of reproach to the Christian cause, since we see, from the conversion of a great part of mankind by the ministry of weak and illiterate men, that the progress of Christianity is not to be attributed to human means but to a|| divine power. CHAPTER III. in that form which bears the name of the Apostles' Creed, and which, from the fourth century downwards, was almost generally con sidered as a production of the apostles. All however, who have the least knowledge of antiquity, look upon this opinion as entirely false, and destitute of all foundation.* There is much more reason in the opinion of those who Concerning the Doctrine of the Christian Church think, that this creed was not all composed a in this Century. I. THE whole of the Christian religion is comprehended in two great points, one of which regards what we are to believe, and the other relates to our conduct and actions; or, in a shorter phrase, the Gospel presents to us objects of faith and rules of practice. The apostles express the former by the term mystery, or the truth, and the latter by that of godliness, or piety.* The rule and standard of both are those books which contain the revelation that God made of his will to persons chosen for that purpose, whether before or after the birth of Christ; and these divine books are usually called the Old and New Testament. II. The apostles and their disciples took all possible care, in the earliest times of the church, that these sacred books might be in the hands of all Christians, that they might be read and explained in the assemblies of the faithful, and thus contribute, both in private and in public, to excite and nourish in the minds of Christians a fervent zeal for the truth, and a firm attachment to the ways of piety and virtue. Those who performed the office of interpreters studied above all things plainness and perspicuity. At the same time it must be acknowledged, that, even in this century, several Christians adopted the absurd and corrupt custom, used among the Jews, of darkening the plain words of the Holy Scriptures by insipid and forced allegories, and of drawing them violently from their proper and natural meanings, in order to extort from them mysterious and hidden significations. For a proof of this, we need go no farther than the Epistle of Barnabas, which is yet extant. III. The method of teaching the sacred doctrines of religion was, at this time, most simple, far removed from all the subtle rules of philosophy, and all the precepts of human art. This appears abundantly, not only in the writings of the apostles, but also in all those of the second century, which have survived the ruins of time. Neither did the apostles, or their disciples, ever think of collecting into a regular system the principal doctrines of the Christian religion, or of demonstrating them in a scientific and geometrical order. The eautiful and candid simplicity of these early ages rendered such philosophical niceties unnecessary; and the great study of those who embraced the Gospel was rather to express its divine influence in their dispositions and actions, than to examine its doctrines with an excessive curiosity, or to explain them by the rules of human wisdom. IV. There is extant, indeed, a brief summary of the principal doctrines of Christianity 1 Tim. iii. 9; vi. 3. Tit. i. i. once, but, from small beginnings, was imper ceptibly augmented in proportion to the growth of heresy, and according to the exigencies and circumstances of the church, from which i was designed to banish the errors that daily arose.† V. In the earliest times of the church, all who professed firmly to believe that Jesus was the only redeemer of the world, and who in consequence of this profession, promised to live in a manner conformable to the purity of his holy religion, were immediately received among the disciples of Christ. This was all the preparation for baptism then required; and a more accurate instruction in the doctrines of Christianity was to be administered to them after their reception of that sacrament. But, when Christianity had acquired more consistence, and churches rose to the true God and his eternal Son, almost in every nation, this custom was changed for the wisest and most solid reasons. Then baptism was administered to none but such as had been previously instructed in the principal points of Christianity, and had also given satisfactory proofs of pious dispositions and upright intentions. Hence arose the distinction between catechumens, who were in a state of probation, and under the instruction of persons appointed for that purpose; and believers, who were consecrated by baptism, and thus initiated into all the mysteries of the Christian faith. VI. The methods of instructing the catechumens differed according to their various capacities. To those, in whom the natural force of reason was small, only the fundamental principles and truths, which are, as it were, the basis of Christianity, were taught. Those, on the contrary, whom their instructors judged capable of comprehending, in some measure, the whole system of divine truth, were furnished with superior degrees of knowledge; and