21, is said to have been a Briton by birth. See Fuller's "Church History
of Britain," vol. i. p. 11; Edit. London, 1837.
[173:5] Euseb. ii. 16.
[173:6] Acts ii. 10.
[174:1] Acts ii. 9, 11.
[174:2] See in Cave's "Fathers," Bartholomew, Matthew, and Thomas.
[175:1] 1 Cor. vi. 9-11.
[175:2] Prov. xviii. 24.
[177:1] John xiv. 26.
[177:2] John xvi. 13.
[177:3] See Irenaeus, "Adv. Haeres.," iii. 1; and Euseb. vi. 14.
[177:4] It is probable that these three Gospels were written nearly at
the same time. When Luke wrote, he does not seem to have been aware of
the existence of any other Gospel. See Luke i. 4.
[177:5] Origen, "Dial, de Recta in Deum Fide," sec. i. tom. i. p. 806;
Edit. Delarue. Paris, 1733. See Whitby's "Preface to Luke." There is
good reason to believe that the "young man" mentioned Mark xiv. 51, 52,
was no other than Mark himself (Davidson's "Introduction to the New
Testament," i. 139); and if so, we have thus additional evidence that
the evangelist had enjoyed the advantages of our Lord's ministry. He has
always been reputed the founder of the Church of Alexandria, and the
testimony of Origen to the fact that he was one of the Seventy is
therefore of special value; as the Alexandrian presbyter was, no doubt,
well acquainted with the traditions of the Church of the Egyptian
metropolis.
[178:1] Acts i. 21.
[178:2] Luke i. 2.
[178:3] Matt. ix. 9, x. 3.
[178:4] Mark xiv. 71.
[178:5] Luke xxiv. 25.
[178:6] John xxi. 23.
[178:7] Matt. xxviii. 19.
[179:1] Mark ix. 15.
[179:2] Luke x. 1.
[179:3] John xiv., xv., xvi., xvii.
[179:4] See Horne's "Introduction," ii. 173. Sixth Edition.
[180:1] See Baumgarten on Acts, vii., viii., ix., xiii.
[180:2] Period i. sec. i. chap. 7, 8, 9.
[180:3] Horne, iv. 359.
[181:1] See Wordsworth "On the Canon," Lectures viii. ix.
[181:2] Prov. xxx. 5.
[181:3] This designation is not found in the most ancient manuscripts.
Thus, in the very ancient "Recension of the Four Gospels in Syriac,"
recently edited by Dr Cureton, we have simply--"Gospel of Mark"--"Gospel
of John," &c. See p. 6, Preface. See also any ordinary edition of the
Greek Testament.
[181:4] Horne, ii. 174.
[182:1] Titus iii. 12.
[182:2] Some, however, assign to it a much earlier date. See Davidson's
"Introduction to the New Testament," iii. 320.
[182:3] See Period i. sec. i. chap. 10, p. 158.
[182:4] See Wordsworth "On the Canon," p. 273.
[182:5] See Davidson's "Introduction," iii. 464, 491.
[182:6] Irenaeus, v. 30. Euseb. iii. 18.
[182:7] See Wordsworth "On the Canon," p. 157, 160, 249.
[182:8] Justin Martyr, ap. i. 67.
[182:9] 2 Pet. iii. 16
[183:1] Wordsworth "On the Canon," p. 205.
[183:2] "The allusions to the Epistle to the Hebrews are so numerous
that it is not too much to say that it was wholly transfused into
Clement's mind."--_Westcott on the Canon_, p. 32. See also Euseb. iii.
38.
[183:3] Wordsworth "On the Canon," p. 249.
[183:4] "The word ([Greek: graphê]) translated _Scripture_, which
properly means simply _a writing_, occurs fifty times in the New
Testament; and in all these fifty places, it is applied to the writings
of the Old and New Testament, and _to no other_."--Wordsworth, p. 185,
186.
[183:5] Wordsworth, p. 249, 250.
[184:1] See Davidson's "Introduction," iii. 540-550.
[184:2] See Horne's "Introduction," ii. 168. The author of the present
division into chapters is said to have been Hugo de Sancto Caro, a
learned writer who flourished about the middle of the thirteenth
century. The New Testament was first divided into verses by Robert
Stephens in 1551. The Geneva Bible was the first English version of the
Scriptures into which these divisions of Stephens were introduced.
[184:3] Horne, ii. 169.
[185:1] John v. 39; 2 Tim. iii. 15.
[185:2] Rev. i. 3. See also 2 Peter i. 19.
[185:3] Paul's epistles were often written with the hand of another. See
Rom. xvi. 22; 2 Thess. iii. 17.
[186:1] Ps. xii. 6.
[186:2] The epistle to Diognetus may have been written in the first
century, but it is commonly referred to a later date.
[186:3] He speaks of the Church of Corinth at the time as "most ancient"
(§ 47), and refers apparently to the Domitian persecution. See Euseb.
iii. 15, 16.
[186:4] Tertullian also illustrates the resurrection by the story of the
phoenix, "De Resurrec. Carn." c. 13.
[187:1] Clement's "Epistle to the Corinthians," § 25. The fragment of
the second epistle is not generally considered genuine.
[189:1] Matt. v. 17.
[189:2] 2 Tim. i. 10.
[189:3] Matt. xvi. 16; John i. 41.
[189:4] Luke xxiv. 19, 21; John i. 49.
[189:5] Matt. xvi. 21, 22; John xii. 34.
[189:6] Mark xv. 43; Luke ii. 38.
[189:7] John iv. 20-25.
[189:8] John xix. 12.
[189:9] Matt. ii. 2, 3, xx. 21; John vi. 15.
[190:1] Acts i. 6.
[190:2] Luke xxiv. 45.
[190:3] Luke xxiv. 44.
[190:4] Acts x. 34, 35.
[190:5] Acts xi. 3, 17.
[190:6] Heb. x. 1, 14, 18.
[190:7] Period i. sec. ii. chap. 1.
[191:1] Mark vii. 7-9.
[191:2] Matt. iv. 1-10, xii. 3, 5, 7; Mark xii. 26.
[191:3] John v. 39.
[191:4] Acts ii. 14-36.
[191:5] 2 Tim. iii. 15.
[191:6] 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.
[191:7] Matt. xxii. 43, 45; Gal. iii. 16; Heb. ii. 8, 11.
[191:8] John x. 34, 35; Heb. viii. 13.
[191:9] Acts xxviii. 25; Heb. iii. 7.
[191:10] Heb. i. 1, 2; Matt. i. 22, ii. 15.
[192:1] 1 Cor. ii. 13.
[192:2] 2 Tim. iii. 16.
[192:3] Gen. iii. 15; Ps. cxxx. 7, 8; Dan. ix. 24.
[192:4] Ps. xcviii. 1-4; Isa. ix. 6.
[192:5] Rom. iii. 19.
[192:6] Eph. ii. 1.
[192:7] John v. 24.
[192:8] Rev. iii. 20.
[192:9] Heb. xi. 27.
[193:1] Heb. xii. 2.
[193:2] Heb. vi. 18.
[193:3] 1 Pet. ii. 3.
[193:4] Rom. v. 1.
[193:5] Acts xv. 9.
[193:6] 1 John v. 4.
[193:7] Rom. v. 2.
[193:8] Heb. xi. 1.
[193:9] John xx. 31.
[193:10] John i. 29.
[193:11] Rom. x. 4.
[194:1] Eph. v. 23.
[194:2] Rev. xvii. 14.
[194:3] Col. i. 27.
[194:4] Ps. cxlvi. 8, compared with John ix. 32, 33.
[194:5] Job ix. 8, compared with Matt. xiv. 25.
[194:6] Ps. cvii. 29, compared with Luke viii. 24.
[194:7] Amos iv. 13, compared with Matt. xii. 25, and John ii. 24, 25.
[194:8] Tit. ii. 14.
[194:9] Mark ii. 5-10.
[194:10] Eph. v. 26.
[194:11] Acts xvi. 14; Luke xxiv. 45.
[194:12] Rev. ii. 23.
[194:13] Mal. iii. i.
[194:14] Isa. xl. 3, and vi. 1, compared with John xii. 38-41.
[194:15] Isa. xl. 3, 9; Ps. xlv. 6.
[194:16] Ps. ii. 12.
[194:17] Ps. lxxii. 15.
[194:18] Ps. ii. 12, compared with Ps. cxlvi. 3, 5, and Isa. xxvi. 4.
[194:19] John i. 49; Matt. xvi. 16, 17.
[194:20] Such as John xx. 28, xxi. 17.
[195:1] Luke xxiv. 27.
[195:2] 1 Cor. xii. 3.
[195:3] Rom. ix. 5.
[195:4] Eph. i. 12, 13; Matt. xii. 21.
[195:5] Col. iii. 24.
[195:6] Acts ix. 14; 1 Cor. i. 2.
[195:7] Rev. v. 11-13. Though modern criticism has shaken the credit of
some passages usually quoted in support of the Deity of Christ, such as
1 Tim. iii. 16, it is remarkable that it has discovered others equally
strong not now in the received text. See Lachmann's text of Col. ii. 2,
and 1 Pet. iii. 15.
[196:1] Heb. ii. 14.
[196:2] Matt. xvi. 22.
[196:3] Luke xxiv. 46.
[196:4] Rom. iii. 26.
[197:1] Heb. ix. 12.
[197:2] 1 Cor. i. 24.
[197:3] Phil. ii. 13.
[197:4] Eph. i. 4-6.
[197:5] Matt, xxviii. 19; John x. 30, xv. 26.
[198:1] Eph. iv. 5.
[198:2] See Bingham, iii. 323-327.
[198:3] Acts viii. 37; 1 Pet. iii. 21.
[198:4] Matt. i. 21.
[199:1] Prov. viii. 11.
[199:2] Phil. iv. 11-14.
[200:1] "[Greek: Hairesis] autem Graecé, ab electione dicitur: quòd
scilicet eam sibi unusquisque eligat disciplinam, quam putat esse
meliorem."--_Hieronymus in Epist. ad Galat._ c. 5. See also Tertullian,
"De Praescrip." c. 6.
[200:2] "Life," Section 2; "Antiq." xiii. 5, 9.
[200:3] Acts xxvi. 5.
[200:4] Acts xxiv. 5.
[200:5] Gal. v. 20.
[201:1] Eph. iv. 17, 18; Col. i. 13.
[201:2] John iii. 18, 19.
[201:3] Mosheim has overlooked this fact, and has, in consequence, been
betrayed into some false criticism when treating on this subject.
[201:4] Titus iii. 10.
[201:5] 2 Pet. ii. 1.
[202:1] Every one acquainted with the works of Philo Judaeus must be
aware that Jewish literature was now largely impregnated with pagan
philosophy.
[202:2] Col. ii. 8.
[202:3] 1 Tim. vi. 20.
[202:4] See Burton's "Inquiry into the Heresies of the Apostolic Age,"
pp. 314, 315. Also Mosheim's "Dissertation" appended to Cudworth, iii.
171.
[203:1] Col. i. 16, 17.
[204:1] From [Greek: dokeô], I appear.
[204:2] John i. 14.
[204:3] 1 John iv. 3.
[204:4] 1 John i. 1-3.
[204:5] 2 John 7.
[204:6] 1 Cor. xv. 12.
[204:7] 2 Tim. ii. 16-18.
[205:1] Acts viii. 9.
[205:2] Irenaeus, i. 23; Eusebius, ii. 13.
[205:3] Acts viii. 20-23.
[205:4] Acts viii. 9.
[205:5] Justin Martyr, "Apol." ii. 69. Edit. Paris, 1615.
[205:6] 1 Tim. i. 20; 2 Tim. i. 15, ii. 17, iv. 14.
[206:1] Irenaeus, i. 25, 26; Tertullian, "De Praescrip. Haeret." 33;
Epiphanius, "Haer." xxx. 2, lxix. 23.
[206:2] Irenaeus, iii. 3, 4.
[206:3] Irenaeus, iii. 11.
[206:4] Rev. ii. 6, 15.
[206:5] Acts vi. 5. Others conceive, however, that the name Nicolaitanes
is merely equivalent to Balaamites (as Balaam in Hebrew is nearly
equivalent to Nicolas in Greek, each word signifying _Ruler, or
Conqueror of the people_), and that the apostle does not here refer to
any party already known by this designation, but to all who, like
Balaam, were seducers of God's people. See Neander, "General History,"
ii. 159. Edinburgh edition, 1847.
