. l.Comp. U.sscr. Annot. in l^pist. ad Antiocli. p. 107. Pearson. Vind. If^nat. part. II. \i. 107. - Acts of Ij,'iiat. num. i. ii. iii. 3 Hint. Ecclcs. lib. iii. cap. 30. < Ku.scb. Chron. ab anno 09 ad 110, alii ad 110. Vid. infra. 1/2 Preliminary Discourse dear friend and fellow-disciple, St. Poljcarp. And when he heard at Troas of the ceasing of the persecution there, liow did he rejoice at it ; and require all the neighbouring churches to rejoice with him; and to send their messengers and letters thither, to congratulate with them upon that account 1 " 12, Such was his affection towards his own church, and his care of all the others round about him ; by both of which he became in such an extraordinary favour with them, that they thought nothing could be sufficient to express their respect towards him. And therefore we are told, that when he was carried from Antioch to Home, in order to his suffering, all the churches everywhere sent messengers ^ on the way to attend him, and to communi- cate to his wants. And what is yet more, they were gener- ally their bishops themselves that came to meet him, and thought it a singular happiness to receive some spiritual exhortations from him. And when he was dead, they paid such an honour to his memory, as to account the few bones ^ that were left of him by the wild beasts, more preci- ous than the richest jewels : insomuch that we are told they were several * ages after taken up from the place where they were first deposited, as not honourable enough for them to lie in, and that being brought within the city where he once was bishop, there was instituted a yearly festival in memory of him. 13. As for what concerns the circumstances of his death, they are so particularly recounted in the relation I have here subjoined of it, that nothing more needs to be added to what is there delivered of this matter. Yet one remark I cannot but make on that particular of his story wliich has puzzled so many learned men ^ to account for, but may easily be resolved, and I believe most truly too, into the over-ruling hand of the Divine Providence ; and that is, of tlifi sending of this lioly man from Antioch as far as Rome to sutfer. For whatever the design of the em- 1 See his Epistles to the Philadelp. Smyrn. and to St. Polycarp. 2 Vid. Ignat. Epist. et speciatim ad Rom. inim ix. Add. Act. Ignat. num. ix. ** Vid. Act. Ignat. num. xiii. * Vid Usserii Ann. in Act. Ignat. num. xxxvii. ^ Vid. Scalig. in Euseb. ad Ann. 110. of tJie Martyrdom of St. Ignatius. 173 peror* may have been in it, whether he intended to increase his sufferings by a journey so wearisome, and attended with so many bitter circumstances, as that must needs have been to a pei-son, very probably, at that time, foui-score years of aiic ; or whether he hoped by this means to have overcome his constancy, and to have drawn him away from his faith ; or lastly, whether, as Motaphrastes - tells us, upon his consulting with those of the senate who were with him, he was advised " not to let him suffer at An- tioch, lest thereby he should raise his esteem the more among the people, and render him still more dear and desirable to them ; " we cannot doubt but that God hereby designed to present to all the nations through which he was to pass, a glorious instance of the power of his religion, that could enable this blessed martyr with so much con- stancy to despise all the violence of his enemies, and to be impatient after those trials which they hoped should have affrighted him into a base and degenerous compliance with their desires. 14. This was indeed a triumph worthy of the Christian religion : nor was it any small advantage to the churches at such a critical time, to have their zeal awakened, and their courage confirmed, both by the example and exhortations of this great man, from Antioch even to Rome itself. And we are accordingly told with what mighty comfort and satisfaction they I'cceived his instructions, and, as the authors ^ of his acts express it, " rejoiced to partake in his spiritual gift." 15. Xay, but if we may believe ]\Ictaphrastes as to the effect which the sufferings of this holy man had upon the mind of the emperor, the cluu-ch received yet greater benefit by his death; "for Trajan,"* says he, "hearing of what had been done to Ignatius, and how midauntedly he had undergone the sentence that was pronounced against him ; and being infonued that the Christians were a sort of men that did nothing contrary to the laws, nor were guilty of any impieties, but worshipped Christ as 1 ViJ. Usscr. Not. in Act. If,'Tiat. mini. ix. ]>; .'?0, 40. Tciitzcl. Exerc. iii. p. 40. - .Malt, apu.l Cotcler. .