nothing was concealed from them, which could have any tendency to render them firm in their profession, and to assist them in arriving at Christian perfection. The care of instructing such was committed to persons who were distinguished by their gravity and wisdom, and also by their learning and judgment. Hence the ancient doctors generally divide their flock into two classes; the one comprehending such as were solidly and thoroughly * See Buddei Isagoge ad Theologium, lib. i. cap. ii, sect. 2. p. 441, as also Walchii Introductio in libres Sym bolicos, lib. i. cap. ii. p. 87. This opinion is confirmed in the most learned and in genious manner by Sir Peter King, in his history of the Apostles' Creed. Such, however, as read this valuable possession, would do well to consider that its author, work with pleasure, and with a certain degree of preupon several occasions, has given us conjectures instead of proofs; and also, that his conjectures are not alway so happy as justly to command our assent. instructed; the other, those who were acquainted with little more than the first principles of religion; nor do they deny that the methods of instruction applied to these two sorts of persons were extremely different. VII. The Christians took all possible care to accustom their children to the study of the Scriptures, and to instruct them in the doctrines of their holy religion; and schools were every where erected for this purpose, even from the very commencement of the Christian church. We must not, however, confound the schools designed only for children, with the gymnasia or academies of the ancient Christians, erected in several large cities, in which persons of riper years, especially such as aspired to be public teachers, were instructed in the different branches, both of human learning and of sacred erudition. We may, undoubtedly, attribute to the apostles themselves, and to the injunctions given to their disciples, the excellent establishments, in which the youth destined to the holy ministry received an education suitable to the solemn office they were to undertake.* St. John erected a school of this kind at Ephesus, and one of the same nature was founded by Polycarp at Smyrna:t but these were not in greater repute than that which was established at Alexandria,‡ commonly called the catechetical school, and generally supposed to have been erected by St. Mark.§ VIII. The ancient Christians are supposed by many to have had a secret doctrine; and if by this be meant, that they did not teach all in the same manner, or reveal all at once, and to all indiscriminately, the sublime mysteries of religion, there is nothing in this that may not be fully justified. It would have been improper, for example, to propose to those who were yet to be converted to Christianity, the more difficult doctrines of the Gospel, which surpass the comprehension of imperfect mortals. ages, with the simplicity of that discipline which prevailed at the time of which we write.* IX. The lives and manners of the Christians in this century are highly celebrated by most authors, and recommended to succeeding generations as unspotted models of piety and virtue; and, if these encomiums be confined to the greater part of those who embraced Christianity in the infancy of the church, they are certainly distributed with justice: but many run into extremes upon this head, and, estimating the lives and manners of all by the illustrious examples of some eminent saints, or the sublime precepts and exhortations of certain pious doctors, fondly imagine, that every appearance of vice and disorder was banished from the first Christian societies. The greatest part of those authors who have treated of the innocence and sanctity of the primitive Christians, have fallen into this error; and a gross error indeed it is, as the strongest testimonies too evidently prove. X. One of the circumstances which contributed chiefly to preserve, at least, an external appearance of sanctity in the Christian church, was the right of excluding from it, and from all participation of the sacred rites and ordinances of the Gospel, such as had been guilty of enormous transgressions, and to whom repeated exhortations to repentance and amendment had been administered in vain. This right was vested in the church from the earliest period of its existence, by the apostles themselves, and was exercised by each Chris tian assembly upon its respective members. The rulers, or doctors, denounced the persons whom they thought unworthy of the privileges of church communion; and the people, freely approving or rejecting their judgment, pro nounced the decisive sentence. It was not, however, irrevocable; for such as gave undoubted signs of their sincere repentance, and Such were, therefore, first instructed in declared their solemn resolutions of future rethose points which are more obvious and plain, formation, were re-admitted into the church, until they became capable of higher and more however enormous their crimes had been; but, difficult attainments in religious knowledge.in case of a relapse, their second exclusion beAnd even those who were already admitted