Hort. Six lectures on the ante-Nicene fathers. 1895

8/6/2019 Hort. Six lectures on the ante-Nicene fathers. 1895.

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SIX LECTURESON THE

ANTE-NICENE FATHERS.


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SIX LECTURESON THE

ANTE-NICENE FATHERS

BY

FENTON JOHN ANTHONY HORT D.D.SOMETIME HULSEAN PROFESSOR AND LADY MARGARET'S READER

IN DIVINITY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE.

tLon&onMACMILLAN AND CO.AND NEW YORK

1895All rights reserved


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PRINTED BY J. & C. F. CLAY,AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.


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vi PREFATORY NOTE.specimens of writers of whose permanent valuehe was strongly convinced, will, it is hoped, befound not the least useful part of the volume,such a collection of passages not being easilyaccessible elsewhere. There is some uncertaintyas to the limits of one of the passages quoted,that from Justin Martyr, but I hope that thosehere printed are substantially the extracts readin the course of each lecture. The quotationsfrom Clement, Ignatius and Polycarp are takenfrom Bishop Lightfoot's Apostolic Fathers, thatfrom Justin Martyr from the Rev. G. Keith'stranslation in the " Ante-Nicene Christian Li-brary," with some alterations adopted frompencilled notes in Dr Hort's copy : for the twopassages from Origen I am responsible, andhave made use of the Rev. Dr Crombie's versionin the same series : I could not discover whetherthe lecturer here used any published or manu-script translation. The two extracts fromIrenseus were transcribed by Dr Hort himself.

A. F. HORT.


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CONTENTS.LECT. PAGE

I. CLEMENT OF ROME AND HERMAS . . iII. IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP ... 25III. JUSTIN AND IREN^EUS .... 49IV. HlPPOLYTUS AND CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA 76V. TERTULLIAN AND CYPRIAN .... 93VI. ORIGEN 116


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LECTURE I.CLEMENT OF ROME AND HERMAS.THE lectures which I hope to deliver this

term are intended to have for their subject" Some early Fathers of the Church." In thisdescription of the proposed subject the word" Fathers " means simply what it means incommon usage, the Christian writers of theearly Christian centuries. In one literal sensethey might be called Fathers, viz. as being theparents of the Christian thought and belief andlife of later centuries, which, however modifiedand altered by the inward and outward changesarising in the course of time, retain always downto the present day important features inheritedfrom the peculiar circumstances of the centurieswhich followed the Apostolic age.

But, although it is important to rememberthat our own thoughts, and the thoughts of all

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2 CLEMENT OF ROME [LECT.Christians everywhere, have been in a greatmeasure thus shaped for us by the thoughtsof the early Fathers, it is not on account ofthis fact that we call them Fathers, but ratherin gratitude and veneration for them as thepatriarchs of Christendom, speaking to us stillout of that early dawn of the Christian periodof history, and often speaking to us out of thefiery trial of persecution. But it would be amisuse of this legitimate reverence to treat thewords of the Fathers as oracles appointed todictate to us what we ought to believe. If weread their words with an open and teachablemind, we shall often find there abundant helpand instruction, but the responsibility will alwayslie upon us of weighing and testing what weread, to the best of our power. We must not besurprised if we sometimes find much dross, foreach age has its own limitations and vagaries,and, besides these, each man in each age hashis own limitations and vagaries, some more,some less.

Again it is not really possible to measurethe comparative worth of the Fathers, onewith another, merely by their comparative an-tiquity. There is no doubt a peculiar freshness


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I.] AND HERMAS. 3in the best writings of quite the earliest time, theonly time which can with any propriety sharewith the Apostolic Age the much misused andslippery epithet " primitive." But the greatest ofthe Fathers belong to later times, and differentlater times, when in doctrine and in institutionsand in various other things pertaining to Christianlife, great and unavoidable changes had takenplace, changes that were on the whole for goodand belonging to healthy growth, but also by nomeans free from loss, from injurious onesided-ness, and from corruption. In what we call theage of the Fathers there was anything ratherthan a uniform state of things. Movement wasat that time more rapid than probably at anylater time of Christian history.

There are several comparatively distinctsubjects which might properly enough be lec-tured about or written about in connexion withthe Fathers. They might serve as a thread forspeaking about Church History generally, orabout the History of doctrine, of course ineither case within the limits of their owntime. Or again they might, with more obviousfitness, be taken as the heads of the corre-sponding history of Christian literature. The

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4 CLEMENT OF ROME [LECT.time at our disposal will not however allowus to follow any of these lines, unless it beincidentally and to a small extent. I wishrather to do what I can towards putting beforeyou the leading Fathers of the earliest centuriesas living men, the children of a particular time,and to give some account of the purpose andcharacter of their chief works, illustrated bytranslated extracts which may help towards theformation of individual impressions that mayremain associated with their respective names.

It is well to keep in mind throughout thatonly a small part of the actual Christian litera-ture of the early centuries is now preserved tous. Not only many books, but all the books ofmany authors, have completely perished. Ofothers we possess only scanty fragments. Onthe other hand, when we observe the neglector even dislike with which the Ante-NiceneChristian literature, with very limited excep-tions, was regarded by most of the Christiantheologians of later days, we can hardly be toothankful that so much has been preserved ; andmoreover that what has been preserved has sorepresentative a character, that is, supplies uswith substantial and important examples of


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I.] AND HERMAS. 5different times, different schools, and differentchurches. Again it is a striking and encourag-ing fact that so many lost works, or lost portionsof works, belonging to this period have come tolight within the last forty years. Nor is thereany reason to believe that we have come to theend of discoveries of this kind.

The Fathers of whom I propose to speakto-day belong to the small group to which it hasbeen usual for above two hundred years to givethe rather unmeaning name Apostolic Fathers,that is, preeminently Clement of Rome, Hermas,Ignatius, and Polycarp. In the opinion of manythe earliest extant Christian writing outside theNew Testament is the remarkable little manualof Christian morals and ecclesiastical instructioncalling itself the Teaching of the Twelve Apo-stles, now familiarly known as the Didache,which was discovered and published a few yearsago. It may however be considerably later :and at all events it lies too near the edge of oursubject to need more than this passing word ofnotice.We begin then with Clement of Rome. Thelittle that is really known about him will be bestfound in Dr Lightfoot's admirable edition, and


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6 CLEMENT OF ROME [LECT.still more in the Appendix which he publishedeight years later, in which he has carefully siftedthe mass of ancient legend and modern specula-tion which has gathered round Clement's name.Some pages of his Philippians are also worthreading in the same connexion. The apparenttime when the Epistle was written and theapparent personal position of Clement are bothremarkable. Some thirty years had passed, whatis counted a generation, since the persecution ofNero, some twenty-five years since the fall ofJerusalem, the greatest as well as most awful ofevents for all Christians. For the Empire, afterall the frightful turmoil which had followed thedeath of Nero, a happier time had already begunwith the accession of Vespasian, a period Dr Meri-vale says " distinguished by the general prosperityof the administration, the tranquil obedience ofthe people, and (with a single exception) by thevirtue and public spirit ofthe rulers." Vespasian'sson Titus had succeeded, and then his other sonDomitian, his reign being the one exception tothe comparative brightness of the series of eight.Always capricious and suspicious, the emperorshewed these qualities in an extreme form aboutthe years A.D. 95, 96, the last of his life. Among


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I.] AND HERMAS. 7his victims were his own first cousin and niece'shusband, Flavius Clemens, the father of the tworeputed heirs to the empire. This Clemens wasexecuted, and his wife exiled, both apparentlyas having become Christians. The Clementwho wrote our Epistle was, it would seem, afreedman or freedman's son in their household,and had in this manner received his name.Everything in his letter shews that he musthave been long a Christian himself, so that hismind would naturally be saturated, as we findit, with the language and ideas of the OldTestament, the only Scriptures, properly socalled, for Christians at this early time, evenif he was not previously, as is possible, a Jewof the Dispersion. His precise position in theRoman Church is difficult to ascertain. Two orthree generations later, when the early constitu-tion of the European Churches had been for-gotten, he was placed in the series of earlyBishops of Rome. But, as Dr Lightfoot hasshewn (Phil. p. 218, ed. 8), it is difficult to re-concile his holding such an office with thelanguage of the Epistle itself, or with otherindications as to the constitution of the Churchof Rome at a somewhat later time. But he


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8 CLEMENT OF ROME [LECT.must certainly have been a man of importanceand influence in the Church to be entrustedwith the duty of writing such an Epistle, evenif he was not the Clement to whom the bookof Hermas' Visions (to which we shall comeshortly) was to be sent for sending on to thecities away from Rome, that task, it is said,having been entrusted to him.The Epistle itself starts with a salutationresembling those of the Apostolic Epistles,beginning " The Church of God which sojournsat Rome to the Church of God which sojournsat Corinth." The first words of the letter itselfshew the state of things at Rome. " Becauseof the sudden and quickly succeeding misfor-tunes and calamities happening to us, brethren,we deem that we have been somewhat slow ingiving attention to the matters that are indispute among you." Thus the Epistle waswritten during or soon after the persecutionwhich fell on the Roman Christians in those lastmonths of Domitian's reign, the first persecutionof which we have any knowledge after the per-secution of Nero and the immediately followingtime of confusion.