[207:1] Rev. ii. 6, 15.
[207:2] Acts xxiii. 1, 6.
[207:3] 1 John ii. 19.
[207:4] Compare Jude 19, and Heb. x. 25.
[208:1] 1 Tim. i. 20.
[208:2] Rev. ii. 15.
[208:3] Hegesippus in Euseb., iv. 22.
[208:4] Eusebius, iv. 22.
[208:5] 1 Cor. xi. 19.
[209:1] James iii. 17.
[210:1] Luke xxiv. 21.
[210:2] Luke xxiv. 17, 22, 23.
[211:1] Acts xx. 7.
[211:2] Rev. i. 10, [Greek: hê kurtakê hêmera]. The day was ever
afterwards distinguished by this designation. See a letter from Dionysius
of Corinth in Eusebius, iv. 23. See also Kaye's "Clement of Alexandria,"
p. 418. The first day of the week is called "the Christian Sabbath" in
the Ethiopic version of the "Apostolical Constitutions." See Platt's
"Didascalia," p. 99. But these Constitutions are of comparatively late
origin.
[211:3] Matt. v. 17-19.
[211:4] Matt. iii. 15.
[211:5] Matt. xii. 3-5; Mark ii. 25, 26.
[211:6] Matt. xii. 7.
[211:7] Gen. ii. 3.
[212:1] Exod. xx. 1-17.
[212:2] Mark ii. 27.
[212:3] Matt. xxiv. 20.
[212:4] See Heb. xiii. 10, 15, 16; Ps. li. 17.
[212:5] Isa. lvi. 6, 7. Compare with Isa. ii. 2.
[212:6] Mark ii. 28.
[212:7] John xx. 19, 26. According to the current style of speaking,"
after eight days" means _the eighth day after_. See Matt, xxvii. 63.
[213:1] Acts ii. 1. That the day of Pentecost was the first day of the
week appears from Lev. xxiii. 11, 15. The same inference may be drawn
from John xviii. 28, and xix. 31, compared with Lev. xxiii. 5, 6. See
also Schaff's "History of the Apostolic Church," i. p. 230, note, and
the authorities there quoted.
[213:2] In the same way the Eucharist is called the Lord's Supper:
[Greek: Kuriakon deipnon] (1 Cor. xi. 20). Thus also we speak of the
Lord's house, and the Lord's people.
[213:3] Heb. x. 25.
[213:4] 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2.
[213:5] Isa. lxv. 17, 18.
[213:6] [Greek: Sabbatiamos]. See Owen "On the Hebrews," iv. 9.
[213:7] Heb. iv. 9, 10.
[213:8] Rom. xiv. 5.
[214:1] Col. ii. 16, 17.
[214:2] The ordinary temple service could scarcely be called
congregational. It was almost exclusively ceremonial and typical,
consisting of sacrificing, burning incense, and offering various
oblations. The worshippers generally prayed apart. See Luke i. 10,
xviii. 10, 11.
[215:1] See these eighteen prayers in Prideaux's "Connexions," i. 375,
and note. Bingham admits (Orig. iv. 194), that these are their _"most
ancient"_ forms of devotion; and, of course, if they were written after
the fall of Jerusalem, it follows that the Jews had no liturgy in the
days of our Lord. Had they then been limited to fixed forms, He would
scarcely have upbraided the Scribes and Pharisees for hypocritically
_"making long prayer"_ Matt, xxiii. 14.
[215:2] See Palmer's "Origines Liturgicae," i. pp. 44-92; and Clarkson's
"Discourse concerning Liturgies;" "Select Works," p. 342.
[215:3] Matt. vi. 9-13.
[215:4] 1 Thess. v. 18.
[215:5] Eph. vi. 18.
[215:6] Eph. vi. 18.
[215:7] Acts i. 24, 25, iv. 24-30.
[216:1] See Lightfoot's "Temple Service," ch. vii. sec. 2; "Works," ix.
56.
[216:2] Lightfoot's "Prospect of the Temple," ch. xxxiii.; "Works," ix.
384.
[216:3] The multitudes who assembled at the great festivals in the
temple could not well unite in one service. The wall of the building was
more than half a mile in circumference. See Lightfoot, ix. 217. There
were various courts and divisions in the building.
[216:4] Heb. ix. 9-12, x. 1; John ii. 19-21; 1 Pet. ii. 5.
[216:5] Vitringa, "De Synagoga," p. 203.
[216:6] Eph. v. 19. According to some, the Psalms were divided into
these three classes.
[216:7] Heb. xiii. 15.
[217:1] Bingham, ii. 482-484.
[217:2] Luke iv. 16, 17.
[217:3] Col. iv. 16; 1 Thess. v. 27.
[217:4] 1 Cor. xiv. 29. It would appear from this that only _two_ or
_three_ persons were permitted to speak at a meeting. By him that
"sitteth by" (verse 30), a doctor or teacher is meant. See Vitringa, "De
Synagoga," p. 600, and Matt. v. 1.
[217:5] 1 Cor. xiv. 27. The gift of "interpretation of tongues" (1 Cor.
xii. 10) was quite as wonderful as the gift of "divers kinds of tongues"
(1 Cor. xii. 10).
[218:1] Censers were introduced into the Church about the fourth or
fifth century. Bingham, ii. 454, 455.
[218:2] 1 Cor. xvi. 19; Col. iv. 15; Philem. 2.
[218:3] Matt. iii. 4.
[218:4] The rite of confirmation, as now practised, has no sanction in
the New Testament. The "baptisms" and "laying on of hands," mentioned
Heb. vi. 2, are obviously the "divers washings" of the Jews, and the
_imposition of hands on the heads of victims_. The laying on of the
apostles' hands conferred miraculous gifts. Had the apostle referred to
Christian baptism in Heb. vi. 2, he would have used the singular number.
[218:5] Lightfoot affirms that the use of baptism among the Israelites
was as ancient as the days of Jacob. He appeals in support of this view
to Gen. xxxv. 2. "Works," iv. 278.
[219:1] Lightfoot's "Works," iv. 409, 410. Edit. London, 1822.
[219:2] Acts x. 2, 44-48, xvi. 15, 33, xviii. 8; 1 Cor. i. 16.
[219:3] Acts viii. 37.
[219:4] Mark xvi. 16; John iii. 18.
[219:5] Matt. xix. 14; Luke xviii. 15. In the New Testament children are
described as uniting with their Christian parents in prayer (Acts xxi.
5). Were not these children baptized? They were no doubt brought up "in
the _nurture_ and admonition of the Lord" (Eph. vi. 4).
[220:1] Col. ii. 11, 12, 13.
[220:2] Col. i. 2, iii. 20; Eph. vi. 1, 4.
[220:3] 1 John ii. 12.
[220:4] Acts ii. 38, 39.
[220:5] 1 Cor. vii. 14. The absurdity of the interpretation according to
which _holy_ is here made to signify _legitimate_, is well exposed by Dr
Wilson in his treatise on "Infant Baptism," p. 513. London, 1848.
[220:6] This would, indeed, have been almost, if not altogether,
impossible. They would probably act somewhat differently at the river
Jordan and in such a place as the jail at Philippi.
[220:7] [Greek: Baptizô].
[221:1] Dr Wilson has demonstrated the incorrectness of Dr Carson's
statements on this subject. See his "Infant Baptism," p. 96.
[221:2] Wilson's "Infant Baptism," p. 157. In Titus iii. 5, 6, there is
something like a reference to this mode of baptism: "The washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost which _he shed_ (or _poured
out_) on us abundantly." [Greek: Ou execheen eph' hêmas plousiôs].
[221:3] In some cases, as at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, they do
not seem to have had the means of immersing their converts. See also
Acts x. 47. The text John iii. 23, indicates the difficulty of baptizing
by dipping.
[221:4] Isa. lii. 15; Ezek. xxxvi. 25; I Pet. i. 2; Heb. ix. 10;
Rev. i. 5.
[221:5] 1 Cor. v. 7, 8.
[221:6] Acts xx. 7.
[221:7] Acts xx. 7; 1 Cor. x. 16.
[222:1] It was in use before the end of the second century. See Kaye's
"Tertullian," p. 431, 451.
[222:2] 1 Cor. x. 17.
[222:3] 1 Cor. v. 11.
[222:4] See Lightfoot's "Works," iii. 242, and xi. 179. Vitringa
"De Synagoga," p. 550.
[222:5] Acts xx. 28.
[223:1] Heb. xiii. 17.
[223:2] Heb. xxi. 17.
[223:3] 1 Tim. iii. 5.
[223:4] 1 Tim. v. 19, 20.
[223:5] Heb. xiii. 17.
[223:6] 1 Cor. v. 1,13.
[223:7] 2 Cor. ii. 6.
[224:1] See Period I. section i. chap. v. p. 88.
[224:2] 1 Cor. v. 2, 6.
[224:3] 1 Cor. V. 3-5.
[224:4] 1 John v. 19, [Greek: en tô ponêrô].
[225:1] In the above passage respecting delivering unto Satan there may
be a reference to Job ii. 6, 7, and it may be that some bodily
affliction rested on the offender. In that case there would be here an
exercise of supernatural power on the part of Paul. According to
Tertullian, to deliver to Satan was simply to excommunicate. "De ceteris
dixit qui illis traditis Satanae, id est, extra ecclesiam projectis,
erudiri haberent blasphemandum non esse."--"De Pudicitia," c. xiii.
[225:2] 1 Cor. i. 11,12.
[225:3] That the Church of Corinth at this time was organized in the
same way as other Christian communities is evident from various
allusions in the first epistle. See 1 Cor. iv. 15, vi. 5, xii. 27, 28.
Crispus, mentioned Acts xviii. 8, was, no doubt, one of the eldership.
There is a reference to the elders in 1 Cor. xiv. 30. See Vitringa, "De
Synagoga," p. 600.
[225:4] In the apostolic age, censures were pronounced in presence of
the whole church. See 1 Tim. v. 20. It is to be noted that Paul himself
does not excommunicate the offender. He merely delivers his apostolic
judgment that the thing should be done, and calls upon the Corinthians
to do it; but he expects them to proceed in due order, the rulers and
the people performing their respective parts.
[227:1] 2 Cor. ii. 7, 8. The mode of proceeding here indicated is
illustrated by what took place in the Church of Rome about the middle of
the third century. There certain penitents first appeared before the
presbytery to express their contrition, and then it was arranged that
"this whole proceeding should be communicated _to the people_, that they
might see those established in the Church, whom they had so long seen
and mourned wandering and straying."--Cyprian, Epist. xlvi. p. 136.
Edit. Baluzius, Venice, 1728.
[228:1] That "the church" here signifies the eldership, see Vitringa,
"De Synagoga," p. 724.
[228:2] Matt, xviii. 15, 17.
[228:3] In our English version the original word [Greek:(paradosin)] is
improperly rendered _tradition_.
[228:4] Thess. iii. 6.
[228:5] Matt. v. 45.
[229:1] 2 Thess. iii. 14, 15.
[229:2] For an account of the excommunication of the Druids, see Caesar,
"De Bello Gallico," vi. 13. Many things in the Latin excommunication are
doubtless borrowed from paganism.
[229:3] As an example of this, see an old form of excommunication in
Collier's "Ecclesiastical History," ii. 273. Edit. London, 1840.
[230:1] Eph. iv. 11, 12.
[230:2] 1 Cor. xii. 28.
[230:3] 2 Tim. iv. 5.
[230:4] Acts xxi. 8, viii. 5.
[230:5] 1 Tim. i 3, v. 1, 7, 17; Tit. i. 5.
[231:1] Acts viii. 13; 2 Tim. i. 6. This latter text is often quoted,
though erroneously, as if it referred to the ordination of Timothy. The
ordainer usually laid on only his right hand. See "Con. Carthag." iv.
can. iii. iv. In conferring extraordinary endowments both hands were
imposed. See Acts xix. 6.
[231:2] John xiv. 26, xvi. 13, xx. 22.
[231:3] Matt. x. 1, xxviii. 18, 19.
[231:4] John xx. 26, xxi. 1; Acts i. 3; 1 Cor. ix. 1.
[231:5] Such is the opinion of Chrysostom and others. See Alford on this
passage.
[231:6] Acts vi. 2-4.
[231:7] In the Peshito version helps and governments are translated
_helpers_ and _governors_.