into the society of Christians, were, in point of instruction, differently dealt with according to their respective capacities. Those who consider the secret doctrine of this century in any other light, or give to it a greater extent than what we have here attributed to it, confound the superstitious practices of the following Eccles. lib. v. cap. xx. it The Alexandrian School was renowned for a succession of learned doctors, as we find by the accounts of Eusebius and St. Jerom; for, after St. Mark, Pantænus, Clemens Alexandrinus, Origen, and many others, taught in it the doctrines of the Gospel, and rendered a famous seminary for Christian philosophy and religious knowledge. There were also at Rome, Antioch, Casarea, Edessa, and in several other cities, schools of the same nature, though not all of equal reputation. § See the dissertation of Schmidius, de Schola Cateehetica Alexandrina; as also Aulisius, delle Scuole Sacre, bock ii. ch. i. ii. xxi. The curious reader will find a learned account of the more famous Christian schools in the eastern parts, at Edessa, Nisibis, and Seleucia; and, indeed, of the ancient schools in general, in Assemani Biblioth Oriental. Clement. Vaticanæ, tom. iii. par. ii. came absolutely irreversible.† XI. It will easily be imagined, that unity and peace could not reign long in the church, since it was composed of Jews and Gentiles, who regarded each other with the bitterest aversion. Besides, as the converts to Christianity could not extirpate radically the prejudices which had been formed in their minds by education, and confirmed by time, they brought with them into the bosom of the church more or less of the errors of their former religion. Thus the seeds of discord and controversy were early sown, and could not fail to spring up soon into animosities and dissensions, which accordingly broke out, and divided the church. The first of these controversies arose in the church of Antioch. It regarded the necessity of observing the law of * Many learned observations upon the secret discipline have been collected by the celebrated Christoph. Matt. Pfaffius, in his Dissert. poster. de Præjudiciis Theolog, sect. 13, p. 149, &c. in Primitiis Tubingensibus. ix. + See Morinus, Comm. de Disciplina Pœnitentiæ, Lb cap. xix. p. 670 Moses; and its issue is mentioned by St. Luke m the Acts of the Apostles.* This controversy was followed by many others, either with the Jews, who were violently attached to the worship of their ancestors, or with the votaries of a wild and fanatical sort of philosophy, or with such as, mistaking the true genius of the Christian religion, abused it monstrously to the encouragement of their vices, and the indulgence of their appetites and passions. St. Paul and the other apostles have, in several places of their writings, mentioned these controversies, but with such brevity, that it is difficult, at this distance of time, to discover the true state of the question in these various disputes. XII. The most weighty and important of all these controversies, was that which some Jewish doctors raised at Rome, and in other Christian churches, concerning the means of justification and acceptance with God, and the method of salvation pointed out in the word of God. The apostles, wherever they exercised their ministry, had constantly declared all hopes of acceptance and salvation delusive, except such as were founded on Jesus the Redeemer, and his all-sufficient merits, while the Jewish doctors maintained the works of the law to be the true efficient cause of the soul's eternal salvation and felicity. The latter sentiment not only led to other errors prejudicial to Christianity, but was particularly injurious to the glory of its divine author; for those who looked upon a course of life conformable to the law, as a meritorious title to eternal happiness, could not consider Christ as the Son of God, and the Saviour of mankind, but only as an eminent prophet, or a divine messenger, sent from above to enlighten and instruct a darkened world. It is not, therefore, surprising, that St. Paul took so much pains in his Epistle to the Romans, and in his other writings, to extirpate such a pernicious and capital error. CHAPTER IV. Concerning the Rites and Ceremonies used in the Church during this Century. I. THE Christian religion was singularly commendable on account of its beautiful and divine simplicity, which appears from its twc great and fundamental principles-faith and charity. This simplicity was not, however, incompatible with external ceremonies and positive institutions, which, indeed, are necessary, in this imperfect state, to keep alive sense of religion in the minds of men. The rites instituted by Christ himself were only two in number; and these were intended to continue to the end of the church here below, without any variation. These rites were baptism and the holy supper, which are not to be considered as mere ceremonies, nor yet as symbolic representations only, but also as ordinances accompanied with a sanctifying influence upon the heart and the affections of true Christians. And we cannot help observing here, that since the divine