The purpose of this the first extant writing


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I.] AND HERMAS. 9of a Christian Father is the promotion of peace,the restoration of a divided and disorderlyChristian community to the concord and orderimplied in the very idea of Church-membership.At the outset the Roman Church commendswarmly the previous temper and conduct shewnby the Corinthian Church, and then especiallythose ways of theirs to which the present stateof things stood in the strongest contrast 1 . Inplace of all this had now come what is called(i) a vile and unholy sedition (or quarrel, a-rdo-is),kindled by a few headlong and self-willed personsto a pitch of madness which had brought theirhonourable name into disgrace. It had arisen,we read further on, from contumacy shewnagainst some of the elders of the Church, whohad been thrust aside without having deservedit (44, 47, 57, etc.). This conduct is traced back(3 fin.) to "an unrighteous and impious jealousy"(77X09), a jealousy of which examples are givenas leading to great crimes and misfortunes in thetimes of the Old Testament, and now again asleading to the martyr deaths of Peter and Pauland many others of those who are called " elect."These admonitions the Roman Church then

1 Lightfoot, Clement of JRome, Appendix, p. 346.


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I.] AND HERMAS. IIsplendid and excellent gifts of peace andbenefits. Let us behold Him in our mind, andlet us look with the eyes of our soul unto Hislong-suffering will. Let us note how free fromanger He is towards all His creatures.

"The heavens are moved by His directionand obey Him in peace. Day and night ac-complish the course assigned to them by Him,without hindrance one to another. Moreover,the inscrutable depths of the abysses and theunutterable statutes of the nether regions areconstrained by the same ordinances. The basinof the boundless sea, gathered together by Hisworkmanship into its reservoirs, passeth not thebarriers wherewith it is surrounded ; but evenas He ordered it, so it doeth. For He said,' So far shalt thou come, and thy waves shall bebroken within thee.' The ocean which is im-passable for men, and the worlds beyond it, aredirected by the same ordinances of the Master.The seasons of spring and summer and autumnand winter give way in succession one to anotherin peace. The winds in their several quartersat their proper season fulfil their ministry with-out disturbance : and the ever-flowing fountains,created for enjoyment and health, without fail


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12 CLEMENT OF ROME [LECT.give their breasts which sustain the life of men.Yea, the smallest of living things come togetherin concord and peace. All these things thegreat Creator and Master of the universe orderedto be in peace and concord, doing good unto allthings, but far beyond the rest unto us who havetaken refuge in His compassionate merciesthrough our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be theglory and the majesty for ever and ever.Amen 1."

Then follows a series of chapters of religiousexhortation in the same lofty strain, endingwith texts thus introduced.

" This is the way, dearly-beloved, whereinwe found our salvation, even Jesus Christ theHigh-priest of our offerings, the Guardian andHelper of our weakness. Through Him let uslook steadfastly unto the heights of the heavens ;through Him we behold as in a mirror Hisfaultless and most excellent visage ; throughHim the eyes of our hearts were opened; throughHim our foolish and darkened mind springethup unto the light ; through Him the Masterwilleth that we should taste of the immortalknowledge ; ' Who being the brightness of His

1 Lightfoot, Clement ofRome, Appendix, pp. 355 foil.


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I.] AND HERMAS. 13majesty is so much greater than angels, as Hehath inherited a more excellent name.' For soit is written ; ' Who maketh His angels spiritsand His ministers a flame of fire'; but of HisSon the Master said thus ; ' Thou art my Son,I this day have begotten Thee. Ask of me,and I will give Thee the Gentiles for Thineinheritance, and the ends of the earth for Thypossession.' And again He saith unto Him ;' Sit thou on My right hand, until I make Thineenemies a footstool for Thy feet.' Who thenare these enemies ? They that are wicked andresist His will 1."

The original subject of the Epistle returns ina fresh exposition of the necessity and Divine-ness of order.

" The great without the small cannot exist,neither the small without the great" (accordingto the wise Greek proverb). " All the membersbreathe together and join in one [common] sub-jection that the whole body may be saved."This spirit of order is traced in the Mosaiclegislation, and in the office and work of theapostles who received the Gospel for us fromJesus Christ, even as He was sent forth from

1 Lightfoot, Clement of Rome, Appendix, p. 364.


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14 CLEMENT OF ROME [LECT.God. The details of what is said about theappointments of elders or men having oversightby the Apostles would need more time to discussthan we can give. Again and again the originalevil state of things at Corinth is touched on, andthen always there is a return to the setting forthof the right spirit which would make suchscandals impossible. In these later chaptersthere is special insistence on love as, so to speak,the deepest root of the matter, as it had beenset forth by St Paul in writing to that sameCorinthian Church. The demand which it makesfor self-suppression and self-surrender is illus-trated by examples both from among God'ssaints of old and from among heathens whosacrificed themselves for their fellow-citizens." These things have they done and will do, thatlive as citizens of that commonwealth of Godfor belonging to which there is no regret" (54).As the end of the Epistle draws near, theRomans by the mouth of Clement declarethemselves now guiltless of the sin of theCorinthian malcontents, should it be perseveredin ; and break forth in a prayer equally memor-able for its own sake and for the large borrow-ings from it which are found in various later


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L] AND HERMAS. I 5Greek liturgies. It begins with asking that wemay hope on Thy Name, &c. " Grant unto us,Lord, that we may set our hope on Thy Namewhich is the primal source of all creation, andopen the eyes of our hearts, that we may knowThee, who alone 'abidest Highest in the highest,Holy in the holy ; who layest low the insolenceof the proud, who scatterest the imaginings ofnations ; who settest the lowly on high, andbringest the lofty low ; who makest rich andmakest poor ' ; who ' killest and makest alive ' ;who alone art the Benefactor of spirits and theGod of all flesh ; who 'lookest into the abysses,'who scannest the works of man ; the Succour ofthem that are in peril, the ' Saviour of themthat are in despair'; the Creator and Overseerof every spirit ; who multipliest the nationsupon earth, and hast chosen out from all menthose that love Thee through Jesus Christ, Thybeloved Son, through whom Thou didst instructus, didst sanctify us, didst honour us. Webeseech Thee, Lord and Master, to be our helpand succour. Save those among us who are intribulation ; have mercy on the lowly ; lift upthe fallen ; shew Thyself unto the needy ; healthe ungodly; convert the wanderers of Thy


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1 6 CLEMENT OF ROME [LECT.people ; feed the hungry ; release our prisoners ;raise up the weak, comfort the faint-hearted.Let all the Gentiles know that 'Thou art Godalone ' and Jesus Christ is Thy Son and * weare Thy people and the sheep of Thy pasture 1 '."The prayer for the Christian community pre-sently expands into universality (" Give concordand peace both to us and to all that inhabit theearth"); and then, in the true spirit of St Pauland St Peter, specially makes supplication forthe rulers of the Roman empire, " Thou throughThine operations didst make manifest the ever-lasting fabric of the world. Thou, Lord, didstcreate the earth. Thou that art faithful through-out all generations, righteous in Thy judgments,marvellous in strength and excellence, Thouthat art wise in creating and prudent in estab-lishing that which Thou hast made, that artgood in the things which are seen and faithfulwith them that trust on Thee, pitiful and com-passionate, forgive us our iniquities and ourunrighteousness and our transgressions andshortcomings. Lay not to our account everysin of Thy servants and Thine handmaids, butcleanse us with the cleansing of Thy truth, and

1 Lightfoot, Clement of Rome, Appendix, p. 376.


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I.] AND HERMAS. 1 7guide our steps to walk in holiness and righteous-ness and singleness of heart and to do suchthings as are good and well-pleasing in Thysight and in the sight of our rulers. Yea, Lord,make Thy face to shine upon us in peace forour good, that we may be sheltered by Thymighty hand and delivered from every sin byThine uplifted arm. And deliver us from themthat hate us wrongfully. Give concord andpeace to us and to all that dwell on the earth,as Thou gavest to our fathers, when they calledon Thee in faith and truth with holiness, thatwe may be saved, while we render obedience toThine almighty and most excellent Name, andto our rulers and governors upon the earth.