[232:1] It is remarkable that the lay council of the modern synagogue
are called Parnasim or Pastors. See Vitringa, "De Synagoga," pp. 578,
635.
[232:2] Mr Alford observes that in 1 Cor. xii. 28, "we must not seek for
a _classified_ arrangement"--the arrangement being "rather suggestive
than logical." Hence "helps" are mentioned _before_ "governments." In
the same way in Eph. iv. 11, "pastors" precede "teachers."
[232:3] Acts xx. 28; 1 Pet. v. 2.
[232:4] Acts xx. 17, 28; Titus i. 5, 7; 1 Pet. v. 1, 2.
[232:5] 1 Tim. iii. 1, 2, 5.
[232:6] 1 Pet. v. 1, 2, 4 The identity of elders and pastors is more
distinctly exhibited in the original here, and in Acts xx. 17, 28, as
the word translated _feed_ signifies literally _to act as a shepherd_ or
pastor.
[232:7] 1 Tim. v. 17. Mr Ellicott, in his work on the "Pastoral
Epistles," thus speaks of this passage--"The concluding words, [Greek:
en logô kai didask.], certainly seem to imply _two_ kinds of ruling
presbyters, those who preached and taught and those who did not."
[233:1] Compare 1 Cor. xii. 28, and Philip, i. 1; 1 Tim. iii. 1-8.
[233:2] Acts vi. 3, xiv. 23; Titus i. 5; James v. 14.
[233:3] 1 Cor. xiv. 1, 5, 6, 31.
[233:4] Section Rom. xii. 6-8.
[233:5] 1 Tim, iii. 5. Lightfoot says that, "in every synagogue there
was a civil triumvirate, that is, three magistrates who judged of
matters in contest arising within that synagogue."--"Works," xi.179. The
same writer declares that "in every synagogue there were elders that
ruled in civil affairs, and elders that laboured in the word and
doctrine."--"Works," iii. 242, 243.
[234:1] [Greek: diplês timês]. Those who adduce this passage to prove
that the apostle here defines the pecuniary remuneration of elders
involve themselves in much difficulty; for, if limited to the matter of
payment, and literally interpreted, it would lead to the inference that,
irrespective of the amount of service rendered, all the elders should
receive the same compensation; and that no church teacher, though the
father of a large family, should be allowed more than twice the gratuity
of a poor widow! Compare I Tim. v. 3, and 17. The "double honour" of I
Tim. v. 17, is evidently equivalent to the "all honour" of 1 Tim. vi. 1.
In the latter case there can be no reference to payment. Paul obviously
means to say that the claims of elders should be fully recognized; and
in the following verse (1 Tim. v. 18) he refers pointedly to the
temporal support to which church teachers are entitled.
[234:2] 1 Tim. iii. 2-7.
[234:3] [Greek: didaktikon].
[234:4] Matt. iv. 23; Acts v. 42, xv. 35.
[235:1] Heb. iii. 13.
[235:2] Col. iii. 16.
[235:3] 1 Pet. iii. 15.
[235:4] 2 Tim. ii. 24, 25.
[235:5] Even a female, though not permitted to speak in the Church, had
often this aptness for teaching. Such was the case with the excellent
Priscilla, Acts xviii. 26. The aged women were required to be "teachers
of good things," Titus ii. 3.
[237:1] In the Church of Corinth several speakers were in the habit of
addressing the same meeting. 1 Cor. xiv. 26, 27, 29, 31.
[237:2] 1 Tim. v. 17.
[237:3] Gal. vi. 6.
[237:4] 1 Tim. v. 18.
[237:5] 1 Cor. ix. 14.
[237:6] Matt. x. 1; 1 Cor. xiv. 18.
[237:7] "The place which the apostles occupied while they lived is now
filled, not by a living order of ministers, but by their own inspired
writings, which constitute, or ought to constitute, the supreme
authority in the Church of God.... The New Testament Scriptures, as they
are the only real apostolate now in existence, so, are sufficient to
supply to us the place of the inspired Twelve."--_Litton's Church of
Christ_, p. 410.
[237:1] "While it is clearly recorded that the apostles instituted the
orders of presbyters and deacons, it is not so clearly recorded, _indeed
it is not recorded at all_, that they instituted the order of
bishops."--_Litton_, p. 426. Such a testimony from a Fellow of Oxford is
creditable alike to his candour and his intelligence.
[237:2] Acts xv. 6, xvi. 4, xxi. 18, 25.
[237:3] Acts xx. 17, 25.
[237:4] Acts xx. 29-31.
[237:5] Acts vi. 4. "Here," says Mr Litton, "no mention is made of
government or of ordination, as the special prerogative of the apostolic
office; _and if it were not dangerous to lay too much stress upon a
single passage_, it might from this one be plausibly inferred that _the
special function of the apostles, as representatives of the ordinary
Christian ministry, has descended_, not to bishops, but to presbyters,
to whom it specially pertains to give themselves to prayer and the
ministry of the Word."--_Litton's Church of Christ_, p. 407. It is
certainly not dangerous to lay as much stress upon any Scripture as it
will legitimately bear, and the inference hero drawn is in accordance
with the rules of the most exact logic.
[238:1] 1 Cor. i. 17.
[238:2] Eph. iii. 8. In dealing with individuals, the apostles seldom
challenged obedience on the ground of their divine authority. When they
are represented as directing the movements of ministers, the language
generally implies simply that the parties in question undertook certain
services at their instigation or request, or by their advice. Thus, Paul
says that he _besought_ Timothy to abide in Ephesus, that he _left_
Titus in Crete, and that he _sent_ Epaphroditus to the Philippians (1
Tim. i. 3; Titus i. 5; Philip. ii. 25). But Paul himself is said to have
been _sent forth_ to Tarsus _by the brethren_ (Acts ix. 30). When Mark
refused to accompany Paul and Silas into Asia Minor he did not therefore
forfeit his ecclesiastical status (Acts xiii. 13, xv. 37-39). Apart from
their special commission, the apostles were entitled to deference from
other ministers on account of their superior age and experience; and
Paul sometimes refers to this claim. See Philem. 8, 9. On the same
ground all who have recently entered the ministry are bound to yield
precedence to aged pastors, and to respect their advice. See 1 Pet. v. 5.
[238:3] It can scarcely be necessary to remind the reader that the
postscripts to these epistles setting forth that Timothy was "ordained
the first bishop of the church of the Ephesians," and that Titus was
"ordained the first bishop of the Church of the Cretians," are spurious.
See Period i. sec. ii. chap. i. p. 181.
[239:1] 1 Tim. i. 3. Paul says (1 Cor. iv. 17) to the _Corinthians_--"I
have sent unto you Timotheus .... who shall bring you into remembrance
of my ways which be in Christ;" and, according to the mode of reasoning
employed by some, we might infer from this text that Timothy was bishop
of Corinth. "It is a suspicious circumstance," says Dr Burton, "that
several persons who are mentioned in the New Testament, are said to have
been bishops of the places connected with their names. Thus Cornelius is
said to have been bishop of Caesarea, and to have succeeded Zacchaeus,
though it is highly improbable that either of them filled such an
office."--"Lectures," i., p. 182.
[239:2] 1 Tim. vi. 17.
[239:3] See Period i. sect. i. chap, ix. p. 131.
[239:4] Acts xx. 30, 31.
[240:1] The word [Greek: katastêsês], here translated "ordain," should
rather be rendered _constitute_, or _establish_.
[240:2] Titus i. 5.
[240:3] Titus iii. 13.
[240:4] Acts vi. 3, xiv. 23; 2 Cor. viii. 19, 23.
[240:5] Acts xxiii. 3.
[240:6] "The whole Sanhedrim were the judges, and sitting to judge him
according to the law."--_Alford on Acts_ xxiii. 3.
[241:1] See Prideaux's "Connections," part ii. books 1 and 8.
[241:2] Acts xxvi. 17, 18. See also, as another illustration, Matt. xvi.
19.
[241:3] 2 Cor. xi. 28.
[241:4] 1 Tim. iv. 12, 13; 2 Tim. ii. 22, 23; Titus ii. 7, 8.
[241:5] 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2, iv. 16, v. 19, 20, 22; 2 Tim. ii. 2, 15, iv. 2,
5; Titus iii, 8, 9.
[242:1] 1 Tim. v. 5, 16, vi. 1, 2, 9, 17; Titus ii. 6, 9, 10.
[242:2] One of the most remarkable instances of an appeal to the sense
of individual obligation in a case where many were concerned may be
found in Gal. vi. 1.
[242:3] Whitby, in his "Preface to the Epistle to Titus," says candidly
of the allegation that Timothy and Titus were bishops respectively of
Ephesus and Crete--"Now, of this matter, I confess I can find nothing in
any writer of the first three centuries, nor any intimation that they
bore that name."
[242:4] 1 Tim. i. 3; 2 Tim. iv. 10, 12, 21; Titus i. 5, iii. 12.
[242:5] Hence Fulgentius speaks of "cathedra Joannis Evangelistae
Ephesi." Lib. "De Trinitate," c. 1. Contradictory traditions sometimes
happily annihilate each other.
[243:1] Homer, "Iliad," ii. v. 156.
[243:2] Mark x. 42-45.
[244:1] 1 Pet. v. 3.
[244:2] Acts i. 15, 21-23, 26.
[244:3] 2 Cor. viii. 19, 23. See also 1 Cor xvi. 3.
[244:4] Acts vi. 3, xiv. 23. See also 1 Tim. iii. 10, compared with 1
John iv. 1.
[244:5] Clemens Romanus states that, in the apostolic age,
ecclesiastical appointments were made "with the approbation of the whole
church." "Epist. to Corinthians," § 44.
[245:1] Acts vi. 6; 1 Tim. v. 22.
[245:2] See Selden, "De Synedriis," lib. i. c. 14.
[245:3] Acts xiii. 1-3.
[245:4] Acts xiv. 23.
[245:5] 1 Tim. iv. 14. That the preposition [Greek: meta] here indicates
the instrumental cause, see Acts xiii. 17, xiv. 27.
[245:6] Acts vi. 6. Some have thought it strange that Paul gives no
instructions to Titus respecting the ordination of deacons in Crete. See
Titus i. 8. This was unnecessary, as the elders, when ordained, could
afterwards ordain deacons.
[245:7] Rom. xvi. 1.
[245:8] [Greek: diakonon].
[246:1] 1 Tim. v. 3, 4, 9.
[246:2] Rom. xvi 2.
[247:1] 1 Cor. xii. 12, 21, 26.
[249:1] Such as we find described in Deut. xxxi. 10-12.
[249:2] In Greek [Greek: ekklêsia]. The reference in the text is to its
ecclesiastical use, for in the New Testament it sometimes signifies a
mob. See Acts xix. 32.
[249:3] Acts xi. 22, xv. 4.
[249:4] Acts xxi. 20, [Greek: posai muriades]--literally, "how many tens
of thousands."
[249:5] One of these is mentioned Acts xii. 12.
[249:6] Acts xiii. 1.
[249:7] Acts ix. 31. The true reading here is, "Then had _the church_
([Greek: ekklêsia]) rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria."
This reading is supported by the most ancient manuscripts, including
ABC; by the Vulgate, and nearly all the ancient versions; including the
old Syriac, Coptic, Sahidic, Ethiopian, Arabic of Erpenius, and
Armenian; and by the most distinguished critics, such as Kuinoel,
Lachmann, Tischendorf, Alford, and Tregelles. It is likewise sustained
by the authority of what is believed to be by far the most valuable
cursive MS. in existence. See Scrivener's "Codex Augiensis," Introd.
lxviii., and p. 425. Cambridge, 1859.
[250:1] John xvii. 21.
[250:2] Eph. iv. 16.
[250:3] See Col. ii. 19.
[251:1] Acts viii. 14.
[251:2] Acts xi. 22. "No notion is more at variance with the spirit of
apostolic Christianity than that of societies of Christians existing in
the same neighbourhood, but not in communion with each other, and not
under a common government."--_Litton_, p. 450.
[251:3] 2 Cor. viii. 19.
[251:4] Period I. sec. iii. chap. i. p. 214.
[251:5] "That the Church did really derive its polity from the synagogue
is a fact upon the proof of which, in the present state of theological
learning, it is needless to expend many words."--_Litton's Church of
Christ_, p. 254.