Saviour thought fit to appoint no more than two plain institutions in his church, this shows us that a great number of ceremonies are not essential to his religion, and that he left it to the free and prudent choice of Christians to establish such rites as the circumstances of the times, or the exigencies of the church, might require. II. There are several circumstances, how ever, which incline us to think, that the friends and apostles of our blessed Lord either tolerated through necessity, or appointed for wise reasons, many other external rites in various places. At the same time, we are not to imagine that they ever conferred upon any person a perpetual, indelible, pontifical authority, or that they enjoined the same rites in all churches. We learn on the contrary, from authentic records, that the Christian worship was, from the beginning, celebrated in a different manner in different places, undoubtedly by the orders, or at least with the approbation of the apostles and their disciples. In those early times it was both wise and necessary to show, in the establishment of outward forms of worship, some indulgence to the ancient opinions, manners, and laws of the respective nations to which the Gospel was preached. XIII. The controversy that had been raised concerning the necessity of observing the ceremonies of the Mosaic law, was determined by the apostles in the wisest and most prudent manner. Their authority, however, respectable as it was, had not its full effect; for the prejudices, which the Jews, especially those who lived in Palestine, entertained in favour of the Mosaic law and their ancient worship, were so deeply rooted in their minds, that they III. Hence it follows that the opinion of tould not be thoroughly removed. The force those who maintain that the Jewish rites were of these prejudices was indeed, somewhat di- adopted every where, in the Christian churches, minished after the destruction of Jerusalem by order of the apostles, or their disciples, is and the ruin of the temple, but not entirely destitute of all foundation. In those Christian destroyed. And hence, as we shall see in its societies, which were totally or principally complace, a part of the judaizing Christians sepa-tain as much of the Jewish ritual as the genius posed of Jewish converts, it was natural to rerated themselves from the rest, and formed a particular sect, distinguished by their adhe rence to the law of Moses. of Christianity would suffer; and a multitude of examples testify that this was actually done. But that the same translation of Jewish rites should take place in Christian churches, where there were no Jews, or a very small and inconsiderable number, is utterly incredible, because such an event was morally impossible. In a word, the external forms of worship used in ancient times, must necessarily have been re tation from one place to another. And then, probably, the places of meeting, that had formerly belonged to private persons, became the property of the whole Christian community.* These few remarks are, in my opinion, sufficient to determine that question, which has been so long, and so tediously debated,--. whether the first Christians had churches or not;† since if any are pleased to give the name of church to a house, or the part of a house, which, though appointed as the place of religious worship, was neither separated from common use, nor considered as holy in the opinion of the people, it will be readily granted, that the most ancient Christians had churches. gulated and modified according to the charac-in those perilous times, attended their transpor ter, genius, and manners of the different nations on which the light of the Gospel arose. IV. Since then there was such a variety in the ritual and discipline of the primitive churches, it must be very difficult to give such an account of the worship, manners, and institutions, of the ancient Christians, as will agree with what was practised in all those countries where the Gospel flourished. There are, notwithstanding, certain laws, whose authority and obligation were universal and indispensable among Christians; and of these we shall here give a brief account. All Christians were unanimous in setting apart the first day of the week, on which the triumphant Saviour arose from the dead, for the solemn celebration of public worship. This pious custom, which was derived from the example of the church of Jerusalem, was founded upon the express appointment of the apostles, who consecrated that day to the same sacred purpose, and was observed universally throughout the Christian churches, as appears from the united testimonies of the most credible writers.