"Thou, Lord and Master, hast given them thepower of sovereignty through Thine excellentand unspeakable might, that we knowing theglory and honour which Thou hast given themmay submit ourselves unto them, in nothingresisting Thy will. Grant unto them therefore,O Lord, health, peace, concord, stability, thatthey may administer the government whichThou hast given them without failure. ForThou, O heavenly Master, King of the ages,givest to the sons of men glory and honour and

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1 8 CLEMENT OF ROME [LECT.power over all things that are upon the earth.Do Thou, Lord, direct their counsel according tothat which is good and well-pleasing in Thysight, that, administering in peace and gentlenesswith godliness the power which Thou hastgiven them, they may obtain Thy favour. OThou, who alone art able to do these things andthings far more exceeding good than these forus, we praise Thee through the High-priest andGuardian of our souls, Jesus Christ, throughwhom be the glory and the majesty unto Theeboth now and for all generations and for everand ever. Amen 1."

The Epistle closes with a few more quietsentences on its principal theme, and with thecommendation of two members of the RomanChurch sent as bearers of the letter, " faithfuland prudent men, that from youth to old agehave walked blamelessly among us, who shallalso be witnesses between you and us."

The unaffected loftiness of this Epistle ofClement of Rome, and its position at the headof post-biblical Christian literature, have been atemptation to give it a somewhat disproportionateamount of time. What is called the second

1 Lightfoot, Clement of Rome, Appendix, pp. 377 foil.


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I.] AND HERMAS. 19Epistle of Clement, really an anonymous homily,a generation or two later in date, may be leftalone, though important for the history ofdoctrine. It is rather eccentric in character,though less so than the early Epistle whichbears the name of Barnabas. Whoever may bethe author of that Epistle, he was certainly notthe Barnabas of the New Testament; andthough full of points of interest to advancedstudents, the Epistle is one which for our pur-pose may be passed over with little loss. >

After Clement of Rome we come to Hermasof Rome. We need not trouble ourselves abouthis precise date, which is much disputed. Atearliest he was a contemporary of Clement, atlatest half a century later. He was a brother,possibly an elder brother, of Pius, who wasbishop of Rome about the middle of the secondcentury. He was evidently a layman, apparentlyengaged in commercial pursuits. By birth,according to his first words, he was a slave.His book, which from an early time was calledThe Shepherd, was read in various churches inthe first centuries ; and the Latin translation,which till lately was the only form known of it,had a certain popularity in Western Europe in


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20 CLEMENT OF ROME [LECT.the Middle Ages, so that it is even found in orafter the Old Testament in several manuscriptsof the Latin Bible. It has often been comparedto the Pilgrim's Progress, and with good reason.It contains in an imaginative form the thoughtsand breedings of a simple-minded devout man,on whom the evil that he feels within him andsees around him lies as a heavy burden, moreespecially the evil which he cannot help recog-nising within the Church itself, the holy societyof God's own chosen people. ' Repentance

' is

perhaps the idea that he cherishes most. He isentirely free from bitterness or arrogance ; andthe messages which he delivers he delivers notas from himself but as entrusted to him by oneor other kind of Divine messenger.

The first part of the book consists of fiveVisions. In the first he receives a rebuke for asinful thought of his own ; and then presentlyfor his tolerating the misdeeds of his children,which had brought loss upon him. The speakerin the latter part of this vision is an aged ladyin bright apparel, sitting on a seat of snow-white wool ; who in the second vision is revealedto him to be not, as he supposed, the Sibyl, butthe Church. The third vision, a very striking


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I.] AND HERMAS. 21one, is chiefly of a tower in process of buildingupon the waters, made of squared shining stones,i.e. again the Church, built of men (living stones,as St Peter would say) who fit rightly into theirplace, other stones being partially or wholly castaway. In the fourth vision a great monster fromwhose mouth proceed fiery locusts is seen andinterpreted to be the great tribulation, which isapproaching to try the faint-hearted and double-minded that they may be purified for God's use.The fifth vision in a manner includes the rest(above three-fourths) of the book. It beginsthus: "When I had been praying in my house,and had seated myself on the bed, there camein a certain man of glorious appearance, in theguise of a shepherd, clothed in a white (goat's)skin, and having a wallet on his shoulders and astaff in his hand. And he greeted me, and Ireturned his greeting. And straightway he satdown beside me and saith to me, ' I have beensent by the angel of highest dignity, that I maydwell with thee the remaining days of thy life '."The shepherd presently bids him write downthe commandments and the parables which hewould declare to him. He is then describedas the Shepherd, the angel of repentance.


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22 CLEMENT OF ROME [LECT.Thenceforth he reappears several times, almostto the end of the book.

Then come twelve Commandments, as theyare called. The first is a short one, " First ofall believe that God is One, He who created andframes all things, and made all things out ofwhat is not, [bringing them] into being, andcontaineth all things, but alone is uncontained.Trust Him therefore and fear Him, and fearingpractise self-restraint. Keep these things, andthou shalt cast from thyself all wickedness, andput on every virtue of righteousness, and shaltlive to God, if thou keepest this commandment."The subjects of the other commandments aretruthfulness, chastity, long-suffering, the waysand the angels of good and of evil, right andwrong fear, right and wrong abstinence, the needof faith for prayer, the evil of a gloomy spirit,the true and the false prophet, good and evildesire.

After the twelve Commandments come ten(or more strictly nine) Parables or Similitudes.They are almost wholly taken from countryscenes and agricultural or pastoral occupations,specially from vines and other trees. Perhapsthe most interesting is the eighth. The angel


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24 CLEMENT OF ROME AND HERMAS. [LECT. I.fresh shoots and fruit. Those who had heldthese last were crowned with palm-leaves. Thisis perhaps the most remarkable example of thejust and truthful habit of mind which leadsHermas in various places to mark the variousgradations in which good and evil are actuallymixed in the hearts and lives of men. TheShepherd invites Hermas to join in planting theother twigs, which in various degrees had losttheir greenness, if perchance some of them mightlive when they have been duly watered : for,said the Shepherd, "He that created this treewilleth that all should live who have receivedbranches from this tree."

With these words we may part companyfrom Hermas.


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LECTURE II.IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP.

LAST week we had for our subject the twoearliest Christian Fathers belonging to theRoman Church, Clement of Rome the writer ofthe Epistle sent by the Church of Rome to theChurch of Corinth, and Hermas the writer ofthe book of Visions, Commandments, andParables which takes the name * The Shepherd 'from the prominent part played in it by theAngel of Repentance, who appeared to Hermasin the guise of a shepherd. To-day we proceedto the others of the Fathers commonly calledApostolic, who have special claims to be re-membered. These are Ignatius of Antioch andPolycarp of Smyrna.

The names of these cities remind us at oncethat we are passing into very different worldsfrom that world which immediately surrounded


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26 IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. [LECT.Clement and Hernias ; and one at least of thetwo Eastern Fathers, Ignatius, is singularlyunlike his two brethren of the West. Ignatiuswas Bishop of the Christian Church at Antioch.Beyond this bare fact we know nothing of hislife and work before the last journey to whichhis letters belong. We can see from the lettersthat he had been condemned to death as aChristian at Antioch and sent off under a guardof ten soldiers to suffer death at Rome. Thecourse taken was, in part at least, through AsiaMinor and then through Macedonia. Arrivedat Smyrna, he was welcomed not only by thechurch of the city and its bishop Polycarp, butalso by the delegates of the churches of threeother cities lying along what we should now callthe loop line of road which he had not traversed,and especially the church of the great capital,Ephesus. During this short stay at Smyrna hewrote three letters (which have been preserved)to these three churches which he had beenobliged to pass unvisited, and a fourth of adifferent character to the Church of Rome, thegoal of his journey, the place where he expectedand desired to suffer martyrdom. We next findhim at Alexandria Troas, the seaport from


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II.] IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. 27which he was to sail for Europe. There he hadthe happiness of being overtaken by two deaconsfrom the neighbourhood of his own Antioch,and receiving news of the cessation of thepersecution which had caused his own condem-nation. There also he wrote three more letters,to the Church of Smyrna which he had just left,to Polycarp its bishop, and to the Church ofPhiladelphia which he had been allowed to visiton his way to Smyrna. Thus the seven lettersare made up, which are now in our hands. Ofthe European part of his course we have tracesin Polycarp's Epistle, to which we shall comejust now. The Church of Philippi received himwarmly, and at his request sent a letter ofgreeting to the Church of Antioch throughPolycarp, as he had asked those other churchesto do to which he had written after receivingthe good tidings from Syria. The PhilippianChristians at the same time took the opportunityto ask Polycarp for copies of any letters ofIgnatius in his possession. Of what followedwe know nothing beyond the bare fact thatIgnatius suffered martyrdom at Rome. Twodifferent narratives exist professing to describehis martyrdom : but they are fabrications of late