[251:6] See Selden, "De Synedriis," lib. ii. c. 5; Lightfoot's "Works,"
iii. 242, and xi. 179. Josephus says that Moses appointed only seven
judges in every city. "Antiq." book iv. c. 8, § 14. See also "Wars of
the Jews," ii. c. 20, § 5.
[252:1] Luke xxii. 66; Acts v. 21, vi. 15. See also Prideaux, part ii.
book vii., and Lightfoot's "Works," ix. 342.
[252:2] Matt. xvi. 21, xxvi. 59; Mark xv. 1. See also Lightfoot's
"Works," iv. 223.
[252:3] 1 Chron. xxiv. 4, 7-18.
[252:4] Acts v. 34.
[252:5] As they represented the people, and were probably twenty-four in
number, there may be a reference to them in Rev. iv. 4.
[252:6] Matt. v. 22.
[253:1] Deut. xvii. 8-10; 2 Chron. xix. 8-11; Ps. cxxii. 5.
[253:2] Acts ix. 1, 2, 14.
[253:3] Acts ii. 14, 41, 42, iv. 4, 32, 33, 35, v. 14, 42, vi. 6, 7,
viii. 14.
[253:4] Acts xiii. 1, 3.
[253:5] Titus i. 5.
[253:6] 1 Tim. iv. 14.
[253:7] In the same way the Puritans, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
frequently held meetings in London during the sittings of Parliament.
See Collier, vii. 33, 64.
[254:1] For a more particular account of the constitution of the meeting
mentioned in the 15th chapter of the Acts, see Period I. sec. i. chap.
v. p. 82.
[255:1] Acts xv. 6.
[255:2] Acts xv. 19. "James, according to the somewhat pompous rendering
in our English version, says--'Wherefore _my sentence is_'--in the
original--[Greek: dio elô krina]--a common formula by which the members
of the Greek assemblies introduced the expression of their individual
opinion, as appears from its repeated occurrence in Thucydides, with
which may be compared the corresponding Latin phrase (_sic censeo_) of
frequent use in Cicero's orations."--_Alexander on the Acts_, ii. p. 83.
[256:1] Mark xvi. 15.
[257:1] See the spurious epistle of Clement to James, prefixed to the
Clementine Homilies. Cotelerius, "Pat. Apost." vol. i. p. 617.
[258:1] Acts xx. 17.
[258:2] Acts xx. 16.
[258:3] The view here taken is corroborated by the authority of
Irenaeus, iii. c. 14, § 2:--"In Mileto enim convocatis episcopis et
presbyteris, qui erant ab Epheso, _et a reliquis proximis civitatibus_,"
&c.
[259:1] Acts xx. 18.
[259:2] Acts xix. 8, 10.
[259:3] Acts xx. 31.
[259:4] Acts xx. 25. Demetrius says to the craftsmen--"Ye see and hear
that _not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia_, this Paul
hath persuaded and turned away much people." Acts xix. 26.
[259:5] See Period I. sec. i. chap. viii. p. 123.
[259:6] 1 Cor. xvi. 19.
[259:7] Gal. i. 2.
[259:8] Gal. v. 13.
[259:9] Gal. vi. 2.
[259:10] 1 Pet. i. 1.
[260:1] 1 Pet. v. i, 2.
[260:2] In Acts xx. 28, these designations are identical. The
exhortation in 1 Pet. v. 5--"Yea, all of you be _subject one to
another_"--is obviously addressed to _ministers_, and implies their
mutual subordination. This command can be acted upon only by ministers
who are confederated and who hold the same ecclesiastical status.
Lachmann adopts a somewhat different reading of this verse without
changing the sense, for he puts a semi-period after [Greek: allêlois].
According to his Larger Edition of the Greek Testament, the commencement
of the verse should be rendered thus--"Likewise ye younger (presbyters)
submit yourselves unto the elder, AND ALL TO ONE ANOTHER." I here
suppose _presbyters_ to be understood, as the apostle is speaking to
them in all the preceding part of the chapter.
[260:3] 2 Cor. viii. 5, 18, 22; Phil. ii. 25, 28; Col. iv. 7-9; 2 Tim.
iv. 9-12.
[260:4] 2 Cor. iii. 1.
[261:1] 2 John 10.
[261:2] 1 John iv. 1.
[261:3] Phil. i. 15-18.
[263:1] Rev. i. 1.
[264:1] Rev. i. 11.
[264:2] Rev. i. 12-16.
[264:3] Rev. i. 20.
[264:4] This was the opinion of Gregory Nazianzen, as well as others.
There is an ingenious article on this subject in the "Bibliotheca Sacra"
for April 1855. Its author, the Rev. Isaac Jennings, advocates the view
propounded in this chapter.
[265:1] This is the opinion of Prideaux, Vitringa, and many others. See
Prid. "Connec." part. i. book vi.; and Vitringa, "De Synagoga," lib.
iii. par. 2, cap. 3.
[265:2] Acts xiii. 15.
[265:3] Luke iv. 16.
[265:4] Luke iv. 20.
[266:1] Prideaux, part i. book vi. vol. i. p. 385. Edit. London, 1716.
[266:2] "The hours of public devotions in them on their synagogue days
were, as to morning and evening prayers, the same hours in which the
morning and evening sacrifices were offered up at the temple."--Prideaux,
part i. book vi.
[266:3] Maurice, in his work on Diocesan Episcopacy in reply to
Clarkson, admits (p. 257) that in our Saviour's time, Laodicea had "but
few inhabitants." Philadelphia is described by Strabo as a place with a
small population.
[266:4] Acts xix. 20.
[266:5] Acts xix. 26.
[267:1] Prideaux speaks of the angel of the synagogue, in relation to
the rulers, as "_next to them_, or perchance one of them."--Part i. book
vi. vol. i. p. 385.
[267:2] It appears never to have occurred to Tertullian that the angels
of the Churches were bishops. He obviously considered the angel of the
Church an invisible intelligence. Thus he says of Paul--"Lusit igitur et
de suo spiritu, et de ecclesiae angelo, et de virtute Domini, si quod de
consilio eorum pronunciaverat rescidit."--_De Pudicitia_, c. xiv. ad
finem. See also Tertullian "De Baptismo," c. vi. Such, too, was the
opinion of Origen.--"De Principiis," lib. i. c. 8, and "De Oratione,"
11. The fact that, _long after the hierarchy was formed_, in two or
three rare cases a bishop is called an angel, in reference to the angels
of the Apocalypse, is nothing to the purpose. See Bingham, i. 79.
[268:1] Phil. iv. 14, 18.
[269:1] Phil. ii. 25.
[269:2] 2 Cor. viii. 23, [Greek: apostoloi ekklêsiôn]. In after-times it
was deemed proper that those messengers should be of the clerical
order.--See Cyprian, epist. xxiv., lxxv., and lxxix.
[269:3] Luke vii. 27, [Greek: ton angelon mou].
[269:4] James ii, 25, [Greek: tous angelous].
[269:5] John xxi. 7, 20.
[270:1] Thus Hippolytus speaks of a certain elder, named Hyacinthus, who
was sent to the governor of Sardinia with a letter for the release of
the Christians banished there. "Philosophumena," p. 288. The _legate_ of
the bishop of Rome is a species of memorial of the angel of the ancient
Church.
[270:2] Rev. ii. 7, 11, 17, 29, iii. 6, 13, 22.
[270:3] Rev. i. 11.
[271:1] Rev. i. 1.
[271:2] Isa. xlix. 15, 16.
[271:3] The Christians of Hierapolis are mentioned Col. iv. 13.
[271:4] Acts xx. 4.
[272:1] Lev. xxvi. 11, 12.
[272:2] Rev. i. 16.
[272:3] Ps. lxvii. 1, 2.
[275:1] A.D. 96 to A.D. 98.
[275:2] A.D. 98 to A.D. 117.
[276:1] Origen, "Contra Celsum," i. § 67. See also i. § 26.
[276:2] Origen, "Contra Celsum," iii. § 29.
[277:1] Justin Martyr, "Apol." ii. 61. Edit, Paris, 1615.
[277:2] The Peshito, or old Syriac version, is supposed to have been
made in the first half of the second century.--Westcott "On the Canon,"
pp. 264, 265. There are traces of the existence of a Latin version in
the time of Tertullian, or before the close of the second
century.--Ibid., p. 275. "Two versions into the dialects of Upper and
Lower Egypt--the Thebaic (Sahidic) and Memphitic--date from the close of
the third century."--Ibid. pp. 415, 416.
[278:1] See Middleton's "Inquiry," pp. 3, 9.
[278:2] See Kaye's "Tertullian," pp. 98-101. Edition, Cambridge, 1826.
[278:3] Tertullian states that the Emperor Marcus Aurelius became
friendly to the Christians, in consequence of a remarkable interposition
of Providence in favour of his army, in a war with the Marcomanni and
the Quadi. It was alleged that, in answer to the prayers of a body of
Christian soldiers, afterwards known as the _Thundering Legion_, the
imperial troops were relieved by rain, whilst a thunderstorm confounded
the enemy. It is quite certain that the Roman army was rescued from
imminent peril by a seasonable shower; but it is equally clear that the
emperor attributed his deliverance, not to the God of the Christians,
but to Jupiter Pluvius, and that a certain section of the Roman soldiers
was known long before by the name of the Thundering Legion. There is no
evidence that Marcus Aurelius ever became friendly to the Christians.
See Lardner. "Heathen Testimonies," "Works," vii. 176-188.
[279:1] See Middleton's "Inquiry," p. 84. Edition, Dublin, 1749. Bishop
Kaye has remarked that, in the writings of Tertullian, "the only power
of the exercise of which specific instances are alleged, was that of
exorcising evil spirits." "Kaye's Tertullian," p. 461. From the symptoms
mentioned it would appear that the individuals with whom the exorcists
succeeded were epileptics.
[279:2] Irenaeus, who seems to have been not unfavourable to the
Montanists, speaks of the gift of tongues as possessed by some in his
age, and yet he himself, as a missionary, was obliged to struggle with
the difficulties of a foreign language. "Adv. Haeres," v., c. 6, and
"Praef." ad. 1.
[279:3] When Theophilus of Antioch, towards the end of the second
century, was invited by Autolycus to point out a single person who had
been raised from the dead, he did not accept the challenge. See Kaye's
"Justin Martyr," p. 217.
[279:4] Middleton's "Inquiry," Preface, p. iv.
[279:5] Middleton, pp. 22, 23.
[280:1] Plinii, "Epist." lib. x. epist. 97.
[280:2] Tertullian, "Ad Scapulam," c. 5.
[280:3] "Spicilegium Syriacum" by Cureton, p. 31. The correspondence
between Abgar and our Lord, given by Eusebius, is manifestly spurious.
[281:1] Gregory of Tours, "Hist. Francorum," lib. i. c. 28.
[281:2] Sozomen, "Hist. Eccles." ii. 6, and Philostorgius, "Hist.
Eccles." ii. 5.
[281:3] "Adversus Judaeos," c. 7.
[282:1] Justin Martyr, "Dialogue with Trypho," Opera, p. 345.
[282:2] Theophilus, "Ad Autolycum," lib. ii. See also Origen, "In
Matthaeum," Opera, tom. iii. p. 858.
[282:3] "Life of Alexander Severus," by Lampridius.
[282:4] Euseb. viii. 1.
[284:1] Cyprian, "De Laude Martyrii," Opera, pp. 620, 621. See also
Tertullian, "Ad Scapulam," c. 5. _ad finem_.
[285:1] Tertullian, "Apol." 50.
[287:1] Tertullian, "De Idololatria," c. 17.
[287:2] Matt. x. 35, 36.
[287:3] Tertullian, "Apol." c. 3, and "Ad Nationes," i. § 4.
[287:4] 1 Cor. xv. 19.
[288:1] The Christians long gloried in the fact that Nero was their
first persecutor. See Tertullian, "Apol." c. 5.
[289:1] Plinii, "Epist." lib. x. epist. 97.
[290:1] Matt. xiii. 55; Mark vi. 3. That Simon and Simeon are the same,
see Acts xv. 7, 14.
[290:2] Trajan died A.D. 117, and if Simeon was born a year after Jesus,
he entered upon the 120th year of his age about the close of this
Emperor's reign. See Greswell's "Dissertations," vol. ii. pp. 127, 128.
It was the opinion of Tertullian that Mary had other sons after she gave
birth to our Lord. See Neander's "Antignostikus," and Tertullian "De
Monogamia," c. 8.