* The seventh day of the week was also observed as a festival,f not by the Christians in general, but by such churches only as were principally composed of Jewish converts; nor did the other Christians censure this custom as criminal or unlawful. It appears, moreover, that all the Christian churches observed two great anniversary festivals; one in memory of Christ's glorious resurrection, and the other to commemorate the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the apostles. To these we may add the days on which the blessed martyrs laid down their lives for the truth, which days were probably dignified with particular solemnities and marks of veneration from the earliest times. VI. In these assemblies the holy scriptures were publicly read, and for that purpose were divided into certain portions or lessons. This part of divine service was followed by a brief exhortation to the people, in which eloquence and art gave place to the natural and fervent expression of zeal and charity. If any declared themselves extraordinarily animated by the Spirit, they were permitted to explain suc cessively the divine will, while the other prophets who were present decided how much weight and authority were to be attributed to what they said. The prayers, which formed a considerable part of the public worship, were introduced at the conclusion of these discourses, and were repeated by the people after the bishop or presbyter, who presided in the service.§ To these were added certain hymns, which were sung, not by the whole assembly, but by persons appointed for that purpose, during the celebration of the Lord's supper, and the feasts of charity. Such were the essential parts of divine worship which were observed in all Christian churches, though, perhaps the method and order in which they were performed were not the same in all.|| V. The places in which the first Christians assembled to celebrate divine worship, were, no doubt, the houses of private persons. But, in process of time, it became necessary, that these sacred assemblies should be confined to one ixed place in which the books, tables, and desks, required in divine service, might be constantly kept, and the dangers avoided, which||dition, and indeed every one, according to his * Phil. Jac. Hartmannus, de rebus gestis Christianorum sub Apostolis, cap. xv. p. 387. Just. Hen. Bohmer, Dissert. 1. Juris Eccles. Antiqui de stato die Christianor. p. 20, &c. Steph. Curcellæus, Diatriba de Esu Sanguinis, Operum Theolog. p. 958. Gab. Albaspinæus, Observat. Eccles. lib. i. Observ. xiii. It is in vain that many learned men have laboured to prove, that, in all the primitive churches, both the first and last day of the week were observed as festivals. The churches of Bithynia, of which Pliny speaks in his letter to Trajan, had only one stated day for the celebration of public worship; and that was, undoubtedly, the first day of the week, or what we call the Lord's day. There are, it is true, learned men, who look upon it as a doubtful matter whether the day of Pentecost was celebrated as a festival so early as the first century. See Bingham's Antiquities of the Christian Church, book xx. chap. vi. But, notwithstanding this, there are some weighty reasons for believing that this festival was as ancient as that of Easter, which was celebrated, as all agree, from the very first rise of the church. It is also probable that Friday, the day of Christ's crucifixion, was early distinguished by particular honours from the other days of the week. See Jac. Godofred, in Codicem Theodosii, tom. i. Asseman. Biblioth. Oriental. Vatican. tom. i. Martenne, Thesaur. Anecdot. tom. v VII. The prayers of the first Christians were followed by oblations of bread, wine, and other things; and hence both the ministers of the church and the poor, derived their subsistence. Every Christian, who was in an opulent con circumstances, brought gifts and offered them, as it were, to the Lord. Of the bread and wine presented in these offerings, such a quantity was separated from the rest as was required in the administration of the Lord's supper; this was consecrated by certain prayers pronounced by the bishop alone, to which the *See Camp. Vitringa, de Synagoga vetere, lib. i. par. iii. cap. i. p. 432. † See Blondel, de Episcopis et Presbyteris, sect. iii. p. 216, 243, 246. Just. Hen. Bohmer, Dissert. ii. Juris Eccles. Antiqui, de Antelucanis Christianorum Cœtibus, sect. 4. Bingham's Antiquities of the Christian Church, book viii. chap. 1. 1 Cor. xiv. 6. See Justin Martyr's second Apology, p. 98, &c. This must be understood of churches well established and regula ed by fixed laws; for, in the first Christian assemblies, which were yet in an imperfect and fluctuating state, one or other of these circumstances of divine wor ship may pos dissertations of the venerable and learned possibly have been omitted. Pfaff, de Oblatione et Consecratione Eucharistica which are contained in his Syntagma Dissertation. Theo logic. published at Stutgard in 1*20 people assented, by saying Amen.* The holy supper was distributed by the deacons; and this sacred institution was followed by sober repasts, denominated (from the excellent purpose to which they were directed,) agape, or feasts of charity. Many attempts have been made to fix precisely the nature of these social feasts. But here it must be again considered, that the rites and customs of the primitive Christians were very different in different countries, and that consequently these feasts, like other institutions, were not every where celebrated in the same manner. This is the true and only way of explaining all the difficulties that can arise upon this subject. since the silence of the ancient writers upon that head renders it impossible to decide the matter with certainty. The anointing of the sick is very rarely mentioned in the ancient records of the church, though there is no rea son to doubt that it was an universal custom among Christians.