\ -Ls of Igiiat. iiiiiM. ix. ^ Mart. Ignat. apud Cotclor. p. 1002. 174 Preliminary Discourse the Son of God, and exercised all temperance both in meat and drink, nor meddled with anything that was for- bidden ; he began to repent of what he had done, and commanded that the Christians should indeed be searched out, bat that, being discovered, they should not be put to death ; only they should not be admitted into any offices, nor be suffered to meddle with any public employs. Thus was not only the life of Ignatius of great use to the church, but his very death the means of procuring much good to it." And what Metaphrastes here tells us, we find in effect delivered by another author '^ of his acts, not yet set forth ; from whom he seems to have taken his story, only with the addition of some farther circumstances of his own, to make it the more complete. 16. But though I should be far from envying anything that might make for the honour of this blessed martyr, yet are there many circumstances in the story which Me- taphrastes has here put together, that make me justly call in question the truth of it. For first, it is evident, beyond all doubt, that the persecution was abated at Antioch be- fore Ignatius suffered, nay, before he was yet gone out of the lesser Asia. Insomuch, that in his three last epistles which he wrote from Troas to the Philadelphians, the Smyrna^ans, and to Poly carp himself, he particularly takes notice of the peace of the church of Antioch, and exhorts them to send congratulatory messages thither upon the accoTint of it. 17. Nor was this suspension of the persecution granted upon Ignatius's account, but upon the remonstrances which the emperor's own officers made to him, both of the num- bers of those that died for the Ciiristian faith, and of the innocency of their lives ; and lastly, of the readiness with which they not only suffered when taken, but voluntarily came and presented themselves before those who were to condemn them. Two of these epistles, relating to this very persecvition, we have still remaining ; the one written by Tiberianus,^ president of Palajstina Prima ; the other of Pliny the younger,^ pro-prcetor of Bithyuia : and the ^ Vid. Usser. Annot. in Act. Ignat. pp. 55, 56. ^ Apud Usser.' Annot. in Epist. ad Philadelph. not. 82. Et in Append, p. 9. ^ Plin. Secun. p]pi.st. lib. x, Epist. 97. of the Martyrdovi of St. Ignatius. 175 answer of Trajan * to the latter, of which we find to nave been in the same words that Jo. Malela tells us he replied to the other ; viz. " That the Christians should not be sought after ; but if they were brought before them and convicted, should be punished unless they abjured.'* 18. The same is the account which not only Eusebius,^ from Tertullian,^ gives us of the emperor's order as to this matter ; but which Suidas,* after both, has left us of it : which makes it the more strange to find such a different relation both in Bishop Usher's manuscript author, and in Metaphrastes' Acts of Ignatius before mentioned. It is true that, notwithstanding these rescripts of the emperor, the persecution still continued ; nor was it so soon over in other places as it was at Antioch. This is not only evident from the history of this time left us by Eusebius,^ but may in general be concluded from the prayer^ which this holy saint made at his martyrdom ; where, say our acts, " He entreated the Sou of God in behalf of the churches, that he would put a stop to the persecution, and restore peace and quiet to them." But these were only local persecutions, as Eusebius'^ calls them ; and pro- ceeded rather from the fury of the people, and the per- verseness of some particular governors, than from the design or command of the emperor. 19. As for the time of Ignatius's suffering, we are only told, in his acts, that it was when Syria and Senecius were consuls ; nor are learned men yet agreed in what year to fix it. Eusebius, in his Chronicle, places it iu the year of Christ 110 ; Marianus Scotus, 112 : Bishop Usher ^ yet sooner, in the year 107. And lastly, to name no more, our most exact Bishop Lloyd, ^ followed therein by the late critique upon Baronius, Antonius Pagi, yet later than any ; to wit, in the year that the great eartiiquake fell out at Antioch, and from which Trajan himself hardly escaped; which, as Jo. Malela ^^ accounts it, and is fol- 1 Ibid.Ep. 98. 2 Hist. Keel. lib. iii. c. .33. 3 Apologct. c. ii. * In voee Tfaiatit ^ Lib. iii. e. .32. Hist. P^celes. > Acta Mart. Ignat. num. xii. '' Kiiseb. ibid. ^ Or, Sura. ^ Annot. in Act. Martyr. Ignat. not. .3fl. ^^ Vi/)fl[. Vid, Aiiiiot. Uaser. nuiii. 