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BR 60 .A62 C4 1851 
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 a Eo Ae ee 
 Translation of the epistles | 
 of Clement of Rome, 
 
A TRANSLATION 
 
 OF 
 
 THE EPISTLES 
 
 OF 
 
 CLEMENT OF ROME, POLYCARP, 
 AND IGNATIUS; 
 
 AND OF 
 
 THE APOLOGIES 
 
 OF 
 
 JUSTIN MARTYR AND TERTULLIAN: 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION, 
 
 AND BRIEF NOTES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF 
 
 THE FIRST TWO CENTURIES. 
 
 - BY THE REV. 
 
 TEMPLE CHEVALLIER, B.D. 
 
 LATE FELLOW AND TUTOR OF CATHARINE HALL, CAMBIIDGE, 
 
 PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS AND ASTRONOMY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LURHAM, 
 
 AND HONORARY CANON OF DURHAM, 
 Second Evitton. 
 
 LONDON: 
 FRANCIS & JOHN RIVINGTON, 
 
 51. PAUL’S CHURCH YARD, AND WATERLOO PLACE ; AND 
 
 JOHN DEIGHTON, 
 
 CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 1851. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In the history of the Christian Church, there are few 
 periods of greater interest and importance than that 
 which succeeded the death of the Apostles. As long 
 as any of those holy men survived, who had personally 
 received instruction from our Lord, they connected the 
 Church on earth with its spiritual Head. The mira- 
 culous powers with which the Apostles were endowed, 
 and the undisputed authority with which their high 
 office invested them, placed them in a position, which 
 none of their successors could ever occupy. In cases 
 of difficulty and doubt, an appeal to their more than 
 human wisdom was the last resource: in times of peril, 
 their example and their prayers strengthened the 
 wavering, and confirmed the faithful: and at all periods 
 they were justly regarded as the pillars, on which the 
 Christian Church securely rested. 
 
 But when the Apostles were removed from the 
 scene of their earthly labours, the condition of the 
 Church was changed. The efforts of its enemies were 
 exerted with greater energy to suppress Christianity, 
 as the numbers of those who professed the faith in- 
 creased; while the apparent means of defence were 
 
 A 2 
 
iv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 materially impaired. Our attention is therefore roused 
 to inquire what men they were, who, on thi «crying 
 occasion, stood forth in defence of Christianity; with 
 what weapons they combated their enemies; with what 
 zeal they laid down their lives for the sake of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 These early ages of the Church claim our attention 
 for another reason. In contemplating the history of 
 that period, we view Christianity, as a system of eccle- 
 siastical polity, in its nascent state. It was then that 
 the Canon of Scripture was formed; that Church 
 government took a consistent form. The oral teaching 
 of the Apostles and their immediate successors was 
 still vividly impressed upon the minds of those who 
 had heard them; and many passages of Scripture, 
 which to us appear ambiguous, might by such means 
 be then clearly understood. 
 
 Hence the conclusions, which the primitive Chris- 
 tian Church formed, respecting questions, which in 
 after ages have been fruitful subjects of controversy, 
 are entitled to the highest regard: not, indeed, as in- 
 fallible; but as representing the doctrines maintained 
 by sincere and earnest inquirers after the truth, by 
 men who were best able to form a sound determina- 
 tion, before their judgment was warped by prejudice, 
 or modified by system. 
 
 The writings of the early Christian Fathers will 
 therefore be carefully consulted by all who would 
 trace the Scriptures up to the period in which they 
 were written, and learn the doctrines which were 
 taught as essential, in the times nearest to the Apos- 
 tolic age. | 
 
INTRODUCTION. Vv 
 
 These early ages of the Church possess also a charm 
 peculiar to themselves. The records of ecclesiastical 
 history in subsequent. years too often display a melan- 
 choly picture. The turbulent passions of the worldly- 
 minded, the fiery zeal of the intemperate, the arts of 
 the designing, the follies of the weak, all present them- 
 selves in dazzling colours and in prominent positions: 
 while it requires a practised eye and a patient investi- 
 gation to discover the milder and retiring forms of 
 unobtrusive Christian piety. The earlier Christians 
 were not, as individuals, free from the infirmities and 
 sins of human nature. But the primitive Christian 
 Church did certainly stand forth in a purity and sim- 
 plicity which it has never since enjoyed. And the 
 contemplation of the age in which this goodly spectacle 
 was presented to the world, has ever been a delight- 
 ful employment to minds endowed with a kindred 
 feeling. 
 
 Of late years a considerable impulse has been given, 
 among ourselves, io the study of the early Christian 
 writers. The labours of the learned Bishop of Lincoln, 
 in elucidating the works of Justin Martyr and Tertul- 
 lian, and those of Dr. Burton, are specimens of the 
 valuable matter which is yet to be extracted from the 
 stores of Christian antiquity. 
 
 The present work lays claim to no such pretensions. 
 Its object is to put the English reader in possession of 
 some of the genuine remains of Christian writers of 
 the first and second centuries, and to furnish occasional 
 information upon such points as seem to require ex- 
 planation. For this purpose it appeared more advis- 
 able to give the whole of such pieces as should be 
 
vi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 selected, than to select certain parts only. Extracts 
 must always fail to give a faithful representation of 
 the whole manner οὗ reasoning and train of thought 
 which characterized the first advocates of Christianity ; 
 and may unintentionally give erroneous notions of 
 their opinions. It is well known that detached pas- 
 sages are quoted from these writings, in favour of very 
 different notions. To judge therefore of the real 
 sentiments of the writers, the general tendency of 
 their argument is to be regarded, more than the mere 
 verbal expression of particular parts. If we would 
 know how these Fathers of the Church thought and 
 wrote, we are not at liberty to omit what may appear 
 to us superfluous and fanciful in illustration, or diffuse 
 and inconclusive in reasoning; or simply uninterest- 
 ing, because it refers to errors which have long since 
 passed away. The very manner of treating a subject 
 is an indication of the habits of thought and of the 
 moral condition of the age in which it was discussed. 
 A more striking and graphic representation is often 
 given of the state of society, and of the condition of 
 the Christian world in general, by an application of a 
 passage of Scripture, by a slight allusion to an ob- 
 jection against the religion of the Gospel, by a casual 
 reference to some difficulty which its professors en- 
 countered, or by some elaborate refutation of an absurd 
 calumny, than we should have received from a detailed 
 description of the circumstances. 
 
 Besides, those very parts of the writings of the 
 early Fathers, which seem least valuable both for 
 style and matter, have this incidental advantage, that 
 they set in a clear point of view the immeasurable 
 
INTRODUCTION. Vii 
 
 superiority of the Scriptures of the New Testament. 
 The inspired books were written principally by men 
 who had not the same advantages of education and 
 literary training, as some of the Kcclesiastical writers 
 enjoyed: yet they are totally free from the blemishes 
 which disfigure the most elaborate productions of later 
 ages of the Church. 
 
 Had not the pens of the Evangelists and Apostles 
 been guided by a wisdom superior to any which those 
 writers possessed by ordinary means, they never could 
 have produced a work, which, even as a specimen of 
 plain yet majestic narration, and of consistent, sober, 
 rational discussion of the most abstruse questions, is 
 entirely unrivalled. We should have found—as we 
 do find in the writings even of those who had been 
 thoroughly instructed in Scriptural truth, and had 
 deeply imbibed the spirit of Christianity—some error 
 mixed with truth; some inconclusive reasoning; some 
 vague declamation ; some incautious over-statement of 
 doctrine or fact; some merely mystical application of 
 the Scriptures of the Old Testament ; some exaggerated 
 sentiment. 
 
 In uninspired writers we should have detected the 
 prejudices of their education and of the age in which 
 they lived. We should have found some extravagant 
 eulogies of martyrdom; some fanciful notions respect- 
 ing spiritual beings; some captious and scrupulous 
 objection to practices in themselves indifferent. And, 
 in their public defences of the faith before their ad- 
 versaries, we should have perceived them, not only 
 speaking boldly, as they ought to speak, but sometimes 
 displaying a subtilty too nearly allied to the craftiness 
 
Vill ’ INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of the disputer of this world; and on other occasions 
 indulging in sarcasm or invective against the various 
 errors of heathen worship. 
 
 In the Scriptures of the New Testament, we find 
 none of these faults: they are uniformly dignified, 
 simple, reasonable. But a very limited acquaintance 
 with the writings of those who endeavoured to follow 
 their steps will show that, if the Apostles and Evange- 
 lists were preserved from such extravagance and error, 
 they owed it to a wisdom which was not of this 
 world. 
 
 The works, which have been chosen for the present 
 purpose, are the Epistle of Clement of Rome to the 
 Corinthians; that of Polycarp; the genuine Epistles 
 of Ignatius, with the accounts of the Martyrdom of 
 Ignatius and Polycarp; the first Apology of Justin 
 Martyr; and the Apology of Tertullian. 
 
 These Epistles, and the short histories of the Mar- 
 tyrdoms, have been long known to the English reader, 
 in Archbishop Wake’s very valuable translation. It 
 may appear presumptuous to have changed, in any 
 degree, language which is at once so faithful and so 
 Scriptural as that which he has employed. And no 
 alteration has been made, except after due delibera- 
 tion. In Archbishop Wake’s translation, however, the 
 quotations from the Scriptures are given in the words 
 of the authorised English Version. Now the original 
 quotations from the Old Testament are often taken 
 from the Septuagint or some other Version, so as to 
 differ considerably from the Hebrew text, and con- 
 sequently from the English Version: and in other 
 instances, references are made to the Old and New 
 
EPISTLE OF CLEMENT. ΙΧ 
 
 Testaments in such a manner as to express the general 
 sense of passages, rather than the words. As the 
 intention of this work is to give as accurate a repre- 
 sentation of these writings of the Fathers as the 
 difference of idiom will admit, it seemed advisable to 
 translate these quotations also as faithfully as possible, 
 even in the instances in which they deviate from the 
 literal sense of the original Scriptures. It is not 
 always easy to determine how closely a writer intended 
 to quote a passage; and in many cases, such references 
 may be regarded as a kind of comment. upon ‘the, text 
 to which allusion is made. Y PRINGET 
 
 EPISTLE OF CLEMENT, © 0 EO Lf 
 
 Ir is a happy circumstance, that of the very few 
 remains' of the writings of the first Century, ex- 
 cept the books of the New Testament, we should 
 possess the truly Apostolical Epistle of Clement of 
 Rome. 
 
 Clement is believed, upon the general testimony of 
 ecclesiastical historians ?, to have been the same whom 
 St. Paul mentions among “his fellow-labourers, whose 
 names are written in the book of life*.” Of his early 
 years little is certainly known. It is believed, how- 
 ever, that he was born of a noble family at Rome, and 
 sent to Athens for the purpose of education; that his 
 conversion to Christianity arose from unsuccessful 
 
 1 It is perhaps the only remaining writing of the first century, except the 
 Holy Scriptures. The Epistle, ascribed to Barnabas, and the Shepherd 
 of Hermas, existed in the second century ; but probably were written 
 after the Apostolic age. 
 
 2 Euseb. H. E. iii. 12. 3 Phil. iv. 3. 
 
Χ INTRODUCTION. 
 
 inquiries into which he had been led respecting the 
 immortality of the soul; that he was instructed and 
 baptized by St. Peter, and for some time continued to 
 be his disciple. 
 
 That Clement was Bishop of Rome is a fact which 
 is not disputed ; but the time of his accession to that 
 See is variously computed. Irenzeus* and Eusebius 
 mention Clement to have been the third in succession 
 from the Apostles: and Eusebius® expressly states 
 the twelfth year of Domitian’s reign, a.p. 92, as the 
 year in which Clement succeeded Anencletus. Ter- 
 tullian ° says that he was ordained Bishop by St. Peter ; 
 whence it has been supposed that Linus was ordained 
 Bishop of the Gentile Church of Rome by St. Paul, 
 and Clement, Bishop of the Church of Jewish con- 
 verts by St. Peter; that Linus was succeeded by 
 Anencletus or Anacletus, and, at his death, about 
 A.D. 91, the two churches were united, and the Epis- 
 copacy of Clement over them both began. This is by 
 many considered the most probable way of reconciling 
 the difficulties which exist in determining the suc- 
 cession of the first Bishops of Rome’; and was the 
 opinion of Cave, when he wrote the Life of Clement ὃ, 
 But at a subsequent period °, he adopted the conclusion 
 of Dodwell', that Linus and Anencletus lived as Bishops 
 of Rome but a very short time, and that Clement suc- 
 ceeded them about a.p. 64 or 65, and continued to the 
 
 4 Treneus, Heres. iii. 3. Euseb. H. E. v. 6. 
 
 ° Eusebius, H. E. iii. 13—15. See Lardner, Credibility, part. ii. ο. 2. 
 ° Tertullian, de Preescriptione Hereticorum, c. 32. 
 
 7 See note (4) on c. 54, p. 39. 
 
 8 Cave’s Lives of the Fathers. ® Historia Literaria, 65. 
 * Dodwell, Disputatio Singularis de Roman. Pontif. Success. 
 
DATE OF THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT. ΧΙ 
 
 year 81. Bishop Pearson ? concludes that Clement was 
 Bishop of Rome from a.p. 69 to 83. 
 
 The date of the Epistle of Clement to the Corin- 
 thians is involved in equal uncertainty. Archbishop 
 Wake? supposes it to have been written soon after the 
 termination of the persecution under Nero, between 
 the years 64 and 70. lLardner* refers it to the year 
 96. There are but few internal marks of time in the 
 Epistle itself, and none which can be regarded as de- 
 cisive. It is plain that it was written at the close of 
 some persecution; for, at the beginning of it, the 
 Church of Rome refers to “the sudden and repeated 
 dangers and calamities which had befallen them.” 
 Persecution however, for the sake of the Christian 
 faith was already so common, that it cannot be cer- 
 tainly said whether these words are an allusion to 
 some local distress, or to a general persecution. But 
 they might refer either to a.p. 64, at the end of the 
 persecution under Nero, or to a.v. 94, after that under 
 Domitian. 
 
 In favour of the earlier of these dates, Clement in 
 c. 5, seems to speak of the Apostles, Peter and Paul, as 
 having been recently put to death. The expressions in 
 c. 41, respecting the Temple at Jerusalem, seem to 
 countenance the opinion, that the Temple was still 
 standing, and that the Jewish war, which began A.D. 
 67, had not yet broken out. The Fortunatus also, 
 whose name is found in ec. 59, is conceived to have 
 
 ? Disputatio de Successione prima Romanorum Pontificum. 
 
 3 See also Dodwell, Addit. ad Pearson. Dissert. ii. c. 24. Cave, Hist. 
 Literar. 65. 
 
 4 Credibility, Part 11. c. 2. 
 
ΧΙ INTRODUCTION. 
 
 come from Corinth, and to have been the same, who is 
 mentioned by St. Paul’ together with Stephanus, 
 whose house was the first fruits of Achaia. If this 
 supposition be correct, it is a presumption in favour 
 of the earlier date: since at the later date, Fortunatus, 
 if alive, could hardly have been capable of undergoing 
 so long a journey. 
 
 On the other hand, in c. 44, Clement seems to 
 speak as if there had been a succession of inter- 
 mediate persons in the Church, between himself and the 
 Apostles. 
 
 The phrase “in the beginning of the Gospel,” and 
 the appellation of “Ancient Church,” applied to the 
 Corinthians °, have also been adduced as favouring a 
 later date. 
 
 The high value which the ancient Christian Church 
 set upon this Epistle of Clement is ascertained by the 
 commendations which they bestow upon it. Irenzus’ 
 describes this Epistle as having been written by the 
 Church of Rome under Clement to the Corinthians, 
 and speaks of it asa most powerful Epistle. Eusebius® 
 denominates it “a great and admirable Epistle.” 
 Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, about the year 170 
 testifies to the fact that this Epistle was read in the 
 Church of Corinth from ancient times®: and other 
 writers ' show that it was publicly read in other Chris- 
 tian Churches. Eusebius observes also that there is a 
 great similarity in the style of this Epistle and that 
 
 5.1 Cor. xvi. 15—17. 6 Ὁ; 47. 
 
 7 Heres. iii. 3. Euseb. H. Εἰ. v. 6. 8. H. E. iii. 16. 
 
 9 Eusebius, H. E. iv. 23. 
 
 1 Eusebius, H. E. iii. 16. Jerome, de Viris Ilustribus, o. 15. Epiphanius, 
 Heeres. xxx. Num. 15. Photius, Biblioth. Cod. 123. 
 
EPISTLE OF CLEMENT. ΧΙ 
 
 of the Epistle to the Hebrews: and that Clement 
 on several occasions quotes that book of the New 
 Testament. 
 
 Notwithstanding the great esteem in which the 
 primitive Church held this Epistle of Clement, and the 
 numerous quotations from it, scattered over the pages 
 of ecclesiastical writers, the Epistle itself was for many 
 centuries considered to be lost. At length it was dis- 
 covered, at the end of a manuscript containing the 
 Septuagint version of the Old Testament, and the 
 New Testament. This manuscript had been presented 
 to King Charles the First, by Cyril, Patriarch of 
 Alexandria, and afterwards of Constantinople. The 
 valuable treasure was discovered by Mr. Young, the 
 keeper of the Royal Library : and was first published 
 at Oxford, in 1633. The original manuscript is now in 
 the British Museum. 
 
 The Epistle thus happily and unexpectedly recovered, 
 agrees in all respects with the accounts given of the 
 Epistle of Clement, and with the quotations from that 
 Epistle found in ecclesiastical writers *. The absence 
 of one or two quotations or allusions * is sufficiently 
 accounted for by the fact that a fragment is still 
 wanting at the end of ὁ. 57. 
 
 We recognise in this Epistle the dignified simplicity 
 of style, which is mentioned * as one of its remarkable 
 
 2 Clem. Alexand. Stromat. i. p. 289. iv. p. 516. v. Ρ. 586. vi. p. 647. 
 Origen, de Principiis, ii. ¢. 3. Ad Johan. i.29. Cyril. Hierosol. Cateches. 
 xviii. p. 218. Epiphanius, Heres. xxvii. Num. 6.xxx- Num. 15. Jerome, 
 in Esaiam lii. 13. lib. xiv. Ad Ephes. ii. 2. iv. 1. Photius, Cod. 126. 
 
 3 Basil, de Spiritu Sancto, 6. 29. 
 
 4 Photius, Biblioth. Cod. 126. 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 features, and is most characteristic of the Apostolic 
 age. 
 
 The Church of Corinth, having been distracted with 
 seditions, appears to have made application to Clement 
 and the Church of Rome, which was itself then exposed 
 to persecution. After some delay, arising from this 
 cause, Clement addresses ° the Corinthians, in the name 
 of the Church of God which is at Rome, and reminds 
 them of the firmness of their faith, their fruitfulness in 
 all good works, and the order and obedience which 
 once prevailed among them. He contrasts their previous 
 Christian discipline with their present disorder and 
 schism; and proceeds to show by numerous examples, 
 what evils have been produced by envy and hatred. 
 He incidentally alludes to the recent martyrdom of 
 St. Peter and St. Paul, and of many others, who had 
 suffered in times of persecution. 
 
 After this introduction, Clement ® assures the Corin- 
 thians how sensible he is, that he himself requires to 
 be reminded of these truths; he exhorts them to look 
 stedfastly to the blood of Christ, which has obtained 
 the grace of repentance to all the world; and refers to 
 numerous passages of Scripture, which teach the doc- 
 trine of repentance, and give examples of faithful 
 obedience. He expatiates upon the duty of humility 
 and peace, after the example of Christ, who came in 
 all humility, although he was “the Sceptre of the 
 Majesty of God.” and in imitation of those, who went 
 about in sheep skins and goat skins, and of other holy 
 men. 
 
 δ. ec. 1—7. δος, 8—19. 
 
EPISTLE OF CLEMENT. XV 
 
 Clement then shows’, in a passage of great beauty 
 and sublimity, that God has impressed upon the whole 
 creation the visible marks of order, and arranged the 
 several parts in concord and peace ; and thence exhorts 
 the Corinthians to return to their former purity and 
 meekness, confirmed by faith in Christ, not doubting 
 the excellent gifts of his grace. 
 
 Clement proceeds* to remind the Corinthians that 
 many objects of the natural world remind us of the 
 resurrection from the dead, of which our Lord Jesus 
 Christ was the first fruits. He exemplifies this in the 
 succession of day and night, and in the growth of seed, 
 which first dies in the ground. He adopts the story of 
 the Phoenix *°, which was believed by his contemporaries, 
 and regards it as an emblem of the resurrection; and 
 exhorts the Corinthians to hold fast the faith, to repent, 
 and return to God in holiness. He then again refers 
 to examples of those who have obtained blessing from 
 God, and to the works of God himself, as an encourage- 
 ment to fulfil his will. 
 
 He teaches submission ', and dwells upon the mag- 
 nitude and importance of the eternal gifts of God, and 
 exhorts them to fix their minds through faith towards 
 God in Jesus Christ our High Priest, by whom God 
 would have us taste of the knowledge of immortality. 
 He then notices’ the gradations of rank in an army, 
 and the members of the body, which all conspire to 
 promote the general good, as examples of the order 
 which ought to prevail in the Church. After a quota- 
 tion from the Book of Job*, Clement shows that the 
 
 7 ec. 20—22. 8 ¢, 24, 9 ec. 25,26. See note ὅ. 6. 25. 
 1 ec. 34—36. 4 eh Sie 3 5 90. 
 
ΧΥΙ INTRODUCTION. 
 
 order of times and seasons in religious offices, as well 
 as various gradations of the priesthood, are appointed 
 by God, and that the successors of the Apostles in the 
 ministry were ordained by them, after they had been 
 proved by the Spirit*; and refers to the instance of 
 Aaron having been miraculously called to the priest- 
 hood. He explains more at large the care which the 
 Apostles took, that chosen and approved men should 
 constantly succeed in the ministry*: contrasts the 
 divisions among the Corinthians with the examples of 
 holy men of old; and shows the sin of schism. 
 
 Clement then refers *® to the first Epistle of St. Paul 
 to the Corinthians’: exhorts them to unity; sets 
 forth the excellence of Christian charity ; advises them 
 to repent, and confess their sin: and to forgive one 
 another after the example of Moses and others. He 
 exhorts them meekly to pray for those who are in 
 error; and calls upon the seditious to submit them- 
 selves. 
 
 At this part of the Epistle there is a passage 
 omitted ; but the conclusion, containing an affec- 
 tionate and apostolical benediction, is preserved ὃ. 
 
 This Epistle is the only genuine writing of Clement. 
 Eusebius’ mentions indeed another Epistle of his, 
 which was not so generally received as the first, and 
 was not quoted by the ancients. The fragment of a 
 second Epistle, now extant and attributed to Clement, 
 is generally believed to be spurious. And other 
 writings which bear his name, The Recognitions and 
 Homilies, as well as the Constitutions and Canons of 
 
 2 ς͵ 45. 5 ec. 44—46. 6 ¢. 47—57. 
 7 1 Cor. i. 12. ® ec. 58, 59, 60. 9 Ἡ, E-. iii. 38. 
 
WRITINGS OF CLEMENT. XVil 
 
 the Apostles, which have been ascribed to him, are 
 certainly productions of a later age. 
 
 Little is known respecting the latter days of Clement. 
 That his mind was made up to suffer martyrdom for 
 the faith, is manifest from the determined but quiet 
 spirit of resignation which he expresses'. But there 
 is no sufficient evidence for the story that he was 
 banished into the Crimea by Trajan, and there suffered 
 martyrdom by drowning’. He is with more reason 
 believed to have died in possession of his Episcopal 
 office, about the third year of Trajan, a.p. 100. He 
 was succeeded in the See of Rome by Evarestus. 
 
 The Epistle of Clement having been written for a 
 particular purpose, affords only occasional information 
 respecting the state of the Church at the period when 
 it was written. We find in it however proof that, 
 within a few years after the death of the Apostles 
 Peter and Paul, Christian Churches were established 
 by their order, and governed according to directions 
 received from them*®. We have an appeal made to 
 the acknowledged purity of life and peaceableness of 
 deportment, which characterized the primitive Chris- 
 tians'; although the Corinthian Church, in which 
 divisions had taken place at a very early period ®*, had 
 much degenerated. And we have testimony, direct 
 and indirect, to the persecutions to which the infant 
 Church of Christ was so soon exposed. 
 
 Only one book of the New Testament is expressly 
 quoted by Clement *®; and there is no mention of the 
 Gospels by name, nor of their being collected into a 
 
 Wes 7. 2 See Cave’s Life, cc. 7, 8. 3 ec. 42. 44. 
 
 *Cs2- > 1 Cor. xi. 18. 6 } Cor. i. 12. Ὁ. 47. 
 
 a 
 
XViil INTRODUCTION. 
 
 volume. Words of our Lord, however, are quoted 
 with respect, which are now found in the Gospels of 
 St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke’. There are 
 probable allusions to the Acts of the Apostles ", to the 
 Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans’, to both his Epistles 
 to the Corinthians', to his Epistles to the Galatians’, 
 Ephesians Ὁ, Philippians *, Colossians ἢ, the first Epistle 
 to the Thessalonians δ, both the Epistles to Timothy’, 
 and the Epistle to Titus*. There are also, as Eusebius 
 noticed ὃ, many coincidences of expression between the 
 Epistle of Clement and the Epistle to the Hebrews ἰὲ 
 and allusions to the Epistle of James’, and to the first 
 and second Epistles of Peter *. 
 
 Lardner is of opinion, that the references and allu- 
 sions to some of these books are manifest, and, as he 
 
 7 Matt. vii. I—12. Luke vi. 36—38. c. 18. Matt. xxvi. 24; xviii. 6. 
 Mark ix. 42. Luke xvii. 2. c. 46. See Lardner, Credibility, Part ii. 
 c. 2. 
 
 8 Acts xx. 35.c.2. Acts xiii. 22. c. 18. 
 
 9 Rom. ix. 4. c. 88. Rom. xii. 5.c. 46. Rom. xiv. 1. c. 38. 
 
 1 1 Cor. x. 24. ο. 48. 1 Cor. xii. 12.¢.87. 1 Cor. xiii. 4. 6. 490, 1 Cor. 
 xv. 20. 36. 38. c. 24. 2 Cor. iii. 18. 6. 86. 2 Cor. viii. 5. 6. 56. 2 Cor. x. 
 17. c. 80. 2 Cor. xi. 24. c. 5. 
 
 2 Gal. i. 4. c. 49. 3 Eph. iv. 4. 6. 46. 
 
 * Phil. i. 10. Ye were sincere and without offence, c. 2. Phil. ii. 5—7. 
 ς. 16. 
 
 5 Col. i. 10. α. 21. 61 Thess. Υ. 18. 98. ο. 88. 
 
 7.1 Tim.i. 9; v. 4.0.7. 1 Tim. ii. 8.c. 29. 1 Tim. iii. 13. ¢. 54. 
 
 8 Tit. iii. 1. Ye were ready to every good work, c. 2. 
 
 9. H. E. iii. 34. 
 
 1 Heb. i. 83—13. c. 36. Heb. iii. 2. 5. c. 48. Heb. iv. 14. c. 58. 
 Heb. vi. 13—15.c.10.. Heb. xi. 5. ο. 9. Heb. xi. 8—20. c. 10. Heb. 
 Kis Sl..c.12.. Heb: xi./37..¢c..17.. Heb. χ 1 οὐ Ὁ 11 bieb. xi 17. 
 (HG 
 
 2 James i. 5. 6. 23. James ii, 21—24. ec. 10. 17. 80, 31. James iii. 13 
 ce. 38. James iv. 3. c. 30. 
 
 3 1 Pet. iv. 8. c. 49. 1 Pet. v. 5. cc. 2. 30. 88. 2 Pet. ii. 5, 6. cc. 7. 11. 
 2 Pet. iii. 4. Ὁ, 23. 
 
DOCTRINES OF THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT. xix 
 
 thinks, undeniable: as those to the Epistle to the 
 Romans, and the first to the Corinthians. To these 
 he would add the Epistle to the Hebrews, except that 
 some might “think it not impossible for a man, who 
 had been conversant with the Apostles, who was fully 
 instructed in their doctrine and manner of reasoning, 
 and also well acquainted with the Old Testament, to 
 write with that great resemblance of the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews, both in thought and expression, without 
 borrowing from it, or imitating it*;” and also because 
 at a later period, in the time of Eusebius and Jerome, 
 the Church of Rome did not receive the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews. 
 
 Others, however’, are satisfied from this Epistle 
 that Clement possessed our first three Gospels, the 
 Acts of the Apostles, the Epistle to the Romans, both 
 the Epistles to the Corinthians, and the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews. 
 
 This valuable testimony must also be taken as 
 expressing the sentiments, not of Clement only, but of 
 the Church of Rome, in whose name the Epistle is 
 written, and as implying the high authority which the 
 books had with the Corinthians themselves. 
 
 The Epistle of Clement contains, I believe, no allu- 
 sion to existing miraculous powers. 
 
 The doctrines of this Epistle are worthy of its high 
 character. It is shown elsewhere® that there is no 
 foundation for the charge advanced by Photius and 
 others, that Clement does not express himself in terms 
 
 4 Credibility, vol. i. pp. 300. 302. 
 5 Mill, Prolegomena, n. 140. 
 6 Note (B) at the end of the volume. 
 
 a 2 
 
xx INTRODUCTION. 
 
 sufficiently elevated and distinct respecting the Divine 
 nature of our Lord. Clement speaks of the necessity 
 of spiritual aid to enlighten our understanding’; says 
 that we “are not justified by ourselves, neither by our 
 own wisdom, or knowledge, or piety, in the works 
 which we have done in holiness of heart; but by that 
 faith, by which Almighty God hath justified all men 
 from the beginning *.” He speaks plainly of the Atone- 
 ment by the blood of Christ, which was given for us’, 
 and is “precious in the sight of God; which being 
 shed for our salvation, hath obtained the grace of 
 repentance to the whole world'.” He is careful also 
 to show the necessity of repentance and holiness’, of 
 peace and humility *; after the example of our Lord *: 
 and that they who have the love of Christ should keep 
 his commandments ’*, and endeavour to advance in al} 
 godliness °, in firm hope of a resurrection’, to immor- 
 tality and glory ὃ. 
 
 It will be remembered that all these points are 
 touched upon only incidentally; the main object of 
 the Epistle being to correct particular disorders in the 
 Church of Corinth. 
 
 Such is the Epistle of Clement, which, whether we 
 regard its purely apostolic simplicity, the piety, meek- 
 ness, and Christian spirit which pervade it, or the 
 valuable testimony which it bears to the Scriptures of 
 the New Testament, and to the condition and doctrines 
 of the Church in the age immediately succeeding that 
 
 7 6, 86. 5.Ο: Ὁ; 9 ec. 21. 49. 
 1 6. 7. 2 ec. 8. 29. 5 ρο, 19. 710: 
 4c, 16 5 ec. 80. 49. Oo BRE 
 
 7 
 
 ce. 24.— 26. Β΄ δ 9, 
 
POLYCARP. xxi 
 
 of the Apostles, must be regarded as one of the most 
 valuable remains of Christian antiquity. 
 
 POLYCARP. 
 
 THE birth-place and early life of Polycarp are involved 
 in obscurity. He was, however, of eastern extraction, 
 and appears to have been brought up as a slave by a 
 noble matron named Callisto, who made him her heir. 
 
 That Polycarp conversed familiarly with those who 
 had been the disciples of our Lord, and particularly 
 received instruction from the Apostle St. John, is 
 proved by the testimony of Ireneus*®, who heard it 
 from Polycarp himself. “I saw you,” says Ireneus, 
 writing in his old age to Florinus', “ when I was yet 
 a youth, in the lower Asia with Polycarp; when you 
 were distinguished for your splendid talents in the 
 royal palace, and striving diligently to deserve his 
 favour. I can call to mind what then took place more 
 accurately than more recent events; for impressions 
 made upon the youthful memory grow up and identify 
 themselves with the very frame and texture of the 
 mind. Well, therefore, could I describe the very 
 place in which the blessed Polycarp sat and taught; 
 his going out and coming in; the whole tenour of his 
 life; his personal appearance; the discourses which he 
 made to the people. How would he speak of the 
 conversations which he had held with John, and with 
 others who had seen the Lord. How did he make 
 
 9 Ireneus, Her. iii. 8. Euseb. H. E. iii. 86. iv. 14. See also the Mar- 
 
 tyrdom of Ignatius, c. 3. p. 124. 
 1 Epistola ad Florinum: Euseb. H. E. v. 20. 
 
Xxil INTRODUCTION. 
 
 mention of their words, and of whatsoever he had 
 heard from them respecting the Lord.” 
 
 Polycarp was further instructed in the Christian 
 faith by Bucolus, Bishop of Smyrna, and by him 
 ordained Deacon and Catechist of that Church. On 
 the death of Bucolus, Polycarp was ordained Bishop of 
 Smyrna. Some? ascribe his ordination as Bishop to 
 the Apostle John himself: others* to some of the 
 Apostles, or* to apostolic nen. 
 
 Archbishop Usher® conceives Polycarp to have been 
 “the angel of the Church in Smyrna,” whom St. John 
 addresses in the Revelation’. 
 
 Very few particulars are known respecting the re- 
 maining part of the lifeof Polycarp. He enjoyed the 
 greatest reputation for holiness; and was regarded 
 both by the enemies and friends of the Church, as one 
 of the principal supporters of the faith. He was 
 appointed to go to Rome, on occasion of the contro- 
 versy between the Eastern and Western Churches 
 respecting the celebration of Easter. IJrenzus’ relates 
 how successful Polycarp was during that visit, in bring- 
 ing back to the faith those also who had erred; and 
 relates a conversation with Marcion, who seems to have 
 been desirous of obtaining, if not the approbation, at 
 least the tacit acquiescence of the venerable Polycarp. 
 The heretical leader accosted him in the words, “ Dost 
 thou acknowledge me?” “TI do,” was the reply of 
 Polycarp; “I acknowledge thee for the first-born of 
 
 * Tertullian, de Prescriptione Hereticorum, ec. 32. 
 
 3 Treneus, Heer. iii. 8. + Euseb. H. E. iii, 36. 
 
 > Prolegomena ad Ignat. Epist. c. 3. 
 
 ® Rev. ii. 8—10. 7 Treneeus, iii. 8. Euseb. iv. 14. 
 
EPISTLE OF POLYCARP. Xxili 
 
 Satan.” The tenets of Marcion and the Gnostics were 
 sb totally subversive of the fundamental doctrines of 
 hristianity, that it is not surprising that Polycarp 
 should express himself in terms of strong reprobation 
 respecting them. And the very same phrase having 
 been used by Polycarp, in his Epistle to the Philip- 
 pians*, adds probability to the narrative, and is an 
 iiternal mark of the genuineness of the Epistle. 
 
 The life of Polycarp was prolonged to a great age’. 
 Cave, after Eusebius and Jerome’, places his martyr- 
 dom in the year 167, and conceives him then to have 
 been nearly a hundred years old. He considers, with 
 Tillemont, that the assertion of Polycarp himself, 
 ““ Fourscore and six years have I continued serving 
 Christ’,” refers to the period which had elapsed after 
 his conversion, and not to the length of his whole life. 
 Bishop Pearson ὃ, however, with more probability, places 
 his martyrdom in the year 147, in the reign of Anto- 
 ninus Pius, about the period in which Justin Martyr's 
 first Apology was written. An ancient inscription is 
 in favour of this date*. 
 
 The circular Epistle of the Church of Smyrna’ con- 
 tains a full account of the martyrdom of Polycarp, and 
 was so highly prized, that Eusebius has inserted almost 
 the whole of it in his history. It is a very valuable 
 memorial of Christian antiquity, and is remarkable for 
 discouraging, rather than inciting persons to offer 
 
 SU Chuse 9 Trenzus, ii, 3. 
 
 ? Cave’s Life of Polycarp, cc. 6.15. Jerome, de Viris Illustr. ο. 13. 
 
 ? Martyrdom of Polycarp, c. 9. 
 
 % Dissert. Chron. Part ii. ce. 14. 20. 
 
 ‘ Chishull’s Travels, p. 11, referred to by Lardner, Credibility, Part ii. 
 ς. 6. 5 Page 129 of this volume. 
 
XXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 themselves voluntarily for persecution®. The resigned 
 spirit of the venerable Polycarp is beautifully por- 
 trayed. His prudent retirement for a time, his calm 
 submission to his persecutors, his dignified demeanour 
 before the Proconsul, and the piety which he displayed 
 in his prayers, both at the period of his apprehensic.n 
 and at the hour of death, complete a picture of a 
 Christian martyr, worthy of a follower of the Apostles, 
 and of the high character which he had maintained 
 during his life. 
 
 Polycarp is believed’ to have written several Epis- 
 tles, but of these none is extant except his Hpistle 
 to the Philippians, which was always most highly 
 esteemed’, and was publicly read in the Churches of 
 Asia°®. In style and matter it bears a great resem- 
 blance to the Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians’. 
 
 This Epistle forms an appropriate introduction to 
 the Epistles of Ignatius, although, in strictly chrono- 
 logical order, it would follow them. Ignatius had 
 recently passed through Smyrna, bound with chains, 
 and guarded bya band of soldiers, who treated him with 
 great cruelty, as they led him to Rome, there to seal 
 
 Sc. 4, 
 
 7 Trenzeus, Epist. ad Florin. ap. Euseb. H. E. v. 20. Hieron. Epist. ad 
 Levinum. The fragments ascribed to Polycarp, by Victor of Capua in 
 the sixth century (see Grabe’s Ireneus, p. 205), are probably spurious. 
 Lardner thinks that Irenzeus and Eusebius had seen no writing of Poly- 
 carp but his Epistle to the Philippians. 
 
 8 Irenzus, Her. iii. 3. 9 Hieron. de Script. in Polycarp. 
 
 1 Photius, in the ninth century, states that this Epistle was then read, 
 and observes that it was contained in the same book with the Epistle of 
 Clement to the Corinthians. 
 
 See Pearson, Vindicia Epistolarum S. Ignatii, Par. i. 6. 5, where it is 
 fully shown, that the Epistle, which we now have, is the same to which 
 the earliest Christian writers bear testimony. 
 
EPISTLE OF POLYCARP. XXV 
 
 his testimony to the faith with his blood. As he came 
 to the different cities, it appears from his letters that 
 the Churches sent chosen men to meet him and attend 
 him: and at Smyrna he conversed with Polycarp, and 
 exhibited to the Church there a splendid example of 
 patience and Christian fortitude. It seems probable, 
 from the commencement of Polycarp’s Epistle, that 
 certain of the Philippians had accompanied Ignatius, 
 on his departure from their city towards Rome. Soon 
 after that time, and before any accurate intelligence of 
 his death had reached the Church of Smyrna’, Poly- 
 carp addressed this letter to the Church at Philippi, 
 sending, at the same time, the Epistles which Ignatius 
 had written to himself and to the Smyrneans®*, and 
 several other of his Epistles. 
 | Polycarp begins his Epistle by commending the 
 Philippians for their attention to those who had suf- 
 fered for the faith, and for their own stedfastness: and 
 exhorts them to continue in faith and piety. He 
 reminds them of the doctrine which St. Paul had 
 taught them, in his Epistle addressed to them, and 
 proceeds to set before them the duties of faith, hope, 
 and charity’. He admonishes them to beware of cove- 
 tousness; rehearses the duties of husbands, wives, and 
 widows; of deacons, young men, presbyters, and vir- 
 gins: and enforces these duties by the consideration 
 that all must give an account to God of their actions’. 
 He then proceeds to matters of faith: refers to the 
 nature and sufferings of Christ; to his atonement, and 
 to the example afforded by him, and by the Apostles 
 
 2 Compare cc. 9. 14. 5. ος 19: 
 4 cc. 1—3. 5 cc. 4—6. 
 
ΧΧΥΪ INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and martyrs, as motives to mutual charity and good 
 order ®. 
 
 Having expressed his regret for the misconduct of 
 Valens and his wife, in the true spirit of Christian 
 charity for the offenders, while their offence is rebuked, 
 he declares his confidence that the Philippians are 
 exercised in the holy Scriptures; prays for them; and 
 commands them to pray for others ; and, in conclusion, 
 gives directions respecting the letters of Ignatius’. 
 
 The brief Epistle of Polycarp contains numerous 
 references to the books of the New Testament. There 
 are expressly quoted as the writings of St. Paul, the 
 first Epistle to the Corinthians*’, his Epistle to the 
 Philippians’, and probably that to the Thessalonians’. 
 There is also a passage’ in which the Epistle to the 
 Ephesians seems to be quoted under the appellation of 
 “the Holy Scriptures.” 
 
 With reference to this passage, Lardner*® observes 
 that the words “ Be ye angry and sin not,” are in the 
 Septuagint version of Ps. iv. 4. “ But,” he adds, “ as 
 the latter advice, ‘ Let not the sun go down on your’ 
 wrath, is no where found in the Old Testament, and 
 both these precepts are together in the Epistle to the 
 Ephesians, it seems to me that Polycarp does expressly 
 refer the Philippians to St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephe- 
 sians, and calls it Scripture. If this be so, then we 
 see, that the writings of the New Testament had now the 
 name of ‘ Sacred Writings,’ or ‘ Holy Scriptures,’ and 
 that they were much read by Christians in general.” 
 
 5 ec. 7—10. 7 ee. LI—14. Sree: 
 ϑ 0.19: ‘ec. 11. Compare 2 Thess. i. 4. 
 2c. 12. Eph. iv. 26. * Credibility, Part ii. c. 6. 
 
REFERENCES TO THE NEW TESTAMENT. XXVli 
 
 n another place* Polycarp appears to refer to the 
 Scriptures of the New Testament in general, in the 
 phrase, “ Whosoever perverts the oracles of the Lord 
 to his own lusts, and says there is neither resurrection 
 nor judgment, he is the first-born of Satan : and there 
 are other references’ to passages now found in the 
 Gospels, as the words of our Lord. 
 
 In the translation of this Epistle a reference is 
 made to many passages of the New Testament to 
 which Polycarp alludes. Others are subjoined®. 
 
 ONS Tie Bex 27 7. 
 / § Matt. v. 44. c.12. Pray for those who persecute and hate you. 
 
 Rom. xiii. 9,10. c. 8. For if any one have these things, he bath fulfilled 
 the law of righteousness. 
 
 2 Cor. vi. 7. ο. 4. Let us arm ourselves with the armour of righteousness. 
 
 Gal. iv. 26. c. 8. Edified in the faith delivered to you, which is the 
 mother of us all. 
 
 Phil. ii. 16. c. 9. All these have not run in vain. 
 
 Col. i. 28. c. 12. That ye may be perfect in Christ. 
 
 1 Thess. ν. 22. c. 2. Abstain from all unrighteousness. 
 
 2 Thess. i. 4. c. 11. For he glories in you, in all the churches, which 
 alone had known God. 
 
 Thessalonica being the capital city of the Province of Macedonia in 
 which Philippi was, Polycarp might consider the Epistle to the Thessalo- 
 nians as addressed also to the Philippians. See 6. 3. note 1. 
 
 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2. c. 12. Pray for all the saints. Pray also for kings, &c. 
 
 1 Tim. iii. 8. c. 5. The deacons must not be double-tongued. The 
 whole chapter resembles 1 Tim. iii. 
 
 2 Tim. ii. 11. c. 5. If we walk worthy of him, we shall also reign with 
 him. 
 
 2 Tim. iv. 10. 6. 9. They loved not this present world. 
 
 Heb. iv. 12. c.4. He sees all blemishes, and nothing is hid from him, &c. 
 
 1 Pet. ii. 17. c. 10. Lovers of the brotherhood. 
 
 1 Pet. iv. 5. c.2. Who comes to be the judge of quick and dead. 
 
 1 Pet. v. 5. c.10. Be ye subject one to another. 
 
 Jude ver. 8. c.3. Ye may be able to be edified in the faith delivered 
 unto you. 
 
 The words in ec. 12. “ Now the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and he himself who is our everlasting High-priest, the Son of God, 
 Jesus Christ, build you up in faith and truth:” seem to be an allusion to 
 Heb. iv. 14; vi. 20; vii. 3. 
 
 ! 
 
XXVlil INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In this very short Epistle we have then refere es 
 to two of the Gospels, to the Acts of the Apostles, to 
 ten of the first thirteen Epistles of St. Paul, and pro- 
 bably to the Epistles to the Colossians and to the 
 Hebrews: to the first Epistle of St. Peter’, and to 
 the first Epistle of St. John ὃ. 
 
 Of a writing, which is so scriptural in its language, 
 it is needless to observe that the doctrines are pure. 
 Faith in Christ, who is our hope, and the earnest of 
 our righteousness ὅ, who suffered for us, that we might 
 live through him, “our everlasting High Priest, the 
 Son of God';” a faith bringing forth the fruits of 
 holiness, purity, and meekness’; salvation by grace, 
 not of works, but by the will of God, through Jesus 
 Christ *; watchfulness unto prayer, perseverance in 
 fasting, and supplication to God not to lead us into 
 temptation *, and for all conditions of men°; the imi- 
 tation of the example of Christ, and of his faithful 
 disciples®; the study of the Scriptures ’,—these are 
 the doctrines of this truly Apostolical Epistle. And 
 these doctrines are employed to enforce the fullest 
 discharge of all the relative duties of different stations 
 in life *. 
 
 The profession of Polycarp was no vain display. 
 Their influence upon his own life is exemplified in 
 the calm serenity with which he met his death; and 
 in the humble confidence which he expressed in his 
 last prayer ὃ. 
 
 7 Eusebius, H. E. iv. 14, says that Polycarp in his Epistle to the 
 Philippians uses testimonies from the first Epistle of Peter. 
 
 8 See Lardner, Credibility, Part ii. cc. 6. 41. 
 
 3.6. 1: 8: ΔΛῸΣ 10. 5. Ὁ. 9. 12: Sent: 
 4. Cs 7. 5 Ὁ, 19: § cc. 8, 9. 7. Ὁ. 15: 
 8 cc. 4—6. 9. Martyrdom of Polycarp, c. 14. 
 
IGNATIUS. xxix 
 
 IGNATIUS. 
 
 IGNATIUS appears to have been a man of much more 
 ardent mind than Polycarp. The place of his birth, 
 and even his country, are entirely unknown. The 
 tradition has been preserved’ that he was a disciple of 
 St. John, that he conversed with the Apostles, and 
 was instructed by them both in the familiar and more 
 sublime doctrines of Christianity; but it appears? that 
 he had never conversed with our Lord himself*. So 
 highly was he esteemed that, about the year 70, on 
 the death of Euodius, he was ordained Bishop of the 
 important Church of Antioch, the metropolis of Syria, 
 possibly by the imposition of the hands of the Apo- 
 stles*, who still survived. The high character which 
 he bore is manifest from the terms in which he is de- 
 scribed *, as “a man in all things like the Apostles ;” 
 one who, “like a skilful pilot, by the helm of prayer 
 and fasting, by the constancy of his doctrine and 
 spiritual labour, withstood the raging floods, fearing 
 lest he should lose any of those who wanted courage, 
 or were not well grounded in the faith.” 
 
 Socrates®, in the fifth century, ascribes to Ignatius 
 
 1 Martyrdom of Ignatius, cc. 1.3. Eusebius, H. E. iii. 36. Chry- 
 sostom, Homil. in S. Ignat. tom. v. p. 499. 17. Savile. 
 
 * Chrysostom, tom. v. p. 503. 36. 
 
 3 See Note (2), p. 54. 
 
 4 Eusebius, H. E. iii. 36. Chrysostom, Hom. tom. vy. p. 499. 32. In 
 the Apostolical Constitutions, vii. 46, Ignatius is said to have been or- 
 dained Bishop by St. Paul. Others mention St. Peter also. The impro- 
 bability of this is shown in Dr. Burton’s Lectures on the Ecclesiastical 
 History of the First Century. Lect. xii. 
 
 5 Relation of the Martyrdom of Ignatius, c. 1. 
 
 6 Socrates, H. E. vi. 8. 
 
XXX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the introduction of the custom of singing hymns 
 alternately in the choir, at Antioch. And some have 
 thought’ that, although Flavianus and Diodorus, in 
 the time of Constantius, were the first who introduced 
 at Antioch the custom of thus singing the Psalms of 
 David, yet hymns might be so used at a period as early 
 as the time of Ignatius. 
 
 If the tradition be unfounded, the use made of the 
 name of Ignatius shows at least that his memory was 
 held in great respect at Antioch so long after his 
 death. 
 
 But the best memorial of his pastoral] zeal and dili- 
 gence is found in the letters which he wrote to the 
 different Churches, as he was carried prisoner from 
 Antioch to Rome, in order to be put to death. 
 
 The date of the martyrdom of Ignatius is differently 
 computed. According to the Acts of his martyrdom, 
 it took place in the year 107, the ninth year of Trajan’s 
 reign. And this date is accordingly followed by many 
 chronologists. Others*, however, with great proba- 
 bility fix upon the year 116. 
 
 Whatever was the precise date, he was called to 
 answer before Trajan, as he passed through Antioch, 
 elated with his late victory over the Scythians and 
 Dacians, and about to set out on his Parthian expedi- 
 tion. The peculiar circumstances in which Trajan was 
 placed may perhaps show why that prince, who was 
 usually mild and considerate, exercised such severity 
 towards Ignatius. In the history of the martyrdom of 
 
 7 See Bingham, xiv. 1. 11. 
 8 Bp. Pearson, Dissertatio de anno quo S. Ignatius ad bestias erat con- 
 demnatus. Lloyd apud Pagi ad Baron. an. 109. Grabe ad Acta Ignatii. 
 
IGNATIUS. Xxxl 
 
 Ignatius the rigour of the Emperor is ascribed to his 
 desire of reducing the Christians, as well as others, to 
 submission to his will. It is not improbable however, 
 that Trajan, on his arrival at Antioch, found a persecu- 
 tion already raging there. Times of public rejoicing were 
 usually periods of peculiar vexation to the primitive 
 Christians, who were then especially urged to comply 
 with some of the idolatrous customs of the heathen. 
 The arrival of the Emperor was calculated to call forth 
 the most vivid feelings both of loyalty and supersti- 
 tion: and all his subjects were not likely to imitate 
 the decent flattery of Pliny, who, in ascribing to his 
 imperial patron the highest virtues of which human 
 nature is capable, complimented him upon his refusing 
 to receive divine honours °. 
 
 Ignatius might thus probably be pointed out to 
 Trajan as a leader of a sect which refused to sacrifice 
 to the gods for the safety of the Emperor, and the 
 success of his arms: and the venerable Bishop was not 
 of a disposition to shrink from the severest trial to 
 which his profession of the faith exposed him. He 
 voluntarily offered to be brought before Trajan, and 
 there expressed himself in the noble manner recorded 
 in the Acts of his martyrdom. ; 
 
 The result of his conference with the Emperor was 
 such as might have been expected. He who gave 
 Pliny directions not to seek for the Christians, in his 
 province, but, if they were brought before him, and 
 
 9 Discernatur orationibus nostris diversitas temporum, et ex ipso genere 
 gratiarum agendarum intelligatur, cui, quando sint hactenus ut deo, nunc 
 nusquam ut numini blandiamur. Non enim de tyranno, sed de cive: non 
 
 de domino, sed de parente loquimur. Plinii Panegyricus, sub init. Com- 
 pare Tertullian, Apol. c. 34. 
 
ΧΧΧΙΪ INTRODUCTION. 
 
 proved to be such, to punish them capitally', acted 
 only in consistency with his own principles, when he 
 condemned Ignatius to suffer death. 
 
 It is not so easy to account for the reason which 
 induced Trajan to send him from Antioch to Rome, to 
 be exposed to the wild beasts. If the advisers of the 
 Emperor intended, by such a cruel delay, either to 
 break the spirit of the martyr, or to give him an 
 opportunity of recanting, their object was far from 
 being attained. Ignatius rejoiced that he was counted 
 worthy to suffer for the faith of Christ. Although 
 deeply conscious of his own infirmity as a man, and 
 sensible of his inferiority to the Apostles, in whose 
 steps he trod, his only fear was lest the love of the 
 brethren at Rome or elsewhere should prevent him 
 from attaining the crown of martyrdom. 
 
 In reading his passionate appeals, especially in his 
 Epistle to the Romans’, we cannot but feel that the 
 ardent and almost impatient spirit, by which he was 
 animated, is strongly cohtrasted with the dignified 
 calmness of St. Paul, when he was “in a strait betwixt 
 _ two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, 
 which is far better,” but was yet contented to “abide 
 in the flesh,” which was more needful for his converts *. 
 It must be remembered however that Ignatius lived at 
 a period, when the blood of the martyrs was appointed 
 to be the seed of the Church: that if his notions of 
 martyrdom appear to have been exaggerated, he ex- 
 presses the most perfect resignation, the deepest 
 humility and self-abasement, in speaking of himself. 
 
 1 Plin. Epist. x. 98. 7 ec. 4, 5. 
 SUP halted; 24: 
 
IGNATIUS. XxXxill 
 
 And we cannot but admire the high courage of this 
 worthy successor of the Apostles, which, as he passed 
 from Antioch to Rome, as a condemned and degraded 
 criminal, converted his tedious journey into a triumphal 
 procession. 
 
 His progress is accurately described in the Acts of 
 his martyrdom. He set sail from Seleucia, and landed 
 for a short time at Smyrna. At this place he was 
 gratified with an interview with Polycarp, the Bishop 
 of that see, who had been with him a fellow disciple 
 of St. John. And, as soon as his arrival was known, 
 the neighbouring Churches of Asia sent their Bishops, 
 and other messengers, to visit the venerable martyr. 
 The Church of Ephesus was represented by Onesi- 
 mus*; that of Magnesia, by Damas’, that of Tralles, 
 by Polybius®, their respective Bishops, and by others 
 of their body. During his hurried stay at Smyrna, he 
 found leisure to write his Epistles to the Ephesians, 
 Magnesians, and Trallians; and to send also his Epistle 
 to the Romans, by some Ephesians, who were likely to 
 reach the imperial city sooner than himself. 
 
 Ignatius had intended to write a second Epistle to 
 the Ephesians’; but either he was prevented by want 
 of time, or the Epistle has been lost. 
 
 During his abode at Smyrna he was in great anxiety 
 for the Church of Syria which he had left under per- 
 secution; and in all the letters ὃ which he wrote from 
 that city, he entreats their prayers for his own suffering 
 Church, which was deprived of its Bishop *. But when 
 
 4 Ignatius, Ephes. c. 1. 5 Magnes. c. 2. 
 ΠΥ 11- Ὁ: 1. 7 Ephes. ο. 20. 
 8 Eph.c. 21. Magn.c. 14. Trall.c. 13. Rom.c. 9. 
 
 9 Rom. c. 9. 
 
XXXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 he had advanced as far as Troas, he learned that the 
 persecution at Antioch had ceased; not improbably 
 from some decree of Trajan himself. It should be 
 observed, that in the three remaining Epistles, which 
 Ignatius wrote from Troas, to the Churches of Phila- 
 delphia and Smyrna, and individually to Polycarp’, he 
 incidentally expresses his heartfelt satisfaction that 
 their prayers had been heard, and that the Church of 
 Syria was at peace, and had received its “proper body;” 
 probably by the appointment of Heros, as his successor 
 in the episcopal office. 
 
 Tgnatius would have written to other Churches’; but 
 was hurried away from Troas to Neapolis by those who 
 guarded him. He thence proceeded by land through 
 Macedonia and Epirus to Epidamnus; embarked again 
 for Italy ; and, on his arrival at Rome, on the last day 
 of the public spectacles, was immediately thrown to 
 the wild beasts in the Amphitheatre ; displaying in his 
 last moments the same constancy and piety as had 
 marked his previous life. 
 
 THE EPISTLES OF IGNATIUS. 
 
 Tue Epistles of Ignatius are most interesting and valu- 
 able documents of the early Christian Church. They 
 are the unstudied effusions of an ardent and deeply 
 religious mind; and bespeak a man who was superior 
 to this world, and anxious to finish his course with 
 joy. It is an internal mark of their genuineness that 
 their style is harsh and unpolished ; and occasionally 
 
 1 Philadelph.c. 10. Smyrn.c. 11. Epist. to Polycarp, ec. 7. 
 2 Epist. to Polycarp, c. 8, 
 
EPISTLES OF IGNATIUS. XXXV 
 
 not untinctured with some degree of oriental exagge- 
 ration. 
 
 Eusebius *, in mentioning these seven Epistles, 
 observes that Ignatius was peculiarly desirous to re- 
 press the heretical opinions which were then first 
 beginning to spring up in the Church, and to confirm 
 those whom he addressed, in the faith delivered by the 
 Apostles. The heretical tenets were those of the 
 Gnostics; and it is evident from Ignatius’ Epistles to 
 the Asiatic Churches that the evil was very prevalent 
 and injurious. In his Epistle to Polycarp there are 
 only two general cautions‘ against false doctrine ; and 
 in his Epistle to the Romans, there are no allusions to 
 the subject. That Epistle, however, was written prin- 
 cipally to prepare the Church of Rome for his approach; 
 and Ignatius was so far from possessing the same 
 acquaintance with it as with the Churches of Asia, 
 that he does not even mention the name of its Bishop. 
 No conclusion, therefore, can be drawn from this 
 circumstance, as to the prevalence of Gnosticism at 
 Rome. 
 
 The evils of schism, and the great disorders arising 
 from the disobedience of individuals, especially in the 
 infant state of the Church, may account for the very 
 forcible language in which Ignatius urges obedience to 
 the Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons, as the successors 
 of the Apostles, according to Divine appointment. 
 
 The doctrines contained in the Epistles of Ignatius 
 are purely scriptural. The hasty manner in which 
 they were written, prevents them from containing any 
 
 3H. E. iii. 36. 4 cc. 3. 5. 
 b 2 
 
XXXVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 thing like a formal declaration of any doctrinal points : 
 but constant incidental references are made to the 
 absolute Divinity of our Lord’, to his pre-existence °, 
 and eternity’, and the union of the divine and human 
 nature in his person*®; to the influence of the Holy 
 Spirit °, salvation by means of Christ’s death alone ', and 
 the necessity of personal holiness ἢ. ͵ 
 
 The testimony which Ignatius bears to the writings 
 of the New Testament is very valuable. He quotes, 
 indeed, only one book by name, the Epistle of St. Paul 
 to the Ephesians*; but Lardner shows at length that 
 he alludes plainly to the Gospels of St. Matthew and 
 St. John, and probably to that of St. Luke: that he 
 has allusions to the Acts of the Apostles, to eleven of 
 the first thirteen Epistles of St. Paul, to the Epistle to 
 the Hebrews, to the first Epistle of St. Peter, and to 
 the first and third Epistles of St. John. He uses terms 
 also which imply a collection of the Gospels, and of the 
 Epistles of the Apostles, and of the books of the New 
 Testament generally *. 
 
 The references given by Lardner occur in the 
 shorter Greek text of the Medicean and Colbert 
 Manuscripts, as given by Usher and Vossius, and 
 received by Pearson. In the three much shorter 
 Syriac Epistles lately edited by Mr. Cureton, the 
 
 5 Ephes. Introduction, ce. 1. 7. 18—20. Magnes. 7. Epist.to Polycarp, 
 c.8. Martyrdom, ce. 2. 8. 
 
 6 Magnes. cc. 6. 8. 7 Magnes. c. 6. 
 
 8 Smyrn. ὁ. 4. ® Ephes. ce. 8. 15. 
 
 ' Trall.c. 2. Phil. cc. 8.9. Smyrn. ce. 1, 2.6. Martyrd. c. 2. 
 
 2 Ephes.c. 12. Rom.c. 7. Epist. to Polycarp, c. 1. 
 
 3 Ignat. Ephes. c. 12. 
 
 4 Lardner, Credibility, Part ii. c. 5. 
 
EPISTLES OF IGNATIUS. XXXVil 
 
 references to Scripture are proportionably fewer; but 
 still sufficiently numerous and distinct °. 
 
 These allusions, it will be seen, are usually made in 
 an incidental, unstudied manner, without express marks 
 of reference; precisely, indeed, in the manner in which 
 we might expect Ignatius, under the circumstances in 
 which he wrote, to have referred to Scriptures, with 
 the general meaning of which both he and those whom 
 he addressed were well acquainted; but without the 
 formality of express verbal quotation. 
 
 It would be foreign to the present purpose, and 
 inconsistent with the limits of such an Introduction as 
 this, to enter at any length into the well-known con- 
 troversy respecting the genuineness of the Epistles 
 
 5 In the Syriac Epistles there is an allusion to the star mentioned in the 
 Gospel history of Matt. ii, and to the song of the angels, Luke ii, in 
 Ephes. c. 19. Matt. x. 16, “ Be ye therefore wise as serpents and harm- 
 less as doves,” is directly quoted in the Epistle to Polycarp, ¢. 2. 
 
 The remarkable phrase “the blood of God,” apparently taken from 
 Acts xx. 28, is found in Ephes. c. 1; 1 Cor. i. 18, is referred to in Ephes. 
 c. 18; 1 Cor. iv. 4, is quoted, Rom. ο. 5. 
 
 In the Introduction of Ignatius’ Epistle to the Ephesians, there is an 
 allusion to St. Paul, Ephes. i. 1—6. In Ignatius, Ephes. c. 9, to St. Paul, 
 Ephes. ii. 22. In Ignatius, Ephes. c. 10, to St. Paul, Ephes. v. 1. In 
 Ignatius to the Romans, c. 6, to St. Paul, Phil. i. 21, although the Syriac 
 version seems there to misrepresent the meaning of the word τοκετὸς in 
 the Greek. The Epistle to Polycarp quotes in c. 5, Ephes. v. 25 : and in 
 c. 6, there are three references to Scripture. The expression, “please 
 him and serve him, that ye may receive wages of him,” seems to allude to 
 2 Tim. ii. 4; the charge, “let your baptism be to you as armour, &c.,” 
 appears to refer to Ephes. vi. 13—17: and the concluding clause, where 
 ὀναίμην is found in the Greek, seems to recognize the same expression in 
 St. Paul’s Epistle to Philemon ver. 20. Thus, in three short Epistles, there 
 are references more or less distinct to two of the Gospels, to the Acts of 
 the Apostles, and to five of St. Paul’s Epistles. It is to be observed, 
 also, that the less obvious allusions to St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, 
 were likely to be quite intelligible to the Church at Ephesus to which 
 
 Ignatius wrote. 
 
XXXVlii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ascribed to Ignatius. But, as the whole question, 
 which had long appeared to be nearly set at rest, has 
 lately been revived, and will probably be the subject 
 of much further examination, it is requisite to give a 
 brief outline of the present state of the inquiry. 
 
 The question resolves itself into two parts, whether 
 Ignatius left behind him written Epistles; and whether 
 we now possess Epistles which can be satisfactorily 
 proved to be genuine. 
 
 On the first point there can exist no doubt. Poly- 
 carp, in his Epistle to the Philippians *°, expressly 
 mentions Epistles written by Ignatius. Irenzus’, in 
 the second century, refers also to Ignatius, and alludes 
 to a passage now found in his Epistle to the Romans. 
 Theophilus of Antioch ‘, in the same century, alludes 
 to his Epistle to the Ephesians. In the early part of 
 the third century, Origen ° quotes two passages from 
 the Epistles of Ignatius, now extant in the Epistles to 
 the Romans and Ephesians. 
 
 Eusebius, in the beginning of the fourth century, 
 states expressly ' that Ignatius wrote seven Epistles, 
 which he enumerates, describing each by mentioning 
 particulars contained in them, and quoting the Epistles 
 to the Romans, and to the Smyrneans. 
 
 Pearson ἢ shows at length, that the chain of reference 
 to the Epistles of Ignatius extends without interruption 
 
 Stee. 9: 19: 
 
 7 Eusebius, H. E. ν. 8. Irenzus, v. 28. Eusebius, H. E. iii, 36. Igna- 
 tius’s Ep. to Romans, c. 4. 
 
 8 Comment. in Matt. Ignat. Ep. 6. Ephes. ο. 19. 
 
 ° Prolegom. in Cant. Canticorum. Hom. vi. in Luc. Ignatius, Rom. 
 c. 7. Ephes. ο. 19. 
 
 1 Eusebius, H. E. iii. 36. 
 
 * Vindicize Epistolarum 5. Ignatii, Par. 1, c. 2. 
 
EPISTLES OF IGNATIUS. XXXIX 
 
 through Christian writers from the second century to 
 the fifteenth. These and other testimonies, as far as 
 the first ten centuries, are given at length in Mr. 
 Cureton’s Corpus Ignatianum*. This evidence is 
 abundantly sufficient to prove that Ignatius wrote 
 certain Epistles; that seven of those ascribed to him 
 existed at the beginning of the fourth century; and 
 that Epistles supposed to be his have been never lost 
 sight of. 
 
 But here arises the second part of the inquiry, 
 whether we now possess Epistles which can be satis- 
 factorily proved to be the genuine writings of Ignatius ; 
 and this evidently requires an examination into the 
 manner in which Epistles ascribed to Ignatius have 
 come down to our own times. 
 
 A full account of the several editions is given in 
 Pearson’s Vindicie Epistolarum S. Ignatii*, and in the 
 Introduction of Mr. Cureton’s Corpus Ignatianum ἢ, of 
 which the following is an abstract. 
 
 In the year 1495, three Epistles purporting to be 
 written by Ignatius, but now acknowledged to be 
 spurious, were published at Paris, annexed to a life of 
 Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. These 
 Epistles were in Latin; two of them purported to be 
 written to St. John, and one to the Virgin Mary ; 
 and to these was added a pretended answer of the 
 Virgin Mary®. In 1498, eleven other Epistles, as- 
 cribed to Ignatius, were published at Paris, in Latin, 
 
 3 Corpus Ignat. pp. 158—180. 
 
 4 Pearson, Vindicie ; Procemium, c. 2—4. 
 
 5 Cureton, c. 1. Introduction, pp. i—xvi. 
 
 6 
 
 Cureton, Corpus Ignatianum, p. 156. Petermann, Ignatii &c. 
 Epistole, pp. 487. 441. 
 
xl INTRODUCTION. 
 
 by J. Faber Stapulensis, or Le Febvre d’Etaples, con- 
 taining those Epistles which have since been often 
 ascribed to Ignatius, with the omission of that ad- 
 dressed to Mary of Cassobolita. That Epistle was added " 
 in 1536, by Champerius; and several editions of the 
 whole fifteen Epistles were subsequently published. 
 
 The first printed edition of any Greek Epistles 
 ascribed to Ignatius appeared in 1557. It was printed 
 at Dillingen, and edited by Valentinus Paceus, from a 
 manuscript in the library at Augsburg. This edition, 
 as well as two others, printed by William Morel, at 
 Paris, in 1558 and 1562, contained twelve Epistles, 
 The same twelve Epistles were published independently, 
 from a manuscript belonging to Caspar von Nydpruck, 
 by Andrew Gesner, in 1560; and three other editions, 
 and a Latin free translation of the Greek, appeared 
 before the end of the sixteenth century. Up to this 
 time, whatever had been found with the name of Igna- 
 tius had been published without discrimination. 
 
 The first attempt to distinguish critically between 
 those writings, improperly ascribed to Ignatius, and 
 those which are genuine, was made in 1608, by Mar- 
 tialis Meestraeus, in an edition of the Epistles published 
 at Paris. He rejected absolutely the three Epistles 
 which exist only in Latin; and received as genuine 
 the seven Epistles bearing the same name as those 
 quoted by Eusebius, namely, those to the Trallians, 
 Magnesians, Philadelphians, Smyrneans, Ephesians, 
 Romans, and to Polycarp; four of which are quoted 
 by Theodoret: and he also regarded as genuine the 
 Kpistle to the Antiochians, quoted by Johannes Da- 
 mascenus, and that to the Philippians, which he con- 
 
EPISTLES OF IGNATIUS. xli 
 
 ceived to be that referred to by Polycarp in his Epistle. 
 On other grounds he received also three other Epistles, 
 to Hero the Deacon, to the Tarsians, and to Mary of 
 Cassobolita. 
 
 In 1623, Vedelius published at Geneva an edition, 
 in which he divided the Epistles into two classes; 
 considering as genuine the seven Epistles, the titles 
 of which are referred to by Eusebius; and regarding 
 the other five as spurious. 
 
 A few years after this, Archbishop Usher observed 
 that Robert Grosteste, Bishop of Lincoln, in 1250, and 
 William Wodeford, and John Tissington, about 1396, 
 had quoted passages from Ignatius, which did not 
 agree with the Greek text or Latin version of the 
 published Epistles, although they did agree with 
 quotations made by Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus, in the 
 fifth century. As those writers were all Englishmen, 
 it occurred to his acute and inquiring mind that some 
 manuscript of the genuine Epistles of Ignatius might 
 exist in England; and his inquiries led to the dis- 
 covery of two Latin manuscripts, one in the Library 
 of Caius College, Cambridge, the other in the pos- 
 session of Dr. Richard Montacute, Bishop of Norwich, 
 which differed materially from the Greek editions 
 hitherto published, but agreed with quotations made 
 by the earlier Christian writers. 
 
