S LXVIII. These prophecies had fully persuaded the Christians to LXIX. As in the fables of Bacchus, Bellerophon, Perseus, and But in no fable was the crucifixion of CHRIST imitated, LXXIII. The demons also, after the ascension of CHRIST, raised LXXIV. The malice of these evil spirits can, however, only LXXVI. LXXVII. Plato obtained his notions respecting the creation of the world, and other opinions, from the writings of LXXVIII. It is not, then, that the Christians adopt the opinions of ib. Shows that this new birth is necessary; and that bap. tism is performed in the name of GOD the Father, and of JESUS CHRIST, and of the HOLY SPIRIT, LXXXI. Justin then digresses to show that the evil spirits imitated the practice of baptism; as they caused the LXXXIII. ib. LXXXIV. And asserts that the demons imitated what they learned LXXXV. . LXXXVI. He explains the nature of that sacrament; that the LXXXVII. The Christians assemble on Sunday. An account of Justin concludes with desiring that the Christians may THE Epistle of Antoninus Pius to the Common Assem- ib. INTRODUCTION. IN the history of the Christian Church, there are few periods of greater interest and importance than that which succeeded the death of the Apostles. As long as any of those holy men survived, who had personally received instruction from our LORD, they connected the Church on earth with its spiritual head. The miraculous powers with which the Apostles were endowed, and the undisputed authority with which their high office invested them, placed them in a position, which none of their successors could ever occupy. In cases of difficulty and doubt, an appeal to their more. than human wisdom was the last resource: in times of peril, their example and their prayers strengthened the wavering, and confirmed the faithful: and at all periods they were justly regarded as the pillars, on which the Christian Church securely rested. But when the Apostles were removed from the scene of their earthly labors, the condition of the Church was changed. The efforts of its enemies were exerted with greater energy to suppress Christianity, as the numbers of those who professed the faith increased; while the apparent means of defence were materially impaired. Our attention is therefore roused to inquire what men they were, who, on this trying occasion, stood forth in defence of Christianity; with what weapons they combated their enemies; with what zeal they laid down their lives for the sake of the Gospel. These early ages of the Church claim our attention for another reason. In contemplating the history of that period, we view Christianity, as a system of VOL. IV.-b ecclesiastical polity in its nascent state. It was then that the Canon of Scripture was formed; that church government took a consistent form. The oral teaching of the Apostles and their immediate successors was still vividly impressed upon the minds of those who had heard them and many passages of Scripture, which to us appear ambiguous, might by such means be then clearly understood. Hence the conclusions, which the primitive Christian Church formed, respecting questions, which in after ages have been fruitful subjects of controversy, are entitled to the highest regard: not, indeed, as infallible; but as representing the doctrines maintained by sincere and earnest inquirers after the truth, by men who were best able to form a sound determination, before their judgment was warped by prejudice or modified by system. The writings of the early Christian Fathers will therefore be carefully consulted by all who would trace the Scriptures up to the period in which they were written, and learn the doctrines which were taught as essential, in the times nearest to the apostólic age. These early ages of the Church possess also a charm peculiar to themselves. The records of ecclesiastical history in subsequent years too often display a melancholy picture. The turbulent passions of the worldly minded, the fiery zeal of the intemperate, the arts of the designing, the follies of the weak, all present themselves in dazzling colors and in prominent positions: while it requires a practised eye and a patient investigation to discover the milder and retiring forms of unobtrusive Christian piety. The earlier Christians were not, as individuals, free from the infirmities and sins of human nature. But the primitive Christian Church did certainly stand forth in a purity and simplicity which it has never since enjoyed. And the contemplation of the age in which this goodly spectacle was presented to the world, has ever been a delightful employment to minds endowed with a kindred feeling. Of late years a considerable impulse has been given, among ourselves, to the study of the early Christian writers. The labors of the learned Bishop of Lincoln, [Dr. KAYE,] in elucidating the works of Justin Martyr and Tertullian, and those of Dr. BURTON, are specimens of the valuable matter which is yet to be extracted from the stores of Christian antiquity. The present work lays claim to no such pretensions. Its object is to put the English reader in possession of some of the genuine remains of Christian writers of the first and second centuries, and to furnish occasional information upon such points as seem to require explanation. For this purpose it appeared more advisable to give the whole of such pieces as should be selected, than to select certain parts only. Extracts must always fail to give a faithful representation of the whole man, ner of reasoning and train of thought which characterized the first advocates of Christianity; and may unintentionally give erroneous notions of their opinions, It is well known that detached passages are quoted from these writings, in favor of very different notions, To judge therefore of the real sentiments of the writers, the general tendency of their argument is to be re garded, more than the mere verbal expression of particular parts. If we would know how these fathers of the Church thought and wrote, we are not at liberty to omit what may appear to us superfluous and fanciful in illustration, or diffuse and inconclusive in reasoning; or simply uninteresting, because it refers to errors which have long since passed away. The very manner of treating a subject is an indication of the habits of thought and of the moral condition of the age in which it was discussed. A more striking and graphic representation is often given of the state of society, and of the condition of the Christian world in general, by an application of a passage of Scripture, by a slight allusion to an objection against the religion of the Gospel, by a casual reference to some difficulty which its professors encountered, or by some elaborate refutation of an absurd calumny, than we should have received from a detailed description of the circumstances. Besides, those very parts of the writings of the early Fathers, which seem least valuable both for style and matter, have this incidental advantage, that they set in a clear point of view the immeasurable superiority of the Scriptures of the New Testament. The inspired books were written principally by men who had not the same advantages of education and literary training, as some of the Ecclesiastical writers enjoyed: yet they are totally free from the blemishes which disfigure the most elaborate productions of later ages of the Church. Had not the pens of the Evangelists and Apostles been guided by a wisdom superior to any which those writers possessed by ordinary means, they never could have produced a work, which, even as a specimen of plain yet majestic narration, and of consistent, sober, rational discussion of the most abstruse questions, is entirely unrivalled. We should have found-as we do find in the writings even of those who had been thoroughly instructed in scriptural truth, and had deeply imbibed the spirit of Christianity-some error mixed with truth; some inconclusive reasoning; some vague declamation; some incautious over-statement of doctrine or fact; some merely mystical application of the Scriptures of the Old Testament; some exaggerated sentiment. |