7"). Yules, uiulerstaiuls hy it one of the lance-men that were set to kill the beasts if tliey ^Tcw unruly at these kinds of spectacles. Vid. in Kuseb. p. 01. C. * So Eusebius. 200 Circular Epistle concerning the the elect ; one of which this great martyr, Polycarp, most certainly was, being in our times a truly apostolical and prophetical teacher, and bishop of the catholic church which is at Smyrna. For every word that went out of his mouth either has been already fulfilled, or, in its due time, will be accomplished. XVII. But when the emulous, and envious, and wicked adversary of the race of the just, saw the greatness of his martyrdom, and considered how iiTeprehensible his con- versation had been from the beginning, and how he was now crowned with the crown of immortality, having with- out all controversy received his reward, he took all possible care that not the least remainder of his body should be taken away by us, although many desired to do it, and to be made partakers of his holy flesh. And to that end, he suggested it to Nicetas, the father of Herod and brother of Alee, to go to the governor, and hinder him from giving us his body to be buried. " Lest," says he, " forsaking him that was crucified, they should begin to worship this Polycarp." And this he said at the suggestion and instance of the Jews, who also watched us, that we should not take him out of the fire ; not considering,^ that neither is it possible for us ever to forsake Christ, who suff'ered for the salvation of all such as shall be saved throughout the whole Avorld, '* the righteous for the ungodly ; " ^ nor worship any other besides him. For him indeed, as being the Son of God, we do adore ; but for the martyrs, we worthily love them, as the disciples and followers ^ of our Lord, and upon the account of their exceeding great aff'ectiou towards their * Master, and their King ; of whom may we also be made companions and fellow- disciples. XVIII. The centurion, therefore, seeing the contention of the Jews, put his body into the midst of the fire, and so consumed it. After which, we taking up his bones, more precious than the richest jewels, and tried above gold, deposited them where it was fitting : where, being gathered together as we have opportunity, with joy and ^ Knoiving. ^ 1 Pet, iii. 18. ' Imitatord. * Own r/roper. Martyrdom of St. Poly carp. 20 1 gladness, the Lord shall grant unto iis to celebrate the anniversary of his martyrdom, both in memory of those who have suffered, and for the exercise and preparation of those that may hereafter suffer. XIX. Such was the passion of the blessed Polycarp, who though he was the twelfth of those who, together with those of Philadelphia, suffered martyrdom, is yet alone chiefly had in memory of all men ; insomuch that he is spoken of by the very gentiles themselves, in every place, as' having been not only an eminent teacher, but also a glorious martyr; whose death ^ all desire to imitate, as having been every way conformable to the gospel of Christ. For having by patience overcome the unjust governor, and so received the crown of immortality, he now, together with the apostles, and all other righteous men who have gone before, with great triumph glorifies God, even the Father, and blesses our Lord, the governor both of our souls ^ and bodies, and shepherd of the catho- lic church which is over all the earth. XX. Whereas, therefore, ye desired that we would at large declare to you what was done, we have for the pre- sent given you a summary account of it by our brother Marcus. Having therefore yourselves read this epistle, you may do well to send it forward to the brethren that are farther off, that they also may glorify Cod, who makes such choice of his own servants, and is able to bring all of us, by his grace and help, to his eternal kingdom, through his only-begotten Son Jesus Christ ; to whom be glory, and honour, and power, and majesty, for ever and ever. Amen. Salute all the saints; they that are with us salute you ; and Evarestus, who wrote this epistle, with his whole house. XXI. Now the suffering of the blessed Polycarp was the second day of the present month Xanthicus, viz. the seventh of the calends of May ; ^ being the great Sabbath, about the eighth hour. He was taken by Herod, Philip the Tralian being high priest ; * Statins Quadratus, pro- ' Martyrdom. - Vi'l. (Jotclcr. in niarg. et Vet. Lat. Interpr. 3 Puither of April. See Annot. U.sHcr. n. 1U5. et rearsou. Chroii. Diaa. II. c. 18. n. 4. * Adarch. 