 With the assistance of these and other manuscripts, 
 the Archbishop published, in 1644, a Greek edition 
 of the Epistles of Ignatius, in which the passages in 
 the Greek, which had no corresponding words in the 
 shorter Latin version, were printed in red ink. The 
 order of the Epistles was:—1. To the Smyrneans; 
 
xlii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 2. To Polycarp; 3. To the Ephesians; 4. To the 
 Magnesians; 5. To the Philadelphians; 6. To the 
 Trallians; 7. Mary of Cassobolita to Ignatius; 8. Ig- 
 natius to Mary of Cassobolita; 9. To the Tarsians; 
 10. To the Antiochians; 11. To Hero; 12. To the 
 Romans. 
 
 It is very remarkable that while Archbishop Usher 
 was looking for a transcript of a manuscript of Igna- 
 tius, in the Medicean Library at Florence, he ex- 
 pressed a hope to obtain the aid of a Syriac version, 
 which he deemed it possible still to find at Rome, or 
 of an Armenian or Arabic version. 
 
 Two years after this, in 1646, Isaac Vossius pub- 
 lished an edition of the Greek text, from the Medicean 
 manuscript, to which the Archbishop had referred. 
 This manuscript was defective at the end; but as far 
 as it extended, it agreed closely with the shorter 
 Latin version, containing the first eight Epistles, and 
 a part of the ninth, in the same order. The Epistle to 
 the Romans, which was deficient in the manuscript, 
 was supplied from the earlier editions. Vossius divided 
 the Epistles into three classes: the first containing 
 those of which the titles agree with those mentioned 
 by Eusebius; the second, Epistles which were falsely 
 attributed to Ignatius; and the third, the interpolated 
 Kpistles. 
 
 Archbishop Usher, in 1647, published the six Epis- 
 tles, from the Medicean text given by Vossius. 
 
 The want of authority for the Epistle to the Romans, 
 in the Medicean manuscript, was supplied in 1689, by 
 the publication of that Epistle by Ruinart, from a 
 manuscript in the collection of J. B. Colbert: and the 
 
EPISTLES OF IGNATIUS. xiii 
 
 seven Epistles, often called Eusebian, as recognized by 
 Eusebius, have since been frequently published in the 
 shorter form’. The last and most valuable of these 
 editions, is that of Dr. Jacobson, Regius Professor of 
 Divinity at Oxford, for which the Medicean MS., that 
 of the Epistle to the Romans, in the Royal Paris 
 Library, and the Latin MS., in Caius College, Cam- 
 bridge, were collated. 
 
 From the first publication of Epistles ascribed to 
 Ignatius, a warm controversy was carried on respecting 
 their genuineness. The most able of those who opposed 
 the Epistles was Daillé, in 1666: to which, after 
 Daillé’s death, the celebrated Pearson, afterwards 
 Bishop of Chester, replied in his elaborate work, 
 entitled Vindiciz Epistolarum S. Ignatii, published 
 in 1672. In that work, marked by the learning and 
 accuracy which distinguished that celebrated man, 
 the whole question, as it then stood, is carefully 
 examined ; and the conclusion at which he arrives is °, 
 that there have been four different editions of Epistles 
 ascribed to Ignatius. 
 
 The first, the genuine edition, collected by Polycarp, 
 and added to his Epistle to the Philippians. This 
 edition he supposes to have been known to Irenzus, 
 Theophilus, and other ancient Christian writers, as well 
 as to Eusebius. The second, an interpolated edition of 
 the same seven Epistles, of which Pearson possessed a 
 manuscript, containing the Epistles in the following 
 
 7 A list of editions is given in the Introduction to Dr. Jacobson’s 
 Patres Apostolici; and by Mr. Cureton, Introduction to his Corpus 
 Ignatianum. 
 
 8 Procemium, cap. vi. p. 28. 
 
xliv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 order, Trallians, Magnesians, Philadelphians, Smyrneans, 
 Polycarp, Ephesians, Romans. He finds this edition 
 quoted by Stephanus Gobaras, and Anastasius, Patriarch 
 of Antioch, in the sixth century. 
 
 The third edition he supposes to have consisted of 
 the seven genuine Epistles, and four spurious Epistles, 
 and to be represented by the Medicean manuscript, 
 when perfect, and by the Latin version published by 
 Archbishop Usher. This is quoted by Johannes 
 Damascenus, and by Antonius Melissa in the eighth 
 century. 
 
 The fourth edition he supposes to have consisted of 
 the seven interpolated Epistles of the second edition, 
 to which were added the four spurious Epistles of the 
 third edition, and the spurious Epistle to the Philippians. 
 This is the edition of twelve Epistles, which was 
 printed from the Augsburg manuscript by Paceus, and 
 from that of Nydpruck by Gesner. 
 
 The influence of Pearson’s work was such, that 
 although an anonymous reply by Larroque appeared in 
 1674, the controversy seemed to be terminated. The 
 opinion prevailed, although not universally yet very 
 extensively, that the seven shorter Epistles as published 
 by Vossius and Usher were the genuine Epistles of 
 Ignatius, recognized by Eusebius, and confirmed by the 
 testimony of a long succession of Christian writers. 
 
 It was still, however, observable that no single 
 manuscript has been found which contains those seven 
 shorter Epistles, unmixed with others ascribed to 
 Ignatius °: and that many persons who regarded these 
 Epistles as genuine in the main, imagined that par- 
 
 9 Journal of Sacred Literature, No. x., for April, 1850, p. 363. 
 
EPISTLES OF IGNATIUS. xlv 
 
 ticular passages might have been altered or inter- 
 polated. 
 
 No further light was thrown upon this subject till 
 the year 1783, when one of Archbishop Usher’s anticipa- 
 tions was realized, by the printing, atConstantinople, of 
 a translation of the Epistles of Ignatius in the Armenian 
 language. This translation is ascribed to the fifth 
 century of the Christian era, and from internal evidence 
 is supposed to have been made not from the Greek 
 directly, but from a Syriac version; and consists of 
 thirteen Epistles in the following order, Smyrneans, 
 Polycarp, Ephesians, Magnesians, Trallians, Philadel- 
 phians, Romans, Antiochians, Mary of Cassobolita to Ig- 
 natius, Ignatius to Mary of Cassobolita, Tarsians, Hero, 
 Philippians. The text agrees nearly with the shorter 
 Greek of the Medicean manuscript, as far as that 
 manuscript extends "°. 
 
 From the time that Archbishop Usher expressed the 
 hope that a Syriac version of the Epistles of Ignatius 
 would be found, attention was directed towards the East, 
 and catalogues were occasionally brought to England 
 or published, in which mention was made of such a 
 version. Dr. Fell, afterwards Bishop of Oxford, 
 in 1680, and subsequent years, caused diligent in- 
 quiry to be made, and several journeys to be under- 
 taken in prosecution of the search. On one of those 
 journeys, Huntingdon, afterwards Bishop of Raphoe, 
 went to Egypt, and visited the very convent where 
 the Syriac version was afterwards discovered. 
 
 10 See Petermann’s “ S. Ignatii Patris Apostolici que feruntur Epistole 
 una cum ejusdem Martyrio. Collatis Edd. Grecis versionibusque Syriaca, 
 Armenica, Latinis,” &c. Lipsiz 1849. 
 
xlvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Other inquiries' kept alive the expectation that 
 works of Ignatius would still be found in the Syriac 
 language. This expectation was at length fulfilled. 
 In 1839 Mr. Cureton transcribed from a Syriac manu- 
 script a fragment of the martyrdom of Ignatius, con- 
 taining a part of his Epistle to the Romans; and soon 
 after found the entire Epistle of Polycarp, in a volume 
 transcribed probably before the year 550, procured by 
 Archdeacon Tattam from the monastery of Maria 
 Deipara in the Desert of Nitria in Egypt. In the 
 year 1843 a large additional number of Syriac manu- 
 scripts, obtained from the same place, was lodged in 
 the British Museum: and in them Mr. Cureton dis- 
 covered not only several additional passages from 
 Ignatius, but three entire Epistles, to St. Polycarp, to 
 the Ephesians, and to the Romans, in a manuscript 
 written not later than the seventh or eighth century. 
 The same three Epistles were afterwards found also in 
 another manuscript presented to the same monastery 
 in the year of our Lord 931, and probably written 
 three or four centuries earlier: and it is said that a 
 third copy of the same Epistles has since been found in 
 the Kast. 
 
 These three Epistles, as well as portions of other 
 parts of the Epistles of Ignatius, translated into Syriac 
 from the Greek writers who have quoted them, have 
 been edited by Mr. Cureton, first in his “ Ancient 
 
 299 
 
 Syriac Version of the Epistles of Ignatius,” and after- 
 
 See Introduction to Cureton’s Corpus Ignatianum, pp. xxv.—Ixxxvi. 
 
 ? The Ancient Syriac Version of the Epistles of St. Ignatius to St. Poly- 
 carp, the Ephesians, and the Romans, &c., by Wm. Cureton, M.A. 
 London: Rivingtons, 1845. 
 
EPISTLES OF IGNATIUS. xlvii 
 
 wards in his “ Corpus Ignatianum °*,” a work to which 
 every student of ecclesiastical antiquity must now have 
 recourse, in order to form a judgment respecting the 
 writings ascribed to Ignatius. 
 
 The discovery of these three Epistles in Syriac has 
 opened an entirely new field of inquiry; whether they 
 are to be regarded as representing the only genuine 
 writings of Ignatius, or as an abridgment of the 
 Epistles hitherto received as his. 
 
 Mr. Cureton, the Chevalier Bunsen, in his edition 
 of “The three genuine and the four spurious Epistles of 
 Ignatius” (Hamburgh 1847), and others, consider these 
 three Epistles alone to be genuine. 
 
 The arguments advanced to establish this conclusion 
 are to this effect. 
 
 A Syriac version has long been looked for, as likely 
 to throw light upon the writings ascribed to Ignatius: 
 and such a version has now been found in manuscripts 
 of greater antiquity than can be assigned to any exist- 
 ing Greek manuscript of those writings. 
 
 The three Epistles thus found are much shorter than 
 the corresponding Epistles in the Latin version first 
 published by Archbishop Usher, and in the Medicean 
 and Colbert Greek manuscripts afterwards edited by 
 Vossius. Yet, it is urged, that the sense of the 
 Epistles is in no way impaired, but rather rendered 
 more clear and simple by the omission of the parts 
 
 3 Corpus Ignatianum, a complete collection of the Ignatian Epistles, 
 genuine, interpolated, and spurious, together with numerous extracts from 
 them as quoted by ecclesiastical writers down to the tenth century, in 
 Syriac, Greek, and Latin; an English translation of the Syriac text, copious 
 Notes, and Illustrations, by Wm. Cureton, M.A. F.R.S. London: Riving- 
 tons, 1849. 
 
xl viii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 wanting in the Syriac: and consequently, that it is more 
 probable that the Greek should have been interpolated 
 by additions than the Syriac abbreviated by omissions. 
 
 Passages in the Epistles have at various times been 
 objected to, as referring to opinions and heresies, which 
 are supposed not to have been known in the time of 
 Ignatius: other passages have been pointed out as 
 containing a superfluity of compound epithets‘, ap- 
 parently inconsistent with the style which Ignatius, 
 on his journey towards the place of his martyrdom, 
 was likely to employ; and others, again, giving a 
 greater prominence, dignity, and authority to the 
 hierarchy, than that ascribed to it by contemporaneous 
 ecclesiastical writers. 
 
 Almost all these passages are omitted in the Syriac; 
 and it is argued that it is more probable that they did 
 not form a part of the Epistles when first written, 
 than that a Syriac abbreviator should have anticipated 
 the results of the criticism of subsequent centuries, 
 by omitting precisely those passages to which objec- 
 tions have since been raised. 
 
 The style of the Epistle to Polycarp had long ap- 
 peared different from that of the other Epistles of 
 Ignatius ; and some had, from this cause, even doubted 
 the genuineness of that Epistle *®. A similar difference 
 of style and matter had been noticed in the Epistle to 
 the Romans*; and, still more particularly, the two 
 chapters in the Epistle to the Trallians’, found, in the 
 Syriac, in the Epistle to the Romans, had also been 
 noticed by Vedelius, more than 220 years before the 
 
 * Corpus Ignatianum. Introduction, p. liv. a) ara 
 Cor. lite 7 Poli. 
 
EPISTLES OF IGNATIUS. xlix 
 
 discovery of the Syriac version, as differing in style 
 from the rest of that Epistle. 
 
 It is alleged that this difference, already detected by 
 critical acuteness, is explained by the supposition that 
 the parts retained in the Syriac are genuine, and the 
 other parts have been interpolated; and that this coin- 
 cidence is a strong argument in proof of the fact. 
 It is argued, further, that the external evidence to the 
 Fpistles of Ignatius, derived from the testimony of 
 ecclesiastical writers, for more than two centuries after 
 the death of the martyr, refers to those three Epistles 
 only which are now found in the Syriac translation. 
 
 For these and other reasons, given at large in Mr. 
 Cureton’s elaborate work, he and others come to the con- 
 clusion that the three Epistles, lately found in the Syriac 
 version, are the only genuine Epistles of Ignatius. 
 
 To this it is replied, that there is a high probability 
 that the Syriac version is not a direct translation of 
 the Greek Epistles, as they existed at the time, but an 
 epitome. It is not necessary to suppose that this was 
 done for a fraudulent or heretical purpose,—a charge 
 which has been made, but not established ὃ. 
 
 Such abridgments were made even of the Scriptures, 
 as in Tatian’s Diatessaron, in the second century. Other 
 works were epitomised in a similar manner: and many 
 of these abridgments are known to have existed in the 
 East, at the very time when the Syriac manuscripts 
 were made ’. 
 
 8. English Review, No. viii. Cureton, Vindicie# Ignatiane. 
 
 9. Several of these, made from Chrysostom and others, are mentioned from 
 Assemani, Bibliotheca Orientalis, in the Quarterly Review, No. 175, 
 p. 80, where are found several of the arguments, of which a summary is 
 here given. 
 
 Cc 
 
] INTRODUCTION. 
 
 One of the manuscripts, printed by Mr. Cureton, 
 referred to the eleventh or twelfth century, and con- 
 sisting of passages from the Epistles to the Romans, 
 Ephesians, Magnesians, Smyrneans, and to Hero, is 
 itself an abridgment of the Epistles of Ignatius, made 
 from a Syriac version differing from that of the three 
 Epistles. 
 
 It is alleged that, in the three Epistles extant in the 
 Syriac version, and in the Greek text, hitherto com- 
 monly adopted, the connexion of the sense of the 
 several passages is more clear and definite in the 
 Greek than in the Syriac’. 
 
 On this point opinion is set against opinion; and it 
 may not be easy or possible to come to a conclusion 
 which shall be generally satisfactory. 
 
 With respect to alleged allusions to opinions subse- 
 quent to the age of Ignatius, the defenders of the Greek 
 text of the seven shorter Epistles consider that such 
 allusions may all be explained by reference to opinions 
 and events well known to Ignatius himself. 
 
 With reference to external testimony, the evidence 
 on which the exclusive claim of the Syriac version rests, 
 is regarded to be still less satisfactory. 
 
 It is urged that the quotations from ecclesiastical 
 writers of the first three centuries do not establish 
 the Syriac in opposition to the Greek ; for the pas- 
 sages quoted occur in each: and that the absence of 
 quotations from the remaining four Epistles is itself 
 no proof that the Epistles were unknown. If they 
 were all perfectly known, it is highly improbable that 
 in the few remains of the only four writers of the first 
 
 1 See particularly Ephes. c. 19. 
 
EPISTLES OF IGNATIUS. li 
 
 three centuries who quote Ignatius at all, Polycarp, 
 Irenzeus, Theophilus of Antioch, and Origen, quota- 
 tions should have been found from every one of the 
 Kpistles. But as soon as we pass into the fourth 
 century, we find Eusebius ἢ describing accurately seven 
 Epistles, and no more; referring to particulars men- 
 tioned in each, and quoting from the Epistle to the 
 Smyrneans °, as well as from the Epistle to the Romans‘. 
 About the year 360, we find Athanasius*, in a work 
 quoted by Socrates ἢ, and expressly assigned to him by 
 Sozomen ’, quoting a part of the Epistle to the Ephe- 
 sians*, which is not found in the Syriac version of 
 Ignatius. 
 
 It is observed that, about forty years later, Jerome’, 
 who was well acquainted with Syria and Palestine, 
 repeats the testimony of Eusebius; and although, in 
 this respect, he is not an original witness, he could 
 not have thus referred to seven Epistles of Ignatius, 
 if the Syrian Churches, in his time, had recognized 
 three only'. Theodoret’, also, about the year 425, 
 quotes not only the Epistle to the Ephesians’, but 
 the Epistles to the Smyrneans‘, and the Trallians °, 
 neither of which is extant in the Syriac version. 
 
 2 H. E. iii. 36. 3 Smyrn. c. 3. 4 Romans, 6. 5. 
 5 De Synodis Arimini et Seleucia, vol. i. par. 2, p. 761. 
 6 Socrates, H. E. ii. 37. 7 Sozomen, H. E. iv. 17. 
 8 Ephes. c. 7. 
 2 De Viris Illustribus, c. xvi. Adversus Helvidium, vol. ii. p. 225. 
 mment. in Matt. vol. vii. p. 12. 
 See Mr. Hussey’s Preface to his Sermons. Oxford, 1849, p. xxiii. 
 2 Dialogus 1,2. See the quotations in Cureton, Corpus Ignat. p. 171, 172. 
 5. σο0:. 7: 18:90. 
 4 ¢. 1, erroneously referred to the Epistle to the Romans, cc. 3—5. 7. 
 5 Ὁ ΟΣ 
 
 [9 
 
 --ο 
 
 G2 
 
li INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Thus it is urged that, while the Syriac version 
 agrees with the references made by Christian writers, 
 no further than the first three centuries, the Greek 
 text agrees equally well with those more extended 
 citations, which are found in the following centuries. 
 It is also alleged® that, while the absence of more 
 than three Epistles in the Syriac version, edited by 
 Mr. Cureton, affords only a negative argument against 
 the four other Epistles, there is sufficient positive tes- 
 timony to the existence of another Syriac version, 
 containing those Epistles, as well as the others, in the 
 Medicean manuscript, with the addition of the Epistle 
 to the Philippians ; and that there is reason to suppose 
 that the Armenian version, and the extracts and 
 abridgments of passages, not found in the three Syriac 
 Epistles, have been taken from that Syriac version ’. 
 
 It is thus conceived that, although the shorter 
 Greek text may in some cases be defective or inter- 
 polated, there is no sufficient ground for altogether 
 rejecting the conclusions resting on the authority of 
 such men as Usher, Pearson, Bull, and Hammond °. 
 
 It is perhaps scarcely to be expected that any new 
 light will ever be thrown upon this difficult question 
 by the discovery of any Greek manuscripts hitherto 
 
 ® Quarterly Review, No. 175, p. 97. 
 
 7 These passages are found in Mr. Cureton’s Corpus Ignatianum, 
 pp. 197—201. 232—235; and are supposed by him to have been simply 
 translated from the Greek, and thus not to prove the existence of a sepa- 
 rate Syriac version. The question well deserves investigation by those 
 who, by accurate acquaintance with the Syriac language, are competent 
 to conduct the inquiry. 
 
 8. Usher, Prolegom. ad Epist. Ignat. Bull, Defensio Fidei Nicene, 
 ii. 2. 8. Hammond, Dissertationes adversus Blondellum. See Dr. Jacob- 
 son’s Preface to his last edition of his Apostolical Fathers, p. liv. 
 
EPISTLES OF IGNATIUS. hii 
 
 unknown ; but the success which has lately attended 
 researches in the East, gives some ground for hope 
 that further investigation in that quarter may lead to 
 a conclusion in which all will acquiesce. 
 
 Meanwhile, it is earnestly to be hoped that all con- 
 troversy on the subject will be carried on in the spirit of 
 calmness which becomes Christians in search of truth. 
 
 One effect, at least, arises from the discovery of the 
 Syriac version. Whether that version is an epitome, 
 or a full translation of the Greek Epistles which it 
 represents, and whatever inference may be drawn from 
 it with respect to the other four Epistles, the Syriac 
 version, independent of all manuscripts previously 
 known, invests that part of the writings of Ignatius 
 with an authority which henceforth is indisputable. 
 
 Hence the distinct assertion of the Divinity of our 
 Lord °, the references to Scripture ', not so extensive, 
 but still as plain as in the other writings ascribed to 
 Ignatius, and the direct statement of the existence 
 and authority of the Episcopal form of Church govern- 
 ment’, contained in these three Epistles, lead to the 
 same conclusion, upon all these points, as that already 
 deduced from the seven Epistles, hitherto usually 
 received. 
 
 I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Cureton for 
 permission to insert his translation from the Syriac of 
 the three Epistles to the Ephesians, to the Romans, 
 
 9 Ephes. Introduction, c. 1. Romans, c. 8. 
 
 1 See above, p. xxxvii. 
 
 2 Epistle to Polycarp, c. 6. “Look to the Bishop, that God also may 
 look upon you. I will be instead of the souls of those who are subject to 
 the Bishop, and the Presbyters, and the Deacons ; with them may I have 
 
 a portion near God.” See also c. 5. 
 
liv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and to Polycarp, in columns parallel to the translation 
 from the Greek. The English reader will thus have 
 the means of comparing those Epistles as they are 
 found in the Greek and in the Syriac. 
 
 JUSTIN MARTYR. 
 
 THE writings of Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp, are 
 addressed to Christians, and are very interesting, as 
 showing us the feelings and sentiments of some of the 
 earliest writers after the Apostles themselves. There 
 is another class of Christian writings, the Apologies, or 
 defences, which were addressed to the adversaries of 
 the faith. Several of these have been preserved, and 
 among them two of the most valuable are those of 
 Justin Martyr and Tertullian °. 
 
 Justin Martyr was born about the year 100, at Flavia 
 Neapolis*, anciently called Sichem, in Samaria. His 
 parents were Gentiles*, and probably Greeks. In his 
 youth, his ardour for the acquisition of knowledge was 
 gratified by travel: he visited Alexandria: and in the 
 early part of his life became acquainted with the 
 opinions of the different sects of philosophers. He 
 attached himself® to the Stoics, till he found that from 
 them he could obtain no knowledge of the nature of 
 God. The covetousness of the Peripatetics, to whom 
 he next applied, soon disgusted him. And on endea- 
 vouring to study the Pythagorean philosophy, he quickly 
 relinquished the notion of uniting himself permanently 
 
 3 There is an English Translation of these Apologies with the Octavius 
 of Minutius Felix, and the Commonitorium of Vincentius Lirinensis, by 
 Wm. Reeves, M. A. London: 1709. 
 
 * Apol. ce. i. ii. p. 52. 5 Apol. c. 68. 
 § Dialogue, p. 218. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. lv 
 
 with a sect, which required as a preliminary step an 
 extensive acquaintance with music, including poetry, 
 and with astronomy and geometry. The tenets of the 
 Platonists’ were more agreeable to his natural dis- 
 position. But finding no satisfaction to his mind from 
 any of these systems of philosophy, he was led to 
 examine Christianity, and found in it the certainty and 
 adaptation to his mental wants which no other studies 
 had afforded ὃ. 
 
 The direct argument in favour of Christianity, which 
 appears to have had the greatest weight with Justin, 
 was the courage with which men of all ranks submitted 
 to death in the cause of the Gospel, while no one was 
 ever found to die in support of any philosophical 
 opinions’. ‘“ While,” he says'®, “ I was myself still de- 
 lighted with the philosophy of Plato, I used to hear 
 the Christians calumniated, but saw that they fearlessly 
 encountered death, and all that is most formidable to 
 other men. I was convinced that these men could not 
 be living in wickedness or sinful pleasure. For what 
 man, who was subject to his passions and to inten- 
 perance, or delighted to feed on human flesh, would 
 dare to embrace death, which would put a period to all 
 his delights? Such a man would strive by all means 
 to preserve his present life; would endeavour to con- 
 ceal himself from those in power: least of all would 
 he offer himself voluntarily for punishment.” 
 
 After his conversion to Christianity, Justin still 
 continued to wear the dress of a philosopher’. This 
 circumstance has been considered to imply an undue 
 
 7 Apol. ii. p. 50. 8 Dial. p. 225. 
 9 Apol. ii. p. 48. 10 Apol. ii. p. 50. A. 
 1 Dial. p. 217. C. Eusebius, HE Ἰν 11 
 
lvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 attachment to the opinions which he had renounced. 
 It was a practice, however, far from uncommon’: and 
 Justin might continue to use the dress, either as 
 sufficiently consistent with the severity of life which 
 Christianity required, or as a custom, in a matter of 
 indifference, with which he might innocently comply’. 
 
 About the beginning of the reign of Antoninus 
 Pius, Justin Martyr fixed his abode in Rome‘; and 
 employed the means, which his previous studies had 
 put into his power, in defending the purity of the 
 Christian faith. He wrote a treatise’ against heresies, 
 especially against Marcion. About this time he ad- 
 dressed his first Apology to Antoninus Pius, Marcus 
 Antoninus, Lucius Verus, the Senate, and the people 
 of Rome. The precise date of this Apology has been 
 the subject of much discussion, without leading to any 
 very satisfactory decision. 
 
 There are few internal marks of time in the Apology 
 itself. Justin once® speaks, in round numbers, of the 
 birth of Christ, as having occurred a hundred and fifty 
 years before. In other places, the death and deifica- 
 tion of Antinous’, the edict of Adrian against the 
 Jews’, and the revolt of Barchochebas’, which all 
 occurred between the years 130 and 134, are alluded 
 to as recent events. The earliest date ascribed to the 
 Apology is 139. Others place it as late as 150. In 
 favour of the first date, Dodwell' observes, that in the 
 introduction Marcus Antoninus is not styled Cesar, 
 
 2 Cave’s Life of Justin Martyr, c. 6. 
 
 3 Compare Tertullian, Apol. c. 42. 4 Eusebius, H. E. iv. 11. 
 5 Apol. i. ο. 36. ΌΣΟΙ: 7 ¢. 87. 8c. 62. 
 9 
 
 c. 38. 1 Dissertatio in Ireneeum, c. 14. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR’S APOLOGY. lvii 
 
 an omission which would imply that he had not yet 
 received the title. On the other hand, Lucius Verus 
 was born only in the year 131; and the terms in which 
 Justin addresses him, in conjunction with the two 
 Antonines, could scarcely be applied to a youth of 
 eight years of age. If the Epistle’ to the States of 
 Asia be properly ascribed to Antoninus Pius, and were 
 written in his third consulship, a.p. 140, it is uncertain 
 whether that Epistle were occasioned by Justin’s Apo- 
 logy. Eusebius* rather implies that it was written 
 solely in consequence of expostulations which the Empe- 
 ror had received from some Christians in Asia. 
 
 The Benedictine Editors, in the preface to their 
 edition of Justin’s works, adopt the opinion of Tille- 
 mont and others, who assign 150 as the date of Justin’s 
 first Apology. 
 
 This Apology is very valuable, as being the earliest 
 specimen of the manner in which the first Christians 
 defended themselves against their heathen adversaries. 
 The arguments which he advances are not arranged in 
 any very exact order. 
 
 He begins by demanding a fair hearing for the 
 Christians, and expostulating against the injustice of 
 punishing them unheard, or accusing all Christians of 
 crimes, which might possibly be committed by some 
 who bore that name*. He ascribes the malice of the 
 enemies of Christianity to the agency of demons; and 
 demands that due inquiry may be made in each indi- 
 vidual case, and sentence passed accordingly ’. 
 
 He shows that the doctrines of the Christians are 
 
 2 p, 278. 3-H. E. iv. 12. 
 4 cc. --4. 5 ec. 5—7. 
 
lviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 harmless, and not derogatory to the divine nature‘; 
 that the Christians look for no human kingdom, but 
 are the best and most peaceable subjects; knowing 
 that in suffering they endure only what their Lord 
 prophesied should come upon them’. 
 
 He defends the Christians from the charge of im- 
 piety; appeals to the blameless lives which they lead 
 after their conversion; and refers to many precepts of 
 Christ which teach the necessity of holiness and obedi- 
 ence to authority’. 
 
 Justin then argues on the possibility that the soul 
 should survive death, appealing to the sentiments and 
 practices of the heathen as implying that fact; and 
 showing that a resurrection from the dead is not so 
 incredible as the first creation of an animated being’. 
 
 He shows the injustice of punishing Christians for 
 their opinions, when poets and philosophers were per- 
 mitted without molestation to support others [688 
 defensible and less rational; and all other men were 
 allowed to choose their own objects of worship’. Jus- 
 tin appeals again to the reformation of life in Chris- 
 tians; whereas Simon Magus, who was honoured by 
 the Romans, and Marcion, and other heretics, were not 
 molested, however infamous their conduct might be’. 
 
 Having then contrasted the purity of the lives of 
 Christians with the cruel custom of exposing their 
 children practised by the heathen, Justin proceeds to 
 the direct evidence of miracle and prophecy. He 
 briefly alludes to the miracles of Christ, principally to 
 refute the objection that they were performed by 
 
 6 ec. 8—10. 7 ec. LI—15. 8 ec, 16—23. 
 9 ec. 24—26. 1 ec. 27—32. 2 ec. 33—35. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR’S APOLOGY. lix 
 
 magical powers: and then alleges many prophecies of 
 the Old Testament, which were fulfilled by Christ®. 
 From their accomplishment he contends that other 
 events, which are predicted but yet unfulfilled, shall 
 assuredly come to pass; such as the conversion of the 
 Gentiles, the resurrection of the dead, and the future 
 judgment by Christ’. 
 
 Justin asserts that many actions ascribed to the 
 heathen gods were imitations of the real actions of 
 Jesus; and that the opinions of philosophers were a 
 concealed representation of the truths of Christianity ὅ. 
 
 Justin, in conclusion, describes the manner in which 
 the first converts were baptized*; and, after a digres- 
 sion on the different appearances of Christ under the 
 Mosaic dispensation, and on certain instances, in which 
 the heathen gods were made to imitate what was 
 written by Moses’, he gives a most interesting account 
 of the state of the Christians in his time; describing 
 the administration of the Eucharist in both kinds, the 
 assembling of Christians on Sunday, and the manner 
 in which they conducted their public worship, and 
 made voluntary collections for the relief of the poorer 
 brethren’. 
 
 He finishes his Apology with an expression of resig- 
 nation, and an appeal to the letter of Adrian in favour 
 of the Christians. 
 
 The Dialogue with Trypho, the Jew, was certainly 
 written after the first Apology, to which there is an 
 allusion®: but the precise date is not known. It is 
 
 3 cc. 36—65. * cc. 66—69. 5 cc. 70—78. 
 © ec. 79, 80. 7 cc. 81—84. 5 cc. 85—89. 
 9. Dial. p.349. C. Apol. ς. 34. 
 
ΙΧ INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the account of either a real or fictitious discussion with 
 a Jew, which Eusebius! states to have occurred at 
 Ephesus; and is valuable as showing the state of the 
 controversy with the Jews in the time of Justin’. 
 
 Justin wrote also a second Apology, which, in the 
 Paris edition, is denominated the first. According to 
 Eusebius’, it was addressed to Marcus Antoninus. 
 Others suppose that it, as well as the preceding, was 
 presented to Antoninus Pius. From expressions in 
 the second Apology, Eusebius* and others have con- 
 cluded that it was written by Justin not long before 
 his martyrdom. 
 
 The beginning of the second Apology is believed to 
 be lost : and it is in other respects imperfect. Several 
 Christians had at that time been unjustly punished, 
 and Justin presented the Apology in their defence; 
 urging several of the arguments which he had used in 
 the first Apology, and replying to objections advanced 
 by the adversaries of Christianity. 
 
 There are several other writings attributed to Justin 
 Martyr. Of these, the fragment de Monarchia Dei is 
 believed to be genuine. There are doubts of the 
 genuineness of the Hortatory Address to the Greeks ἢ. 
 
 The ardent spirit of Justin Martyr was likely to 
 draw upon him the indignation of those who opposed 
 
 1H. E. iv. 18. 
 
 3 There is a most clear and accurate analysis of the Dialogue with 
 Trypho in the Bishop of Lincoln’s Account of the Writings and Opinions 
 of Justin Martyr, c.11; and an English translation of the Dialogue, by 
 Henry Brown, M.A. London, 1755. 
 
 SPH aly: 
 
 ‘ Eusebius, H. E. iv. 16,17. Justin, Apol. ii. p. 46, E. 
 
 5 See the Bishop of Lincolu’s Account of Justin Martyr, p. 5. 
 
WRITINGS OF JUSTIN. Ixi 
 
 Christianity ; and especially of the philosophers, whose 
 malice, as we have seen, he anticipated. Accordingly, 
 soon after the publication of his second Apology, about 
 the year 165, Justin and six of his companions were 
 brought before Rusticus, prefect of Rome. The be- 
 haviour of Justin in the hour of danger was worthy 
 of the professions which he had previously made. He 
 refused to worship the gods of the Romans, avowed 
 his faith in the doctrines of Christianity, and at once 
 declared where it was that he had been accustomed to 
 teach the Christian religion. When threatened with 
 torture and death, unless he sacrificed to the gods, 
 Justin expressed his full conviction of eternal happi- 
 ness, if he continued stedfast in the faith, and his 
 determination patiently to endure all things for the 
 sake of his Lord and Saviour. His companions as- 
 sented to these courageous sentiments: and they were 
 all immediately led back to prison, where, after they 
 had been scourged, they were beheaded. 
 
 We can only briefly touch upon the doctrines and 
 opinions which are maintained by Justin in his first 
 Apology. Those who wish for an accurate statement 
 of his sentiments, as deduced from a minute examina- 
 tion of all his genuine works, should consult the 
 Bishop of Lincoln’s admirable work upon the subject. 
 
 We find Justin distinctly acknowledging the Di- 
 vinity of our Lord, representing the object of Christian 
 worship to be the Father, the Creator of all things; 
 the Divine Word, who took our nature upon him, and 
 died upon the cross for our sake; and the Holy 
 Spirit ®. He maintains also the absolute Divinity of 
 
 cc. 6. 16. 77. 85. 87. See note (1) c. 6. p. 152. 
 
[Χ1] INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Jesus Christ, when he states that it was He, who ap- 
 peared to Moses in the bush, and described himself as 
 the eternal and self-existing God’; and he styles Him 
 directly God °. 
 
 Justin does not express himself very clearly respect- 
 ing the effect which the fall of man produced upon 
 his capacity of choosing good and evil. He describes ° 
 the human race as having been created “ intelligent, 
 and able to choose the truth and to be happy.” But 
 he speaks “of that proneness to evil, which, although 
 various in its kind, exists in every man'’,” after the 
 fall; and contrasts our first birth, in which “we were 
 born without our knowledge or consent, by the ordi- 
 nary natural means, and were brought up in evil 
 habits,” with the condition of those who by baptism 
 “become the children of choice and judgment,” and 
 “obtain in the water remission of the sins which they 
 have before committed ?.” 
 
 Justin is scarcely more explicit upon this point, or 
 upon the subject of grace, in other parts of his works ’, 
 although he declares the necessity of illumination from 
 above to be enabled rightly to understand the Holy 
 Scriptures. 
 
 It must be remembered, however, that the subject 
 of his writings, which was, in his Apologies, to defend 
 the Christians from the charges advanced against them 
 by the heathen, and, in his Dialogue with Trypho, to 
 controvert the objections of the Jews, did not lead him 
 to speak upon these subjects otherwise than inci- 
 dentally; and that his expressions must be considered 
 
 7 ec. 82, 83. 8 Ὁ, 83, p. 270. 9 c. 36. 
 ᾿ς; 10. 2. ὃς 80: 3 See Bp. Kaye’s Justin, p. 75. 
 
DOCTRINES OF JUSTIN MARTYR. Ixill 
 
 with reference rather to the whole context in which 
 they are found, than to the words which he employs in 
 any particular instance. 
 
 The manner in which Justin treats the difficulty of 
 reconciling the foreknowledge of God with the moral 
 responsibility of man, may be seen in several passages * 
 of the Apology. He says*, that God delayed the 
 punishment of the devil, since he foreknew that some 
 who are not yet born should be saved; but that this 
 foreknowledge does not imply that every thing takes 
 place by irresistible necessity °. 
 
 With respect to the doctrine of justification, Justin 
 in this Apology’ declares that Christ “cleansed by his 
 blood those who believe in him:” and in other parts 
 of his works * constantly refers to the merits and death 
 of Christ as the cause, and to faith as the means, by 
 which we are justified. 
 
 When Justin speaks in his own person, he invariably 
 maintains that the punishment of the wicked will be 
 eternal ὃ. 
 
 Justin Martyr, in the course of his first Apology, 
 refers, on three different occasions, to the Memoirs '° of 
 the Apostles, and in the second of those instances calls 
 the work to which he alludes Gospels. In his Dia- 
 logue with Trypho he twice’ quotes “the Gospel ;” 
 and in several places? refers to the Memoirs of the 
 Apostles. In several of these passages he refers to 
 
 4 ec. 54—58. 5 ¢, 36. e254, 7. Ὁ. Ale 
 
 8. See Dial. p. 929, E. 284, E. 259, A. 273, E. 322, E. 328, B. 
 338, D. 
 
 9 See note (6), c. 8. p. 155. 
 
 0 ἀπομνημονεύματα, cc. 43, 86, 87. 1 p. 227. C. 326. E. 
 
 ? p. 327, B. 328, B. 329, C. 331, B. D. 332, B. 333, B. D. E. 334, B. 
 
Ixiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 words which are found in substance in our present 
 Gospels. Justin describes these Memoirs as having 
 been written by the Apostles and those who followed 
 them *, a description which exactly corresponds with 
 our present Gospels, two of which were written by 
 Apostles, and two by those who attended the Apostles. 
 He mentions also that these writings were publicly 
 read in the solemn assemblies of the Christians, with 
 the Scriptures of the Old Testament, as part of their 
 religious service *. 
 
 “Upon the whole,” says Lardner’, “it must be plain 
 to all, that he owned and had the greatest respect for 
 the four Gospels, written, two of them, by Apostles, 
 and the other two by companions and followers of the 
 Apostles of Jesus Christ; that is, by Matthew, Mark, 
 Luke, and John.” 
 
 The Bishop of Lincoln® examines at length the 
 question which has been lately raised, whether Justin 
 quoted our present Gospels; and, after referring to the 
 several passages in which Justin mentions the Memoirs 
 of the Apostles, observes, “the inference which I am 
 disposed to draw from the consideration of the above 
 passages is, not that Justin quoted a Narrative of our 
 Saviour’s life and ministry agreeing in substance with 
 our present Gospels, though differing from them in 
 expression: but that he quoted our present Gospels 
 from memory.’—“ It is moreover necessary always to 
 bear in mind, as has been already observed, that Justin 
 
 2 Dial. p. 331, Ὁ. ἐν γὰρ τοῖς ἀπομνημονεύμασιν, & φημι ὑπὸ τῶν 
 ᾿Αποστόλων αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ἐκείνοις παρακολουσάντων συντετάχθαι. 
 Compare Luke i. 3. "Edo&e κἀμοὶ παρηκολουθηκότι ἄνωθεν, κ. τ. X. 
 
 4 Apol. ς. 87. 5 Credibility, Part ii. c. 10. § 3. 
 § Account of Justin Martyr, c. 8. 
 
DOCTRINES OF JUSTIN MARTYR. Ixv 
 
 does not appeal to the New Testament as an autho- 
 rity: he wishes merely to give a true representation of 
 the doctrines and precepts of the Gospel: and for this 
 purpose it was sufficient to express the meaning with- 
 out any scrupulous regard to verbal accuracy.” 
 
 Justin in his Apology has but few references to the 
 other books of the New Testament. In c. 63, where 
 he states that the Jews, who had the prophecies, and 
 always expected the Christ to come, not only were 
 ignorant of him, but evil entreated him, he probably 
 alludes to Acts xiii. 27. And in c. 82, he says that 
 Jesus is called “the Apostle,” an appellation which is 
 given to him only in Heb. iii. 1, 2. 
 
 Lardner shows, however, that Justin, in other parts 
 of his works, recognizes the Acts of the Apostles; 
 the Epistle to the Romans; the Epistles to the Gala- 
 tians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians; the 
 second Epistle to the Thessalonians; the Epistle to 
 the Hebrews, and the second Epistle of Peter. 
 
 It is remarkable that the only Book which Justin 
 expressly quotes’ is the Revelation, which he ascribes 
 to the Apostle St. John. 
 
 The most interesting part of Justin’s Apology is, 
 doubtless, the picture which he draws of the condition 
 of the primitive Church in his time. He appeals to 
 the change which had been wrought in those who had 
 embraced the Christian faith *. He refers directly and 
 indirectly to the fact, that they were exposed to 
 grievous persecution, and subject to the most atrocious 
 calumnies; yet declares that they bore all evils with 
 
 τ Dial. p. 808, B. Eusebius mentions this quotation, H. E. iv. 18. 
 ® ¢. 20. 
 
 d 
 
Ixvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 patience, not even demanding that their false accusers 
 should be punished’. But while the believers were 
 harassed from without, they enjoyed the privileges of 
 Christian communion within the pale of the Church. 
 They still continued to address one another by the 
 apostolic title of brethren', and assembled every 
 Sunday, whether they dwelt in towns or in the 
 country, for the purpose of public worship. Their re- 
 ligious services consisted in hearing the Gospels and 
 the Scriptures of the Old Testament read and ex- 
 pounded. The President then delivered a discourse; 
 and after they had all stood up together to pray, the 
 Eucharist, of bread and wine mixed with water, was 
 administered to each: and a contribution was made for 
 the use of the fatherless and widows, for such as were 
 in necessity, or in bonds. 
 
 Such is the picture of the Christian Church drawn 
 by one who had tried what the systems of heathen 
 philosophy could do to satisfy the anxious inquiries of 
 his mind after spiritual things, and found them all 
 insufficient; who dared to stand forth as the advocate 
 of the cause of the Gospel, when to profess the faith 
 was to expose himself to immediate persecution; and 
 soon afterwards proved the sincerity of his profession 
 by the sacrifice of his life. 
 
 TERTULLIAN. 
 
 QuINTUS Septimus FLoreNsS TERTULLIANUS, as he is 
 usually called, was born at Carthage, about the year 
 150. His father was a soldier, a centurion in constant 
 
 eats ΣΟ 85. 
 
TERTULLIAN. Ixvil 
 
 attendance upon the Proconsul of Africa. Tertullian 
 is believed to have been a Gentile: and the supposi- 
 tion is favoured by several passages of his works? in 
 which he seems to describe himself as having been 
 among those whose errors he exposes. His education 
 appears to have extended to every kind of literature 
 which was studied at the period in which he lived. 
 His knowledge of the Greek language is evident from 
 the fact of his having composed * three treatises in it, 
 which are now lost. And the quotations with which 
 his works abound imply a wide range of knowledge in 
 poetry, natural philosophy, and medical science. Euse- 
 bius * observes that he was particularly well skilled in 
 the Roman laws, as is indicated indeed by his familiar 
 use of legal terms. His ability and learning were 
 always highly celebrated. Jerome informs us’ that 
 Cyprian never passed a day without reading some of 
 the works of Tertullian, whom he called “ his master.” 
 
 Jerome also says that Tertullian was a Presbyter ; 
 and it is believed that he held that office in the 
 Church of Rome. That he was a married man, is 
 known from the writings which he has left addressed 
 to his wife. 
 
 Whether Tertullian were educated as a Christian, or 
 converted after he had reached a mature age, the 
 number of his works shows that he was a most zealous 
 and active defender of the opinions which he embraced. 
 
 2 Apol. c. 18. p. 362. De Penitentid,c.1. De Fuga in Persecut. ec. 
 6. Ady. Marcion. iii. c. 21. 
 . 3. De Corona, c. 6. De Baptismo, c. 19. De Resurrectione Carnis. 
 c. 49. 
 1 Ἡ: ἘΣ 11... 5 Catalogus Scriptorum Eccles. 
 
 d 2 
 
Ixviil INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It would be difficult to point out a writer whose style 
 of thought and expression is so peculiar as Tertullian’s. 
 He pours forth with profusion, and with little discrimi- 
 nation, the varied stores of acquired knowledge with 
 which his mind was enriched; displaying unrivalled 
 keenness of sarcasm, and great brilliancy of imagina- 
 tion. Yet with these advantages he could scarcely 
 have been an attractive writer, even to those who were 
 familiar with his frequent and pointed allusions to facts 
 now little known. 
 
 His style is thus described with great accuracy and 
 discrimination by one who is peculiarly well qualified 
 for forming a correct opinion upon such a subject. 
 “He frequently hurries his hearers along by his vehe- 
 mence, and surprises them by the vigour, as well as 
 inexhaustible fertility of his imagination; but his 
 eopiousness is without selection, and there was in his 
 character a propensity to exaggeration, which affected 
 his language, and rendered it inflated and unnatural. 
 He is indeed the harshest and most obscure of writers, 
 and the least capable of being accurately represented 
 in a translation °.” 
 
 Still, there is in the writings of Tertullian a manly 
 vigour of conception and a vivacity of expression, which 
 amply repay the labour which must be undergone in 
 order to comprehend them. 
 
 Jerome, in his account of Tertullian, asserts that he 
 was driven to embrace the errors of Montanus, in con- 
 
 6 Bishop of Lincoln’s Tertullian, c. 1. p. 66. 
 
 Lactantius, v. 1. says, Septimius quoque Tertullianus fuit omni genere 
 literarum peritus, sed in eloquendo parum facilis, et minus comptus, et 
 multum obscurus fuit. 
 
TERTULLIAN’S APOLOGY. Ixix 
 
 sequence of the contumelious treatment of the Romish 
 Clergy. The year 199 is usually assigned as the pro- 
 bable period of this remarkable change in Tertullian’s 
 views. From a passage in his works’, it is evident 
 that he was attached to that sect before the year 207, 
 the fifteenth year of the Emperor Severus. The greater 
 part of his writings, which have been preserved, were 
 composed after he became a Montanist*. Whether 
 his Apology was one of these is doubted. The subject 
 of that address did not call upon him to profess any of 
 the peculiar opinions of that sect; and the marks of 
 time which are found in it have led to different con- 
 clusions respecting its date. Mosheim in his Disserta- 
 tion on the date of this Apology’, fixes on the year 
 198. Du Pin assigns it to the year 200, and conceives 
 that it was written before Tertullian embraced the 
 opinions of Montanus. Tillemont is in favour of the 
 same date. Cave and Dodwell think that it was com- 
 posed in 202, Basnage in 203, Pagi in 205, Scaliger in 
 211, and Allix assigns so late a date as 217. 
 
 The Bishop of Lincoln’, after observing that “the 
 allusion to conspiracies which were daily detected at 
 the very time when the book was written’, as well as 
 the enumeration of the barbarous nations’ which 
 either then were, or had recently been, at war with 
 Rome, correspond to the events which took place 
 during the reign of Severus,” suggests that the work 
 
 7 Adv. Marcion. i. ce. 15. 63. 
 
 5 See Bp. of Lincoln’s Tertullian, c. 1. p. 61. 
 
 5 Disquisitio Chronologico-critica de vera etate Apologetici a Tertulli- 
 ano Conscripti. Lug. Bat. 1720. 
 
 1 Tertullian, c. 1. p. 58. 5. ὍΣ 90. 3 ¢. 97. 
 
Ixx INTRODUCTION. 
 
 may with probability be referred to about the year 
 204. 
 
 The Apology was written at Carthage, and addressed 
 to the governors of Proconsular Africa*. The Chris- 
 tians, at the time in which it was written, were exposed 
 to great sufferings, as well from the unrestrained 
 violence of the people, as from the action of laws 
 which were still in force®. “How frequently,” he 
 says °, “do ye use violence against the Christians, some- 
 times at the instigation of private malice, and some- 
 times according to the forms of law. How often also 
 —not to mention yourselves—do the common people 
 in their rage attack us of their own accord with stones 
 and flames:” and, in another place’, “there are no 
 greater persecutors of the Christians than the vulgar.” 
 Their general insecurity was increased when the 
 governor of the province in which they lived was cruel 
 or rapacious; and, on the other hand, they enjoyed a 
 temporary security, if, from a sense of justice or the 
 feelings of humanity, he chanced to treat them with 
 indulgence. 
 
 The Christians at Carthage were not thus favoured. 
 Just before the period at which Tertullian’s Apology 
 was written, the governors had proceeded with great 
 severity against some members of their own families *, 
 in consequence of their professing the Christian faith. 
 And, the way of public justice being obstructed, 
 Tertullian was anxious that the truth might still be 
 
 4 See note (1), ¢. 1 5 See note (1), c. 4. 
 ® Apol. c. 37. p. 430. τ Ὁ: 90. 
 ΒΑ ΟΙ. Ὁ: 1. 
 
TERITULLIAN’S APOLOGY. ΙΧΧῚ 
 
 presented to the governors, by the means of a written 
 Apology. 
 
 He demands, therefore, that before the Christians 
 are condemned, they may be allowed to answer for 
 themselves; alleging, with great truth, that the refusal 
 to hear them was a tacit confession that the charges 
 against them were unfounded®. He shows that all 
 other criminals, however guilty, enjoy every legal 
 privilege; are heard in their own defence, and per- 
 mitted to have an advocate to plead their cause. He 
 dwells upon the injustice and contradictory character 
 of the edict of Trajan; and complains that while others 
 are tortured only to compel them to confess their guilt, 
 the Christians are racked, to force them to deny the 
 charge of which they are accused '. 
 
 Tertullian then appeals to the indirect testimony 
 which even their adversaries bore to the strictly moral 
 conduct which characterized those who were converted 
 to Christianity: and obviates an objection which was 
 brought against the very name which they bore’. He 
 shows, by examples of recent changes in the laws, that 
 those which existed against the Christians might be 
 also abrogated ὃ; that those sanguinary laws had been 
 invariably proposed by emperors of the most cruel and 
 unjust character, while the mild and just princes had 
 favoured the Christians‘. But Tertullian is not con- 
 tented with resting merely on the defensive. He 
 makes vigorous attacks upon his adversaries themselves ; 
 and shows in a strain of bitter satire how much the 
 
 rose be Το, 9. 2 ς,8ὃ 
 
Ixxli INTRODUCTION. 
 
 subjects of the Roman Empire had degenerated from 
 their ancestors °. 
 
 ‘He next notices the horrible calumnies which were 
 circulated respecting the Christians,—such as _ the 
 murder of children, and incest—shows that they 
 originate in nothing but mere common report®, and 
 are utterly incredible and false’. On this point also 
 Tertullian assails his opponents, and shows that the 
 abominations and cruelties of heathen nations might 
 make them credit such unnatural charges, although 
 the purity of life which marked the Christians, was a 
 complete proof of their innocence of these specific 
 crimes*. Another frequent accusation against the 
 Christians was that they refused to worship the gods 
 of the heathen, and to offer sacrifice for the safety of 
 the emperors. This charge Tertullian repels by at 
 once showing that the gods so worshipped were merely 
 men, to whom, after their death, divine honours were 
 paid ὃ: and argues closely and forcibly that the suppo- 
 sition, that they were deified, necessarily implies the 
 existence of some Supreme Deity, who had the power 
 of conferring so high a privilege: that he could have 
 no need of such agents, and would never have extended 
 his favour to such unworthy objects’. 
 
 Tertullian proceeds to show the absurdity of idol- 
 worship’, and the indignity with which the heathens 
 themselves treated their divinities, by making them the 
 object of sale*, defrauding them by the sacrifice of 
 imperfect victims; degrading them by absurd fables *; 
 
 5.0.6. Cd. 7.0 ..8: 
 
 8c. 9. 9.6, 10. 1 6. 11. 
 2 ¢, 12. δ ον 1} ὃ: 46: 14. 
 
TERTULLIANS APOLOGY. Ixxili 
 
 and making them the subject of ridicule in their 
 dramatic exhibitions ἢ. 
 
 Tertullian, after refuting® calumnies which were 
 circulated respecting the object of Christian worship, 
 declares, in a passage of great beauty’, who the God is 
 whom they adore: that he is one God, the Creator and 
 sustainer of all things, immensely great, and, although 
 faintly discernible in these his lowest works, yet fully 
 intelligible to himself alone: that the soul of man 
 itself, when not disturbed by any delusion, recognizes 
 this One God, by the phrases which it involuntarily 
 uses, as “ God knows,” “I leave it to God,” and the 
 like. He shows that God had from the beginning 
 made known his will, by inspiring the prophets with 
 his Holy Spirit ; and that the writings of those prophets 
 still remained, both in the original Hebrew and in the 
 Greek translation ὃ. 
 
 Tertullian advances the high antiquity of Moses, 
 and the priority of the prophets to the heathen 
 philosophers, as an argument of the superiority of the 
 doctrines contained in the Scriptures of the Old 
 Testament ὃ; and refers to the prophecies, which had 
 been fulfilled and were fulfilling, as a proof of the 
 inspiration of Scripture '. 
 
 Such having been the origin of the Jewish religion, 
 Tertullian shows in what manner the Christian religion 
 is founded upon it, and connected with it by a chain of 
 prophecy. He declares that Jesus Christ was the Son 
 of God; and endeavours to illustrate the manner of 
 his generation, by a comparison with the procession of 
 
 τα ζος, Wa) δ᾽ ὋΣ 16. half 
 8 c. 18. 9 ¢. 19. 1 ¢. 20. 
 
Ixxiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 a ray of light from a luminous body. He shows that 
 the miracles of Christ proved him to be the Word of 
 God: declares that his sufferings and death were 
 voluntary, the fulfilment of his own predictions; and 
 appeals to the annals of the Roman Empire in attesta- 
 tion of the miraculous darkness at the crucifixion. 
 Tertullian relates the resurrection and ascension of 
 Christ ; and asserts that Pontius Pilate sent a written 
 account of those transactions to Tiberius. He makes a 
 strong appeal to the testimony which the Christians 
 gave even unto death; and desires to put the question 
 upon the issue whether the divinity of Christ be real 
 or not’. 
 
 After this, Tertullian declares his opinions respect- 
 ing the existence and employment of evil spirits, or 
 demons*: and demands that any one confessedly under 
 the influence of demoniacal possession may be brought 
 out before the tribunal; and promises that, at the 
 bidding of any Christian, the demon shall depart *. 
 
 Tertullian then shows how unjustly the Christians 
 are treated, since, when all others are permitted to 
 choose their own divinities for worship, the Christians 
 alone are prevented °. 
 
 An objection was sometimes brought against Chris- 
 tianity, that the prosperity which the Roman Empire 
 had attained was a proof of the Divine favour. Ter- 
 tullian meets that objection by showing that the 
 worship which the Romans paid to many of their 
 deities was not established till long after their power 
 had greatly increased ; and that their conquests, which 
 spared not the temples more than the houses of the 
 
 2c. 2] 37 ΟΣ 29% ὙΠ 0: 99. 5 ¢, 24. 
 
 ali. 
 
TERTULLIANS APOLOGY. Ixxv 
 
 vanquished, ought rather to have brought down upon 
 them the vengeance of the gods, had they been really 
 divine *®. This therefore was rather an argument in 
 favour of the existence of One Supreme God, who 
 governs the whole world ’. 
 
 Tertullian then refers to a temptation to which 
 Christians were sometimes exposed, by their adversaries 
 suggesting that they might outwardly comply with the 
 rites of heathenism, while they mentally retained their 
 own sentiments. He rejects such a notion with disdain, 
 as unworthy of a true Christian, and as a suggestion of 
 evil spirits ὃ. He shows, that although the Christians 
 refused to sacrifice for the emperors, which was, in the 
 eyes of their accusers, a worse offence than neglecting 
 the worship of idols, they acted with a proper sense of 
 the dignity of the emperor, in not subjecting him to 
 his inferiors’: but that they did pray for the safety of 
 the emperor, not to dumb idols, but to the living 
 God; lifting up holy hands, and beseeching him to 
 grant to the emperor a happy reign and a long life, 
 with all prosperity for himself and his people’: and 
 that in so doing they fulfilled the commands given 
 them in the Word of God, their Scriptures *. Another 
 reason for their praying for the safety of the emperor 
 was, their conviction that the day of judgment was 
 delayed only by the continuance of the Roman 
 Empire *. 
 
 While the Christians reverenced the emperor as 
 their sovereign, they paid him greater honour than if 
 they flattered him with a title to which he had no 
 
 SNe 25: τ Ὁ. 90. Sch 9: 9 ec. 28, 99. 
 Ives GOs ἘΠ Cato lis Se GVH 
 
Ixxvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 claim; a title which the best of emperors refused to 
 receive *. 
 
 Tertullian then exposes the folly of showing loyalty 
 to the emperor by rioting and festivity; when the 
 conspiracies which were daily occurring showed that 
 this attachment was merely feigned °. 
 
 The Christians, on the other hand, are required to do 
 good to all men, and therefore especially to the sove- 
 reign: they are bound to love their enemies, and the 
 proof that they do so is found in their forbearance, 
 when their numbers are already so great that, if they 
 chose, they might set the empire at defiance, or destroy 
 it effectually by merely withdrawing themselves to 
 some distant part of the world °. 
 
 The innocent lives of the Christians furnish another 
 reason for their being leniently treated ’. 
 
 In the concluding part of the Apology, Tertullian 
 gives an instructive and interesting account of the 
 Christian Church in his time. He describes their 
 meeting for the purposes of prayer, for reading the 
 Holy Scriptures, and receiving instruction : their govern- 
 ment, under the presidency of “ certain approved elders, 
 who have obtained that honour not by purchase but 
 by public testimony :” and their monthly or occasional 
 contributions for the relief of the aged and destitute. 
 He dwells upon the exemplary love which the Chris- 
 tians displayed towards one another; and alludes to 
 the temperate banquets which they held in common, 
 seasoned with holy conversation, and sanctified with 
 prayer °. 
 
 Notwithstanding their blameless lives, Tertullian 
 
 4 ec. 33, 84. δ᾽ Ὁ. 95. 6 6, 86. 7c. 88. 8.6, 39. 
 
TERTULLIAN’S APOLOGY. Ixxvii 
 
 shows that every national calamity, the overflowing of 
 the waters of the Tiber, or the failure of those of the 
 Nile, were all attributed to the Christians: yet nothing 
 could be more absurd than such an accusation; since, 
 as he had before shown, the like calamities occurred 
 before the Christian religion began ὃ ; and the Romans 
 themselves were more truly the cause of such misfor- 
 tunes, since they despised the true God, and worshipped 
 images. The temporal dispensations of Providence, 
 however, form no sure mark of the favour or anger of 
 God. The troubles of the world are sent for the 
 purpose of admonition, as well as of punishment’. 
 
 Another accusation against the Christians was that 
 they were unfit for the ordinary business of life. Ter- 
 tullian refutes this charge, by showing that they 
 refused compliance with no innocent custom; and 
 were useless to none but to those whose occupations 
 were disgraceful *. The records of the courts of justice 
 would prove that no Christian was ever accused of a 
 crime *°. This freedom from open guilt arose from the 
 superiority which divine laws possess over those which 
 are of human invention *. 
 
 There were others who represented Christianity as 
 merely a system of philosophy. Had this been the 
 case, Tertullian argues that those who professed it were 
 entitled to the same tolerance as was extended to other 
 philosophers. But Christianity is actually as superior 
 to any philosophy in morality as in its authority ἡ. 
 Indeed, the poets and philosophers of old were indebted 
 to Christianity for many of their tenets, which they 
 
 9 c. 40. le. 41. 2 cc. 42, 43. 
 3c. 44. ἀρνὶ Δ: δέον 46. 
 
Ixxviil INTRODUCTION. 
 
 borrowed without acknowledgment, and distorted to 
 serve their own purposes®. Yet philosophers were 
 permitted to hold their doctrines, such as that of the 
 transmigration of souls, without any interference ; while 
 Christians were punished for believing the resurrection. 
 Tertullian argues that a resurrection is necessary, in 
 order that man should be judged in the same body, 
 which had been the instrument of his actions: that it 
 is no’ so incredible, that a body should be restored to 
 life, as that it should have been formed at first: and 
 that this restoration is rendered highly probable by the 
 analogy with many changes in the natural world. Thus 
 the succession of day and night, the order of the 
 seasons, the decay and growth of the seed in the earth, 
 are all embiems of a resurrection. Tertullian anticipates 
 the objection,—that these vicissitudes would rather 
 imply a succession of changes from death to life, than 
 a single death followed by an unchangeable eternity, 
 —by observing, that had such been the will of God, 
 man must have submitted: but that the Word of God 
 establishes the fact that there shall be one final resur- 
 rection of all mankind ; after which the righteous shall 
 be for ever clothed upon with immortality in the pre- 
 sence of God; and the wicked shall be consigned to 
 everlasting punishment ’. 
 
 It is, then, most unreasonable that the Christians 
 should be punished for maintaining opinions, which, 
 if sincerely entertained, must make them better mem- 
 bers of society; while tenets, for which the philoso- 
 phers are indebted to their imitation of Christianity, 
 
 6 ὍΣ 47. 7 ς, 48. 
 
TERTULLIANS APOLOGY. Ixxix 
 
 are eulogized as the highest attainments of human 
 wisdom. Christians suffer for their religion ; but they 
 suffer voluntarily: choosing rather to be condemned 
 by men, than to fail in their duty towards God °. 
 
 Tertullian answers an objection, which the patience 
 of the Christians might suggest, that they really took 
 delight in the sufferings which they endured with so 
 great fortitude. He observes that Christians did, in- 
 deed, submit to persecution ; but they did it with the 
 feelings of a soldier whose duty called upon him to 
 expose his life. He would gladly escape the peril, 
 although, when necessary, he shrinks not from it. 
 Yet this contempt of pain and death, which is eulogized 
 in patriots and philosophers, when practised by Chris- 
 tians is derided and despised. Tertullian, in conclu- 
 sion, defies the utmost malice of the enemies of the 
 faith: declaring that, if they were bent on destroying 
 Christianity, their attempt would be fruitless; and 
 that the example of patience, exhibited by those who 
 were called to suffer, was the most convincing argument 
 of the truth of their religion ὃ. 
 
 There is no record of the effect which this Apology 
 produced. It was, however, most highly prized by 
 Christians in all ages. It was at an early period trans- 
 lated into Greek, and is the only writing of Tertullian 
 which is expressly quoted by Eusebius’. Cyprian not 
 only looked up to Tertullian as his master, and fre- 
 quently copied him, but especially in his Treatise de 
 Idolorum Vanitate, closely imitated parts of Tertullian’s 
 Apology. 
 
 The object of Tertullian in this Apology did not 
 
 Sc. 49. 9 ¢. 50. 1 H. E. ti. 2. 
 
xxx INTRODUCTION. 
 
 lead him to make frequent mention of the Scriptures 
 of the New Testament. We find him, however, re- 
 ferring to them on several occasions, under the title 
 of “Scriptures,” and “ Holy Scriptures ’,” appealing to 
 them as “the Word of God, our Scriptures °,” open 
 and accessible to all; and declaring that one of the 
 principal objects of the Christians publicly assembling 
 was to read the Scriptures ἡ. 
 
 In the passage* in which an appeal is made to the 
 Scriptures, Tertullian quotes words now found in the 
 Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke; and others 
 which are in substance written in the Epistle of St. 
 Paul to the Romans, the first Epistle to Timothy, the 
 Epistle to Titus, and the first Epistle of St. Peter. 
 
 There is probably also an allusion to the first Epistle 
 of St. Paul to the Corinthians*®; and to the Epistle to 
 the Hebrews ’. 
 
 In other parts of his writings, the testimony of 
 Tertullian to the inspiration ® and sufficiency ° of the 
 Holy Scriptures, his frequent quotation of the books 
 of the New Testament, his reference to four Gospels, 
 and no more, written by Apostles, or apostolic men’, 
 and the deference which he always pays to the Holy 
 Scriptures, render his works most valuable as tending 
 to prove the genuineness and integrity of the Scriptures 
 
 2 c. 22, p. 380. Apud literas sanctas ordine cognoscitur, c. 23, p. 391. 
 Ipsi literarum nostrarum fidem accendunt. 
 
 3c. 31, p. 414. Inspice Dei voces, literas nostras, quas neque ipsi 
 supprimimus, et plerique casus ad extraneos referunt. 
 
 4 c. 39, p. 436. Coimus ad literarum divinarum commemorationem. 
 
 5 ¢. 31, p. 414. 6 c. 12, p. 340. Compare c. 10, p. 329. 
 
 7 ¢. 80, p. 412. 8 Adv. Marcion, v.c. 7. De Anima, c. 2. 
 
 9 Contra Hermogenem, c. 22. Adoro Scripture plenitudinem. 
 1 Adv. Marcion, iv. c. 2. 5. 
 
TERTULLIAN’S APOLOGY. Ixxxi 
 
 of the New Testament. So copious are these allu- 
 sions, that Lardner remarks’, “There are perhaps more 
 and larger quotations of the small volume of the New 
 Testament, in this one Christian author, than of all the 
 works of Cicero, though of so uncommon excellence 
 for thought and style, in the writers for several 
 ages.” 
 
 Tertullian’s Apology contains very interesting in- 
 formation respecting the condition of the Christian 
 Church, especially in Africa, in the second and third 
 centuries. He bears testimony to the wide diffusion 
 of Christianity in his time*; and shows that the 
 Christians were distinguished, both by themselves, and 
 by their adversaries, for their mutual love*. Their 
 harmless and tranquil life’; their habits of domestic 
 piety; their constant use of prayer, in private and in 
 public ὁ; their charity towards all men; their love of 
 their enemies’; their patience under persecution and 
 distress *, complete a picture which is the more striking 
 when contrasted with the scene which the pagan world 
 presented at the same time. The character of Ter- 
 tullian himself is a proof of the power of religion: no 
 other influence could have subdued the fiery spirit of 
 such a man. : 
 
 The Apology forms so small a portion of Tertul- 
 lian’s works, that any conclusions from it, respecting 
 the doctrine of the Church in his time, would be very 
 incomplete, unless supported by numerous references 
 to his other writings. 
 
 The limits of this Introduction will not admit of 
 
 * Credibility, part ii. 27. 23. 3 ec. 1. 37. 4 ¢. 39. 
 ΓΟ 42, ® ec. 80. 39. FCC. Ole 957. 8 cc. 37. 50. 
 
|xxxii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 so extended an examination; and the task has been 
 lately performed with such accuracy and judgment 
 by the learned Bishop of Lincoln, that any further 
 labours in the same field would be superfluous. 
 
 Little is necessary to be said of the remaining part 
 of Tertullian’s life. At a period, which was either a 
 little before, or soon after, the publication of his 
 Apology, he avowed himself a follower of Montanus. 
 The harsh and ascetic tenets of that visionary heretic 
 agreed with the naturally austere character of Ter- 
 tullian. But his defection was in matters rather of 
 discipline than of faith: and in the latter period of 
 his life he again seceded from the Montanists, and 
 founded a sect, called after his name, Tertullianists. 
 The remnants of this sect continued to exist after his 
 death till they were finally dispersed by Augustin ὃ. 
 
 The period of Tertullian’s death is unknown. 
 Jerome informs us that he lived to a great age: and 
 the year 220 is usually assigned. ‘There is every 
 reason to believe that he died a natural death. 
 
 The heretical opinions of Tertullian doubtless threw 
 a cloud over his fame; but they were not able to 
 eclipse the reputation which his great talents, piety, 
 and learning, had deservedly acquired. Hence, even 
 those who blamed his errors united in paying a just 
 tribute to his sincerity and great mental endowments. 
 The character given to him by Vincentius Lirinensis, 
 in the fifth century, may be taken as a proof of the 
 great estimation in which he was held. It is conceived 
 in terms of high panegyric: but the context shows 
 
 9. Augustin de Heres, c. 86. 
 
TERTULLIAN S APOLOGY. lxxxili 
 
 that it was written by one, who was as sensible of the 
 errors as of the excellencies of Tertullian. After 
 having shown the dangerous innovations which Origen 
 introduced, he describes Tertullian, notwithstanding 
 his erroneous opinions, as far superior to all the Latin 
 Christian writers. “Who,” says he, “ever excelled 
 him in learning? Who had greater proficiency in all 
 knowledge, sacred and profane? His astonishing capa- 
 city embraced in its comprehensive grasp all the 
 various branches and sects of philosophy, the original 
 founders and supporters of the different schools, and 
 the course of discipline adopted by each, together with 
 a wide range of history and other studies. Such also 
 was the vigour and force of his intellect, that, what- 
 ever position he attacked, he either penetrated it by 
 his subtilty, or crushed it with the weight of his 
 reasoning. The peculiar character of his style sur- 
 passes all praise. The arguments are connected in so 
 indissoluble a chain of reasoning, as to compel the 
 assent of those who would not be persuaded: every 
 word is a sentence; every sentence a victory over his 
 adversaries. The followers of Marcion, Apelles, 
 Praxeas, and Hermogenes; the Jew, the Gentile, the 
 Gnostic, had full experience of this: against all their 
 blasphemies he hurled the ponderous masses of his 
 voluminous works, and overthrew them, as with a 
 thunderbolt '.” 
 