[293:1] The account of the trial of himself and his companions, as given
in the "Acta Sincera Martyrum" by Ruinart, bears all the marks of truth.
[293:2] An account of his martyrdom is given in a circular letter of the
Church of Smyrna. See Jacobson's "Patres Apostolici," tom. ii. p. 542.
Euseb. iv. 15.
[294:1] These places are distant from each other about seventeen miles.
[296:1] Euseb. v. 1.
[296:2] Among the Romans a concubine held a certain legal position, and
was in fact a wife with inferior privileges. Converted concubines were
admitted to the communion of the ancient Church. See Bunsen's
"Hippolytus," iii. 7.
[296:3] Mosheim ("Commentaries" by Vidal. ii. 52, note) and many others,
refer the transaction recorded in the text to the reign of Hadrian, but
without any good cause. Tertullian, who tells the story ("Ad Scapulani,"
c. 5), evidently alludes to a transaction which had recently occurred.
In the reign of Commodus there was a proconsul named Arrius Antoninus
who was put to death. See Lamprid, "Vita Commodi," c. 6, 7. See also
Kaye's "Tertullian," p. 146, note; and "Neander's General History" by
Torrey, i. 162, note.
[296:4] Clemens Alexandrinus apparently refers to the times immediately
following the death of Commodus when he says--"Many martyrs are daily
burned, crucified, and decapitated before our eyes." Strom, lib. ii. p.
414.
[297:1] Tertullian, "Ad Scapulam," c. 4.
[297:2] Compare Justin Martyr, "Apol." ii. pp. 70, 71, and "Dial, cum
Tryphone," p. 227, with Tertullian, "Apol." c. 7.
[297:3] Called _libellos_.
[297:4] These parties sometimes appealed to Acts xvii. 9, in
justification of their conduct.
[298:1] The _sacrificati_, or those who had sacrificed, as well as
offered incense, were considered still more guilty.
[298:2] "Acta Perpetuae et Felicitatis." The martyrs appear to have been
Montanists. See Gieseler, by Cunningham, i. 125, note. Tertullian
mentions Perpetua, and his language countenances the supposition that
she was a Montanist. "De Anima," c. 55.
[300:1] See the "Chronicon" of Eusebius, par. ii., adnot. p. 197. Edit.
Venet, 1818.
[301:1] The Roman clergy speak of "the remnants and ruined heaps of the
fallen lying on all sides." Cyp. "Epist." xxxi. p. 99. Cyprian complains
of _"thousands_ of letters given _daily_" in behalf of the lapsed by
misguided confessors and martyrs. "Epist." xiv. p. 59. The writer here
probably speaks somewhat rhetorically, and evidently does not mean, as
some have thought, that all these letters were written at Carthage. He
speaks of what was done "everywhere," including Italy, as well as the
cities of Africa. "Epist." xiv., xxii., xxvi.
[301:2] Dionysius of Alexandria, quoted by Euseb., vi. 41.
[302:1] Euseb. vi. 39.
[302:2] A.D. 249 to A.D. 251.
[302:3] Cyprian, Epist. 82, ad Successum.
[302:4] Cyprian, who seems to have been much respected personally by the
high officers of government at Carthage, was, when taken prisoner,
granted as great indulgence as his circumstances would permit; but
Gibbon, who describes his case with special minuteness, most uncandidly
represents it as affording an average specimen of the style in which
condemned Christians were treated. As an evidence of the social position
of the bishop of Carthage we may refer to the testimony of Pontius his
deacon, who states that "numbers of eminent and illustrious persons, men
of rank and family and secular distinction, for the sake of their old
friendship with him, urged him many times to retire." "Life," § 14.
[303:1] Euseb. vii. 13.
[303:2] See Bingham, ii. p. 451.
[304:1] "De Mortibus Persec." c. 10.
[304:2] Euseb. viii. 2; "De Mort. Persec." c. 13. See also "Neander," by
Torrey, i. 202, note.
[305:1] Eusebius, "Martyrs of Palestine," c. 4.
[305:2] Eusebius, "Martyrs of Palestine," c. 9.
[305:3] The Vatican Manuscript, the oldest in existence, was probably
written shortly after this persecution. It possesses internal evidences
that its date is anterior to the middle of the fourth century. See
Horne, iv. 161, 10th edition.
[306:1] Eusebius, viii. 6, 9, 10, 12.
[307:1] Firmilian refers to a noted persecution which "did not extend to
the whole world, _but was local_." Cyprian, "Epist." lxxv. p. 305.
[308:1] The treatise "De Mortibus Persecutorum" is generally attributed
to Lactantius who flourished in the early part of the fourth century.
The authorship is doubtful.
[308:2] Ps. ix. 16.
[308:3] Herodian, iii. 23. This circumstance, as well as some others
here stated, is not mentioned in the work "De Mort. Persec." Tertullian
mentions some other remarkable facts, "Ad Scapulam," c. 3.
[308:4] "De Mortib. Persec.," c. 49.
[309:1] Tertullian, "Apol." c. 46.
[310:1] Tertullian, "Apol." 28.
[310:2] Tertullian, "Ad Scapulam," § 2.
[311:1] John xviii. 36.
[312:1] Phil. iii. 18, 19.
[313:1] Cyprian, "De Lapsis," p. 374.
[313:2] Cyprian, "Ad Cornelium," epist. xlix. p. 143. Cyprian also
charges one of his deacons with fraud, extortion, and adultery. Epist.
xxxviii. p. 116.
[313:3] Cornelius of Rome in Euseb. vi. 43.
[315:1] See Eusebius, v. 3, vi. 9.
[315:2] See Neander's "Antignostikus," part ii. sect. ii. at the end. It
appears that the Christian ascetics adopted the dress of the pagan
philosophers.
[315:3] Cyprian, "De Habitu Virginum," pp. 354, 361.
[315:4] Still, in the time of Origen, the sons of bishops, presbyters,
and deacons valued themselves upon their parentage.--Origen in
"Matthaeum" xv. opera, tom. in. p. 690. Even Cyprian bears honourable
testimony to certain married presbyters. See "Epist." xxxv. p. 111. See
also "Epist." xviii. p. 67. Cyprian himself was indebted for his
conversion to an eminent presbyter, named Caecilius, who had a wife and
children. "Life of Cyprian," by Pontius the Deacon, § 5.
[315:1] Cyprian, "Epist." lxii. p. 219. Concerning the _Subintroductae_,
see also the letter relating to Paul of Samosata in Euseb. vii. 30.
[316:1] Jerome and Athanasius.
[316:2] See Medhurst's "China," p. 217. The symbol of the cross was
engraved on the walls of the temple of Serapis. "When the temple of
Serapis was torn down and laid bare," says Socrates, "there were found
in it, engraven on stones, certain characters, which they call
hieroglyphics, having the forms of crosses. _Both the Christians and
Pagans on seeing them, thought they had reference to their respective
religions_." "Ecc. Hist." v. 17.
[316:3] Prescott, "Conquest of Mexico," in. 338-340. See also note, p.
340. Sir Robert Ker Porter mentions a block of stone found among the
ruins of Susa, having, on one side, inscriptions in the cuneiform
diameter; and, on another, hieroglyphical figures with a cross in the
corner. See his "Travels," vol. ii. p. 415. Among the ancient pagans,
the cross was the symbol of eternal life, or divinity. On medals and
monuments of a date far anterior to Christianity, it is found in the
hands of statues of victory and of figures of monarchs. See also
Tertullian, "Apol." c. 16.
[317:1] Tertullian, "De Praescrip. Haeret." c. 40. See also Kaye's
Tertullian, p. 441. "The ancient world was possessed by a dread of
demons, and under an anxious apprehension of the influence of charms,
sought for external preservatives against the powers of evil, and
accompanied their prayers with external signs and gestures." Bunsen's
"Hippolytus," iii. 351.
[317:2] See Justin Martyr, "Dialogue with Trypho," pp. 259, 318, and
"Apol." ii. p. 90. Tertullian, "Adv. Judaeos," c. 10. In the "Octavius"
of Minucius Felix, the following remarkable passage occurs:--"What are
your military ensigns, and banners, and standards, but crosses gilded
and ornamented? _Your trophies of victory not only imitate the
appearance of a cross, but also of a man fixed to it_. We discern the
sign of a cross in the very form of a ship, whether it is wafted along
with swelling sails, or glides with its oars extended. When a military
yoke is erected there is a sign of a cross, and, in like manner, when
one with hands stretched forth devoutly addresses his God. _Thus, there
seems to be some reason in nature for it, and some reference to it in
your own system of religion_." The monogram [symbol: Chi-Rho], composed
of the initial Greek capitals [Greek: Chi] and [Greek: Rho] of the name
[Greek: christos], was in use among the heathen long before our era. It
is to be found on coins of the Ptolemies. Aringhus, "Roma Subterranea,"
ii. p. 567.
[318:1] Tertullian maintains ("Ad Jud." c. xi.) that the _mark_
mentioned Ezekiel ix. 4 was the letter T, or the sign of the cross. See
a Dissertation on this subject by Vitringa, "Observationes Sacrae," lib.
ii. c. 15. See also Origen. "In Ezechielem," Opera, tom. iii. p. 424,
and Cyprian to Demetrianus, § 12. It would appear that the worshippers
of Apollo used to mark themselves on the forehead with the letters
[Greek: CHI ETA]. See Kitto's "Cyclopaedia of Bib. Lit." art. FOREHEAD.
[318:2] Tertullian, "De Corona." c. 3. By the Romans, crosses were
erected in conspicuous places to intimidate offenders, just in the same
way as the drop is now exhibited in the front of a jail. It is not
improbable that some of these crosses were afterwards worshipped by the
Christians! Aringhi mentions a stone, to be seen in his own time in the
Vatican, which was treated with the same absurd reverence. On this stone
many of the early Christians were said to have suffered martyrdom,
probably by decapitation; but it was afterwards held "in very great
honour" at Rome, and regarded as "a sacred thing!" "Roma Subterranea,'"
i. 219.
[319:1] Minucius Felix, "Octavius," c. 24. There is a similar passage in
Tertullian, "Apol." c. 12.
[319:2] Clemens Alexandrinus, "Paedagog." iii. Opera, pp. 246, 247.
[319:3] Clemens Alexandrinus, "Stromat." v. Opera, p. 559.
[320:1] Canon 30. The comment of the Roman Catholic Dupin upon this
canon is worthy of note. "To me," says he, "it seems better to
understand it in the plainest sense, and to confess that the Fathers of
this Council did not approve the use of images, no more than that of wax
candles lighted in full daylight."--_History of Ecclesiastical Writers,
Fourth Century_.
[320:2] Tertullian, "De Pudicitia," c. 7. But all were not so
scrupulous, for Tertullian elsewhere complains that the image-makers
were chosen to church offices. "De Idololatria," c. 7.
[320:3] Tertullian, "De Idololatria," c. 6.
[321:1] Cyprian, "Ad Donatum," Opera, p. 5.
[321:2] Tertullian, "De Spectaculis," c. 4. According to the English
Liturgy the person baptized "renounces the devil and all his works, the
vain pomp and glory of the world." This was originally intended to apply
to such exhibitions as those mentioned in the text.
[322:1] Tertullian, "De Pudicitia," c. 7. Theophilus to Autolycus, book
iii.
[322:2] Tertullian "Apol." c. 44. Minucius Felix, in his "Octavius,"
makes a similar statement:--"The prisons are crowded with criminals of
your religion, but no Christian is there, unless he is either accused on
account of his faith, or is a deserter from his faith."
[322:3] Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, says to
him--"Your blind and foolish teachers even to this day permit every one
of you to have _four or five wives_."--_Opera_, p. 363.
[323:1] 1 Tim. iii. 2, 12.
[323:2] Rom. vii. 1-3; 1 Cor. vii. 2.
[323:3] The Montanists, in their extravagance, insisted that any one who
contracted a second marriage after the death of his first wife should be
excommunicated.
[323:4] 2 Cor. vi. 14.
[324:1] Tertullian, "Ad Uxorem," ii. 4.
[324:2] Gibbon, "Decline and Fall," chap. ii. Some writers, such as
Zumpt and Merivale, consider this estimate quite extravagant. Others
again think it quite too low. See Schaff's "History of the Christian
Church," p. 316. New York, 1859.
[324:3] Gal. iii. 28.
[325:1] Onesimus, the slave mentioned Philem. 10, 16, probably became a
Christian minister.
[325:2] 1 Cor. vii. 21.