202 Circular Epistle, &c. consul ; but our Saviour Christ reigning for evermore. To him be honour, glory, majesty, and an eternal throne, from generation to generation. Amen. XXII. We wish you, brethren, all happiness, by living according to the rule of the gospel of Jesus Christ ; with whom, glory be to God, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, for the salvation of his chosen saints ; after whose example the blessed ^ Polycarp suffered ; at whose feet may we be found in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. AN ADVERTISEMENT RELATING TO THE FOREGOING EPISTLE. This Epistle was transcribed by Caius - out of the copy of iREXiEus, the disciple of Polycarp, who also lived and conversed with lrena;us. And I, Socrates, transcribed it at Corinth, out of the copy of the said Caius. Grace -be with all. After which I, Pionius, again wrote it from the copy before mentioned ; having searched it out by the revela- tion of Polycarp, who directed me to it ; as also I shall declare in what follows. Having gathered these things together, now almost corrupted through process of time, tliat Jesus Chiist our Lord may also gather me togetlier with his elect ; to whom, with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, be glory for ever and ever. Amen 1 As the blessed, &c. ^ Ad fiuem Exempl. Usaer. p, 30. GENUINE REMAINS APOSTOLICAL FATHERS. PART 11. IX WHICH ARE COMPRISED I. The Epistle of St. Banialjas. II. Tlie Slieplierd of Hennas; AND II f. Part of the Second Epistle of St; Clement to the Corinthians. CONTENTS OF THE CATHOLIC EPISTLE OF ST. BARNABAS. T. The salutation and preface to the following epistle. II., III., That God has abolished the legal sacrifices, to introduce tlie spiritual righteousness of the Gospel, IV. The prophecies of Daniel concerning the ten kings, and the coming of Christ. v., VI. That Christ was to suffer proved from the prophecies concerning him. Vir. The scape-goat an evident type of this. VIII. The red heifer another type of Christ. IX. Of the circumcision of the ears ; and how, in the first institu- tion of circumcision, Abrahani mystically foretold Ciirist by name. X. That the commands of Moses, concerning clean and unclean beasts, &c., were all designed for a spiritual signification. XL, XII. Baptism and the Cross of Christ, foretold in figures under the law. XIII. The promise of God not made to the Jews only, but to the Gentiles also. XIV. And fulfilled to us by Jesus Christ. XV. That the Sabbath of the Jews was but a figure of a more glorious Sabbath to come XVI. Their temple of the spiritual temples of God. XVII. The conclusion of tlie former part of this epistle. XVin. He goes on to the other part, which relates to practice: this he divides into two considerations ; the former, of the way of light ; the latter, of the way of darkness. XIX. Of the way of light ; being a summary of what a Christian is to do, that he may bo happy for ever. XX. Of the way of darkness ; that is, wliat kind of persons shall be for ever cast out of the kingdom of God. XXI. The close of all ; being an earnest exhortation to them to live so that tliey may be blessed to all eternity. 204 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE OF THE CATHOLIC EPISTLE OF ST. BARNABAS. Why the pieces that follow are put in a Second Part, separate from the foregoing The history of St. Baniabas, chiefly from the Acts of the Apostles Of his name, education, and travels, especially with St. Paid How he came to be separated from that apostle "What he did afterwards Of his death, and the invention of his relics ; and of the Cyprian privileges established on that account Of the present epistle ; that it was truly written by St. Barnabas The principle objections against it answered An apology for its allegorical interpretations of Scripture The latter part of it origin- ally belonging to this epistle That it was written after the destruction of Jerusalem The design and usefulness of it. 1. When I first entered upon the design of publishing the present collection, I intended to have here put an end to it ; the following pieces, under the names of Barnabas and Hennas, together with the Second Epistle of St. Clement, (however undoubtedly very ancient, and con- fessed by all to come but little, if anything, short of the ajx)stolical times,) having yet neither been so highly esteemed among the ancients, nor so generally received by many of the present times, as those I have already mentioned. But when I considered the deference wiiich others among the primitive fathers have paid to them, and the value which is still put upon them by many not inferior either in learning or piety to those who speak against them, I thought I could not better satisfy all, than by adding them in a second part to the