 1 Sed et Tertulliani quoque eadem ratio est. Nam sicut ille (Ori- 
 genes) apud Gracos, ita hic apud Latinos nostrorum omnium facile 
 princeps judicandus est. Quid enim hoc viro doctius? quid in divinis 
 atque humanis rebus exercitatius? Nempe omnem Philosophiam et 
 cunctas philosophorum sectas, auctores adsertoresque sectarum, omnesque 
 eorum disciplinas, omnem historiarum ac studiorum varietatem, mira 
 
 eu 
 
]xxxiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 With respect to the present translations, it has 
 already been observed, that the Epistles of Clement, 
 Polycarp, and Ignatius, and the accounts of the Mar- 
 tyrdom of the two last, are in substance taken from 
 Archbishop Wake’s version. The language of that 
 version has been happily styled by Lardner “ Apostoli- 
 cal English :” and it would have been a needless affec- 
 tation of originality to have injured, by any unneces- 
 sary alteration, what had already been expressed so 
 faithfully and so well. My first intention was to have 
 simply reprinted those Epistles, with such illustrations 
 as they might seem to require. A comparison of the 
 present translation with that of Archbishop Wake 
 will show that, with the exception of the quotations, 
 his version has been here closely, but not servilely, fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 In translating the Apologies of Justin Martyr and 
 Tertullian, my object has been to express with fidelity 
 the sentiments of the originals, in such a manner as to 
 be intelligible to a reader who may not be able to 
 consult the works themselves. Those who are best ac- 
 quainted with the nature of such a task will be the 
 most lenient in overlooking any harshness or want of 
 fluency, which, in such a translation, it is so difficult to 
 
 quadam mentis capacitate complexus est. Ingenio vero nonne tam gravi 
 ac vehementi excelluit, ut nihil sibi pene ad expugnandum proposuerit, 
 quod non aut acumine inruperit, aut pondere eliserit? Jam porro ora- 
 tionis sue laudes quis exequi valeat? que tanta nescio qua rationum 
 necessitate conserta est, ut ad consensum sui, quos suadere non potuerit, 
 impellat. Cujus quot pane verba, tot sententie sunt; quot sensus, tot 
 victoria. Sciunt hoc Marciones, Apelles, Praxew, Hermogenes, Judzi, 
 Gentiles, ceterique quorum ille blasphemias multis ac magnis voluminum 
 suorum molibus, velut quibusdam fulminibus evertit. 
 Vincentius Lirinensis Commonitorium, Lib. i. c. 26. 
 
TERTULLIAN’S APOLOGY. Ixxxv 
 
 avoid. The version of Tertullian is necessarily more 
 paraphrastic than that of Justin, in order to render 
 intelligible the brief allusions and sudden transitions 
 which characterize his style. Should there be any 
 instances in which I have not succeeded in represent- 
 ing the sense of Tertullian, I would willingly refer to 
 the character of his writings, which has before been 
 quoted, that “he is indeed the harshest and most 
 obscure of writers; and the least capable of being ac- 
 curately represented in a translation.” 
 
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CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT TO THE CORINTHIANS. 
 
 CHAP. 
 1. 1. CLEMENT commends the Corinthians for their order and 
 piety before their schism began 
 ut. The origin of their strife 5 : : 
 1v.—vi. He shows by numerous examples, that envy and strife 
 have been the fruitful cause of many evils 
 vil. vit. He exhorts them to look up to the rule of their high 
 calling, and displays the cnr of mercy made to the 
 penitent . 
 1x.—x11. He refers them to the i instances of 
 Noah . : ° . 
 Abraham 
 Lot 
 ΠΑΝ 
 
 PAGE 
 
 1 
 3 
 
 3—6 
 
 xuu.—xv. And exhorts the Corinthians to follow these examples - 
 
 in humility, meekness, and godliness, according to the 
 precepts of Scripture : : : : 
 xvi. He refers to the example of Jesus Christ, who came in 
 great humility : 
 xvu. χυπι. And to Elijah, Elisha, Ezekiel, cae Daniel, τ 
 David . - ° : 
 x1x. And thence exhorts fen to ἘΠῚ Ὲ ἘΠ ΕΝ 
 xx. He shows that order is the principle of the Universe 
 xx1. He exhorts them to obedience, in compliance with the 
 will of God; who is ever present . : 
 xxu. And enforces his advice by an appeal to the Sen pares 
 xxim. The promises and threatenings of God will surely and 
 speedily come to pass 
 
Ixxxvili CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 xx1v.—xxvi. The Resurrection is certain. It is illustrated by 
 natural changes, as those of day and mene and by the 
 example of the Phcenix . « « J8—20 
 xxvu. Hence God is faithful, and will aioe his promises 20 
 XXVIII.—xxx. A further exhortation to obedience, purity, 
 humility, and moderation : 21,22 
 ΧΧΧΙ. xxx. The blessedness of those ae ἘΞ ΣῈ obedient 22, 23 
 Xxx. xxxiv. And an exhortation not to be weary in well 
 doing ; and to live in concord ; . 23—25 
 xxxv. For this purpose God hath made to us many glorious 
 promises’” Wo" mo) Ses bol vst ays 25, 26 
 xxxvi. And given us our great High Priest, Jesus Christ 26 
 XXXVII.—xxxix. The natural constitution of human society 
 teaches us the necessity of different orders of men 27, 28 
 xt. And God hath accordingly appointed every thing to be 
 done decently and in order in the Church : 28, 29 
 xtt. Hence he exhorts them to the observance of order 30 
 xtu. The orders of Ministers were established in the Church 
 of Christ, by the ees. according to Divine com- 
 mand . : . a 
 xLui. Evenas the friesth ood was especialy appiatd by God, 
 under the Jewish law 31 
 xtiv. The Apostles foretold that contentions areal arise re- 
 specting the ministry . 3 : - : ᾿ 92 
 xty. He again refers them to the oes of sipatoncen in 
 the Scriptures 33 
 xtvi. And to the precepts ἘΤΕῸΝ Genta ae 34 
 xLviI. Especially to the Epistle of St. Paul to them 35 
 xtvu. The higher gifts a man may have, the more humble- 
 minded he ought to be. 5 ὃ 86 
 xLix. Christian charity i is shown. oie bhedienes καὶ πος 
 -------- πσοκηθϑα. 86 
 Lt. It is the gift of God, ΞΕ must ie ene for a prayer 37 
 11. He exhorts those who had caused these divisions to 
 repent . . . . ξ - . : 38 
 Ltu.—tiy. And again refers to the precepts and examples of 
 Scripture. : ‘ . : 98, 99 
 tv. And to other examples among tite weaned . 40 
 Lv1. He recommends mutual prayer 41 
 tvit. And humiliation : : : : 43 
 Lv1i.—Lx. He concludes with a commendation of the Corin- 
 thians to God ; and with a blessing upon them 43 
 
CONTENTS. ΙΧΧΧΙΧ 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF POLYCARP TO THE PHILIPPIANS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 1. Porycarp congratulates the Philippians, on the recep- 
 tion which they gave the confessors of the faith of 
 Christ . : : ὃ : : : 45 
 1. Exhorts them to perseverance from the ἐπε αὔτ ΟΣ of 
 the resurrection: and reminds them of the rca of 
 
 Christ . ᾿ A ‘ 46 
 11. Polycarp assumes not the ἘΠΗ͂Ε ΟΥ̓ ἘΣ οἵ St. 
 Paul, to whose Epistle to them he refers : : 47 
 
 1v.—vi. But exhorts them to the practice of various Christian 
 duties, according to their several stations ; as diucey 
 
 deacons, young men, and elders. : 4 . 47—49 
 vit. Whosoever confesses not that Christ is come in the 
 flesh, is Antichrist ς ξ : : : . 49 
 vill. 1x. He exhorts them to patience by the imitation of Christ, 
 and of the Apostles and others. : : : : 50 
 x. And to be stedfast in the faith . : : : = 
 xt. Polycarp expresses his regret for the misconduct of 
 Valens and his wife : : : : : 51 
 
 xu. Recommends the study of the Seriptiees and sends 
 them his blessing 
 
 σι 
 bo 
 
 xu. xiv. He refers to the Epistles of Ignatius ; ἘΠ desires to 
 know if they have received any certain intelligence re- 
 specting him : : : . : ὃ : . 52, 53 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS TO THE EPHESIANS. 
 
 1. _Ienatius thanks the Ephesians for sending their Bishop 
 Onesimus to meet him, as he was passing bound from 
 Syriato Rome. . 3 : : πος « . 55 
 
 u. He congratulates them on the possession of other faith- 
 ful servants, and exhorts them to obedience . : 5 57 
 
 11. τιν, He disclaims all personal superiority, but in charity 
 recommends them to a their ate and the Pres- 
 
 bytery . : - : 4 58 
 
 v. vi. He expatiates upon the character of ἜΝ τ the 
 Episcopal authority generally Ξ : : : 3 69 
 vit, He warns them of [8]56 teachers . . . . . -- 
 vu. Commends the integrity of their faith . : : : 61 
 
 1x. And their refusal to listen to error Σ ; ? : 62 
 
XC CONTENTS. 
 CHAP PAGE 
 x. x1. He exhorts to prayer and holiness, since the last times 
 are at hand . : ᾿ Ε A Σ Ν Η . 68, 64 
 xu. And contrasts his own condition with theirs . : ὃ θ4 
 xu. He recommends their frequent assembling. : . 65 
 xiv, And exhorts to faith and charity . : ὃ : : -- 
 xv. Unostentatious faith is better than unreal profession. 66 
 xvi. xvut. He warns them against false doctrine... . 66, 67 
 ees Expresses his willingness to die for the Cross of Christ . 67 
 Gc xix) Sy The Prince of this world knew not the virginity of 
 3 Mary, nor the birth of Christ, nor his death . : = 
 xx. He purposes sending to them a second Epistle, declaring 
 the faith more fully ee hate : ἢ : ae 69 
 xxi. Beseeches their prayers for the Church which is in 
 Syria, and bids them farewell : : : : : τος 
 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS TO THE MAGNESIANS. 
 1, | Icnatrus salutes the Church at Magnesia. : : 71 
 II. Whose Bishop, Damas, he had seen. Ε : == 
 111. tv. He exhorts them to reverence their ΡΟΣ in Searches 
 to the ordinance of God Ξ : : : 72 
 v. The difference of the faithful and the unfaithful ‘ : - 
 vi. vir. He exhorts them to be obedient to the Bishops, Pres- 
 byters, and Deacons, and to preserve the unity of the 
 Church : : 3 ὃ : : : : 78 
 vul1.—x. Warns them not to live according to ns Jewish law ; 
 but after Christ, who is our life. A : ; - 74,75 
 χι. Ignatius disclaims any personal authority. : ὃ 75 
 xu. Commends their faith . 5 : 76 
 x1u. Exhorts them to be established in the ἀπο: of Christ 
 and the Apostles, in all obedience : ὃ : : - 
 xiv. xv. And concludes with entreating their prayers, and with a 
 salutation . ‘ Ε A ᾿ : : : a 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS TO THE TRALLIANS. 
 
 IcnaTIus commends the purity and godliness of the 
 Trallians, of which he had been assured by their poets 
 Polybius. . : : : . ὃ - 78 
 
CONTENTS. xci 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 u. u1, Their obedience to their Bishops, the Presbytery, and 
 
 the Deacons, without whom there isno Church . : 79 
 ιγ. v. He refrains from boasting, and from speaking of heavenly 
 
 things . : : Ξ : ᾿ E : 80 
 
 vi1.—viul. Exhorts them to avoid unsound ce ad to con- 
 
 tinue in the Unity of the Church . : : : Sl) 62 
 1x.—x1. To stop their ears if any spake to them against Jesus 
 
 Christ, or declared that he existed and suffered in ap- 
 
 pearance only. . ᾿ : : : . 82, 88 
 xu. xt. He salutes them in his own name and that of the faith- 
 ful who are at Smyrna and Ephesus. : : . 83, 84 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 1 AFTER a salutation to the Church at Rome, he re- 
 commends them not to interfere to hinder his martyr- 
 dom . : Ε ᾿ ; : : ς ᾿ 86 
 
 11.—1v. But to permit him to be offered up, as he was ready to 
 be, for the sake of Christ ; and to strengthen him with 
 
 their prayers : : . 87—89 
 v. He mentions the evil treatment Which ie ἀράδα from 
 the soldiers, on his passage from Syriato Rome . : 91 
 νι. But expresses his full determination to die for Christ. 92 
 vir. And declares that the love of Christ in him had con- 
 quered all his earthly desires : : : : : 93 
 vu. He again urges them not to pret the a oe 
 of his wishes . : : : 95 
 IX. Entreats their prayers for the Ghursh of Seis : : 96 
 x. And mentions with honour those who were with him . 97 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS TO THE PHILADELPHIANS. 
 
 1. Ignatius recommends Church eau ; praises their 
 Bishop . : : - ς - : : 98 
 
 u.—1v. And exhorts them to flee divisions and false doctrines ; 
 and to partake of one Eucharist . - : : : 99 
 v. Heentreatstheir prayers . - . : sin NS 100 
 
 γι. Warns them against Judaizing teachers. : ; ° -- 
 
xcii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 vit. Reminds them of his previous exhortations to obedience 
 
 to the Bishop, Presbytery, and Deacons : : δ 101 
 vin. He warns them against those who preferred the writings 
 
 of the Old Testament to the Gospel. : Ξ - τας 
 
 1x. And shows the excellence of the Gospel above the Law 102 
 x. He advises the Philadelphians to send a Deacon to con- 
 gratulate the Church of Antioch on the peace which 
 
 they enjoyed aa : . : : : : 102 
 
 x1, And concludes witha salutation . ο. : : : 108 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS TO THE SMYRNEANS. 
 
 1.  Icnatius praises their immoveable faith in Christ who 
 truly lived and suffered for us : 104 
 
 u. ut. As he also éruly raised himself from the ae ἘΠῚ ap- 
 peared to Peter and to many ‘ : ‘ : : 105 
 
 ιν. He warns them against heretics, and commands them to 
 
 pray for them ; although their conversion rests with 
 
 Christ . : : : ; : : Ὰ 106 
 v. Ignatius will not mention the names of those who hold 
 erroneous opinions . δ : 107 
 
 vi. vu. But refers to their conduct, ard refusal to πον Ὲ of ste 
 Excharist ; and exhorts the Smyrneans to abstain from 
 
 such men - A 108 
 
 vii. 1x. And to follow their ἘΠΕ Preshytery, and Deron: 
 according to God’s « ‘tinance : Ξ : 109 
 x. He commends them wr .eceiving Philo and ἐπῶν : 110 
 
 χι. Glories in that he is counted worthy to suite: . sccom- 
 mends them to send to congratulate the Syrian Church 
 for the peace which it enjoyed. ὃ ᾿ : eat 
 
 xu. xu. And concludes with asalutation . ᾿ 6 : : 111 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS TO POLYCARP. 
 
 1. He exhorts Polycarp to persevere in the diligent dis- 
 
 charge of his Episcopal office : : : - : 113 
 u. To be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove _ . : 114 
 ur. Toendure all things . ὃ : : : : : 115 
 
 ιν. Tocareforall . ᾿ x : : 5 ᾿ ὃ 116 
 
IT. 
 
 Ill. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Vil. 
 
 Vill. 
 
 IX. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 He exhorts the married and single 
 And adds advice to the whole Church . 
 Recommends messengers to be sent to Antioch 
 
 Directs Polycarp to write to the Churches near him ; and 
 concludes with a salutation . 
 
 Tue Martyrpvom or IGNATIUS 
 
 THE crRcULAR EptsTLE OF THE CHURCH OF SMYRNA, 
 CONCERNING THE Marryrpom oF St. Potycare 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE APOLOGY OF JUSTIN MARTYR. 
 
 Justin addresses the Emperor Antoninus Pius, Marcus 
 Aurelius, and Lucius Verus . 2 ‘ : 
 
 And represents that their names and station required 
 them to regard truth alone . 5 : : : 
 He demands that the charges one the Christians 
 should be examined : that the Christians should be im- 
 partially treated, according as they deserved, and not be 
 punished fora mere name. : : : 
 Christianity ought not to be judged of, ἐς the miscon- 
 duct of some who only profess the name ; : 
 Justin attributes the injustice of the heathens towards 
 the Christians, to the instigation of demons . 
 
 And declares that the Christians ee only God 
 the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit . 
 
 He requires that the actions of all those ented should 
 be examined. ὃ - 
 
 The Christians suffer ou ἐπι they aes not roe 
 the truth .- : : : 
 
 And will not pay honout to  cfilee the ἘΠ senseless 
 idols. 3 : : τ : ; : : 
 Knowing that God requires not material feria: but 
 purity and holiness of life ; and will admit those, who 
 obey his will, to immortality and glory . 
 
 xelil 
 PAGE 
 117 
 
 118 
 119 
 
 120 
 
 147 
 
 148 
 
Xciv CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGR 
 x1. The kingdom, which Christians expect, is not of this 
 
 world . ‘ : - : : : : : : 158 
 
 xu. Their religion is the best means of preserving peace. -- 
 
 xu. And enables them to defy their persecutors . : : 159 
 
 xiv. Jesus Christ foretold their persecutions δ : : - 
 xv. Justin proceeds to show what Christianity is : : 
 
 xvi. The worship of the Christians consists in prayer and 
 praise to God the Creator, to his Son, Jesus Christ, 
 
 and to the Holy Spirit . : : ; : 
 xvir. <A most beneficial change had taken saree in the lives 
 Ἔα of those who had become Christians. : ‘ 
 “xvuy Many precepts of Christ teach chastity . : ee Ὑ(" 
 TX. —The love ofall men . : ‘ : : : 163 
 XX. —The patient endurance ofevil . : : : 164 
 XI: —And that men should not swear . : 165 
 
 xxu. Christ declared that they who live not as he aan are 
 
 not Christians indeed . 5 - : : : = 
 xxu. And commanded his followers to pay ἘΠΕῚ and honour 
 
 those in authority 5 : - : 16€ 
 xxiv. The superstitions of the heathens ἐπ δῶν: "ΡῈ 
 
 make them believe that the soul survives death . : 167 
 xxv. The resurrection of the body is not so incredible as its 
 
 first formation would be, to one who had had no experi- 
 
 ence οὕ . - Ξ . . : . 169 
 xxvi. Christ taught that things impossible with man are pos- 
 
 sible with God. ° . . : : : 170 
 xxvu1. The punishment of hell reserved (oe the unrighteous, is 
 
 hinted at by some heathens . : ο : ‘ ᾿ -- 
 
 xxviu. It is, therefore, unreasonable that Christians alone 
 should be hated, while poets and philosophers, who 
 entertain less just and sublime notions, are honoured 171 
 xx1x. Justin compares the opinions which the heathen falsely 
 maintained respecting Jupiter and others, with the more 
 reasonable tenets of the Christians 2 172 
 xxx. And shows that their opinions respecting Christ aie 
 well obtain credence from those who held notions of a 
 
 similar nature respecting their own deities. ᾿ 178 
 χχχι. The truths of Christianity are more ancient than ihe 
 
 fables of heathenism : : : 174 
 xxxu. Yet Christians alone are punished, while the most abate 
 
 idolatries are permitted : : 3 : : < - 
 
 xxxu. They have reformed their lives in embracing a purer 
 faith ἜΣ : : : : : 175 
 xxxtv. Even after the ascension of Christ the evil spirits have 
 
CHAP. 
 
 XXXV. 
 XXXVI. 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 XL.-—LII. 
 1111, 
 
 LIV. 
 
 LV. 
 
 LVI. 
 
 LVII. 
 
 LVIII. 
 
 LIX. 
 
 Lx. 
 
 LXI. 
 
 LXIlI. 
 
 LXIII. 
 LXIV. 
 
 LXV. 
 LXVI. 
 
 LXVII, 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 XCV 
 PAGE 
 instigated men to call themselves gods: as in the instance 
 of Simon Macus and Menander 176 
 The heresy of Marcion : 5 : : 178 
 Justin refutes the calumnies, brought against the Chris. 
 tians, of devouring children, and incest: and retorts the 
 charges upon the heathen 180 
 The purity and continence of the Christians . : 181 
 Lest the miracles of Christ should be ascribed to magic, 
 Justin appeals to prophecy 182 
 And relates the history of the ΤΕ ΚΣ of the Berar 
 Scriptures into Greek by the order of Ptolemy 183 
 In those prophecies, the miraculous birth of Jesus, his 
 being made man, his miracles, sufferings, death, resurrec- 
 tion, and ascension, his Divine nature, and the extension 
 of his religion over the whole world, are expressly pre- 
 dicted . : : : : : ὰ 184 
 This is shown by various quotations. 5 . 184—194 
 Justin explains why the Holy Bepeene Spirit a of 
 future events as already past. 195 
 Christians consider not that events ae a fatal 
 necessity ; which would be inconsistent with the free- 
 will of man 196 
 But believe this only to we Ἔα τ, ΠΝ ΠῚ ἐπεὶ 
 they who choose the good shall be rewarded, and they 
 who choose the evil shall be punished - 197 
 This is proved by quotations from Scripture -- 
 And shown to agree with the opinion of Plato 198 
 Prophecy therefore implies not a fatal necessity, but 
 shows the foreknowledge of God : : = 
 The evil spirits endeavoured to ab the knowledge 
 of prophecy, but in vain = 
 David predicted that God the Father oud receive 
 Christ into heaven : : ὃ : : : 199 
 Justin asserts that all men, in all ages, who lived agree- 
 ably to right reason, were Christians in spirit 200 
 Various prophecies, showing that Jerusalem should be 
 destroyed 201 
 That Christ should ell the ie ἘΣ raise Ge Tel 202 
 That he should be made man, and suffer many things, 
 and come again in glory : 203 
 That he hath an origin which cannot be expressed 204 
 The fulfilment of these prophecies is an earnest that 
 those yet unaccomplished will be fulfilled 5 205 
 And, therefore, that Christ will come the second time 
 to judgment . 206 
 
xevl CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. 
 ταν. These prophecies had fully persuaded the Christians to 
 believe Christ, who was crucified, to be the first-born of 
 the unbegotten God _ . : - : δ : : 
 Lx1x. The conversion of the Gentiles was foretold = . 
 Ltxx. The evil demons, knowing the prophecies respecting 
 Christ, invented fables of a similar nature, to deceive 
 men. - : : : ae ὃ : ᾿ 
 ΧΧι. ΑΒ in the fables of Bacchus, Bellerophon, Perseus, and 
 Hercules’. Ξ δ : ὃ : : : : 
 Lxxu. But in no fable was the crucifixion of Christ imitated . 
 — The figure of the Cross is almost universally employed 
 Lxxuum. The demons also, after the ascension of Christ, raised 
 up men, such as Simon, and Menander, before men- 
 tioned, inc. 34. : ; : : - : 
 Lxxiv. The malice of these evil spirits can, however, only in- 
 stigate the enemies of the Christians to destroy them . 
 Ltxxv. They raised up Marcion to deceive men : : : 
 LXXVI. LXxvu. Plato obtained his notions respecting the crea- 
 tion of the world, and other oman from the writings 
 of Moses. : : : : : : 213, 
 Lxxvul. It is not, then, that the Christians adopt the opinions of 
 others, but others, theirs ᾿ : ἐ 3 Ξ 
 Lxx1x. Justin explains the manner in which believers are bap- 
 tized. 5 : : ° : 
 Lxxx. Shows that this new birth i is necessary ; and that bap: 
 tism is performed in the name of God the Father, and 
 of Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit ὃ 2 : 
 LXxxI. Justin then digresses to show that the evil spirits 
 imitated the practice of baptism; as they caused the 
 action of Moses, who put off his shoes at the burning 
 bush, to be imitated. : 3 : ὃ : 
 txxxu. He declares that it was the Son of God, τὰ appeared 
 to Moses in the bush . 5 : : : 5 
 Lxxxiu. And to the prophets in various forms. ‘ . Ξ 
 Lxxxiv. And asserts that the demons imitated what they learned 
 from the writings of Moses, in several instances . 
 LXxxv. Justin then returns to describe the administration of the 
 Eucharist to those who had been baptized. : : 
 Lxxxvi. He explains the nature of that sacrament; that the 
 elements are not common bread nor common drink ; and 
 relates the manner of its institution . : : : 
 Lxxxvul. The Christians assemble on Sunday. An account of 
 the manner of public worship in the primitive Church . 
 Lxxxvul. The collection of alms. : ὃ : - 
 Lxxx1x. The reason of assembling on Sunday . : é 
 
 PAGE 
 
 209 
 210 
 
 216 
 
CHAP. 
 xc. 
 
 III, 
 
 lv. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Justin concludes with desiring that the Christians may 
 not be condemned unheard ; but expresses their resigna- 
 tion to the will of God; and lass the Epistle of 
 Adrian in their favour . - : : ° 
 
 Tue Epistle of Antoninus Pius to the Common As- 
 sembly of Asia. : : : : : . : 
 
 THE APOLOGY OF TERTULLIAN. 
 
 Tue Christians, under Severus, not being permitted to 
 speak in their own defence, Tertullian addresses this 
 written Apology to the Governors of Proconsular 
 Africa. He shows that their religion, founded on truth, 
 requires no favour but demands justice . 
 The hatred which her enemies entertain towards ἘΠ: is 
 manifestly unjust . , 
 All Christians glory in their faith . : 
 Christians, even if guilty, ought to be treated in tie 
 same manner as other criminals : 
 The edict of Trajan was self-contradictory 
 Other criminals are tortured to make them confess: ; 
 Christians, to make them deny . 
 The name alone of Christian, not the fact of professing 
 Christianity, is made a crime : . ° 
 The enemies of Christianity bear rat scedinon® to 
 its excellence 
 Yet permit their hatred to prevail over the benefit 
 which they derive from Christianity . 
 The name of Christian is harmless, both in its own sig. 
 nification, and as it relates to its author . : 
 And is therefore no reasonable ground of πον 
 Tertullian prepares to answer the charges oe Chris- 
 tianity . : 
 But first shows that, even τ nae ἘΠῚ ΣΉΝ the 
 Christians, they may be repealed, as ὭΡΗ, laws have 
 been . . : : 
 And that laws, which would “sna a name, “bt a crime, 
 are foolish as well as unjust . ‘ : : : 
 The gods of the Romans could not be consecrated with. 
 out the consent ‘‘the Senate : 
 Tiberius is said to have proposed to introduce an 
 Christ among the Roman gods - 
 
 f- 
 
 x¢evil 
 
 PAGE 
 
 225 
 
 226 
 
 245 
 
 246 
 
xevill 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 Vv. 
 
 Vil. 
 
 XI. 
 
 XV. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 The bad emperors were persecutors, the good, pro- 
 tectors, of the Christians 
 
 The Thundering Legion : : 
 The Romans had abrogated many Me of their ances- 
 tors; and greatly degenerated from their severity of life 
 Tertullian refers to mete calumnies brought a the 
 Christians 
 
 And demands that Soe, may be invesipatadl 
 
 Common fame is their only accuser : 
 
 These accusations are in themselves incredible 
 
 Heathen nations themselves practised the atrocities of 
 
 which they accused the Christians 5 : ὃ ὃ 
 As human sacrifices : : : : : 
 The tasting of blood . : : : : : 
 
 And the crime of incest 
 From all which Christians are free : : 
 Christians are accused of neither worshipping the gods 
 nor sacrificing to the safety of the Emperors 
 They do this, knowing them to be no gods 
 Thus, Saturn was the oldest of the heathen deities, mn 
 yet was a man 5 
 Those persons, who were once men, were never made 
 gods 
 This supposition would ΠΝ the existence of a Santana 
 Deity, who would have no need of dead men; and 
 would certainly not have chosen such men for their 
 virtues . 
 The absurdity of ἣν : : 
 They who conceive these false gods to be objects of 
 worship, do themselves neglect and insult them 
 Their sacrifices are disgraceful ; and their mythological 
 history derogatory to the dignity of their gods 
 Their gods were made the subject of ridicule in their 
 fables and dramas . 
 Their temples were constantly desecrated 
 Calumnies founded upon the alleged objects of Chris- 
 tian worship . : : 
 They are falsely accused of adoring 
 
 An Asses head . 
 
 A Cross 
 
 The Sun 
 
 Or a being of migugtroue ran 
 The object of the Christian worship is One God, the 
 Creator of all things : : 
 To whom the soul “of man ratarelly Bene ae, 
 God hath revealed to us his written word 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. 
 xvi. The prophets taught of old . : 
 — These Scriptures were translated from Hebr ew ee 
 Greek, by the command of Ptolemy 
 x1x. These Scriptures are most ancient . 
 — Moses might be proved to have been ἘΞ τ: ἴο all 
 heathen writers, and philosophers 5 
 xx. The authority of Scripture is proved by pr Hines 
 xxi. The religion of the Christians must not be confounded 
 with that of the Jews 
 — Christians worship Christ not as a > itm per but as 
 God . : 
 — Christ is God, and the Sen ef God : 
 — His procession from the Father compared with that of 
 light from the sun 
 — Two comings of Christ are predicted 
 — The Jews ascribed his miracles to magic 
 — They put him to death 
 — But he rose from the dead 
 — And showed himself to chosen witnesses 
 — Pilate wrote an account to Tiberius : 
 — This statement ought at once to repress all false) asser- 
 tions respecting Christianity . : : 
 Χχι. Tertullian declares his sentiments poe the exist- 
 ence and occupation of demons 
 — And ascribes the ancient oracles to their Brees 
 xx. The demons and the heathen gods were the same . 
 — Tertullian offers to rest the truth of Christianity on the 
 power of any Christian ἌΡΑ ἴο expel a demon : 
 Jesus Christ is the Virtue, Splut ,.Word, Wisdom, 
 Reason, and Son of God ; : 
 xxiv. The acknowledgment of inferior pat implies he. exist- 
 ence of One superior . : : 
 — This God is worshipped oe the (Onn pac and they 
 claim the same right which is allowed all others 
 xxv. The great qReatate of the Roman Empire was not the 
 reward of the devotion of the Romans to their gods 
 — For the rise of their power preceded the greater part 
 of their worship : 
 — And their conquests ares foe the temples of the gods 
 themselves : ὃ : 
 xxv. It is God, therefore, ae mies the ay 
 xxvu, The Christians cannot be guilty of any offence against 
 gods, who have no existence 
 — The persecution of the Christians is ἘΠ ΝΠ hy the 
 malice of demons . . . . . 
 xxv. Compulsory worship could never ‘Be ΣΗΙΡ to the 
 gods. : : . : : : - : - 
 
 f 2 
 
CHAP, 
 
 XXVIII, 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 XXXII. 
 XXXII. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 XXXVI, 
 XXXVII. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 XX XIX. 
 
 XL. 
 
 XLII. 
 
 XLVII. 
 
 XLVIIL. 
 
 -CONTENTS. 
 
 As the Christians are innocent of sacrilege, so also they 
 are not guilty of treason against the Emperors 
 
 To sacrifice for the ee to those who are no or 
 is but a mockery . 
 
 Christians pray constantly to ite true God for ihe 
 Emperors, and for the well-being of the state 
 
 This they are commanded to do by their Scriptures 
 Christians pray for the continuance of the Roman 
 Empire, after which they expect the day of judgment 
 Christians reverence the Emperor, as appointed by God: 
 but not as a god : : 
 
 . Augustus would not be called τ : 
 . The immoral festivities of the heathen are a disgrace, 
 
 rather than an honour, to the Emperor. 5 
 
 Their congratulations are insincere 
 
 Christians are bound to do good to all men 
 
 If they were enemies of the state, their numbers Sant 
 enable them to avenge themselves 
 
 The rapid increase of the number of Giri : 
 The harmless character of Christians ought to protect 
 them : : : A : : : 
 Christians met constantly for Buble ΡΝ and read- 
 ing the Scriptures. 
 
 Elders presided ; and distributed the common fon 
 
 The mutual love of Christians 
 
 Their simple feast in common, hallowed by prayer, ΤῈ 
 religious converse 4 : F : : 
 Public calamities were eee ascribed to the Chris- 
 tians . 
 
 But rather arise eon ie Hagley of the ἘΠΤῚ 
 
 All calamities are not judgments : 
 
 A refutation of the calumny that Christians were use- 
 less members of society : ὃ 
 Infamous men only had reason to ΞΕ ἣν οἵ the 
 Christians 
 
 The innocency of Christians . 
 
 Which arises from the principles which nee ἘΠΕ 
 Christianity is not a species of philosophy 
 
 Christians are superior to philosophers in their ἌΡΕΙ 
 ledge of God : 
 In the purity of their lives 
 In humility, and moral virtue : : 
 
 The heathen philosophers borrowed reels ae ate 
 Scriptures; but perverted their meaning 
 
 Those who, with the Pythagoreans, believe a trans- 
 
CHAP. 
 
 XLVIII. 
 
 XLIX. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 migration of souls, ἘΠ well believe the possibility of a 
 resurrection . . 
 
 The restoration of man to ‘life after ideath is το 80 
 difficult to conceive as his first formation from nothing . 
 The changes of the natural world render a resurrection 
 probable : : : ὃ . 
 The phenomena of ighentae andl volcanos πὸ fe re- 
 garded as affording a presumption that the punishment 
 of the wicked in eternal fire is possible . : : 
 
 If the opinions of the Christians are ae they 
 are at least innocent . ὃ 
 
 Christians would gladly avoid ἘΠΕῚ ἐν τ ἘΠῚ: 
 cheerfully submit to it . 
 
 Their resolution is courage, not aban a τς 
 to that which is applauded in others 
 
 But persecution cannot crush Christianity . 
 
 The blood of Christians is the seed of the faith 
 
 And their patience under martyrdom the most effectual 
 preacher 
 
 ci 
 PAGE 
 
 350 
 
cll 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 On the preaching of St. Paul in the West 
 
 The probable duration of St. Paul’s ῬΡΘΡΠΙΗΒ after his 
 first imprisonment : 
 Evidence to prove that St. Paul visited sean 
 Evidence in favour of his preaching in Britain 
 
 On the Epistle of Clement, c. xvi. p. 12 : 
 Passages in which Clement a of the Divine paige 
 of Christ A 
 
 Extract from the Epistle to ἀν : 
 
 On Ignatius’s Epistle to the Magnesians, c. vii. 
 
 The Letters of the younger Pliny and Trajan byes 
 the Christians : : : . : 5 
 
PART I. 
 
7) 
 
 at 
 
THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 TO THE 
 
 CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Tue Church of God which is! at Rome to the Church 
 of God which is at Corinth, called, sanctified by the 
 will of God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, grace to 
 you and peace from Almighty God, through Jesus 
 Christ, be multiplied. 
 
 1. The sudden and repeated dangers and calamities 
 which have befallen us, brethren, have, we fear, made 
 us too slow in giving heed to those things which ye 
 enquired of us, as well as to that wicked and detestable 
 sedition, altogether unbecoming the elect of God, 
 
 1 ἡ παροικοῦσα Ῥώμην. Que Rome peregrinatur. Latin version. This 
 expression, properly implying, “the Church which sojourneth at Rome, 
 as a stranger,” is used also in the inscription of the Epistle of Polycarp to 
 the Philippians, and in that of the Circular Epistle of the Church of 
 Smyrna respecting the martyrdom of Polycarp. It seems to refer to 
 those passages of Scripture, as Ps. xxxix. 12, 1 Pet. i. 37, ii. 11, in 
 which life is represented as a pilgrimage, an image to which reference is 
 made by Tertullian, Apol. c. i. The word is used in this specific sense in 
 Luke xxiv. 18. And Theodoret on Ps. lv. 16, says, «ΤῊ present life is 
 a temporary abode :” (παροικία), for in it we sojourn, but dwell not 
 (παροικοῦμεν οὐ κατοικοῦμεν). But it is shown by Suicer (Thesaurus 
 παροικέω § ii.), that in ecclesiastical writers the word παροικεῖν is often 
 simply equivalent to κατοικεῖν. 
 
 B 
 
2 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 which a few hasty and self-willed persons have excited 
 to such a degree of madness, that your venerable and 
 renowned name, so worthy of the love of all men, is 
 thereby greatly blasphemed. For who that hath 
 sojourned among you hath not experienced the firm- 
 ness of your faith, and its fruitfulness in all good 
 works? and admired the temper and moderation of 
 your piety in Christ? and proclaimed the magnificent 
 spirit of your hospitality? and thought you happy in 
 your perfect and certain knowledge (of the gospel) ? 
 For ye did all things without respect of persons; and 
 walked according to the laws of God; being subject 
 to those who had the rule over you; and giving to the 
 elders among you the honour which was due. Young 
 men ye commanded to think those things which are 
 modest and grave. Women ye exhorted to perform 
 all things with an unblameable, and seemly, and pure 
 conscience ; loving their own husbands as was fitting : 
 ye taught them, also, to be subject to the rule of 
 obedience, and to order their houses gravely with all 
 discretion. 
 
 2. Ye were all of you humble-minded ἡ, not boasting 
 of any thing, desiring rather to be subject than to 
 govern ; to give, than to receive*; being content with 
 the portion which God had dispensed unto you: and 
 hearkening diligently to his word, ye were enlarged in 
 your bowels *, having his sufferings always before your 
 eyes. Thus a deep and fruitful peace*® was given to 
 you all, and an insatiable desire of doing good; and a 
 plentiful effusion of the Holy Ghost was upon all of 
 
 2.1 ΒΘ νος 3 Acts xx. 85. 4-2 Cor. yi. 11; 12: 
 
 5 εἰρήνη βαθεῖα καὶ λιπαρά. 
 
 The metaphor appears to refer to a soil which is deep and fertile. 
 Thus Chrysostom Hom. 52 on Genesis—eiddreg ὅτι οὐ κατὰ πετρῶν 
 σπείρομεν, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς λιπαρὰν καὶ βαθύγεων καταβάλλομεν τὰ σπέρματα. Vol. 
 i. p. 420. 37. Savile. 
 
 Eusebius H. E. 111, 32, γενομένης εἰρήνης βαθείας ἐν πάσῃ ᾿κκλησίᾳ. 
 
TO THE CORINTHIANS. 3 
 
 you. And, being full of holy counsel, ye did, with 
 great readiness of mind, and religious confidence, 
 stretch forth your hands to Almighty God, beseeching 
 him to be merciful, if in any thing ye had unwillingly 
 sinned. Ye contended day and night for the whole 
 brotherhood, that with compassion and a good con- 
 science the number of his elect might be saved. Ye 
 were sincere and without offence: not mindful of 
 injuries one towards another. All sedition and all 
 schism was an abomination unto you. Ye mourned 
 over the sins of your neighbours, esteeming their 
 defects your own. Ye were kind one to another 
 without grudging; ready to every good work. Ye 
 were adorned with a conversation entirely virtuous and 
 religious ; and did all things in the fear of God. The 
 commandments of the Lord were written upon the 
 tables of your heart °. 
 
 3. All honour and enlargement was given unto you. 
 Then was fulfilled that which is written: “ My be- 
 loved did eat and drink, he was enlarged, and waxed 
 fat, and kicked’.” Hence arose envy, and strife, and 
 sedition ; persecution and disorder, war and captivity. 
 Thus they that were of no renown lifted up themselves 
 against the honourable ; those of no reputation against 
 those that were in respect; the foolish against the 
 wise; the young against the elders. Therefore righte- 
 ousness and peace are departed from you, because 
 every one of you hath forsaken the fear of God, and is 
 become blind in his faith, and walks not by the rule 
 of God’s commandments, nor regulates himself as is 
 fitting in Christ. But every one follows his own 
 wicked lusts, having taken up unjust and wicked envy, 
 by which even death entered into the world. 
 
 4. For thus it is written; “And it came to pass, 
 after certain days, that Cain brought of the fruit of 
 
 6 Prov. vil. 3. 2 Cor. 11]. 9. 7 Deut. xxxii. 15. 
 
 Boo 
 
4 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he 
 also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat 
 thereof. And God had respect unto Abel and unto 
 his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering he had 
 not respect. And Cain was very sorrowful, and his 
 countenance fell. And God said unto Cain, Why art 
 thou sorrowful? and why is thy countenance fallen ? 
 If thou shalt offer aright, but not divide aright, hast 
 thou not sinned? Hold thy peace *. Unto thee shall 
 be his desire; and thou shalt rule over him. And 
 Cain said unto Abel his brother, Let us go aside into 
 the field ®. And it came to pass as they were in the 
 field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and 
 slew him'’.” Ye see, brethren, envy and jealousy 
 wrought the murder of a brother. Through envy, our 
 father Jacob fled from the face of his brother Esau’. 
 Envy caused Joseph to be persecuted even unto death, 
 and to come into bondage*. Envy compelled Moses 
 to flee from the face of Pharaoh king of Egypt; when 
 he heard his own countryman say, Who made thee a 
 judge and a ruler over us? wilt thou kill me, as thou 
 killedst the Egyptian yesterday‘? Through envy, 
 Aaron and Miriam’ were shut out of the camp °. 
 Envy sent Dathan and Abiram quick into the grave, 
 because they raised up a sedition against Moses the 
 servant of God’. Through envy, David was not only 
 hated of strangers, but persecuted even by Saul, the 
 king of Israel ὃ. 
 
 5. But, not to dwell upon ancient examples, let us 
 
 8 According to the version of the Septuagint. So Irenzus iv. 34. 
 
 9 The Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, Vulgate, and other Versions 
 supply these words, which are wanting in the Hebrew copies. 
 
 1 Gen. iv. 3—8. 2 Gen. xxviii. 3 Gen. xxxvii. 
 
 4 Exod. ii. 14. Acts vii. 27. The words here are slightly different 
 from the Septuagint, and from the passage in the Acts. 
 
 5 Miriam is said to have been shut out from the camp, Numb. xii. 14,-15, 
 but not Aaron. 
 
 6 Numb. xii. 14, 15. 7 Numb. xvi. 33. 8.1 Sam. xix. 
 
~ 
 
 TO THE CORINTHIANS. 9 
 
 come to those who in these last days have wrestled 
 manfully for the faith; let us take the noble examples 
 of our own age. Through envy and jealousy, the faith- 
 ful and most righteous pillars ® of the Church have been 
 persecuted even to the most dreadful deaths. Let us 
 place before our eyes the good Apostles. Peter, by 
 unjust envy, underwent not one or two, but many 
 labours; and thus having borne testimony unto death 
 he went unto the place of glory which was due to him. 
 Through envy Paul obtained the reward of patience. 
 Seven times was he in bonds; he was scourged; was 
 stoned'. He preached both in the east and in the west, 
 leaving behind him the glorious report of his faith. 
 And thus, having taught the whole world righteousness, 
 and reached the furthest extremity of the west’, he 
 suffered martyrdom, by the command of the governors *, 
 and departed out of this world, and went to the holy 
 place, having become a most exemplary pattern of 
 patience. 
 
 6. To these holy apostles was added a great number 
 of other godly men, who having through envy under- 
 gone many insults and tortures, have left a most ex- 
 cellent example to us. Through envy women * have 
 been persecuted; and suffering grievous and unut- 
 terable torments, have finished the course of their faith 
 with firmness, and, though weak in body, have received 
 a glorious reward. Envy hath alienated the minds of 
 wives from their husbands, and changed that which 
 was spoken by our father Adam: “This is now bone 
 of my bone, and flesh of my flesh *.” Envy and strife 
 
 2 (581: 11:-.9: 1 29 Cor. xi. 25. 
 
 2 See note (A) at the end of the volume. 
 
 3 Probably of Fenius Rufus, and Sofonius Tigellinus, the two prefects 
 of the pretorian cohorts, appointed by Nero in the place of Burrus. 
 Tacit. Annal. xiv. 51. 
 
 4 The words, “the Danaides and Dirce,” here inserted, appear to be an 
 
 interpolation. 
 5 Gen, ii. 23. 
 
6 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 have overthrown great cities, and utterly rooted out 
 mighty nations. 
 
 7. These things, beloved, we write unto you, not 
 only to instruct you, but to remind ourselves; for we 
 are inclosed in the same lists, and must engage in the 
 same combat. Wherefore let us lay aside all vain and 
 empty cares, and come up to the glorious and honour- 
 able rule of our holy calling. Let us consider what is 
 good, and acceptable, and well-pleasing in the sight of 
 him that made us®. Let us look stedfastly to the 
 blood of Christ, and see how precious his blood is in 
 the sight of God, which, being shed for our salvation, 
 hath obtained the grace of repentance to the whole 
 world. Let us look to all past generations, and Jearn 
 that from generation to generation the Lord hath given 
 place for repentance to ail such as would turn to him. 
 Noah preached repentance ; and as many as hearkened 
 to him were saved’. Jonah*® denounced destruction 
 against the Ninevites; and they, repenting of their 
 sins, appeased the wrath of God by their prayers, and 
 received salvation, although they were strangers (to 
 the covenant) of God. 
 
 8. The ministers of the grace of God have spoken, 
 by the Holy Spirit, of repentance; and even the Lord 
 of all hath himself declared with an oath concerning 
 it, “ As I live, saith the Lord, I desire not the death 
 of a sinner, but rather that he should repent °*,” adding 
 also this good exhortation: “Turn from your iniquity, 
 O house of Israel’. Say unto the children of my 
 people, though your sins should reach from earth to 
 heaven, and though they should be redder than scarlet’, 
 and blacker than sackcloth, yet if ye shall turn to me 
 with all your heart, and shall say, Father’! I will 
 
 6 1] Tim. v. 4. 7 2 Pet. ii. 5. Gen. vii. 
 8 Jonah iil. 5. 9 Ezek. xxxili. 11. 
 1 Ezek. xviii. 30—82. 2 Isa. i. 18. 
 
 3 Jer. iii. 4. 19. 
 
TO THE CORINTHIANS. Τί 
 
 hearken to you as unto an holy people.” And in 
 another place, he saith on this wise, “ Wash you, make 
 you clean, put away the evil of your souls from before 
 mine eyes. Cease from your wickednesses: learn to do 
 well: seek judgment: relieve the oppressed: judge 
 the fatherless; and plead for the widow. Come now 
 and let us reason together (saith the Lord). Though 
 your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as 
 snow: though they be like crimson, I will make them 
 white as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall 
 eat the good of the land. But if ye refuse and obey 
 not, the sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the 
 Lord hath spoken these things*.” God hath thus ap- 
 pointed, by his almighty will, desiring that all his 
 beloved should come to repentance. 
 
 9. Wherefore let us obey his excellent and glorious 
 will: and imploring his mercy and goodness, let us fall 
 down before him, and turn ourselves to his mercy, 
 laying aside all labour after vanities, and strife, and 
 envy which leads to death. Let us look earnestly to 
 those who have perfectly ministered to his excellent 
 glory. Let us take Enoch (for our example), who 
 being found righteous in obedience, was translated, and 
 his death was not known®. Noah being found faith- 
 ful, did, by his ministry, preach regeneration to the 
 world®; and the Lord saved by him all the living 
 creatures, which entered with one accord into the 
 ark. 
 
 10. Abraham, who was called the friend (of God 7), 
 was found faithful, inasmuch as he obeyed the words of 
 God. He, in obedience, went out of his own country, 
 and from his kindred, and from his father’s house ®, 
 that by thus forsaking a small country, and a weak 
 
 4 Isa. i. 16—20. 5 Gen. v. 24. Heb. xi. 5. 
 δ παλιγγενεσίαν κόσμῳ ἐκήρυξε. Gen. vi. vii. viii. Compare Matt. xix. 28. 
 7 2 Chron. xx. 7. Isa. xli. 8. James ii. 23. 8 Heb. xi. 8. 
 
8 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 kindred, and a mean house, he might inherit the pro- 
 mises of God. For “ (God) said to him: Get thee out 
 of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy 
 father’s house, unto a Jand which I will show thee. 
 And I will make thee a great nation: and I will bless 
 thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be 
 blessed. And I will bless them that bless thee; and 
 curse them that curse thee: and in thee shall all fami- 
 lies of the earth be blessed®.” And again, when he 
 separated himself from Lot, God said unto him; “ Lift 
 up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou 
 art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and west- 
 ward. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will 
 I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make 
 thy seed as the dust of the earth; so that if a man can 
 number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also 
 be numbered '.” 
 
 And again he saith, “God brought forth Abraham 
 and said unto him, Look now towards heaven and tell 
 the stars, if thou be able to number them; so shall 
 thy seed be. And Abraham believed God, and it was 
 counted to him for righteousness?.” Through faith 
 and hospitality a son was given unto him in his old age: 
 and through obedience he offered him up in sacrifice to 
 God, upon one of the mountains which God showed 
 unto him. 
 
 11. By hospitality and godliness, Lot was saved out 
 of Sodom, when all the country round about was 
 punished with fire and brimstone: the Lord thereby 
 making it manifest, that he will not forsake those that 
 trust in him; but will bring to punishment and correc- 
 tion those who decline from his ways. For his wife, 
 who went out with him, being of a different mind, and 
 not continuing in the same obedience, was for that 
 
 9 Gen, xii. 1—3. 1 Gen. xiii. 14—16. 
 3 Gen. xv. 5,6. Rom. iy. 3. 
 
TO THE CORINTHIANS. 9 
 
 reason set forth for an example, and became a pillar 
 of salt unto this day. That all men may know, that 
 those who are double-minded, and distrustful of the 
 power of God, are prepared for condemnation, and to 
 be a sign to all generations. 
 
 12. By faith and hospitality was Rahab the harlot 
 saved *. For when the spies were sent by Joshua, the 
 son of Nun, to search out Jericho, the king of the 
 country knew that they were come to spy out his land, 
 and sent men to take them and put them to death. 
 But the .hospitable Rahab received them; and _ hid 
 them under the stalks of flax on the top of her house. 
 And when the men that were sent by the king came 
 unto her, and asked her, saying*, There came men 
 unto thee to spy out the land; bring them forth, for 
 so hath the king commanded; she answered, The two 
 men, whom ye seek, came in unto me, but presently 
 they departed, and are gone; not discovering them 
 unto them. ‘Then she said to the spies, I know that 
 the Lord your God hath given you this city®; for the 
 fear of you, and the dread of you, is fallen upon all 
 that dwell therein. When, therefore, ye shall have 
 taken it, ye shall save me and my father’s house °. 
 And they said unto her, It shall be as thou hast spoken 
 unto us. Therefore, when thou shalt know that we 
 are near, thou shalt gather all thy family together 
 upon the house-top, and they shall be saved; but all 
 that shall be found without thy house shall be de- 
 stroyed. Moreover they gave her a sign, that she 
 should hang out of her house a (line of) scarlet 
 (thread): showing thereby, that by the blood of our 
 Lord’ there should be redemption to all who believe 
 
 3 Josh. ii. 4 Ibid. ii. 3. 5 [bid. ii. 9. § Ibid. ii. 13. 
 
 7 Fanciful as the illustration here given may seem, it was a favourite 
 notion of many of the early Christian writers. Justin Martyr, in his 
 
 dialogue with Trypho, p.338, says, ““ The sign of the scarlet thread, which 
 the spies, sent from Joshua the son of Nun, gave to Rahab the harlot in 
 
10 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 and hope in God. Ye see, beloved, that there was not 
 only faith, but prophecy also in this woman. 
 
 13. Let us, therefore, be humble-minded, brethren, 
 laying aside all pride, and boasting, and foolishness, 
 and anger; and let us do as it is written. For thus 
 saith the Holy Spirit; “ Let not the wise man glory in 
 his wisdom; nor the strong man in his strength, nor 
 the rich man in his riches; but let him that glorieth 
 glory in the Lord, to seek him, and to exercise judg- 
 ment and righteousness *.” Above all, remembering 
 the words of the Lord Jesus, which he spake, teaching 
 us gentleness and long-suffering. For thus he said: 
 “ Be merciful, that ye may obtain mercy: forgive, that 
 it may be forgiven unto you. As ye do, so shall it be 
 done unto you: as ye give, so shall it be given unto 
 you: as ye judge, so shall ye be judged: as ye show 
 kindness, so shall kindness be showed to you. With 
 what measure ye mete, with the same shall it be 
 measured to you’.” By this command, and by these 
 rules, let us establish ourselves, that so we may always 
 walk obediently to his holy words, being humble- 
 minded. For thus saith the holy word, “ Upon whom 
 
 Jericho, commanding her to hang it to the window by which she let them 
 down that they might escape their enemies, was in like manner a sign of 
 the blood of Christ, by which those of all nations, who were once harlots 
 and sinners, are saved, receiving forgiveness of sins, and sinning no more.” 
 Ireneus, Heres. iv. 37, makes the same use of the history. “ So also 
 Rahab the harlot, although she condemned herself as a gentile and guilty 
 of all kinds of sin, did yet receive the three spies, who were searching the 
 whole land, and hid them in her house, that is to say, the Father, and 
 Son, and Holy Ghost. And when all the city in which she dwelt had 
 fallen in ruins, at the sound of the seven trumpets, Rahab the harlot was 
 at the last saved, with all her house, by faith in the sign of the scarlet 
 thread ; as the Lord also said to the Pharisees, who received not his 
 coming, and set at nought the crimson sign, which was the passover, the 
 redemption and deliverance of the people out of Egypt, saying, the pub- 
 licans and harlots go into the kingdom of heaven before you.” 
 
 Cotelerius refers to many other passages of the same kind. 
 
 8. Jer. ix. 995. 1 Cor. 1. 81. 
 
 ® Luke vi. 36—88. Matt. vil. 1—12. 
 
TO THE CORINTHIANS. 11 
 
 shall I look, but upon him that is meek and quiet, and 
 trembleth at my words'?” 
 
 14. It is therefore just and holy, men and brethren, 
 that we should become obedient unto God, rather than 
 follow those who, through pride and sedition, have 
 made themselves the leaders of a detestable emulation. 
 For we shall undergo no ordinary harm, but exceed- 
 ingly great danger, if we shall rashly give ourselves up 
 to the wills of men, who are urgent in promoting strife 
 and contention, to turn us aside from that which is 
 good. Let us be kind to one another, according to the 
 compassion and sweetness of him that made us. For 
 it is written, “ The merciful shall inherit the earth; 
 and they that are without evil shall be left upon it’. 
 But the transgressors shall perish from off (the face of) 
 it.” And again he saith, “ I have seen the wicked in 
 great power, and spreading himself like the cedars of 
 Libanus. And I passed by, and lo, he was not: and I 
 sought his place, but it could not be found. Keep 
 innocency, and do the thing that is right; for there 
 shall be a remnant to the peaceable man °.” 
 
 15. Let us therefore hold fast to those who follow 
 peace with godliness, and not to such as with hypocrisy 
 pretend to desire it. For he saith in a certain place, 
 “This people honoureth me with their lips, but their 
 heart is far from me*.” And again, “They bless with 
 their mouth, but curse with their heart®.”. And again 
 he saith, “They loved him with their mouth, and with 
 their tongue they lied unto him. For their heart was 
 not right with him, neither were they faithful in his 
 covenant.” “Let all deceitful lips become dumb, 
 and the tongue that speaketh proud things. Who 
 have said, with our tongue will we prevail; our lips 
 
 1 Tsa. Ixvi. 2. 2 Ps, xxxvii. 9. Prov. ii. 21. 
 3 Ps. xxxvli. 35—37. 4 Isa. xxix. 13. 
 5 Ps, Ixii. 4. 6 Ps, Ixxviil. 36, 37. 
 
1 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 are our own: who is Lord over us? For the oppres- 
 sion of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now 
 will I arise, saith the Lord: I will set him in safety: I 
 will deal confidently with him ’.” 
 
 16. For Christ is theirs who are humble, not theirs 
 who exalt themselves over his flock. The sceptre of 
 the Majesty of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, came not 
 in the pomp of pride and arrogance, although he was 
 able (to have done so)*; but with humility, as the 
 Holy Ghost had spoken concerning him®. For thus 
 he saith': “Lord, who hath believed our report? and 
 to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? We have 
 declared before him as (if he were) a child: as a root 
 in a thirsty ground. For there is no form in him, nor 
 glory. Yea we saw him, and he had no form nor 
 comeliness: but his form was without honour, marred 
 more than the sons of men. He is a man in stripes 
 and sorrow, and acquainted with the endurance of 
 infirmity. For his face was turned away; he was 
 despised, and esteemed not. He beareth our sins, and 
 is put to grief for us; and we did esteem him to be in 
 sorrow, and in stripes, and in affliction. But he was 
 wounded for our transgressions; and bruised for our 
 iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon 
 him; with his stripes we are healed. All we, like 
 sheep, have gone astray: man hath gone astray in his 
 way; and the Lord hath given him up for our sins; 
 and he opened not his mouth through his suffering. 
 He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a 
 lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his 
 mouth. In his humiliation his judgment was taken 
 
 7 Ps: xile4es, xxxi 18: 
 
 8 Jerome, who translated this Epistle into Latin, appears to have read 
 καίπερ πάντα δυνάμενος, ‘although he was able to do all things.’ Ad Isa. 
 c. 11. Opera, tom. iii. p. 382. 
 
 9 See note (B) at the end of the volume. 
 
 1 Isa, lili. according to the Septuagint. 
 
TO THE CORINTHIANS. 19 
 
 away: and who shall declare his generation; for his 
 life is taken from the earth. For the transgressions of 
 my people he cometh to death. And I will give the 
 wicked for his tomb, and the rich for his death. Be- 
 cause he did no iniquity, neither was guile found in 
 his mouth. And the Lord is pleased to purify him 
 with stripes. If ye make an offering for sin, your soul 
 shall see a long-lived seed. And the Lord is pleased 
 to lighten the travail of his soul, to show him light, 
 to form him in understanding, to justify the just one 
 who ministereth well to many: and he himself shall 
 bear their sins. For this cause he shall inherit many: 
 and shall divide the spoil of the strong; because his 
 soul was given up to death, and he was numbered with 
 the transgressors: and he bare the sins of many, and 
 was given over for their sins.” And again he himself 
 saith; “But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of 
 men, and despised of the people. All they that see 
 me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out their lips, they 
 shake their head, (saying,) He trusted in the Lord, let 
 him deliver him, let him save him, seeing he delighteth 
 in him?.” Ye see, beloved, what the pattern is which 
 hath been given unto us. For if the Lord was so 
 humble-minded, what should we do, who are brought 
 by him under the yoke of his grace ? 
 
 17. Let us be followers of those also, who went 
 about in goat-skins and sheep-skins*, preaching the 
 coming of Christ. Such were Elijah, and Elisha, and 
 Ezekiel, the prophets, and moreover those who have 
 received the like testimony. Abraham was honoured 
 with a good report, and was called the friend of God *: 
 and he, stedfastly beholding the glory of God, saith 
 with all humility, I am dust and ashes*®. Again, of 
 Job it is thus written, “Job was just, and blameless, 
 
 2 Rss χσιϊ Ὁ. SoHebs xiao 
 49 Chron. xx. 7. Isai. xli. 8. James ii. 23. 5 Gen, xyili. 27. 
 
14 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 true, one that served God, and eschewed all evil °.” 
 Yet he, accusing himself, saith, “No man is free from 
 pollution, no, not though he should live but one day ’.” 
 Moses was called faithful in all God’s house ὃ, and by 
 his conduct the Lord punished Israel by stripes and 
 plagues. And even this man, so greatly honoured, 
 spake not greatly of himself, but when the oracle of 
 God was delivered to him out of the bush, he said, 
 “Who am 1 that thou dost send me? I am of a 
 slender voice and of a slow tongue’.” And again he 
 saith: “I am as the smoke of the pot'.” 
 
 18. Again, what shall we say of David who hath 
 obtained so good a report? to whom God said, “I 
 have found a man after mine own heart, David the 
 son of Jesse: with my holy oil have I anointed him ’.” 
 But yet he himself saith unto God; “Have mercy 
 upon me, O God, according to thy great kindness, and 
 according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, 
 blot out my transgression. Wash me throughly from 
 mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I 
 acknowledge mine iniquity, and my sin is ever before 
 me. Against thee only have I sinned, and done this 
 evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when 
 thou speakest, and overcome when thou judgest. For, 
 behold, I was shapen in wickedness, and in sin did my - 
 mother conceive me. For behold thou hast loved truth ; 
 the secret and hidden things of wisdom hast thou re- 
 vealed unto me. Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, 
 
 6 7οὉ 1.1. 
 7 Job xiv. 4. Septuagint. Thus Cyprian, Test. ad Quirinum I. 3, ο. 54. 
 « Apud Job; Quis enim mundus a sordibus? Nec unus, etiamsi unius 
 
 diei sit vita ejus in terra.” Jerome, on Isa. liii. and on Ps. Ji. quotes the 
 passage in the same manner. 
 8 Numb. xii. 7. Heb. iii. 2. 9 Exod. iii. 11; iv. 10. 
 
 1 These words are not found in the Pentateuch. See Ps. exix. 83. 
 Hos, xiii. 3. Fabricius thinks that the last clause does not refer to Moses, 
 but implies, ‘the Scripture saith.” 
 
 2 Ps, Ixxxix. 20, compare Acts xiii. 22. 1 Sam. xiii. 14. 
 
TO THE CORINTHIANS. 15 
 
 and I shall be clean: thou shalt wash me, and I shall 
 be whiter than snow. Thou shalt make me to hear 
 joy and gladness; the bones which have been broken 
 shall rejoice. Turn thy face from my sins, and blot 
 out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O 
 God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me 
 not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy 
 Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy 
 salvation, and establish me with the guidance of thy 
 spirit. I will teach sinners thy ways, and the ungodly 
 shall be converted unto thee. Deliver me from blood, 
 O God, thou God of my salvation. My tongue shall 
 rejoice in thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my 
 lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. For 
 if thou hadst desired sacrifice, I would have given it: 
 thou delightest not in burnt offerings. The sacrifices 
 of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite 
 heart God will not despise *.” 
 
 19. Thus the humility and godly fear of such great 
 and excellent men, whose praise is in the Scriptures, 
 hath, by means of their obedience, improved not only 
 us, but generations before us, even as many as have 
 received his holy oracles in fear and truth. Having 
 therefore so many, and great, and glorious examples 
 transmitted to us, let us turn again to that mark of 
 peace which from the beginning was set before us: let 
 us look stedfastly up to the Father and Creator of the 
 universe, and hold fast by his glorious and exceeding 
 gifts and benefits of peace. Let us see him with our 
 understanding, and look with the eyes of our soul to 
 his long-suffering will: calling to mind how gentle and 
 slow to anger he is towards his whole creation. 
 
 20. The heavens, peaceably revolving by his ap- 
 pointment, are subject unto him. Day and night 
 perform the course appointed by him, in no wise in- 
 
 Bs. hi: 
 
16 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 terrupting one another. By his ordinance, the sun 
 and moon, and all the companies of stars, roll on, in 
 harmony, without any deviation, within the bounds 
 allotted to them. In obedience to his will, the preg- 
 nant earth yields her fruit plentifully in due season to 
 man and beast, and to all creatures that are therein; 
 not hesitating nor changing any thing which was de- 
 creed by him. The unsearchable secrets of the abyss, 
 and the indescribable * judgments of the lower world, 
 are restrained by the same commands. The hollow 
 depth of the vast sea, gathered together into its several 
 collections by his word, passes not its allotted bounds; 
 but as he commanded, so doth it. For he said, 
 “Hitherto shalt thou come, and thy waves shall be 
 broken within thee*.” The ocean impassable to man- 
 kind, and the worlds which are beyond it, are governed 
 by the same commands of their master. Spring and 
 summer, and autumn and winter, give place peaceably 
 to one another. The winds, in their stations, perform 
 their service without interruption, each in his ap- 
 pointed season. The ever-flowing fountains, minister- 
 ing both to pleasure and to health, without ceasing 
 put forth their breasts to support the life of man. 
 Nay, the smallest of living creatures maintain their 
 intercourse in concord and peace. All these hath the . 
 great Creator and Lord of all things ordained to be in 
 peace and concord; for he is good to all; but above 
 measure to us, who flee to his mercy, through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and majesty, for 
 ever and ever; Amen. 
 
 21. Take heed, beloved, that his many blessings be 
 not turned into condemnation to us all. (For thus it 
 will surely be) unless we walk worthy of him, and 
 
 4 I am indebted to Dr. Jacobson for the suggestion of this word, in- 
 stead of “untold,” as the translation of ἀνεκδιήγητα. 
 5 Job xxxviil. 11. 
 
TO THE CORINTHIANS. 17 
 
 with one consent do that which is good and well- 
 pleasing in his sight. For he saith in a certain place, 
 “The spirit of the Lord is a candle, searching out the 
 inward parts of the belly®.” Let us consider how 
 near he is’, and that none of our thoughts or reason- 
 ings which we frame within ourselves are hid from 
 him. It is therefore just that we should not desert 
 our ranks, (by declining) from his will. Let us choose 
 to offend men, who are foolish and inconsiderate, lifted 
 up, and glorying in the pride of their reasoning, rather 
 than God. Let us reverence our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 whose blood was given for us. Let us honour those 
 who are set over us; let us respect our elders; let us 
 instruct our young men in the discipline and fear of 
 the Lord. Our wives let us direct to that which is 
 good. Let them show forth the lovely habit of purity 
 (in all their conversation) with a sincere affection of 
 meekness. Let them make manifest the government 
 of their tongues by their silence. Let their charity be 
 without partiality *, exercised equally to all who re- 
 ligiously fear God. Let our children partake of the 
 instruction of Christ; let them learn of how great 
 avail humility is before God, what power a pure 
 charity hath with him, how excellent and great his 
 fear is, saving such as live in it with holiness and ἃ 
 pure conscience. For he is a searcher of the thoughts 
 and counsels (of the heart): whose breath is in us, 
 and when he pleases, he takes it away. 
 
 22. All these things the faith which is in Christ 
 confirms. For he himself, by the Holy Ghost thus 
 speaks to us: “ Come, ye children, hearken unto me; 
 I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is 
 he that desireth life, and loveth to see good days? 
 
 6 See Prov. xx. 27. 
 7 Acts xviii.27. Phil. iv. 5. Compare c. 27, of this Epistle. 
 Seine vere Le 
 
 C 
 
18 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking 
 guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, 
 and ensue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the 
 righteous; and his ears are open unto their prayer. 
 But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil, 
 to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 
 The righteous cried, and the Lord heard him; and 
 delivered him out of all his troubles *.” “ Many are the 
 plagues of the wicked: but they that trust in the 
 Lord, mercy shall compass them about '.” 
 
 23. Our all-merciful and beneficent Father hath 
 bowels of compassion towards them that fear him; 
 and kindly and lovingly bestows his graces upon such 
 as come to him with a simple mind. Wherefore let 
 us not be double-minded, neither let us have any 
 doubt in our hearts, of his excellent and glorious gifts. 
 Let that be far from us which is written, “ Miserable 
 are the double-minded, and those who are doubtful in 
 their hearts?; who say, These things have we heard, 
 even from our fathers; and lo, we are grown old, and 
 nothing of them hath happened unto us. O fools! 
 Compare yourselves unto a tree: take the vine (as an 
 example to you). First it sheds its leaves; then 
 comes forth the bud, then the leaf, then the flower; 
 after that the unripe grape, and then the perfect fruit.” 
 Ye see how, in a little time, the fruit of a tree comes 
 to maturity. Of a truth, yet a little while, and his 
 will shall suddenly be accomplished: the Scripture 
 also bearing witness, “that he shall quickly come, and 
 shall not tarry: and that the Lord shall suddenly come 
 to his temple, even the Holy One, whom ye look for *.” 
 
 24. Let us consider, beloved, how the Lord doth 
 continually show us, that there shall be a future re- 
 surrection, of which he hath made our Lord Jesus 
 
 9 Pg, xxxiv. 11—17. 1 Ps. xxxii. 10. 
 2 James i. 8. 3 Hab. ii. 8. Mal. iii. 1. 
 
TO THE CORINTHIANS. 19 
 
 Christ the first fruits, raising him from the dead. Let 
 us contemplate, beloved, the resurrection which is con- 
 tinually taking place. Day and night declare to us a 
 resurrection *. The night lies down, the day arises: 
 again, the day departs, and the night comes on. Let 
 us behold the fruits (of the earth). Every one sees 
 how the seed is sown. The sower goes forth, and casts 
 it upon the earth; and the seed which, when it was 
 sown, fell upon the earth dry and naked, in time is 
 dissolved : and from this dissolution the mighty power 
 of the providence of the Lord raises it, and out of one 
 seed many arise and bring forth fruit. 
 