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28 IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. [LECT.date. It is morally certain that the manner ofdeath would be by the fangs of wild beasts, andthat the place of it would be the vast Flavianamphitheatre which for many centuries has beencalled the Colosseum. Any one who may havethe good fortune to visit Rome and stand withinthe ruins of that wonderful pile will do well tothink of Ignatius, and the testimony which hebore. The time of Ignatius' martyrdom isknown on less clear evidence than could bewished. The probabilities however are in favourof about A.D. 1 10, the time fixed by Lightfootin general terms.We must now turn to the substance of theletters themselves. It is impossible not toshrink in some degree from any attempt toanalyse them, as almost a cold-blooded thing todo. Nothing in early Christian literature is atall like them ; nothing else has the same in-tensely personal character. It may be thattheir peculiarity is in part owing to difference ofrace : we seem to hear a Syrian speaking to us,not a Greek, much less a Roman, though Igna-tius is a Roman name. But a strong personalindividuality is there too. Utterly unlike asthey likewise are in other ways to all the


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II.] IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. 29apostolic Epistles, they have here and there acertain affinity of spirit to the Second Epistle tothe Corinthians, the most individual of all StPaul's Epistles. The thought that underliesevery word is the thought that the writer is aman sentenced to death, to death for the nameof his Lord. The thought brings with it a senseof keen and yet utterly humble exultation. Ashe passes through the cities of Asia, his constantimpulse is towards close fellowship betweenhimself and the various churches in their midst,and again between these and his own church ofAntioch. By word and by letter he is con-stantly striving to make them sharers in hisown fervour of martyrdom, and to make him-self a sharer in all that concerned their welfare.

Here and there we find warnings againstdoctrinal errors to the influence of which theseAsiatic churches were exposed, apparently oftwo types only ; one, the early form of what iscommonly called Docetism, the tendency so todwell on our Lord's Divine nature as to regardHis body as a mere unreal appearance ; theother the subordination of the Christian faith toJudaism, somewhat as in the days of St Paul.This latter evil was specially rife at Philadelphia,


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30 IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. [LECT.where the Judaizers seem to have raised oppo-sition against Ignatius himself as he passedthrough.

But a larger part of the letters is taken upwith practical exhortations, especially to unityof spirit, unity of worship, unity of organisation.Even at this early time the churches evidentlyhad many members who had become carelessabout Christian fellowship, and neglectful of themeans by which alone it could be preserved inwarmth and vigour. To take one significantexample, it would seem that many of theAsiatic Christians had got into a habit ofcelebrating the Holy Communion in a looseand haphazard way, meeting together in littleprivate knots of people, rather than in thecentral congregation as members of one greatbody. In this as in all matters Ignatius en-deavoured to revive and strengthen internal andexternal fellowship by exhorting the membersof the Church to gather dutifully round its dulyappointed officers who were organised in a com-pact body of three orders, the bishop at thehead, the presbytery or college of elders whoformed his council, and the deacons or servants(Sidtcovot,) who were chiefly occupied in the


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II.] IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. 31arrangements for the relief of the poorer mem-bers of the Church. Ignatius' language onthese subjects, sometimes startling enough atbest, becomes at least more intelligible whenthis practical purpose of his is remembered 1 .Having a keen sense of the immediate evil, heeagerly has recourse to that external remedywhich lay immediately ready to his hand.

But it is poor work attempting to describethe words of a man like Ignatius. A fewextracts will give a truer impression of him.We will begin with one of the elaborate salu-tations which head his letters, that to thePhiladelphians.

" Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, to thechurch of God the Father and of Jesus Christ,which is in Philadelphia of Asia, which hathfound mercy and is firmly established in theconcord of God and rejoiceth in the passion ofour Lord and in His resurrection withoutwavering, being fully assured in all mercy ;which church I salute in the blood of JesusChrist, that is eternal and abiding joy ; moreespecially if they be at one with the bishop andthe presbyters who are with him, and with the

1 See Lightfoot, Philippians, pp. 234 foil, and elsewhere.


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32 IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. [LECT.deacons that have been appointed according tothe mind of Jesus Christ, whom after His ownwill He confirmed and established by His HolySpirit 1."

Writing to the Ephesians he says," I know who I am and to whom I write.I am a convict, ye have received mercy: I amin peril, ye are established. Ye are the high-road of those that are on their way to die untoGod. Ye are associates in the mysteries withPaul, who was sanctified, who obtained a goodreport, who is worthy of all felicitation; in whosefootsteps I would fain be found treading, whenI shall attain unto God ; who in every lettermaketh mention of you in Christ Jesus."Do your diligence therefore to meet togethermore frequently for thanksgiving to God andfor His glory. For when ye meet togetherfrequently, the powers of Satan are cast down ;and his mischief cometh to nought in the con-cord of your faith. There is nothing betterthan peace, in which all warfare of things inheaven and things on earth is abolished." None of these things is hidden from you, if

1 Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers, Part II., Vol. n., Sect, i.,P- 559-


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II.] IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. 33ye be perfect in your faith and love towardJesus Christ, for these are the beginning andend of life faith is the beginning and love isthe end and the two being found in unity areGod, while all things else follow in their trainunto true nobility. No man professing faithsinneth, and no man possessing love hateth.'The tree is manifest from its fruit'; so theythat profess to be Christ's shall be seen throughtheir actions. For the Work is not a thing ofprofession now, but is seen then when one isfound in the power of faith unto the end.

" It is better to keep silence and to be, thanto talk and not to be. It is a fine thing toteach, if the speaker practise. Now there is oneteacher, who ' spake and it came to pass ' : yeaand even the things which He spake in silenceare worthy of the Father. He that truly pos-sesseth the word of Jesus, is able also to hearkenunto His silence, that he may be perfect; thatthrough his speech he may act and through hissilence he may be known." 1And again a little earlier,"And pray ye also without ceasing for the

1 Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers, Part II., Vol. II., Sect, i.,P- 543-

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34 IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. [LECT.rest of mankind (for there is in them a hope ofrepentance) that they may find God. Thereforepermit them to take lessons at least from yourworks. Against their outbursts of wrath be yemeek ; against their proud words be ye humble ;against their railings set ye your prayers; againsttheir errors be ye steadfast in the faith ; againsttheir fierceness be ye gentle. And be not zealousto imitate them by requital. Let us shew our-selves their brothers by our forbearance ; butlet us be zealous to be imitators of the Lord,vying with each other who shall suffer thegreater wrong, who shall be defrauded, whoshall be set at nought; that no herb of thedevil be found in you : but in all purity andtemperance abide ye in Christ Jesus, with yourflesh and with your spirit."

1

For a comprehensive passage on unity wemay take this from the Epistle to the Mag-nesians.

"Seeing then that in the aforementionedpersons I beheld your whole people in faithand embraced them, I advise you, be ye zealousto do all things in godly concord, the bishop

1 Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers, Part II., Vol. II., Sect, i.,p. 542.


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II.] IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. 35presiding after the likeness of God and thepresbyters after the likeness of the council ofthe Apostles, with the deacons also who aremost dear to me, having been entrusted withthe diaconate of Jesus Christ, who was with theFather before the worlds and appeared at theend of time. Therefore do ye all study con-formity to God and pay reverence one toanother ; and let no man regard his neighbourafter the flesh, but love ye one another in ChristJesus always. Let there be nothing among youwhich shall have power to divide you, but be yeunited with the bishop and with them thatpreside over you as an ensample and a lessonof incorruptibility.

"Therefore as the Lord did nothing withoutthe Father, [being united with Him], either by

Himself or by the Apostles, so neither do yeanything without the bishop and the presbyters.And attempt not to think anything right foryourselves apart from others ; but let there beone prayer in common, one supplication, onemind, one hope, in love and in joy unblameable,which is Jesus Christ, than whom there is nothingbetter. Hasten to come together all of you, asto one temple, even God ; as to one altar, even

3 2


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36 IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. [LECT.to one Jesus Christ, who came forth from OneFather and is with One and departed unto One." 1

These passages are from letters to churches,the six Asiatic churches to which he wrote.We may take also a few words from the be-ginning of his one letter to a single man, Poly-carp the Bishop of Smyrna.

u Ignatius who is also Theophorus, untoPolycarp, who is bishop of the Church ofthe Smyrnaeans, or rather whose Bishop isGod the Father and Jesus Christ, abundantgreeting.