foregoing epistles ; that so both they who have a just esteem for them might not complain of being defrauded of any part of wliat remains of the apostolical writings ; and those who are otherwise minded might look upon them as standing in a second rank, and not taking place (which they otherwise must have done) of those undoubtedly genuine and ad- mirable discourses that make up the furmer part of this work. 205 2o6 Preliminary Discourse 2. And here the first piece that occurs is the Catholic Epistle of St. Barnabas, the companion of St. Paul, and disciple of our Saviour Christ ; being generally esteemed to have been one of the seventy ^ that were chosen by him : however, our countryman Bede '^ calls the verdict of antiquity in question as to this matter, upon this account, because St. Luke (Acts iv.) seemeth to intimate that he first came to the apostles after the ascension of our Lord, and then embraced the Christian faith. To this it may be added that he is there called a Levite of Cyprus, not one of the seventy disciples, which would have been much more for his honour to have been mentioned. The mis- take of Clemens Alexandrinus, &c., if it were one, seems to have arisen from hence, that Joseph Barsabas, or, as other MSS. have it, Joses Bai-nabas, the competitor of St. Matthias, Acts i. (as on the contrary some MSS. Acts iv. have Joseph Barsabas), who probably was of the seventy, as well as Matthias, was confounded by them with our Barnabas ; of whom, whatever becomes as to his disciple- ship, this we are sure, that the Holy Ghost, by St. Luke, has left us this advantageous character of him. Acts xi. 24, " That he was a good man, full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost." 3. It is not my design to enter on any long account of the life of a person so largely spoken of in the Holy Scriptures, and of whom little certain can be written, be- sides what is there recorded. His country was Cyprus, a famous island in the Mediterranean sea ; where there inhabited in those days so great a number of Jews, that in the time of Trajan ^ they conspired against the Gentiles, and slew of them ^ two hundred and forty thousand men. Upon which being cast out of the isle, they were never suffered upon any account to set foot again in it, upon pain of death. 4. His name was at first Joses, but by the apostles changed into Barnabas ; which being interpreted, says St, Luke, is the Son of Consolation ; and, as we may 1 Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. ii. p. 410. Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. cap. 12, et lib. ii. cap. 1. ^ In Act. iv. 3 Euseb. Chron. ad. anil, cxvii. ^ Dion. lib. Ixviii. Xiphiline, &c. of the Epistle of St. Baniabas. 207 conjecture from the place * where it is fii*st mentioned, waa given him by the apostles, as an honourable acknowledg- ment of his charity in selling his whole estate for the relief of the poor Christians, and upon the account of that con- solation which they received thereby. 5. His first education, Metaphrastes ^ tells us, was at the feet of Gamaliel, by whom ho was instructed, together with St. Paul ; which perhaps moved that great apostle, upon his conversion, to apply himself to him, as the pro- perest person to introduce him into the acquaintance of the other apostles ; and afterwards to embrace him as his chief friend and fellow-labourer in the work of the gospel. For they are both mentioned (Acts xi. 26) " to have taught much people at Antioch ; " and that for a whole year together ; and in the thirteenth chapter are numbered among the prophets and teachers of the Christian church there. Vei"se 2, where we read that they did Aetrovpyciv T(p Kx'ptw, which some in a special manner interpret of the celebration of the holy eucharist. Here, then, we find tliem both, by teaching and administering that blessed sacrament, discharging the work of a priest, or presbyter, as we now understand that word. But they still wanted the apostolical, or episcopal character ; by virtue of which they might do that ordinarily which, as prophets, they cuuld only do in extraordinary cases, and by an express direction of the Holy Spirit ; namely, found churclies, and ordain eldeis or bishops in every place. Tliis dignity, therefore, we are told they now received, by the laying on of the hands of the other three prophets there mentioned ; namely, Simeon Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, Acts xiii. 3. And from thenceforth not only their title was changed, (they being afterwards called apostles. Acts xiv. 4 and 14.), but they exercised anotlier sort of power, " Ord;'.iiied elders in every church," verse 23. Thus was Barnabas, together with St. Paul, first a teacher and a prophet ; then consecrated to be a bishop, or an apostle : according to the order which our Lord himself had appointed, that there should be in his cliurch, first. 