* In X. Neither Christ nor his apostles enacted any law concerning fasting. A custom, however, prevailed among many Christians, of joining abstinence with their prayers, especially when they were engaged in affairs of extraordinary importance. As this custom was authorized by no public law, the time that was to be employed in these acts of abstinence was left to every one's private judgment; nor were those looked upon as criminal, who contented themselves with observing the rules of strict temperance, without going farther. the most ancient times we find no mention of any public and solemn fasts, except on the anniversary of Christ's crucifixion. But, in process of time, days of fasting were gradually introduced, first by custom, and afterwards by positive appointment, though it is not certain what those days were, or whether they were observed in the first century. Those, however, who affirm, that in the time of the apostles, or soon after, the fourth and sixth days of the week were observed as fasts, are not, it must be acknowledged, destitute of specious arguments in favour of their opinion.§ VIII. The sacrament of baptism was administered in this century, without the public assemblies, in places appointed and prepared for that purpose, and was performed by an immersion of the whole body in the baptismal font. At first it was usual for all who laboured in the propagation of the Gospel, to be present at that solemn ceremony; and it was also customary, that the converts should be baptized and received into the church by those under whose ministry they had embraced the Christian doctrine. But this custom was soon changed. When the churches were well established, and governed by a system of fixed laws, then the right of baptizing the converts was vested in the bishop alone. This right, indeed, he conferred upon the presbyters and the chorepiscopi (country bishops,) when the bounds of the church were still farther enlarged; reserving, however, to himself the confirmation of that baptism which was administered by a presbyter. There were, doubtless, several circumstantial ceremonies observed in the ad-ed, ministration of this sacrament for the sake of crder and decency. Of these, however, it is not easy, nor perhaps is it possible to give a certain or satisfactory account, since, on this subject we are too much exposed to the illu-gion, drawn from their own licentious imagision which arises from confounding the customs of the primitive times with those of succeeding ages. IX. Persons who were visited with violent or dangerous disorders, sent, according to the apostle's direction,|| for the rulers of the church, and, after confessing their sins, were recommended by them to the divine mercy, in prayers full of piety and fervour, and were also anointed with oil. This rite has occasioned many debates, and, indeed, they must be endless, Justin Martyr, Apologia secunda. The several authors who have investigated the manner of celebrating the Lord's supper, are mentioned by Jo. Alb. Fabricius, in his Bibliograph. Antiquar. cap. xi. CHAPTER V. Concerning the Divisions and Heresies which nations. This we learn from the writings of *The accounts which the ancient authors have given of this custom are the most of them collected in a treatise men-published by Launoy, de Sacramentis Unctionis infirmorum, cap. í. p. 444. in the first volume of his works. Among these accounts there are very few drawn from the writers of the first ages, and some passages applicable to this subject have been omitted by that learned au The authors who have described the agape are tioned by Ittigius, in his Selecta Historia Eccles. Capita, Sæc. ii. cap. iii.; and also by Pfaff, de Originibus Juris Eccles. p. 68. The See the learned dissertation of Jo. Gerard Vossius concerning baptism, Disp. i. Thes. vi. p. 31, &c. reader will also find, in the xith chapter and xxvth section of the Bibliogr. Antiquar. of Fabricius, an account of the authors who have written upon this subject. § These observations will illustrate, and, perhaps, decide the question concerning the right of administering baptism, which has been so long debated among the learned, and with such ardour and vehemence. See Bohmer, Dissert. xi. Juris Eccles. p. 500; and also Le Clerc, Biblioth. Universelle et Historique, tom. iv. p. 93. James v. 14. thor. † 1 Cor. vii. 5. See the Shepherd of Hermas, book iii. Similitud. v. See Beverege's Vindication of the Canon, in the second volume of his edition of the Apostolic Fathers. 1 Tim. vi. 20. 1 Tim. i. 3, 4. Tit. iii. 9. Col. ii. 8 2 Tim. ii. 18; and in other places. See also the accurate accounts given of these men by Vitringa, Observ. Sacr. lib. iv. cap. ix. p. 952. Ittigius, de Hæresiarch Evi Apostol. sect. i. cap. viii. Buddeus, de Ecclesia Apostolica, cap. v. |