[325:3] 1 Cor. vii. 20-22.
[325:4] 1 Tim. vi. 1, 2.
[325:5] Kindness to slaves was particularly enjoined by the early Church
teachers. See Cyprian, "Lib. Tres. Test. adv. Judaeos," lib. iii. § 72,
73.
[325:6] It is stated in the "Octavius" of Minucius Felix that, in the
estimation of the heathen, "for a slave to be partaker in certain
religious ceremonies is deemed abominable impiety." (c. 25.)
[326:1] One of the laws made by Constantine shortly after his conversion
sanctioned the manumission of slaves on the Lord's day.
[326:2] Thus, on one occasion, Cyprian raised a contribution of about
£900 in Carthage to purchase the release of some Christians of Numidia.
Cyprian, Epist. lx. p. 216. Tertullian said to the heathen, "Our charity
dispenses more in every street, than your religion in each
temple."--_Apol._ c. 42.
[327:1] About A.D. 252.
[327:2] Cyprian, "Ad Demetrianum," and "De Mortalitate." "Vita Cypriani
per Pontium," c. 9.
[327:3] Euseb. vii. 22.
[328:1] Athanasius, "Hist. Arian. ad Monachos," § 64.
[329:1] Luke xxii. 24-26.
[329:2] Rom. i. 8, 13.
[330:1] Gal. ii. 7-9.
[330:2] Rom. xvi. 3-15.
[330:3] Acts ii. 10.
[330:4] Euseb. ii. 22.
[330:5] Period 1. sec. i. chap. x.
[331:1] Hegesippus seems to have been the first who attempted to draw up
a list of the bishops, or presiding presbyters of Rome. See Pearson's
Criticism on Euseb. iv. 22, in his "Minor Works," vol. ii. p. 319,
Oxford, 1844; and Routh's "Reliquiae," i. pp. 270, 271.
[331:2] Thus, Irenaeus (i. 27) speaks of Hyginus as the _ninth_, and
again (iii. 3), as the _eighth_ in succession from the apostles.
[331:3] Thus, Irenaeus affirms (iii. 3) that Linus was the immediate
successor of the apostles, whilst Tertullian, who was his contemporary,
and who possessed equally good means of information, assigns that
position to Clement. "De Praescrip. Haeret." c. 32.
[331:4] Euseb. iii. 4.
[332:1] Irenaeus, "Contra Om. Haer." iii. 3, § 3. Bunsen has justly
remarked that, "with Telesphorus the most obscure period of the Roman
Church terminates."--_Hippolytus_, iv. pp. 209, 210.
[332:2] Irenaeus, iii. 4, § 3.
[332:3] This name continued to be given to the Roman bishop until at
least the close of the second century. See Irenaeus quoted in Euseb. v.
24.
[332:4] [Greek: katholikos]. See this subject more fully illustrated in
Period II. sec. iii. chap. viii.
[333:1] "Qui absistunt a principali successione, et quocunque loco
colligunt, suspectos habere (oportet) vel quasi haereticos et malae
sententiae; vel quasi scindentes et elatos et sibi placentes; aut rursus
ut hypocritas, quaestus gratia et vanae gloriae hoc operantes."
Irenaeus, iv. 26, § 2.
[333:2] See Period II. sec. iii. chap. vii.
[333:3] Blondel's "Apologia pro sententia Hieronymi," p. 18. Under
ordinary circumstances the new president, or bishop, was often elected
before his predecessor was buried. See Bingham, book ii. c. xi. § 2.
[333:4] See Pearson's "Minor Works," ii. 520.
[333:5] This method of appointment continued to be observed long
afterwards in some parts of the Church. See Bingham, book iv. chap. i.
sec. i. At Alexandria in the beginning of the fourth century the
presbyters selected three of their senior members, of whom the people
chose one. Cotelerius, ii., app. p. 180.
[334:1] [Greek: Ton tês episkopês klêron]. "Irenaeus," ed. Stieren, i.
p. 433.
[334:2] The Paschal feast. Irenaeus admits that this point formed only a
subordinate topic of discussion. See Stieren's "Irenaeus," i. p. 826,
note 6.
[334:3] See Period II. sec. iii. chap. vii.
[334:4] Euseb. iv. 14.
[335:1] Cyprian speaks of sending messengers to Rome "to ascertain and
report as to any rescript published respecting" the Christians. "Epist.
ad Successum." The Roman clergy could at once supply the information.
[336:1] Extract of a letter from Dionysius of Corinth, preserved in
Eusebius, iv. 23.
[336:2] The testimonies to this fact may be found discussed in Minter's
"Primordia Eccelesiae Africanae," p. 10. Herodian, who flourished in the
third century, speaks of Carthage as the next city after Rome in size
and wealth. Lib. vii. 6.
[336:3] In this way we may readily account for various statements in
Tertullian and Cyprian.
[337:1] We here see how a father who wrote so soon after the apostolic
age, blunders egregiously respecting the history of the Apostolic
Church.
[337:2] So I understand "his qui sunt undique." See Wordsworth's
"Hippolytus," p. 200. We have thus a remarkable proof that the word
_catholic_ was not in use when Irenaeus wrote, for he here expresses the
idea by a circumlocution.
[337:3] "Propter potentiorem principalitatem."
[337:4] Irenaeus iii. 3. See on this passage Gieseler, by Cunningham, i.
97, note. See also Period II. sec. iii. chap. viii.
[337:5] The circular letter relating to the martyrdom of Polycarp quoted
in Euseb. iv. 15. It was probably written a considerable time after the
death of the martyr, as it speaks of the way in which his _memory_ was
cherished when it was drawn up. § 19. As it uses the word _catholic_ it
must have been written after the appearance of the work of Irenaeus.
[337:6] Irenaeus quoted in Euseb. v. 24. See Period II. sec. iii. chap.
viii.
[339:1] We have an extract from them in Euseb. v. 4.
[339:2] Period II. sec. i. chap. ii. p. 296.
[339:3] Hippolytus, "Refut. Om. Haeres." book ix.
[340:1] This probably occurred early in the reign of Septimius Severus,
who at first is said to have been very favourable to the Church. Shortly
before, many in Rome of great wealth and eminent station had become
Christians.--Euseb. v. c. 21.
[340:2] See a more minute account of this controversy in Period II. sec.
iii. chap. xii.
[340:3] This is evident from the fact that Hippolytus is scarcely
willing to recognise some of the Roman bishops, his contemporaries. But
meanwhile both parties probably belonged to the same synod. Hippolytus
seems to have been the leader of a formidable opposition.
[341:1] Matt. xvi. 18.
[341:2] See the Muratorian fragment in Bunsen's "Analecta Ante-Nicaena,"
i. 154, 155. This, according to Bunsen, is a fragment of a work of
Hegesippus, and written about A.D. 165. Hippolytus, i. 314.
[341:3] "Hermae Pastor," lib. iii. simil. ix. § 12-14. "Petra haec....
Filius Dei est.... Quid est deinde haec turris? Haec, inquit, ecclesia
est.... Demonstra mihi quare non in terra aedificatur haec turris, sed
supra petram."
[341:4] Tertullian, "De Praescrip." xxii. "Latuit aliquid Petrum
aedificandae ecclesiae petram dictum?" Tertullian here speaks of the
doctrine as already current. Even after he became a Montanist, he still
adhered to the same interpretation--"Petrum solum invenio maritum, per
socrum; monogamum praesumo per _ecclesiam, quae super illum, aedificata_
omnem gradum ordinis sui de monogamis erat collocatura."--_De
Monogamia_, c. viii. Again, in another Montanist tract, he says--"Qualis
es, evertens atque commutans manifestam domini intentionem personaliter
hoc Petro conferentem? _Super te_, inquit, _aedificabo ecclesiam
meam_."--_De Pudicitia_, c. xxi. See also "De Praescrip." c. xxii.
According to Origen every believer, as well as Peter, is the foundation
of the Church. "Contra Celsum," vi. 77. See also "Comment in Matthaeum
xii.," Opera, tom. iii. p. 524, 526.
[342:1] See this subject more fully explained in Period II. sec. iii.
ch. viii.
[343:1] Even the letters of Victor, which created such a sensation
throughout the Church, are not forthcoming. See Pearson's "Vindiciae
Ignatianae," pars 2, cap. 13, as to the spuriousness of those imputed to
him.
[343:2] They extend from Clement, who, according to some lists, was the
first Pope, to Syricius, who was made Bishop of Rome A.D. 384. All
candid writers, whether Romanists or Protestants, now acknowledge them
to be forgeries. They may be found in "Binii Concilia." They made their
appearance, for the first time, about the eighth century.
[344:1] This is the date assigned to its erection by Bunsen, but Dr
Wordsworth argues that it was erected earlier.
[344:2] 22d August.
[345:1] The first edition appeared at Oxford in 1851, exactly three
hundred years after the discovery of the statue.
[345:2] This point has been fully established by Bunsen and Wordsworth.
[345:3] This is expressly stated by Tertullian, "Adversus Praxeam," c.
i.
[345:4] See Bower's "History of the Popes." Victor, 13th Bishop.
[345:5] According to the commonly received chronology, Victor occupied
the papal chair from A.D. 192 to A.D. 201; Zephyrinus from A.D. 201 to
A.D. 219; and Callistus from A.D. 219 to A.D. 223.
[346:1] [Greek: andros idiôtu kai aischrokerdous].
[346:2] [Greek: apeiron tôn ekklêsiakôn horôn].
[346:3] "Philosophumena," book ix.
[348:1] "Philosophumena," book ix.
[348:2] 14th October.
[348:3] "Philosophumena," book i., prooemium.
[348:4] [Greek: dedoikôs eme].
[348:5] Bunsen describes Hippolytus as "a member of the Roman
presbytery" ("Hippolytus," i. 313), but he is here evidently mistaken.
Hippolytus was at the head of a presbytery of his own, the presbytery of
Portus. The presbytery of Rome was confined to the elders or presbyters
of that city. The _presbyter_ Hippolytus mentioned by some ancient
writers seems to have been a quite different person from the bishop of
Portus.
[348:6] "Philosophumena," book ix.
[349:1] It is probable that the bishop was at first chosen by lot out of
a leet of three selected by the presbytery from among its members. (See
preceding chapter, p. 333, note.) An appointment was now made out of
this leet of three, not by lot, but by popular suffrage.
[349:2] Euseb. vi. 29.
[350:1] Evidently from [Greek: kata], _down_, and [Greek: kumbos], _a
cavity_. Mr Northcote, in his work on the "Roman Catacombs," published
in 1857, calculates that the streets in all, taken together, are 900
miles long!
[350:2] See "Three Introductory Lectures on Ecclesiastical History," by
William Lee, D.D., of Trinity College, Dublin, p. 27.
[350:3] It is probable that many were condemned to labour in these mines
as a punishment for having embraced Christianity. See Lee's "Three
Lectures," p. 28.
[350:4] Maitland's "Church in the Catacombs," p. 24. Dr Maitland visited
Rome in 1841, but his inspection of the Lapidarian Gallery seems to have
been regarded with extreme jealousy by the authorities there. After
having obtained a licence "to make some memoranda in drawing in that
part of the Museum," he was officially informed that "his permission
_did not extend to the inscriptions_", and the communication was
accompanied by a demand that "the copies already made should be given
up." To his refusal to yield to this mandate we are indebted for many
important memorials to be found in his interesting volume.
[351:1] See Maitland, pp. 27-29.
[352:1] Maitland, p. 14.
[352:2] Maitland, pp. 33, 41, 43, 170.
[352:3] "Philosophumena," book ix.
[352:4] As Carthage now furnished Rome with marble and granite, it is
probable that the quarrymen and sand-diggers of the catacombs came
frequently into contact with the Carthaginian sailors; and we may thus
see how, in the time of Cyprian, there were such facilities for
epistolary intercourse between the Churches of Rome and Carthage. Under
favourable circumstances, the mariner could accomplish the voyage
between the two ports in two or three days.
[353:1] "Philosophumena," book ix. Tertullian corroborates the charges
of Hippolytus. See "De Pudicitia," cap. i.
[353:2] We know, however, that, long after this period, married bishops
were to be found almost everywhere. One of the most eminent martyrs in
the Diocletian persecution was a bishop who had a wife and children. See
Eusebius, viii. c.9. Clemens Romanus, reputed one of the early bishops
of the Western capital, speaks as a married man. See his "Epistle to the
Corinthians," § 21.