1 Acts iv. .30, .37. * Apu4, * Hioron. dc Script, in Banuvb. * Baron. Aiinal. aim. 48;"). ^ Id. Annot. ad Martyrol. llotn. Jun. xi. Aunal. uiin. 4Su. ' Apud Siuiuin, Jun. xii torn. 111. 2i2 Preliminary Discourse that Nilus Doxapater ^ tells us that this very thing was the ground of the Cyprian privileges : where, speaking of certain provinces that depended not upon any of the greater patriarchats, in instances first of all in Cyprus ; "which," says he, "continues free, and is subject to none of the patriarchs, because of the apostle Barnabas being found in it." And the same is the account which Nicephorus ^ also gives us of it ; and which was assigned before in the Notitia ^ ascribed to Leo, as I find it quoted by Monsieur Le Moyne, in his preface to his late collec- tion of several ancient pieces relating to ecclesiastical antiquity. 17. Together with his body was found, says Alexan- der/ the gospel of St. Matthew, written in the Hebrew tongue, lying upon his breast ; but Nilus ^ says that of his kinsman St. Mark. Which of the two it was, or whether anything of all this was more than a mere story, contrived by Anthemius to get the better of Peter, patriai'ch of Antioch, I shall not undertake to determine. It is enough that we are assured that by this means ^ he not only preserved his privileges against Peter, but got his see confirmed by the emperor as an independent see ; which was also afterwards again done by Justinian, at the instigation of the Em^Dress Theodora, who was herself a Cyprian. 18. But to return to that which is more properly the business of these reflections ; it docs not appear that St. Barnabas left any more in writing than the epistle I have here subjoined. Some indeed there were heretofore who thought that the Epistle to the Hebrews was written by him. Tertullian "^ confidently quotes it as his : nor does St. Hierome ^ censure him for it, but leaves it as a doubt whether it should be ascribed to him, or to St. Luke, St. Clement, or St. Paul ; though he seems rather to incline to St. Paul. But that this is a mistake, and that St. Paul 1 Vid. Le Moyne, Var. Sacr. torn. I. p. 236. Hist. Eccles. libi xvii c. 37. * Vid. Le Moyne, Prolegomi ad Var. Sacn < Alex. Monach. loc. citati So Theodoras Lector, Collect; lib. iii p: 184. 5 Nilus Doxapi inter Var. Sacr. p. 236. ^ Baron. Annal. loc. supr. citat. '' TertuU. de Pudicit. c. 20. ^ Dc Script. Eceles, in S. Paulo. of the Epistle of St. Barnabas. 2 1 3 was indeed the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, has been very largely and learnedly proved by Dr. Mills, in his Prolegomena to the New Testament, so as to put that matter beyond all doubt. As for the present epistle, it is certain that several of the ancient fathers took it to be imdoubtedly of St. Barnabas's writing. Clemens Alexan- drinus ^ quotes it as such, both in his Stromata, yet ex- tant, and in his lost books of Hypotyposes, as is remarked by Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History. ^ Origeu ^ calls it the catholic epistle of Barnabas, without the least inti- mation of any doubt about it, as he uses to give when he quoteth other apocryphal books ; as those of Hermas, of which more hereafter. Others indeed of the fathers seem, if not to have denied that this epistle was written by Barnabas the apostle, yet at least to have doubted of it. Eusebius * reckons it among the scriptures of the New Testament which were received by some, and contra- dicted by others. St. Jerome reckons it among the apocryphal books, which were not put into the canon of the Holy Scriptures, upon the account of the uncertainty of their authors, and consequently of their infallible authority. 19. Which being so, I cannot but wonder at some in our own times, who without any better grounds peremp- torily pronounce it to be none of St. Barnabas's : whereas of the ancient ecclesiastical writers who lived much nearer the age of our author, some positively affirmed it ; and though some others doubted of it, yet none plainly denied it ; at least, it does not appear that any did so. And of this Cotelerius " seems to have been sensible ; who though he did not care to ascribe it to the Barnabas of whom we are now discoursing, yet was forced to suppose tliat some otlier Barnabas wrote it ; without which he saw tlicre could be no way of answering the concurrent verdict of all antiquity, which lias iniiversally agreed in Barnabas as tlie author of it. But now wlio this other Barnabas 1 Vid. Cotcler. Testim. V. PP. "- EocIcp. Hist. HI), vi. c. 1.