 25. Let us consider that wonderful sign, which 
 occurs in the regions of the East, in Arabia. There is 
 a certain bird, called a Phoenix’. It is the only in- 
 dividual of its kind, and lives five hundred years. 
 When the time of its dissolution draws near, that it 
 must die, it makes itself a nest of frankincense, and 
 myrrh, and other spices, into which, when its time is 
 fulfilled, it enters and dies. But as the body decays, 
 a certain kind of worm is produced, which, nourished 
 
 4 See Tertullian, Apol. chap. 48. 
 
 5 The application, which Clement here makes of the supposed history 
 of the Phcenix, has given rise to more discussion than the question de- 
 serves. He was not likely to be better informed upon a fact of Natural 
 History, than his contemporaries, Tacitus and Pliny: (Tacitus, Annal. 
 vi. 28. Pliny, Hist. Nat. x. 2.) Historians, from Herodotus (ii. 73.) 
 downwards, have related particulars of this imaginary bird, with circum- 
 stances more or less fanciful; and Clement might, without impropriety, 
 employ an illustration founded upon an alleged fact, which was generally 
 credited in the age in which he lived; his object being, not to prove the 
 fact of the resurrection, but to show that it is possible. Tertullian, Am- 
 brose, (De Fide Resurrect. c. 8,) and many other Christian writers, allude 
 to the Phcenix in the same manner. See Junius’ note on Clem. Rom. 
 It does not appear that Clement applied to the phenix what is said of the 
 palm-tree, Ps. xcii. 12, Job xxix. 18, as Tertullian (De Resurrect. Carnis, 
 c. 13) and others did, being misled by the circumstance that, in the 
 Greek translation, the same word, φοῖνιξ, expressed both. Compare Ter- 
 tullian, Apol. c. 48. De Resurrect. Carnis, c. 12. Theophilus ad Auto- 
 lycum, lib. i. p. 77.D. See Pearson on the Creed, Art. xi. p. 376; 
 and Dr. Jacobson’s note on this passage. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 by the juices of the dead bird, puts forth feathers. 
 And when it is at length grown to a perfect state, it 
 takes up the nest in which the bones of its parent lie, 
 and carries it from Arabia into Egypt, to the city 
 called Heliopolis; and, in open day, flying in the 
 sight of all men, places them upon the altar of the 
 sun, and, having done this, hastens back to his abode. 
 The priests, then, search the records of the time, and 
 find that it hath come at the completion of the five 
 hundredth year. 
 
 26. Shall we then think it to be any very great and 
 strange thing, for the Maker of all things to raise up 
 those that religiously serve him in the assurance of a 
 good faith, when even by a bird he shows us the great- 
 ness of his (power to fulfil his) promise. For he saith 
 in a certain place, “Thou shalt raise me up, and I shall 
 confess unto thee.” And again, “I laid me down and 
 slept, and awaked, because thou art with me®.” And 
 again Job saith, “ Thou shalt raise up this my flesh, which 
 hath suffered all these things ’.” 
 
 27. Having, therefore, this hope, let us hold fast to 
 him who is faithful in his promises, and righteous in 
 his judgments. He who hath commanded us not to 
 lie, much more will he not himself lie; for nothing 
 is impossible with God’, but to lie®. Let his faith, 
 therefore, be stirred up again in us, and let us consider 
 that all things are near unto him. By the word of 
 his power he made all things; and by his word he is 
 able to destroy them. Who shall say unto him, What 
 hast thou done? or who shall resist the power of his 
 might’? He hath done all things when he pleased, 
 and as he pleased; and nothing shall pass away of all 
 that hath been determined by him. All things are 
 
 6 Ps. 111. 53 xxii. 4. 7 Job xix.26. 8 Mark x.27. 95 Heb. vi. 18. 
 1 Wisd. xi. 213 xii, 19, See Isa. xlv: 9. Dan.jiv: 35. Job ix. 12: 
 Rom. ix. 19, 20. 
 
TO THE CORINTHIANS. 7 | 
 
 ν᾽ 
 
 open before him, and nothing is hid from his counsel. 
 “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firma- 
 ment showeth his handy work. Day unto day uttereth 
 speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. 
 There is no speech nor language where their voices are 
 not heard *.” 
 
 28. Since, then, all things are seen and heard (by 
 God), let us fear him, and lay aside the wicked works 
 which proceed from impure desires, that through his 
 mercy we may be delivered from the condemnation 
 which is to come. For whither can any of us escape 
 from his mighty hand? Or what world shall receive 
 any of those who flee from him? For thus saith the 
 Scripture in a certain place: “ Whither shall I flee, or 
 where shall I hide myself from thy presence? If I go 
 up to heaven, thou art there: if I go to the uttermost 
 parts of the earth, there is thy right hand. If TI shall 
 make my bed in the deep, there is thy spirit Ὁ Whi- 
 ther, then, shall any one go, or whither shall he flee 
 from him who comprehends all things in himself. 
 
 29. Let us therefore come to him with holiness of 
 mind, lifting up pure and undefiled hands unto him*: 
 loving our graciousand merciful Father, who hath made 
 us partakers of his election. For thus it is written’, 
 “When the Most High divided the nations, when he, 
 separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the 
 nations according to the number of his angels. His 
 people Jacob became the portion of the Lord, and 
 Israel the lot of his inheritance.” And in another 
 place he saith °, “ Behold the Lord taketh unto himself 
 a nation from the midst of the nations, as a man taketh 
 the first-fruits of his flour; and the Most Holy’ shall 
 come out of that nation.” 
 
 Ps. xix. 1—3. SRS /CXXXix. 1: 
 1. himaies: 5 Deut. xxxii. 8, 9. Septuagint. 
 
 4 
 6 Deut. iv. 34; vii. 6; xiv. 2. Ezek. xlviii. 8. 14. 18. 
 7 Greek, The holy of holies. 
 
22 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 30. Wherefore we being a part of the Holy One, » 
 let us do all things which pertain unto holiness, fleeing 
 all evil speaking against one another, all filthy and im- 
 pure embraces, together with all drunkenness, youthful 
 lusts, abominable concupiscence, detestable adultery, 
 and execrable pride. “For God,” saith he, ‘resisteth 
 the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble’.” Let 
 us therefore cleave to those to whom God hath given 
 his grace. And let us be clothed with concord, hum- 
 ble-minded, temperate, free from all whispering and 
 detraction, justified by our actions, not by our words. 
 For he saith®, “He that speaketh much, shall hear 
 much in answer. Doth he who is of fair speech count 
 himself righteous? Doth he that is born of woman, 
 and liveth but a few days, think himself blessed? Be 
 not a man of many words'.” Let our praise be of 
 God, not of ourselves; for those that praise themselves 
 God hates. Let the testimony of our good works be 
 given by others, as it was given to the holy men, our 
 fathers. Boldness, and arrogance, and confidence be- 
 long to them who are accursed of God ; but moderation, 
 and humility, and meekness to those who are blessed 
 by him. 
 
 31. Let us then lay hold on his blessing, and con- 
 sider by what means we may attain unto it. Let us 
 revolve in our minds those things which have happened 
 from the beginning. Wherefore was our father Abra- 
 ham blessed? Wasit not that through faith he wrought 
 righteousness and truth? Isaac, being fully persuaded 
 of that which he knew was to come, cheerfully yielded 
 himself up for a sacrifice’. Jacob with humility de- 
 
 8 James iv. 6. 1 Pet. v. 5. 9 Job xi. 2, 8. Septuagint. 
 
 1 Greek, Be not much in words. 
 
 2 This assertion may appear to disagree with Gen. xxii. 7. The faith 
 of Isaac in blessing “ Jacob and Esau concerning things to come,” is com- 
 memorated, Heb. xi. 20. Chrysostom, in his Forty-seventh Homily on 
 Genesis, notices the willing obedience of Isaac. 
 
TO THE CORINTHIANS. 23 
 
 parted out of his own country, fleeing from his brother, 
 and went unto Laban, and served him: and so the 
 sceptre of the twelve tribes of Israel was given unto 
 him. 
 
 32. Whoever will carefully consider each particular, 
 will understand the greatness of the gifts, which were 
 given through him; for from him came all the priests 
 and Levites, who ministered at the altar of God; from 
 him came our Lord Jesus Christ, according to the 
 flesh *; from him came the kings and princes and rulers 
 in Judah: and the rest of his tribes were in no small 
 glory; since God had promised, “Thy seed shall be as 
 the stars of heaven‘.” They were all, therefore, glori- 
 fied and magnified, not for their own sake, or for their 
 works, or for the righteous deeds which they had done, 
 but through his will. And we also, being called by 
 his will in Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, 
 neither by our own wisdom, or knowledge, or piety, or 
 the works which we have done in holiness of heart, 
 but by that faith by which Almighty God hath justified 
 all men from the beginning; to whom be glory for ever 
 and ever; Amen. 
 
 33. What shall we do, then, brethren? Shall we 
 grow weary in well-doing, and lay aside charity? God 
 forbid that any such thing should be done by us. 
 Rather let us hasten with all earnestness and readiness 
 of mind to perfect every good work. For even the 
 Creator and Lord of all things himself rejoices in his 
 own works. For by his almighty power he established 
 the heavens; and by his incomprehensible wisdom he 
 adorned them. He also divided the earth from the 
 water which encompasses it, and fixed it as a firm 
 tower, upon the foundation of his own will. By his 
 appointment also he commanded all the living crea- 
 tures, that are upon it, to exist. He created the sea 
 
 3 Rom. ix. 5. 4 Gen. xv. 5; xxii. 17; xxviii. 14. 
 
24 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 and all the creatures that are therein, and by his power 
 inclosed them within their proper bounds. Above all, 
 with his holy and pure hands, he formed man, the 
 most excellent of his creatures, and the greatest, as 
 endowed with reason; the impress of his own image. 
 For thus God saith: “Let us make man after our 
 image, and likeness Ὁ. So God made man, male and 
 female created he them. MHaving thus furnished all 
 these things, he pronounced them good, and _ blessed 
 them, and said, Be fruitful and multiply δ. We see 
 how all righteous men have been adorned with good 
 works. Wherefore even the Lord himself, having 
 adorned himself with his works, rejoiced. Having 
 therefore such an example, let us diligently fulfil his 
 will: and with all our strength work the work of 
 righteousness. 
 
 34. The good workman receives with confidence 
 the bread of his labour: the idle and negligent cannot 
 look his employer in the face. We must therefore be 
 ready and active in well-doing; for of him are all 
 things’. And thus he foretels us: “Behold the Lord 
 cometh, and his reward is before his face, to render to 
 every man according to his work *.”. He exhorts us 
 therefore with all our heart, to apply ourselves here- 
 unto °, not to be slothful and negligent in well-doing'. 
 Let our boasting and our confidence be in God. Let 
 us submit ourselves to his will. Let us consider the 
 whole multitude of his angels, how ready they stand to 
 minister unto his will. For the Scripture saith, “Ten 
 thousand times ten thousand stood before him, and 
 thousands of thousands ministered unto him. And 
 they cried, saying, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of 
 
 5 Gen. i. 26, 27. § Gen. i, 28. 7 2 Cor. v. 18. 
 
 8 Isa. xl. 10; Ixiil. 1]. Rev. xxii. 1]. 
 
 9 I have here adopted W. Burton’s translation, pointed out by Dr. 
 
 Jacobson. 
 1 Gal. vi. 9. 2 Thess. iii. 1. 
 
TO THE CORINTHIANS. 25 
 
 Sabaoth; all creation is full of his glory.” Where- 
 fore let us also, being conscientiously gathered toge- 
 ther in concord with one another, as with one mouth 
 cry earnestly unto him, that we may be partakers of 
 his great and glorious promises. For he saith; “Eye 
 hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into 
 the heart of man the things which he hath prepared 
 for them that wait for him *.” 
 
 35. How blessed and wonderful, beloved, are the 
 gifts of God! Life in immortality! brightness in 
 righteousness! truth in full assurance! faith in con- 
 fidence! temperance in holiness! And all these hath 
 God subjected to our understandings. What there- 
 fore shall those things be which he hath prepared for 
 them that wait for him? The Creator and Father of 
 the worlds *, the Most Holy, he (only) knows both the 
 greatness and beauty of them. Let us therefore strive 
 with all earnestness, that we may be found in the 
 number of those that wait for him, that we may 
 receive the gifts which he hath promised. And how 
 shall this be, beloved? by fixing our minds through 
 faith towards God, and seeking the things which are 
 pleasing and acceptable unto him: by acting con- 
 formably to his holy will; and following the way of 
 truth, casting away from us all unrighteousness and 
 iniquity, covetousness, strife, evil manners, deceit, 
 whispering, detraction; all hatred of God, pride and 
 boasting, vain glory and ambition®. For they that do 
 these things are hateful to God; and not only they 
 that do them, but also all such as have pleasure in 
 them that do them δ. For the Scripture saith ’, “ But 
 to the ungodly said God, Why dost thou preach my 
 laws, and takest my covenant in thy mouth; whereas 
 
 2 Dan. vii. 10. Isa. vi. 8. 3 1 Cor. ii. 9. Isa. Ixiv. 4. 
 4 τῶν αἰώνων. 5 2 Cor. xii. 20. Rom. i. 29. 
 6 Rom. i. 32. 7 Ps. 1. 16--23. Septuagint. 
 
26 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 thou hatest to be reformed, and hast cast my words 
 behind thee. If thou sawest a thief, thou didst run 
 with him, and with the adulterers thou didst cast in 
 thy lot. Thy mouth abounded in wickedness, and thy 
 tongue contrived deceit. Thou satest, and spakest 
 against thy brother, and hast slandered thine own 
 mother’s son. These things hast thou done, and I 
 held my tongue, and thou thoughtest wickedly that I 
 should be like unto thee. But I will reprove thee, 
 and set thyself before thee. Consider, then, this, ye 
 that forget God, lest he tear thee in pieces, like a lion, 
 and there be none to deliver you. The sacrifice of 
 praise, that shall honour me; and there is the way, by 
 which I will show to him the salvation of God.” 
 
 36. This is the way, beloved, in which we find the 
 means of our salvation, Jesus Christ, the high-priest of 
 all our ofterings, the defender and helper of our weak- 
 ness. By him we look up to the highest heavens, and 
 behold, es in a glass, his spotless and most excellent 
 countenance. By him are the eyes of our hearts 
 opened; by him our foolish and darkened understand- 
 ing rejoices (to behold) his wonderful light. By him 
 would God have us to taste the knowledge of immor- 
 tality, “Who being the brightness of his glory, is by 
 so much greater than the angels, as he hath by in- 
 heritance obtained a more excellent name than they *.” 
 For so it is written, “ Who maketh his angels spirits, 
 and his ministers a flame of fire’.” “But to his Son, 
 thus saith the Lord, Thou art my Son, this day have I 
 begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the 
 heathen for thine inheritance, and the utmost parts of 
 
 the earth for thy possession’.”. And again he saith 
 
 unto him, “Sit thou on my right hand, until I make 
 
 thine enemies thy footstool’.”. And who then are his 
 85. Hebsis 9. 9. Psy οἷν. 4. ΗΘ}. 1. 7. 
 
 1 etal Zig 8. 2 Ps. cx. 1. Heb. i. 18. 
 
TO THE CORINTHIANS. PATE 
 
 enemies? the wicked, and such as oppose their own 
 wills to the will of God. 
 
 37. Let us, therefore, wage (our heavenly) warfare, 
 men and brethren, with all earnestness according to his 
 holy commands. Let us consider those who fight 
 under our (earthly) governors, how orderly, how 
 readily, how obediently they perform the commands 
 which each receives. All are not captains of the host, 
 all are not commanders of a thousand, nor of an 
 hundred, nor of fifty, nor the like. But each one, in 
 his respective rank, performs what is commanded him 
 by the king, and those who are in authority. They 
 who are great cannot subsist without those who are 
 small; nor the small without the great. There must 
 be a mixture in all things, and hence arises their use. 
 Let us take our body as an example*®. The head 
 without the feet is nothing: so neither the feet with- 
 out the head: and the smallest members of our body 
 are necessary, and useful to the whole body. But all 
 conspire together, and are subject to one common use, 
 the preservation of the whole body. 
 
 38. Let, therefore, our whole body be saved in 
 Christ Jesus; and let each one be subject to his neigh- 
 bour‘, according to the order in which he 18 placed by 
 the gift of God. Let not the strong man despise the 
 weak; and let the weak reverence the strong. Let 
 the rich man distribute to the necessities of the poor; 
 and let the poor bless God, that he hath given to him 
 one by whom his want may be supplied. Let the wise 
 man show forth his wisdom, not in words, but in good 
 works. Let him that is of humble mind not bear 
 witness to himself, but leave it to another to bear 
 witness of him. Let him, that is pure in the flesh, 
 glory not therein, knowing that it was another who 
 gave him the gift. of continence. Let us consider, 
 
 3 1 Cor. xii. 13. 41 Pet. v.5. Eph. v. 21. 
 
2 
 8 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 therefore, brethren, whereof we are made; who, and 
 what manner of beings, we came into this world, as it 
 were out of a sepulchre, and darkness. He, who made 
 us and formed us, brought us into his own world. He 
 prepared his benefits for us, even before we were born. 
 Having, therefore, received all these blessings from 
 him, we ought in every thing to give thanks unto him: 
 to whom be glory for ever and ever; Amen. 
 
 39. Foolish and unwise men, who have neither 
 prudence nor learning, may mock and deride us, wish- 
 ing to set up themselves in their own conceits. But 
 what can mortal man do? or what strength is there in 
 him that is made of the dust? For it is written’, 
 “There was no shape before mine eyes; only I heard a 
 sound and a voice. For what? shall man be pure 
 before the Lord? shall he be blameless in his works, 
 if he trusteth not in his servants, and hath charged his 
 angels with folly? Yea, the heaven is not clean in his 
 sight. How much less they that dwell in houses of 
 clay; of which also we ourselves were made! He 
 smote them asa moth; and from morning even unto 
 the evening they endure not. Because they were not 
 able to help themselves, they perished. He breathed 
 upon them, and they died; because they had no wis- 
 dom. Call now, if there be any that will answer thee: 
 and if thou wilt look to any of the angels. For wrath 
 killeth the foolish man; and envy slayeth him that is 
 in error. I have seen the foolish taking root, but lo 
 their habitation was presently consumed. Be their 
 children far from safety; may they perish at the gates 
 of those who are less than themselves; and let there 
 be no man to deliver them. For what was prepared 
 for them, the righteous shall eat: and they shall not 
 be delivered from evil.” 
 
 40. Seeing, then, that these things are manifest 
 
 5 Job iv. 16; xv. 15; iv. 19. 
 
TO THE CORINTHIANS. 29 
 
 unto us, we ought to take heed, that, looking into the 
 depths of divine knowledge, we do all things in order, 
 whatsoever our Lord hath commanded us to do. That 
 we perform our offerings ° and service to God, at their 
 appointed seasons: for these he hath commanded to 
 be done not rashly and disorderly, but at certain de- 
 terminate times and hours. He hath himself ordained 
 by his supreme will both where and by what persons 
 they are to be performed, that all things being piously 
 done unto all well pleasing, they may be acceptable 
 unto his will. They, therefore, who make their obla- 
 tions at the appointed seasons, are accepted and happy ; 
 for they sin not, inasmuch as they obey the command- 
 ments of the Lord. For to the chief priest his peculiar 
 offices are given, and to the priests their own place is 
 appointed, and to the Levites appertain their proper 
 ministries. And the layman’ is confined within the 
 bounds of what is commanded to laymen. 
 
 6 In the early ages of the Church there was not only a pecuniary col- 
 lection made every Lord’s day, for the benefit of the poor, in compliance 
 with the command of St. Paul, 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2, but certain offerings were 
 placed upon the holy table by the minister. This was done, after the 
 service of the Catechumens, and before the service of the faithful began. 
 Justin Martyr speaks of them in his First Apology, sect. 16, and 87. 
 Ireneus, iv. 32, says, ‘‘ The Lord gave his disciples command to offer unto 
 God the first-fruits of his creatures, not as if he needed them, but tha; 
 they themselves might be neither unfruitful nor ungrateful. He took that 
 which by its created nature was bread, and gave thanks, saying, This is 
 my body. In like manner also he declared that, which by its present 
 created nature is the cup, to be his blood: and taught them to make a 
 new offering of the New Testament.” 
 
 Hence the term oblation, προσφορά, is frequently used for the celebra- 
 tion of the Eucharist itself; and sometimes for the offerings thus made. 
 Every one made these offerings, according to his ability, as the first-fruits 
 of his increase. They were applied to the general uses of the Church, 
 to the support of the ministry and of the poor. The common entertain- 
 ment, or feast of love, in which the rich and the poor met together at the 
 same table, either before, or soon after the celebration of the Holy Sacra- 
 ment, was probably furnished from this source. 
 
 In reference to these offerings, Bishops are described, in this Epistle, 
 c. 44, as those who “ offer the gifts.” 
 
 7 ὁ λαϊκὸς ἄνθρωπος. 
 
 There are no instances, among the few remains of the writings of the 
 
Ω 
 
 30 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 41. Let every one of you, brethren, bless God, in 
 his proper station, with a good conscience, and with all 
 gravity, not exceeding the rule of his service that is 
 appointed to him. The daily sacrifices are not offered 
 every where, nor the peace-offerings, nor the sacrifices 
 appointed for sins and transgressions, but only in Jeru- 
 salem. And even there, they are not offered in every 
 place, but only at the altar before the temple: that 
 which is offered being first diligently examined ὅ by the 
 high-priest, and the other ministers before mentioned. 
 They, then, who do any thing which is not agreeable 
 to his will, are punished with death. Consider, bre- 
 thren, that the greater the knowledge is, which hath 
 been vouchsafed to us, the greater is the danger to 
 which we are exposed. 
 
 42. The apostles have preached to us from our Lord 
 Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ from God. Christ there- 
 fore was sent by God; and the apostles by Christ. 
 Thus both were orderly sent according to the will of 
 God. For having received their command, and being 
 thoroughly assured by the resurrection of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ °, and convinced by the word of God, with 
 the fulness of the Holy Spirit, they went forth, pro- 
 claiming, that the kingdom of God was at hand. And 
 thus preaching through countries and cities, they ap- 
 
 Hellenistic Jews, in which the priests and Levites are called κλῆρος and 
 κληρικοί, as distinguished from the rest of the people, λαϊκοί. The word 
 λαϊκός is used, however, in Hellenistic Greek, to indicate that which is 
 not consecrated ; as 1 Sam. xxi. 4, ἄρτοι λαϊκοί implies ‘‘ common bread,” 
 in contradistinction to “ hallowed bread,” in Aquila, Symmachus, and The- 
 odotion. And in Ezek. xlviii. 15, Symmackus and Theodotion have λαϊκόν, 
 where Aquila has βέβηλον. Le Clere mentions these and several other 
 instances, in which this word, and even λαϊκόω, are used ina corresponding 
 sense. 
 
 Clement here uses the word λαϊκός in a manner which shows that the 
 distinction between the clergy and the laity was familiar to him. 
 
 8 Μωμοσκοπηθέν. This word was used to signify peculiarly the strict 
 examination to which victims were subjected, both under the Jewish law 
 and by the customs of the gentiles. See Polycarp’s Epistle, sect. 4. 
 
 9 1 Thess. i. 5. 
 
TO THE CORINTHIANS. ail 
 
 pointed the first-fruits (of their conversions) to be 
 bishops and ministers over such as should afterwards 
 believe, having first proved them by the Spirit. Nor 
 was this any new thing: seeing that long before it was 
 written concerning bishops and deacons. For thus 
 saith the Scripture in a certain place, “ I will appoint 
 their overseers’ in righteousness, and their ministers?” 
 in faith *.” 
 
 43. And what wonder, if they to whom such a work 
 was committed by God in Christ, established such an 
 order of men as hath been mentioned, since even 
 Moses, that happy and faithful servant in all his 
 house *, set down in the holy Scriptures all things that 
 were commanded him. Whom also all the other pro- 
 phets followed, bearing witness with one consent to 
 what was written by him in the law. For when a 
 strife arose concerning the priesthood, and the tribes 
 contended which of them should be adorned with that 
 glorious name, he commanded their twelve captains to 
 bring him rods, inscribed each according to the name 
 of its tribe. And he took and bound them, and sealed 
 them with the seals of the twelve princes of the tribes, 
 and laid them up in the tabernacle of witness, upon 
 the table of God. And when he had shut (the door 
 of) the tabernacle, he sealed up the keys of it, in like 
 manner as he had sealed the rods: and said unto 
 them, Men and brethren ; whichsoever tribe shall have 
 its rod blossom, that tribe hath God chosen, to be 
 priests and ministers before him. And when the 
 morning was come, he called together all Israel, six 
 hundred thousand men, and he showed the seals to the 
 princes of the tribes, and opened the tabernacle of 
 witness, and brought forth the rods. And the rod of 
 Aaron was found not only to have blossomed, but also 
 
 1 ἐπισκόπους. 2 διακόνους. 3 See Isa. lx. 17. 
 4 Heb, iii. 2. Numb. xii. 7. 
 
32 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 to have brought forth fruit ®. What think ye, beloved ? 
 Did not Moses know beforehand, that thus it would 
 be? Yes, verily. But that there might be no division 
 nor tumult in Israel, he did in this manner, that the 
 name of the true and only God might be glorified: to 
 him be honour for ever and ever; Amen. 
 
 44. So likewise our Apostles knew by our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, that contentions should arise on account 
 of the ministry. And therefore, having a _ perfect 
 foreknowledge of this, they appointed persons, as we 
 have before said, and then gave a direction’ in what 
 manner, when they should have fallen asleep’, other 
 chosen and approved men should succeed in their 
 ministry. Wherefore, we cannot think that those may 
 justly be thrown out of their ministry, who were ap- 
 pointed by them, or afterwards chosen by other excel- 
 lent men, with the consent of the whole Church’, and 
 
 5 Numb. xvii. 
 
 6 ἐπινομή. Junius conceives this word to imply a description of the 
 duties attached to each office ; Salmasius renders it, “a precept ;” Arch- 
 bishop Usher, “ a prescribed order ;” Marca, “ἃ form ;” Hammond gives 
 it the sense of “ a catalogue or a series and order of succession.” Le Clerc 
 imagines the meaning of Clement to be, that the Apostles not only ap- 
 pointed the first Bishops, but selected, from the whole body of the Church, 
 those who should succeed them. 
 
 7 See Matt. xxvii. 52. Acts vii. 60. 1 Cor. xi. 31. 1 Thess. iv. 13.15. 
 
 8 A clear intimation is here given of the different parts which the clergy 
 and people took in the ordination of a Bishop. The first appointment 
 rested with the Apostles and Bishops, but the consent of the people was 
 necessary. Cyprian, Epist. Ixvii. p. 172 (al. Ixviii.), plainly shows that 
 this was the case. ‘ In compliance with diyine tradition and apostolical 
 usage, the custom must diligently be observed and maintained, which is 
 established among us and in almost all other provinces; that, for the due 
 celebration of ordinations, all the neighbouring Bishops of the same pro- 
 vince are to repair to the people, over whom a Bishop is to be ordained ; 
 and then a Bishop shall he chosen, in the presence of the people, who have 
 had the fullest knowledge of the life of each one, and been thoroughly 
 acquainted with their manners and whole conversation.” In his lvth Epistle 
 he says also, “ (Cornelius) was ordained Bishop by many of our colleagues 
 who were there present in Rome: he was ordained Bishop by the judg- 
 ment of God and of his Christ, by the testimony of almost all the clergy, 
 by the assent of the people who were there present, and by the assembly 
 of ancient priests and holy men.” 
 
 [Origen, 
 
TO THE CORINTHIANS. 
 
 who have with all lowliness and innocency ministered 
 to the flock of Christ in peace, and without self-interest, 
 and have been for a long time commended by all. 
 For it would be no small sin in us, should we east off 
 those from the ministry, who holily and without blame 
 fulfil the duties® of it. Blessed are those elders', who 
 having finished their course before these times, have 
 obtained a fruitful and perfect dissolution. For they 
 have no fear lest any one should remove them from 
 the place appointed for them. But we see how ye 
 have put out some, who conducted themselves well, 
 from the ministry which by their innocence they had 
 adorned. 
 
 45. Ye are contentious, brethren, and zealous for 
 things which pertain not unto salvation. Look into 
 the holy Scriptures, which are the true words of the 
 Holy Ghost. Ye know that nothing unjust or coun- 
 terfeit is written in them. There ye shall not find 
 that righteous men were ever cast off by those who 
 were holy themselves. The just were persecuted ; but 
 it was by the unjust: they were cast into prison; but 
 it was by the unholy: they were stoned; but it was 
 by transgressors: they were slain; but it was by the 
 wicked, and by such as had taken up unjust envy 
 against them. All these sufferings they endured glo- 
 
 Origen, in his 6th Homily upon Leviticus, says, “ that the presence of 
 the people is necessary in the ordination of a Bishop, that all may know 
 and be well assured, that he who is chosen to that office is distinguished 
 among all the people for his pre-eminence in learning, and holiness, and a 
 virtuous life: and this is done in the presence of the people, that there 
 may be no room for mistake or objection.” 
 
 Bishop Fell, who gives two of these references, shows, in his note, how 
 exactly this primitive usage agrees with the custom of the Church of 
 England. 
 
 9 προσενεγκόντας τὰ δῶρα, offering the gifts. See Note on Sect. 40. 
 The Eucharist itself was also styled “ munus consecratum,” ‘ munera 
 sancta,” “ἡ μυστικὴ Cwoogopia,” and by the Ethiopians, expressly, Corban, 
 that is to say, a gift; Mark vii. 11. 
 
 ' Presbyters. 
 
THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 riously. For what shall we say, brethren? Was it by 
 those who feared God that Daniel was cast into the 
 den of lions? Was it by men who worshipped the 
 Most High with excellent and glorious worship, that 
 Ananias, Asarias, and Misael, were shut up in the 
 fiery furnace? God forbid. What manner of men, 
 therefore, were they who did these things? they were 
 men abominable, full of all wickedness: men so in- 
 censed as to afflict those who served God with a holy 
 and unblameable purpose of mind: knowing not that 
 the Most High is the protector and defender of all 
 those who with a pure conscience serve his holy name: 
 to whom be glory for ever and ever; Amen. And 
 they who in the fulness of faith have endured, are 
 become inheritors of glory and honour; and are ex- 
 alted and lifted up by God in their memorial for ever 
 and ever; Amen. 
 
 46. It is, therefore, brethren, our duty to cleave to 
 such examples as these. For it is written, “ Hold fast 
 to such as are holy; for they that do so shall be sanc- 
 tified” And again in another place he saith, “ With 
 the pure thou shalt be pure, and with the elect thou 
 shalt be elect, but with the perverse man thou shalt be 
 perverse *.” Let us therefore cleave to the innocent 
 and righteous; for such are the elect of God. Where- 
 fore are there strifes, and anger, and divisions, and 
 schisms, and wars among us? Have we not all one 
 God, and one Christ*? Is not one Spirit of grace 
 poured out upon us all? Have we not one calling in 
 Christ? Wherefore, then, do we rend and tear in 
 pieces the members of Christ: and raise seditions 
 against our own body? And are come to such a 
 height of madness, as to forget that “ we are members 
 
 59 
 
 one of another®.” Remember the words of our Lord 
 
 2 See Wisd. vi. 25. 1 Cor. vii. 14. 3 Ps. xviii. 26. 
 4 Eph. iv. 4. 1 Cor. xii. 5 Rom. xii. 5. 
 
TO THE CORINTHIANS. 35 
 
 Jesus. For he said®; “ Woe to that man (by whom 
 offences come): it were better for him that he had 
 never been born, than that he should have offended 
 one of mine elect. It were better for him, that a mill- 
 stone should be hanged about his neck, and he should 
 be east into the sea, than that he should offend one of 
 my little ones.” Your schism hath perverted many, 
 hath discouraged many: it hath thrown many into 
 doubt, and all of us into grief. And yet your sedition 
 continues to prevail. 
 
 47. Take into your hands the epistle of the blessed 
 Paul the Apostle. What did he first write to you at 
 the beginning of the Gospel’. Verily he did by the 
 Spirit admonish you concerning himself, and Cephas, 
 and Apollos ὃ, because that even then ye had formed 
 parties, and divisions among yourselves. Nevertheless 
 your partiality then led you into less sin; for ye were 
 favourably inclined towards Apostles, men of eminent 
 reputation in the Church, and towards another, who 
 had been approved of by them. But consider who 
 they are that have now led you astray, and lessened 
 the reputation of that brotherly love which was so 
 celebrated among you. It is shameful, beloved, it 
 is exceedingly shameful, and unworthy of your Chris- 
 
 6 Matt. xxvi. 24. Mark ix. 42. Luke xvii. 2. Matt. xviil. 6. 
 
 7 The phrase, “in the beginning of the Gospel,” which is used by 
 St. Paul, Phil. iv. 15, denotes either the period when the Gospel was 
 first preached, or the time when it was first made known to any particular 
 Church. The Corinthian Church is here, then, called ancient, as having 
 been founded in the first ages of the Christian religion. The Churches, 
 which were first established, were always held in the highest honour. 
 Thus, Irenzus, iii. 3, eulogizes the Church of Rome, as “ the greatest and 
 most ancient, and well-known Church, founded and established by the 
 two most glorious Apostles, Peter and Paul.” Tertullian, de Virginibus 
 Velandis, c. 2, describes the Apostolic Churches, as those “ which were 
 avowedly founded by the Apostles, which ascribed their origin to one of 
 the Apostles, which were taught by them ; and to which any Epistles of 
 the Apostles were addressed.” See Tertullian, Prescript. Heret. 32. 
 Marcion, iv. 5. Cotelerius. 
 
 SeiCors i912: 
 
 Die 
 
36 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 tian profession, to hear that the most firm and ancient 
 Church of the Corinthians, should by one or two 
 persons be led into a sedition against its elders*. And 
 this report is come, not only unto us, but to those also 
 whose minds are unfavourably affected towards us. 
 Insomuch that the name of the Lord is blasphemed 
 through your folly ; and ye yourselves are brought into 
 danger by it. 
 
 48. Let us, therefore, with all haste, take away this 
 cause of offence; and let us fall down before the Lord, 
 and beseech him with tears, that he would be favour- 
 ably reconciled to us, and restore us again to a grave 
 and holy course of brotherly love. For this is the 
 gate of righteousness, opening into everlasting life: 
 as it is written, “Open to me the gates of righteous- 
 ness; I will go in unto them and praise the Lord. 
 This is the gate of the Lord: the righteous shall enter 
 into 104. Although, therefore, many gates are opened, 
 yet this gate, which is in righteousness, the same is 
 that gate in Christ, into which blessed are all they that 
 enter, and direct their way in holiness and righteous- 
 ness, doing all things without disorder. Let a man be 
 faithful ; let him be powerful in the utterance of know- 
 ledge; let him be wise in making an exact judgment 
 of words; let him be pure in all his actions: still, he 
 ought to be so much the more humble-minded, as 
 he seems to be superior to others; and to seek that 
 which is profitable to all men, and not his own ad- 
 vantage. 
 
 49. He that hath the love that is in Christ, let him 
 keep the commandments of Christ. Who is able to 
 express the obligation of the love of God? What 
 man is sufficiently worthy to declare the excellency 
 of its beauty? The height to which charity leads is 
 inexpressible. Charity unites us to God: charity 
 
 9 Presbyters. τ Ps. ὌΧ 19; 90. 
 
TO THE CORINTHIANS. at 
 
 “ eovereth the multitude of sins':” “ charity endureth 
 all things’;” is long-suffering in all things. There is 
 nothing sordid in charity, nothing proud. Charity 
 hath no schism; charity is not seditious; charity doth 
 all things in peace and concord. In charity were all 
 the elect of God made perfect; without charity nothing 
 is well-pleasing to God. In charity did the Lord take 
 us to himself: through the love which he bare towards 
 us, Christ our Lord gave his blood for us, by the will 
 of God: and his flesh for our flesh: and his soul for 
 our souls *. 
 
 50. Ye see, beloved, how great and wonderful 
 charity is: and its perfection cannot be expressed. 
 Who is fit to be found in it, except those whom God 
 shall vouchsafe to make so? Let us therefore pray to 
 him, and beseech him, that we may be worthy of it; 
 that we may live in charity, without human partiality, 
 unblameable. All generations from Adam until this 
 day have passed away: but they who have been made 
 perfect in love, according to the grace of Christ, have 
 a place among the righteous, and shall be made mani- 
 fest in the judgment‘ of the kingdom of Christ. For 
 it is written, “Enter into thy chamber for a little 
 space, until mine anger and indignation shall pass 
 away *°. And I will remember the good day, and will 
 raise you up out of your graves.” Happy, then, are 
 we, beloved, if we shall have performed the com- 
 mandments of God in the unity of love, that so, through 
 love, our sins may be forgiven us. For so it is written, 
 
 pr et. iva10. 2.1 Cor. χες 7- 
 
 3 τὴν ψυχὴν ὑπὲρ τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν. Ireneus, lib. v. 1, uses the same 
 expression: ‘ The Lord, therefore, having redeemed us by his own 
 blood, and having given his soul for our souls, and his flesh for our flesh, 
 and having poured forth the Spirit of the Father, for the purpose of 
 uniting God and man.” 
 
 4 ἐν τῇ ἐπισκοπῇ, literally, in the visitation, Isa. x. 3; xxiv, 22; 
 χχῖχ. 6. 
 
 5 Isa. xxvi. 20. 
 
38 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 “ Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and 
 whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man, to whom 
 the Lord imputeth no sin, and in whose mouth there 
 is no guile®.” This blessing is upon those who are 
 chosen of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord; to 
 whom be glory for ever and ever; Amen. 
 
 51. Let us, therefore, as many as have transgressed 
 by any of the suggestions of the adversary, pray for 
 forgiveness: and let those, who have been the leaders 
 of the sedition and dissension among you, look to the 
 common object of our hope. For as many as have 
 their conversation in fear and charity, would rather 
 they themselves should fall into trials than their neigh- 
 bours: and choose to be condemned themselves, rather 
 than to violate that good and equitable concord which 
 hath been transmitted to us. For it is good for a man 
 to confess wherein he hath transgressed, rather than to 
 harden his heart, as the hearts of those were hardened, 
 who raised up sedition against Moses the servant of 
 God: whose punishment was manifest to all men; for 
 they went down alive into the grave; death swallowed 
 them up’. Pharaoh and bis host ὃ, and all the rulers 
 of Egypt, their chariots also and their horsemen, were 
 overwhelmed in the Red Sea and perished, for no 
 other reason than because they hardened their foolish 
 hearts, after so many signs had been done in the land 
 of Egypt, by Moses the servant of God. 
 
 52. Beloved, the Lord is in want of nothing: 
 neither requires he any thing of us, but that we should 
 confess our sins unto him. For so saith the holy 
 David: “I will confess unto the Lord, and it shall 
 please him better than a young bullock, that hath 
 horns and hoofs. Let the poor see it, and be glad’. 
 And again he saith, “Offer unto God the sacrifice of 
 
 Oo Psexxxila os 7 Numb. xvi. 8 Exod. xiv. 
 95 Psi lxix. 91: 
 
TO THE CORINTHIANS. 39 
 
 praise; and pay thy vows unto the Most Highest. 
 And call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will 
 deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me’.” “The sacrifice 
 of God is a broken spirit *.” 
 
 53. Ye know, beloved, ye know full well the holy 
 Scriptures; and have thoroughly searched into the 
 oracles of God. Call them, therefore, to your remem- 
 brance. For when Moses went up into the mount, 
 and tarried there forty days and forty nights, in fasting 
 and humiliation, God said unto him ὅ, “ Arise, Moses, 
 get thee down quickly from hence, for thy people 
 have committed wickedness: they whom thou hast 
 brought out of the land of Egypt have quickly turned 
 aside from the way which I commanded them, and 
 have made to themselves molten images. And the 
 Lord said unto him, I have spoken unto thee once and 
 again, saying, I have seen this people, and behold it is 
 a stiff-necked people. Let me therefore destroy them, 
 and I will blot out their name from under heaven, and 
 I will make of thee a nation mighty and wonderful, 
 and much greater than they. But Moses said, Not so, 
 Lord: forgive now this people their sin; and if not, 
 blot me also out of the book of the living.” O 
 admirable charity! O insuperable perfection! The 
 servant speaks boldly to his Lord; he beseeches him 
 either to forgive the people, or that he himself may 
 also be destroyed with them. 
 
 54. Who, then, is there among you that is generous? 
 who, that is compassionate? who, that is filled with 
 charity ? let him say, if this sedition, and strife, and 
 schism be upon my account *, I am ready to depart, to 
 
 1 05:1. 1... 3. ῬΞ 11 17: 3 Exod. xxxii. Deut. ix. 12. 
 
 4 Clement here professes no more than he practised. It is highly 
 probable, as Epiphanius asserts, that he was appointed, by St. Peter, to be 
 Bishop of Rome, but declined accepting the office as long as Linus and 
 Cletus (or Anencletus) lived. This seems the most probable cause of the 
 difficulty of ascertaining the succession of the first Bishops of Rome. 
 
 (Chrysostom, 
 
40 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 go away whithersoever ye please; and to do whatsoever 
 the multitude command me; only let the flock of 
 Christ be in peace, with the elders® that are set over 
 it. He that shall do this, shall obtain to himself a 
 very great honour in the Lord: and every place will 
 be ready to receive him. “For the earth is the Lord’s, 
 and the fulness thereof®.” These things they who 
 have their conversation towards God not to be re- 
 pented of, both have done, and will always be ready 
 to do. 
 
 55. Nay, to produce examples even of the Gentiles: 
 many kings and rulers, in times of pestilence, being 
 warned by their oracles, have given themselves up to 
 death, that they might, by their own blood, deliver 
 their country. Many have forsaken their cities, that 
 seditions might no longer continue. We know how 
 many’ among ourselves have given themselves up into 
 bonds, that thereby they might free others. Many 
 have sold themselves into bondage, and received the 
 price, that with it they might feed others. Nay, even 
 women, strengthened by the grace of God, have per- 
 
 Chrysostom, in his Eleventh Homily on the Epistle to the Ephesians, 
 (vol. iii. p. 824, Savile,) expresses his readiness to act up to this precept ; 
 “If ye entertain,” he says, “such suspicions respecting me, I am ready 
 to resign my office, and to retire whithersoever ye will, only so that the 
 unity of the Church may be preserved.” 
 
 Gregory Nazianzen actually resigned the see of Constantinople, rather 
 than be the cause of disputes in the Church. See Cave’s Life, sect. 6. 
 
 5 Presbyters. 6 Pss xxiv. 1: 
 
 7 St. Paul mentions “ Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus, 
 who have for my life laid down their own necks,” Rom. xvi. 3,4; and 
 Epaphroditus, who “for the work of Christ was nigh unto death, not 
 regarding his life.” Phil. ii. 80. Baronius relates that St. Alban, the 
 proto-martyr of Britain, gave himself up and was put to death under Dio- 
 cletian, A.D. 303, instead of a fugitive who had taken refuge from persecu- 
 tion under his roof. 
 
 In the early ages of Christianity many, under the designation of 
 Parabolani, gave themselves up to the care of the sick, at the peril of 
 their own lives. These were so numerous, that a law was passed to limit 
 their number. Codex Theodos. lib. xvi. tit. 2. leg. 42. (Fell.) 
 
TO THE CORINTHIANS. 41 
 
 formed many manly actions. The blessed Judith °, 
 when her city was besieged, desired the elders that 
 they would suffer her to go into the camp of their 
 enemies. Thus she went out, and exposed herself to 
 danger for the love she bare to her country, and her 
 people that were besieged: and the Lord delivered 
 Holofernes into the hand of a woman. Again 
 Esther °, being made perfect in the faith, exposed 
 herself to a danger equally great, that she might 
 deliver the twelve tribes of Israel, who were in danger 
 of being destroyed. For by fasting and humbling 
 herself she entreated the great Maker of all things, 
 the God of the worlds'; so that beholding the humilia- 
 tion of her soul, he delivered the people, for whose 
 sake she was in peril. 
 
 56. Let us, therefore, pray for those who are fallen 
 into any sin; that meekness and humility may be 
 given unto them, so that they may submit not unto 
 us, but unto the will of God. For by these means 
 they shall obtain a fruitful and perfect remembrance, 
 with mercy, both in our prayers to God, and in our 
 mention of them before his saints. Let us receive 
 correction, at which no man ought to repine. Beloved, 
 the admonition which we exercise towards one another 
 is good, and exceedingly profitable: for it unites us 
 the more closely to the will of God. For thus saith 
 the Holy Scripture: “ The Lord chastened and cor- 
 rected me; but he did not give me over unto death ’?.” 
 “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and 
 scourgeth every son whom he receiveth®.” “ The 
 righteous,” saith he, “ shall instruct me in mercy, and 
 reprove me: but let not the oil of sinners anoint my 
 head with its fatness*.” And again he saith’, 
 
 8 Judith vili.mxi. 9 Esth. vil. viii. 
 1 Θεὸν τῶν αἰώνων. 2 Ps. exviii. 18. 
 3 Prov. iii. 12. Heb. xii. 6. * Ps. cxl. 5. Septuagint. 
 
 5 Job ν. 17. 
 
42 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 
 
 “ Happy is the man whom God correcteth: but de- 
 spise not thou the chastening of the Almighty. For 
 he maketh sore, and again restoreth ; he woundeth, and 
 his hands make whole. Six times out of trouble he 
 shall deliver thee: yea, in seven there shall no evil 
 touch thee. In famine, he shall redeem thee from 
 death ; and in war he shall defend thee from the hand 
 of iron. He shall hide thee from the scourge of the 
 tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of evils when they 
 come. Thou shalt laugh at the wicked and sinners; 
 neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth. 
 For the wild beasts shall be at peace with thee. Then 
 shalt thou know that thy house shall be in peace; and 
 the habitation of thy tabernacle shall not err. Thou 
 shalt also know that thy seed shall be great; and thy 
 offspring as all the grass of the field. And thou shalt 
 come to the grave as ripe corn, that is taken in due 
 time, like as a shock of corn cometh in in its season.” 
 Ye see, beloved, that there is a protection to those 
 who are corrected of the Lord. For he is a good in- 
 structor; and is willing that we should be admonished 
 by his holy discipline. 
 
 57. Do ye, therefore, who laid the foundation of the 
 sedition, submit yourselves unto your elders®; and be 
 instructed unto repentance, bending the knees of your 
 hearts. Learn to be subject; laying aside all proud 
 and arrogant boasting of your tongues. For it is 
 better for you to be found in the sheep-fold of Christ 
 little and approved, than to appear superior to others, 
 and to be cast out of his hope’. For thus speaks the 
 excellent and all-virtuous Wisdom’, “ Behold, I will 
 pour out the word of my spirit upon you; I will make 
 
 5.71 ῬΟῦ: γ- ὃς 
 
 7 ἐκ τῆς ἐλπίδος avrov—perhaps we should read ἐκ τῆς ἐπαύλιδος--- 
 “ουΐ of his fold? 
 
 8 Prov. i. 23. The book of Proverbs is often quoted by this title, by 
 the early Christian writers. 
 
TO THE CORINTHIANS. 43 
 
 known my speech unto you. Because I called, and ye 
 would not hear: I stretched out my words, and ye 
 regarded not: but ye set at nought all my counsel, 
 and disobeyed my reproof; therefore I also will laugh 
 at your calamity, and exult when your desolation 
 cometh; and when trouble cometh suddenly upon you, 
 and destruction as a whirlwind, or when persecution or 
 siege cometh upon you. For it shall come to pass, when 
 ye call upon me, 1 will not hear you: the wicked shall 
 seek me; but they shall not find me. For they hated 
 knowledge, and did not seek the fear of the Lord: 
 neither would they take heed to my counsels, but 
 laughed my reproofs to scorn. Therefore shall they 
 eat of the fruit of their own ways; and shall be filled 
 with their own wickedness.” 
 
 58. Now God, the inspector of all things, the Father® 
 of spirits, and the Lord of all flesh, who hath chosen 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, and us, by him, to be his pecu- 
 liar people, grant to every soul of man that calleth 
 upon his glorious and holy name, faith, fear, peace, 
 patience, long-suffering, temperance, holiness, and 
 sobriety, unto all well-pleasing to his name: through 
 our High-priest and protector Jesus Christ; by whom 
 be glory and majesty, and power, and honour, unto 
 him, now and for evermore. Amen. 
 
 59. The messengers, whom we have sent unto you, 
 Claudius Ephebus, and Valerius Bito, with Fortunatus, 
 send back to us again with all speed in peace and with 
 joy, that they may the sooner acquaint us with your 
 peace and concord, so much prayed for and desired by 
 us; and that we may rejoice in your good order. 
 
 9 δεσπότης. 
 
44 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT, &c. 
 
 60. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, 
 and with all that are any where called by God and 
 through him; to whom be honour and glory, and 
 might, and majesty, and eternal dominion, by Christ 
 Jesus', from everlasting to everlasting. Amen. 
 
 16 οὗ αὐτῷ δόξα. x. τ. λ. 
 
THE EPISTLE OF POLYCARP 
 
 TO THE 
 
 PHILIPPIANS. 
 
 Potycarp, and the Presbyters that are with him, to 
 the church of God which is! at Philippi, mercy unto 
 you and peace from God Almighty, and the Lord 
 Jesus Christ our Saviour, be multiplied. 
 
 1. I rejoiced greatly with you, in our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, that ye received the patterns of true love, and 
 accompanied, as it behoved you, those who were boun” 
 _ with chains, the fitting ornament of saints’, the cre 
 of those who are truly chosen of God and our ° 
 and that the firm root of yonr faith, which was 
 preached from ancient times, remains until πον, and 
 brings forth fruit to our Lord Jesus Christ, who suf- 
 fered himself to be brought even to death for our sins: 
 
 1 παροικούσῳ, see note on the Introduction to the Epistle of Clement. 
 
 2 Thus Ignatius, in his Epistle to the Ephesians, c. 11, calls his chains 
 “spiritual jewels.” Compare also his Epistle to the Smyrneans, c. 11. 
 In like manner Cyprian, Epist. 76. (Fell) “ Dicatis Deo hominibus, et 
 fidem suam religiosa virtute testantibus, ornamenta sunt ista, non vincula: 
 nec Christianorum pedes ad infamiam copulant, sed clarificant ad coronam. 
 O pedes feliciter vincti, qui non ἃ fabro sed Domino resolvuntur! O 
 pedes feliciter vincti, qui itinere salutari ad paradisum diriguntur! O 
 pedes in seculo ad presens ligati, ut sint semper apud Dominum liberi!” 
 Compare Eusebius, Eccles. Hist. i. 5. 
 
46 THE EPISTLE OF POLYCARP 
 
 “whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of 
 death *:” “in whom, having not seen him, ye believe; 
 and believing, rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of 
 glory *.” Into which joy many desire to enter, know- 
 ing that “by grace ye are saved, not of works’,” but 
 by the will of God, through Jesus Christ. 
 
 2. “ Wherefore, girding up the loins (of your 
 ‘minds °)” serve God in fear and truth, laying aside all 
 empty and vain speech, and the error of many, “ be- 
 lieving in him that raised up our Lord Jesus Christ 
 from the dead, and gave him glory ’,” and a throne at 
 his right hand: to whom all things in heaven and 
 earth are subject ὃ; whom every living creature wor- 
 ships; who comes to be the judge of the quick and 
 dead; whose blood God shall require of them that 
 believe not in him. But he that raised up Christ from 
 the dead, shall raise up us also, if we do his will, and 
 walk in his commandments, and love the things which 
 he loved; abstaining from all unrighteousness, inordi- 
 nate affection’, love of money, evil-speaking, false- 
 witness: not rendering evil for evil, or railing far rail- 
 ing, or blow for blow, or curse for curse: but remem- 
 
 ing what the Lord taught us, saying, “Judge not 
 
 75 be not judged: forgive, and it shall be forgiven 
 unto you:” be merciful, that ye may obtain mercy ; 
 “for with tue same measure that ye mete withal, it 
 shall be measured to you again';” and that “Blessed 
 are the poor, and they that are persecuted for righte- 
 ousness’ sake; for theirs is the kingdom of God "ἢ 
 
 9. 1 have not assumed to myself, brethren, the 
 liberty of writing to you these things concerning 
 righteousness; but ye yourselves before encouraged 
 
 Acts li. 94. ΠΡΟ 1:.8: 5᾽ Eph. ii. 8, 9. 
 Ι Ῥοῖ. 1. 1. 7 ΤΌ ΡΒΕῚ ΟἹ: 8. Phil. ii. 10. 
 Eph. ἵν. 19. Col. iii. ὅ. 1 Pet. iii. 9. 
 
 Matt. vii. 1. Luke vi. 37. . 2 Matt. v. 3—10. Luke vi. 20. 
 
 - CD ὦ 
 
TO THE PHILIPPIANS. 47 
 
 me. For neither can J, nor any other such as I ar. 
 come up to the wisdom of the blessed _and renov:ned 
 Paul, who, being amongst you, in in the presence of those 
 who then lived, ane with exactness and soundness 
 the word of truth; who in his absence also wrote an 
 Kpistle * to you, into which if ye diligently look, ye 
 may be able to be edified in the faith delivered unto 
 you, which is the mother of us all, being followed with 
 hope, and led on by love, both towards God and Christ, 
 and towards our neighbour. For if any one hath these 
 things, he hath fulfilled the law of righteousness: for 
 he that hath charity is far from all sin. 
 
 4. But “the love of money is the beginning of all 
 evils*.”. Knowing, therefore, that “we brought no- 
 thing into the world, neither are we able to carry any 
 thing out’,” let us arm ourselves with the armour of 
 righteousness, and teach first ourselves to walk in the 
 commandment of the Lord, and then your wives to 
 walk likewise in the faith and love and purity which is 
 given unto them, loving their own husbands in all 
 truth, and kindly affectionate to all others equally in 
 all temperance, and to bring up their children in the 
 instruction and fear of God: that the widows be sober 
 as to what concerns the faith of the Lord, praying 
 without ceasing® for all men, being far from all de- 
 traction, srilsyen ane false-witness, love of money, 
 and all evil: knowing that they are the altars of God; 
 and that he sees all blemishes’, and nothing is hid 
 from him, either of words or thoughts, nor any of the 
 secret things of the heart. 
 
 3 ἔγραφεν ἐπιστολάς. The word ἐπιστολαὶ, in the plural, is sometimes 
 used for a single epistle, as Cotelerius shows. Polycarp might possibly, 
 however, allude to the Epistles of St. Paul to the Thessalonians, or to 
 the Corinthians, the contents of which would be communicated to the 
 Philippians. 
 
 eae Damn ν" 10: 5.1. tim: vis 7. 6 1 Thess. v. 17. 
 
 7 πάντα μωμοσκοπεῖται. See Clem. Rom. sect. 41. 
 
48 THE EPISTLE OF POLYCARP 
 
 5. Knowing, therefore, that God is not mocked ὅ, 
 we onght to walk worthy both of his command and of 
 his glory. In like manner the deacons must be blame- 
 less in the sight of his righteousness, as the ministers 
 of God in Christ, and not of men®: not false accusers, 
 not double-tongued, not lovers of money, temperate in 
 all things, compassionate, careful, walking according to 
 the truth of the Lord, who became the servant of all; 
 whom if we please in this present world, we shall be 
 made partakers also of that which is to come, accord- 
 ing as he hath promised to us that he will raise us 
 from the dead; and that if we shall walk worthy of 
 him, we shall also reign together with him, if we 
 believe. In like manner the young men must be 
 blameless in all things, above all, taking care of their 
 purity, and restraining themselves from all evil. For 
 it is good to emerge ' out of the lusts which are in the 
 world: for every lust warreth against the spirit? : and 
 “neither fornicators, nor effeminate, nor abusers of 
 themselves with mankind, shall inherit the kingdom of 
 God’,” neither they which act foolishly. Wherefore 
 it is necessary that ye abstain from all these things, 
 being subject to the presbyters and deacons, as unto 
 God and Christ: the virgins also should walk in a 
 spotless and pure conscience. 
 
 6. Let the elders* also be compassionate, merciful 
 to all, bringing back such as are in error’, seeking out 
 all those that are weak, not neglecting the widow or 
 the fatherless, or the poor: but providing always what 
 is good in the sight of God and men‘; abstaining 
 
 euGale νι: 7. 
 
 9. This passage is quoted in a Syriac Version of a work of Severus, 
 Patriarch of Alexandria, a.p. 513. Cureton, Corpus Ignatianum, p. 213. 
 
  avaxixrecOa. This reading appears preferable to ἀνακόπτεσθαι, “to 
 be cut off.” Thus Chrysostom de Sacerd. lib. i. 1. Ὡς δὲ μικρὸν καὶ 
 αὐτὸς ἀνέκυψα τοῦ βιωτικοῦ κλύδωνος. 
 
 21 ῬΟΙ τ lle 3.1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. 4 Presbyters. 
 5 Ezek. xxxiv. 4. 6 Rom. xiv. 10. 2 Cor. vy. 10. 
 
TO THE PHILIPPIANS. 49 
 
 from all wrath, respect of persons, and unrighteous 
 judgment: being far from all covetousness: not ready 
 to believe any thing against any; not severe in judg- 
 ment, knowing that we are all debtors in point of sin. 
 If therefore we pray to the Lord that he would forgive 
 us, we ought also to forgive’. For we are before the 
 eyes of our Lord and God, and “ must all stand before 
 the judgment seat of Christ °,” and shall every one 
 give an account of himself. Let us therefore so serve 
 him, with fear and all reverence, as he himself hath 
 commanded, and as the apostles who have preached 
 the gospel unto us, and the prophets who have fore- 
 told the coming of our Lord (have taught us): being 
 zealous of what is good, abstaining from all offence, 
 and from false brethren, and from those who bear the 
 name of Christ in hypocrisy, who deceive vain men. 
 
 7. “For whosoever confesses not that Jesus Christ 
 is come in the flesh, is antichrist °:” and whosoever 
 confesses not his suffering upon the cross, is of the 
 devil. And whosoever perverts the oracles of the 
 Lord to his own lusts, and says, there is neither resur- 
 rection nor judgment, he is the first-born of Satan '. 
 Wherefore leaving the vanity of many, and false 
 doctrines, let us return to the word which was deli- 
 vered to us from the beginning, “watching unto 
 prayer *,” and persevering in fasting; with supplica- 
 tion beseeching the all-seeing God, not to lead us into 
 
 7 Matt. vi. 12—14. 8 Rom. xiv. 10. 2 Cor. v. 10. 
 
 9 1 John iv. 3. 
 
 1 Marcion is said to have once met Polycarp, and to have addressed 
 him with the words, “ Dost thou acknowledge me?” The reply attributed 
 to Polycarp is, “ I acknowledge thee for the first-born of Satan.” Euseb. 
 Hist. iv. 14. Iren. iii. 3. In the interpolated epistle of Ignatius to the 
 Trallians, sect. 11, Simon Magus is called “ the first-born of Satan,” τὸν 
 πρωτότοκον αὐτοῦ υἱον. 
 
 21 Pet. iv. 7. 
 
50 THE EPISTLE OF POLYCARP 
 
 temptation *, as the Lord hath said, “The spirit indeed 
 is willing, but the flesh is weak *.” 
 
 8. Let us therefore without ceasing hold stedfastly 
 to him who is our hope, and the earnest of our 
 righteousness, even Jesus Christ, who “bare our sins in 
 his own body on the tree;” who “did no sin, neither 
 was guile found in his mouth*’:” but endured all for 
 our sakes, that we might live through him. Let us 
 therefore imitate his patience ; and if we suffer for his 
 name, let us glorify him. For this example he hath 
 given us by himself, and so we have believed. 
 
 9. I exhort you all therefore to obey the word of 
 righteousness, and exercise all patience, which ye have 
 seen set forth before your eyes, not only in the blessed 
 Ignatius, and Zosimus, and Rufus, but also in others 
 among yourselves °, and in Paul himself, and the other 
 apostles; being confident of this, that all these have 
 not run in vain, but in faith and righteousness: and 
 that they are gone to the place which was due to 
 them, in the presence of the Lord, with whom also 
 they suffered. For they loved not this present world 
 but him that died for us, and was raised again by God 
 for our sake. 
 
 10. ‘Stand therefore in these things, and follow the 
 example of the Lord, being firm and immutable in the 
 faith, lovers of the brotherhood, lovers of one another, 
 companions together in the truth, being kind and 
 gentle towards each other, despising none. When it 
 
 3. Matt. νὶ. 18. + Matt. xxvi. 41. 
 
 5.1 Pet. ii, 22—24. 
 
 § juov—Dodwell, in his Dissertationes Cyprianice, Diss. xi. 27, 
 supposes ἡμῶν to be the correct reading : and imagines that Polycarp is 
 speaking of a persecution which took place in his own time, either in the 
 church of Smyrna or in that of Philippi. 
 
 7 Sections 10, 11,12, are lost in the Greek. The loss is supplied by the 
 old Latin version. 
 
TO THE PHILIPPIANS. 51 
 
 is in your power to do good, defer it not, for “ charity 
 delivereth from death *.” “Be all of you subject one 
 to another, having your conversation honest among the 
 gentiles °,” that by your good works both ye yourselves 
 may receive praise, and the Lord may not be blas- 
 phemed through you’. But woe to him by whom 
 the name of the Lord is blasphemed. Wherefore 
 teach all men sobriety, in which do ye also exercise 
 yourselves. 
 
 11. I am greatly afflicted for Valens, who was once 
 made a Presbyter among you; that he should so little 
 understand the place that was given unto him. Where- 
 fore I admonish you that ye abstain from  con- 
 cupiscence’; and that ye be chaste and true of speech. 
 Keep yourselves from all evil®. For he that in these 
 things cannot govern himself, how shall he be able to 
 prescribe them to another? If a man doth not keep 
 himself from concupiscence, he shall be polluted with 
 idolatry *, and he shall be judged as if he were a 
 gentile. But who of you are ignorant of the judg- 
 ment of God? “Do ye not know that the saints 
 shall judge the world °,” as Paul teaches? But I have 
 neither perceived nor heard any thing of the kind in 
 you, among whom the blessed Paul laboured; and 
 who are named in the beginning of his epistle®. For 
 he glories of you in all the churches which alone had 
 then known God; for we had not yet known him. 
 
 8 Tobit xii. 9. 91 Pet. ii. 19, 
 
 1 Rom. ii. 24. Tit. ii. 5. 
 
 2 The old Latin translation has avaritia: the Greek probably had 
 πλεονεξία. That this word should, in many places, be rendered in the 
 sense here given, is fully shown by Suicer on the words πλεονεκτέω and 
 πλεονεξία, and by Hammond on Rom. i. 29, and 1 Cor. v. 10. See also 
 Paley, Ser. xlii. Edit. 1825. 
 
 It appears from what follows that both Valens and his wife had fallen 
 into adultery. 
 
 3 1 Thess. v. 22. 4 Col. iii. 5. Eph. v. 5. 
 
 5 1 Cor. vi. 2. 6 Phil. 
 
52 THE EPISTLE OF POLYCARP 
 
 Wherefore, brethren, I am exceedingly sorry both for 
 him, and for his wife: may God grant them true 
 repentance. And be ye also moderate on this occa- 
 sion; and consider not such as enemies, but call them 
 back, as suffering and erring members, that ye may 
 save your whole body. For by so doing ye edify your- 
 selves. 
 
 12. For I trust that ye are well exercised in the 
 Holy Scriptures, and that nothing is hid from you. 
 But at present it is not granted unto me to practise 
 that which is written’, “Be ye angry and sin not,” and 
 “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath *.” Blessed 
 is he that believeth and remembereth these things ; 
 which also I trust ye do. Now the God and Father 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he himself who is our 
 everlasting High-priest, the Son of God, even Jesus 
 Christ ®, build you up in faith and truth, and in all 
 meekness and lenity, and in patience and long-suffer- 
 ing, and forbearance and chastity: and grant unto you 
 a lot and portion among his saints, and unto us with 
 you, and unto all that are under heaven, who shall 
 believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, and in his Father 
 who raised him from the dead'. Pray for all the 
 saints. Pray also for kings, and authorities, and 
 princes, and for those who persecute you and hate you, 
 and for the enemies of the cross: that your fruit may 
 be manifest in all, and that ye may be perfect in 
 Christ. 
 
 13. Both ye and Ignatius wrote to me’, that if any 
 
 ? Mihi autem non est concessum modo. Ut his Scripturis dictum est. 
 This passage seems to be corrupted. 
 
 8 Ps. iy.4.) Ephsiv.26. 
 
 ® There are two Syriac versions of this passage, in translations of two 
 works by Timotheus and Severus, patriarchs of Alexandria. Cureton, 
 Corpus Ignat. pp. 212,213. The Syriac, as translated by Mr. Cureton, 
 pp. 244. 246, has “the eternal High-priest himself, God Jesus Christ.” . 
 
 1 Gal. i. 1. 
 3. See Ignatius’ Epistle to the Smyrneans, sect. 11. 
 
TO THE PHILIPPIANS. 53 
 
 one went (hence) into Syria, he should also bring back 
 your letters with him: which also I will do, if I have 
 a convenient opportunity, either by myself, or by him 
 whom I shall send upon your account. The Epistles 
 of Ignatius which he wrote unto us*, and others as 
 many as we have with us, we have sent to you, 
 according to your order; which are subjoined to this 
 Epistle; from which ye may be greatly profited. For 
 they treat of faith and patience, and of all things 
 which pertain to edification in our Lord. 
 
 14. What ye know certainly of Ignatius, and those 
 that are with him, signify unto us. 
 
 These things bave I written unto you by Crescens, 
 whom up to this day* I have recommended to you, 
 and do nowrecommend. For he hath had his con- 
 versation without blame among us, and I trust in like 
 manner also with you. You will also have regard 
 unto his sister when she shall come unto you. Be ye 
 safe in the Lord Jesus Christ; and his grace be with 
 you all. Amen. 
 
 3 The two Epistles which Ignatius wrote, one to Polycarp, the other to 
 the Church of the Smyrneans. 
 
 4 Quem in presentem diem commendayi. This reading is preferable to 
 in presenti. 
 
THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 iP Bo SANS. 
 
 Ia@natius, who is also Ianatius, who is Theo- 
 called Theophorus’, to the phorus, to the Church, .. . 
 
 1 This Epistle is one of the three lately found in Syriac. Cureton, 
 Corpus Ignatianum, p. 15. The translation from the Syriac is given in 
 the second column. Where the second column is deficient, the passage is 
 found in the Greek alone. 
 
 2 Theophorus. All Christians were denominated Theophori (Θεοφύροι), 
 Temples of God, and sometimes Christophori (Euseb. viii. 10. Ignat. Ep. 
 to Ephes. 9. Compare Magnes. 12), Temples of Christ. Thereason of this 
 appellation, which was constantly applied to Ignatius, both by himself and 
 others, is given in the history of his Martyrdom, sect. 2: “ As soon then 
 as he stood in the presence of the Emperor Trajan, the emperor demanded 
 of him, ‘ Who art thou, unhappy and deluded man, who art so active in 
 transgressing our commands, and, besides, persuadest others to their own 
 destruction?’” Ignatius replied, ‘“ No one ought to call (one who is pro- 
 perly styled) Theophorus, unhappy and deluded: for the evil spirits 
 (which delude men) are departed far from the servants of God. But if 
 you so call me because I am a trouble to those evil spirits, and an enemy 
 to their delusions, I confess the justice of the appellation. For having 
 (within me) Christ the heavenly King, I loosen all their snares.” Trajan 
 replied, ‘“‘ And who is Theophorus?” Ignatius answered, “ He that hath 
 Christ in his heart.” Then answered Trajan, “ Carriest thou, then, within 
 thee him who was crucified?” “ Yea,” replied Ignatius ; “for it is written, 
 41 will dwell in them and walk in them.’” (2 Cor. vi. 16.) 
 
 The notion of the later Greeks, that Ignatius was called Theophorus 
 (Θεύφορος, borne by God), because he was the child whom Christ took 
 up in his arms (Matt. xviii. 2. Mark ix. 86), although adopted by several 
 writers, is a mere fancy. Had such a tradition existed even in the time of 
 Chrysostom, he would surely have known it, and was not of a disposition 
 to have omitted it, in the Homily which he composed on the Martyrdom 
 of Ignatius: whereas he there expressly states, that Ignatius never saw 
 Jesus, nor had any intercourse with him. (Homil. on Ignatius, vol. v. 
 p- 503, 37, Savile.) 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS, 
 
 Church which is at Ephe- 
 sus in Asia, deservedly ac- 
 counted most happy, being 
 blessed through the great- 
 ness and fulness * of God 
 the Father, and predesti- 
 nated before the world 
 began *, that she should be 
 always unto an enduring 
 and unchangeable glory, 
 being united and chosen 
 through his true passion °, 
 according to the will of 
 the Father, and of Jesus 
 Christ our God, all happi- 
 ness in Jesus Christ, and 
 in undefiled grace °. 
 