[353:3] Maitland, pp. 191-193. These inscriptions may be found also in
Aringhi, i. 421, 419.
[353:4] Aringhi, ii. pp. 228; Rome, 1651.
[354:1] Cyprian to Antonianus, Epist. lii, p. 151.
[355:1] Cyprian speaks of "the blessed martyrs, Cornelius and Lucius."
Epist. lxvii. p. 250.
[355:2] See Cyprian's "Epistle to Successus," where it is stated that
"Xystus was martyred in the cemetery [the catacombs] on the eighth of
the Ides of August, and with him four deacons."
[355:3] This fragment may be found in Euseb. vi. 43.
[355:4] For an account of their duties see Period II. sec. iii. chap. x.
[355:5] According to some manuscripts, there were, not forty-six, but
forty-two presbyters, seven deacons, seven sub-deacons, and forty-two
acolyths. At a later period, we find three presbyters connected with
each Roman church. There were fourteen regions in the city, and
supposing a congregation in each, there would now be three presbyters,
one deacon or sub-deacon, and three acolyths belonging to each church.
See Blondel's "Apologia," p. 224.
[356:1] Cornelius (Euseb. vi. 43) calls him "a malicious beast," but he
evidently writes under a feeling of deep mortification.
[357:1] Firmilian, "Cypriani Epistolae," lxxv.
[357:2] Matt. xvi. 16-18.
[357:3] John i. 42.
[357:4] See 1 Pet. ii. 5. Peter adds, as if to illustrate Matt. xvi.
18--"Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture--Behold I lay in
Zion _a chief corner stone_, elect, precious; _and he that believeth on
him shall not be confounded_." 1 Pet. ii. 6.
[358:1] Matt. vii. 24, 25.
[358:2] See Tertullian, "De Praescrip." xxii.; and Cyprian to Cornelius,
Epist. lv. p. 178, where he says--"Petrus, tamen, super quem aedificuta
ab eodem Domino fuerat ecclesia." See also the same epistle, pp. 182,
183, and many other passages.
[358:3] Thus, Cyprian in his letter to Quintus (Epist. lxxi. p. 273)
makes the following awkward attempt to get over the difficulty:--"Nam
nec Petrus, _quem primum Dominus elegit, et super quem aedificavit
ecclesiam suam,_ cum secum Paulus de circumcisione postmodum
disceptaret, vindicavit sibi aliquid insolenter aut arroganter
assumpsit, _ut diceret se primatum tenere et obtemperari a novellis et
posteris sibi potius oportere_."
[359:1] A.D. 325.
[359:2] The Suburbicarian Provinces comprehended the three islands of
Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia, and the whole of the southern part of
Italy, including Naples and nearly all the territory now belonging to
Tuscany and the States of the Church. See Bingham, iii. p. 20.
[359:3] Basil, Ep. 220.
[360:1] Euseb. vii. 50.
[360:2] Thus we read of "the blessed Pope Cyprian," bishop of Carthage.
Cyprian, Epist. ii. p. 25. The name was sometimes given to the head of a
monastery. In the catacombs there was found an inscription probably to
the memory of a Pope of this description. See Maitland, p. 185. See also
Routh's "Reliquiae," iii. pp. 256, 265.
[360:3] See Bower, "Marcellus," 29th Bishop.
[360:4] That is, from the autumn of A.D. 304 to the spring of A.D. 308.
See Burton's "Lectures on the Ecc. Hist, of the First Three Cent." ii.
p. 433.
[361:1] In the life of Marcellus we read of so many places of worship in
Rome. See "Hist. Platinae De Vitis Pontif. Roman," p. 40, Coloniae,
1593. Optatus speaks of forty churches in Rome at this time; but he is
probably mistaken as to the date. There may have been so many after the
establishment of Christianity by Constantine. There were only fifty
churches in the Western capital in the beginning of the fifth century.
See Neander, i. 276; Edit. Edinburgh, 1847.
[362:1] In Matt. xvi. 18. Opera, tom. ii. p. 344; Edit. Eton, 1612.
[362:2] In Joh. i. 50. Opera, tom. ii. p. 637; Edit. Eton, 1612.
[362:3] "In Johann. Evang. Tractat." 124, § 5. Opera, tom. ix. c. 572.
Augustine had before held the more fashionable view. See "Barrow on the
Pope's Supremacy," by Dr M'Crie, p. 78.
[365:1] The references in this work to the Apostolic Fathers by
Cotelerius are to the Amsterdam Edition, folio, 1724.
[365:2] This is the date assigned to it by Bunsen. "Hippolytus," i. 309.
It is not probable that Polycarp was at the head of the eldership of
Smyrna much earlier. See Period II. sec. iii. chap, v., note.
[365:3] According to Ussher in A.D. 169.
[365:4] See Pearson's "Minor Works," ii. 531.
[366:1] The original narrative may be found in the Dialogue with Trypho.
[366:2] The references to Justin in this work are to the Paris folio
edition of 1615.
[367:1] He afterwards became the founder of a sect noted for its austere
discipline. His followers used water, instead of wine, at the
celebration of the Lord's Supper. They lived in celibacy, and observed
rigorous fasts.
[367:2] The writer says of the temple (chap. xvi.)--"It is now destroyed
by their (the Jews) enemies, and _the servants of their enemies are
building it up._" Jerusalem was rebuilt by Hadrian about A.D. 135, and
the name Aelia given to it.
[368:1] Two short letters ascribed to Pius are mentioned Period II. sec.
iii. chap. vii. For a long time Barnabas, the author of the epistle, was
absurdly confounded with the companion of Paul mentioned Acts xiii. 1,
and elsewhere; and Hermas was supposed to be the individual saluted in
Rom. xvi. 14. Hence these two writers have been called, like Polycarp
and others, _Apostolic Fathers_.
[368:2] Eusebius, who has preserved a few fragments of this author,
describes him as a very credulous person. See his "Hist." iii. 39.
[368:3] In the text it has not been considered necessary to mention all
the writers, however small their contributions to our ecclesiastical
literature, who appeared during the second and third centuries. Hence,
Melito of Sardis, Caius of Rome, and many others are unnoticed. The
remaining fragments of these early ecclesiastical writers may be found
in Routh's "Reliquiae," and elsewhere.
[368:4] [Greek: haemôn, tôn en Keltois diatribontôn kai peri barbaron
dialekton to pleiston ascholoumenôn].--_Contra Haereses_, lib. i. Praef.
[369:1] The references to Irenaeus in this work are to Stieren's edition
of 1853.
[369:2] Wordsworth has remarked that in the "Philosophumena" of
Hippolytus we have some of the lost text of Irenaeus. St Hippolytus, p.
15.
[369:3] Such is the testimony of Jerome. See Cave's "Life of Irenaeus."
[369:4] Euseb. "Hist." iii. 39.
[369:5] Irenaeus adopted the millenarianism of Papias.
[370:1] This is evident from his own statements. See his "Apology," c.
18, and "De Spectaculis," c. 19. The references to Tertullian in this
work are either to the edition of Oehler of 1853, or to that of
Rigaltius of 1675.
[370:2] According to some the population of Carthage at this time
amounted to hundreds of thousands. "The intercourse between Carthage and
Rome, on account of the corn trade alone, was probably more regular and
rapid than with any other part of the Empire."--_Milman's Latin
Christianity_, i. p. 47.
[370:3] See Euseb. ii. 2, 25.
[370:4] Such is the testimony of Jerome, who asserts farther that the
treatment he received from the clergy of Rome induced him to leave that
city.
[370:5] Such as the tracts "De Pallio" and "De Jejuniis."
[371:1] As a choice specimen of his vituperative ability his
denunciation of Marcion may be quoted--"Sed nihil tam barbarum ac triste
apud Pontum quam quod illic Marcion natus est, Scythia tetrior,
Hamaxobio instabilior, Massageta inhumanior, Amazona audacior, nubilo
obscurior, hieme frigidior, gelu fragilior, Istro fallacior, Caucaso
abruptior."--_Adversus Marcionem_, lib. i. c. 1.
[371:2] Victor of Rome, who was contemporary with Tertullian, is said to
have written in Latin, but the extant letters ascribed to him are
considered spurious.
[372:1] Such, according to Jerome, was the practice of Cyprian.
[372:2] He is supposed to have died at an advanced age, but the date of
his demise cannot be accurately determined. Most of his works were
written between A.D. 194 and A.D. 217.
[372:3] The part of the work "Adversus Judaeos," from the beginning of
the ninth chapter, is taken chiefly from the third book of the Treatise
against Marcion, and has apparently been added by another hand.
[374:1] "Admonitio ad Gentes," Opera, p. 69. Edit. Coloniae, 1688.
[374:2] "Stromata," book v.
[374:3] See Kaye's "Clement of Alexandria," p. 378.
[374:4] Period II. sec. i. chap. v. p. 344.
[375:1] Prudentius. See Wordsworth's "Hippolytus," p. 106-112.
[377:1] He had acted literally as described, Matt, xix. 12.
[377:2] Euseb. vi. 3.
[377:3] Euseb. vi. 21.
[378:1] He says Celsus lived in the reign of Hadrian and afterwards.
"Contra Celsum," i. § 8; Opera, tom. i. p. 327. The references to Origen
in this work are to the edition of the Benedictine Delarue, 4 vols.
folio. Paris, 1733-59.
[379:1] The three other Greek versions were those of Aquila, of
Symmachus, and of Theodotion.
[379:2] Origen, in his writings, repeatedly refers to Philo by name. See
Opera, i. 543.
[379:3] See Euseb. ii. c. 17.
[380:1] Thus he declares-"The prophets indicating what is wise
concerning the circumstances of our generation, say that sacrifice is
offered for sin, _even the sin of those newly born_ as not free from
sin, for it is written--'I was shapen in wickedness, and in sin did my
mother conceive me.'"--_Contra Celsum_, vii. § 50.
[380:2] He held, however, that Satan is to be excepted from the general
salvation. See "Epist. ad Amicos Alexandrinos," Opera, i. p. 5.
[381:1] See Sage's "Vindication of the Principles of the Cyprianic Age,"
p. 348. London, 1701.
[382:1] In the case of these epistles, much confusion arises, in the way
of reference, from their various arrangement by different editors. The
references in this work to Cyprian are to the edition of Baluzius,
folio, Venice, 1728. Baluzius, in the arrangement of the letters, adopts
the same order as Pamelius, but Epistle II. of the latter is Epistle I.
of the former, and so on to Epistle XXIII. of Pamelius, which is Epistle
XXII. of the other. Baluzius here conforms exactly to the numeration of
the preceding editor by making Epistle XXIV. immediately follow Epistle
XXII., so that from this to the end of the series the same references
apply equally well to the work of either. The numeration of the Oxford
edition of Bishop Fell is, with a few exceptions, quite different.
[382:2] Mr Shepherd has completely failed in his attempt to disprove the
genuineness of these writings. They are as well attested as any other
documents of antiquity.
[383:1] See Period II. sec. i. chap. ii. p. 302, note.
[383:2] It has not been thought necessary in this chapter to notice
either _Arnobius_, an African rhetorician, who wrote seven Books against
the Gentiles; or the Christian Cicero, _Lactantius_, who is said to have
been his pupil. Both these authors appeared about the end of the period
embraced in this history, and consequently exerted little or no
influence during the time of which it treats.
[384:1] His life was written by Gregory Nyssen about a century after his
death.
[385:1] See a preceding note in this chapter, p. 367.
[385:2] Matt. x. 29.
[385:3] Scorpiace, c. ix.
[385:4] Stromata, book iii.
[385:5] Matt, xviii. 20.
[385:6] "For," says he, "from the first hour to the third, a trinity of
number is manifested; from the fourth on to the sixth, is another
trinity; and in the seventh closing with the ninth, a perfect trinity is
numbered, in spaces of three hours."-_On the Lord's Prayer_, p. 426.
[386:1] "Contra Celsum," v. § 11.
[386:2] Theophilus to Autolycus, lib. ii. § 24.
[386:3] In proof of this see his treatise "Contra Celsum," i. 25, also
"Opera," iii. p. 616, and iv. p. 86.
[386:4] "Contra Haereses," ii. c. xxiv. § 2. See Matt. i. 21.
[386:5] "Contra Haereses," ii. c. xxxv. 3. He seems to have confounded
_Adonai_ and _Yehovah_. The latter word was regarded by the Jews as the
"unutterable" name. Hence it has been thought that in the Latin version
of Irenaeus we should read "innominabile" for "nominabile." See
Stieren's "Irenaeus," i. 418.