" Welcoming thy godly mind which isgrounded as it were on an immovable rock,I give exceeding glory that it hath been vouch-safed me to see thy blameless face, whereof Iwould fain have joy in God. I exhort thee inthe grace wherewith thou art clothed to press for-ward in thy course and to exhort all men thatthey may be saved. Vindicate thine office in alldiligence of flesh and of spirit. Have a care forunion, than which there is nothing better. Bearall men, as the Lord also beareth thee. Sufferall men in love, as also thou doest. Give thyself

1 Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers, Part II., Vol. II., Sect, i.,P- 547-


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II.] IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. 37to unceasing prayers. Ask for larger wisdomthan thou hast. Be watchful, and keep thyspirit from slumbering. Speak to each manseverally after the manner of God. Bear themaladies of all, as a perfect athlete. Wherethere is much toil, there is much gain." 1

I have kept till last the Epistle to theRomans, which is of different character fromthe rest. This was the church which was to receivehim last; at Rome he was to die. To the RomanChristians he pours forth his inmost thoughtsabout his martyrdom. The exhortation whichhe has to address to them is chiefly that theywill do nothing to hinder him in attaining thisobject of his desire. It is probable enough thatamong them were to be found persons of muchinfluence with the emperor, who might thus havebeen able to save his life. But this is what hemost anxiously deprecates. It must be confessedthat much of the language here used aboutmartyrdom is out of harmony with the teachingof the Lord and His Apostles. Taken up bymen of a lower type of mind and character, itled but too naturally to the mere frensy of self-

1 Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers, Part II., Vol. n., Sect, i.,p. 567.


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38 IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. [LECT.destruction, under the name of martyrdom,against which some of the wiser Fathers hadafterwards to protest. But reverence is dueeven to the extravagances of such a lofty soulas that of Ignatius.

"Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, unto herthat hath found mercy in the bountifulness of the

Father Most High and of Jesus Christ His onlySon ; to the Church that is beloved and enlight-ened through the will of Him who willed allthings that are, by faith and love towards JesusChrist our God ; even unto her that hath thepresidency in the country of the region of theRomans, being worthy of God, worthy of honour,worthy of felicitation, worthy of praise, worthyof success, worthy in purity, and having thepresidency of love, walking in the law of Christand bearing the Father's name ; which Churchalso I salute in the name of Jesus Christ the Sonof the Father ; unto them that in flesh and spiritare united unto His every commandment, beingfilled with the grace of God without wavering,and filtered clear from every foreign stain ; abun-dant greeting in Jesus Christ our God in blame-lessness.

" Forasmuch as in answer to my prayer to


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II.] IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. 39God it hath been granted to me to see yourgodly countenances, so that I have obtainedeven more than I asked ; for wearing bonds inChrist Jesus I hope to salute you, if it be theDivine will that I should be counted worthy toreach unto the end ; for the beginning verily iswell ordered, if so be I shall attain unto thegoal, that I may receive mine inheritance with-out hindrance. For I dread your very love, lestit do me an injury : for it is easy for you to dowhat ye will, but for me it is difficult to attainunto God, unless ye shall spare me.

"For I would not have you to be men pleasersbut to please God, as indeed ye do please Him.For neither shall I myself ever find an opportu-nity such as this to attain unto God, nor can ye,if ye be silent, win the credit of any nobler work.For if ye be silent and leave me alone, I am aword of God; but if ye desire my flesh, then shallI be again a mere cry. Nay grant me nothingmore than that I be poured out a libation to God,while there is still an altar ready ; that formingyourselves into a chorus in love ye may sing tothe Father in Jesus Christ, for that God hathvouchsafed that the bishop from Syria should befound in the West, having summoned him from


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40 IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. [LECT.the East. It is good to set from the world untoGod, that I may rise unto Him."

" I write to all the churches, and I bid allmen know, that of my own free will I die forGod, unless ye should hinder me. Let me begiven to the wild beasts, for through them I canattain unto God. I am God's wheat, and I amground by the teeth of wild beasts that I may befound pure bread [of Christ]. Rather entice thewild beasts, that they may become my sepulchreand may leave no part of my body behind, sothat I may not, when I am fallen asleep, beburdensome to anyone. Then shall I be truly adisciple of Jesus Christ, when the world shallnot so much as see my body. Supplicate theLord for me, that through these instruments I*may be found a sacrifice to God. I do not en-join you, as Peter and Paul did. They wereapostles, I am a convict ; they were free, but Iam a slave this very hour. Yet if I shall suffer,then am I a freedman of Jesus Christ, and Ishall rise free in Him. Now I am learning inmy bonds to put away every desire.

" Remember in your prayers the churchwhich is in Syria, which hath God for its shep-herd in my stead. Jesus Christ alone shall be


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42 IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. [LECT.written after Ignatius had not only left AsiaMinor but Philippi also, but when as yet notidings had come from Italy as to what hadbefallen him at Rome. This writing is a letterto the Philippians in answer to that which theyhad written on Ignatius' departure. To it wereappended copies of the letters written by Ignatiusto Smyrna and other churches, and these copiesare probably the source of our present collection.The letter itself has no such vivid personalinterest as those of Ignatius. The good Poly-carp was a much more commonplace person.But apart from its connexion with Ignatius, hisletter has a great value of its own, partly asshewing what manner of thoughts on Christianfaith and practice the bishop of a great Asiaticcity cherished at that early date, partly also asshewing what writings of the Apostles hepossessed and revered and drew upon (and thatcopiously) to give point and authority to whathe had to say. The letter is for the most partmade up of brotherly admonition, partly tothe Philippian church at large, partly to itsdeacons, partly to its elders. There is nomention of any bishop, any more than there is inIgnatius' epistle to the Romans. Apparently this


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II.] IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. 43concentration of church government had not yetat this time spread from Asia into Europe. Wemay take a short chapter from near the begin-ning (after the Salutation), and another from nearthe end.

" I rejoiced with you greatly in our LordJesus Christ, for that ye received the followersof the true love and escorted them on their way,as befitted you those men encircled in saintlybonds which are the diadems of them thatbe truly chosen of God and our Lord ; andthat the stedfast root of your faith which wasfamed from primitive times abideth until nowand beareth fruit unto our Lord Jesus Christ,who endured to face even death for our sins,* whom God raised, having loosed the pangsof Hades; on whom, though ye saw Him not,ye believe with joy unutterable and full ofglory ' ; unto which joy many desire to enterin ; forasmuch as ye know that it is ' by graceye are saved, not of works,' but by the willof God through Jesus Christ/' 1" For I am persuaded that ye are welltrained in the sacred writings, and nothing

1 Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers, Part II., Vol. II., Sect, ii.,p. 1051.


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44 IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. [LECT.is hidden from you. But to myself this isnot granted. Only, as it is said in the scriptures,1 Be ye angry and sin not' and 'Let not thesun set on your wrath.' Blessed is he thatremembereth this ; and I trust that this is inyou. Now may the God and Father of ourLord Jesus Christ, and the eternal High PriestHimself, the God Jesus Christ, build you upin faith and truth, and in all gentleness and inall avoidance of wrath and in forbearance andlong suffering and in patient endurance andpurity; and may He grant unto you a lot andportion among His saints, and to us with you,and to all that are under heaven, who shallbelieve on our Lord and God Jesus Christand on His Father ' that raised Him from thedead. Pray for all the saints.' Pray also1 for kings and powers and princes,' and * forthem that persecute' and hate 'you/ and for' the enemies of the cross,' that your fruit maybe 'manifest among all men,' that ye may beperfect

in Him." 1This meeting with Ignatius must have come

somewhere towards the middle of Polycarp's1 Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers, Part II., Vol. II., Sect, ii.,

p. 1055.


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II.] IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. 45long life. His importance for us depends inno small degree on that longevity of his. AsDr Lightfoot has expounded with peculiarforce, he bridges the long and comparativelyobscure period between the close of the apostolicage and the great writers of the latter partof the second century. Born somewhere aboutthe time of the destruction of Jerusalem byTitus, he lived in early life near St John andit may be one or two more of the Twelve.Of this converse in early youth he used torejoice to tell in his later years. This welearn from a striking passage from a letterof Irenaeus which has happily been preserved." I can tell " he wrote, " the very place in whichthe blessed Paul used to sit when he discoursed,and his goings out and his comings in, and thestamp of his life, and his bodily appearance,and the discourses which he held towards thecongregation, and how he would describe hisintercourse with John and with the rest of thosewho had seen the Lord, and how he wouldrelate their words. And whatsoever things hehad heard from them about the Lord andabout His acts of power and about His teaching,Polycarp, as having received them from eye-


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46 IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. [LECT.witnesses of the life and Word would relatealtogether in accordance with the Scriptures." l

But from that midpoint of Polycarp's lifeformed by the passing of Ignatius we are ablenot only to look back to his youth but alsoforward to his extreme old age. Somewhereabout the middle of the second century he madea journey to Rome to take counsel withAnicetus the Bishop (for by that time episcopacywas regularly established at Rome) aboutvarious matters of Church usage, but especiallyabout the time of celebrating the Paschalfestival, as to which the Churches of Asia Minordiffered from those of the West. They remainedin perfect amity, though the differences of usagecontinued, and Anicetus paid Polycarp thehonour of setting him in his own place topreside over the Eucharistic service at Rome.Not long after the old man's return, somethinglike forty-five years after Ignatius' death forconscience sake, he too in his turn was calledto give

his life in bearing witness to the truth.A probably genuine narrative of his martyrdomstill survives, being a letter from the Churchof Smyrna to one or more Churches in Phrygia.