 1. [ have heard of your 
 name which is much be- 
 loved in God, that which 
 ye have attained by a habit 
 of righteousness, according 
 to the faith and love which 
 
 3 Eph. iii. 19. In the Greek 
 copy, from which the Syriac version 
 was made, the word πεπληρωμένῃ 
 seems to have been found instead of 
 πληρώματι. The Armenian version, 
 which usually follows the Syriac, 
 here agrees with the Greek. See 
 Petermann’s note. 
 
 4 Compare Eph. i. 1—6. 
 
 5 ἐν πάθει ἀληθινῷ. 
 
 δῦ 
 
 blessed in the greatness of 
 God the Father, and per- 
 fected; to her who was 
 separated from eternity, to 
 be at all times for glory, 
 which abideth and chang- 
 eth not, and is perfected 
 and chosen in the purpose 
 of truth, by the will of 
 the Father of Jesus Christ 
 our God'; to her who is 
 worthy of happiness; to 
 her who is in Ephesus in 
 Jesus Christ in joy un- 
 blameable ; much peace. 
 
 1. Forasmuch as your 
 well-beloved name is ac- 
 ceptable to me in God, 
 which ye have acquired by 
 nature by a right and just 
 will’, and also by faith and 
 
 1 Although the conjunction is 
 omitted here, after the word Father, 
 the meaning seems to be the same 
 as in the Greek: for in the end of 
 the Epistle to the Romans, the 
 Syriac has “ Jesus Christ our God.” 
 Cureton. 
 
 2 This is rather a paraphrase than 
 a close translation of the Greek. 
 
 ‘Through the meritorious sufferings of Christ 
 
 which he truly underwent.’ This is the interpretation proposed by Smith, 
 
 and adopted by Archbishop Wake. 
 
 6 The interpolated Greek has here χαρᾷ for χάριτι. 
 
 The Syriac and 
 
 Armenian versions recognise the same reading. 
 
56 THE EPISTLE 
 
 is in Jesus Christ our Sa- 
 viour, that being followers’ 
 of God, and stirring up 
 yourselves by the blood of 
 God ὅδ, ye have perfectly 
 accomplished the work 
 which was agreeable to 
 your nature. For hearing 
 that I came bound from 
 Syria, for the name and 
 hope that are common to 
 us all, trusting through 
 your prayers to fight with 
 beasts at Rome, that so 
 by suffering martyrdom I 
 may become indeed the 
 disciple of him who gave 
 himself to God, an offering 
 and sacrifice for us’ (ye 
 hastened to see me'®). 1 
 received therefore in the 
 name of God your whole 
 multitude in (the person 
 of) Onesimus', who for his 
 love hath no word by which 
 
 7 μιμηταὶ, imitators. Eph. v.1. 
 
 8 Compare Acts xx. 28. “ Feed 
 the church of God, which he hath 
 
 purchased with his own blood.” 
 8 Eph. ν. 9. 
 
 10 This passage is defective in the Greek. 
 
 OF IGNATIUS 
 
 love of Jesus Christ our 
 Saviour, and ye are imita- 
 tors of God, and fervent 
 in the blood of God, and 
 have speedily accomplished 
 a work congenial to you: 
 for when ye heard that I 
 was bound from actions ὃ, 
 for the sake of the common 
 name and hope, and I hope 
 through your prayers to 
 be devoured of beasts at 
 Rome, that by means of 
 this, of which I am ac- 
 counted worthy, I may be 
 empowered with strength 
 
 to be a disciple of God, 
 
 ye hastened to come and 
 see me. Forasmuch then 
 as ye have received your 
 abundance in the name of 
 God by Onesimus, who is 
 your bishop in love unut- 
 terable, whom I pray that 
 
 3 Or, “from visiting.” See Cure- 
 ton’s note, Corpus Ignatianum, p. 
 
 278. The Armenian version agrees 
 here with the Greek. 
 
 Words of this import are 
 
 given in the Latin version and in the Syriac. 
 
 1 Compare the Epistle to the Magnesians, sect. 6, Trallians, sect. 1. Some 
 suppose this Onesimus to be the servant of Philemon, who is mentioned as 
 the first Bishop of Bercea, in the Apostolical Constitutions, book vii. 46, 
 Although that book is not genuine, it may yet have preserved the tradition 
 of such a fact, and he might have been removed to Ephesus. The name 
 of Onesimus was, however, by no means uncommon at that time. 
 
TO THE EPHESIANS. 
 
 he can be described, but 
 according to the flesh? is 
 your bishop: whom I be- 
 seech you in Jesus Christ 
 to love, and that ye would 
 all strive to be like unto 
 
 57 
 
 ye may love in Jesus Christ 
 our Lord, and that all of 
 you belike him: for blessed 
 is he who hath given you 
 such a bishop as ye de- 
 serve. 
 
 him. And blessed be God, 
 who hath granted unto 
 you, who are worthy of 
 him, to possess such a 
 bishop. 
 
 2.° But with regard to my fellow-servant Burrhus, 
 your deacon, in the service of God, blessed in all things, 
 I entreat you that he may remain to the honour both 
 of you, and of your bishop. And Crocus, also, worthy 
 both of God and of you, whom I have received as a 
 pattern of your love, hath in all things refreshed * me, 
 as (I pray) the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ may 
 refresh him, together with Onesimus, and Burrhus, and 
 Euplus, and Fronto, in whom I have, as to charity, 
 seen you all. May I always have joy of you’, 11 
 shall be worthy of it. It is therefore fitting that ye 
 should by all means glorify Jesus Christ, who hath 
 glorified you: that by an uniform obedience ye may 
 be perfectly joined together ° (in the same mind, and 
 
 2 ἐν σαρκὶ, omitted in the interpolated Greek, Syriac, and Armenian. 
 
 3 Petermann, in his edition of Ignatius, is of opinion that the following 
 passage, which is retained in the Armenian version, has been accidentally 
 omitted in the Syriac, and that such an error might easily be committed in 
 transcription, as this passage in Syriac would begin with the same words as 
 those which commence the following clause. He observes, also, that the 
 transition in the sense is much more abrupt in the Syriac than in the 
 Greek. 
 
 4 πολλάκις pe ἀνέπαυσεν, ὡς καὶ αὐτὸν ὁ πατὴρ ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀναψύ- 
 ¥ar.—See 1 Cor. xvi. 18; 2 Cor. vii. 18 ; and 2 Tim. i. 16. 
 
 5 Philemon, ver. 20. 
 
 6 κατηρτωμένοι. An allusion to 1 Cor. i. 10, from which it is probable 
 that the following words have been inserted. They are omitted in the old 
 Latin version, and in the Armenian version. 
 
58 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 in the same judgment, and may all speak alike con- 
 cerning every thing); and that being subject to the 
 bishop and the presbytery, ye may be altogether sanc- 
 tified. 
 
 3. These things I command you not, as if I were 
 any one’. For although I am even bound for his 
 name, I am not yet perfect in Jesus Christ. But now 
 I begin to learn; and I speak to you as my fellow- 
 disciples. For I ought to have been stirred up by 
 you, in faith, in admonition, in patience, in long-suf- 
 
 fering. 
 
 But forasmuch as cha- 
 rity suffers me not to be 
 silent towards you, I have 
 therefore first taken upon 
 me to exhort you, that ye 
 would all run together ac- 
 cording to the will of 
 
 But forasmuch as love 
 suffereth me not to be 
 silent respecting you, on 
 this account I have been 
 forward to entreat you to 
 be diligent in the will of 
 God. 
 
 God. 
 
 For Jesus Christ, our inseparable life, he is by the 
 will of the Father*: as also the bishops, appointed 
 unto the utmost bounds of the earth, are by the will 
 of Jesus Christ. 
 
 4. Wherefore it becomes you to run together ac- 
 cording to the will of your bishop, even as also ye do. 
 For your renowned presbytery, worthy of God, is fitted 
 as exactly to the bishop, as the strings are to an harp’. 
 Wherefore, in your concord and harmonious love, Jesus 
 Christ is sung. And every single person among you 
 makes up the chorus; that all being harmonious in 
 concord, taking up the song of God in perfect unity, 
 ye may sing with one voice to the Father, through 
 
 7 Comp. Acts v. 36. 
 
 8 ᾿Ιησοῦς Χριστὸς--τοῦ πατρὸς ἡ γνώμη. “ Jesus Christ—is the Will 
 of the Father.” Smith proposes to read ry γνώμῳ, which is adopted in 
 
 the text. The Armenian version is to the same effect. 
 9 See the Epistle to the Philadelphians, sect. 1. 
 
TO THE EPHESIANS. 59 
 
 Jesus Christ ; to the end that he may both hear you, 
 and perceive by your good works that ye are members 
 of his Son. Wherefore it is profitable for you to live 
 in an unblameable unity, that ye may always have fel- 
 lowship with God. 
 
 5. But if I, in this little time, have had such a 
 familiarity with your bishop (whom I have known), 
 not in the flesh, but in the spirit, how much more 
 must I think you happy, who are so joined to him as 
 the Church is to Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ to the 
 Father, that all things may agree together in unity. 
 Let no man deceive himself. Except a man be within 
 the altar, he is deprived of the bread of God. For if 
 the prayer of one or two be of such avail '°, how much 
 more shall that of the bishop and the whole Church 
 be? He therefore that comes not together into the 
 same place with it, he is proud already, and hath con- 
 demned himself!. For it is written *, “ God resisteth 
 the proud.” Let us take heed, therefore, that we set 
 not ourselves against the bishop, that we may be 
 subject to God. 
 
 6. The more any one sees his bishop silent, the more 
 let him revere him. For whomsoever the master of 
 the house sends to be over his own household, we 
 ought to receive him, even as we would him that sent 
 him. It is evident, therefore, that we ought to respect 
 the bishop, even as the Lord himself. And indeed 
 Onesimus himself greatly commends your good order 
 in God; in that ye all live according to the truth, and 
 no heresy dwells among you: neither do ye hearken 
 to any one more than to Jesus Christ, speaking to you 
 in truth. 
 
 7. For some there are who are wont to carry about 
 the name (of Christ) in deceitfulness, but do things 
 
 10 James v.16. Matt. xviii. 19. 1 Compare John iii. 18. 
 2 Prov. iii. 34. James iv. 6. 1 Pet. v. 5. 
 
60 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 unworthy of God; whom ye must avoid, as ye would 
 wild beasts. For they are ravening dogs, which bite 
 secretly ; of whom ye must beware, as of men hardly 
 to be cured. There is one physician, both carnal and 
 spiritual ; create and uncreate*; God, manifest in the 
 flesh*; true life*, in death; both of Mary, and of 
 God: first capable of suffering, and then liable to suffer 
 no more (even Jesus Christ our Lord °). 
 
 3 γενητὸς Kai ἀγένητος. ‘This is the reading adopted by Smith. The 
 other editions have γεννητὸς καὶ ἀγέννητος, “ begotten and unbegotten.” 
 Bull, (Defensio Fid. Nic. cap. ii. 2, s. 6,) although he reads γεννητὸς καὶ 
 ἀγέννητος translates the words “ create and uncreate,” following the old 
 Latin version, and Athanasius, de Synodis Arim. et Seleuc. tom. i. 922. 
 
 Πεπείσμεθα ὅτι καὶ ὁ μακάριος ᾿Ιγνάτιος ὄρθως ἔγραψε, γενητὸν αὐτὸν 
 λέγων διὰ τὴν σάρκα" ὁ γὰρ Χριστὸς σὰρξ ἐγένετο' ἀγένητον δὲ, ὅτι μὴ 
 τῶν ποιημάτων καὶ γενητῶν ἐστιν, ἀλλ᾽ υἱὸς ἐκ πατρός. 
 
 “ We are persuaded, that the blessed Ignatius also did well declare in 
 his writings, respecting Christ, that he was made according to the flesh, for 
 Christ was made flesh: and that he was uncreate, because he is not among 
 those things which were created and formed, but the Son proceeding of 
 the Father.” 
 
 Cotelerius shows that γενητὸς and γεννητὸς, ἀγένητος and ἀγέννητος, 
 have been not unfrequently confounded. This confusion may have some- 
 times arisen from the errors of transcribers; but, before the Council of 
 Nice the distinction between the words was not so scrupulously observed 
 as it was afterwards. Origen was censured for calling the Son γενητὸς 
 Θεός" although in another part of his works (Contra Celsum, vi. 17) he 
 expressly calls him ἀγένητος. See Burton, Testimonies of the Antenicene 
 Fathers, No. 12. Suicer, Thesaurus, on the words ἀγένητος and yevnrdc. 
 Theodoret (Dial. 1, tom. iv. P. 1, p. 9,) reads γεννητὸς ἐξ ἀγεννήτου, 
 “ begotten of him who is unbegotten.” 
 
 Tertullian. De Carne Christi, cap. 5, has a plain reference to this pas- 
 sage of Ignatius: “ Ita utriusque substantia census hominem et Deum 
 exhibuit: hinec natum, inde non natum; hine carneum, inde spiritalem ; 
 hine infirmum, inde preefortem: hinc morientem, inde viventem. Que 
 proprietas conditionum, divine et humane, equa utique nature utriusque 
 veritate dispuncta est, eadem fide et spiritfs et carnis.” 
 
 4 Ἔν σαρκὶ γενόμενος Θεός" God made (man) in the flesh. 
 
 5 ἐν θανάτῳ ζωὴ ἀληθινή. This seems to be the true reading, instead 
 of ἐν ἀθανάτῳ ζωῇ ἀληθινῷ, words which convey no distinct meaning. 
 
 6 These words are added in the old Latin version, in three Syriac 
 quotations, apparently from two different versions (Cureton, Corp. Ignat. 
 pp- 218, 219), and in the Armenian version, which was probably made from 
 one of these (Petermann, p.24). They are also found in the passage as 
 quoted in the fifth century by Theodoret, Epist. ad Monachos Constan- 
 
TO THE EPHESIANS. 61 
 
 8. Wherefore let no man deceive you: as indeed 
 ye are not deceived, being wholly (the servants) of 
 
 God. 
 
 For when there is no 
 contention norstrife among 
 you, doubtless ye live ac- 
 cording to God’s will. May 
 my life be for yours’, and 
 may I be an expiation for 
 your church of Ephesus, so 
 famous to all ages. They 
 that are of the flesh can- 
 not do the works of the 
 
 For so long as no one 
 lust is implanted in you, 
 which is able to torment 
 you, lo, ye live in God. 
 I rejoice in you, and offer 
 supplication on account of 
 you Ephesians, a church 
 renowned in all ages. For 
 those who are carnal are 
 not able to do spiritual 
 
 tinopolitanos, and Gelasius, at the end of his work, De duabus naturis 
 Christi. 
 
 7 περίψημα ὑμῶν καὶ ἁγνίζωμαι (ἅγνισμα) ὑμῶν ᾿ἘΕφεσίων ἐκκλησίας. 
 The old Latin version has, Peripsima vestri et castificer a vestra Ephe- 
 siorum ecclesia, retaining the first word untranslated. The same word 
 occurs again in this Epistle, c. 18. 
 
 Vossius proposes to read ἅγνισμα for ἁγνίζωμαι. 
 
 Although the passage is very obscure, there seems to be no doubt that 
 the word περίψημα is correct. It is found in I Cor. iv. 13, where St. Paul 
 says of the apostles, ὡς περικαθάρματα τοῦ κύσμου ἐγενήθημεν, πάντων 
 περίψημα ἕως ἄρτι" and in Tobit ν. 18, ᾿Αργύριον τῷ ἀργυρίῳ μὴ φθάσαι, 
 Dr. Jacobson shows from 
 Hesychius, that the term originally expresses something which is scraped 
 off and thrown away as refuse, or to be trodden under foot ; and thence 
 was proverbially used for any thing or person which was devoted in the 
 place of another. Thus Dionysius Alexandrinus, quoted by Pearson, 
 observes that the saying is fulfilled in those who sacrifice their own lives 
 in their attendance on the sick. Such were the Parabolani. See Suicer, 
 in vocem. Suidas says, that, in time of great calamity, a human being was 
 thrown into the sea, with the words, περίψημα ἡμῶν yévov. The inter- 
 polated Greek text appears to adopt a meaning similar to this, περίψημα 
 δὲ ὑμῶν καὶ τῆς ἁγνοτάτης ᾿Εφεσίων ἐκκλησίας ...... ἐκβάλλετε. 
 
 The sentiment, however obscurely expressed, that he loves the Church 
 of Ephesus as his own soul, and is ready to devote his ,life for them, is 
 similar to that in c. 21. Smyrn. c. 10. Epistle to Polycarp, c. 2, 6. 
 Trallians, c. 13. Compare also St. Paul, Rom. ix. 3. 
 
 The Syriac translator either misunderstood the Greek, or, as Petermann 
 conjectures, had some different reading, as, τέρψομαι ὑμῶν καὶ δεήσομαι 
 ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν. Inc. 18, the Syriac gives the word a different sense. 
 
 The Armenian version here has, “I rejoice also in you, and pray for 
 you, O Ephesians,” agreeing nearly with the Syriac. 
 
 ἀλλὰ περίψημα τοῦ παιδίου ἡμῶν γένοιτο. 
 
62 
 
 Spirit; neither they that 
 are of the Spirit the works 
 of the flesh*. As also 
 faith cannot do the works 
 of unfaithfulness, nor un- 
 faithfulness the works of 
 faith, But even those 
 things which ye do accord- 
 ing to the flesh are spi- 
 ritual; for ye do all things 
 in Jesus Christ. 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 things, neither the spiritual 
 carnal things: likewise 
 neither faith, those things 
 which are foreign to faith, 
 nor lack of faith what is 
 faith’s. For those things 
 which ye have done in the 
 flesh, even they are spi- 
 ritual, because ye have 
 done every thing in Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 9. Nevertheless, I have heard of some who have 
 
 passed by you, having perverse doctrine; whom ye 
 did not suffer to sow among you; but stopped your 
 ears that ye might not receive those things which ‘were 
 sown by them, as being the stones of the temple of 
 
 the Father, 
 
 prepared for the building 
 of God the Father, raised 
 up on high by the engine 
 of Jesus Christ, which is 
 the cross, and using the 
 ‘Holy Ghost as the rope. 
 And your faith is your 
 support ®: and your charity 
 
 and ye are prepared for 
 the building of God the 
 Father, and are raised up 
 on high by the engine of 
 Jesus Christ, which is the 
 cross, and ye are drawn by 
 the rope, which is the 
 Holy Ghost; and your 
 
 8 Gala Ve 17. 
 
 9 ἀναγωγεύς. Vossius thinks this word here signifies a pulley, as it is 
 rendered in the Syriac, but by an unusual word. See Cureton, Corpus 
 Ignat. p. 282, note. ᾿Αγωγεὺς is sometimes used for the rein with which a 
 horse is guided. Ignatius probably alludes to the metaphor used by St. 
 Paul in writing to the same Ephesians, Eph. ii. 20, &e. He compares the 
 faithful to the stones composing the temple of the Father, Jesus Christ to 
 an engine by which they are raised on high, the Holy Spirit to the rope 
 by which they are drawn, faith to the pulley or windlass, and charity to the 
 levelled road along which the stones are drawn from the quarry. Com- 
 parisons of this kind, carried even to a greater degree of minuteness, are 
 common in the early Christian writers. Those who object to them, as 
 opposed to our present notions of taste, must remember that refinement 
 upon such points formed no part of the habits of those wha were ad- 
 
TO THE EPHESIANS. 63 
 
 the way which leads to 
 God. 
 
 20 
 
 pulley is your faith, and 
 your love is the way that 
 leadeth up on high to 
 God. 
 
 Ye are, therefore, and all your companions, full of 
 God, his (spiritual) temples, full of Christ, full of holi- 
 ness: adorned in all things with the commands of 
 Christ: in whom also I rejoice that I have been 
 thought worthy by this present epistle to converse, and 
 joy together with you; that with respect to the other 
 life, ye love nothing but God only. 
 
 10. Pray also without 
 ceasing' for other men. 
 For there is hope of re- 
 pentance in them, that 
 they may attain unto God. 
 Suffer them, therefore, to 
 receive instruction of you, 
 if it be only from your 
 works. To their anger, 
 be ye meek; to their 
 boastings, be ye humble ; 
 to. their blasphemies, (re- 
 turn) your prayers; to their 
 error, (oppose) your firm- 
 ness in the faith; to their 
 cruelty, be ye gentle; not 
 studying in return to imi- 
 tate them. Let us be 
 found their brethren in 
 moderation, and study to 
 be followers? of the Lord : 
 
 dressed : and that the writings of St. 
 
 Pray 
 for all men. For there is 
 hope of repentance for 
 them, that they may be ac- 
 counted worthy of God. By 
 your works rather let them 
 be instructed. Against 
 their harsh words, be ye 
 conciliatory in meekness 
 of mind, and gentleness ; 
 against their blasphemies, 
 do ye pray; and against 
 their errors, be ye armed 
 with faith; and against 
 their fierceness, be ye 
 peaceful and quiet; and 
 be ye not astounded * by 
 them. Let us then be imi- 
 tators of the Lord in meek- 
 ness, and (emulous) as to 
 who shall be injured, and 
 
 Paul, as for instance Eph. vi. 14— 
 
 18, owe much beautiful and forcible illustration to comparisons of a similar 
 
 nature, but entirely free from the same defect. 
 
 1 ] Thess. v. 17. 
 
 See | Pet. ii. 5. 
 * See Cureton, p. 283, note. 
 
 2 μιμηταί. Imitators. Eph. y. 1, as in 6. i. 
 
64 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 for who was ever more un- oppressed and defrauded 
 justly used, more destitute, (more than the rest‘). 
 more despised ? 
 
 that no herb*® of the devil may be found in you; 
 but ye may remain in all holiness and sobriety in Christ 
 Jesus, both bodily and spiritually *. 
 
 11. The last times are at hand. Let us reverence, 
 let us fear the long-suffering of God, that it be not to 
 us unto condemnation. For let us either fear the wrath 
 to come, or love the grace that we at present enjoy; 
 one of the two: only that we be found in Christ Jesus 
 unto true life. Let nothing become you, besides him ; 
 for whom also I bear about these bonds, these spiritual 
 jewels °, in which I would to God that I might arise, 
 through your prayers; of which I entreat you to 
 make me always partaker, that I may be found in the 
 lot of the Christians of Ephesus, who have always 
 agreed with the apostles, through the power of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 12. I know who I am; and to whom I write. I, 
 a person condemned; ye, such as have obtained mercy ; 
 I, exposed to danger; ye, established. Ye are the 
 -passage of those that are killed for God; who have 
 been instructed in the mysteries of the Gospel ° with 
 
 3 This is a favourite metaphor 5. This sentiment agrees bette 
 with Ignatius, to signify false doc- with the interpolated Greek text. 
 trine ; compare his Epistle to the See Jacobson’s note. 
 Philadelphians, sect. 3, and Epistle 
 to the Trallians, sect. 6. 
 
 4 1 Cor. vii. 34. 
 
 5 See the Epistle of Polycarp, sect. 1. 
 
 6 συμμύσται. Baptized Christians were denominated. μύσται and οἱ 
 μεμυημένοι, the initiated, while the Catechumens were called ἄμυστοι, 
 ἀμύητοι, and ἀμυσταγώγητοι, uninitiated, as not yet admitted to the use of 
 the sacred offices and knowledge of the mysteries of the Christian religion. 
 Hence the phrase ἴσασιν οἱ μεμνημένοι, the initiated know what is said, so 
 constantly used in the early homilies and addresses to the people, when 
 any reference is made to the higher doctrines of Christianity. Casaubon 
 observes that this phrase occurs fifty times in the writings of Chrysostom 
 
TO THE EPHESIANS. 65 
 
 Paul, who was sanctified, and bore testimony even unto 
 death, and is deservedly accounted most happy’; at 
 whose feet I would that I might be found, when I shall 
 have attained unto God ; who throughout all his Epistle 
 makes mention of you in Christ Jesus. 
 
 13. Let it be your care, therefore, to come more 
 frequently together to the praise* and glory of God. 
 For when ye frequently meet together in the same 
 place, the powers of Satan are destroyed, and his mis- 
 chief is dissolved by the unity of your faith. Nothing 
 is better than peace; by which all war is abolished, 
 whether of heavenly, or of earthly things. 
 
 14. Of all which nothing is hid from you, if ye have 
 perfect faith and charity in Christ Jesus, which are the 
 beginning and end of life: the beginning, faith; the 
 end, charity. And these two, being in unity, are of 
 God. And all other things which concern a holy life 
 are the consequences of these. No man, who professes 
 the true faith, sins: neither doth he, who hath charity, 
 hate. The tree is made manifest by its fruit®. So 
 they who profess themselves to be Christians, shall be 
 made known by their deeds. 
 
 For now (Christianity) is The work is not of pro- 
 not the work of an out- mise, unless a man _ be 
 ward profession, but (shows found in the power of 
 itself) in the power of faith, even to the end. 
 faith, if a man be found 
 (faithful) unto the end. 
 
 and Austin. See Cave’s Primitive Christianity, part i. ch.8. Bingham’s 
 Antiquities of the Christian Church, book i. ch. iv. 2. 
 
 7 a&topakapicrov. This word is omitted in the interpolated Greek, and 
 in the Armenian version. 
 
 ὃ εἰς εὐχαριστίαν Θεοῦ καὶ εἰς δόξαν. He exhorts them to frequently 
 gathering themselves together, for public worship, and especially to the 
 celebration of the Eucharist, in which an offering of praise and thanks- 
 giving is made to God. Compare 1 Cor. xi. 18—20. 
 
 9. Matt. xii. 33. 
 
66 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 15. It is better to be It is better that a man 
 silent, and be; than to be silent when he is some- 
 say (a man is a Christian), thing, than that he should 
 and not to be. be speaking when he 15 not. 
 
 It is good to teach, if he who speaks, acts. He 
 therefore is the only Master, who spake, and it was 
 done'. And even those things, which he did in 
 silence ?, are worthy of the Father. He that possesses 
 the word of Jesus is truly able to hear even his silence, 
 that he may be perfect: and 
 may both do according to that by those things which 
 what he speaks, and be he speaks he should act, 
 known by those things of and by those things of 
 which he is silent. which he is silent he should 
 
 be known. 
 
 There is nothing hid from God: but even our secret 
 things are nigh unto him. Let us therefore do all 
 things as becomes those who have God dwelling in 
 them; that we may be his temple; and he may be 
 our God within us; as also he is, and will manifest 
 himself before our faces, by those things for which we 
 justly love him. 
 
 16. Be not deceived, my brethren. Those who cor- 
 rupt houses (by adultery) shall not inherit the kingdom 
 of God*. If therefore they who do this according to 
 the flesh, have suffered death *; how much more shall 
 he die, who by his wicked doctrine corrupts the faith 
 of God, for which Christ was crucified? He that is 
 thus defiled, shall depart into unquenchable fire; and 
 in like manner he that hearkens to him. 
 
 17.2 For this cause did the Lord receive ointment 
 
 ISPs; XXxiile Ὁ: 
 
 2 Those actions which Christ performed in all humility. 
 
 3.1 Cor. vi. 9, 10: AA (οἵ π᾿ 9: 
 
 > The first two sentences of this paragraph are quoted by Antiochus, 
 Hom. i. περὶ πίστεως. Jacobson. 
 
TO THE EPHESIANS. 67 
 
 upon his head °, that he might breathe (the breath of) 
 immortality into his Church’. Be not ye therefore 
 anointed with the evil savour of the doctrine of the 
 Prince of this world. Let him not take you captive 
 from the life that is set before you. And why are ye 
 not all wise, seeing ye have received the knowledge 
 of God, which is Jesus Christ. Why do we perish in 
 our folly, ignorant of the gift which the Lord hath 
 truly sent us ? 
 
 18. May my life be a My spirit boweth down 
 sacrifice * for (the doctrine to the cross, which is an 
 of) the cross, which is a offence to those who do 
 stumbling-block to them not believe, but to you 
 that believe not, but to τ8 salvation and life eternal. 
 is salvation and life ever- 
 lasting ὃ. 
 
 Where is the wise? Where is the disputer'? 
 Where is the boasting of those who are called men of 
 understanding? For our God Jesus Christ was borne 
 in the womb of Mary, according to the dispensation of 
 God, of the seed of David, yet by the Holy Ghost. 
 He was born, and was baptized, that through his pas- 
 sion he might purify water (to the washing away of 
 sin). 
 
 19. And the prince of Thus was concealed 
 this world knew not the from the ruler of this world 
 virginity of Mary’, and the virginity of Mary, and 
 
 6 Ps. xlv. 7; exxxili. 2. 7 Compare John xx. 22. 
 
 8 περίψημα τὸ ἐμὸν πνεῦμα τοῦ σταυροῦ. See c.8. The Armenian 
 version here follows the Syriac. There is another Syriac version. Cure- 
 ton, Corpus Ignat. pp. 219. 250. 
 
 9 1 Cor. i. 18 —23, 24. ᾿ 1 (Ὅπ: 20. 
 
 2 It was a favourite notion with the early Christian writers, that Mary 
 was espoused to Joseph before the birth of Jesus, that his being born of a 
 virgin might escape the knowledge of Satan. Thus Theophilus, the sixth 
 bishop of Antioch, in the Latin version of his Commentary on St. Mat- 
 thew’s Gospel, i. 18, has this observation : ‘‘ Quare non ex simplici virgine, 
 sed ex desponsata concipitur Christus? Primo, ut per generationem 
 
 ἘΠ 
 
68 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 him who was born of her, the birth of our Lord %, 
 and the death of the Lord: and the three mysteries 
 threemysteriesevery where of the shout ’, which were 
 noised abroad, yet done by done in the quietness of 
 God in silence. God from the star. 
 
 How then was he manifested to the world? A star 
 shone in heaven above all other stars; and its light 
 was inexpressible; and its novelty struck terror. All 
 the rest of the stars, with the sun and moon, were the 
 chorus to this star; and that sent forth its light above 
 all. And there was trouble, whence this novelty 
 came, so unlike to all the others. 
 
 Hence all magic was And here at the mani- 
 dissolved ; and every bond  festation of the Son * ma- 
 
 Joseph origo Marie monstraretur: secundo, ne lapidaretur ἃ Judeis ut 
 adultera: tertio, ut in Agyptum haberet solatium viri: quarto, ut partus 
 ejus falleret diabolum, putantem Jesum de uxorata, non de Virgine natum.” 
 Jerome, in his Commentary on St. Matthew, i. 18, ascribes this very 
 reason to Ignatius, “ Martyr Ignatius etiam quartam addit causam cur a 
 desponsata conceptus sit, ut partus, inquiens, ejus celaretur ἃ diabolo, dum 
 eum putat non de virgine sed de uxore generatum.” Basil, in his Sermon 
 on the Nativity of Christ, quotes the same opinion. These passages 
 appear to be allusions to this Epistle of Ignatius. Origen, in his sixth 
 Homily on St. Luke, translated by Jerome, says, “ Eleganter in cujusdam 
 Martyris Epistola scriptum reperi, Ignatium dico, Episcopum Antiochiz 
 post Petrum secundum, qui in persecutione Rome pugnavit ad bestias, 
 Principem szculi hujus latuit virginitas Marie.” Pearson, Vindicie Igna- 
 tianwe, par. i. cap. 2. 
 6 The Syriac here appears to 
 have omitted one or more words, 
 which are supplied in two other Syriac versions, given by Cureton 
 (Syriac version, pp. 44. 46; Corpus Ignat. pp. 211. 219; Translation, 
 pp. 244. 250). The first of these two extracts, from the works of 
 Timotheus, contains also the latter part of c. 18. The Armenian version 
 here agrees with the Greek. See Petermann, p. 52. 
 
 7 This may allude to the procla- 
 mation of our Lord’s birth, made by the angels. See Cureton, Corpus 
 Ignat. p. 286, note. 
 
 8 The Syriac version here would 
 
 imply areading of the Greek different 
 from that of either the Medicean, or the interpolated text. (See Cure- 
 ton.) The Armenian version contains the previous passage omitted in the 
 Syriac, and here agrees nearly with the Greek : ‘‘and hence every enchant- 
 
TO THE EPHESIANS. 69 
 
 of wickedness was de- 
 stroyed : ignorance was 
 taken away; and the old 
 kingdom was abolished ; 
 God being made manifest 
 in the form of man, for 
 the renewal of eternal 
 life. Thence began what 
 God had prepared. From 
 thenceforth all things were 
 
 gic began to be destroyed ; 
 and all bonds were loosed ; 
 and the ancient kingdom 
 and the error of evil were 
 destroyed. From hence 
 all things were moved to- 
 gether, and the destruction 
 of death was devised, and 
 then was the commence- 
 ment of that which is per- 
 
 disturbed, forasmuch as he fected in God. 
 designed to abolish death. 
 
 20. But if Jesus Christ shall give me grace through 
 your prayers, and it be his will, I purpose, in a second 
 ΤΡ 5016, which I am about to write to you, to declare 
 more fully to you the dispensation of which I have 
 now begun to speak, unto the new man, which is Jesus 
 Christ: both in his faith and charity; in his suffering, 
 and in his resurrection, especially if the Lord shall 
 make it known unto me by revelation’: since ye all 
 individually come together in common in one faith, 
 and in one Jesus Christ, who was of the race of David 
 according to the flesh, the Son of man, and the Son of 
 God: obeying your bishop and the presbytery with an 
 entire affection: breaking one bread, which is the 
 medicine of immortality ; our antidote, that we should 
 not die, but live for ever in Jesus Christ. 
 
 21. My life be for yours’, and for those whom ye 
 have sent, for the glory of God, to Smyrna, whence also 
 I write unto you, giving thanks unto the Lord; and 
 
 ment of astrologers was dissolved, and the deceits of wickedness were 
 brought to an end, and the old kingdom was destroyed, by the revelation 
 of God, who was made flesh for a new and eternal life (a new life of 
 eternity).” Petermann. 
 
 3 Compare 1 Cor. xiv. 36. 
 
 4 ἀντίψυχον. Compare 1 John iii. 16. 
 c. 10: to Polycarp, c. 2, 6. 
 
 Ignatius’ Epistle to Smyrneans, 
 
70 THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 
 
 loving Polycarp, even as I do you. Remember ime, 
 even as Jesus Christ doth remember you. Pray for 
 the Church which is in Syria, whence I am carried 
 bound " to Rome, being the least of all the faithful 
 that are there, as I have been deemed worthy to be 
 found to the glory of God. Farewell in God the 
 Father, and in Jesus Christ, our common hope. 
 
 5 Tenatius was bound in chains, at Antioch in Syria, and there delivered 
 to the soldiers to be carried to Rome, as he expresses in his Epistle to the 
 Romans. 
 
THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 MAGNESIANS. 
 
 IanaTius, who is also called Theophorus, to the 
 (Church) blessed by the grace of God the Father, in 
 Jesus Christ our Saviour; in whom I salute the Church 
 which is at Magnesia, near the Mzeander; and wish it 
 all joy, in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ. 
 
 1. Having heard of your well-ordered love and 
 charity in God, I determined, with much joy, to speak 
 unto you in the faith of Jesus Christ. For having 
 been thought worthy to obtain a most excellent name, 
 in the bonds which I carry about, I salute the churches, 
 wishing in them an union both of the body and spirit 
 of Jesus Christ, our eternal life; (as also) of faith and 
 charity, to which nothing is to be preferred; but espe- 
 cially of Jesus and the Father, in whom if we undergo 
 all the injuries of the prince of this world, and escape, 
 we shall enjoy God. 
 
 2. Seeing then that I have been thought worthy to 
 see you, by Damas! your godly and excellent Bishop, 
 
 1 Compare Ignatius’ Epist. to Ephes. sect. 1. Eusebius, Eccles. 
 Hist. iii. 36, says, that Ignatius wrote an Epistle to the church in Mag- 
 nesia near the Mwander, in which he makes mention of their Bishop, 
 Damas. 
 
1P4 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 and by your worthy Presbyters, Bassus and Apollonius ; 
 and by my fellow-servant Sotio the Deacon, in whom I 
 rejoice, forasmuch as he is subject unto his Bishop as 
 unto the grace of God, and to the Presbytery as unto 
 the law of Jesus Christ (I determined to write unto 
 you). 
 
 3. It is your duty also not to despise the youth of 
 your Bishop, but to yield all reverence to him, accord- 
 ing to the power of God the Father. As also I per- 
 ceive your holy Presbyters do, not considering his 
 youthful appearance’*, but as men prudent in God, 
 submitting to him; and not to him (indeed), but to 
 the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Bishop of us 
 all. It becomes you therefore to be obedient with all 
 sincerity, in honour of him who loves you. For, 
 otherwise, a man deceives not this Bishop whom he 
 sees, but affronts him who is invisible. For whatso- 
 ever of this kind is done, it reflects not upon men, but 
 upon God, who knows the secrets of our hearts. 
 
 4. It is therefore fitting that we should not only be 
 called Christians, but be so: as some call a Bishop by 
 the name (of his office), but do all things without him. 
 But such men appear to me void of a good conscience, 
 since they are not gathered together firmly, according 
 to God’s commandment. 
 
 5. Seeing then all things have an end, there are set 
 before us at once these two things, death and life: and 
 every one shall depart into his proper place. For as 
 there are two sorts of coins, the one of God, the other 
 of the world, each having its own stamp impressed 
 upon it’, so the unfaithful bear the mark of this world, 
 and the faithful in charity that of God the Father 
 through Jesus Christ, through whom unless we hold 
 
 2 τὴν φαινομένην νεωτερικὴν raéiv—This may refer either to his youth, 
 or to his recent ordination. 
 3 Compare Rev. xili. 16. 
 
TO THE MAGNESIANS. 73 
 
 ourselves in readiness to die, after the likeness of his 
 passion, his life is not in us. 
 
 6. Forasmuch, then, as I have seen in faith and love 
 your whole multitude, in the persons of whom I have 
 before written, I exhort you‘ that ye study to do all 
 things in a divine concord; your Bishop presiding in 
 the place of God, and your Presbyters in the place of 
 the council of the Apostles, and your Deacons, most 
 dear to me, being entrusted with the ministry of Jesus 
 Christ, who was with the Father before all ages, and 
 in the end hath appeared’. Do ye all, therefore, be 
 in subjection one to another °, following the same holy 
 course. And Jet no man look upon his neighbour 
 after the flesh, but in all things love ye one another in 
 Jesus Christ. Let there be nothing among you which 
 can cause a division; but be ye united to your Bishop, 
 and to those who preside over you, to be your pattern 
 and direction’ unto immortality. 
 
 7. As therefore the Lord did nothing without the 
 Father °, being united to him; neither by himself nor 
 yet by his Apostles, in like manner do ye nothing 
 without the Bishop and the Presbyters. Neither 
 endeavour that any thing may appear reasonable unto 
 yourselves privately; but being come together into one 
 place, have one prayer, one supplication, one mind, one 
 hope, in love and in joy undefiled’. ‘There is one 
 (Lord) Jesus Christ, than whom nothing is better. 
 Wherefore come ye all together, as unto one temple 
 of God, as unto one altar, as unto one Jesus Christ, 
 who proceeded from one Father, and exists in One, 
 and is returned (to One’). 
 
 4 This passage is quoted in a Syriac extract from the works of Severus, 
 Patriarch of Antioch. Cureton, p. 29, Corpus Ignat. pp. 213. 245. 
 
 5 Heb. i. 2; ix. 26. 
 
 5 Eph. ν. 21. 7 Compare Rom. vi. 17. Phil. iii. 17. 
 
 8 John x. 30; xiv. 11, 12; xvii. 21, 22. 
 
 9 Eph. iv. 3—6. 1 John xyi. 28, 
 
74 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 8. Be not deceived with strange doctrines, nor with 
 old fables which are unprofitable’. For if we still 
 continue to live according to the Jewish law, we 
 acknowledge that we have not received grace*. For 
 even the most holy prophets lived according to Christ 
 Jesus. For this cause they were persecuted also, 
 being inspired by his grace, fully to convince the un- 
 believers that there is One God *, who hath manifested 
 himself by Jesus Christ his Son; who is his eternal 
 word®, not coming forth from silence®, who in all 
 things was well-pleasing to him that sent him. 
 
 9. If, therefore, they who were brought up in these 
 ancient laws have come to the newness of hope, no 
 longer observing sabbaths, but keeping the Lord’s 
 day’, in which also our life is sprung up by him, and 
 
 a Titi.) 9; Gal. va 4. 
 
 4 This passage is quoted in Syriac from the works of Timotheus, Cure- 
 ton, Corpus Ignat. pp. 211. 244, and again from the works of Severus, 
 pp- 213. 245, where it is remarkable that the word “ eternal” is omitted as 
 well as the negative before the expression, “coming forth from silence,” 
 and the passage is commented upon, with that omission. The Armenian 
 versicn has also, “ who is his word, which came forth from silence.” 
 
 δ John i. 1. 6 See note (C) at the end of the volume. 
 
 7 That the first day of the week was constantly observed by the early 
 Christians is plain, as well from instances in the New Testament, in which 
 the habitual assembling of Christians, and their celebration of the holy 
 sacrament, on that day, are distinctly affirmed, (Acts xx. 7. 1 Cor. xvi. 
 2, compared with 1 Cor. xi. 20,) as from the testimony of Justin Martyr 
 (Apol. sect. 89), Tertullian (Apol. c. 16), and others. It was kept so 
 strictly as a festival, that fasting was forbidden on that day. Die Domi- 
 nico jejunium nefas ducimus. (Tertullian. de Corona Militis, cap. 3.) 
 
 The seventh day of the week, which is always designated by the word 
 Sabbatum, in the early Christian writers, was also observed as a religious 
 festival. Even the Montanists, although very anxious to introduce severe 
 discipline in the observance of fasts, abstained from fasting on Saturday 
 and Sunday, when they kept their two weeks of Xerophagiz. Duas in 
 anno hebdomadas Xerophagiarum, nec totas, exceptis scilicet Sabbatis et 
 Dominicis, offerimus Deo. (Tertullian. de Jejuniis, c. 15.) The Satur- 
 day before Easter-day was, however, observed as a fast. In the Apostoli- 
 cal Constitutions, which may be taken to represent the usage of the 
 Church in the fourth century, sentence of suspension is denounced against 
 any of the Clergy who should fast on Saturday or Sunday. (Canon 64.) 
 
TO THE MAGNESIANS. 78 
 
 through his death, which (yet) some deny :—By which 
 mystery we have been brought to believe, and there- 
 fore wait, that we may be found the disciples of Jesus 
 Christ our only teacher :—How shall we be able to live 
 without him, whose disciples the very prophets were, 
 and whom by the Spirit they expected as their teacher ? 
 And therefore he, whom they righteously waited for, 
 being come, raised them up from the dead. 
 
 10. Let us then not be insensible of his goodness. 
 For if he had dealt with us according to our works, 
 we should not now have had a being. Wherefore 
 being become his disciples, let us learn to live a Chris- 
 tian life. For whosoever is called by any other name 
 besides this, is not of God. Lay aside therefore the 
 evil leaven, which is grown old, and sour; and be 
 changed into the new leaven, which is Jesus Christ. 
 Be ye salted in him, Jest any of you should be cor- 
 rupted, for by your savour ye shall be judged. It is 
 absurd to name Christ Jesus, and to be still a Jew. 
 For Christianity believed not the Jewish religion, but 
 the Jewish the Christian: that so every tongue that 
 believed might be gathered together unto God. 
 
 11. These things, my beloved (I write unto you), 
 not that 1 know of any among you who are thus dis- 
 posed, but, as one less than yourselves, I would warn 
 you, not to fall into the snares of vain-glory, but to 
 
 This observance, which probably arose from a desire of conciliating the 
 Jewish converts, continued in the Eastern Church for many centuries. 
 In the Western Church, Saturday was usually observed as a fast. The 
 custom, however, was not general even in Italy. Ambrose, Bishop of 
 Milan, in the fourth century, when he was at Rome, observed the day as 
 a fast, but at Milan made no such distinction between Saturday and the 
 rest of the week. His answer to Augustine, who consulted him upon the 
 point, has become almost proverbial. ‘“ When I come to Rome, I fast on 
 Saturday, as they do at Rome; when I am here, I observe no fast. In 
 like manner my advice is that you observe the custom of every Church, 
 where you happen to be.’ (Augustine, ad Januar. Epist. 118. Cave’s 
 Primitive Christianity, part i. ch. 7. Bp. Kaye’s Tertullian, chap. vi. 
 p- 409, first edit.) 
 
76 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 be fully instructed in the birth, and sufferings, and re- 
 surrection (of Christ), which was accomplished in the 
 time of the government of Pontius Pilate; all which 
 was truly and surely performed by Jesus Christ, our 
 hope, from which God forbid that any of you should 
 ever be turned aside. 
 
 12. May I have joy of you in all things, if I shall 
 be worthy of it. For although I am bound, I am not 
 worthy to be compared to one of you who are at 
 liberty. I know that ye are not puffed up. For ye 
 have Jesus Christ in your hearts. And the rather 
 when I commend you, I know that ye are ashamed, as 
 it is written, The just man condemneth himself ®. 
 
 13. Give diligence, therefore, to be established in 
 the doctrines of our Lord and the Apostles, that so 
 whatsoever ye do, ye may prosper both in body and 
 spirit: in faith and charity, in the Son and in the 
 Father, and in the Spirit, in the Beginning and in the 
 End’; together with your most worthy Bishop, and 
 the well-woven spiritual crown of your Presbytery, and 
 your godly Deacons. Be subject to your Bishop, and 
 to one another, as Jesus Christ to the Father, accord- 
 ing to the flesh; and the Apostles to Christ and to the 
 Father, and to the Spirit; that so there may be (among 
 you) an union both in body and spirit’. 
 
 14. Knowing you to be full of God, I have the 
 more briefly exhorted you. Remember me in your 
 prayers, that I may attain unto God; as also the 
 Church which is in Syria, whence I am not worthy to 
 be called. For I stand in need of your joint prayers 
 in God, and of your charity, that the Church, which is 
 in Syria, may be thought worthy to be nourished’ by 
 your Church. 
 
 15. The Ephesians from Smyrna, whence also I 
 
 8 Proy. xviii. 17. Septuagint. 9 Π ον: 1.85 1 Eph. iv. 4. 
 2 δροσισθῆναι, to be bedewed. Compare Hos, xiv. 5. 
 
TO THE MAGNESIANS. 77, 
 
 write, salute you; being present here to the glory of 
 God, in like manner as ye are, who have in all things 
 refreshed me, together with Polycarp, the Bishop of 
 the Smyrneans. The rest of the Churches, in the 
 honour of Jesus Christ, salute you. Fare ye well in 
 the concord of God, possessing his inseparable Spirit, 
 which is Jesus Christ. 
 
THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 TRAL DLA NS. 
 
 Ianatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the holy 
 Church which is at Tralles in Asia, beloved of God the 
 Father of Jesus Christ, elect and worthy of God, 
 having peace through the flesh, and blood, and passion 
 of Jesus Christ, our hope, in the resurrection unto 
 him; whom also I salute in its fulness, (continuing) in 
 the Apostolic character, wishing it all joy and happi- 
 ness. 
 
 1. I have heard of your blameless and constant 
 disposition through patience, which not only appears 
 in your outward conversation, but is naturally rooted 
 and grounded in you; even as Polybius’ your Bishop 
 hath declared unto me; who came to me at Smyrna, 
 by the will of God and Jesus Christ, and so rejoiced 
 with me in my bonds for Jesus Christ, that I saw your 
 whole assembly in him. Having therefore received by 
 him the testimony of your good will towards me for 
 God’s sake, I seemed to find you, as I knew ye were, 
 the followers of God. 
 
 1 Eusebius mentions this Polybius, in his account of this Epistle. 
 H. E. iii. 36. 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE TRALLIANS. 79 
 
 2. For inasmuch ἡ as ye are subject to your Bishop 
 as to Jesus Christ, ye appear to me to live not after 
 the manner of men, but according to Jesus Christ, 
 who died for us, in order that, believing in his death, 
 ye may escape death. It is therefore necessary that - 
 ye do nothing without your Bishop, even as ye are 
 wont: and that ye be also subject to the Presbytery as 
 to the Apostles of Jesus Christ, our hope, in whom if 
 we walk, we shall be found (in him’). The Deacons 
 also, as being the (ministers) of the mysteries of Jesus 
 Christ, must by all means please all. For they are 
 not the ministers of meat and drink, but of the Church 
 of God. Wherefore they must avoid all offences, as 
 (they would avoid) fire. 
 
 3. In like manner‘, let all reverence the Deacons 
 as Jesus Christ, and the Bishop as the Father; and the 
 Presbyters as the council of God, and the assembly of 
 the Apostles. Without these there is no Church. 
 Concerning all which I am persuaded that ye think 
 after the very same manner. For I have received, and 
 even now have with me, the pattern of your love in 
 your Bishop: whose very look is much instruction, 
 and his mildness, power: whom I am persuaded that 
 even the ungodly reverence. But’ because I have 
 
 3 This is quoted in Syriac from Severus, Cureton, p. 30, Corpus Ignat. 
 pp- 213. 245. 
 
 3 Compare Phil. iii. 9. 
 
 4 The Greek text here has, ‘Opoiwe πάντες ἐντρεπέσθωσαν τοὺς διακόνους, 
 we ᾿Ιησοῦν Χριστὸν, we καὶ τὸν ἐπίσκοπον, ὄντα υἱὸν τοῦ πατρός. See 
 Jacobson’s note. The passage, as here rendered, is found quoted in 
 Antiochus, Hom. 126, (see Cureton, Corpus Ignat. p. 178,) and agrees 
 with the Armenian version. Petermann, p. 98. 
 
 5 ὃν λογίζομαι Kai τοὺς ἀθέους ἐντρέπεσθαι. ἀγαπῶντας ὡς οὐ φείδομαι 
 ἑαυτὸν πότερον, δυνάμενος γράφειν ὑπὲρ τούτου εἰς τοῦτο ῳήθην, ἵνα ὧν 
 κατάκριτος ὡς ἀπόστολος ὑμῖν διατάσσωμαι. This passage is evidently 
 corrupted, and was so, before the old Latin version was made, which is 
 here only a verbal translation of the separate Greek words. Salmasius, 
 Pearson, and Smith all endeavour to explain the passage, without success. 
 The translation in the text is that of Archbishop Wake. It is founded 
 upon the reading suggested by the corresponding passage in the inter- 
 
80 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 a love towards you, I will not write any more sharply 
 unto you about this matter, although I very well 
 might; I have even taken so much upon myself, who 
 am but a condemned (captive), as to command you as 
 
 if I were an apostle. 
 
 4. 1 know many things 
 in God; but I refrain 
 myself, lest I should 
 perish in my _ boasting. 
 For now I ought the 
 more to fear, and not 
 hearken to those that 
 would puff me up. For 
 they, who (so) speak to 
 me, chasten me. I love 
 to suffer, but I know not 
 if I be worthy. And this 
 desire, though to others it 
 doth not appear, yet to 
 myself is (on that account) 
 the more violent. I have, 
 therefore, need of mode- 
 ration, by which the 
 prince of this world is 
 destroyed. 
 
 5. Am I not able to 
 write to you of heavenly 
 things? But I fear lest I 
 should harm you who are 
 
 4. [Now therefore being 
 about to arrive shortly at 
 Rome,] I know many 
 things in God; but I 
 moderate myself that I 
 may not perish through 
 boasting. For now it 
 behoveth me to fear the 
 more, and not to regard 
 those who puff me up. 
 For they who say such 
 things to me, scourge me. 
 For I love to suffer, but I 
 do not know if I am 
 worthy. For to many 
 zeal is not seen; but with 
 me it hath war. I have 
 need, therefore, of meek- 
 ness, by which the ruler 
 of this world is destroyed. 
 
 5. I am able to write 
 to you of heavenly things; 
 but I fear lest I should 
 do you an in- 
 
 polated Epistle: ᾿Αγαπῶν ὑμᾶς φείδομαι συντονώτερον ἐπιστεῖλαι" κ. τ. Xr. 
 The Armenian version has, “ And because I love you, I abstain from 
 writing sharply to you, and from boasting. Neither am I sufficient to 
 command you, as if I were an Apostle, being but a condemned man.” 
 Compare Rom. iv. 
 
 6 The fourth and fifth chapters are found in the Syriac version of the 
 Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans. Cureton, Corpus Ignat. pp. 53. 231. 
 The translation from the Syriac is given in the second column, 
 
TO THE TRALLIANS. 
 
 babes in Christ: excuse 
 me (this care): lest, not 
 being able to receive 
 them, ye should be choked 
 with them. For even I 
 myself, although I am in 
 bonds, yet am not there- 
 fore able to understand 
 heavenly things, as the 
 orders of the angels, and 
 the several companies of 
 them under their respect- 
 ive princes, things visible 
 and invisible: but in these 
 I am yet a learner. For 
 many things are wanting 
 
 81 
 
 jury. Know me _ from 
 myself. For I am cau- 
 tious lest ye should not 
 be able to receive it, and 
 should be perplexed. For 
 even [', not because [ 
 am bound, and am able to 
 know heavenly things, and 
 the places of angels, and 
 the station of the powers 
 that are seen, and that 
 are not seen, on this ac- 
 count am I a disciple. 
 For I am far short of the 
 
 perfection which is worthy 
 of God. 
 
 to us, that we come not 
 short of God. 
 
 6. I exhort you therefore (or rather) not I, but the 
 love of Jesus Christ, that ye use none but Christian 
 nourishment; abstaining from all strange pasture ’, 
 which is heresy. For such confound Jesus Christ with 
 their own poison *, while they seem worthy of belief. 
 As men give a deadly potion mixed with sweet wine ; 
 which he who is ignorant of doth with the treacherous 
 pleasure sweetly drink in his own death ὅ. 
 
 1 There is a different Syriac ver- 
 sion of this passage, from the works of Severus, Cureton, p. 40, 41; and 
 Corpus Ignat. p. 217. 248. 
 
 7 Boravn—Compare Ephes. 10. Philadelph. 3. 
 
 8 of καιροὶ παρεμπλέκουσιν ᾿Ιησοῦν Xpiordv—Vossius’s conjecture, οἱ Kai 
 ἰοῖς, founded upon the old Latin version and the reading of the inter- 
 polated Epistle, appears highly probable, and is here followed. The 
 Armenian version seems to imply οἱ καὶ ἑαυτούς. 
 
 9 Compare Philadelph. ii. A similar comparison, but more poetical, is 
 used by Chrysostom, contra Judaos, ili. (tom. vi. p. 344, 24, Savile.) 
 καθάπερ οἱ τὰ δηλητήρια κεράννυντες φάρμακα, μέλιτι TO στόμα τῆς κύλικος 
 περιχρίοντες, εὐπαράδεκτον ποιοῦσι τὴν βλάβην. Although Chrysostom’s 
 application is the same as that of Ignatius, it might almost be supposed 
 
 G 
 
82 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 7. Wherefore, guard yourselves against such per- 
 sons. And that ye will do, if ye are not puffed up, 
 but continue inseparable from Jesus Christ our God, 
 wid from your Bishop, and from the commands of the 
 Apostles. He that is within the altar is pure. But 
 he that is without is not pure. That is, he that doeth 
 any thing without the Bishop, and the Presbyters, and 
 the Deacons, is not pure in his conscience. 
 
 8. Not that I know there is any thing of this nature 
 among you; but I forewarn you, as greatly beloved of 
 me, foreseeing the snares of the devil. Wherefore 
 putting on meekness, renew yourselves in faith, that is 
 the flesh of the Lord, and in charity, that is the blood 
 of Jesus Christ. Let no one of you bear a grudge 
 against his neighbour. Give no occasion to the Gen- 
 tiles, lest by means of a few foolish men, the whole 
 congregation of God be evil spoken of. For woe to 
 that man through whose vanity my name is blasphemed 
 by any’. 
 
 9. Stop your ears, therefore, when any one speaks 
 to you against Jesus Christ, who was of the race of 
 David, of the Virgin Mary: who was truly born, and 
 did eat and drink, was truly persecuted under Pontius 
 
 that he was acquainted with the beautiful passage of Lucretius, as beauti- 
 fully imitated by Tasso, in which the application is different. 
 
 Nam veluti pueris absinthia tetra medentes 
 Quum dare conantur, prius oras pocula circum 
 Contingunt mellis dulci flavoque liquore, 
 Ut puerorum etas improvida ludificetur 
 Labrorum tenus, interea perpotet amarum 
 Absinthi laticem, deceptaque non capiatur, 
 Sed potius tali tactu recreata valescat. 
 Lucret. iv. 1]. 
 
 Cosi all’ egro fanciul porgiamo aspersi 
 Di soave licor gli orli del vaso : 
 Succhi amari ingannato intanto ei beve, 
 E dali’ inganno suo vita riceve. 
 Tasso, Ger. Lin. i. 8. 
 1 158. hi. 5. 
 
TO THE TRALLIANS. 83 
 
 Pilate, was truly crucified, and died, in the sight of 
 those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those 
 under the earth. Who also was truly raised from the 
 dead, by his Father; after the same manner as he will 
 also raise up us who believe in him, by Christ Jesus, 
 without whom we have no true life. 
 
 10. But if, as some who are Atheists’, that is to 
 say, unbelievers, pretend, he suffered only in appear- 
 ance—they themselves living only in appearance— 
 why then am 1 bound? Why do I desire to fight 
 with beasts? Then do I die in vain. Verily I lie 
 not against the Lord. 
 
 11. Flee, therefore, these evil scions, which bring 
 forth deadly fruit; of which if any one taste he shall 
 presently die. For these are not plants of the Father ὃ, 
 For if they were, they would appear to be branches of 
 the cross, and their fruit would be incorruptible ; by 
 which he invites you through his passion, who are 
 members of him.. For the head cannot be without its 
 members, God having promised an union, which is 
 himself. 
 
 12. I salute you from Smyrna, together with the 
 Churches of God, which are present with me, who 
 have refreshed me in all things, both in body and in 
 spirit. My bonds, which I carry about me for the 
 sake of Christ, beseeching him that I may attain unto 
 God, exhort you. Continue in concord among your- 
 selves, and in prayer one with another. For it be- 
 
 3 This isa plain allusion to the heresy of the Docetz, to which St. 
 John probably refers in 1 Epist. iv. 3, “ Every spirit that confesseth not 
 that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is not of God.” They imagined 
 that the body of our Lord was no real substance, but an unsubstantial 
 phantom. Simon Magus is said to have been the author of this heresy. 
 Menander, his disciple, was a contemporary of Ignatius, and is said by 
 Justin Martyr, Apol. c. 34, to have deceived many in Antioch. Compare 
 Ignatius’ Epistle to the Smyrneans, c. 1, 2. This passage is quoted in 
 Syriac, from Severus, Cureton, p. 32; Corpus Ignat. p. 214. 240. 
 
 3 Matt. xv. 13. 
 
 α 2 
 
84 THE EPISTLE TO THE TRALLIANS. 
 
 comes every one of you, especially the Presbyters, to 
 refresh the Bishop, to the honour of the Father, of 
 Jesus Christ,and of the Apostles. I beseech you that 
 ye hearken to me, in love, that I may not, by those 
 things which I write, rise up in witness against you *. 
 Pray also for me, who stand in need of your love, 
 through the mercy of God, that 1 may be worthy of 
 the portion which I am about to obtain, that I be not 
 found ἃ cast-away °. 
 
 13. The love of those who are at Smyrna and Ephe- 
 sus salutes you. Remember ye in your prayers the 
 church of Syria, from which I am not worthy to be 
 called, being one of the least of it. Fare ye well® in 
 Jesus Christ, being subject unto your Bishop, as to the 
 command (of God), and in like manner to the Presby- 
 tery. Love every one his brother in simplicity of 
 heart. May my life be your expiation ’, not only now, 
 but when [I shall have attained unto God. For I am 
 yet under danger. But the Father is faithful in Jesus 
 Christ, to fulfil both my petition and yours: in whom 
 may ye be found unblameable. 
 
 4 See the Epistle to the Philadelphians, c. 6. 
 
 5 1 Cor. ix. 27. 6 ἔῤῥωσθε--- Βα strong. 
 
 7 The Greek text here has ayviZere ὑμῶν τὸ ἐμὸν πνεῦμα. Vossius pro- 
 poses to read ἅγνισμα ὑμῶν, and Cotelerius ἁγνίζηται. The interpolated 
 Greek has ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς, the same expression as that at the beginning of 
 this chapter. See Ignatius’ Epistle to Ephes. c. 8. Rom. c. 9. If con- 
 jecture were allowed, the word περίψημα might be suggested. See Ephes. 
 8, 18. 
 
THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 Ignatius, who is also called 
 Theophorus, to the Church 
 which hath obtained mercy 
 in the Majesty of the Most 
 High Father, and? his only 
 Son Jesus Christ, beloved 
 and illuminated through 
 the will of him who will- 
 eth all things, which are 
 according to the love of 
 Jesus Christ, our God; (to 
 the Church) which pre- 
 sides also in the place of 
 the region of the Romans, 
 worthy of God, and of all 
 
 1 The second column is translated from the Syriac. 
 
 IGNATIUS, who is Theo- 
 phorus to the Church which 
 hath been pitied in the 
 greatness of the Father 
 Most High ; 
 
 to her who presideth in 
 the place of the country 
 of the Romans, who is 
 worthy of God, and worthy 
 of life and happiness and 
 
 Cureton, Corpus 
 
 Ignat. p. 39; Translation, p. 230. There is a second Syriac version of a 
 part of this Epistle, introduced in the history of the martyrdom of Ignatius, 
 Cureton, p. 71 ; Corpus Ignatianum, p. 224. There are also two Armenian 
 versions, the second of which is said to agree closely with the second 
 
 Syriac version. 
 
 Petermann, p. 132. 
 
 2 In the second Syriac version, the introduction agrees nearly with the 
 
 Greek. 
 
86 THE EPISTLE 
 honour and blessing and 
 praise; worthy to receive 
 that which 506 wishes, 
 chaste, and pre-eminent in 
 charity, bearing the name 
 of Christ and of the Fa- 
 ther, which I salute in the 
 name of Jesus Christ, the 
 Son of the Father: to 
 those who are united both 
 in flesh and spirit to all 
 his commands, and wholly 
 filled with the grace of 
 God, and entirely cleansed 
 from the stain of any other 
 doctrine, be all undefiled 
 joy in Jesus Christ our 
 God. 
 
 1. Forasmuch as, through 
 my prayers to God, I have 
 obtained to see your faces 
 worthy of God’, which I 
 much desired to do, being 
 bound in Christ Jesus I 
 hope to salute you, if it 
 shall be the will of God 
 that I shall be thought 
 worthy to attain unto the 
 end. For the beginning 
 is well disposed, if I shall 
 but have grace, without 
 hindrance to take upon me 
 
 3 This Epistle was written from 
 Smyrna. But Ignatius, having set 
 
 out to be brought to Rome, speaks 
 in anticipation of his arrival. 
 
 OF IGNATIUS 
 
 praise and remembrance ', 
 and is worthy of prosperity 
 and presideth in love, and 
 is perfected in the law of 
 Christ blameless, much 
 peace. 
 
 1. Long since have I 
 prayed to God that I 
 might be accounted worthy 
 to behold your faces, which 
 are worthy of God: now 
 therefore being bound in 
 Jesus Christ, I hope to 
 meet you and salute you, 
 if there be the will that I 
 should be accounted wor- 
 thy to attain to the end. 
 For the beginning is well 
 disposed, if I be accounted 
 worthy to attain to the 
 
 1 As if the word ἀξιομνημονεύτῳ 
 had been here in the Greek. 
 
TO THE 
 
 my lot. But I fear your 
 love, lest it injure me. 
 For to you it is easy to 
 do as ye will: but to me 
 it is difficult to attain unto 
 God, if ye be (too) indul- 
 gent to me. 
 
 2. For I would not have 
 you please men, but God; 
 even as also ye do. For 
 I shall never have such an 
 opportunity of attaining 
 unto God; nor will your 
 names ever be inscribed 
 upon a better work, if ye 
 only keep silence. For if 
 ye are silent with respect 
 to me, I shall be made 
 partaker of God: but if 
 ye shall love my flesh, 1 
 shall again have my course 
 torun. Ye can do me no 
 greater favour, than to 
 suffer me to be offered up 
 
 87 
 
 ROMANS: 
 
 end, that I may receive 
 my portion without hin- 
 drance through suffering. 
 For I am afraid of your 
 love, lest it should injure 
 me. For you, indeed, it 
 is easy for you to do what 
 ye wish: but for me, it 
 is difficult for me to be 
 accounted worthy of God, 
 if indeed ye spare me 
 not. 
 
 2. For there is no other 
 time like this, that I should 
 be accounted worthy of 
 God: neither will ye, if 
 ye be silent, be found in a 
 better work than this. If 
 ye leave me I shall be the 
 word of God; but if ye 
 love my flesh, again am I 
 to myself a voice*. Ye 
 will not give me any thing 
 better than this, that I 
 should be sacrificed to God 
 while the altar is ready: 
 that ye may be in one con- 
 cord in love, and may 
 praise God the Father 
 
 2 The Syriac here agrees with the 
 
 old Latin version; Si enim taceatis 4 me, ego verbum Dei: si autem 
 desideretis carnem meam, rursus factus sum vox: another Syriac Version 
 (Cureton, p. 225) and a citation from John the Monk (id. p. 206) agrees. 
 In each case the copy from which the translation was made appears to 
 have had φωνὴ, at the end of the sentence, for τρέχων, and λόγος before 
 
 Θεοῦ. 
 
 See 'Cureton’s note, Corpus Ignat. p. 29]. 
 ‘ Ρ 8 Ρ 
 
 The Armenian ver- 
 
 sions agree partly with the Greck and partly with the Syriac. 
 
88 THE EPISTLE 
 
 to God, now that the altar 
 is prepared: that when ye 
 are gathered together in 
 love, ye may sing praises 
 to the Father, in Christ 
 Jesus, that he hath vouch- 
 safed that a Bishop of 
 Syria* should be found, 
 and to call him from the 
 east unto the west. It is 
 truly good for me to set 
 from the world unto God, 
 that I may rise again unto 
 him. 
 
 3. Ye have never envied 
 any one; ye have taught 
 others’. I would there- 
 fore that those things, 
 which ye have commanded 
 others in your teaching, be 
 now established among 
 yourselves. Only pray for 
 me, that God would give 
 me both inward and out- 
 ward strength, that I may 
 not only say, but will: in 
 order that I may not only 
 be called a Christian, but 
 be found one. For if I 
 be so found, I may de- 
 servedly be called a Chris- 
 
 OF IGNATIUS 
 
 through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord, because he hath ac- 
 counted a Bishop worthy 
 to be God’s, having called 
 him from the east to the 
 west. It is good that [ 
 should set from the world 
 in God, that I may rise in 
 him in life. 
 
 3. Ye have never envied 
 anyone. Ye have taught 
 others. 
 
 Pray only for strength to 
 be given to me from with- 
 in and from without, that I 
 may not only speak, but 
 also may be willing: and 
 not that I may be called a 
 Christian only, but also 
 that I may be found to be 
 (one): for if I am found 
 to be (one), I am _ also 
 
 4 Tgnatius, as the Bishop of Antioch, the chief city of Syria, styles him- 
 
 self Bishop of Syria. 
 shepherd of Syria. 
 
 Compare sect. 9, where he refers to himself, as the 
 
 5 Ye have never envied any other the glory of becoming a martyr for 
 the name of Christ ; nay, ye have encouraged them by your exhortations 
 
 to remain faithful unto death. 
 
TO THE 
 
 tian; and be faithful then, 
 when I shall no longer 
 appear to the _ world. 
 Nothing that is seen is 
 eternal; “for the things 
 which are seen are tem- 
 poral, but the things 
 which are not seen are 
 eternal ®.” For even our 
 God, Jesus Christ, now 
 that he is in the Father, 
 doth the more appear’. 
 A Christian is not made 
 so by the mere power of 
 persuasion, but by great- 
 ness of mind: especially 
 when he is hated of the 
 world ὃ, 
 
 4. I write to all the 
 churches, and signify to 
 them all, that I am willing 
 to die for God, unless ye 
 hinder me. I beseech you 
 that ye show not an un- 
 seasonable good will to- 
 
 6 9 Cor. iv. 18. 
 
 ROMANS. 89 
 
 able to be called (so). 
 Then (indeed) shall I be 
 faithful, when I am no 
 longer seen in the world. 
 For there is nothing which 
 is seen that is good. 
 
 The work is not (a matter) 
 of persuasion, but Chris- 
 tian unity is great where 
 the world hateth it. 
 