% 14. ^ Lil). i. coiitni (Jelsmn. * Loc. citat. ' Citalog. Scriptor. Kccl<;s. et lib. xiii. m Ezck. cap. \'i. Cotel. Not. in l>aniab. p. 7. li. C, 214 Prelimmary Discourse was, or that in those times there was any such person, he pretends not to tell us ; and they who ascribe it to Bar- nabas, expressly speak of him as the same of whom I have hitherto been discoursing. ^ 20. But of all others, most unaccountable is the fancy of Monsieur Le Moyne ^ concerning the author of this epistle. He had observed that in several Greek manu- scripts it was immediately continued on with that of St. Polycarp ; and from this he concludes the two epistles to have been written by St. Polycarp : whereas in truth by some chance in the copy from which the rest were transcribed, a few leaves were lost, containing the end of St. Polycarp's and the beginning of St. Barnabas's epistles ; by which means the Greek of both is imperfect. But all the Latin copies constantly ascribing this letter to Barnabas, and the ancient fathers all agreeing to the same, utterly destroy this opinion ; in which as he had none to go before him, so I believe he will scarcely meet with any to follow him.^ 21. Nor are the arguments which they bring against the authority of it of such moment as to overthrow the constant testimonies of the ancients on its behalf. They tell us, first,* that it is evident, from the sixteenth chapter of this epistle, that it was written after the destruction of Jerusalem. But why may not Barnabas have been then living, as well as we are sure St. John, and several others of the companions of the apostles were % And if he may have been living after it, why shall not we suppose that he was, as well as they that he was not % seeing it does not appear from the testimony of any ancient writers when he died. 22. But, secondly, ^ They argue yet farther against it. " For if this," say they, " be the genuine Epistle of St. Barnabas, how comes it to pass that it is not received i Vid. Clem. Alexi Hieron. &;ci inter Testim. Coteler. ^ Proleg. in Var. Sacr. in Polycarpo. ^ Vid. Tcntzel. Exerciti Select, de Polyc. seCi 38, 39. Pra;f. Usser. in Edit. Oxon, S. Barnab. p; v. 4 Coteler. Not. in. Barnab. p. 1. C. Natal. Alex. Hist. Eccles; torn. ]. sect. 1. p: lOOi Le Moyne Pi'oleg. ad Var. Sacr. "' Cotelerr Not. in Barn, p; 5, 6. Natal. Alex. ibid. Le jNloyne Prolegom. ad Var. Sacr. of the Epistle of St. Barnabas. 2 1 5 as canonical % Certainly, had the primitive Christians believed it to have been written by such a man, they would without controversy have placed it among the sacred writings, and not have censured it as of doubtful authority." This is indeed a very specious pretence ; but which, being a little examined, will be found to have no strength in it : it being certain that the primitive fathers ^ did own this for St. Barnabas's epistle, and yet not receive it into their canon; and therefore it does not follow, that had they believed it to have been his they must have esteemed it canonical. 23. What rules they had, or by what measure they proceeded, in those first times, in judging of the canonical scriptures of the New Testament, it is not necessary for me here to ^ enquire. It is enough that we know what books the church did at last agree in as coming under that character. And for the rest as we cannot doubt that there was a due care taken in examining into a matter of such importance, and that those primitive fathers did not, without very good reason, distinguish those that were written by Divine inspiration from those that were not ; so we are very sure that all was not admitted by tiiem into the rank of canonical scripture that was written by any apostolical man ; and therefore it can be no good argument that Barnabas was not the author of this epistle because it is not placed among the sacred writings of the New Testament. 24. But there is yet one objection more, and that much insisted upon by those wlio are enemies to this epistle. Tliey ^ tell us it is full of a strange sort of alle- gorical interpretation of Holy Scripture ; and therefore unworthy to be fatliered upon so evangelical an author. And yet, notwithstanding tliis, we find Clemens Alexan- drinus and Origen, P^usebius and St. Jerome, (some of the greatest and most learned critics of those ages that were the nearest to the time in which it was written,) J Vid. Cotckr. Not. in Hariiab. p. 6. E. 7. A, - iSec this argument more fully liandlcd by the learnctl Dr. Grabe. Spicileg. 8ce. ii. p. 0, 7. ^ Cot