1 Lightfoot, i. 429. Eusebius, v. -20.


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II.] IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. 47Every one, I suppose, has somewhere or otherread the answer which he is recorded to havemade when the magistrate, anxious to sparehim, besought him to revile the Christ, andso obtain release. " Fourscore and six yearshave I been his servant ; and how can I blas-pheme my King that saved me ? " Let us readalso his last words when he had been tied to thestake, true last words of a true Father of theChurch.

" So they did not nail him, but tied him.Then he, placing his hands behind him, andbeing bound to the stake, like a noble ram outof a great flock for an offering, a burnt sacrificemade ready and acceptable to God, looking upto heaven said ; * O Lord God Almighty, theFather of Thy beloved and blessed Son JesusChrist, through whom we have received theknowledge of Thee, the God of angels andpowers and of all creation and of the whole raceof the righteous, who live in Thy presence ;I bless Thee for that Thou hast granted methis day and hour, that I might receive aportion amongst the number of martyrs in thecup of [Thy] Christ unto resurrection of eternallife, both of soul and body, in the incorrupti-


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48 IGNATIUS AND POLYCARP. [LECT. II.bility of the Holy Spirit. May I be receivedamong these in Thy presence this day, as a richand acceptable sacrifice, as Thou didst prepareand reveal it beforehand, and hast accomplishedit, Thou that art the faithful and true God.For this cause, yea and for all things, I praiseThee, I bless Thee, I glorify Thee, throughthe eternal and heavenly High-priest, Thybeloved Son, through whom with Him andthe Holy Spirit be glory both now [and ever]and for the ages to come. Amen.' " 1

1 Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers, Part II., Vol. 11., Sect, ii.,p. 1064.


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LECTURE III.JUSTIN AND IREN^EUS.

LAST week we finished those of the Fatherswho are called Apostolic Fathers. We con-sidered two of them who were also martyrs,though at a long interval of time, one a Bishopof Antioch who was conducted through AsiaMinor to perish by the fangs of wild beasts atRome, the other a Bishop of Smyrna whowelcomed him on his way to death, collectedhis letters and wrote about him at the time,journeyed himself in extreme old age from AsiaMinor to Rome to confer about difference ofChurch usages, came peacefully home, and thenbefore long was himself called to perish at thestake in his own Smyrna because he too wouldnot deny his Lord.We come to-day to a third martyr, one whoconventionally bears the title of martyr almost

H. L. 4


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III.] JUSTIN AND IREN^iUS. 51cutions ; and a Dialogue with a Jew namedTrypho in which the faith of Christians isvindicated against Judaism. It is hardly neces-sary to say that Justin's Apologies have nothingwhatever to do with courteous excuses, i.e. withthe modern English sense of the word ' apology.'It is simply the common Greek word to denoteany kind of defence against any kind of accusa-tion, in a court of justice or anywhere else.Justin's Apologies were not quite the earliest ofwhich we have any knowledge ; but, so far aswe do know, their predecessors were of lesspermanent value.

Justin's first and longest Apology is addressedto the Roman Emperor, i.e. Antoninus Pius, andhis two adopted sons, one of them the philoso-pher Marcus Aurelius, to the Sacred Senate andall the people of the Romans. The time istwo or three years before the middle of thesecond century. Justin writes, he says, onbehalf of them who out of every race of mankindare the subjects of unjust hate and contumely,being himself one of them. He begins by ap-pealing to the names Pious . and Philosopherborne by the rulers. " Reason," he says, " in-structs those who are truly Pious and Philo-42


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52 JUSTIN AND IREN^US. [LECT.sophers to honour and cherish that only whichis true, refusing to follow mere opinions of theancients if they are bad ones : for sober reasoninstructs us not only not to follow those actionsor decisions which have been unjust, but thelover of truth is bound in every way, and withdisregard of his own life, to choose to say anddo such things as are just, though he bethreatened with death for so doing." He pro-tests against condemnation of Christians forthe mere name, without anything evil beingproved against them. He repudiates the vulgarimputation of atheism, pointing out how thesame charge had been brought against Socrates,and had caused his death. That crime he at-tributes to the inspiration of the demons, whomhe identifies with the gods of the heathen, andwhom he represents as similarly inspiring theattacks upon Christians. As regards such godsas these, he confesses atheism, but not as re-gards the most true God, the Father of right,and temperance and the other virtues, Himselffree from all mixture of evil ; and His Son andthe prophetic Spirit. As regards the lives ofChristians, he courts the fullest enquiry, de-manding that any found guilty of misconduct


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III.] JUSTIN AND IREN^US. 53be duly punished, but for his crimes, not forbeing a Christian. Then follow several chapterson the true service of God, on the Divinekingdom for which Christians look, and on theirliving as ever in God's sight ; and this is followedby free quotation from the Sermon on theMount, and other similar passages from Gospelrecords ; and by reference to Christ's ownauthority for the faithful loyalty which Christianspractised towards the emperors. But it wouldtake far too long to give even a slight sketch ofthe contents of the Apology. At every stepwe find attempts to trace analogies betweenChristian beliefs on the one hand and Greekphilosophy or Greek mythology on the other.This was no mere diplomatic ad hominem ac-commodation, but connected with Justin's owndeepest convictions. The doctrine of theDivine Word or Xcfyo? received from Scripture heconnected with the Stoic doctrine of the Word orReason (Xo709) a seed of which is inborn in allmen ; and thus he was enabled to recognise theworkings of God in the ages before the Wordbecame Incarnate. He also appeals largely tothe testimony of the Jewish prophets ; but onthis subject he is hampered by his habit of


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III.] JUSTIN AND IREN^EUS. 55complaint how Urbicus the city prefect (ormayor, as we should say) had condemned threeChristians in succession to death, without anycrime on their part. Justin declares that he toois expecting a similar fate, perhaps by the falseaccusations of the Cynic Crescens who wentabout declaiming against the Christians. In whatfollows Justin speaks still more explicitly thanbefore of the seed of the Word which had beenimplanted in the wiser and better heathen,causing them to be persecuted, not Socratesonly but Musonius and other Stoics: but theyall differed, he explains, from Christ, becausewhat with them was in part only was with Himcomplete and whole. "Whatsoever thingstherefore," he says, " have been said well in anymen's words belong to us Christians : for weworship and love next to God the Word whocometh forth from the unborn and unutterableGod, since for our sakes also He hath becomeman, that becoming also a partaker of the thingsthat affect us He might also accomplish for us acure. For all those writers were able to see butdimly through the seed of the Word inborn inthem the things that are. For a seed of a thingand imitation of it granted according to capacity


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$6 JUSTIN AND IREN^IUS. [LECT.is one thing, and quite other is that whichgraciously gives itself to be imparted andimitated."

The other work of Justin, a much larger one,is the Dialogue with Trypho :

" While I was walking one morning in thewalks of the Xystus, a certain man, with othersin his company, having met me, said, ' Hail, Ophilosopher!' And immediately after sayingthis, he turned round and walked along withme ; his friends likewise turned round with him.And I for my part addressed him, saying,'Well, what is it?' And he replied, 'I wastaught,' says he, 'by Corinthus the Socratic inArgos, that I ought not to despise or neglectthose who wear this dress, but to shew them allkindness, and to associate with them, if so besome advantage might arise from the inter-course either to some such man or to myself.It is good, moreover, for both, if either the oneor the other be benefited. On this account,therefore, whenever I see anyone in such dress,I gladly approach him, and now, for the samereason, have I willingly accosted you ; and theseaccompany me, in the expectation of hearingfor themselves something profitable from you.'


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III.] JUSTIN AND IREN^US. 57'But who are you, best of mortals?' So I

replied to him in jest.Then he told me simply both his name and

his race. ' Trypho,' says he, ' I am called ;and I am a Hebrew of the circumcision, escapedfrom the war lately carried on there, and nowspending my days in Greece, for the most partat Corinth.'

'And in what' said I, 'would you be pro-fited by philosophers so much as by your ownlawgiver and the prophets ?'