 4. Τ writesto vall~the 
 Churches, and declare to 
 all men, that I die willingly 
 for God, if it be that ye 
 hinder me not. I entreat 
 you be not (affected) to- 
 wards me by love that is 
 
 7 By the power which he infuses into his servants, enabling them to 
 
 undergo all sufferings for his sake. 
 Syriac, is found in a Syriac version of the works of Timotheus. 
 
 The passage here omitted in the 
 Cureton, 
 
 Ρ. 42; and Corpus Ignat. p. 210. 243 ; the quotation from Scripture being 
 
 however omitted. 
 
 8 The Greek text has, οὐ σιωπῆς μόνον τὸ ἔργον, ἀλλὰ μεγέθους ἐστὶν ὁ 
 
 Χριστιανισμός. 
 but magnanimously professed.” 
 
 ‘““The Christian religion is not to be silently nourished, 
 The reading followed in the text is that 
 
 of Vossius, suggested by the old Latin version, οὐ πεισμονῆς τὸ ἔργον, 
 ἀλλὰ μεγέθους ἐστὶν ὁ Χριστιανὸς, μάλιστα bray μισῆται ὑπὸ κόσμου. This 
 is confirmed by the Syriac. One Armenian version has, ‘ Christianity is 
 not a work of vanity,” the other, “a work of persuasion,” like the old 
 Latin. 
 
90 
 
 wards me. Suffer me to 
 be the food of wild beasts, 
 by which I may attain 
 unto God. I am the 
 wheat of God’: and by 
 the teeth of wild beasts I 
 shall be ground, that I 
 may be found the pure 
 bread of Christ. Rather 
 encourage the wild beasts, 
 that they may become my 
 sepulchre, and may leave 
 nothing of my body; that 
 when I sleep I may be 
 burdensome to no _ one. 
 Then shall I truly be a 
 disciple of Christ, when 
 the world shall not see so 
 much as my body. Pray 
 to Christ for me, that by 
 these instruments I may 
 be made a sacrifice (of 
 God). I command you 
 not, as Peter and Paul 
 did: they were apostles, I 
 a condemned man: they 
 were free, but I hitherto 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 unseasonable. Leave me 
 to be the beasts’, that 
 through them I may be 
 accounted worthy of God. 
 I am the wheat of God, 
 and by the teeth of the 
 beasts I am ground, that I 
 may be found the pure 
 bread of God. With pro- 
 voking provoke ye the 
 beasts, that they may be 
 a grave for me, and may 
 leave nothing of my body, 
 that even after I am fallen 
 asleep I may not be a 
 burden upon any one. 
 Then shall I be in truth a 
 disciple of Jesus Christ, 
 when the world seeth not 
 even my body. LEntreat 
 our Lord for me, that 
 through these instruments 
 I may be found a sacrifice 
 to God. Ido not charge 
 you like Peter and Paul, 
 who are apostles; but I 
 am one condemned: they, 
 
 9. These remarkable words are quoted by Irenzus, y. 28; Eusebius, H. 
 E. iii. 36: of which there is a Syriac translation, Cureton, Corpus Ignat. p. 
 203. Jerome, in his Catalogue of Ecclesiastical Writers, the Menologia 
 Greeca, and others, say that Ignatius addressed to the people expressions 
 of the same nature, when he was brought out before the wild beasts : “Ὁ 
 Romans, the spectators of this contest, I am not thus condemned for any 
 evil deed, but for the sake of my religion. For I am the wheat of God, 
 and by the teeth of wild beasts I shall be ground, that I may be the pure 
 bread (of Christ).” Mr. Cureton, in bis notes, gives a citation of this 
 passage, and of some other passages in this Epistle, from a MS. in the 
 British Museum. Corpus Ignat. p. 296. 
 
TO THE 
 
 a servant: but if I shall 
 suffer, I shall then become 
 the freed-man of Jesus 
 (Christ), and shall rise 
 free in him. And now, 
 being in bonds, I learn to 
 desire no worldly or vain 
 thing. 
 
 5. From Syria even to 
 Rome I fight with beasts 
 both by sea and land, by 
 night and day; being 
 sound to ten leopards, 
 that is to say, a band of 
 soldiers, who even when 
 kindly treated become the 
 worse’. But by their un- 
 just treatment I am the 
 more instructed: yet am 
 I not thereby justified *. 
 May I enjoy the wild 
 beasts which are prepared 
 for me*: and pray that 
 
 1 This passage also is quoted by 
 Eusebius, H. E. iii. 36. Ignatius 
 compares the ill usage which he 
 experienced from the soldiers to 
 the violence with which the beasts, 
 to which he was condemned, would 
 treat him. 
 
 ROMANS. 91 
 
 indeed, were free; but I 
 am a slave even until now. 
 But if I suffer, I shall be 
 the freed-man of Jesus 
 
 Christ, and I shall rise 
 from the dead in him 
 free. And now, being 
 
 bound, I learn to desire 
 nothing *. 
 
 5. From Syria and even 
 to Rome I am cast among 
 wild beasts, by sea and by 
 land, by night and by day; 
 being bound between ten 
 leopards, which are the 
 band of soldiers, who, even 
 while I do good to them, 
 do evil the more to me. 
 But I am the rather in- 
 structed by their injury: 
 but not on this account 
 am I justified to myself. 
 I rejoice in the beasts 
 that are prepared for me ; 
 
 3 The old Latin version, which 
 has, ‘‘nihil concupiscere,” the Syriac, 
 and both the Armenian versions, 
 omit the last words found in the 
 Greek, μηδὲν ἐπιθυμεῖν κοσμικὸν ἢ 
 
 μάταιον. 
 
 “ My contest with wild beasts is already begun, and continues 
 all the way from Syria even to Rome. 
 
 Rather than endure the insults, 
 
 could I rejoice in the wild beasts which are prepared for me.” 
 
 2 1 Cor. iv. 4. 
 
 3 Chrysostom quotes this expression in his Homily on the martyrdom 
 
 of Ignatius. 
 
 The annals of the primitive martyrs present many instances, 
 
 in which those who were exposed to wild beasts or subjected to other 
 punishment, used means to accelerate their own death. See the circular 
 Epistle of the Church of Smyrna on the martyrdom of Polycarp, c. 3. 
 
92 THE EPISTLE 
 they may be found ready 
 for me: which I will even 
 encourage to devour me 
 all at once, and not fear 
 to touch me, as they have 
 some others. And even 
 if they refuse, and will 
 not, I will compel them. 
 Bear with me (in this): I 
 know what is_ profitable 
 for me; now I begin to 
 be a disciple*. Let no- 
 thing, of things either 
 visible or invisible, deprive 
 me of attaining unto Jesus 
 Christ. Let fire and the 
 cross, and the companies 
 of wild beasts, let tearings 
 and rendings’, let break- 
 ings of bones, and the 
 cutting off of limbs, let 
 the shatterings of the 
 whole body, and all the 
 evil torments of the devil 
 come upon me: only let 
 me attain unto Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 6. All the pleasures of 
 the world and the king- 
 doms of this life will 
 avail me nothing. Better 
 
 1 Luke xiv. 27. 
 διαιρέσεις. 
 
 These 
 
 5 LJ ‘4 
 avaropal, 
 
 OF IGNATIUS 
 
 and I pray that they may 
 be quickly found for me: 
 and I will provoke them 
 to devour me speedily; 
 and not as that which is 
 afraid of some other men, 
 and does not approach 
 them; even should they 
 not be willing to approach 
 me, I will go with violence 
 against them. Know me 
 from myself. What is 
 expedient for me? Let 
 nothing envy me of those 
 that are seen and those 
 that are not seen, that I 
 should be accounted wor- 
 thy of Jesus Christ. Fire 
 and the cross, and the 
 beasts that are prepared *, 
 amputation of the limbs, 
 and scattering of the 
 bones, and crushing of the 
 whole body, hard torments 
 of the devil; let these 
 come upon me, and only 
 may I be accounted wor- 
 thy of Jesus Christ. 
 
 4 As if from θήριά re ἡτοιμασμένα, 
 instead of θηρίων τε συστάσεις. 
 
 words are omitted by Eusebius, and in the Syriac version ; and seem to 
 have been inserted as explanations of the previous word, συστάσεις. 
 
TO THE ROMANS. 93 
 
 is it for me to die for 
 Christ Jesus than to reign 
 over the ends of the 
 earth. “For what is a 
 man profited, if he shall 
 gain the whole world, and 
 lose his own soul®?” 
 Him I seek, who died for 
 -us: him I desire, who 
 rose again for us. This The pains of the birth 
 is the gain that is laid τὸῪ stand over me. 
 for me’. Pardon me, 
 brethren: hinder me _ not 
 from living, let me not 
 die’, who am willing to 
 be God’s. Rejoice not in 
 the world; suffer me to 
 enter into pure light: 
 when I shall be there, I 
 shall be a man of God. 
 Suffer me to imitate the 
 sufferings of my God. If 
 any one hath Him within 
 himself, let him consider 
 what I desire, and sym- 
 pathize with me, knowing 
 how I am straitened. 
 
 7. The Prince of this 
 
 6 Matt. xvi. 26. 
 
 7 Phil. i. 21. The Syriac here takes τοκετὸς in its primitive sense. See 
 Epist. to Ephes. c. 19. So also in the Syriac from Timotheus, Cureton, 
 p- 42; Corpus Ignat. p. 211.243. One Armenian version has “ the pains 
 of death ;” the other is ambiguous. See Petermann. Τοκετὸς is however 
 often used in the sense of ‘ gain.’ 
 
 8 Hinder me not from attaining immortal life, let me not die eternally, 
 by refusing to suffer for Christ’s sake. This is quoted in Syriac from 
 Severus, Cureton, p. 28. 40; Corpus Ignat. p. 213. 215: and from Timo- 
 theus, Cureton, p. 44. 50; Corpus Ignat. p. 211, 212. 
 
94 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 world would fain carry me 
 away, and corrupt my re- 
 solution towards my God. 
 Let none of you therefore 
 assist him: rather join 
 yourselves to me, that is, 
 to God. Do-not speak of 
 Jesus Christ, and yet 
 covet the world. Let not 
 envy dwell in you: obey 
 not even me, if, when I 
 shall be present with you, 
 I should exhort you (to 
 the contrary): but rather 
 obey these commands 
 which I write unto you. 
 I write to you desiring to 
 die, though I live. My 
 love is crucified®: and in And my love is crucified, 
 
 9 The Greek here has, ὁ ἐμὸς ἔρως ἐσταύρωται, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ἐμοὶ πῦρ 
 φιλόνλον᾽ ὕδωρ δὲ ζῶν, x. τ. A. “ There is in me no fire delighting in 
 matter, &c.” Simeon Metaphrastes has also g:AdiAov. The old Latin 
 version, which is usually a strictly verbal translation, has “et non est in 
 me ignis amans aliquam aquam ; sed vivens et loquens est in me, &c.” 
 The interpolated Epistle has the same reading as the old Latin version 
 οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ἐμοὶ πῦρ φιλοῦντι. The sense of the passage being to this 
 effect: “ While I contemplate Jesus, whose love dwells in me, crucified 
 for me, the fire, which the vain desires of the world kindle, is extinguished 
 within me. I perceive my whole heart bedewed with the effusion of the 
 Holy Spirit, as by a copious and perpetual stream of living water, spring- 
 ing up unto everlasting life. And thence I hear as it were a heavenly 
 voice, calling unto me, and saying, Come unto the Father.” 
 
 Origen, in the introduction to his Commentary on the Book of Canticles ; 
 the book De Divinis Nominibus, ascribed to Dionysius the Areopagite, 
 cap. 4; the Menologia Greca, on the 20th of December; and many 
 modern writers, agree in considering the terms “ my love is crucified,” as 
 expressing the love of Ignatius to his Saviour who was crucified for him. 
 This seems the most natural meaning of the expression. 
 
 Cave, in his Life of Ignatius, ch. xi., follows the opinion of those who 
 refer the words to the disposition of Ignatius himself, who had “ crucified 
 the flesh with the affections and lusts.” 
 
TO THE 
 
 me, who love (a heavenly 
 object), there is no (earthly) 
 fire; but living water, 
 springing up in me, say- 
 ing within me, Come unto 
 the Father’. I delight 
 not in the food of cor- 
 ruption, nor in the plea- 
 sures of this life; I desire 
 the bread of God; the 
 heavenly bread, the bread 
 of life, which is the flesh 
 of Jesus Christ the Son of 
 God, who was born, in 
 these last days, of the 
 seed of David and Abra- 
 ham: and the drink of 
 God which I desire is his 
 blood, which 15 incor- 
 ruptible love, and eternal 
 life. 
 
 8. I have no desire to 
 live any longer after the 
 manner of men; neither 
 shall I, if ye consent. 
 Consent therefore, that 
 (God) may also consent 
 unto you. I exhort you 
 in few words; believe me. 
 And Jesus Christ will 
 show you that I speak 
 truth, he who is the mouth 
 of the Father, without 
 deceit, in whom the Father 
 speaks truly. Pray for 
 
 ROMANS. 95 
 
 and there is no fire in me 
 for another love. 
 
 I do not desire the food 
 of corruption, neither the 
 desires of this world. The 
 bread of God I seek, which 
 is the flesh of Jesus Christ : 
 
 and his blood I seek, a 
 drink which is love incor- 
 ruptible. 
 
 1 John iv. 14. 
 
96 
 
 me, that I may attain. I 
 have not written unto you 
 after the flesh, but ac- 
 cording to the will of 
 God. If I shall suffer, ye 
 have consented to my 
 wishes; if I shall be re- 
 jected, ye have hated me. 
 
 9. Remember in your 
 prayers the Church of 
 Syria, which now enjoys 
 God for its shepherd, 
 instead of me. Jesus 
 Christ alone shall supply 
 the place of its Bishop, 
 together with your love. 
 But I am ashamed even 
 to be reckoned as one of 
 them. For neither am I 
 worthy, being the least 
 among them, and as one 
 born out of due time’. 
 But through mercy I have 
 obtained to be somebody, 
 if I shall attain unto God. 
 My spirit salutes you: 
 and the charity of the 
 Churches which have re- 
 ceived me in the name of 
 Jesus Christ, not simply 
 as a passenger. For even 
 those which belonged not 
 at all to me, have brought 
 
 2 1 Cor. xv. 8. Compare Epist. 
 to the Smyrneans, c. 11. 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 My spirit saluteth you, 
 and thelove of the Churches 
 which received me as the 
 name of Jesus Christ ; 
 for even those 
 who were near’ to the way 
 in the flesh preceded me 
 in every city. 
 5 Another Syriac version has the 
 negative, “those who were not 
 
 near,” as the Greek αἱ μὴ προσ- 
 
 ἤκουσαι. Cureton, note, p. 303. 
 
TO THE ROMANS. 97 
 
 me on my journey from 
 city to city, in my way 
 according to the flesh ὃ. 
 10. These things I 
 write to you from Smyrna, 
 by the most worthy of the 
 Church of Ephesus. There 
 is now with me, together 
 with many others, Crocus, 
 most beloved of me. I 
 doubt not that ye have 
 known of those who are 
 gone before me out of 
 Syria to Rome, to the 
 glory of God: to whom 
 signify also that 1 am 
 near at hand: for they 
 are all worthy both of 
 God and of you, whom it 
 is fit that ye refresh in all 
 things. 
 This have I written to 
 you, on the twenty-fourth 
 day of August. Bestrong Be ye perfectly safe, in 
 unto the end, in the the patience of Jesus 
 patience of Jesus Christ. Christ our God. 
 
 3 In the Syriac version, after ch. 9, occurs a passage which in the 
 Greek forms the 4th and 5th chapters of the Epistle to the Trallians, pre- 
 ceded by the words, “ Now I am near to go to Rome.” The translation 
 from the Syriac is given in that place. 
 
 H 
 
THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 PHILADELPHIANS. 
 
 ΤΟΝΑΤΙ 5, who is also called Theophorus, to the Church 
 of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, which 
 is at Philadelphia in Asia, which hath obtained mercy, 
 and is fixed in the unity of God, and rejoices evermore 
 in the passion of our Lord, and is fulfilled in all mercy 
 through his resurrection; which also I salute in the 
 blood of Jesus Christ, which is our eternal and abiding 
 joy, especially if they be at unity with the Bishop, 
 and the Presbyters, and Deacons with him, ap- 
 pointed according to the will of Jesus Christ, whom he 
 hath settled according to his own will, in all firmness 
 by the Holy Spirit. 
 
 1. Which Bishop I know obtained that ministry 
 which appertains to the public good, neither of himself, 
 nor by men', nor through vain glory, but in the love 
 of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ; whose 
 moderation I admire; who by his silence prevails 
 more than the vain speech of others. For (his mind) 
 is aptly fitted to the commandments, as an harp to its 
 strings’. Wherefore my soul esteems his mind to- 
 
 1 Compare Gal. i. 1. 
 2 See Ignatius’s Epistle to the Ephesians, ch. 4. 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILADELPHIANS. 99 
 
 wards God most happy, knowing it to be fruitful in 
 all virtue, and perfect, full of constancy, free from pas- 
 sion, and according to all the moderation of the living 
 God. 
 
 2. Wherefore, as becomes children of light and of 
 truth, flee divisions and false doctrines: for where the 
 shepherd is, there do ye, as sheep, follow after. For 
 many wolves’, which appear worthy of belief, do through 
 the allurements of evil pleasure lead captive those that 
 run in the course of God. But in your concord they 
 shall find no place. 
 
 3. Abstain from those evil herbs‘, which Jesus 
 Christ cultivates not, since they are not planted by the 
 Father. Not that I have found any division among 
 you, but purity from all defilement’. For as many 
 as are of God, and of Jesus Christ, are also with their 
 bishop. And as many as shall with repentance return 
 into the unity of the Church, even these shall also be 
 the servants of God, that they may live according to 
 Jesus Christ. Be not deceived, my brethren: if any 
 one follows him that makes a schism (in the Church), 
 he shall not inherit the kingdom of God°. If any one 
 walks after any other opinion, he agrees‘ not with the 
 passion (of Christ). 
 
 4. Give diligence, therefore, to partake all of the 
 
 8 Acts: xx. 29. 
 
 * Compare the Epistle to the Trallians, c. 6. 
 
 5 The Greek here has dzodwdtopevov. The old Latin version, 
 which has abdstractionem, confirms the conjecture of Vossius, ἀποδιῦ- 
 λισμὸν, the clearness which is produced by filtering or straining a 
 liquid, so as to separate from it all extraneous substances. Compare 
 Matt. xxiii. 24. The interpolated Greek has προασφαλίζομαι ὑμᾶς, “1 fore- 
 warn you.” The Armenian, “ Not that divisions are among you, but the 
 noise of gladness.” It may be conjectured that this version is from a copy 
 which had ἀγαλλίασιν. 
 
 6 This sentence is quoted in Syriac, in the works of Timotheus. 
 Cureton, p. 48; Corpus Ignat. p. 219. 249. 
 
 7 οὐ συγκατατίθεται, gives no assent to that truth, and has no communion 
 with those sufferings. See 2 Cor. vi. 16. 
 
 m2 
 
100 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 same Eucharist. For there is but one flesh of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup, in the unity of his 
 blood: one altar, as there is also one Bishop, together 
 with the Presbytery, and the Deacons, my fellow-ser- 
 vants. That so, whatsoever ye do, ye may do it 
 according to the will of God. 
 
 5. My brethren, Iam greatly enlarged in my love 
 towards you; and in my great joy I would establish 
 you: yet not I, but Jesus Christ, in whom being bound 
 I fear the more, as yet being imperfect *. But your 
 prayer to God shall make me perfect, that I may attain 
 that portion, which by God’s mercy, is allotted unto 
 me: fleeing to the Gospel’, as to the flesh of Jesus, 
 and to the Apostles, as unto the Presbytery of the 
 Church. Let us also love the prophets, forasmuch as 
 they also proclaimed the coming of the Gospel, and 
 hoped in Christ, and waited for him: in whom be- 
 lieving also they were saved, in the unity of Jesus 
 Christ, being holy men, worthy of all love and admira- 
 tion, who have received testimony from Jesus Christ, 
 and are numbered in the Gospel of our common 
 hope. 
 
 6. But if any one shall teach you the Jewish law, 
 hear him not. For better is it to receive the law of 
 Christ from one that is circumcised, than the law of 
 the Jews from one that is uncircumcised’. But if 
 either the one or the other do not speak concerning 
 
 8 Compare Ignatius’s Epistle to the Ephesians, c. 3. 
 
 9 Having recourse to the Gospel, as if it were to Jesus Christ himself, 
 and to the writings of the Apostles, who are the council of the Church. 
 Usher refers to the Commentary on Ps. exlvii., among the works ascribed 
 to Jerome, ‘‘ Ego corpus Jesu Evangelium puto; Sanctas Scripturas puto 
 doctrinam ejus.” Le Clerc well observes that Ignatius here specifies, as 
 his refuge, in the first place, the Scriptures of the New Testament ; and, 
 in the second place, those of the Old Testament, as confirmatory of the 
 New. 
 
 He ascribes also the salvation of the prophets to their faith. 
 
 1 See note on Ignatius’s Epistle to the Magnesians, c. 8. 
 
TO THE PHILADELPHIANS. 101 
 
 Christ Jesus, they seem to me but as monuments and 
 sepulchres of the dead, upon which are written only 
 the names of men. Flee, therefore, the wicked arts 
 and snares of the prince of this world, lest at any time 
 being oppressed by his craftiness ye grow weak in 
 charity. But come all together into the same place 
 with an undivided heart. And I bless my God that 
 I have a good conscience towards you, and that no one 
 among you hath to boast, either openly or privately, 
 that I have been burdensome to any, either in much 
 or little’, And with respect to all among whom I 
 have conversed, I pray that they may not have this as 
 a testimony against them ὃ. 
 
 7. For although some would have deceived me 
 according to the flesh, yet the Spirit is not deceived, 
 being from God. For it knows both whence it comes, 
 and whither it goes*, and reproves the secrets (of the 
 heart)*. I cried, whilst I was among you, I spake with 
 a loud voice, Give ear to the Bishop, and to the Pres-, 
 bytery, and to the Deacons. And some suppose that 
 I spake this, as knowing before the separation of some. 
 But he is my witness, for whose sake Iam in bonds, that 
 I knew nothing from any man. But the Spirit spe' 
 saying on this wise; do nothing without the Bishc 
 keep your bodies as the temples of God: love unit, 
 flee divisions: be the followers of Christ, as he was 
 his Father. 
 
 8. I therefore performed my part, as a man anxious 
 for unity. For where there is division and strife, God 
 dwells not. But God forgives all that repent, if they 
 return to the unity of God, and to the council of the 
 Bishop. For I trust in the grace of Jesus Christ, that 
 he will free you from every bond. Nevertheless, I 
 exhort you that ye do nothing out of strife, but accord- 
 
 2 Ὁ Cor. xi. 9. 3 See Trallians, c. 12. 
 4 John iii. 8. > Heb. iv. 12. 
 
 Ce 
 
102 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 ing to the instruction of Christ °®. Because I have heard 
 some say, Unless I find it in the ancient writings, I 
 will not believe in the Gospel. And when I said to 
 them, It is written (in the Gospel), they answered me, 
 It is found written before (in the law). But tome the 
 most ancient records are Jesus Christ; the most un- 
 corrupted records, his cross, and death, and rising again, 
 and faith in him, by which I desire, through your 
 prayers, to be justified. 
 
 9. The priests themselves are good. But much 
 better is the High Priest, to whom only hath been com- 
 mitted the Holy of Holies, to whom alone have been 
 entrusted the secret things of God. He is the door of 
 the Father, by which enter in Abraham, and Isaac, and 
 Jacob, and the prophets, and the Apostles, and the 
 Church. All these things are for the unity of God. 
 Howbeit the Gospel hath somewhat in it far above, 
 the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, his passion, 
 and resurrection. For the beloved prophets referred to 
 him; but the Gospel is the perfection of incorruption. 
 All, therefore, together are good, if ye believe with 
 charity. 
 
 10, Forasmuch as I am told, that, through your 
 
 yers and the bowels which ye have in Christ Jesus, 
 
 2 Church, which is in Antioch in Syria, is at peace ’, 
 
 will become you, as the Church of God, to appoint 
 
 6 This seems to be a caution against the early heretics, such as the 
 Cerinthians and Ebionites, who would not admit any doctrine of the 
 Gospel, except such as could be proved by the writings of the Old Tes- 
 tament. Lardner, Credibility, part ii., c. 17, p. 823, agrees with Le 
 Clerc, in supposing that a reference is here made to those who appealed, 
 on all controverted points, to the original autographs of the Gospels. 
 The whole tenor of the passage, however, from sect. 6, to sect. 9, appears 
 to relate to the Jewish law, compared with the Gospel. 
 
 7 Compare Ignatius’s Epist. to the Smyrneans, c. 1], and to Polycarp, 
 e. 7. Archbishop Usher is of opinion that this peace to the Church of 
 Antioch arose from the edict of Trajan, that the Christians should no 
 longer be sought out for punishment. 
 
TO THE PHILADELPHIANS. 103 
 
 a Deacon to go to them thither as the ambassador of 
 God, that ye may rejoice with them when they meet 
 together, and glorify the name of God. Blessed be 
 that man in Christ Jesus, who shall be found worthy 
 of such a ministry; and ye yourselves also shall be 
 glorified. If, now, ye be willing, it is not impossible 
 for you (to do this) for the sake of God, as also the 
 other neighbouring Churches have sent them, some 
 Bishops, and other Priests and Deacons. 
 
 11. As concerning Philo the Deacon of Cilicia, a 
 man of honest report *®, who now also ministers unto 
 me in the word of God, with Rheus Agathopus’, a 
 chosen man, who is also following me from Syria, not 
 regarding his life, these also bear witness of you. And 
 I myself give thanks to God for you, that ye have re- 
 ceived them, even as the Lord hath received us. And 
 for those who dishonoured them, may they be forgiven 
 through the grace of Jesus Christ. The love of the 
 brethren that are at Troas salutes you; whence also I 
 now write by Burrhus, who was sent together with me 
 by those of Ephesus and Smyrna, for respect sake. 
 May our Lord Jesus Christ honour them; in whom 
 they hope, both in body, and soul, and spirit '°, in faith, 
 and love, and unity. Fare ye well in Christ Jesus, 
 our common hope. 
 
 8 Acts vi. 3. 9. See Epist. to the Smyrneans, c. 10. 
 10 | Thess. νυ. 23. 
 
THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 SMYRNEANS. 
 
 IanatTius, who is also called Theophorus, to the Church 
 of God the Father, and of the beloved Jesus Christ, 
 which is at Smyrna, in Asia, a Church, which is mer- 
 cifully blessed with every good gift’, being filled with 
 faith and charity, so that it is wanting in no good gift, 
 most godly, and fruitful in saints, all joy through the 
 immaculate Spirit, and the word of God. 
 
 1.* I glorify God, even Jesus Christ, who hath given 
 you such wisdom. For I have observed that ye are 
 settled in an immoveable faith, nailed, as it were, to 
 the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, both in the flesh, 
 and in the spirit, and are confirmed in love through 
 the blood of Christ, being fully persuaded of those 
 things which relate unto our Lord, who was truly’ of 
 the race of David according to the flesh, (but) the Son 
 of God, according to the will and power of God, truly 
 born of a virgin, and baptized by John, that so all 
 
 1.} Cor. Ὑἱ1- 90: 
 
 ? This first chapter, and the beginning of the second, are quoted ina 
 Syriac version, from Severus. Cureton, p. 32; Corpus Ignat. p. 214. 
 246. 
 
 3 These observations are directed against the Docete, who denied that 
 Christ hada real body. Compare c. 4, and Epist. to Trallians, c. 10. 
 
THE EPISTLE TO THE SMYRNEANS. 105 
 
 righteousness might be fulfilled in him ‘, truly crucified 
 for us in the flesh, under Pontius Pilate, and Herod 
 the Tetrarch. By the fruits of which, by his most 
 blessed passion, we are: that he might set up a token ® 
 for all ages through his resurrection, to all his holy 
 and faithful servants, whether they be Jews or Gen- 
 tiles, in one body of his Church. 
 
 2. Now all these things he suffered for us, that we 
 might be saved. And he suffered truly, as he also truly 
 raised up himself. And not, as some unbelievers say, 
 that he only seemed to suffer, they themselves seeming 
 only to be (Christians) ®. And as they believe so shall 
 it happen unto them, when they are divested of the 
 body, and shall become mere spirits. 
 
 3. For I know that even after the resurrection he 
 was in the flesh, and believe that he is still so. And 
 when he came to those who were with Peter, he said 
 unto them, Take, handle me, and see that Iam nota 
 spirit without a body’. And straightway they touched 
 
 4 Matt. 111. 15. 5 Isa. vy. 26 ; xlix. 22; Ixii. 10. 
 
 6 Compare Epist. to Trallians, ec. 10. Thus Tertullian, adv. Valen- 
 tinianos, c. 27, ‘‘ Ita omnia in imagines urgent, plané et ipsi imaginarii 
 Christiani.” 
 
 7 λάβετε, ψηλαφήσατέ pe, καὶ ἴδετε, ὅτι οὐκ εἰμὶ δαιμόνιον ἀσώματον. 
 
 These words are, in all probability, a loose quotation from the Gospel 
 of St. Luke xxiv. 89. ψηλαφήσατέ pe, καὶ ἴδετε" ὅτι πνεῦμα σάρκα καὶ 
 ὄστεα οὐκ ἔχει καθὼς ἐμὲ θεωρεῖτε ἔχοντα. 
 
 “ Handle me, and see; for ἃ spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see 
 me have.” Ignatius evidently here uses the word ‘‘demon” to mean no 
 more than a spirit ; as it is rendered in the Armenian version, and in the 
 Syriac translation of Eusebius, who quotes this passage. Cureton, Corpus 
 Ignat. p. 204.237. (H. E. iii. 36.) It is so much the custom for the 
 early Christian writers to quote the substance, and not the very words of 
 Scripture ; and Ignatius, when he wrote this Epistle, was so likely to 
 quote from memory, that probably the allusion, in this case, would scarcely 
 have been questioned, had not Eusebius expressed his ignorance of the 
 place whence the quotation was taken; and Jerome, on two occasions, 
 (De Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis, and in his Commentary on Isa. lib. 18,) 
 stated that Ignatius quotes the passage from the Gospel according to the 
 Hebrew. In another place (adversus Pelagianos, lib. 3), Jerome de- 
 scribes this Gospel as being “ written in the Chaldean or Syrian language, 
 but in Hebrew characters ; and says that, in his time, the early part of 
 
106 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 him and believed, being convinced both by his flesh and 
 by his spirit. For this cause they despised death, and 
 were found above death. But after the resurrection, he 
 did eat and drink with them, although as to his spirit 
 he was united to the Father. 
 
 4. Now of these things I remind you, brethren, not 
 questioning but that ye yourselves also believe that 
 they are so. But I forewarn you ἢ to beware of certain 
 beasts in the shape of men, whom ye must not only not 
 receive, but, if possible, not even meet with. Only ye 
 must pray for them °, that if it be the will of God they 
 may repent; which yet will is hard. But of this 
 _ Jesus Christ hath the power, who is our true life. For if 
 all these things were done by our Lord in appearance 
 only', then am I bound in appearance only. Where- 
 fore, then, have I given myself over unto death, to 
 
 the fifth century, it was in use among the Nazarenes, and called “ the 
 Gospel according to the Apostles,” or, more generally, “the Gospel ac- 
 cording to Matthew.” 
 
 Origen, περὶ ἀρχῶν, lib. 1, says that in the book which is called “the 
 Doctrine of Peter,” the Saviour appears to say to his disciples, that he is 
 not an incorporeal demon. 
 
 The testimony of Jerome leaves no doubt that these words were found 
 in “ the Gospel according to the Hebrews :” but it certainly does not ap- 
 pear that Ignatius quoted from that Gospel. Le Clerc, in his third Dis- 
 sertation, at the end of his Harmonia Evangelica, and Lardner, Credibility 
 of the Gospel History, part ii., ὁ. 5. 55, are of opinion that Ignatius here 
 merely alludes to St. Luke. Bp. Pearson, Vindicia Ignatiane, part ii., 
 c. 9, p. 103, agrees with Isaac Casaubon, in supposing that Ignatius refers to 
 some verbal tradition, which might afterwards be inserted in ‘‘ the Gospel 
 according to the Hebrews,” ascribed to St. Matthew. 
 
 8 Quoted in Syriac from Timotheus. Cureton, p. 50; Corpus Ignat. 
 p- 219. 250. 
 
 9 This is an early instance of distinct prayer for the conversion of 
 heretics; as in Irenzeus, iii. 46, ‘‘ Nos autem precamur non perseverare 
 illos in fovea quam ipsi foderunt, sed segregari—et legitimeé eos generari, 
 conversos ad ecclesiam Dei. Hee precamur de illis, utilis eos diligentes 
 quam ipsi semet ipsos putant diligere.” 
 
 Our own Church, in the third Collect for Good Friday, expressly fol- 
 lows the example thus set and continued in the Christian Church. See 
 Palmer’s Antiquities of the English Liturgy, ch. 14, vol. i. p. 333. 
 
 1 Compare Trallians, c. 10. 
 
TO THE SMYRNEANS. 107 
 
 fire, to sword, to wild beasts? But now, the nearer 
 I am to the sword, the nearer to God; when I am 
 among the wild beasts, 1 am with God. Only in the 
 name of Jesus Christ I undergo all, to suffer together 
 with him; since he, who was made perfect man, 
 strengthens me. 
 
 5. Whom some, not knowing, do deny; or rather 
 have been denied by him, being the advocates of death, 
 rather than of the truth. Neither the prophets, nor 
 the law of Moses, nor even the Gospel itself, even to 
 this day, nor the sufferings of every one of us, have 
 persuaded these men. For they think also the same 
 things of us. For what doth any one profit me, if he 
 shall praise me, and blaspheme my Lord, confessing 
 not that he was truly made flesh? Now he that doth 
 not say this, doth in effect deny him, and is in death 5. 
 But for the names of such persons, thus being unbe- 
 lievers, I thought it not fitting to write them unto 
 you. Yea, God forbid that I should make any men- 
 tion of them, till they shall repent to a true belief of 
 Christ’s passion, which is our resurrection °. 
 
 6. Let no man deceive himself*. Both the things 
 which are in heaven, and the glory of angels, and 
 princes whether visible or invisible, unless they believe 
 
 2 There is here a correspondence in terms, which cannot be expressed 
 ina translation. He who doth not confess that Jesus Christ truly bore 
 our flesh (σαρκοφόρος) is himself (vexpogdo0c) a bearer of the dead, one 
 who carries about his own body, “dead while he liveth.” Cyprian ex- 
 presses the same sentiment in his treatise De Lapsis (p. 135, Fell). 
 “ Animam tuam misera perdidisti: spiritualiter mortua supervivere hic 
 tibi, et ipsa ambulans funus tuum portare coepisti ; et non acriter plangis, 
 non jugiter ingemiscis?” And Jerome, Ep. xiii. ‘ Quanti hodie diu 
 vivendo portant funera sua.” 
 
 3 Until they shall renounce their heretical opinions respecting his 
 passion, which they hold to have been merely imaginary, and acknowledge 
 that his sufferings were real, by virtue of which alone we look for our own 
 resurrection. 
 
 4 Quoted in Syriac from Timotheus. Cureton, p. 42. 48; Corpus 
 Ignat. p. 210. 243. 219. 249. 
 
108 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 in the blood of Christ, even they shall receive condemna- 
 tion®. He that is able to receive this, let him receive 
 it®. Let no man’s place puff him up. For that which 
 is worth all is faith and charity, to which nothing is to 
 be preferred. But consider those who are of a different 
 opinion with respect to the grace of Jesus Christ which 
 is come unto us, how contrary they are to the design 
 of God. They have no regard to charity, (no care) of 
 the widow, the fatherless, and the oppressed, of the 
 bound or free, of the hungry or thirsty. They abstain 
 from the Eucharist, and from prayer, because they 
 confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh ’ of our Saviour 
 Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which 
 the Father, of his goodness, raised up (again from the 
 dead). 
 
 7. They therefore who contradict the gift of God, 
 die in their disputes. But better would it be for them 
 to receive it *®, that they might rise also from the dead. 
 It will become you, therefore, to abstain from such 
 
 5 Tgnatius is not the only early Christian writer, who held that the 
 death of Christ was influential in the salvation of orders of beings supe- 
 rior to man. Jerome, in his Commentary onthe Epistle to the Ephesians, 
 lib. ii. says, “ Descendit ergo in inferiora terra, et ascendit super omnes 
 celos Filius Dei, ut non tantim leges prophetasque compleret, sed et 
 alias quasdam occultas dispensationes, quod solus ille novit cum Patre. 
 Neque enim scire possumus, quo modo et angelis, et his qui in inferno 
 erant, sanguis Christi profuerit: et tamen quin profuerit nescire non 
 possumus.” 
 
 6 Matt. xix. 12. 
 
 7 The Armenian version has ‘“ flesh and blood.” 
 
 8 ἀγαπᾷν. ‘This is the sense which Abp. Wake gives to the word. It 
 may perhaps mean, to acquiesce, and no longer contradict the gift of God. 
 Bp. Pearson considers it to refer to the Agapz, or common feasts of the 
 rich and the poor, which were held at the time of the celebration of the 
 Eucharist. See below, ch. 8. This feast, in the early ages of the Church, 
 seems to have preceded the Communion (1 Cor. xi. 20, 21) ; but, at a later 
 period, it was deferred till after the administration of the Holy Sacrament. 
 In the Council of Carthage, a.p. 252, it was decreed that the Eucharist 
 should be received fasting, except at Easter. See Bingham, Eccles. Ant. 
 book xv. ch. vil. 7. Cave, Primitive Christianity, part i. ch. xi. Suicer’s 
 Thesaurus, on the word ᾿Αγάπη. Tertullian, Apol. c. 39. 
 
TO THE SMYRNEANS. 109 
 
 persons, and not to speak with them either in private 
 or in public: but to hearken to the prophets, and 
 especially to the Gospel, in which Christ’s passion is 
 manifested unto us, and his resurrection perfectly 
 declared. 
 
 8. But flee all divisions, as the beginning of evils. 
 See that ye follow your Bishop, as Jesus Christ the 
 Father: and the Presbytery, as the Apostles: and 
 reverence the Deacons, as the command of God. Let 
 no one do any thing which belongs to the Church, 
 separately from the Bishop. Let that Eucharist be 
 looked upon as well established, which is either offered 
 by the Bishop, or by one to whom the Bishop hath 
 given his consent. Wheresoever the Bishop shall ap- 
 pear, there let the people also be: as, where Jesus 
 Christ is, there is the Catholic’ Church. It is not 
 lawful, without the Bishop, either to baptize, or to 
 celebrate the Holy Communion'. But whatsoever he 
 shall approve of, that is also pleasing unto God, that so 
 whatsoever is done may be surely and well done. 
 
 9. For what remains, it is reasonable that we should 
 repent, and, while there is yet time, return unto God. 
 It is good to have due regard both to God and to the 
 Bishop. He that honours the Bishop, shall be honoured 
 of God. But he that doeth any thing without his 
 knowledge, ministers unto the devil. Let all things 
 
 9 This is the earliest instance of the use of the word Catholic, which was 
 so soon adopted to distinguish the faith of the Christian Church diffused 
 throughout the whole world from that of other sects, which wished to 
 shelter themselves under the name of Christians. Pacian, in his Epistle 
 to Sempronian the Novatian heretic, in the fourth century, well describes 
 the reason of this appellation. ‘ Christian is my name, and Catholic 
 my surname: the first is my denomination, the second my distinction.” 
 (Christianus mihi nomen est, Catholicus cognomen. Illud me nuncupat, 
 istud ostendit.) The word Catholic occurs in the introduction to the 
 account of the Martyrdom of Polycarp, c. 8, 19.- See Bingham, Eccles. 
 Ant. book i. ch. 1, 7. 
 
 1 ἀγάπην ποιεῖν. See note (8), c. 7. 
 
110 THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 therefore abound to you in charity, seeing ye are 
 worthy. Ye have refreshed me in all things; so shall 
 Jesus Christ you. Ye have loved me absent and pre- 
 sent. May God repay you, for whom whilst ye un- 
 dergo all things, ye shall attain unto him. 
 
 10. Ye have done well, in that ye have received 
 Philo, and Rheus Agathopus ’, who followed me for the 
 word of God, as the Deacons of Christ our God: who 
 also give thanks unto the Lord for you, forasmuch as 
 ye have refreshed them in all things. Nothing (that 
 ye have done) shall be lost to you. May my soul be 
 for yours, and my bonds, which ye have not despised, 
 nor been ashamed of. Neither shall Jesus Christ, (our) 
 perfect faith, be ashamed of you. 
 
 11. Your prayer is come to the Church of Antioch 
 which is in Syria. Whence being sent bound with 
 chains, which are the fittest ornament?’ of a servant of 
 God, I salute all (the Churches), not as though I were 
 worthy to take my name from that Church, being the 
 least of them*. Nevertheless by the will (of God) I 
 have been thought worthy (of this honour); not that I 
 am at all conscious of deserving it, but by the grace of 
 God, which I wish may be given unto me in perfection, 
 that by your prayers I may attain untoGod. In order, 
 therefore, that your work may be fully accomplished, 
 both upon earth and in heaven, it is fitting, that, for 
 the honour of God, your Church should appoint some 
 worthy delegate, who being come as far as Syria, may 
 rejoice with them, in that they are at peace*, and that 
 they are again restored to their former greatness, and 
 have again received their proper body. It hath ap- 
 peared therefore to me a proper measure, that ye send 
 
 2 Compare Philadelph. c. 11. 
 
 3 Θεοπρεπεστάτοις δεσμοῖς. Compare Epist. of Polycarp, c. 1; Igna- 
 tius, Epist. to the Ephes. c. 11. 
 
 4 Compare Ignatius’s Epistles to Rom. 9; Trallians, 18. 
 
 5 See the Epistle to the Philadelphians, c. 10 ; Epistle to Polycarp, ec. 7. 
 
TO THE SMYRNEANS. 111 
 
 some one from you, with an epistle, to congratulate 
 them upon the calm which hath been given them. of 
 God, and that through your prayers they have already 
 attained to an harbour. Being perfect, mind also that 
 which is perfect. For when ye are desirous to do well, 
 God is ready to enable you thereunto. 
 
 12. The love of the brethren that are at Troas 
 salutes you. Whence also I write to you by Burrhus 
 whom ye sent with me, together with the Ephesians 
 your brethren; and who hath in all things refreshed 
 me. And would that all imitated him, as being a 
 pattern of the ministry of God. May (his) grace fully 
 reward him. I salute your very worthy Bishop, and 
 your venerable Presbytery, and your Deacons, my 
 fellow-servants; and all of you in general, and every 
 one in particular, in the name of Jesus Christ, and in 
 his flesh and blood; in his passion and resurrection 
 both fleshly and spiritually, in the unity of God with 
 you. Grace be with you, and mercy, and peace, and 
 patience, for evermore. 
 
 19. I salute the families of my brethren with their 
 wives, and children, and the virgins that are called 
 widows ἢ. Be strong in the power of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 6 These were the Deaconesses, whose office was very ancient in the 
 Christian Church. St. Paul speaks of Phebe “a servant (διάκονος) of 
 the Church which is at Cenchrea.” Rom. xvi. 1. And Pliny evidently 
 alludes to them in his celebrated Epistle: (lib. x. Ep. 97.) ‘* Quo magis 
 necessarium credidi, ex duabus ancillis, qua ministre dicebantur, quid esset 
 veri et per tormenta querere.” They are frequently styled widows 
 (Tertull. lib. i. ad Uxorem, c. 7); and usually were so. The qualifica- 
 tions generally required for a Deaconess were, that she should be a widow, 
 who had borne children, had been the wife of but one husband, and of 
 mature age, from forty to sixty years old. Tertullian (De Velandis 
 Virgin. c. 9) inveighs in strong terms against the abuse of introducing a 
 virgin, under the age of twenty years, into the order of the Deaconesses. 
 “ Plané scio alicubi virginem in viduatu ab annis nondum viginti colloca- 
 tam. Cui si quid refrigerii debuerat Episcopus, aliter utique salvo re- 
 spectu discipline prestare potuisset, ne tale nunc miraculum, ne dixerim 
 
 monstrum, in Ecclesia denotaretur.” 
 It appears, however, from this passage of Ignatius, and from other 
 
112 THE EPISTLE TO THE SMYRNEANS. 
 
 Philo, who is present with me, salutes you. I 
 salute the house of Tavia, and pray that she may be 
 strengthened in faith and charity, both of flesh and 
 spirit. I salute Alce, my well-beloved; and the in- 
 comparable Daphnus, and Eutechnus, and all (others) 
 by name. Farewell in the grace of God. 
 
 authorities, that virgins were admitted into this order. Thus Epiphanius 
 (Exposit. Fid. n. 21) says the Deaconesses must be either virgins, or 
 widows who had been but once married: ἢ χηρεύσασαι ἀπὸ povoyapiag, 
 ἢ ἀεὶ παρθένοι οὖσαι. The same rule is laid down in the Apostolical 
 Constitutions, lib. vi. c. 17, the preference being there given to a virgin. 
 See Bingham, Eccles. Ant. b. ii. c. 22, 1, 2, where several instances of 
 virgin Deaconesses are mentioned ; and Valesius, on Eusebius, De Laudi- 
 bus Constantini, c. 17. 
 
THE EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS 
 
 TO 
 
 POLY CARP 
 
 IGNATIUS, who is also called 
 Theophorus, to Polycarp, 
 Bishop of the Church 
 which is at Smyrna (their 
 overseer), but rather him- 
 self overseen by God the 
 Father, and our Lord Jesus 
 Christ; all happiness. 
 
 1. Having known with 
 gratitude that thy mind 
 towards God is fixed as it 
 were upon an immoveable 
 rock, I exceedingly give 
 thanks, that I have been 
 thought worthy to behold 
 thy blessed face, in which 
 may I always rejoice in 
 God. I beseech thee, by 
 the grace of God, with 
 which thou art clothed, to 
 press forward in thy course, 
 and to exhort all (others) 
 
 1 The second column is a translation from the Syriac. 
 
 Ignat. p. 2; Translation, p. 227. 
 
 Ia@natius, who is Theo- 
 phorus,to Polycarp, Bishop 
 of Smyrna, who himself 
 rather is visited by God 
 the Father, and by Jesus 
 Christ our Lord, much 
 peace. 
 
 1. Forasmuch as_ thy 
 mind, which is confirmed 
 in God as upon a rock im- 
 moveable, is acceptable to 
 me, I praise God the more 
 abundantly for having been 
 accounted worthy of thy 
 countenance, which I long 
 for in God. I beseech 
 thee therefore by the grace 
 with which thouart clothed, 
 to add to thy course, and 
 pray for all men that they 
 may be saved, and require 
 
 Cureton, Corpus 
 
114 THE EPISTLE 
 that they may be saved. 
 Maintain thy station with 
 all diligence both of flesh 
 and spirit®. Be careful 
 (to preserve) unity, than 
 which nothing is better. 
 Support all men; even as 
 the Lord supports thee. 
 Bear with all in love, as 
 also thou dost. Find time 
 to pray without ceasing’. 
 Ask more understanding 
 than what thou already 
 hast. Be watchful, having 
 thy spirit always awake. 
 Speak to every one, ac- 
 cording as God shall en- 
 able thee. Bear the in- 
 firmities of all*, as a per- 
 fect combatant: where 
 there is the greater labour, 
 there is the greater gain. 
 2. If thou shalt love 
 the good disciples, what 
 thank is it? But rather 
 subdue in meekness those 
 that are mischievous. 
 Every wound is not healed 
 with the same remedy. 
 Mollify severe attacks with 
 lenient fomentations. Be 
 in all things wise as a ser- 
 pent, and harmless as a 
 
 2 1 Cor. vii. 44. 
 
 3 ἀδιαλείπτοις. 
 as well as in the Syriac version. 
 
 4 Comp. Isa. lili. 4. 
 
 Matt. viii. 17. 
 
 OF IGNATIUS 
 
 things becoming with all 
 diligence of flesh and spirit. 
 Be careful for unanimity, 
 than which nothing is more 
 excellent. Bear all men 
 as our Lord beareth thee. 
 Be patient with all men in 
 love as (indeed) thou art. 
 Be constant in prayer. 
 Ask more understanding 
 than what thou (already) 
 hast. Bewatchful; for thou 
 possessest a spirit that 
 sleepeth not. Speak with 
 all men according to the 
 will of God. Bear the 
 infirmities of all men like 
 a perfect combatant: for 
 where the labour is much, 
 much also is the gain, 
 
 2. If thou love the good 
 disciples only, thou hast no 
 grace: rather subdue those 
 who are evil with gentle- 
 ness. All wounds are not 
 healed by one medicine. 
 Allay cutting by tender- 
 ness. Be wise as the ser- 
 pent in every thing, and 
 innocent as the dove as to 
 those things which are re- 
 
 1 Thess. v.17. This word is omitted in the Armenian 
 
TO POLYCARP: 
 
 dove *. For this cause 
 thou art composed of flesh 
 and spirit, that thou may- 
 
 est treat mildly those 
 things which appear before 
 thy face. And, as for 
 
 those that are not seen, 
 pray to God that he would 
 reveal them unto thee, 
 that so thou mayest be 
 wanting in nothing, but 
 abound in every gift. The 
 times demand thee, as 
 pilots (require) the winds, 
 and as he that is tossed in 
 a tempest (desires) the 
 haven; that thou mayest 
 attain unto God. Be 
 sober, as the combatant of 
 God. The crown (pro- 
 posed to thee) is immor- 
 tality, and eternal life, con- 
 cerning which thou art also 
 fully persuaded. In all 
 things I, and my bonds 
 which thou hast loved, will 
 be thy surety. 
 
 3. Let not those which 
 appear worthy of credit, 
 but teach other doctrines, 
 disturb thee. Stand firm 
 and immoveable as an anvil 
 when it is beaten upon. 
 It is the part of a brave 
 combatant to be wounded, 
 
 115 
 
 quisite. On this account 
 art thou (both) of flesh and 
 of spirit, that thou mayest 
 allure those things which 
 are seen before thy face, 
 and ask respecting those 
 things which are hidden 
 from thee, that they may 
 be revealed to thee, that 
 thou mayest be lacking 
 in nothing, and mayest 
 abound in all gifts. The 
 time requireth, as a pilot 
 a ship, and as he who 
 standeth in the tempest 
 the haven, that thou should- 
 est be worthy of God. 
 Be vigilant, as a combatant 
 of God. That which is 
 promised to us is life eter- 
 nal, incorruptible, of which 
 things thou art also per- 
 suaded. In every thing I 
 will be instead of thy soul, 
 and my bonds which thou 
 hast loved. 
 
 3. Let not those who 
 seem to be something and 
 teach strange doctrines, as- 
 tound thee; but stand in 
 the truth, like a combatant 
 who is smitten: for it is 
 (the part) of a great com- 
 batant that he should be 
 
 5 Matt. x. 16. 
 | ϑὰ 
 
116 THE EPISTLE 
 and yet to overcome. But 
 especially we ought to en- 
 dure all things for God’s 
 sake, that he may bear 
 with us. Become daily 
 more diligent even than 
 thou art. Consider the 
 times, and expect him, 
 who is above all time, 
 eternal, invisible, though 
 for our sakes made visible : 
 who cannot be perceived 
 by our touch, neither is 
 liable to suffering, although 
 for our sakes he submitted 
 to suffer, and endured evils 
 of every kind for us. 
 
 4. Let not the widows 
 be neglected. Be thou, 
 after God, their guardian. 
 Let nothing be done with- 
 out thy knowledge and 
 consent; neither do thou 
 any thing but according to 
 the will of God; as also 
 thou dost with all con- 
 stancy®. Let your assem- 
 blies be more frequently 
 held’: inquire into all by 
 name. Overlook not the 
 men-servants and maid- 
 servants. Neither let them 
 
 δ εὐσταθής. 
 
 the Syriac and Armenian versions. 
 7 Or, more full. 
 
 OF IGNATIUS 
 
 smittenandconquer. More 
 especially on God’s ac- 
 count it behoveth us to 
 endure every thing, that 
 he also may endure us. 
 Be diligent (even) more 
 than thou art. Be dis- 
 cerning of the times. Ex- 
 pect him who is above the 
 times, him to whom there 
 are no times, him who is 
 unseen, him who for our 
 sakes was seen, him who 
 is impalpable, him who is 
 impassible, him who for 
 our sakes suffered, him 
 who endured every thing 
 in every form for our sakes. 
 
 4. Let not the widows 
 be neglected. On our 
 Lord’s account be thou 
 their guardian, and Jet no- 
 thing be done without thy 
 will: neither do thou any 
 thing without the will of 
 God : nor indeed dost thou. 
 Stand well. Let there be 
 frequent assemblies. Ask 
 everyman byhis name. De- 
 spise not slaves and hand- 
 maids: but neither let them 
 be contemptuous; but let 
 them serve the more, as for 
 
 The interpolated Greek has εὐστάθει, which is followed by 
 
 Compare Ignatius’s Epistle to the Ephesians, c. 13. 
 
ΤΟ POLY CARPE. 
 
 be puffed up, but rather 
 let them be the more sub- 
 ject to the glory of God, 
 that they may obtain from 
 him a better liberty. Let 
 them not desire to be set 
 free at the public cost, 
 that they may not be slaves 
 to their own lusts. 
 
 5. Flee evil arts: and 
 the more discourse pub- 
 licly respecting them ὃ. 
 Say to my sisters, that 
 they love the Lord, and 
 be satisfied with their hus- 
 bands both in the flesh 
 and spirit. In like man- 
 ner exhort my brethren, 
 in the name of Jesus 
 Christ, to love their wives, 
 even as the Lord the 
 Church®. If any one is 
 able to remain in chastity, 
 to the honour of Him, who 
 is the Lord of (all) flesh ', 
 let him remain so without 
 boasting. If he boast, he 
 is undone. And if he de- 
 sire to be more esteemed’ 
 
 8 μᾶλλον δὲ περὶ τούτων ὁμιλίαν ποιοῦ. 
 
 117 
 
 the glory of God, that they 
 may be accounted worthy 
 of a better freedom, which 
 is of God. Let them not 
 desire to be set free from 
 the common (property), 
 that they may not be found 
 the slaves of lusts. 
 
 5. Fly from evil arts: 
 but rather discourse res- 
 pecting them. Tell my 
 sisters, that they love in 
 the Lord, and that their 
 husbands be sufficient for 
 them in flesh and in spirit. 
 Then again charge my 
 brethren, in the name of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 that they love their 
 wives, as our Lord his 
 Church. If any one be 
 able in strength to con- 
 tinue in chastity, to the 
 honour of the flesh of our 
 
 Lord, let him continue 
 without boasting. If he 
 boast, he is lost. If he 
 
 become known, apart from 
 
 In the first edition the transla- 
 
 tion of Archbishop Wake, founded upon the reading of the interpolated 
 
 Greek, μὴ ποιοῦ, was followed. 
 
 But the received Greek text, adopted by 
 
 Pearson, and by Jacobson from the MS. is confirmed by the old Latin 
 
 version, and by the Syriac and Armenian versions. 
 
 The Armenian ver- 
 
 sion connects this clause with the following sentence. 
 
 9 Eph. v. 25. 
 
 1 Comp. Jer. xxxii. 27. 
 
 2 «Tf he, being endued with the grace of continence, glory over the 
 
 married bishop.”—Jacodson. 
 
118 THE EPISTLE 
 than the Bishop, he is cor- 
 rupted. It becomes also 
 those who marry and are 
 given in marriage to be 
 united with the consent of 
 the Bishop, that so the 
 marriage may be according 
 to godliness, and not in 
 ‘lust. Let all things be 
 done to the honour of 
 God. 
 
 6. Hearken ye (all’) 
 unto the Bishop, that God 
 also may hearken to you. 
 My life* be security for 
 those who submit to their 
 Bishop, Presbyters, and 
 Deacons. And may my 
 portion be together with 
 theirs in God. Labour 
 ye one with another: 
 strive together; run toge- 
 ther; suffer together; to- 
 gether take rest, and 
 together rise ’, as the stew- 
 ards, and assessors, and 
 ministers of God. Please 
 him, under whom ye war, 
 and from whom also ye 
 receive your wages. Let 
 
 OF IGNATIUS 
 
 the Bishop, he hath cor- 
 rupted himself. It is be- 
 coming, therefore, to men 
 and women who marry, 
 that they marry by the 
 counsel of the Bishop, 
 that their marriage may 
 be in our Lord, and not 
 in lust. Let every thing, 
 therefore, be for the honour 
 of God. 
 
 6. Look to the Bishop, 
 that God also may look 
 upon you. I will be in- 
 stead of the souls of those 
 who are subject to the 
 Bishop, and the Presby- 
 ters, and the Deacons. 
 With them may I havea 
 portion near God. Labour 
 together with one another: 
 make the struggle toge- 
 ther; run together; suffer 
 together ; sleep together ; 
 rise together; as stewards 
 of God, and his domestics 
 and ministers, please him 
 and serve him, that ye 
 may receive the wages 
 from him. Let none of 
 
 $ Although this Epistle was written to Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, 
 precepts are included in it addressed to the whole Church ; as St. Paul, 
 in his first Epistle to Timothy, introduces many instructions to Christians 
 
 in general. 
 
 4 ἀντίψυχον ἐγώ. 
 
 > συγκοιμᾶσθε, συνεγείρεσθε. 
 to death and the resurrection. 
 
 Wocher considers that these words refer 
 
TO POLYCARP. 
 
 none of you be found a 
 deserter. Let your bap- 
 tism remain, as arms; 
 faith as an helmet; cha- 
 rity as a spear: patience 
 as your whole armour. 
 Let your works be that 
 which is laid up for you °, 
 that so ye may receive a 
 suitable reward. Be long- 
 suffering, therefore, to- 
 wards each other in meek- 
 ness, as God is towards 
 
 119 
 
 you rebel. Let your bap- 
 tism be to you as armour, 
 and faith as a helmet, and 
 love as a spear, and pa- 
 tience as a panoply. Let 
 your treasures be your 
 good works, that ye may 
 receive the gift of God, as 
 it is just. Let your spirit 
 be enduring towards each 
 other in meekness, as God 
 towards you. I rejoice in 
 you at all times. 
 
 you. Let me have joy of 
 you in all things. 
 
 7. Now, forasmuch as the Church of Antioch in 
 Syria is, as I have learned, at peace through your 
 prayers’, I also have been the more comforted and 
 without care in God, if so be that by suffering I shall 
 attain unto God, that through your prayers I may be 
 found a disciple (of Christ). It will be fit, most 
 worthy Polycarp, to call a council of the most godly 
 men, and choose some one whom ye particularly love, 
 and who is patient of labour, that he may be the 
 messenger of God, and to appoint him to go into 
 Syria, and glorify your unwearied love, to the praise of 
 Christ. 
 
 A Christian is not in his The Christian has not 
 own power, but must be power over himself, but is 
 
 6 τὰ δεπόσιτα ὑμῶν, τὰ ἔργα ὑμῶν, iva τὰ ἄκκεπτα ὑμῶν ἄξια κομίσησθε. 
 It appears from Suetonius, Domitian, vii., Vegetius, ii. 20, that the term 
 “ depositum” was, in military language, applied to signify that portion of 
 the soldiers’ money which was kept with the standards, The word 
 “accepta” was technically used for receipts. Military and forensic Latin 
 
 words became familiarly known throughout the Roman empire. See 
 
 Jacobson’s notes. 
 7 Trajan having put a stop to the persecution at Antioch. Compare 
 the Epistle to the Philadelphians, ch. 10. 
 
120 THE EPISTLE TO POLYCARP. 
 
 always at leisure for (the ready to be subject to 
 service of) God. God. 
 
 And this is the work both of God, and of you, when 
 ye shall have perfected it. For I trust, through the 
 grace (of God) that ye are ready to every good work, 
 that is fitting for you in the Lord. Knowing there- 
 fore your earnest affection for the truth, I have 
 exhorted you by these short letters *. 
 
 8. But forasmuch as I have not been able to write 
 to all the Churches, because I must suddenly sail from 
 Troas to Neapolis, for so the will® (of God) ordains, 
 write to the Churches which are near thee, inasmuch 
 as thou art instructed in the mind of God, that they 
 also may do in like manner. Let those who are able 
 send messengers; and the rest send (their) letters by 
 those who shall be sent by you; that thou mayest be 
 glorified to all eternity, even as thou art worthy. 
 
 I salute all by name: and (particularly) the wife of 
 Epitropus, with all her house and children. I salute 
 Attalus my well-beloved. 
 
 I salute him who shall I salute him who is 
 be thought worthy to be accounted worthy to go to 
 sent by you into Syria. Antioch in my stead, as I 
 
 charged thee. 
 
 Grace be ever with him, and with Polycarp who 
 sends him. I wish you all happiness in our God, 
 Jesus Christ, in whom continue in the unity and pro- 
 tection of God. I salute Alce my well-beloved. Fare- 
 well in the Lord. 
 
 8 The Epistle to the Smyrneans and this to himself. Or perhaps he 
 speaks only of this single letter, as in Rom. 8. 
 
 9 τὸ θέλημα is thus used absolutely for the will of God in Smyr. 11. 
 See Dr. Jacobson’s note on this place, to whom I am indebted for this 
 rendering. 
 
THE 
 
 MARTYRDOM OF IGNATIUS. 
 
 A RELATION OF THE MARTYRDOM OF IGNATIUS). 
 
 Soon after Trajan had succeeded to the Roman empire, 
 Ignatius, the disciple of the Apostle John, a man in all 
 things like unto the Apostles, governed the Church of 
 Antioch with all care. He had with difficulty escaped 
 the former storms of the numerous persecutions, which 
 happened under Domitian, like a skilful pilot, by the 
 helm of prayer and fasting, by the constancy of his 
 doctrine and spiritual labour, withstanding the raging 
 floods, fearing lest he should lose any of those who 
 wanted courage, or were not well grounded in the 
 faith. Wherefore, when the persecution was for the 
 present somewhat abated, he rejoiced greatly at the 
 tranquillity of the Church. Howbeit for himself he 
 was troubled, that he had not yet attained to the true 
 
 1 The first four chapters of this narrative, with a portion of the Epistle 
 of Ignatius to the Romans, are found in Syriac, Cureton, p. 63; Corpus 
 Ignat. p. 222,252, Another Syriac version referred to by Assemanni, is 
 mentioned by Cureton, Corpus Ignat. note, p. 362. An ancient Latin 
 version, edited by Usher, agrees nearly with the Greek, in the early part. 
 In the latter part it contains a diffuse narrative of events and discourses 
 found neither in the Greek, as edited by Reinart, nor in that of Symeon 
 Metaphrastes. An Armenian version, given by Petermann, p. 496, agrees 
 in substance with this expanded Latin account. 
 
122 THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 love of Christ, nor to the perfect rank of a disciple. 
 For he thought that the confession, which is made by 
 martyrdom, would bring him to a yet more close and 
 intimate union with the Lord. Wherefore, having 
 continued a few years longer with the Church, 
 illuminating, like a divine lamp, the heart of every 
 man by the exposition of the Holy Scriptures, he 
 attained the object of his wishes. 
 
 2. For, after this, in the ninth’ year of his empire, 
 Trajan elated with his victory over the Scythians and 
 Dacians, and many other nations, conceived that the 
 religious company of Christians was yet wanting to 
 complete his universal dominion. He therefore threat- 
 ened them with persecution; and, unless they chose to 
 submit to the worship of devils, with all other nations, 
 compelled all men of godly lives either to sacrifice or 
 to die. Then, therefore, this noble soldier of Christ, 
 apprehensive for the Church of Antioch, was voluntarily 
 brought before Trajan, who was at that time passing 
 through the city, as he was hastening against Armenia, 
 and the Parthians. As soon then as he stood in the 
 presence of the Emperor Trajan, the Emperor said, 
 “Who art thou, unhappy and deluded man’, who art 
 so active in transgressing our commands, and besides 
 persuadest others to their own destruction?” Ignatius 
 replied, “ No one ought to call (one who is properly 
 
 2 The Greek has ἐννάτῳ ἔτει ; the old Latin version, “post quartum 
 annum.” Bp. Pearson, in his dissertation on the year in which Ignatius 
 was condemned at Antioch by Trajan, shows that there is some error in 
 this date. He places the event as late as the eighteenth year of Trajan, 
 Α.Ὁ. 116. Dr. Jacobson refers to Gresswell’s Dissertations upon an Har- 
 mony of the Gospels, iv. 415—454, edit. 2, where it is proved from Plin. 
 Ep. vi. 31, that Trajan was not at Antioch, in the summer of the year 
 a.u.c. 860, which was the ninth year of his reign. 
 
 3 τίς el, κακόδαιμον. The word κακοδαίμων signifies both a person who 
 is unhappy, or ill-fated, and one who is under the influence of evil spirits. 
 Trajan uses the word in the first sense. Ignatius replies by a reference 
 to the second. See Pearson, Vindiciee Ignat. part ii. ch. 12. 
 
OF IGNATIUS. 123 
 
 styled) Theophorus*, unhappy and deluded; for the 
 evil spirits (which delude men) are departed far from 
 the servants of God. Butif thou so callest me, because I 
 am a trouble to those evil spirits, and an enemy to 
 their delusions, I confess the justice of the appellation. 
 For having (within me) Christ the heavenly King, I 
 loosen all their snares.” Trajan replied, “ And who is 
 Theophorus?” Ignatius answered, “He that hath 
 Christ in his heart.” Then said Trajan, “Thinkest 
 thou, therefore, that we have not the gods within us, 
 who also assist us in our battles against our enemies?” 
 “Thou dost err,” Ignatius replied, “in calling the evil 
 spirits of the heathen, gods. For there is but one 
 God, who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and 
 all that are in them: and one Christ Jesus, the only 
 begotten Son of God, whose kingdom may I enjoy.” 
 Trajan said, “Speakest thou of him who was crucified 
 under Pontius Pilate?” Ignatius answered, “(I speak 
 of) him who hath crucified my sin, with the inventor 
 of it; and hath put all the deceit and malice of the 
 devil under the feet of those who carry him in their 
 hearts.’ Then asked Trajan, “Carriest thou, then, 
 within thee him who was crucified?” “ Yea,” replied 
 Ignatius; “for it is written, I will dwell in them, and 
 walk in them®.” Then Trajan pronounced this sen- 
 tence: “ We decree that Ignatius, who hath confessed 
 that he carries about within himself him that was 
 crucified, shall be carried in bonds by soldiers to the 
 great Rome, there to be thrown to the beasts for the 
 gratification of the people.” When the holy martyr 
 heard this sentence, he cried out with joy, “I thank 
 thee, O Lord, that thou hast vouchsafed thus to punish 
 me, out of thy perfect love towards me, and hast made 
 me to be put in iron bonds, with thine Apostle Paul.” 
 
 4 See note on the introduction to Ignatius’s Epistle to the Ephesians. 
 5 2 Cor. vi. 16. 
 
124 THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 Having thus spoken, he joyfully suffered his bonds to 
 be put about him; and having first prayed for the 
 Church, and commended it with tears unto the Lord, 
 like a choice ram, the leader of a goodly flock, he was 
 hurried away by the brutal and cruel soldiers, to be 
 carried to Rome, and there to be devoured by blood- 
 thirsty wild beasts. 
 
 3. Wherefore with much readiness and joy, out of 
 his desire to suffer, he left Antioch, and came to Seleu- 
 cia, whence he set sail. After (a voyage of) much 
 labour he reached the city of Smyrna, and with great 
 gladness left the ship, and hastened to see the holy 
 Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, who had been his fellow 
 disciple; for both of them had been instructed by 
 St. John the Apostle. Being hospitably received by 
 him, and communicating to him spiritual gifts °, and 
 glorying in his bonds, he entreated first of all the whole 
 Church, (for the cities and Churches of Asia attended 
 this holy man by their Bishops, and Priests, and Dea- 
 cons, all hastening to him, if by any means they might 
 receive some part of his spiritual gift,) but more par- 
 ticularly Polycarp, to contend (with God) in his behalf, 
 that, being suddenly taken by the beasts from the 
 world, he might appear before the face of Christ. 
 
 4. Thus, then, he spake, and thus he testified; ex- 
 tending so much his love for Christ, as one who was 
 about to receive heaven, through his own good con- 
 
 δ It is highly probable that, at this time, certain preternatural powers 
 subsisted in the Church, especially in those who had been ordained to 
 any holy office by the imposition of the hands of the Apostles themselves. 
 Although Ignatius expresses in his Epistles the greatest humility, and 
 the fullest sense of his inferiority to the Apostles, (Ephes. c. 3 ; Magnes. 
 c. 11; Rom. c. 4,) he yet plainly implies that some revelations were made 
 to him, (Ephes. c. 20,) and that he possessed some knowledge of spi- 
 ritual things which he was not then at liberty to communicate to those 
 who weré less advanced in Christian knowledge. (Trall. c. 4,5.) The 
 writer of this account probably refers to some communications of this 
 nature. See 1 Pet.iv. 10, 11. 
 