[386:6] "Paedagogue," book i. See Gen. xxxii. 28.
[386:7] "Stromata," book v. Sec Gen. xvii. 5. Not a few of these
mistakes may be traced to Philo Judaeus. Thus, this interpretation of
Abraham may be found in his "Questions and Solutions on Genesis," book
iii. 43.
[386:8] "Apol." ii. p. 88.
[386:9] "Dialogue with Trypho," Opera, p. 268.
[386:10] "Apol." ii. p. 76.
[386:11] "Apol." ii. p. 86.
[387:1] "Contra Haereses," ii. c. xxii. § 5.
[387:2] He thus makes His ministry about a year in length. "Adversus
Judaeos," c. viii.
[387:3] "De Cultu Feminarum," lib. i. c. 2, and lib. ii. c. 10.
[387:4] See Kaye's "Tertullian," p. 196. See also Warburton's "Divine
Legation of Moses," i. 510. Edit. London, 1837.
[387:5] "Adversus Hermogenem," c. 35, and "Adversus Praxeam," c. 7.
[389:1] In 1842, Archdeacon Tattam, who had returned only about three
years before from Egypt, where he had been searching for ancient
manuscripts, set out a second time to that country, under the auspices
of the Trustees of the British Museum, chiefly for the purpose of
endeavouring to procure copies of the Ignatian epistles. On this
occasion he succeeded in obtaining possession of the Syriac copy of the
three letters published by Dr. Cureton in 1845. Shortly before the
Revolution of 1688, Robert Huntingdon, afterwards Bishop of Raphoe, and
then chaplain to the British merchants at Aleppo, twice undertook a
voyage to Egypt in quest of copies of the Ignatian epistles. On one of
these occasions he visited the monastery in the Nitrian desert in which
the letters were recently found.
[390:1] Of the writers who have taken a prominent part in the Ignatian
controversy we may particularly mention Ussher, Vossius, Hammond,
Daillé, Pearson, Larroque, Rothe, Baur, Cureton, Hefele, and Bunsen.
[390:2] Matt, xviii. 2-4; Mark ix. 36.
[390:3] There has been a keen controversy respecting the accentuation of
[Greek: Theophoros]. Those who place the accent on the antepenult
([Greek: Theó'phoros]) give it the meaning mentioned in the test; whilst
others, placing the accent on the penult ([Greek: Theophó'ros]),
understand by it _God-bearing_, the explanation given in the "Acts of
the Martyrdom of Ignatius." See Daillé, "De Scriptis quae sub Dionysii
Areop. et Ignatii Antioch. nom. circumferuntur," lib. ii. c. 25; and
Pearson's "Vindiciae Ignatianae," pars. sec. cap. xii.
[391:1] Cave reckons that at the time of his martyrdom he was probably
"above fourscore years old." See his "Life of Ignatius."
[391:2] See Period II. sec. in. chap. v. Evodius is commonly represented
as the first bishop of Antioch.
[392:1] "Fuerunt alii similis amentiae: quos, quia cives Romani erant,
annotavi in Urbem remittendos."--_Plinii_, _Epist_. lib. x. epist. 96.
[392:2] The Greek says the _ninth_, and the Latin the _fourth_ year.
According to both, the condemnation took place _early_ in the reign of
Trajan. See also the first sentence of the "Acts." In his translation of
these "Acts," Wake, regardless of this statement, and in opposition to
all manuscript authority, represents the sentence as pronounced "in the
_nineteenth_ year" of Trajan.
[392:3] See Jacobson's "Patres Apostolici," ii. p. 504. See also
Greswell's "Dissertations," vol. iv. p. 422. It is evident that the date
in the "Acts" cannot be the mistake of a transcriber, for in the same
document the martyrdom is said to have occurred when Sura and Synecius
were consuls. These, as Greswell observes, were actually consuls "in the
_ninth_ of Trajan." Greswell's "Dissertations," iv. p. 416. Hefele,
however, has attempted to show that Trajan was really in Antioch about
this time. See his "Pat. Apost. Opera Prolegomena," p. 35. Edit.
Tubingen, 1842.
[393:1] "Acts of his Martyrdom," § 8.
[393:2] He is said, when at Smyrna, to have been visited by a deputation
from the Magnesians. But had notice been sent to them as soon as he
arrived at Smyrna, the messenger would have required three days to
perform the journey; and had the Magnesians set out instantaneously,
they must have occupied three days more in travelling to him. Thus,
notwithstanding all the precipitation with which he was hurried along,
he could scarcely have been less than a week in Smyrna. See "Corpus
Ignatianum," pp. 326, 327.
[394:1] "He was _pressed_ by the soldiers to _hasten_ to the public
spectacles at great Rome." "And the _wind continuing favourable_ to us,
in one day and night we were _hurried_ on."--_Acts of his Martyrdom_, §
10, 11.
[394:2] Philadelphia is distant from Troas about two hundred miles.
"Corpus Ignatianum," pp. 331, 332. Here, then, is another difficulty
connected with this hasty journey. How could a deputation from
Philadelphia meet Ignatius in Troas, as some allege they did, if he did
not stop a considerable time there? See other difficulties suggested by
Dr Cureton. "Cor. Ignat." p. 332.
[395:1] Such is the opinion maintained by the celebrated Whiston in his
"Primitive Christianity." More recently Meier took up nearly the same
position.
[395:2] See Preface to the "Corpus Ignatianum," p. 4.
[395:3] Published in 1849. In 1846 he published his "Vindiciae
Ignatianae; or the Genuine Writings of St Ignatius, as exhibited in the
ancient Syriac version, vindicated from the charge of heresy."
[396:1] In 1847 another copy of the Syriac version of the three epistles
was deposited in the British Museum, and since, Sir Henry Rawlinson is
said to have obtained a third copy at Bagdad. See "British Quarterly"
for October 1855, p. 452.
[396:2] Dr Lee, late Regius Professor of Hebrew in Cambridge, Chevalier
Bunsen, and other scholars of great eminence, have espoused the views of
Dr Cureton.
[396:3] By Archbishop Ussher in 1644, and by Vossius in 1646.
[396:4] Such was the opinion of Ussher himself. "Concludimus ... nullas
omni ex parte sinceras esse habendas et genuinas." Dissertation prefixed
to his edition of "Polycarp and Ignatius," chap. 18.
[397:1] Pearson was occupied six years in the preparation of this work.
The publication of Daillé, to which it was a reply, appeared in 1666.
Daillé died in 1670, at the advanced age of seventy-six. The work of
Pearson did not appear until two years afterwards, or in 1672. The year
following he received the bishopric of Chester as his reward.
[397:2] "In the whole course of my inquiry respecting the Ignatian
Epistles," says Dr Cureton, "_I have never met with one person who
professes to have read Bishop Pearson's celebrated book_; but I was
informed by one of the most learned and eminent of the present bench of
bishops, that Porson, after having perused the 'Vindiciae,' had
expressed to him his opinion that it was a 'very unsatisfactory
work.'"--_Corpus Ignat._, Preface, pp. 14, 15, note. Bishop Pearson's
work is written in Latin.
[397:3] The "Three Epistles" edited by Dr Cureton contain only about the
_one-fourth_ of the matter of the seven shorter letters edited by
Ussher.
[398:1] Dr Cureton has shewn that even the learned Jerome must have
known very little of these letters. "Corpus Ignat.", Introd. p. 67.
[398:2] Euseb. iii. c. 36.
[399:1] Euseb. i. c. 13.
[399:2] "Corpus Ignatianum," Introd. p. 71.
[399:3] Proleg. in "Cantic. Canticorum," and Homil. vi. in "Lucam."
[399:4] In the Epistle to the Romans, and the Epistle to the Ephesians.
[399:5] He quotes the words--"I am not an incorporeal demon," from the
"Doctrine of Peter;" but they are found in the shorter recension of the
seven letters in the "Epistle to the Smyrnaeans," § 3. Had this epistle
been known to him, he would certainly have quoted from an apostolic
father rather than from a work which he knew to be spurious. See Origen,
"Opera," i. p. 49, note.
[400:1] "Opera," ii. 20, 21; iii. 271.
[400:2] See Period II. sec. ii. chap. i. p. 367. Origen, "Opera," iv.
473.
[400:3] Ibid. p. 368.
[400:4] "Opera," i. 79; iv. 683.
[400:5] "Contra Haereses," lib. v. c. 28, § 4. "Quidam de nostris dixit,
propter martyrium in Deum adjudicatus ad bestias: Quoniam frumentum sum
Christi, et per dentes bestiarum molor, ut mundus panis Dei inveniar."
[401:1] Thus he speaks of "Saturninus, who was from Antioch." "Contra
Haereses," lib. i. c. 24, § 1.
[401:2] It seems to have been soon translated into Syriac. See Bunsen's
"Hippolytus," iv. Preface, p. 8.
[401:3] See large extracts from this letter in Euseb. v. c. i. Also
Routh's "Reliquiae," i. 329.
[402:1] Irenaeus, "Contra Haereses," lib. iii. c. 2, § 1, 2.
[402:2] Lib. iii. c. 3, § 3.
[402:3] Lib. iii. c. iii. § 4.
[402:4] Lib. v. c. xxxiii. § 3, 4.
[402:5] Lib. iv. c. vi. § 2.
[402:6] In his "Vindiciae," (Pars. i. cap. 6,) Pearson attempts to parry
this argument by urging that Irenaeus does not mention other writers,
such as Barnabas, Quadratus, Aristidus, Athenagoras, and Theophilus. But
the reply is obvious--1. These writers were occupied chiefly in
defending Christianity against the attacks of paganism, so that
testimonies against heresy could not be expected in their works. 2. None
of them were so early as Ignatius, so that their testimony, even could
it have been obtained, would have been of less value. Some of them, such
as Theophilus, were the contemporaries of Irenaeus. 3. None of them held
such an important position in the Church as Ignatius.
[403:1] He was martyred A.D. 167, at the age of eighty-six. According to
the Acts of his Martyrdom, Ignatius was martyred sixty years before, or
A.D. 107. Polycarp must, therefore, have been now about twenty-six. See
more particularly Period II. sec. ii. chap. v. note.
[403:2] Sec. 4.
[403:3] Secs. 5, 6.
[403:4] Sec. 11.
[403:5] Sec. 3.
[404:1] [Greek: ou monon en tois makariois Ignatiô, kai Zôsimô, kai
Rouphô, alla kai en allois tois ex humôn].--§ 9.
[404:2] See Baronius, "Annal. ad Annum." 109, tom. ii. c. 48, and
Jacobson's "Pat. Apost." ii. 482, note 6. Edit. Oxon., 1838.
[405:1] Epist. xxxiv. p. 109.
[405:2] "Scripsistis mihi, et vos et Ignatius, ut si quis vadit ad
Syriam, deferat literas meas quas fecero ad vos." The Greek of Eusebius
is somewhat different, but may express the same sense. See Euseb. iii.
36. There is an important variation even in the readings of Eusebius.
See Cotelerius, vol. ii. p. 191, note 3.
[405:3] Thus Bunsen, in his "Ignatius von Antiochen und seine Zeit,"
says--"At the present stand-point of the criticism of Ignatius, this
passage can only be a witness against itself." And, again--"The forger
of Ignatius has interpolated this passage." And, again--"The connexion
is entirely broken by that interpolation." (Pp. 108, 109.) Viewed as a
postscript, it is not remarkable that the transition should be somewhat
abrupt.
[405:4] "Et de ipso Ignatio, et de his qui cum eo sunt, quod certius
agnoveritis, significate."
[406:1] See the "Acts of his Martyrdom," § 10, 12.
[406:2] See this "Epistle," § 1, 9.
[406:3] "Epistolas sane Ignatii, quae transmissae sunt vobis ab eo, et
alias, quantascunque apud nos habuimus, transmisimus vobis." According
to the Greek of Eusebius we should read "The letters of Ignatius which
were sent _to us_ ([Greek: hêmin]) by him." Either reading is alike
perplexing to the advocates of the Syriac version of the Ignatian
epistles. See Jacobson, ii. 489, not. 5.
[406:4] See a preceding note, p. 405.
[407:1] It would seem that only two Greek copies are known to exist,
both wanting the concluding part. See Cotelerius, vol. ii. p. 186,
note 1.