'What?' he replied. 'Do not the philo-sophers make their whole discourse on God ?and are they not continually raising questionsabout His unity and providence ? Is not thistruly the duty of philosophy, to investigate con-cerning the Divinity ? '

'Yes/ said I, 'so we too have supposed.But the most have not even cared about this,whether there be one or more gods, and whetherthey take thought for each one of us or no, asif this knowledge contributed nothing to ourhappiness ; nay, they moreover attempt to per-suade us that God takes care of the universe asa whole with its genera and species, but not ofme and you, and each individually, since other-


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58 JUSTIN AND IREN^US. [LECT.wise we would surely not need to pray to Himnight and day. But it is not difficult to under-stand the upshot of this ; for fearlessness andlicence in speaking result to such as maintainthese opinions, doing and saying whatever theychoose, neither dreading punishment nor hopingfor any benefit from God. For how could they ?They affirm that the same things shall alwayshappen ; and, further, that I and you shall againlive in like manner, having become neitherbetter men nor worse. But there are someothers, who, having supposed the soul to beimmortal and immaterial, believe that thoughthey have committed evil they will not sufferpunishment (for that which is immaterial isinsensible), and that the soul, in consequence ofits immortality, needs nothing from God.'And he, smiling gently, said, 'Tell us youropinion of these matters, and what idea youentertain respecting God, and what your philo-sophy is.'

'1 will tell you,' said I, ' what seems to me ;for philosophy is in fact the greatest possession,

and most honourable before God, to whom itleads us and alone commends us ; and theseare truly holy men who have bestowed atten-


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III.] JUSTIN AND IREN^EUS. 59tion on philosophy. What philosophy is, how-ever, and the reason why it has been sent downto men, have escaped the observation of most ;for there would be neither Platonists, nor Stoics,nor Peripatetics, nor Theoretics, nor Pythago-reans, this knowledge being one. I wish to tellyou how it has become many-headed. It hashappened that those who first handled it [i.e.philosophy], and who were therefore esteemedillustrious men, were succeeded by those whomade no investigations concerning truth, butonly admired the perseverance and self-disciplineof the former, as well as the novelty of thedoctrines ; and each thought that to be truewhich he learned from his teacher : then, more-over, those latter persons handed down to theirsuccessors such things, and others similar tothem ; and this system was called by the nameof him who was styled the father of the doctrine.Being at first desirous of personally conversingwith one of these men, I surrendered myself toa certain Stoic ; and having spent a consider-able time with him, when I had not acquiredany further knowledge of God (for he did notknow himself nor did he say that this was anecessary part of teaching) I left him, and be-


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60 JUSTIN AND IREN^iUS. [LECT.took myself to another, who was called aPeripatetic, and as he fancied, shrewd. Andthis man, after putting up with me for the firstfew days, requested me to fix a fee, in orderthat the intercourse might not be unprofitableto us. Him too for this reason I abandoned,believing him to be no philosopher at all. Butas my soul was still yearning to hear thepeculiar and choice part of philosophy, I cameto a Pythagorean, very celebrated a man whothought much of his own wisdom. And then,when I had an interview with him, willing tobecome his hearer and disciple, he said, " Whatthen ? Are you acquainted with music, astro-nomy and geometry? Do you expect to per-ceive any of those things which conduce to ahappy life, if you have not been first informedon those points which wean the soul from sen-sible objects, and render it fitted for objectswhich appertain to the mind, so that it cancontemplate that which is honourable in itsessence and that which is good in its essence?"Having commended many of these branches oflearning, and telling me that they were neces-sary, he dismissed me when I confessed to himmy ignorance. Accordingly I took it rather


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III.] JUSTIN AND IREN^US. 6limpatiently, as was to be expected when Ifailed in my hope, the more so because I deemedthe man had some knowledge ; but reflectingagain on the space of time during which Iwould have to linger over those branches oflearning, I was not able to endure longer pro-crastination. In my perplexity it occurred tome to have an interview with the Platonistslikewise, for their fame was great. And so Iconversed much with one who had lately settledin our city a man of intelligence, holding ahigh position among the Platonists and Imade progress, and gained ever so much increaseday by day. And the perception of immaterialthings quite overpowered me, and the contem-plation of ideas furnished my mind with wings,so that in a little while I supposed that I hadbecome wise ; and such was my stupidity, Iexpected forthwith to look upon God, for this isthe end of Plato's philosophy.

' And while I was thus disposed, when Iwished at one time to be filled with great quiet-ness, and to shun the tramp of men, I used togo to a certain field not far from the sea. Andwhen I was near that spot one day, whichhaving reached I purposed to be by myself, a


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62 JUSTIN AND IREN^iUS. [LECT.certain old man, by no means contemptible inappearance, shewing a meek and grave dis-position, followed me at a little distance. Andwhen I turned round to him, having halted, Ifixed my eyes rather keenly on him.'"

Then Justin recounts how the old man, aftermuch discourse on philosophy, and especiallythat of Plato and Pythagoras, guided him tothe prophets and the Christ of whom theyprophesied.

"'But pray' he concluded 'that before allthings, the gates of light may be opened to thee ;for these things are not perceptible to the eyesor mind of all, but only of the man to whomGod and His Christ shall give the power tounderstand.'

'When he had spoken these and many otherthings, which there is no time for mentioning atpresent, he went away, bidding me follow themup ; and I saw him no more. But straightwaya fire was kindled in my soul ; and a love of theprophets, and of those men who are friends ofChrist, possessed me ; and whilst revolving hiswords in my mind, I found this philosophyalone to be safe and expedient. Thus, then,and for this reason, I am a philosopher. More-


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64 JUSTIN AND IREN^US. [LECT.already considered you- a friend), first be cir-cumcised, then keep as the law hath ordainedthe Sabbath, and the feasts, and the new moonsof God ; and, in a word, do all things whichhave been written in the law : and then perhapsthou shalt have mercy from God. But Christif He has indeed been born, and exists any-where is unknown, and does not yet evenrecognise Himself, and has no power until Eliascome to anoint Him, and make Him manifest toall. But ye, accepting a vain report, invent aChrist for yourselves, and for His sake are nowinconsiderately perishing.'

* I excuse and forgive you, my friend,' Isaid * for you know not what you say, but havebeen persuaded by teachers who do not under-stand the Scriptures; and you speak, like adiviner, whatever comes into your mind. Butif you are willing to listen to an account ofHim, how we have not been deceived, and shallnot cease to confess Him although men'sreproaches be heaped upon us, although themost terrible tyrant compel us to deny Him,I shall prove to you as you stand here that wehave not believed empty fables, or words with-out any foundation, but words filled with the


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66 JUSTIN AND IREN^US. [LECT.the faith in combination with this or thatGentile philosophy of the loftier sort.How soon Justin's anticipations of martyr-dom were fulfilled is not known with certainty.There is fair evidence however that the intervalwas not long. A short and simple narrative ofhis examination before the prefect still survives,and is almost certainly genuine. He and hiscompanions died by the headsman's sword.We possess other Greek Apologies writtenlater in the same century. The most individualof them is by Tatian, an erratic disciple ofJustin's, the compiler of a famous Diatessaronor composite Gospel narrative formed by puttingtogether small fragments of the four Gospels.He was by birth a Syrian, not a Greek, and hisfiery nature bursts forth in his Apology in bitterhatred and contempt for all that was Greek.The other Apologies have a value of their own,but are far below Justin's in force and freshness.We must now turn to a different region fromany in which we have as yet paused. Irenaeus,one of the greatest of the Fathers, belongs todifferent countries ; but he must always bechiefly associated with South-East France, thescene of his principal labours and episcopal


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III.] JUSTIN AND IREN^EUS. 6/authority. There is however a prelude to hiswork which must not be passed over. Mar-seilles was a Greek colony of great antiquity;and from it the Greek language and culturespread not only along the coast but for a con-siderable distance up the Rhone. How theGospel first found its way there we do notknow : but there is some evidence of a con-nexion between the churches of Western AsiaMinor and those of the Rhone. Now thehistorian Eusebius has preserved for us thegreater part of a letter which begins thus :

" The servants of Christ who sojourn inVienne and Lyons in Gaul to the brethrenthroughout Asia and Phrygia who have thesame faith and hope of redemption with us :peace and grace and glory from God the Fatherand Christ Jesus our Lord." The purpose ofthe letter is to describe a grievous persecutionwhich had fallen upon them, Pothinus thebishop, a man of 90 years of age, being amongthe victims. The story of Christian heroism,especially as shewn by the slave girl Blandina,has hardly an equal in literature: but it must beread as a whole, and it is of considerable length.