OF IGNATIUS. 125 
 
 fession, and the earnest contention of those who prayed 
 together with him: and to return a recompense to 
 the Churches, who came to meet him by their go- 
 vernors, he sent letters of thanks to them which dis- 
 tilled spiritual grace, with prayer and exhortation. 
 Seeing, therefore, all men so kindly affected towards 
 him, and fearing lest the love of the brotherhood should 
 prevent his hastening to the Lord, now that a fair 
 door of martyrdom was opened to him, he wrote 
 to the Church of the Romans the Epistle follow- 
 ing’. 
 
 5. Having, then, by this Epistle, prepared, according 
 to his wishes, such of the brethren at Rome as were 
 against his martyrdom, he set sail from Smyrna, and 
 came to Troas. For this faithful follower of Christ 
 was pressed by the soldiers to arrive at the great city 
 of Rome before the public spectacle, that he might be 
 delivered to the wild beasts in sight of the Roman 
 people, and so receive the crown for which he strove. 
 From Troas, then, he proceeded, and landed at Nea- 
 polis, and went (on foot) by Philippi through Mace- 
 donia, and that part of Epirus which is next to Epi- 
 damnus; and, having found a ship in one of the sea- 
 ports, he sailed over the Adriatic sea, and, passing out 
 of that into the Tyrrhene sea, and sailing by many 
 islands and cities, at length he came in sight of Puteoli. 
 As soon as this holy man saw the place, he was very 
 anxious to disembark, wishing to tread in the footsteps 
 of the Apostle Paul. But a violent wind arising and 
 driving on the ship, suffered him not to do so, Where- 
 fore, commending the love of the brethren in that 
 place, he sailed forward. For one whole day and 
 night, then, we* were hurried on by a favourable 
 
 7 Here was inserted the Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans. 
 8 This abrupt and inartificial change from the third to the first person 
 
126 THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 wind. To us, this was a subject of sorrow, inasmuch 
 as we were grieved at our approaching separation from 
 that holy man; but to him it was the accomplishment 
 of his prayers, that he might the sooner depart out of 
 this world, and attain unto the Lord whom he loved. 
 Wherefore sailing into the Roman port, as that impure 
 festival was approaching to an end, the soldiers began 
 to be offended at our slowness, but the Bishop, with 
 great joy, complied with their haste. 
 
 6. Being therefore hurried from the place which is 
 called the Port, we forthwith met the brethren; for 
 the report respecting the holy martyr was already 
 spread abroad, who were full of fear and joy. For 
 they rejoiced in that God had vouchsafed them the 
 company of Theophorus, but were afraid when they 
 considered that such an one was brought thither to 
 die. Some of these who were the most zealous (for 
 his safety), and promised to calm the people, that they 
 should not desire the destruction of the just, he com- 
 manded to hold their peace: for he presently knew 
 this by the Spirit, and saluted them all, entreating 
 them to show true love towards him; expressing him- 
 self in discourse more fully even than he had in his 
 Epistle, and persuading them not to hinder him who 
 was hastening to the Lord. And so, all the brethren 
 kneeling down, he prayed to the Son of God for the 
 Church, that he would cause the persecution to cease, 
 and (continue) the love of the brethren towards each 
 other. (This being done,) he was hurried away with 
 all haste into the amphitheatre, and was immediately 
 thrown in, according to the previous command of 
 is a strong internal mark of genuineness. It is exactly similar to that in 
 Acts xvi. 8.10: “ And they passing by Mysia, came down to Troas. 
 And after he had seen the vision, we immediately endeavoured to go into 
 
 Macedonia.” The first incidental intimation that St. Luke there became 
 the companion of St. Paul. 
 
OF IGNATIUS. 127 
 
 Cesar, the end of the spectacles being at hand. For 
 it was then a very solemn day’, called in the Roman 
 tongue the thirteenth (of the Calends of January), 
 upon which the people were wont to be more than 
 ordinarily gathered together. Thus was he delivered 
 to the wild beasts, near the Temple, that so the desire 
 of the holy martyr Ignatius might be accomplished, as 
 it is written, the desire of the righteous is acceptable ': 
 namely, that he might be burdensome to none of the 
 brethren, by the gathering of his remains, according as 
 in his Epistle he had before wished that so his end 
 might be*. For only the more solid parts of his holy 
 remains were left, which were carried to Antioch, and 
 wrapped in linen, as an inestimable treasure left to the 
 holy Church, by the grace which was in the martyr. 
 
 7. Now these things were done the day before the 
 thirteenth of the Calends of January, that is, on the 
 twentieth day of December, Sura and Senecius being 
 the second time consuls of the Romans*®. We our- 
 selves were eye-witnesses of these events, with many 
 tears; and as we watched all night in the house, and 
 prayed God in many words, with bended knees and 
 supplication, that he would give us weak men some 
 assurance of what was before done, it happened that, 
 having fallen into a slumber for a little while, some of 
 us on a sudden saw the blessed Ignatius standing by 
 us and embracing us; and others beheld him praying 
 for us; others saw him as it were dropping with sweat, 
 as if he came out of great labour, and standing by the 
 Lord. Having seen these things then with great joy, 
 and comparing the visions of our dreams, we sang 
 praises to God the giver of all good things, and pro- 
 nounced the saint blessed; and have now made known 
 
 9 The festival of the Sigillaria continued for two days, at the conclusion 
 
 of the five days of the Saturnalia. 
 1 Prov. x. 24. 2 See Ignat. Ep'st. to Romans, 4. 
 
 3 This corresponds to a.p. 107, 
 
128 THE MARTYRDOM OF IGNATIUS. 
 
 unto you both the day and the time: that, being 
 assembled together at the season of his martyrdom, 
 we may communicate with the combatant and noble 
 martyr of Christ, who trod under foot the Devil, and 
 perfected the course which he had piously desired, in 
 Jesus Christ our Lord, by whom and with whom, all 
 glory and power be to the Father with the Holy Spirit 
 for ever. Amen. 
 
THE 
 
 CIRCULAR EPISTLE OF THE CHURCH OF SMYRNA 
 
 CONCERNING THE 
 
 MARTYRDOM OF ST. POLYCARP'. 
 
 Tue Church of God which is at Smyrna to the Church 
 of God which is at Philadelphia, and to all the other 
 assemblies of the holy and Catholic Church, in every 
 place; mercy, peace, and love from God the Father 
 and our Lord Jesus Christ be multiplied. 
 
 1. We have written unto you, brethren, respecting 
 the other martyrs, and (especially) the blessed Poly- 
 carp, who by his martyrdom has set, as it were, the 
 seal, and put an end to the persecution. For almost 
 all things that went before were done, that the Lord 
 might show us from above a martyrdom truly such as 
 became the Gospel. For he expected to be delivered 
 up, even as the Lord also was, that we also should 
 imitate his example; considering not only our own 
 interest but that of our neighbour. For true and per- 
 fect charity desires not only that a man’s self should 
 be saved, but also all his brethren. 
 
 1 Eusebius (Eccles Hist. iv. 15,) has preserved the substance of this 
 Epistle, from another copy, sent to the Church of Philomelium in Phrygia. 
 He has transcribed the Epistle from c. 8, to the middle of ο. 19, with 
 some variations, from the present Greek copy. Dr. Jacobson, in the in- 
 troduction to this Epistle, has Philomelium instead of Philadelphia. 
 
 K 
 
130 THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 2. The sufferings, then, of all the other martyrs 
 which they underwent according to the will of God, 
 were blessed and generous. For so it becomes us, 
 who are more religious (than others) to ascribe the 
 supreme power over all things unto him. And who 
 indeed would not admire the greatness of their mind, 
 their patience and love of their Lord; who, when they 
 were so torn with scourges, that the very structure of 
 their bodies to the inward veins and arteries was seen, 
 did yet endure it; so that all who stood round pitied 
 and lamented them? Others again attained to such a 
 degree of fortitude, that no one uttered a cry or a 
 groan, plainly showing to all of us, that those martyrs 
 of Christ, in the same hour in which they were tor- 
 mented, were absent from the body: or rather that the 
 Lord stood by, and conversed with them. Wherefore 
 being supported by the grace of God, they despised all 
 the torments of the world, and by the sufferings of one 
 hour redeemed themselves from everlasting punish- 
 ment. Whence even the fire of their cruel murderers 
 seemed cold to them: for they had before their eyes 
 the prospect of escaping that which is eternal and un- 
 quenchable: and beheld with the eyes of their heart 
 those good things which are reserved for them that 
 endure, which neither ear hath heard, nor eye seen, 
 nor have they entered into the heart of man’. But 
 to them they were now revealed by the Lord, as being 
 no longer men, but already become angels. In like 
 manner they who were condemned to the wild beasts, 
 underwent many grievous torments: being compelled 
 to lie upon sharp spikes’, and tormented with divers 
 
 2 ME Corsitad: 
 
 3 «hoveac—These spikes might be natural or artificial. Eusebius, 
 (H. E. iv. 15,) who has given only a brief abstract of the early part of 
 this Epistle, paraphrases the expression thus :—‘ being sometimes laid 
 upon whelk-shells from the sea, and upon sharp spikes.” (τοτὲ δὲ τοὺς ἀπὸ 
 θαλάττης κήρυκας, καί τινας ὀξεῖς ὀβελίσκους ὑποστρωννυμένους.) The shell 
 
OF POLYCARP. 191] 
 
 other punishments, that, if it were possible, the tyrant 
 might force them, by the length of their sufferings, to 
 deny Christ. 
 
 3. The devil did indeed invent many things against 
 them: but, thanks be to God; for he prevailed not 
 over all. For the brave Germanicus* strengthened 
 those that feared, by his patience, and fought gloriously 
 with wild beasts. For when the proconsul would have 
 persuaded him, telling him, that he should consider his 
 age, and spare himself, he forcibly drew the wild beast 
 towards him‘, being desirous the more quickly to be 
 delivered from a wicked and unjust world. Upon this, 
 the whole multitude, wondering at the courage of the 
 holy and pious race of Christians, cried out, Away 
 with the wicked wretches®: let Polycarp be sought 
 out. 
 
 4. Then one named Quintus, a Phrygian, having 
 lately come from his own country, when he saw the 
 wild beasts, was afraid. Now this was the same man 
 
 of the κήρυξ, or buccinum, was armed with rough spikes: (Plin. Hist- 
 Nat. ix. 36 :) and an iron instrument, formed with sharp spikes projecting 
 in every direction, used by the Romans as a defence against the enemy’s 
 horse, was called Murex, from its resemblance to the shell of the fish of 
 that name. 
 
 4 The Latin Church celebrates the memory of Germanicus on the 19th 
 of January. 
 
 5 Compare Ignatius’s Epistle to the Romans, c. 5. 
 
 6 GOéovc—atheists. This was a constant term of reproach against the 
 early Christians, arising from their opposing the worship of the heathen 
 deities. Thus Dio, in his Life of Domitian, speaks of the charge of 
 Atheism being “very common against those who went over to the Jewish 
 religion ;” evidently alluding to Christianity ; and of Acilius Glabrio being 
 put to death on that account. 
 
 Athenagoras says that the Gentiles brought three principal accusations 
 against the Christians,—Atheism, banqueting on the bodies of children, 
 and incest. (τρία ἐπιφημίζουσιν ἡμῖν ἐγκλήματα, ἀθεότητα, Θυέστεια δεῖπνα, 
 Οἰδιποδείους μίξεις), (Athenag. Legatio pro Christianis, p. 4, C. Colon. 
 1686). Justin Martyr, Apol. c. 5, and elsewhere, refers to the same 
 charge. From c. 9 of this Epistle it is plain that the phrase, “ Away 
 with the Atheists,” was considered equivalent to “ Away with the Chris- 
 tians.” 
 
 K 2 
 
199 THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 who forced himself, and some others, to present them- 
 selves of their own accord (to the trial). Him there- 
 fore the Proconsul induced, after much persuasion, to 
 swear (by the emperor) and to sacrifice. For which 
 cause, brethren, we do not commend those who offer 
 themselves (to persecution); since the Gospel teaches 
 no such thing. 
 
 5. Now the most admirable Polycarp, when he first 
 heard (that he was called for), was not disturbed in 
 mind, but determined to remain in the city. But the 
 greater part (of his friends) persuaded him to retire. 
 Accordingly he went into a little village, not far dis- 
 tant from the city, and there remained, with a few 
 others; doing nothing else, either by day or by night, 
 but praying for all men, and for all the Churches 
 throughout the world, according to his usual custom. 
 And as he prayed, he saw a vision ’, three days before 
 he was taken; and, behold, the pillow under his head 
 appeared to be on fire. Whereupon, turning to those 
 who were with him, he said prophetically, “I must be 
 burnt alive.” 
 
 6. And when those who sought for him drew near, 
 he departed into another village: and immediately his 
 pursuers came thither. And when they found him 
 not, they seized upon two young men, one of whom, 
 being tormented, confessed. For it was impossible he 
 should be concealed, forasmuch as they who betrayed 
 him were his own domestics. So the Keeper of the 
 peace, who was also magistrate elect, Herod by name ὃ, 
 
 7 Eusebius describes this as a dream. For he says, “" When he awoke 
 from sleep, he immediately related what he had seen to those who stood 
 by.” 
 φανέν. 
 
 8 καὶ ὁ εἰρήναρχος, ὁ καὶ κληρονόμος, τὸ αὐτῷ ὄνομα Ἡρώδης, ἐπιλεγόμενος. 
 This is the manner, in which Smith proposes to read and point the 
 passage. The Proconsul was at that period the chief magistrate of the 
 Province of Asia. But every year the names of ten principal men were 
 
 "BE δὲ . ν {2 , Hens « ~ ~ ~ a 
 SUTVOV OF ETL TOUT γεένομενον, ευσυς υφερμηνεῦσαι τοις παρουσι TV 
 
OF POLYCARP. 199 
 
 hastened to bring him into the lists: that so Polycarp 
 might receive his proper portion, being made partaker 
 of Christ; and they that betrayed him might undergo 
 the punishment of Judas. 
 
 7. The officers, therefore, and horsemen, taking the 
 young lad along with them, departed about supper 
 time, it being Friday °, with their usual arms, as if 
 they were in pursuit of a robber. And being come to 
 the place where he was, about the close of the day 
 they found him in a small house, lying in an upper 
 chamber, whence he could easily have escaped into 
 another place; but he would not, saying, “The will of 
 the Lord be done.” Wherefore, when he heard that 
 they were come to the house, he went down and spake 
 to them. And as they that were present wondered at 
 his age and constancy, some of them began to say, 
 “Was there need of all this care to take such an old 
 man as this?” Immediately then he commanded to 
 be set before them, the same hour, to eat and to drink, 
 as much as they would: desiring them to give him 
 one hour’s liberty, that he might pray without dis- 
 turbance. And when they had permitted him, he 
 stood praying, being full of the grace of God, so that 
 he ceased not for two whole hours, to the admiration 
 of all that heard him; insomuch that many (of the 
 soldiers) began to repent, that they were come out 
 against so godly an old man. 
 
 8. As soon as he had finished his prayer, in which 
 he made mention of all men who had ever been 
 acquainted with him, whether small or great, honourable 
 
 sent to him out of each city, one of whom was appointed by the Pro- 
 consul to be Keeper of the peace for the following year. See Valesius 
 on Euseb. Hist. Eccles. iv. 15. Aristides, Orat. iv. Herod appears to 
 have been elected also to some other permanent office, implied by the 
 title κληρονόμος. 
 
 9 Τῇ mapacxevg,—the preparation, or day before the Sabbath. Luke 
 xxii. 54; John xix. 31. 
 
134 THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 or obscure, and of the whole Catholic ' Church, through- 
 out the world; the time being come when he was to 
 depart, they set him upon an ass, and led him into the 
 city, it being the day of the great Sabbath*. And 
 Herod, the keeper of the peace, with his father Nicetes, 
 met him inachariot. And having taken him up to 
 them, and set him in the chariot, they began to per- 
 suade him, saying, “ Why, what harm is there in say- 
 ing, Lord Cesar ὃ, and in offering sacrifice, and so being 
 safe?” with other words which are usual on such occa- 
 sions. But Polycarp at first answered them not; where- 
 upon, as they continued to urge him, he said, “I shall 
 not do as you advise.” They, therefore, failing to per- 
 suade him, spake bitter words against him, and then 
 thrust him violently off the chariot, so that he hurt his 
 leg in the fall. But he, without turning back, went 
 on with all diligence, as if he had received no harm at 
 all: and so was brought to the lists, where there was 
 so great a tumult, that no one could be heard. 
 
 9. Now as he was going into the lists, there was a 
 voice from heaven, “ Be strong, Polycarp, and quit 
 thyself like a man.” No one saw who it was that 
 spake to him: but those of our brethren who were 
 present heard the voice. And as he was brought in, 
 there was a great disturbance, when they heard that 
 Polycarp was taken. And when he came near, the 
 Proconsul* asked him, whether he were Polycarp. 
 
 1 See note (9) on Ep. of Ignatius to the Smyrneans, ch. 8. 
 
 * The week in which the Passion of our Saviour was celebrated was 
 called the Great Week: and the Saturday of that week the Great Sab- 
 bath. This was the only Saturday which was observed as a fast, in the 
 Eastern Church. Bingham, Eccles. Ant. xx. c. 8, 1. Other opinions 
 on this point are stated by Valesius, in his notes on Eusebius, Eccles. Hist. 
 iv. 15. 
 
 3 Compare Tertullian, Apol. c. 34. The appellation ‘Lord, Κύριος, 
 thus applied to the emperor was not simply a title of temporal dignity, 
 but an attribute of divine power. 
 
 4 Statius Quadratus, who was consul a.p. 142. 
 
OF POLYCARP. 135 
 
 And, when he acknowledged (that he was), he per- 
 suaded him to deny (the faith), saying, “ Reverence 
 thy old age ;” with many other exhortations of a like 
 nature, as their custom is, saying, “Swear by the 
 fortune of Czesar; repent, and say, Away with the 
 wicked*.” Then Polycarp, looking with a severe 
 countenance upon the whole company of ungodly 
 Gentiles who were in the lists, stretched forth his hand 
 to them, and said, groaning and looking up to heaven, 
 “ Away with the wicked.” But the Proconsul urging 
 him, and saying, “Swear, and I will release thee: 
 reproach Christ :” Polycarp answered, “ Fourscore and 
 six years have I continued serving him, and he hath 
 never wronged me at all; how then can I blaspheme 
 my King and my Saviour ?” 
 
 10. And when the Proconsul nevertheless still 
 
 5 Atheists. See note onc. 5. 
 
 It appears from the celebrated letter of Pliny to Trajan, that one of the 
 customary trials, to which those accused of Christianity were exposed, 
 was to urge them to sacrifice to the gods, or to the statue of the emperor, 
 to swear by the genius or fortune of Cesar, and to reproach Christ. 
 
 ‘* Propositus est libellus, sine auctore, multorum nomina continens, qui 
 negarent se esse Christianos, aut fuisse, quum, preeeunte me, deos appel- 
 larent, et imagini tue, quam propter hoc jusseram cum simulachris numi- 
 num afferri, thure ac vino supplicarent, preterea maledicerent Christo : 
 quorum nihil cogi posse dicuntur, qui sunt revera Christiani.” Plin. Ep. 
 x. 97. 
 
 Tertullian’s Apology, c. 32, shows that the Christians in his time were 
 exposed to the same trial, and gives the reasons why they would swear 
 neither by the fortune nor by the genius of Cesar. 
 
 Chrysostom founds one of his eloquent appeals to the consciences of his 
 hearers upon this well-known fact. ‘ Wherefore let us bear witness to 
 Christ : for we, as well as the martyrs of old, are called upon to bear tes- 
 timony to him. They obtained that appellation, because, when they were 
 called upon to abjure, they endured every torment, sooner than deny the 
 truth. Let us then be unsubdued, when various passions invite us to 
 abjure our faith. Gold commands you, ‘Say that Christ is not Christ.’ 
 Hear it not then, as if it were the voice of God, but set at nought its 
 counsel. Evil lusts pronounce the same command. But be not thou per- 
 suaded by them, but stand firmly, that it be not said of us, ‘ They profess 
 that they know God, but in works they deny him.’ (Tit. i. 16.) For 
 this becomes not martyrs, but the reverse.” Chrysost. Hom. 47, on the 
 Acts of the Apostles, tom. iv. p. 872, Savile. 
 
136 THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 insisted, and said, “Swear by the genius of Cesar,” 
 he answered, “If thou art so vainly confident as to 
 expect that I should swear by what thou callest the 
 genius of Cesar, pretending to be ignorant of what I 
 am, hear me freely professing unto thee, I am a Chris- 
 tian. And if thou further desirest to know what Chris- 
 tianity really is, appoint a day, and thou shalt hear it.” 
 The Proconsul replied, “ Persuade the people.” Then 
 said Polyearp, “ΤῸ thee have I freely offered to give 
 even a reason of my faith; for we are taught to pay to 
 the powers and authorities, which are ordained of God, 
 the honour which is due, provided it be not injurious 
 to ourselves. But for the people, I esteem them not 
 worthy that I should give any account of my faith to 
 them.” 
 
 11. The Proconsul said unto him, “I have wild 
 beasts ready; to those I will cast thee, unless thou 
 repent.” He answered, “Call for them, then: for we 
 Christians are fixed in our minds, not to change from 
 good to evil. But it will be good for me to be changed 
 from my grievous (sufferings) to their just reward °.” 
 The Proconsul added, “ Seeing thou despisest the wild 
 beasts, I will cause thee to be devoured with fire, 
 unless thou shalt repent’.” Polycarp answered, “Thou 
 threatenest me with fire, which burns for an hour, and 
 in a little while is extinguished: for thou knowest not 
 the fire of the future judgment, and of that eternal 
 punishment, which is reserved for the ungodly. But 
 why tarriest thou? Bring forth what thou wilt.” 
 
 12. Having said this, and many other things (of the 
 like nature), he was filled with confidence and joy, 
 insomuch that his very countenance was full of grace; 
 
 6 Or, “ From the miseries of this wicked world to the blessedness of the 
 just.” See Jacobson’s note. 
 
 7 It will be observed that the punishment of being burnt alive is here 
 considered more severe than that of being exposed to wild beasts. 
 
OF POLYCARP. 137 
 
 so that not only he was serene and undisturbed at 
 what was spoken to him, but, on the contrary, the 
 Proconsul was astonished, and sent his own herald to 
 proclaim thrice, in the midst of the lists, “ Polycarp 
 hath confessed himself to be a Christian.” When this 
 was proclaimed by the herald, the whole multitude 
 both of the Gentiles and of the Jews which dwelt at 
 Smyrna, being full of fury, cried out with a loud voice, 
 “This is the teacher of Asia‘, the father of the Chris- 
 tians, who hath overthrown our gods, and teaches so 
 many not to sacrifice, nor to pay any worship to the 
 gods.” And so saying, they cried out and desired 
 Philip, the president of the spectacles’, that he would 
 let loose a lion against Polycarp. But Philip replied, 
 that it was not lawful for him to do so, since that kind 
 of spectacle was already over. Then it pleased them 
 to cry out with one consent, that Polycarp should be 
 burnt alive. For so it was necessary that the vision 
 
 8 The original words are, ὁ τῆς ἀσεβείας διδάσκαλος. But Eusebius, H. 
 E. iv. 15, Rufinus, and the old Latin version agree in putting ᾿Ασίας for 
 ἀσεβείας. Jerome, in his Catalogue of Ecclesiastical Writers, calls Polycarp, 
 Totius Asiz princeps. 
 
 9 ᾿Ασιάρχης. The Asiarch was chief priest of the whole province of 
 Asia. He is called ἀρχιερεὺς inc. 21. Every year, about the period of 
 the Autumnal equinox, an assembly was held in the several cities, in which 
 one person of that city was nominated to the office. The common council 
 of all Asia afterwards elected about ten, out of those nominated by the 
 several cities. It is doubtful whether all the ten filled the office during 
 the year, or whether the Proconsul appointed one of the ten, as in the 
 case of the Irenarch, or keeper of the peace. See note, 8, c. 6. 
 
 Valesius (Euseb. Hist. Eccles. iv. 15,) is of opinion, from the conclusion 
 of this Epistle, in which the martyrdom of Polycarp is said to have taken 
 place “ when Philip was chief priest,” that one only was appointed. In 
 Acts xix. 31, mention is made of“ certain of the chiefs of Asia,” (Ασιαρχῶν,) 
 whence Abp. Usher concludes there were more than one. But those who 
 had once discharged the office might still be called by the name, as was 
 sometimes the case with the Jewish High Priests. 
 
 The office was accompanied with great expense. For which reason 
 Strabo says that the Asiarch was often chosen, as in this instance, c. 21, 
 from the opulent citizens of Tralles. καὶ ἀεί τινες ἐξ αὐτῶν (Τραλλιανῶν) 
 εἰσιν οἱ πρωτεύοντες κατὰ τὴν ἐπαρχίαν οὺς ᾿Ασιάρχας καλοῦσι. Strabo, lib. 
 xiv. 
 
138 THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 should be fulfilled which was made manifest to him by 
 his pillow, when he saw it on fire, as he prayed, and 
 said prophetically to the faithful that were with him, I 
 must be burnt alive. 
 
 13. This then was done with greater speed than it 
 was spoken: the whole multitude instantly gathering 
 together wood and faggots out of the workshops and 
 baths: the Jews especially, according to their custom, 
 with all readiness assisting them in doing it. When 
 the pile was ready, Polycarp, laying aside all his upper 
 garments, and loosing his girdle, endeavoured also to 
 loosen his sandals, which aforetime he was not wont to 
 do; forasmuch as always every one of the faithful, that 
 was about him, contended who should soonest touch 
 his flesh. For he was adorned by his good conversation 
 with all kinds of piety, even before his martyrdom '. 
 Immediately then they put upon him the instruments * 
 which were prepared for the pile. But when they 
 would also have nailed him to the stake, he said, 
 “Leave me thus: for he who hath given me strength 
 to endure the fire, will also enable me, without your 
 securing me by nails, to remain without moving in the 
 pile.” 
 
 14. Wherefore they did not nail him, but bound 
 him (to the stake). But he, having put his hands 
 behind him, and being bound as a ram, (chosen) out of 
 a great flock for an offering, and prepared to be a burnt 
 sacrifice, acceptable unto God, looked up to heaven, 
 and said, “0 Lord God Almighty, the Father of thy 
 well-beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, by whom 
 we have received the knowledge of thee; the God of 
 angels and powers and of every creature, and (especially) 
 
 1 Eusebius has, “ For, even before he was grey-headed (πρὸ τῆς πολιᾶς), 
 he was adorned in all things by his good conversation.” 
 2 $0yava—the pitched shirt, in which the victim was wrapped, the stake 
 
 to which he was bound, the nails, and other implements, by which he was 
 secured, 
 
OF POLYCARP. 139 
 
 of the whole race of just men, who live in thy presence; 
 I give thee hearty thanks that thou hast vouchsafed to 
 bring me to this day and to this hour; that I should 
 have a part in the number of thy martyrs, in the cup 
 of thy Christ, unto the resurrection of eternal life, 
 both of soul and body, in the incorruption of the Holy 
 Spirit: among which may I be accepted this day before 
 thee, as a fat and acceptable sacrifice, as thou hast 
 before ordained, and declared, and fulfilled, even thou 
 the true God with whom is no falsehood at all. For 
 this and for all things else, I praise thee, I bless thee, 
 with the eternal and heavenly Jesus Christ, thy be- 
 loved Son, with whom to thee and the Holy Ghost be 
 glory, both now and to all succeeding ages. Amen’.” 
 
 15. As soon as he had uttered Amen, and finished 
 his prayer, the men appointed for the purpose lighted 
 the fire. And when the flame began to blaze to a 
 very great height, a wonderful sight appeared to us, 
 who were permitted to witness it, and were also spared, 
 to relate to others what had happened. For the flame, 
 making a kind of arch, like the sail of a ship filled 
 with wind, encompassed the body of the martyr, which 
 was in the midst, not as flesh which was burned, but 
 as bread which is baked, or as gold or silver glowing 
 in the furnace. Moreover we perceived as fragrant an 
 odour, as if it came from frankincense, or some other 
 precious spices. 
 
 16. At length, when these wicked men saw that his 
 
 3 The conclusion of this prayer is differently expressed in Eusebius : 
 “For this, and for all things else, I praise thee, I bless thee, I glorify 
 thee, through the eternal High Priest, Jesus Christ thy beloved Son, 
 through whom, to thee with him, in the Holy Ghost, be glory both now 
 and to all succeeding ages. Amen.” 
 
 δι’ οὗ σοὶ σὺν αὐτῷ ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ δόξα, κ. τ. Δ. 
 
 The old Latin version agrees nearly with Eusebius. “Ob hance rem te 
 benedico in omnibus, et glorior, per zternum Pontificem omnipotentem 
 Jesum Christum, per quem tibi, et cum ipso, et cum Spiritu Sancto, gloria 
 nune, et in futurum, et in secula seculorum. Amen.” 
 
140 THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 body could not be consumed by the fire, they com- 
 manded the executioner* to go near, and pierce him 
 with his sword. Which being accordingly done, there 
 came forth’ so great a quantity of blood, as extin- 
 guished the fire, and raised an admiration among the 
 people, to consider what a difference there is between 
 the infidels and the elect, one of which this admirable 
 martyr Polycarp was, being in our times a truly apos- 
 tolical and prophetical teacher, and the Bishop of the 
 Catholic Church which is at Smyrna. For every word 
 that proceeded out of his mouth either is (already) ful- 
 filled, or will (in due time) be accomplished. 
 
 17. But when the emulous and envious and wicked 
 adversary of the race of the just saw the greatness of 
 his martyrdom, and considered how blameless his con- 
 versation had been from the beginning, and that he 
 was now crowned with the crown of immortality, 
 having without all controversy received his reward, he 
 took all care that not the least relic of his body should 
 be taken away by us, although many desired to do it, 
 and to have a share in his holy flesh. And to that 
 
 4 Both the Greek text and Eusebius have here the Latin word κομ- 
 géxropa. ‘The confectores were persons appointed to kill the wild beasts, 
 at the public games ; if there was any apprehension of their injuring the 
 people. They differed from the bestiarii, who fought with the beasts, in 
 somewhat the same manner as the matador does from the combatant in the 
 Spanish bull fights. 
 
 5 The original words are ἐξῆλθε περιστερὰ καὶ πλῆθος αἵματος. There 
 came forth a dove, and a quantity of blood. 
 
 Eusebius, and his translator Rufinus, make no mention of this prodigy ; 
 and no tradition of the kind is contained in any ancient Christian writer. 
 It has been conjectured, with some probability, that the word περιστερὰ is 
 an error for ἐπ᾽ ἀριστερᾷ, ‘on the left side :’ so that the sentence would be 
 to this effect, ‘“‘ when the executioner wounded him with his sword, there 
 came forth from the wound, which was inflicted in his left side, such a 
 quantity of blood, as extinguished the fire.” Dr. Jacobson supposes that 
 the word περιστερὰ had been written in the margin, to indicate that it was 
 at the instant here described, that the soul of the martyr left the body and 
 ascended to heaven in the form of a dove, an emblem of the Christian sou! 
 often used upen sepulchres. 
 
 Y 
 
OF POLYCARP. 141 
 
 end he suggested to Nicetes, the father of Herod, and 
 brother of Alce, to go to the governor, and hinder him 
 from giving his body to be buried: lest, said he, for- 
 saking him that was crucified, they should begin to 
 worship this Polyearp. And this he said at the sug- 
 gestion and instance of the Jews, who also watched us 
 that we should not take him out of the fire: not con- 
 sidering that it is impossible for us either ever to 
 forsake Christ, who suffered for the salvation of all 
 such as shall be saved throughout the whole world 
 (the righteous for the ungodly 5), or to worship any 
 other. For him indeed, as being the Son of God, we 
 adore. But for the martyrs, we worthily love them’, 
 as the disciples and imitators of our Lord, on account 
 of their exceeding great love towards their Master and 
 King; of whom may we also be made companions and 
 fellow- disciples. 
 
 18. The centurion, therefore, seeing the contention 
 of the Jews, put his body into the midst of the fire, 
 and burned it. After which, we, taking up his bones 
 more precious than the richest jewels, and tried above 
 gold, deposited them where it was fitting. Where 
 being gathered together as we have opportunity, with 
 joy and gladness, the Lord will grant unto us to cele- 
 brate the anniversary® of his martyrdom, both in 
 
 61 Pet. iii. 18. These words appear to be an interpolation. They are 
 not found in Eusebius nor in the old Latin version. 
 
 7 This valuable testimony of the Church of Smyrna, against the adora- 
 tion of Saints, agrees with the sentiments of Augustin ; “ Non sit nobis 
 religio cultus hominum mortuorum ; quia, si pié vixerunt, non sic habentur 
 ut tales queerant honores: sed Illum a nobis coli volunt, quo illuminante, 
 letantur meriti sui nos esse consortes. Honorandi ergo sunt propter 
 imitationem, non adorandi propter religionem.” Augustin. De Vera Reli- 
 gione, c. 55. 
 
 8 τὴν τοῦ μαρτυρίου αὐτοῦ ἡμέραν γενέθλιον, the birth-day of his mar- 
 tyrdom. 
 
 The celebration of the anniversary of the day on whicha martyr suf- 
 fered began thus to be observed, early in the second century. At the 
 end of the fourth, and in the beginning of the fifth century, we find from 
 
142 THE MARTYRDOM 
 
 memory of those who have suffered, and for the ex- 
 ercise and preparation of those that may hereafter 
 (suffer). 
 
 Chrysostom and Theodoret (Serm. viii. de Martyribus) that these days 
 were greatly increased in number. There are extant sixteen homilies of 
 Chrysostom, preached on different days set apart for such commemora- 
 tions. Bingham, Eccles. Ant. xiii. 9, 5, quotes Chrysostom, Hom. xl. in 
 Jubentinum, to prove that the festival of Babylas and Jubentinus then 
 occurred on two successive days. The passage, however, merely implies 
 that the festival of Babylas occurred soon before that of Jubentinus ; the 
 one, indeed, on the 4th of September, the other on the 25th of January. 
 
 Ὁ μακάριος Βαβύλας πρώην ἡμᾶς ἔνταυθα μετὰ παίδων τρίων συνήγαγε" 
 σήμερον στρατιωτῶν ξυνωρὶς ἁγίων, τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ στρατόπεδον ἐπὶ τῆς 
 παρατάξεως ἔστησε. Chrysos. Hom. in Juventin. tom. v. p. 533, Savile. 
 
 Chrysostom makes the same kind of allusion to the previous festival of 
 Pelagia, on the 8th of October, in his Homily upon the martyrdom of 
 Ignatius, on the 20th of December. 
 
 Πρώην γοῦν ἡμᾶς κόρη κομιδῆ νέα καὶ ἀπειρόγαμος ἡ μακαρία μάρτυς 
 Πελαγία μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς εὐφροσύνης εἱστίασε᾽ σήμερον πάλιν τῆς ἐκείνης 
 ἑορτῆς ὁ μακάριος οὗτος καὶ γενναῖος μάρτυς ᾿Ιγνάτιος διεδέξατο. Chrysos. 
 Hom. in Ignat. tom. vy. p. 498, Savile. 
 
 The only two festivals which appear to have occurred on consecutive 
 days in the Eastern Church, in the time of Chrysostom, were those of 
 Romanus and Barlaam on the 18th and 19th of November. 
 
 These anniversaries of the days on which the martyrs suffered were 
 called their birth-days, as being the days on which they were freed from 
 the trials of mortality, and born, as it were, into the joys and happiness of 
 heaven. Thus Tertullian, de Coron. Militis, c. 3, says, “ Oblationes pro 
 defunctis pro natalitiis annua die facimus.” Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, 
 writing to his Presbyters and Deacons respecting their treatment of the 
 Confessors, then in prison, thus advises them: “ Denique et dies eorum 
 quibus excedunt annotate, ut commemorationes eorum inter memorias 
 martyrum celebrare possimus.” Cyprian, Ep. xii. p. 27. (Fell.) And, in 
 another Epistle to the same persons, he says, with reference to Laurentius 
 and Ignatius: “ Sacrificia pro eis semper, ut meministis, offerimus, quoties 
 martyrum passiones et dies anniversaria commemoratione celebramus.” 
 Epist. xxxix. p. 77. (Fell.) 
 
 After Cyprian himself had suffered for the faith, we find Peter Chryso- 
 logus, in his Sermon on the Martyrdom of Cyprian, using the like expres- 
 sions : “ Natalem sanctorum cum audistis, fratres, nolite putare illum dici, 
 quo nascuntur in terram de carne ; sed de terra in ccelum, de labore ad 
 requiem, de tentationibus ad quietem, de cruciatibus ad delicias, non fluxas 
 sed fortes et stabiles et aeternas, de mundanis risibus ad coronam et gloriam. 
 Tales natales dies martyrum celebrantur.” 
 
 In the time of Constantine, the observation of the festivals of the 
 martyrs was enforced by a decree of the emperor. Euseb. de Vit. Con- 
 stant. iv. 23. (The 
 
OF POLYCARP. 143 
 
 19. Such were the sufferings of the blessed Poly- 
 carp, who, though he was the twelfth of those who, 
 together with them of Philadelphia, suffered martyrdom 
 in Smyrna, is yet alone chiefly had in memory of all 
 men; insomuch that he is spoken of by the very gen- 
 tiles themselves in every place, as having been not 
 only an eminent teacher, but also a glorious martyr. 
 Whose death all desire to imitate, as having been in 
 all things conformable to the Gospel of Christ. For 
 having by patience overcome the unjust governor, and 
 so received the crown of immortality, he now, together 
 with the Apostles and all other righteous men, with 
 great triumph glorifies God even the Father, and 
 blesses our Lord the Governor of our (souls and) 
 bodies °, and the Shepherd of the Catholic Church 
 throughout the world. 
 
 20. Whereas, therefore, ye desired that we would 
 at large declare to you what was done, we have for the 
 present briefly signified it to you by our brother Mar- 
 cus. When, therefore, ye have read this Epistle, send 
 it also to the brethren that are more remote, that they 
 also may glorify God, who makes such choice of his 
 own servants, and is able to bring us all by his grace 
 
 The manner of celebrating the memories of the martyrs and confessors, 
 in the primitive Church, was this. 
 
 On the anniversary day, the people assembled, sometimes at the tombs 
 where the martyrs had been buried. They then publicly praised God for 
 those who had glorified him by their sufferings and death ; recited the 
 history of their martyrdom, and heard a sermon preached in commemora- 
 tion of their patience and Christian virtues. They offered up fervent 
 prayers to God, and celebrated the Eucharist, in commemoration of Christ’s 
 passion, and gave alms to the poor. 
 
 They kept also a public festival, provided by general contribution, to 
 which the poorer brethren were freely admitted. In the early ages 
 these feasts were frugal and temperate ; but afterwards degenerated into 
 excess. 
 
 9 The Greek has κυβερνήτην τῶν σωμάτων ἡμῶν. The old Latin 
 version has, ‘‘salvatorem anime nostre, gubernatorem corporum :” and adds, 
 at the conclusion of the sentence, “ et Spiritum Sanctum, per quem cuncta 
 cognoscimus.” 
 
144 THE MARTYRDOM OF POLYCARP. 
 
 and help to his eternal kingdom, through his only 
 begotten Son Jesus Christ; to whom be glory, honour, 
 might, and majesty, for ever and ever; Amen. Salute 
 all the saints. They that are with us salute you: and 
 Evarestus, who wrote this Epistle, with his whole house. 
 
 21. Now the martyrdom of the blessed Polycarp was | 
 on the second day of the month Xanthicus, that is, the 
 seventh of the Calends of May', on the great Sabbath, 
 about the eighth hour. He was taken by Herod, 
 Philip the Trallian being the chief priest’, Statius 
 Quadratus proconsul; but our Saviour Christ reigning 
 for evermore. To him be honour, glory, majesty, and 
 an eternal throne, from generation to generation. Amen. 
 
 22. We wish you, brethren, all happiness, by living 
 according to the rule of the Gospel of Jesus Christ ; 
 with whom, glory be to God the Father, and the Holy 
 Spirit, for the salvation of his chosen saints: after 
 whose example the blessed Polycarp suffered; at 
 whose feet may we be found in the kingdom of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 This Epistle was transcribed by Caius out of the 
 copy of Irenzeus the disciple of Polycarp, who also lived 
 and conversed with Ireneus. And I Socrates tran- 
 scribed it at Corinth, out of the copy of the said Caius. 
 Grace be with all. 
 
 After this, I Pionius again wrote it from the copy 
 before mentioned, Polycarp having pointed it out to 
 me by a revelation, as I shall declare in what follows ; 
 having gathered these things together, already almost 
 corrupted by length of time: that Jesus Christ our 
 Lord may also gather me together with his elect. To 
 whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be glory 
 for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 1 The 26th of April. ? Or Asiarch. See note onc. 12. 
 
ΡΑΒΊ 11. 
 
THE APOLOGY OF JUSTIN MARTYR 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 CHRISTIANS 
 TO ANTONINUS PIUS. 
 
 1. To the Emperor Titus Mlius Adrianus Antoninus 
 Pius Augustus Cesar, and to his son Verissimus the 
 Philosopher, and to Lucius the Philosopher, the son 253! 
 
 1 The figures in the margin refer to the pages in the Paris Edition. 
 
 3 The Emperor Adrian adopted Lucius lius Verus, and gave him the 
 title of Cesar. This Lucius died ; leaving only one son, Lucius Verus. 
 
 Adrian then adopted Titus Antoninus Pius, as his successor, upon con- 
 dition that he should adopt both Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, who is here 
 called Verissimus, his wife’s brother’s son, and Lucius Verus, the son of 
 fElius Verus. 
 
 The following scheme will show the relation in which Lucius Verus 
 stood towards Antoninus Pius and Lucius #lius Verus. 
 
 ADRIAN 
 adopted 
 ANTONINUS Pius Lucius Ax1us Verus Caesar 
 adopted 
 Marcus AvRELIUS ANTONINUS, Lucius VERUus. 
 
 Verissimus, the Philosopher. 
 
 Thus Lucius Verus was by birth son of L. Alius Verus Cesar, and the 
 adopted son of Antoninus Pius. The Apology of Athenagoras is in like 
 manner inscribed to Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Alius, or Aurelius 
 Verus, the Philosophers. 
 
 Of Lucius Verus the following character is given by Gibbon (book i. 
 ch. 8). ‘“ He was adopted by Pius; and on the accession of Marcus was 
 invested with an equal share of sovereign power. Among the many vices 
 
 2 
 
148 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 of (#lius Verus) Caesar by birth, and of Pius by 
 adoption, the lover of learning; and to the sacred 
 Senate, and to all the Roman people, in behalf of 
 those of all nations who are unjustly hated and per- 
 secuted, I Justin, the son of Priscus, and grandson of 
 Bacchius, natives of Flavia Neapolis* of Syria Pales- 
 tine, being myself one of those (who are so unjustly 
 used) offer this address and supplication. 
 
 2. Reason herself dictates that those, who can with 
 propriety be denominated Pious and Philosophers, 
 should love and honour truth alone, and refuse to 
 follow the opinions of the ancients, if plainly errone- 
 ous. For right reason not only forbids us to assent 
 to those who are unjust, either in practice or in prin- 
 ciple, but commands the lover of truth, by all means, 
 to choose that which is just in word and deed, even in 
 preference to his own life, and under the threatened 
 danger of immediate death. Now ye hear continually 
 ascribed to yourselves the appellations, Pious, Philoso- 
 phers, Guardians of Justice, and Lovers of Learning: 
 but whether ye also really are such, the event will 
 show. For we have come before you, not to flatter 
 you in this address, nor to obtain favour by words of 
 adulation, but to demand that judgment may be passed 
 according to strict and well-weighed reason; that ye 
 be not influenced by prejudice or the desire of pleasing 
 superstitious men, nor, through inconsiderate passion, 
 and the long prevalence of an evil report, pass a sen- 
 tence, which would turn against yourselves. For we 
 are fully persuaded that we can suffer no injury from 
 
 of this younger Verus, he possessed one virtue: a dutiful reverence for 
 his wiser colleague, to whom he willingly abandoned the ruder cares of 
 empire. The philosophic emperor dissembled his follies, lamented his 
 early death, and cast a decent veil over his memory.” 
 
 3 Flavia Neapolis was, as its name implies, a new town, built near the 
 ruins of Sychem, in Samaria. It derived its name Flavia from Flavius 
 Vespasian, who sent a colony thither. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 149 
 
 any one, unless we are found guilty of some wicked- 
 ness, or proved to be bad men: and kill us, ye may; 
 but hurt us ye cannot. 
 
 3. That no one, however, may imagine this to be an 
 unfounded and rash boast, we entreat that the charges 
 against Christians may be examined; and if they be 
 proved to be well founded, we are willing that they 
 should be punished as they deserve, or even to punish 
 them ourselves’. But if no one has any proof to bring 
 against them, right reason requires that ye should not, 
 in consequence of an evil report, injure innocent men, 
 or rather yourselves, since your decisions would be 
 influenced not by judgment but by passion. 
 
 Every wise man will agree, that an appeal of this 
 nature can then only be conducted equitably and well, 
 when subjects have the privilege of giving, without 
 interruption, a full account of their lives and opinions; 
 and princes, on the other hand, pass sentence in all 
 godliness and true philosophy, and not according to the 
 dictates of violence and arbitrary power: since by so 
 doing, both princes and subjects would secure their 
 own interest. For even one of the ancients lfath 
 some where said, “ Unless both princes and subjects be 
 influenced by true philosophy, the state can never 
 prosper®.” It will be our care, therefore, to give all 
 
 54 
 
 men the power of examining our lives and doctrines, 
 
 that we may not suffer for the errors blindly committed 
 by such as determine to be ignorant of our opinions: 
 and it will be your duty, as right reason requires, when 
 
 4 ἀξιοῦμεν κολάζεσθαι ὡς πρέπον ἐστὶ, μᾶλλον δὲ κολάζειν. 
 
 The i:aasiction expresses the sense which Fabricius gives to this difficult 
 passage. A similar sentiment is found at the end of ch. 22: “ We even 
 entreat that those who live not agreeably to their doctrines, but are merely 
 called Christians, may be punished by you.” 
 
 Other explanations of the words are given by Thirlby. 
 
 5 Plato, de Republica, v. tom. ii. p. 473, D. This was a favourite 
 maxim of Antoninus the Philosopher, and was, therefore, judiciously intro- 
 duced by Justin Martyr. , 
 
150 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 ye have heard the cause, to be just judges. For if, 
 when ye shall have been so informed, ye do not what 
 is just, ye will be inexcusable before God. A name 
 in itself ought not to be judged favourably or un- 
 favourably, without the actions which that name 
 implies. Although, as to our name, which is made 
 a subject of accusation against us, we are the best of 
 men*®. But as we should think it unjust that, if we 
 are proved to be guilty, we should demand to be ac- 
 quitted in consequence of possessing a good name, so 
 on the other hand, if we are proved to be innocent of 
 all offence both in the name which we bear, and in the 
 lives which we lead, it will be for you to beware, lest, 
 if ye unjustly punish the guiltless, ye yourselves 
 should be exposed to the vengeance of justice. From 
 a mere name neither praise nor blame can justly arise, 
 unless something either good or bad can be proved by 
 actions. For ye pass not sentence upon any that are 
 
 55 accused among yourselves, until they are condemned; 
 
 | but against us ye receive the very name as an accusa- 
 tion; whereas from our name ye ought rather to 
 punish our accusers. For we are accused of being 
 Christians: but to hate that which is good (which 
 Chrestus implies), is manifestly unjust. And again, if 
 any one of those also who are so accused, denies it, 
 asserting that he is not, ye dismiss him; ye release him 
 as if ye had nothing whereof to accuse him. But if 
 any one confesses that he is a Christian, ye punish him 
 for his confession: whereas ye ought to inquire into 
 the life both of him who confessed and of him who 
 denied, that by their deeds it might be made manifest 
 what kind of man each of them was. 
 
 ὁ Xpnorérarot. The names Christus and Χρηστὸς were frequently con- 
 founded ; sometimes fancifully enough. Thus Theophylus ad Autolycum, 
 p- 69, B. ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν ὁμολογῶ εἶναι Χριστιανὸς, καὶ φορῶ τὸ θεοφιλὲς 
 ὄνομα τοῦτο, ἐλπίζων εὔχρηστος εἶναι τῷ Θεῷ. And again, p. 77, B. See 
 Tertullian. Apol. c. 3. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 151 
 
 4. For as some, who have been taught by our master 
 Christ not to deny him, even when tortured, exhort 
 (others to embrace the faith); so it may happen that 
 men of evil lives may afford a pretence to others, who 
 are anxious to accuse all Christians of impiety and 
 injustice. But this too is unjustly done. For many 
 assume the name and garb of Philosophy, who act not 
 at all in conformity with their character. And ye well 
 know that men holding opposite opinions and doctrines 
 amongst the ancients, are styled by the common name 
 of Philosophers. Now some of these taught atheism ; 
 and some who were poets attributed even to Jupiter 
 the grossest indulgences, with his own children. Yet 
 those who give publicity to such opinions receive no 
 prohibition from you. Nay, ye even propose prizes 
 and honours to such as shall eloquently express these 
 disgraceful histories of your gods. 
 
 5. Why then should we be thus treated, who openly 
 avow our determination not to injure any one, nor to 
 hold these impious opinions? Ye judge not righteous 
 judgment, but under the excitement of unreasonable 
 passion, and lashed on by the scourges of evil demons, 
 ye punish without judgment and without thought. 
 For the truth must be spoken. Evil demons’, in 
 times of old, assuming various forms, went in unto the 
 daughters of men, and committed other abominations ; 
 and so astonished the minds of men with the wonders 
 which they displayed, that they formed not a rational 
 judgment of what was done, but were hurried away by 
 their fears; so that, not knowing them to be evil 
 demons, they styled them gods, and addressed them by 
 the name which each demon imposed upon himself. 
 And when Socrates, in a spirit of true wisdom and 
 research, endeavoured to bring all this to light, and to 56 
 
 ~ , , 4 ~ 
 7 ᾿Επεὶ τὸ παλαιὸν δαίμονες φαῦλοι ἐπιφανείας ποιησάμενοι, καὶ γυναῖκας 
 ᾽ ΄ - ΄ ΄ ᾽ , ” r 
 ἐμοίχευσαν καὶ παῖδας διέφθειραν, καὶ φόβητρα ἀνθρώποις ἔδειξαν. 
 
152 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 lead men away from the worship of demons, the 
 demons themselves so wrought by the hands of men 
 who delighted in wickedness, as to put him to death, 
 as an atheist or impious, under the pretence that he 
 was introducing new deities. And so in like manner 
 do they act towards us. For not only was this de- 
 clared to the Greeks by Socrates, at the suggestion of 
 right reason, but also in other lands, by Reason, even 
 the Word itself, which appeared in a bodily form, and 
 was made man, and was called Jesus Christ. We, 
 then, believing in him, deciare that the demons, who 
 did such things, not only are no gods’*, but are evil and 
 unholy spirits, whose actions are not even equal to 
 those of virtuous men. Hence it is that we are styled 
 Atheists ”. 
 
 6. We confess, indeed, that we are unbelievers of 
 such pretended gods, but not of the most true God, the 
 Father of righteousness and temperance, and of all 
 other virtues, in whom is no mixture of evil. But we 
 worship and adore him, and his Son, who came out 
 from him, and hath taught us respecting these things’, 
 
 8 ob μόνον μὴ θεοὺς εἶναι φαμὲν, ἀλλὰ κακοὺς καὶ ἀνοσίους δαίμονας. 
 The common reading is μὴ ὀρθοὺς, which is plainly erroneous. 
 
 9 See the note on the Martyrdom of Ignatius, c. 3. 
 
 1 Αλλ᾽ ἐκεῖνόν τε, καὶ τὸν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ υἱὸν ἐλθόντα καὶ διδάξαντα ἡμᾶς 
 ταῦτα καὶ τὸν τῶν ἄλλων ἑπομένων καὶ ἐξομοιουμένων ἀγαθῶν ἀγγέλων 
 στρατὸν, πνεῦμά τε τὸ προφητικὸν σεβόμεθα, καὶ προσκυνοῦμεν, λόγῳ καὶ 
 ἀληθείᾳ τιμῶντες. 
 
 The sense given in the translation is that usually affixed to these words, 
 and supported by Bp. Bull, Defensio Fid. Nicene, sect. ii. c. iv. 8. Justin 
 had observed, in c. 5, that Socrates fell a victim to the cruelty of his 
 countrymen instigated by evil demons; and that the same spirits caused 
 the Gentiles to accuse the Christians of atheism. He shows, therefore, 
 that the religion of Christ taught them that those spirits were no gods, 
 “The object of our worship,” he says, “ is God the Father of righteous- 
 ness and temperance, the author of every good thing. We adore him, 
 and his Son, who came out from him. He it was who taught us fully 
 what hath before been observed respecting evil angels, and their delusions, 
 and hath also taught us that there is an innumerable host of good angels, 
 who follow him and are made like unto him. We worship also the 
 Prophetic Spirit.” 
 
 (The 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 153 
 
 and respecting the host of the other good angels, who 
 follow him and are made like unto him; and the 
 
 The parenthetic mention of evil and good angels is certainly harsh ; but 
 may perhaps be justified when the words are considered in connexion with 
 the context. 
 
 The statement respecting the three persons of the Blessed Trinity, as 
 the only objects of worship, is repeated in c. 16. 
 
 “We worship the Creator of the universe.—Again we have learned, 
 that he, who taught us these things and for this end was born, even Jesus 
 Christ—was the Son of him who is truly God ; and we esteem him in the 
 second place. And that we with reason honour the Prophetic Spirit, in 
 the third place, we shall hereafter show.” 
 
 Tov δημιουργὸν τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς σεβόμενοι---τὸν διδάσκαλόν τε τούτων 
 γενόμενον ἡμῖν, καὶ εἰς τοῦτο γεννηθέντα ᾿Ιησοῦν Χριστὸν---ουἱὸν αὐτοῦ τοῦ 
 ὄντως Θεοῦ μαθόντες, καὶ ἐν δευτέρᾳ χώρᾳ ἔχοντες, πνεῦμά τε προφητικὸν 
 ἐν τρίτῃ τάξει, ὅτι μετὰ λόγου τιμῶμεν, ἀποδείξομεν. Apol. p. 60, D. 
 
 Grabe follows Cave (Primitive Christianity, part i. ch. i. p. 9), by con- 
 necting τὸν ἀγγέλων στρατὸν with ἡμᾶς. “ Who instructed us, and the 
 whole society of angels, in these divine mysteries.” Grabe supports this 
 version by a reference to Eph. iii. 10. “Iva γνωρισθῇ viv ταῖς ἀρχαῖς καὶ 
 ταῖς ἐξουσίαις ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις, διὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ἡ πολυποίκιλος σοφία 
 τοῦ Θεοῦ" and quotes Ireneus, ii. 55. Semper autem coexistens Filius 
 Patri, olim et ab initio semper revelat Patrem, et angelis et archangelis et 
 potestatibus et virtutibus, et omnibus quibus yult revelare Deus. 
 
 Ashton, in a note subjoined to his edition of this Apology, supposes that 
 there is a dislocation in the words of the text, the clause—kai τὸν τῶν 
 ἄλλων---ἀγγέλων orparov—having been removed from the end of the 
 sentence into the middle. The passage, with this alteration, will stand 
 thus. ᾿Αλλ’ ἐκεῖνόν τε, καὶ τὸν map’ αὐτοῦ υἱὸν ἐλθόντα καὶ διδάξαντα 
 ἡμὰς ταῦτα, πνεῦμά τε τὸ προφητικὸν σεβόμεθα καὶ προσκυνοῦμεν, λόγῳ 
 καὶ ἀληθείᾳ, τιμῶντες καὶ τὸν τῶν ἄλλων ἑπομένων καὶ ἐξομοιουμένων 
 ἀγαθῶν ἀγγέλων στρατόν. 
 
 “ But we worship and adore, in reason and truth, him, and his Son who 
 came out from him, and taught us these things, and the Holy Spirit ; 
 honouring also the host of the other good angels who follow him and are 
 made like unto him.” 
 
 Roman Catholic writers adduce this passage, as favouring the worship of 
 angels. They place a comma after ταῦτα, and render the words to this 
 effect : “ We worship in reason and in truth, with all honour, him, and 
 his Son who came out from him, and taught us these things, and the host 
 of good angels which follow him and are made like unto him, and the 
 Prophetic Spirit.” 
 
 In the passage, however, above quoted, and in many others, Justin 
 plainly points out three persons only, the Creator, the Son, and the 
 Prophetic Spirit, as the objects of Christian worship. Compare Apol. 
 6: 77. 79. 85. 87. 
 
 See Bp. Kaye’s “ Account of the Writings and Opinions of Justin 
 Martyr,” ch. ii. p. 53. 
 
154 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 Prophetic Spirit; honouring them in reason and in 
 truth. And to every one who wishes to learn, we 
 freely deliver our opinions, even as we have been 
 taught. 
 
 7. But, some one will say, already some of those 
 who have been taken have been proved guilty of 
 crimes. And, in fact, ye do frequently condemn many, 
 after having made diligent inquiry into the life of each 
 one that is accused, and not in consequence of such 
 charges as have been mentioned’. Moreover, this we 
 readily confess, that in the same manner as among the 
 Greeks, those who hold any peculiar system of opinions, 
 are all called by the name of Philosophers, although 
 their tenets be opposed to each other, so, in other 
 countries, the name assumed by all those, who either 
 have or profess true wisdom, is the same; for all are 
 called Christians. Wherefore we require that the 
 actions of all those who are accused before you may be 
 examined; that he who is convicted may be punished 
 ' as an evil doer, but not as a Christian®. And if any 
 
 one appears to be innocent, that he may be dismissed, 
 
 as a Christian who hath done no evil. For we require 
 57 you not to punish our accusers‘: they are sufficiently 
 
 2 «ai γὰρ πολλοὺς πολλάκις, ὅταν ἑκάστοτε THY κατηγορημένων τὸν βίον 
 ἐξετάζητε, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ διὰ τοὺς προλεχθέντας, καταδικάζετε. If this passage is 
 correct, its sense seems to be this: 
 
 “In the course of your various and discursive inquiries into the lives of 
 so many as are brought before you under the general accusation of being 
 Christians, there are doubtless many who are guilty of some crime, for 
 which they may justly suffer punishment, although they would deserve no 
 blame for the charge first alleged against them.” The last clause, ἀλλ᾽ 
 οὐ διὰ τοὺς προλεχθέντας, is, however, so harsh, that we might almost 
 suspect that Justin wrote, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδ᾽ αὐτοὺς οὐκ ἐλεγχθέντας, or, if the 
 word might be allowed, οὐ προελεγχθέντας. ‘“ Ye frequently condemn 
 many, after ye have made inquiry into the life of each, but not even those, 
 unless they have been first convicted of some crime.” 
 
 3. 1 Pet. iv. 15. 
 
 ‘ This is probably an allusion to the rescript of the Emperor Adrian, 
 subjoined to this Apology, in which punishment is threatened against any 
 one who should calumniate the Christians. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 155 
 
 recompensed by their own malice, and their ignorance 
 of what is good. 
 
 8. Moreover, bear in mind that it is for your sakes 
 that we thus speak; since it is in our power to deny, 
 when we are questioned. But we choose not to live 
 by falsehood. For out of our great love of an eternal 
 and pure life, we desire to converse with God, the 
 Father and Creator of all things; and hasten to con- 
 fess, inasmuch as we believe and are sure, that such 
 as show by their works that they follow God, and 
 earnestly long to converse with him, in the place where 
 no evil assaults them, shall be able to attain to those 
 blessings. Such then, to speak briefly, are our ex- 
 pectations: such are the doctrines, which through 
 Christ we have learned, and teach. Now Plato® in 
 like manner declared that Rhadamanthus and Minos 
 will punish the wicked who shall come to them. The 
 event, of which we speak, is the same; but we say 
 that it will be accomplished by Christ: and that both 
 souls and bodies will be united, and punished with 
 eternal torments, and not, as he declares, for a thousand 
 years only ἡ. If, notwithstanding, any one should say 
 that all this is incredible or impossible, this error re- 
 
 5 Plato, Gorgias. p. 524. 
 
 6 Plato, de Republ. lib. x. p. 615. 
 
 Justin here plainly maintains the eternity of future punishments. When 
 Justin M. speaks in his own person, he always describes the punishment of 
 the wicked as eternal. See c. xii. 24. 29, at the end; 60 at the end. 
 See also Apol. 2, p. 41; C.E.45; E. 46; Ὁ. 47, D. There is a passage 
 in his dialogue with Trypho, however, in which his instructor describes 
 the happiness of the righteous and the punishment of the wicked as 
 enduring as Jong as God shall will : 
 
 οὕτως at piv (ψυχαὶ) ἄξιαι τοῦ Θεοῦ φανεῖσθαι οὐκ ἀποθνήσκουσι ἔτι, αἱ 
 δὲ κολάζονται ἔς τ᾽ ἂν αὐτὰς καὶ εἶναι καὶ κολάζεσθαι ὁ Θεὸς θέλῳ, 
 p- 223, C. 
 
 If Justin is here to be considered as expressing his own sentiments, the 
 apparent contradiction will be reconciled by supposing his opinion to be, 
 that the eternity of the soul of man is not inherent, but that God wills the 
 
 punishment of the wicked to be eternal. See Bp. Kaye’s Account of Justin 
 Martyr, ch. v. p. 102. 
 
156 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 | gards ourselves only, and no one else’, as long as we 
 are not proved guilty of any evil action. 
 
 9. Neither again do we honour with numerous 
 sacrifices and garlands of flowers, those whom men 
 have invested with a bodily shape, and placed in tem- 
 ples, and then denominated gods. We well know that 
 these are senseless and dead, possessing not the form 
 of God. We imagine not that God hath such a bodily 
 shape as some pretend to imitate, to his honour; and 
 are persuaded that these images have not the form of 
 God, but the names and figures of those evil demons 
 which have appeared. For why should I repeat to 
 you, who know so well, in what manner the workmen 
 treat their materials, polishing, cutting, melting, and 
 hammering, and frequently out of the meanest vessels, 
 by merely changing their form, and fashioning them 
 anew, giving them the name of gods*? In our opinion 
 this is not only unreasonable, but offers great dishonour 
 to God, who, although he possesses a glory and form 
 which are inexpressible, is thus named after corruptible 
 
 ᾿ things, and such as require care to preserve them. Ye 
 well know, also, that those who are occupied in these 
 works lead most impure lives, and, not to dwell upon 
 
 58 particulars, practise all kinds of wickedness, so that 
 they even corrupt the women who assist them in their 
 works. Oh! astonishing blindness! that men thus 
 impure should be said ° to form and change the fashion 
 of gods, for the purpose of worship; and that such 
 men should be placed as guards of the temples where 
 they are set up, not considering that it is impious 
 either to imagine or to say, that men are the keepers 
 of gods. 
 
 10. But we are firmly persuaded that God requires 
 
 7 Compare Job xix. 4. 
 
 8 Compare Isa. xliv. 12—19. It might be conceived that Justin Martyr 
 had in view the history told of Amasis, in Herod. ii. 172. 
 
 9 λέγεσθαι is the reading of H. Stephanus, instead of λέγεσθε. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 157 
 
 not from men material offerings, seeing that he hath 
 given us all things. And we have been taught, and 
 believe, and are sure, that they only are accepted of 
 him, who imitate the perfections of his holy nature, 
 chastity, justice, humanity, and whatever other virtues 
 belong to God, to whom no name can be ascribed’. 
 We have been taught also, that he, of his goodness, 
 did in the beginning make all things of unformed 
 matter, for the sake of men, who shall, we know, be 
 admitted to his presence, there to reign with him, in 
 immortality and freedom from all suffering, if they 
 show themselves worthy, by their actions, in obedience 
 to his will. For in the same manner as he created us 
 from nothing, so we believe that they who choose such 
 things as are well pleasing in his sight, shall, in con- 
 sequence of that choice, be deemed worthy of immor- 
 tality and communion with him. For to exist, at the 
 beginning, was not in our own power. But to obey what 
 is conformable to his will, making our choice by means 
 of the rational faculties with which he hath endowed 
 us, persuades us and leads us to faith’. And we con- 
 sider it to be of the utmost importance to every man, 
 that he be not forbidden to learn these things, but be 
 exhorted and persuaded to embrace them. For that 
 which human laws never could have effected, the Word, 
 which is divine, would have (already) performed, had 
 not the evil demons disseminated many false and im- 
 pious accusations, of which we are entirely guiltless, 
 availing themselves of the assistance of that proneness 
 
 1 Justin expresses the same thought in c. 80, and in his second Apo- 
 logy, p. 44, ὄνομα δὲ τῷ πάντων πατρὶ θετὸν, ἀγεννήτῳ ὄντι, οὐκ ἔστιν. 
 In the persecution, which took place after the death of Antoninus Pius, 
 Attalus, in the midst of his torments, while exposed in an iron chair before 
 a slow fire, was asked, what was the name of God? his reply was, “ God 
 is not like man; he hath no name.” ‘O Θεὸς ὄνομα οὐκ ἔχει ὡς ἄνθρωπος. 
 Euseb. H. E. v. 1. The same sentiment is found in the Cohortatio ad 
 
 Grecos, ascribed to Justin, p. 19, B. 
 2 Compare John vii. 17. 
 
158 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 to all evil, which, although various in its kind, exists 
 in every man. 
 
 11. Now ye, when ye hear that we look for a king- 
 dom, assume, without inquiry, that we speak of a 
 
 \human kingdom; whereas we speak of that which is 
 with God: as plainly appears from this, that when we 
 are questioned by you, we confess that we are Chris- 
 tians, when we know that the punishment of death 
 will be inflicted upon all who confess. For if we ex- 
 pected a human kingdom, we should deny, that we 
 
 59 might escape death; and should seek to remain con- 
 cealed, that we might obtain what we expect. But 
 since our hopes are not fixed upon this present world, 
 we care not for our murderers, knowing that at all 
 events we must die. 
 
 12. Moreover, we aid and assist you to preserve 
 peace, more than all other men: for we are firmly 
 persuaded, that it is impossible that any man should 
 escape the notice of God, whether he be an evil doer, 
 or covetous, or a traitor, or a virtuous man: and that 
 every one shall go into eternal punishment or happi- 
 ness, according to that which his deeds deserve. For 
 if all men knew this, no one would choose evil for a 
 little time, knowing that he must go into everlasting 
 punishment by fire; but each would restrain himself, 
 and adorn himself with all virtue, that so he might 
 attain unto the good things which are of God, and be 
 free from those torments. They who offend against 
 the laws, and are exposed to the punishments which 
 ye impose, may endeavour to escape detection, know- 
 ing well that it is possible to elude the notice of human 
 beings like yourselves. But if they had learned, and 
 were well assured, that it is impossible for God not to 
 know every thing which is done, nay, even every thing 
 
 _ which is thought, they would by all means live cir- 
 cumspectly, if it were but to avoid the punishment 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 159 
 
 hanging over their heads, as even ye yourselves will 
 confess. 
 
 -13- But, it would seem, ye fear lest all should be 
 just and holy in their lives, and ye should have none 
 to punish. This would be an apprehension worthy of 
 an executioner, but not of good princes. And we are 
 persuaded that such suggestions arise, as we have be- 
 fore said, from those evil demons, who demand even 
 offerings and worship from those who live a life con- 
 trary toreason. Neither do we suspect that ye, who 
 follow after piety and philosophy *, would do any thing 
 against reason. But if ye also, in like manner with 
 those inconsiderate men, honour established practices 
 more than truth, then do what ye can: and the utmost 
 that even princes can do, who honour the opinions (of 
 men) more than the truth, is but as much as robbers 
 in the desert could *. And that your labour will be 
 in vain the Word himself declares, than whom, with 
 God his Father, we know no prince more royal and 
 more just. For as all avoid the inheritance of the 
 poverty, or disease, or disgrace of their parents, so 
 will every one who is wise reject that which right rea- 
 son commands him to refuse’. 
 