While some of these Christians of Lyons and5 2


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68 JUSTIN AND IREN^US. [LECT.Vienna were in prison, they wrote variousletters, among others one to Eleutherus, Bishopof Rome, "on behalf of the peace of thechurches," i.e. probably to urge toleration for thevotaries of the new enthusiastic movement pro-ceeding from Phrygia which we know under thename Montanism. The bearer of the letter wasan elder of Lyons, Irenaeus by name ; and thewriters of the letter warmly commend him toEleutherus, as one who was zealous for thecovenant of Christ. How long he had been inGaul, we know not; but he came from AsiaMinor, where as we know from the passage readlast week he had listened eagerly to the agedPolycarp, and his reminiscences of his intercoursein youth with men who had seen the Lord.There is also some evidence that he was atRome at the time of Polycarp's death, andheard there the sound as of a trumpet proclaiming" Polycarp hath suffered martyrdom." Later inlife he addressed himself to Rome for anothermission of peace. The importance which theChurch of Rome derived from its position inthe central city of the Empire was graduallyfastening itself to the person of its bishop, andassumed exaggerated proportions when the


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70 JUSTIN AND IREN^US. [LECT.nately not many fragments are preserved oftheir own writings ; so that our knowledge ofthem comes chiefly from opponents who sawtruly the impossibility of reconciling their mainprinciples with the historical Gospel, but who asa rule had but a dim sense of the real meaningof their speculations, and a very imperfectsympathy with the speculative difficulties whichled to them. The so-called Gnostic systemswere various attempts to interpret history andnature by a medley of Christian ideas with theideas and mythologies suggested by variousEastern religions. The most definite types of so-called Gnosticism were further shaped by Greekinfluence, and it is in this form that they chieflycame into collision with the ordinary churches.Their great time was about the middle of thefirst half of the second century : but they lastedon in one shape or another for a considerabletime. The great leaders had passed awaybefore Irenaeus wrote : but even in Gaul hisflock was troubled by some of the successors ;and it was no superfluous task that he under-took when he set about an elaborate refutation.Doubtless he had other predecessors besidesJustin. Thus Papias had written " Expositions


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III.] JUSTIN AND IREN^EUS. /Iof the Lord's Oracles " to correct and supersedethe fantastic interpretation of our Lord'sparables and other discourses by which someof the so-called Gnostics endeavoured to findauthority for their speculations. Nor was hethe only ' elder/ to use the often recurring title,whom Irenaeus was thankful to quote and some-times to transcribe at considerable length.Doubtless, if so large a proportion of the Christianliterature of the preceding half-century had notperished, we should have found yet clearer evi-dence of the width of his reading.

But it is a striking fact that, while his censureof the so-called Gnostic systems is always un-reserved and pitiless, he is unconsciously influ-enced by the new thoughts which they hadbrought forward. The Christianity which heproclaims has a comprehensiveness such as noearlier Christian Father known to us could everhave dreamed of. His doctrine of the Word isa true expansion of St John's doctrine, a richapplication of it to bring order into the retro-spect of the spiritual history of mankind : andso his vision of the future is inspired by thethought which he loves to repeat out of theEpistle to the Ephesians, how that it was the


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72 JUSTIN AND TREN^US. [LECT.eternal purpose of the Father to sum up allthings in Christ (ava/cea\ai,uHTa(r0ai,, recapitu-lare).Two passages must suffice, though many aretempting to read. The first shall be a familiarone from the second book, on our Lord's takingupon Him all the ages of man up to adultmanhood.

" He was thirty years of age when He cameto the Baptism, thenceforth having the full ageof a teacher, when He came to Jerusalem, thatHe might rightly be able to receive the title ofTeacher from all. For to seem one thing, andbe another, was not His way, as is said by thosewho represent Him as being in appearanceonly : but what He was, that He also seemed.Being therefore a Teacher, He had likewise theages of a Teacher, not rejecting nor transcendingman, nor breaking the law of the human race inHimself, but hallowing every age by its likenessto Himself. For He came to save all throughHimself; all, I mean, who through Him areborn anew unto God, infants, and little children,and boys, and youths, and elders. AccordinglyHe came through every age, with infants be-coming an infant, hallowing infants ; among


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III.] JUSTIN AND IREN^US. 73little children ~a little child, hallowing those ofthat very age, at the same time making Himselfto them an example of dutifulness, and right-eousness, and subjection ; among young men ayoung man, becoming an example to youngmen and hallowing them to the Lord. So alsoan elder among elders, that He might be aperfect Teacher in all things, not only as regardsthe setting forth of the Truth but also as regardsage, at the same time hallowing also the elders,becoming likewise an example to them. LastlyHe came also even unto death, that He mightbe the first begotten from the dead, Himselfholding the primacy in all things, the Author oflife, before all things, and having precedence ofall things 1."The other passage shall be from the end ofthe book, the end also of the millennial specula-tions which filled Irenaeus as they did othermen of that age. If some of the thoughts aredifficult to follow, yet they manifestly deserveto be listened to and pondered.

" In clear vision then did John see before-hand the first resurrection of the righteous, andthe inheritance of the earth during the kingdom

1 Irenaeus, p. 358, Stieren.


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74 JUSTIN AND IREN^US. [LECT.(reign) : to the same effect also did the prophetsprophesy concerning it. For thus much theLord also taught, in that He promised that Hewould have a new mixing of the Cup in thekingdom with the disciples. And the apostletoo declared that the creation should be freefrom the bondage of corruption to enter theliberty of the glory of the sons of God. And inall these [events], and through them all, thesame God, even the Father, is shewn forth, whofashioned man, and promised the inheritance tothe fathers, who prepared it (?) for the resurrec-tion of the righteous, and fulfils the promises forHis Son's kingdom, afterward bestowing as aFather things which neither eye hath seen, norear heard, and which have not ascended into theheart of man. For One is the Son, who accom-plished the Father's will ; and one the humanrace, in which the mysteries of God are accom-plished, which angels desire to see, and have notpower to explain the wisdom of God, throughwhich the being which He fashioned is broughtinto conformity and concorporation with theSon ; that His offspring, the first begotten Word,might descend into the creature, that is into thebeing that [God] fashioned, and be received by


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III.] JUSTIN AND IREN^EUS. 75Him ; and that the creature again might receivethe Word, and ascend up to Him, mountingabove the angels, and come to be after theimage and likeness of God."


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LECTURE IV.HIPPOLYTUS AND CLEMENT OFALEXANDRIA.

IN Justin the Samaritan, who taught and whodied a martyr's death at Rome, we have hadbefore us the most characteristic of the Greekapologists of the second century, a man who wentabout clad only in the traditional philosopher'scloak, and who pleaded the cause of the Chris-tians against the assaults of magistrates andpopulace on the ground that their faith andconduct should commend itself to philosophersand lovers of right reason.

In Irenaeus, the disciple of Polycarp atSmyrna, who became bishop of Lyons andtook an active part in promoting the peace ofthe Church when endangered by the intoleranceof Victor, Bishop of Rome, we have had thefirst great theologian, in the strict sense of the


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LECT. IV.] HIPPOLYTUS AND CLEMENT. 77word, whose writings are to any great extentpreserved to us. His great refutation of theleading doctrines of the teachers called Gnostics,is a still imperfectly worked mine of greatthoughts on God's dealings with mankindthrough the ages, founded on the idea of theWord before and after the Incarnation.A few words are due to a disciple of Irenaeus,who forty years ago would have been commonlyreckoned an obscure and unimportant Father,viz. Hippolytus. Shortly after that date therewas published from a manuscript then latelybrought to Paris an elaborate Greek accountand refutation of early heresies, chiefly 'Gnostic/which it was soon recognised could not well haveany other author than Hippolytus. There is noreal doubt about the matter, though, for quiteintelligible reasons, a few still hold otherwise.The author writes as a bishop, and Hippolytusis sometimes called Bishop of Rome, sometimesbishop of Portus, the commercial port of Rome.What he really was, is still an open question.The most commonly received view is that whichwas suggested by Dollinger, that for at leasta certain time Callistus and Hippolytus wererespectively recognised by different parties in


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?8 HIPPOLYTUS AND [LECT.the Roman Church as each the only true andlawful Bishop of Rome, though eventually Callis-tus alone was officially acknowledged as havingbeen bishop. The treatise itself is one of muchvalue for the extracts which it gives from Gnos-tical writings. But of more general interest isthe narrative of some of the inner history of theRoman Church under two successive bishops.After every allowance has been made for thepartisanship of the writer, the picture is not anagreeable one. But this lies outside our propersubject. Of the part taken by Hippolytus it isenough to say that he regarded Callistus andthe dominant authorities of the Roman Churchas dangerously lax in their admission of peni-tents to communion, and he likewise accusedthem of favouring a doctrine not far from Sa-bellianism, while he himself, from the manner inwhich he expounded the doctrine of the Word, adoctrine which evidently had little meaning forthem, was accused by them of setting up twoGods to be worshipped. The end of the storyseems to be supplied by a curious early Romanrecord which states that "Pontianus the bishop"(the second after Callistus) and " Hippolytus thepresbyter were banished to Sardinia, to the


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IV.] CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA. 79island of deadly climate." Perhaps, as has beensuggested, the Roman magistrates took this wayof enforcing peace in the Christian community,by getting rid of the two leaders together. Fromanother record forming part of the same docu-ment we learn that the Roman Church in themiddle of the fourth century kept on the sameday the festival of Hippolytus in one cemeteryand of Pontianus in another, both evidently asmartyrs. Apparently they had both perishedin the mines of Sardinia, an

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Hort. Six lectures on the ante-Nicene fathers. 1895