 44. Our teacher, the Son and Apostle*® of God the 
 Father and Lord of all things, even Jesus Christ, from 
 whom also we have obtained the name of Christians, 
 hath foretold to us that all these things would come 
 
 3 Justin alludes to the appellations of the two Antonines, Pious and 
 Philosopher. Seec. 2. 
 
 4 That is, put us to death. Compare ce. 2, and 60. 
 
 5 Children inherit the property of their parents, and they justly claim 
 it as their right. But no one requires to succeed to the poverty, or dis- 
 ease, or disgrace of his parent. In like manner, although established 
 prejudices may have descended to us, we shall exercise our own judgment 
 upon them ; we shall consider whether right reason declares them to be 
 part of the wealth, or of the weakness of antiquity ; and accordingly 
 accept or reject them. 
 
 © Heb. iii. 1. 
 
 60 
 
160 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 to pass. Wherefore we cleave stedfastly to all things 
 which were taught of him, since whatsoever he before 
 declared should happen, hath indeed been fulfilled. 
 For this is the work of God (only): to declare events 
 before they happen; and manifestly to bring them to 
 pass, even as they were predicted. 
 
 A5- We might now rest satisfied with what hath 
 been said, and add nothing more, in the full assurance 
 that our demands are perfectly consistent with justice 
 and truth. But being well aware that the mind, once 
 held captive by ignorance, doth not without great dif- 
 ficulty change, in an instant, its whole train of thought, 
 we have determined to add a few words, to persuade 
 those who are really lovers of truth; for, although diffi- 
 cult, we are persuaded that it is not impossible, that 
 a plain representation of the truth should be sufficient 
 to dissipate error. 
 
 16. With respect to the charge of impiety: what 
 man of consideration will not confess that this accusa- 
 tion is falsely alleged against us? since we worship 
 the Creator of this Universe, declaring, as we have 
 been taught, that he requires not sacrifices of blood, 
 and libations, and incense; and praise him to the 
 utmost of our power, with words of prayer and thanks- 
 giving, for all things which we enjoy. For we have 
 learned, that the only honour which is worthy of him 
 is, not to consume with fire what he hath given to us 
 for our nourishment, but to distribute them to our- 
 selves and to those who have need: and that our 
 thankfulness to him is best expressed, by the solemn 
 offering of prayers and hymns. Moreover we pour 
 forth our praises’ for our creation, and every provision 
 for our well-being; for the various qualities of all 
 creatures, and the changes of seasons; and (for the 
 hope) of rising again in inecorruption, through faith 
 
 7 The true reading is probably αἰνέσεις, not αἰτήσεις. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 161 
 
 which is in him. ‘Again we have learned, that he who 
 taught us these things, and for this end was born, even 
 Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, 
 the procurator of Judea, in the time of Tiberius Cesar, 
 was the Son of him who is truly God, and we esteem 
 him in the second place. And that we with reason 
 honour the prophetic Spirit, in the third place, we 
 shall hereafter show ®. For upon this point they accuse 
 us of madness, saying that we give the second place 61 
 after the unchangeable and eternal God, the Creator 
 of all things, to a man who was crucified; (and this 
 they do) being ignorant of the mystery which is in this 
 matter; to which we exhort you to take heed while 
 we explain it’. 
 
 17. For we have forewarned you to beware lest 
 those demons, whom we have before accused, should 
 deceive you, and prevent you from reading and under- 
 standing what we say. For they strive to retain you 
 as their slaves and servants, and sometimes by revela- 
 tions in dreams, and at other times again by magical 
 tricks, enslave those who strive not at all for their 
 own salvation. In like manner as we also, since we 
 have been obedient to the Word, abstain from such 
 things, and, through the Son, follow the only un- 
 begotten God. We, who once delighted in fornica- 
 tion, now embrace chastity only: we, who once used 
 magical arts, have consecrated ourselves to the good 
 and unbegotten God: we, who loved above all things 
 the gain of money and possessions, now bring all that 
 we have into one common stock, and give a part to 
 every one that needs: we, who hated and killed one 
 another, and permitted not those of another nation, on 
 account of their different customs, to live with us under 
 
 8 Compare c. 6. 
 9 Justin here digresses, after his usual manner, and does not resume his 
 argument till c. 31. 
 M 
 
162 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 the same roof, now, since the appearing of Christ, live 
 at the same table, and pray for our enemies, and 
 endeavour to persuade those who unjustly hate us; 
 that they also, living after the excellent institutions of 
 Christ, may have good hope with us to obtain the same 
 blessings, with God the Lord of all. 
 
 18.-And, that we may not seem to deceive you, we 
 think it right to remind you of some few of the doc- 
 trines which we have received from Christ himself, 
 before we proceed to the proof (which we have pro- 
 mised): and be it your care, as powerful princes’, to 
 inquire whether in truth we have thus been taught 
 and teach. His words were short and concise; for he 
 was no sophist, but his word was the power of God’. 
 With respect, then, to chastity, he spake thus: “ Who- 
 soever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath 
 already committed adultery in his heart before God *.” 
 And “If thy right eye offend thee, cut it out*; for it 
 is profitable for thee to enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven with one eye, rather than with the two, to be 
 sent into everlasting fire’.” And, “ Whosoever mar- 
 rieth a wife that is put away from another man, com- 
 mitteth adultery °:” and, “There are some, which were 
 made eunuchs of men: and there are some which were 
 born eunuchs: and there are some which have made 
 themselves eunuchs, for the kingdom of heaven’s sake : 
 but all receive not this’.” Hence they who, under 
 the sanction of human laws, marry again, and they who 
 look on a woman to lust after her, are sinners in the 
 sight of our master. For not only he, who is an 
 
 1 ὡς δυνατῶν βασιλέων., H. Stephanus proposes to read we δὴ συνετῶν 
 βασιλέων, “ as wise princes.” 
 
 2 1 Cor. i. 24. δ᾽ Matt. v.28: 
 
 4 Justin has ἔκκοψον airdv—the word ἔκκοψον being taken from the 
 following verse, for ἔξελε. 
 
 5 Matt. v.29. Mark ix. 47. 
 
 6 Matt. v. 82. Luke xvi. 18, 7 Matt. xix. 1], 12. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 163 
 
 adulterer in fact, is cast out by him, but he who wishes 
 to commit adultery: since not only the deeds but the 
 very desires are manifest to God. Nay many, both 
 men and women, of the age of sixty and seventy years, 
 who have been disciples of Christ from their youth, 
 continue in immaculate virginity; and it is my boast 
 to be able to display such before the whole human 
 race. For why should we mention also the innu- 
 merable multitude of those, who have been converted 
 from a life of incontinence, and learned these precepts ? 
 For Christ called not the righteous nor the chaste to 
 repentance, but the ungodly, and the incontinent, and 
 the unjust. For thus he said: “I came not to call 
 the righteous, but sinners to repentance®.” For our 
 heavenly Father prefers the repentance of a sinner to 
 his punishment. 
 
 19. Again, concerning the love of all men he thus 
 taught: “If ye love those who love you, what new 
 thing do ye? for even the fornicators also do the same. 
 But I say unto you, Pray for your enemies, and love 
 those that hate you, and bless those that curse you; 
 and pray for those that despitefully use you’.” And 
 that we should give to them that are in need, and do 
 nothing for the sake of vain glory, he thus said: “Give 
 to every one that asketh of you, and from him that 
 would borrow of you turn not ye away':” “For if ye 
 lend to them from whom ye hope to receive, what new 
 thing do ye? for even the publicans do the same’.” 
 “ But lay not ye up for yourselves treasures upon earth, 
 where moth and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break 
 through: but lay up for yourselves treasures in the 
 heavens, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt *.” 
 “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole 
 
 8 Matt. ix. 13. Luke v. 32. 
 9 Matt. v. 44. 46. Luke vi. 27, 28. 32. 
 
 1 Matt. v. 42. Luke vi. 30. 
 2 Luke vi. 34. 3 Matt. vi. 19, 20. 
 
 mM 2 
 
164 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall he give 
 in exchange for it*?” “Lay up therefore treasure in 
 the heavens, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt.” 
 And, “ Be ye good and merciful, as your Father also is - 
 good and merciful; and maketh his sun to rise upon 
 
 63 the sinners, and the righteous, and the wicked °.” 
 
 “Take no thought what ye shall eat, or what ye shall 
 put on: are ye not better than the fowls and the 
 beasts? Yet God feedeth them. Therefore take no 
 thought, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall put on; 
 for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need 
 of these things. But seek ye the kingdom of heaven, 
 and all these things shall be added unto you®.” “ For 
 where the treasure is, there also is the mind of man’.” 
 And, “ Do not these things, to be seen of men: other- 
 wise ye have no reward with your Father which is in 
 heaven °.” 
 
 26. That we should also patiently endure evil, and 
 
 _be kind to all, and not give way to wrath, he taught 
 
 us in these words: “ Unto him that smiteth thee upon 
 the cheek, turn also the other: and him that taketh 
 away thy coat or thy cloak hinder ποῦ". “ And who- 
 soever is angry is in danger of the fire’.”. “ And who- 
 soever shall compel thee to go a mile, follow him 
 twain’.” “Let your good works shine before men, 
 that they may see them, and glorify your Father which 
 is in heaven’.” For we must not oppose: neither 
 would he that we should imitate bad men, but hath 
 commanded us by patience and meekness to withdraw 
 all men from shameful and evil lusts. Which also we 
 
 can show to have actually taken place among us, in 
 
 4 Matt. xvi. 26. Luke ix. 25. 
 
 5 Luke vi. 35, 36. Matt. v. 45. 
 
 6 Matt. vi. 25, &c. Luke xii. 22. 24, &e. 
 
 7 Matt. vi. 21. Luke xii. 34. 8 Matt. vi. 1. 9. 
 9 Matt. v. 89. Luke vi. 29. 1 Matt. v. 22. 
 
 2 
 
 Matt. v. 41. 3 Matt. v. 16. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 165 
 
 many who have been subdued and changed from 
 violent and tyrannical men, either by imitating the 
 constancy of their neighbours’ lives, or by observing 
 the unusual patience of those with whom they tra- 
 velled, when they were defrauded on the way, or by 
 experiencing the faithfulness of those with whom they 
 had any dealings. 
 
 21. That we should not swear at all, but speak the 
 truth always, he thus commanded us: “Swear not at 
 all: but let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay: for 
 whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil *.” And 
 that we should worship God only, he thus taught us, 
 saying, “The greatest commandment is, Thou shalt 
 worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou 
 serve, with all thy heart, and with all thy strength, 
 even the Lord who created thee®.” And when a 
 certain man came to him, and said, “Good master,” 
 he answered and said, “there is none good save one, 
 _that is God, who created all things °.” 
 
 22. Now whosoever are found not to live as Christ 
 taught them, let it be publicly known that they are 
 not Christians, although they should profess with their 
 tongue the doctrines of Christ. For he declared, that 64 
 not they who only profess, but they who do his works 
 shall be saved. For thus he said: “ Not every one 
 that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the 
 kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my 
 Father which is in heaven’.” “ For he that heareth 
 me, and doeth what I say, heareth him that sent me *.” 
 “ And many shall say unto me, Lord, Lord, have we 
 not eaten, and drunk *, and done mighty works, in thy 
 
 4 Matt. v. 34. 37. 5 Matt. iv. 10. Mark xii. 30. 
 
 6 Matt. xix. 16, 17. 7 Matt. vii. 21. 8 Matt. vii. 24; x. 40. 
 
 9 The Greek has, od τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι ἐφάγομεν καὶ ἐπίομεν, Kai δυνάμεις 
 ἐποιήσαμεν; Ashton proposes to read, οὐκ ἐνώπιον σοῦ ἐφάγομεν καὶ 
 ἐπίομεν, καὶ τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι δυνάμεις ἐποιήσαμεν ; Compare Luke xiii. 26, 
 
166 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 name? and then will I say unto them, Depart from me, 
 ye workers of iniquity’.” “ Then shall be weeping 
 and gnashing of teeth; when the righteous shall shine 
 as the sun: but the unrighteous shall be sent into eter- 
 nal fire.” “ For many shall come in my name, covered 
 outwardly with sheep’s clothing, but inwardly being 
 ravening wolves: by their works ye shall know them. 
 But every tree, which bringeth not forth good fruit, is 
 hewn down, and cast into the fire*.” And we even 
 entreat, that those who live not agreeably to their doc- 
 trines, but are merely called Christians, may be punished 
 by you. 
 
 28. We make it also our principal endeavour in 
 every place to pay tribute and custom to such officers 
 as are appointed by you, even as we have been taught 
 by him. For “at that time certain came unto him, 
 and asked him, whether it were lawful to pay tribute 
 unto Cesar. And he answered, Tell me, whose image 
 doth the tribute money bear? They said unto him, 
 Ceesar’s. Then again answered he them, Render there- 
 fore unto Cesar the things which are Cesar’s, and unto 
 God the things which are God’s*.”. Wherefore we 
 worship God only: but in all other matters we joyfully 
 serve you, confessing that ye are kings and rulers; and 
 praying that ye may be found to possess, together with 
 your royal power, a sound and discerning mind. If, 
 however, notwithstanding we thus pray, and openly lay 
 every thing before you, ye yet treat us with contempt, 
 we shall receive no injury, believing, yea rather being 
 firmly persuaded, that every one, if his deeds shall so 
 deserve, shall receive the punishment of eternal fire; 
 and that an account will be required of him, in propor- 
 tion to the powers which he hath received from God; 
 
 1 Matt. vii. 22. Luke xiii. 26. 2 Matt. xiii. 42, &e. 
 3 Matt. vii. 15, 16. 19. 4 Matt. xxii. 17, &c. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 167 
 
 as Christ hath declared, saying, “ To whomsoever God 
 hath given much, of him shall be much required °.” 
 
 , 24. For look to the end of each of the emperors 
 who have already reigned, that they died the common 
 death of all men: and well would it be for the wicked 5, 
 if this were merely a passage into a state of insensibi- 65 
 lity. But since both sense remains in all who have 
 ever lived, and eternal punishment is reserved (for the 
 wicked), take heed that ye be persuaded and believe 
 that these things are true. For the very acts of necro- 
 mancy’, the inspection of the bodies of pure children ὃ 
 
 5 Luke xii. 48. 
 
 δ ἕρμαιον ἂν ἦν τοῖς ἀδίκοις πᾶσιν. Justin seems to allude to a similar 
 phrase in his master Plato: εἰ μὲν ἦν ὁ θάνατος τοῦ παντὸς ἀπαλλαγή, 
 ἕρμαιον ἂν ἦν τοῖς κακοῖς ἀποθανοῦσι. Phedo, Ρ- 107. 
 
 7 See Tertullian’s Apology, c. 23. 
 
 8 Justin here refers to a barbarous practice frequently alluded to by 
 writers, both of ecclesiastical and profane history. Immaculate children 
 of both sexes were slain, and their entrails inspected for the purpose of 
 divination, under the persuasion that the souls of the victims were then 
 present, and revealed the knowledge of futurity to those who consulted 
 them. 
 
 Thus Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, as preserved by Eusebius, H. E. 
 vii. 10, relates that, in the ninth persecution, under Valerian, the em- 
 peror was instructed by the chief of the Magi of Egypt in many abo- 
 minable rites, and taught “to murder wretched infants, and sacrifice the 
 children of miserable parents; and to examine their tender entrails.” 
 Τελετὰς δὲ ἀνάγνους καὶ μαγγανείας ἐξαγίστους Kai ἱερουργίας ἀκαλλιερήτους 
 ἐπιτελεῖν ὑποτιθέμενος, παῖδας ἀθλίους ἀποσφάττειν, καὶ τέκνα δυστήνων 
 πατέρων καταθύειν, καὶ σπλάγχνα νεογενῆ διαιρεῖν. Eusebius also, in two 
 places, mentions among the enormities perpetrated by the tyrant Maxen- 
 tius, that he filled up the measure of his guilt by having recourse to 
 magical arts, among which was the inspection of the entrails of new-born 
 children. ‘H δὲ τῶν κακῶν τῷ τυράννῳ Kopwrig ἐπὶ γοητείαν ἤλαυνε" 
 μαγικαῖς ἐπινοίαις τοτὲ μὲν γυναῖκας ἐγκύμονας ἀνασχίζοντος, τοτὲ δὲ νεογνῶν 
 σπλάγχνα βρεφῶν διερευνωμένους: Eusebius, Η. E. viii. 14; Vit. Const. 
 i. 36. 
 
 Socrates states the same brutal treatment to have been used by 
 the pagans towards the Christians, in the time of Julian, in various cities, 
 and particularly at Athens and Alexandria. ‘* At that time the Gentiles 
 made a furious attack upon the Christians ; and those who called them- 
 selves philosophers were gathered together. They established also certain 
 horrid rites, so that they even slew many young children, both male and 
 
168 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 (for the purpose of divination), the calling forth of 
 human souls, and those whom your magicians call 
 senders of dreams, and familiar spirits °, and the prac- 
 tices of those who are skilled in such matters, may 
 induce you to believe that souls after death are still in 
 a state of sensibility. To these may be added the 
 men who are seized and thrown down by the souls of 
 the departed ', who are commonly called demoniac and 
 mad; and what are styled oracles among you, such as 
 those of Amphilochus, and Dodone, the Pythian, and 
 the like: the opinions also of writers, such as Empe- 
 docles, Pythagoras, Plato, and Socrates: the trench 
 mentioned by Homer’, and the descent of Ulysses to 
 see these things; together with the tenets of those 
 
 female, for the purpose of inspecting their entrails, and also tasted their 
 flesh.” 
 
 Τηνικαῦτα καὶ οἱ “Ἕλληνες τῶν χριστιανιζόντων κατέτρεχον" σύῤῥοιά τε 
 τῶν φιλοσοφεῖν λεγόντων ἐγίνετο. Kai τελετάς τινας συνίστασαν, ὡς καὶ 
 σπλαγχνοσκοπούμενοι παῖδας καταθύειν ἀφθόρους, ἄῤῥενας καὶ θηλείας, καὶ 
 τῶν σαρκῶν ἀπογεύεσθαι. Socrat. H. E. iii. 18. 
 
 In the work called the “ Recognitions of Clement,” which is at least 
 as old as the time of Origen, by whom it is cited, (Philocal. c. 23,) Simon 
 Magus is made to say, “ By means of ineffable adjurations I called up the 
 soul of an immaculate boy, who had been put to a violent death, and 
 caused it to stand by me; and by its means whatever I command is 
 effected.” And again, “(The soul freed from the body) possesses the 
 faculty of foreknowledge : whence it is called forth for necromancy.” 
 
 “ Pueri incorrupti et violeuter necati animam adjuramentis ineffabilibus 
 evocatam adsistere mihi feci ; et per ipsam fit omne quod jubeo.” “ Statim 
 et prescientiam habet (anima), propter quod evocatur ad necromantiam.” 
 Recognit. Clementis, lib. ii. c. 13. 
 
 9 πάρεδροι. Valesius in his notes on Euseb. H. E. iv. 17, shows that 
 by this word were meant spirits, who assisted the Magicians and performed 
 their orders. Irenzus, Her. i. 20, says that the followers of Simon 
 Magus had both the kinds of spirits here mentioned. “ Qui dicuntur 
 paredri et oniropompi et quecunque sunt alia perierga apud eos studiosé 
 exercentur.” 
 
 1 Such as the demoniacs, described in Matt. viii. 28; Mark vy. 3; 
 Luke vii. 25; Josephus, Bell. Jud. vii. 6. 3; in like manner describes 
 demons as the spirits of wicked men. Τὰ γὰρ καλούμενα δαιμόνια, ταῦτα 
 δὲ πονηρῶν ἐστιν ἀνθρώπων πνεύματα, τοῖς ζῶσιν εἰσδυόμενα καὶ κτείνοντα 
 τοὺς βοηθείας μὴ τυγχάνοντας, αὕτη (ἡ ῥίζα Badpac) ταχέως ἐξελαύνει. 
 
 2. Od. 2X. 25. 37, &e. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 169 
 
 who have spoken to the same effect. Give us, now, 
 but the same degree of credit which ye give to them: 
 inasmuch as our confidence in (the power of) God is 
 not less, but greater, than theirs: for we expect that 
 we shall each again take upon us our bodies which are 
 dead and cast into the earth, holding that nothing is 
 impossible to God. 
 
 25. And if any one considered the matter well, 
 would this appear more incredible than it would, if we 
 were not in the body, and any one should assert that 
 it was possible for bones and tendons and flesh to be 
 formed, as we see in the human body, out of a minute 
 drop of seminal matter? For let us suppose an ima- 
 ginary case. If ye were not such as ye are, nor of such 
 an origin, and any one should show you the generating 
 substance, and a painted representation (of the human 
 form), and should persist in affirming that the one 
 could be produced from the other, would ye believe 
 him before ye saw the effect produced? No one would 
 be bold enough to assert, that ye would. In the same 
 manner, ye now disbelieve, because ye never saw a 
 dead man raised to life. But even, as ye would not 
 at first have believed, that from a little drop of seminal 
 matter such bodies could be formed, which yet, ye see, 
 are formed; so consider that it is not impossible for 
 human bodies, decomposed, and, like seed, resolved 
 into earth, to arise, in due season, at the command of 
 God, and to put on incorruption®. We pretend not 
 
 3 The argument here used by Justin is frequently employed by the 
 early Christian writers. Tertullian, de Resur. Carnis, c. 11, says, “ Ido- 
 neus est reficere (carnem), qui fecit: quanto plus est fecisse, quam 
 refecisse: initium dedisse, quam reddidisse. Ita restitutionem carnis 
 faciliorem credas institutione.” See also Tertullian, Apol. c. 48. Irenzus 
 argues, with a plain reference to this passage of Justin, how much more 
 difficult it is that bones, and tendons, and veins, and the rest of the body, 
 made after the fashion of a man, should be caused to exist, and to become 
 a pious, and rational being, when as yet it existed not, than that, having 
 once been made and resolved into earth, it should be restored to a form 
 
170 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 to say, how worthy an estimate of divine power they 
 
 66 form, who maintain that every thing returns to its 
 original whence it proceeded, and that beyond this 
 even God can do nothing: but we plainly see this, that 
 they would not have believed it possible, for beings 
 like themselves, and for the whole world, to have 
 existed, and to have had their origin, in the manner 
 which their own observation now discovers. 
 
 26. We have already assumed that it is better to 
 believe things, which in their own nature and by the 
 power of men are impossible, than to disbelieve as 
 others do. Since we know how our master Jesus 
 Christ said, “The things which are impossible with 
 men, are possible with God*.” He said also, “ Fear 
 ye not them that kill you, and after that are able to 
 do nothing: but fear him, who, after death, is able to 
 cast both soul and body into hell ".; 
 
 -27, Now hell is the place where those shall be 
 punished who have lived unrighteously, and have not 
 believed that the things shall come to pass which God 
 hath taught through Christ. And even the Sibyl° 
 
 which it once possessed, even if it should have been reduced to the same 
 state in which it was, before it was first made man. 
 
 Καίπερ πολλῷ δυσκολώτερον καὶ ἀπιστότερον ἦν, ἐκ μὴ ὄντων ὀστέων τε 
 καὶ νεὐρων---καὶ τῆς λοιπῆς τῆς κατὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον οἰκονομίας, ποιῆσαι εἰς 
 τὸ εἶναι, καὶ ἔμψυχον καὶ λογικὸν ἀπεργάσασθαι ζῶον, ἢ τὸ γεγονὸς, ἔπειτα 
 ἀναλυθὲν εἰς τὴν γῆν---αὖθις ἀποκαταστῆσαι, εἰς ἐκεῖνα χωρῆσαν ὅθεν τὴν 
 doy μηδέπω γεγονὸς ἐγεγόνει ὁ ἄνθρωπος. Ireneus, Her. v. 8. p. 401. 
 32. 
 
 Athenagoras, in his argumentative treatise, on the Resurrection of the 
 body, lays great stress upon the same reasoning. Athenag. de Resur. 
 Carnis, p. 48, A. 59, A. See also the Apostolical Constitutions, lib. v. 
 sect. 43. 7, p. 308. 
 
 4 Luke xviii. 27. 5 Matt. x. 28. Luke xii. 45. 
 
 6 
 
 ῥεύσει δὲ πυρὸς μαλεροῦ καταράκτης 
 ᾿Ακάματος" φλέξει δὲ γαῖαν, φλέξει δὲ θάλασσαν, 
 Καὶ πόλον οὐράνιον, καὶ ἥματα, καὶ κτίσιν αὐτήν 
 Εἰς ἐν χωνεύσει, καὶ εἰς καθαρὸν διαλέξει. 
 Caro. 518. lib. ili. 
 Theophilus, ad Autolycum, lib. ii. p. 114, D. 116, A. appeals in like 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 171 
 
 and Hystaspes declared that there should be ἃ destruc- 
 tion of corruptible things by fire. And those who are 
 styled Stoic philosophers’ teach, that God himself will 
 be resolved into fire; and affirm that the world shall 
 be renewed by a change. But we entertain far higher 
 notions respecting God, the Creator of all things, than 
 that he should be subject to any change. 
 
 28. If then in some things we hold the same opi- 
 nions with the poets and philosophers, whom ye honour, 
 and in others entertain views more sublime and more 
 worthy of the divine nature, and if we alone are able 
 to prove what we say, why are we unjustly hated above 
 all men? For when we affirm that all things were 
 ordered and made by God, we hold apparently the 
 same doctrine as Plato: when we speak of a destruction 
 by fire, we agree with the Stoics: in maintaining that 
 the souls of the unjust are punished, retaining their 
 consciousness even after death, and the souls of good 
 men live happily, free from pain, we assent to what 
 your poets and philosophers declare*: when we say 
 that we ought not to worship the works of men’s hands, 
 we agree with Menander the comic poet, and others 
 who hold the same opinions; for they have shown that 
 the Creator is greater than the creature. And when 
 we affirm that the Word, which is the first-begotten 
 of God, was born without carnal knowledge, even 
 Jesus Christ our Master, and that he was crucified, 67 
 
 manner to the Sibyl. The author of the Questiones et Responsiones ad 
 Orthodoxos, a work falsely ascribed to Justin, says that Clement of Rome, 
 in his Epistle to the Corinthians, appeals to the writings of the Sibyl, as 
 testifying that the world should be destroyed by fire. In the present 
 Epistle of Clement there is no such aliusion. Grotius, de Veritate Rel. 
 Christ. i. 22, has accumulated several instances of the same tradition. 
 
 7 See Justin Martyr’s second Apol. p. 45 ; Cicero, de Nat. Deor. ii. 46. 
 
 8 Theophilus of Antioch, ad Autolycum, lib. ii. p. 115, and Clemens 
 Alexandrinus, Stromata, lib. iv. p. 541, have collected many passages of 
 heathen poets and philosophers, agreeing with different tenets of the 
 Christian religion. 
 
ie THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 and died, and rose again and ascended into heaven, we 
 advance no new thing different from what is main- 
 tained respecting those, whom ye call the sons of 
 Jupiter ὃ. 
 
 29. For ye well know how many sons your approved 
 writers attribute to Jupiter: Mercury, the word of 
 interpretation and the teacher of all men; Esculapius, 
 who was a physician, and yet struck with lightning 
 and taken up into heaven: Bacchus, who was torn in 
 pieces; Hercules, who burned himself upon the pile to 
 escape his torments; Castor and Pollux, the sons of 
 Leda; Perseus, the son of Danae; and Bellerophon, 
 born of human race, and carried away upon the horse 
 Pegasus'. For why should I speak of Ariadne, and 
 others also, like her, who were said to be raised among 
 the stars of heaven? Nay, ye determine that the very 
 emperors, who die among you, shall always become 
 immortal; and bring forward some one to swear that 
 he saw Cesar, who was burnt, going up to heaven out 
 of the funeral pile. Neither is it necessary that I 
 should relate to you, who already know well, of what 
 kind were the actions of each of those who were called 
 the sons of Jupiter; I need only say, that the writings, 
 in which they are recorded, tend only to corrupt and 
 pervert’? the minds of those who learn them: for all 
 take a pride in being imitators of the gods. Now far 
 be from every sound mind such conceptions concerning 
 
 9 The object which Justin has in view, in the ensuing part of his 
 Apology, although now void of interest, was important at the time in 
 which it was written, when the heathen world was given up to idolatry. 
 He endeavours t6 show that the Gentiles could not consistently make it a 
 matter of accusation against the Christians, that they believed in the 
 incarnation of Jesus Christ the Son of God, when they themselves held 
 opinions, which were fully as incredible, respecting their false gods. 
 
 1 Justin alludes to the same story respecting Bellerophon in c. 71. 
 The mythological history was not, however, that Bellerophon was carried 
 to heaven on Pegasus, but that he made the attempt and failed. 
 
 2 εἰς διαφθορὰν Kai παρατροπῆν. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 179 
 
 the gods, that even the very leader and father of them 
 all, as they account Jupiter, should be a parricide, as 
 his father also was’; should be a slave of the worst 
 and basest passions, as in the instance of Ganymede 
 and his adulteries with many women, and receive with 
 approbation his sons who acted in like manner. But, 
 as we have before said, the evil spirits did these things. 
 And we have been taught that they only are immor- 
 talized, who live holily and virtuously before God: 
 believing also that they who live an unjust life, and 
 repent not, shall be punished in eternal fire. 
 
 30. But Jesus, who is called the Son of God, even 
 if he had been but a man, in the ordinary sense, would 
 yet by his wisdom have deserved to be called the Son 
 of God; for all writers call him God, who is the 
 Father of gods and men: but if we say that he was 
 begotten of God, in a manner far different from ordinary 
 generation, being the Word of God, as we have before 
 said, let this be considered a correspondence with your 
 own tenets, when ye call Mercury the word who bears 
 messages from God. And if any one objects to us, 
 that he was crucified: this too is a point of corre- 
 
 spondence with those whom ye call the sons of Jupiter, - 
 
 and yet allow to have suffered, as we before stated. 
 For the sufferings of their deaths are related to have 
 been not similar to his, but different‘; so that he seems 
 not to have been inferior to them even in the peculiar 
 manner of his death: nay, in the progress of our 
 address we shall show, as we promised, that he is even 
 superior: or rather this is already shown; for he that 
 is superior appears to be so from his deeds. Again, if 
 
 3 The word “ parricide” does not always strictly mean the murderer of 
 a parent. Jupiter was said to have dethroned, and, by some, to have 
 imprisoned Saturn ; and Saturn was accused of using still greater violence 
 to his own father, Ceelus or Uranus. 
 
 4 Inc. 72, Justin argues that the mystery of the cross was never imi- 
 tated by any of the false gods. 
 
174 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 we affirm that he was born of a virgin; let this be 
 considered a point in which he agrees with what ye 
 (fabulously) ascribe to Perseus. And whereas we say 
 that he made those whole, who were lame, palsied, 
 and blind’ from their birth, and raised the dead; in 
 this too we ascribe to him actions similar to those 
 which are said to have been performed by Esculapius. 
 
 ΘῈ We desire also to make it fully apparent to you, 
 that those things only which we affirm, and have 
 learned from Christ and the prophets who went before 
 him, are the truth, and more ancient than (what is 
 recorded by) all other writers; and we do not require 
 to be believed, because in some particulars we agree 
 with them, but because we say the truth: and Jesus 
 Christ, who alone was properly born the Son of God, - 
 being his Word, and First-begotten and Power, and 
 by his counsel made man, hath taught us these things, 
 for the reformation and improvement of the human 
 race. Before he was made man and dwelt among 
 men, some *, at the instigation of those evil spirits of. 
 which we have spoken, declared through the _fic- 
 tions which the poets uttered, that these events had 
 already happened ; as also they have fabricated those 
 infamous and impious actions which are reported of 
 us, without witness or proof. Of this our refutation 
 follows. 
 
 “32. In the first place, we alone, although we express 
 
 > πηρούς. This seems a better reading than πονηρούς. Thirlby shows 
 that the word is used by Justin to signify “the blind,” as in Trypho, p. 
 295. 
 
 8 φθάσαντές τινες διὰ τοὺς προειρημένους κακοὺς δαίμονας, διὰ τῶν ποιητῶν 
 ὡς γενόμενα εἶπον, ἃ μυθοποιήσαντες ἔφησαν" ὃν τρόπον καὶ τὰ καθ᾽ ἡμῶν 
 λεγόμενα δύσφημα καὶ ἀσεβῆ ἔργα ἐνήργησαν. 
 
 There is probably some omission or error in the Greek text. The 
 assertion of Justin seems to be, that the demons, whom he supposes to 
 have inspired the heathen poets and mythologists, had obtained some 
 imperfect knowledge of the actions which Christ should perform, and 
 purposely framed the stories of the false gods so as to anticipate them. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 175 
 
 nothing but what is similar to the professions of the 
 Greeks, are hated on account of the name of Christ, 
 and, although innocent, are put to death as trans- 
 gressors: whereas other persons, in different places, 
 worship trees, and rivers, and mice, and cats, and croco- 
 diles, and (many) other brute beasts. Yet the same 
 animals are not held sacred by all, but some in one 
 place and some in another; so that all are accounted 
 impious one to the other, for not worshipping the same 
 objects.—And this is the only thing of which ye can 
 accuse us, that we worship not the same gods which ye 
 worship, and offer not libations, and the perfume of 
 the fat of beasts, to the dead, nor crowns and sacri- 69 
 fices to images’.—For ye well know that the same 
 things are regarded by some as gods, by others as beasts, 
 and by others again as victims. 
 
 33. In the second place, we, out of every nation, 
 who formerly worshipped Bacchus, the son of Semele, 
 and Apollo, the son of Latona, whose infamous abomina- 
 tions it is a shame even to mention, together with Pro- 
 serpine and Venus, who were inflamed with passion 
 for Adonis, and whose mysteries ye celebrate, or any 
 others of those who are called gods, do now for the 
 sake of Jesus Christ despise all these, even under the 
 threat of death: and dedicate ourselves to God who is 
 unbegotten ὃ and without passions ; of whom we believe 
 not (as ye believe of Jupiter) that under the influence 
 of base passion lie followed Antiope, or others in like 
 manner, or Ganymede, nor that he was loosed from 
 bonds by (Briareus) with an hundred hands, at the 
 solicitation of Thetis; nor on that account was anxious 
 that Achilles, the son of Thetis, should slay many of 
 
 7 ἐν γραφαῖς στεφάνους. Salmasius reads ἐν ῥαφαῖς στεφάνους, crowns 
 sewed together. 
 8 ἀγεννήτῳ. See note (3) on Ignatius’s Epistle to the Ephesians, c. 7. 
 
176 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 the Greeks °, for his concubine Briseis. Nay we pity 
 those who believe such fables; and are persuaded that | 
 evil spirits are the authors of them. 
 
 34. In the third place, even after the ascension of 
 Christ into heaven, the evil spirits have put forward 
 certain men, who said that they were gods: and these 
 men were so far from being persecuted by you, that 
 they were thought worthy even of honours. For 
 instance, there was one Simon, a Samaritan, from a 
 village named Gitton, who under Claudius Cesar per- 
 formed magical wonders in your imperial city Rome, 
 through the art and agency of evil spirits; and was 
 regarded as a god, and had a statue erected to him 
 among you. ‘This statue stood by the river Tiber, 
 between the two bridges, having upon it this Latin 
 inscription, 
 
 SIMONI DEO SANCTO!, 
 
 91]. Β. 4. 
 
 1 The account which Justin here gives of the statue erected to Simon 
 Magus, is again referred to in c. 73, p. 91, and is followed by Tertullian, 
 (Apol. c. 13,) Irenzus, (i. 20,) Eusebius, (H. E. ii. 13,) and many others 
 of the Fathers ; and was not doubted till the year 1574, when a stone was 
 dug up in the Island of the Tiber, with the inscription, sEMoNI saANCo 
 (Or SANGO) DEO FIDIO SACRUM SEX. POMPEIUS 5. P. F. COL. MUSSIANUS 
 QUINQUENNALIS DECUR BIDENTALIS DONUM DEDIT. This stone was some- 
 what similar to the pedestal of a statue ; but probably too small for that 
 purpose. Baronius (Ann. 44). 
 
 Since that time, many have supposed that the similarity of names led 
 Justin into an error ; and that he attributed to Simon Magus an honour 
 which was really paid to Semo Sancus, a god of the Sabines. 
 
 It is certainly possible enough that Justin should have been mistaken. 
 But it must be observed that the inscriptions, although similar, are not the 
 same, the order of the words being different: that the statue to Simon 
 Magus is said (Justin, Apol. c. 73) to have been dedicated by the Roman 
 people, whereas the stone to Semo Sancus is a private offering of Sextus 
 Pompeius. 
 
 The objections of Valesius (in Euseb. H. E. ii. 18) and of Basnage, 
 (Exercit. Hist. p. 573,) founded on the assertion that the Romans never 
 attached the epithet sanctus to their gods, nor employed the words “ Deo 
 Sancto” in an inscription, are proved to be incorrect. There are numerous 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 177 
 
 And almost all the Samaritans, and some also in other 
 nations, confess him to be the first of the gods, and 
 even worship him; and say that a certain Helena, who 
 travelled with him at that time, and formerly had been 
 a prostitute, was the first Intelligence* which pro- 
 
 passages of the poets, and of Cicero (7), in which “sanctus” is so used: and 
 inscriptions are extant with the words, Apollini Sancto, Aisculapio Sancto, 
 and the like ; and with the very words in dispute, Deo Sancto Apollini 
 Pacifero. Gruter, Inscr. xxxviii. 7. 
 
 It is also said by Theodoret (Her. Fab. i. p. 191), that the statue 
 attributed to Simon Magus was of brass, made to resemble Jupiter, 
 (Irenzus, i. 20. Cyril Cateches. 6, p. 87. Oxon. Epiphan. Her. 21, 
 c. 2), whereas what was discovered was a fragment of stone. 
 
 Theaccuracy of Justin is questioned by Basnage, Exercit. Hist. p.570; by 
 Antonius Van Dale, in his Dissertatiuncula de statua Simoni Mago erecta; 
 by Valesius, Grabe, Neander, and many others. The defenders of Justin's 
 correctness on this point are Baronius, xliv. 55; Halloix, in his Life of 
 Justin; Tillemont, tom. ii. part i. p. 841, and p. 176; and Jenkin, in his 
 Defensio 5. Augustini adversus Joan. Phereponi animadversiones, p. 176. 
 Thirlby, in his notes on the passage, pretends to defend the accuracy of 
 Justin ; and, in his usual way between jest and earnest, brings much 
 information to bear upon the point. The authorities on each side of this 
 question are given by Burton, in his Bampton Lectures, Lect. iv. note 42 ; 
 and in Otto’s edition of Justin Martyr, tom. i. p. 192. 
 
 2 Treneus, i. 20, and after him, Tertullian, de Anima, c. 34, and Theo- 
 doret, de Fabul. Heret. lib. i, ii. give an account of the strange doctrines 
 maintained by Simon Magus. He called himself the most sublime virtue, 
 or the Supreme Father ; and affirmed that Helena was the first con- 
 ception of his mind, the mother of all things, by whom in the beginning 
 he conceived in his mind the idea of creating the angels and archangels. 
 For that this first conception, or Enna, springing forth from him, and 
 knowing her father’s will, descended into the lower parts, and produced 
 the angels and powers, by which again the world was formed. But after 
 she had produced them, she was herself detained by them through envy, 
 since they were unwilling to be thought to be the offspring of any other ; 
 that is, as Bp. Kaye interprets the words (Tertullian. c. vii. p. 575) not 
 to be self-existent. These inferior angels knew not the Supreme Father, 
 and detained his Enncea, that she might not return to her father; sub- 
 jecting her to every indignity, and imprisoning her in various female 
 bodies, transferring her from one to another, as liquid is poured from 
 vessel to vessel. That thus she was in that Helen, who was the cause of 
 the siege of Troy ; and Stesichorus, who spoke against her in his verses, 
 was therefore deprived of his sight, and afterwards, on his repentance and 
 recantation, restored to the use of his eyes. That she thus transmigrated 
 
 (Ὁ Catullus, lxiv. 269 ; Ixviii. 5. 
 Tibullus, i. 3. 52. Ovid. Met. i. 372. Cicero pro P. Sextio, 68. 
 Pro Milone, 31 ; In Verrem, i. 19 ; v. 72. 
 N 
 
178 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 ceeded from him. We know also that one Menander’, 
 a Samaritan also, from the village of Capparetzea, a 
 disciple of Simon, received power from the evil spirits, 
 and being in Antioch deceived many by magical art. 
 70 He persuaded also his followers that they should never 
 die ; and still there are some of his sect who profess to 
 believe this. 
 “85, There is also Marcion of Pontus‘, who is even 
 
 from body to body, always exposed to insults, and at last was reduced to 
 the condition of a prostitute. That she was the lost sheep, mentioned in 
 the parable : wherefore Simon himself descended, to recover and release 
 her from her bonds, and afford salvation to mankind by acknowledging 
 her. 
 
 For since the angels governed the world amiss, each desiring the 
 sovereign power, he had come to amend all things, and had appeared as 
 the Son in Juda, when he suffered in appearance and not in reality. 
 That the prophets had been inspired by the angels, and were to be no 
 more regarded by those who believed in him and in Helena. He con- 
 cluded with the impious doctrine, which many heretics have maintained, 
 that his followers were perfectly free to live according to their own 
 pleasure, for that men were saved by his grace, and not by good works. 
 (Secundum enim ipsius gratiam servari homines, sed non secundum operas 
 justas. ) 
 
 It is melancholy and humiliating to notice such blasphemous ab- 
 surdities : but they show of what the mind of man is capable, when it is 
 left to its own imaginations, and how surely erroneous notions lead to 
 flagitious practice. 
 
 3 Menander was the disciple of Simon Magus, and the master of 
 Saturninus. He declared that the First Virtue, or Supreme Power, was 
 unintelligible to all: but that he himself was sent from the invisible 
 world, as a Saviour for the salvation of mankind. With respect to the 
 creation of the world by the angels, and their being sent forth from the 
 Enneea, or first Intelligence, he agreed with Simon: and averred that 
 the magical science which he possessed was given him, that he might 
 overcome the angels, who made the world. He affirmed also that the 
 baptism which he conferred upon his disciples was a true resurrection, 
 and that those who received it were incapable of death, and would con- 
 tinue to live for ever without experiencing the inconveniences of old age. 
 He dissuaded his followers from encountering martyrdom. Irenzeus,i. 21. 
 Tertullian. de Anima, c. 23. 50; De Resurrect. Carnis,c. 5. Eusebius, H. 
 E. iii. 26. 
 
 4 Marcion lived in the reign of Antoninus (Tertullian. de Prescrip. c. 
 30): and that this was Antoninus Pius, appears from Irenzus, iii. 4, who 
 states that he flourished in the time of Anicetus, the tenth Bishop of 
 Rome, who lived in the reign of Antoninus Pius. Euseb. H. E. iv. 10, 11 ; 
 and Chronicon. Irenzeus gives an account of his tenets (Lib. i. 29). 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 179 
 
 now teaching his followers to profess, that there is 
 some other God, greater than he who created the 
 world. This man, through the assistance of evil 
 spirits, hath caused many in every nation to speak 
 blasphemies, and to deny that the Creator of the 
 universe was God; maintaining that some one else, of 
 superior power, hath exceeded that Creator by exe- 
 cuting greater works. And yet all, who have sprung 
 from these sects, as we have stated, are called Chris- 
 tians. In the same manner as those, who do not 
 hold the same opinions as the philosophers, are still 
 included under the common appellation of philosophy. 
 Now whether they are guilty of any of those infamous 
 acts which are reported *, such as the putting out of 
 the lights, and promiscuous intercourse, and feeding on 
 human flesh, we know not; but we know that they - 
 are not persecuted nor put to death by you, even on 
 account of their peculiar doctrines. We have also a 
 treatise composed against all the heresies which have 
 
 His heresy arose from his wish to reconcile the existence of evil, with the 
 perfect power and wisdom and goodness of the Supreme Being: and this 
 he endeavoured to do by supposing that the world was created by an 
 inferior being, who was the author of evil; and that the Supreme Being 
 himself was unknown to mankind until he was revealed by Christ. Ter- 
 tullian wrote five books against Marcion: and the best account of the 
 opinions of that heretic is given by the Bp. of Lincoln, in his luminous 
 epitome of those books. Bp. Kaye’s Tertullian, ec. vil. pp. 474—505. 
 Eusebius, H. E. iv. 11, in quoting this passage, expresses himself as if it 
 occurred in a book of Justin written against Marcion. 
 
 5 These calumnies were constantly brought against the Christians ; and 
 are refuted in all their apologies. Compare Justin, Apol. 2, p. 50, Dial. 
 Ρ. 227. Tertullian. Apol. cc. 2. 7, 8; Ad Nationes, i. c. 2. Minucius 
 Felix ; Octavius, cc. 9. 30. They are mentioned also by the martyrs 
 who suffered in the persecution after the death of Antoninus Pius, (Euseb. 
 H. E. v. i. p. 133, A), by Athenagoras (Legat. p. 4), and by Origen 
 (Contra Celsum, lib. vi. p. 293, 294), as having been advanced at the 
 beginning of Christianity. He attributes the origin of the accusation to 
 the Jews. Kai δοκεῖ μοι παραπλήσιον ᾿Ιουδαίοις πεποιηκέναι (Κέλσος) τοῖς 
 κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν τοῦ Χριστιανισμοῦ διδασκαλίας κατασκεδάσασι δυσφημίαν τοῦ 
 λόγου" ὡς ἄρα καταθύσαντες παιδίον μεταλαμβάνουσιν αὐτοῦ τῶν σαρκῶν. 
 
 Ke T. A. 
 Ν 2 
 
— 
 
 180 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 arisen, which, if ye wish to peruse it, we will pro- 
 duce. 
 
 36. But we are so far from committing any (such) 
 injustice or impiety (as is implied in the charge of 
 devouring children), that we have learned that none 
 but wicked men expose infants when they are born. 
 First °, because we see, that almost all such are brought 
 up in the vilest manner, and for the basest purposes, 
 whether they be male or female: and as men of old 
 reared for sale herds of oxen, or goats, or sheep, or 
 horses, so also are there now dispersed among all 
 nations, for this infamous object, children of either sex, 
 and even those of monstrous growth. And ye receive 
 the hire’ and tribute and custom of these persons, when 
 ye ought to cut them off from the face of your empire. 
 It is well known what horrible, and even incestuous, 
 offences hence frequently occur; and how men some- 
 times prostitute their children and their wives ; and what 
 shocking offerings are made to her, whom ye call the 
 mother of the gods. And, indeed, in the worship of 
 all those who are accounted gods among you, a serpent 
 is represented as a great symbol and mystery. (Ye 
 accuse us also of extinguishing the lights, that we may 
 give way to gross indulgences:) thus what ye openly 
 practise and hold in honour, as if the divine light (of 
 reason and natural sense of right and wrong) were 
 overthrown and extinguished in you, ye falsely attri- 
 
 bute to us: but this brings no blame upon us, who 
 
 § Πρῶτον μὲν, ὕτι τοὺς πάντας σχεδὸν ὁρῶμεν ἐπὶ πορνείᾳ προάγοντας, οὐ 
 μόνον τὰς κόρας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἄρσενας" καὶ ὃν τρόπον λέγονται οἱ παλαιοὶ 
 ἀγέλας βοῶν ἢ αἰγῶν ἣ προβάτων τρέφειν, ἢ ἵππων φορβάδων, οὕτω νῦν καὶ 
 παῖδας εἰς τὸ αἰσχρῶς χρῆσθαι μόνον, καὶ ὁμοίως θηλειῶν καὶ ἀνδρογύνων, καὶ 
 ἀῤῥητοποιῶν πλῆθος κατὰ πᾶν ἔθνος ἐπὶ τούτου τοῦ ἄγους ἕστηκε.---Καὶ τῶν 
 τούτοις χρωμένων τὶς, πρὸς TY ἀθέῳ καὶ ἀσεβεῖ καὶ ἀκρατεῖ μίξει, εἰ τύχοι 
 τέκνῳ, ἢ συγγενεῖ, ἢ ἀδελφῷ μίγνυται. Οἱ δὲ καὶ τὰ ἑαυτῶν τέκνα, καὶ τὰς 
 ὁμοζύγους προαγωγεύονται. Καὶ φανερῶς εἰς κιναιδίαν ἀποκόπτονται τινὲς, 
 καὶ εἰς μητέρα θεῶν τὰ μυστήρια ἀναφέρουσι. 
 
 7 Compare Suetonius, Caligula: c. 40. This disgraceful tribute was 
 finally removed by a law contained in Justinian, tit. xu. lib. xi. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 181 
 
 are free from all such abominations, but rather upon 
 those who do them, and bear false witness. -For, as 
 ye may learn, by inquiry, from our scriptures, the 
 leader of the evil demons is by us called the Serpent, 
 and Satan, and the Devil ὃ, who, as Christ hath fore- 
 told, shall be sent into fire with all his host, and such 
 men as follow him, to be punished for endless ages. 
 For the cause why God hath hitherto delayed the 
 execution of this is-the human race. For he fore- 
 knows that some shall be saved by repentance, and 
 some perhaps who are not yet born: and at the first 
 he formed the human race intelligent, and able to 
 choose the truth and to be happy’, so that all men 
 should be without excuse before God; for they are 
 made capable of reason and foresight. But if any one 
 believes not that God cares for such things, such a man 
 must either profess that God exists not at all’, or 
 affirm that, if He exists, he delights in evil; or else 
 that he remains as insensible as a stone: and that 
 virtue and vice are nothing; but. that men judge 
 actions to be good or bad merely by their own opinion ; 
 which is the greatest impiety and injustice. 
 
 A second reason’ for our not exposing infants is, 
 lest any one so exposed should not be taken up, but 
 perish ; and thus we should be murderers. 
 
 37. Moreover, we either marry at first, for no other 
 object than to rear children, or else abstaining from 
 marriage, continue to live in a state of continence. 
 And already one of our religion, in order to persuade 
 you that promiscuous concubinage is not a religious 
 
 8 Rev. xx.2. See Dial. with Trypho, p. 331. 
 
 9 εὖ πράττειν. ΄..-. - ee 
 
 1 ἢ μὴ εἶναι αὐτὸν διὰ τεχνῆς ὁμολογήσει. For διὰ τεχνῆς should probably 
 be read either ἀτεχνῶς or Ov ἀνάγκης. 
 
 2 Justin here takes up again the subject of exposing children, from which, 
 in his usual discursive manner, he had deviated, at the beginning of this 
 Section. _. 
 
lo 
 
 182 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 mystery with us (as ye falsely allege), presented a 
 written petition to Felix the governor, at Alexandria, 
 praying that he would permit a physician to mutilate 
 his person; an operation which the physicians there 
 said they were not at liberty to perform, without the 
 governor’s leave. And when Felix altogether refused 
 to grant his permission, the young man still persisted 
 in his resolution of continence, satisfied with his own 
 conscience, and that of his Christian brethren. Here 
 also we may mention Antinous, who lately died, and 
 whom all, through fear (of offending the Emperor 
 Adrian) were eager to worship as a god, knowing 
 well what kind of character he bore, and whence he 
 was. 
 
 And that no one may advance this objection against 
 us, “ What should hinder us from believing, that he 
 who by us is called Christ, was a man of merely human 
 origin, who performed the wonders, which we speak 
 of, by magical art *, and on that account was considered 
 to be the Son of God?” we will proceed now to bring 
 forward a proof. We will not rely upon testimony, 
 but shall necessarily be persuaded by prophecies de- 
 livered before the events; since we see with our own 
 eyes that events have taken place, and are now taking 
 place, according to the predictions. And this proof 
 
 + Absurd as this objection may appear, it was one which the early 
 Christian Apologists thought it necessary to anticipate ; and on that ac- 
 count they sometimes laid greater stress on prophecy than on the miracles 
 of Christ. Compare Irenzus, ii. 57. Lactantius, v. 3. Disce igitur, si 
 quid tibi cordis (cordi) est, non idcirco a nobis Deum creditum Christum, 
 quia mirabilia fecit, sed quia vidimus in eo facta esse omnia que nobis 
 annunciata sunt vaticinio prophetarum. Fecit mirabilia: magum_ putas- 
 semus, ut et vos nuncupatis, (nunc putatis) et Judei tunc putaverunt, si 
 non illa ipsa facturum Christum prophete uno spiritu predixissent. In 
 another place (iv. c. 13) Lactantius replies to the objection, said to have 
 been made by the oracle of Apollo, and assented to by some of the Jews, 
 that the miracles of Jesus were performed by magic, by an appeal to the 
 fulfilment of prophecy, as a continual miracle going on before their eyes. 
 
 Origen meets the same objection, with different reasons. Contra Cels. 
 il. p. 88, seq. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 183 
 
 will, we imagine, appear to you also the most perfect 
 and most true. 
 
 38. There were, then, among the Jews certain men, 
 who were Prophets of God, by whom the prophetic 
 Spirit proclaimed future events before they came to 
 pass. And the kings, who were over the Jews in those 
 days, possessed and preserved with great care the 
 prophecies of these men, as they were first delivered, 
 in books composed by the prophets themselves, in their 
 own Hebrew language. Now when Ptolemy, king of 
 Egypt, was forming his library, and endeavouring to 
 collect the writings of all men, he heard of these 
 prophecies, and sent to Herod *, who then ruled over 
 the Jews, desiring that the books of the prophecies 
 might be sent to him. And Herod the king sent 
 them written in their aforesaid Hebrew language. 
 But since what was thus written in them could not be 
 understood by the Egyptians, he again sent, and de- 
 sired him to send men to translate them into the 
 Greek language. This being done, the books have 
 remained with the Egyptians even to this day: and 
 they are also with all the Jews in every place. Yet 
 the Jews who read, understand not what is written ; 
 but regard us with hatred and enmity, slaying and 
 punishing us, even as ye do, whenever they are able; 
 as ye may easily learn. For in the late Jewish 
 
 4 This is a mistake either of Justin, or of some of his transcribers. 
 The person to whom Ptolemy sent was Eleazar, who, according to Philo 
 Judeus (lib. 2. de Vita Mosis), was high-priest and king of Judea. 
 Josephus (Ant. xi. 4. 8) says that the high-priests had the supreme 
 power, till the posterity of the Asamoneans established a monarchical 
 authority. 
 
 Grabe supposes we should here read ἱερεῖ for ‘Howdy. 
 
 The account of the Septuagint version of the Old Testament given in 
 the Cohortatio ad Grecos, p. 18, 14, which is ascribed to Justin, is some- 
 what different from this. It follows Philo (de Vit. Mosis, lib. ii.), 
 in asserting that the seventy interpreters were each shut up in a 
 different cell, and composed so many distinct versions, which all literally 
 agreed. 
 
184 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 war ἡ, Barchochebas, the leader of the Jewish insurrec- 
 tion, commanded the Christians only to be led away to 
 severe tortures, unless they denied Jesus Christ and 
 blasphemed. 
 
 73 @0- Now in the books of the prophets we find it 
 predicted, that Jesus, our Christ, should come, should 
 be born of a virgin, and be made man; that he should 
 heal every disease, and all manner of sickness, and 
 raise the dead; that he should be enviously treated, 
 and not be known; that he should be crucified, and 
 die, and rise again, and ascend into heaven; that he 
 should be the Son of God, and so be called; that 
 some should be sent by him to preach these things to 
 every nation of mankind, and that men of the gentiles 
 should more especially believe on him. Some of these 
 prophecies also respecting him were delivered five 
 thousand years before his appearing ἢ, some three thou- 
 sand, some two thousand ; and some again one thou- 
 sand, and others eight hundred years. For in the 
 course of successive generations, different prophets 
 succeeded one another. 
 
 80: Moses then, who was the first of the prophets ’, 
 wrote in these very words: “A prince shall not fail 
 from Judah, nor a ruler from between his feet δ, until 
 He shall come, for whom it is reserved ὃ; and He 
 
 5 In the 17th year of Adrian: Eusebius, H. E. iv. 6, and Chron. 
 Eusebius says, the cause of his enmity to the Christians was their refusal to 
 unite with him against the Romans. 
 
 6 According to the chronology of Justin Martyr, somewhat more than 
 5000 years elapsed between the Creation and the birth of Christ. Theo- 
 philus (Ad Autolycum, lib. iii: p. 1388) makes it 5515 years. Justin here, 
 therefore, considers Adam as one of the prophets ; agreeing with Theo- 
 philus (lib. ii. p. 104). Clemens Alexandrinus (Strom. i. p. 335) in like 
 manner regards the names which Adam bestowed upon Eve, and upon all 
 animals, as prophetic, : 
 
 7 The first, whose writings are preserved. -Here, and in c. 7], the 
 prophecy of Jacob is apparently ascribed to Moses who records it. 
 
 8 ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ. From his thighs. 
 
 ° ᾧ ἀπόκειται---ἰ παῖ this, and not ὃ ἀπόκειται, is the true reading, is plain 
 from Justin’s Dial. with Trypho, pp. 348, 349. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. ° 185 
 
 shall be the expectation of the Gentiles, binding his 
 colt to a vine, washing his garment in the blood of the 
 grape '.” Now it is for you to inquire diligently, and 
 to learn, how long the Jews continued to have a ruler 
 and a king of their own. It was until the appearing 
 of Jesus Christ, our Master, and the interpreter of the 
 prophecies which were not understood: as it was de- 
 clared by the divine holy spirit of prophecy, in the 
 writings of Moses, that a prince should not fail from 
 the Jews, until he should come, for whom the kingdom 
 was reserved. For Judah was the ancestor of the 
 Jews, from whom also they have received their name. 
 And ye, since Christ hath appeared, have both reigned 
 over the Jews, and possessed all their country. More- 
 over, the expression, “ He shall be the expectation of 
 the Gentiles,” implied, that men of all nations should 
 expect him to come again; and this ye may see with 
 your own eyes, and be persuaded of by the fact itself. 
 For out of all nations of men, they look for him who 
 was crucified in Judea; after whom the land of the 
 Jews was immediately subjugated and given up to you. 
 4 Ὲ. The words’, “ Binding his colt to a vine, and 
 washing his garment in the blood of the grape,” were a 
 sign representing what should be done to Christ, and 
 what he should himself perform. For an asses colt 
 was standing in a certain village bound to a vine, which 74 
 he then commanded his disciples to lead to him; and 
 when it was brought, he sat thereon, and entered into 
 Jerusalem, where was that most magnificent temple of 
 the Jews, which was afterwards thrown down by you. 
 And after these things, he was crucified ; that the rest 
 of the prophecy might be fulfilled. For the words, 
 “ washing his garment in the blood of the grape,” pre- 
 
 1 Gen. xlix. 10. 
 2 This passage is explained in a similar manner, in the Dialogue with 
 Trypho, p. 272. 348. 
 
186 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 dicted his passion, which he was to undergo, cleansing 
 by his blood those who believe in him. For that which 
 is called, by the prophet in the holy spirit, his garment, 
 are the men which believe in him, in whom dwells the 
 seed which is from God, even the word. And that, 
 which is called “the blood of the grape,” indicates 
 that he who was to appear should have indeed blood, 
 but that he should have it by divine power, and not of 
 human seed. And the principal power, after God the 
 Father and Lord of all things, is the Son, the Word ; 
 the manner of whose incarnation, and how he was made 
 man, we shall hereafter show. For as not man, but 
 God, hath made the blood of the vine, so this intimated 
 that the blood should not be of human seed, but of 
 the power of God, as we before said. 
 
 42; Isaiah also, another prophet, predicting the same 
 things in different words, thus spake’*: “ There shall 
 come a star out of Jacob, and a flower shall spring 
 from the branch of Jesse:” “and upon his arm shall 
 the Gentiles hope’. *” Now a shining star did rise, and 
 a flower did spring from the root of Jesse, even this 
 Christ. For through the power of God, he was born 
 of a virgin, of the seed of Jacob, the father of Judah, 
 who hath been shown to be the father of the Jews. 
 Moreover Jesse was his progenitor, according to the 
 prophecy; and he was the son of Jacob and Judah by 
 natural descent. 
 
 43. And again, hear how expressly it was predicted 
 by Isaiah, that he should be born of a virgin. For 
 thus it was spoken: “ Behold a virgin shall conceive 
 and bear a son: and they shall say of his name, God 
 with us’.” For the things which appeared to be in- 
 credible and impossible with men, those did God pre- 
 
 3 Justin here unites the prophecy of Balaam, Numb. xxiv. 17, with that 
 of Isa. xi. 1. 
 4 1. χὶ. 1.10. 5 Isa. vii. 14, Matt. i. 23. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 187 
 
 dict by the prophetic Spirit; that when they came 
 to pass, they should not be disbelieved, but believed, 
 inasmuch as they were before declared. But lest 
 some °, not understanding the prophecy which hath 
 been advanced, should bring the same charge against 
 us, which we make against your poets, who say that 
 Jupiter came down to women, under the influence of 
 impure passions, we will endeavour to explain these 
 words. Now, when it is said, “ Behold a virgin shall 
 conceive,” it is implied that the virgin conceived with- 
 out carnal intercourse with any one; or otherwise she 
 would no longer have been a virgin. But the power 
 of God coming upon the virgin overshadowed her, and 
 caused her to conceive, although still a virgin. More- 
 over, the angel of God, who was sent to the virgin at 
 that very time, saluted her, saying, “ Behold, thou shalt 
 conceive in thy womb, by the Holy Ghost, and shalt 
 bear a son, and he shall be called the Son of the 
 Highest; and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for 
 he shall save his people from their 5115. Thus they, 
 who have recorded ὃ all things concerning our Saviour 
 Jesus Christ, have taught: whom we believe; since 
 the prophetic Spirit also declared, as we have shown, 
 by the above-mentioned Isaiah, that he should be so 
 born. Moses, therefore, the prophet already quoted, 
 declares °, that we are not permitted to consider the 
 Spirit, and the Power which is from God, to be any 
 other than the Word’, which is also the first-begotten 
 
 δ ὅπως δὲ μή τινες μὴ νοήσαντες. K. T,X. 
 
 7 Luke i. 81. 83. Matt. i. 21. 
 
 8 ἀπομνημονεύσαντες.---΄π c. 86, the Gospels are styled ἀπομνημονεύ- 
 para, memoirs. 
 
 9 Moses no where makes such an assertion; unless we suppose Justiu 
 to have alluded to some mystical interpretation of such a passage as Exod. 
 iv. 22: “Israel is my son, my first-born.” Grabe supposes that Justin 
 may have written Ἡσαΐας, instead of Μωσῆς. 
 
 1 The Spirit and the Word (Λόγος) seem here to be confounded. 
 Compare c.61. 85. Bp. Kaye observes, with reference to the passages of 
 
 -τ 
 
 ῶι 
 
188 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 of God. And this, coming upon the virgin and over- 
 shadowing her, not by carnal knowledge, but by (divine) 
 power, caused her to conceive. The name also of 
 Jesus, in the Hebrew tongue, hath the same meaning 
 as Soter (Saviour), in the Greek language*. Where- 
 fore also the angel said to the virgin, “ And thou shalt 
 call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from 
 their sins *.” 
 
 44. Even ye yourselves, I imagine, will concede, that 
 they who prophecy are inspired by nothing else but the 
 divine word. /Hear also how another prophet, Micah, 
 predicted the very place where Christ should be born. 
 For he spake thus: “ And thou Bethlehem, in the 
 land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of 
 Judah: for out of thee shall come a governor, that 
 shall rule my people Israel*.” Now Bethlehem is a 
 village in the country of the Jews, five and thirty 
 furlongs distant from Jerusalem; as ye may also learn 
 from the taxing, which took place under Cyrenius who 
 was your first prefect * in Judea. 
 
 the early Fathers, in which πνεῦμα is used to signify the Divine Nature 
 of Christ, ‘‘ Perhaps the idea present to their minds was, that as, in the 
 mystery of the Incarnation, the Holy Ghost came upon the Virgin, and 
 the Power of the Highest overshadowed her, and the Λόγος thereby 
 became flesh, the Holy Spirit, the Power of the Highest, and the Λόγος 
 were the same. But Justin attributes the inspiration of the ancient Pro- 
 phets sometimes to the Adyoc, sometimes to the Holy Spirit. Here it is 
 difficult to interpret the latter of the Divine nature in Christ; and yet the 
 two appear to be identified. I know of no other mode of explaining this 
 fact, than by supposing that, as the Λόγος was the conductor of the whole 
 Gospel economy, Justin deemed it a matter of indifference, whether he 
 said that the Prophets were inspired by the Λόγος, or by the Holy Spirit 
 who was the immediate agent. The Holy Spirit is called in Scripture 
 the Spirit of Christ. (Rom. viii.9. Gal. iv. 6. Phil. i. 19. 1 Pet. i. 11. 
 In the last passage the immediate reference is to the inspiration of the 
 Prophets).” Bp. Kaye’s Account of Justin Martyr, ch. ii. p. 72. 
 
 2 Compare Dialogue with Trypho, p. 44. 
 
 3 Matt. i. 21. 4 Mic. ν. 2, as quoted, Matt. ii. 6. 
 
 5 éirpomoc—Grotius, on Luke ii. 2, shows that Cyrenius could not have 
 been procurator. The word ἐπίτροπος is of general signification. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 189 
 
 Hear, again, what was foretold, to show that Jesus, 
 when he was born, should not be known by other men, 
 until he came to man’s estate, even as it came to pass. 
 The prophecies are these °. 
 
 * * * % * * * 
 
 45- “Unto us a child is born: unto us a young 
 man is given: whose government is upon his shoul- 
 ders’.”. This is a prophecy of the power of the cross, 
 against which he placed his shoulders when he was 
 crucified, as shall be more clearly shown as we proceed. 
 And again the same prophet Isaiah, inspired by the 
 | Spirit of prophecy, declared, “I have stretched forth 
 my hands unto a disobedient and gain-saying people, 
 unto those who walked in a way that was not good δ." 
 “ They ask of me now justice: and dare to draw nigh 
 unto God®.” And again in other words he saith by 
 another prophet, “ They pierced my feet and my hands, 
 and cast lots for my vesture'.”. Now David, the king 
 and prophet who said thus, suffered none of these 
 things; but the hands of Jesus Christ were stretched 
 out, when he was crucified by the Jews who spake 
 against him, and said that he was not the Christ. For, 
 as the prophet said, they in derision placed him upon a 
 judgment-seat, and said, “ Judge over us.” The words 
 also, “They pierced my hands and my feet,” were a 
 reference to the nails, which were fixed in his hands 
 and feet upon the cross. And, after his crucifixion, 
 they who crucified him cast lost for his vesture, and 
 divided it among themselves. And that these things 
 were done, ye may learn from the records of what took 
 place under Pontius Pilate’. To show that it was 
 
 6 There is here probably an omission of some passages from the Pro- 
 
 phets. 
 7 Isa, ix. 6. § Isa. xv. 2. Rom. x. 21. 
 9 Tsa. lviii. 2. 1 Ps, xxii; 16—18. 
 
 2 Compare Justin Martyr’s Apol. c.63. Tertullian, Apol. c. 5. 21, 
 appeals to the information respecting Jesus Christ conveyed to the Empe- 
 
190 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 expressly predicted, that he should sit upon the foal of 
 an ass, and come into Jerusalem, we will mention the 
 prophetic writings of another prophet, Zephaniah. The 
 words are these: “ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of 
 Sion: shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy 
 king cometh unto thee, meek, and riding upon an ass, 
 and upon a colt the foal of an ass *.” 
 
 46. Now, when ye hear the sayings of the prophets, 
 as if they were delivered by some one person, imagine 
 not that they are said by the inspired writers them- 
 selves, but by the divine word which moved them. 
 For sometimes it prophetically declares what shall 
 come to pass hereafter; sometimes it speaks as in the 
 person of God the Father, and Lord of all; sometimes 
 as in the person of Christ; and sometimes as in the 
 person of the people who answer to the Lord, or to his 
 Father. In the same manner as ye may see also in 
 your own writers, that one person writes the whole, 
 but introduces different persons as holding discourse. 
 The Jews who had the books of the prophets, not 
 observing this, knew not Christ, when he came; and 
 moreover hate us, who say that he is come, and prove 
 that he was crucified by them, as it was predicted. 
 
 47. And that this also may be plain to you; these 
 words were spoken, in the person of the Father, by 
 Isaiah the prophet, whom we have before mentioned: 
 *“ The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s 
 crib: but Israel doth not know me: and my people 
 doth not consider. Ah, sinful nation, a people full of 
 iniquity, an evil seed, wicked children: ye have for- 
 saken the Lord*.” And again in another place, where 
 
 ror Tiberius by Pontius Pilate. These acts, or records, of Pilate were the 
 memoranda of the daily transactions of his government. 
 
 3 Zech. ix. 9; Matt. xxi. 5. Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue with 
 Trypho, p. 273, quotes this prophecy correctly, from Zechariah, not from 
 Zephaniah, as here. 
 
 4 Isa. i. 8, 4. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 191 
 
 the same prophet speaks in like manner in the person 
 of the Father. “ What house will ye build me? saith 
 the Lord. Heaven is my throne, and earth my foot- 
 stool’.” And again in another place; “ Your new 
 moons and your sabbaths my soul hateth, and the 
 great day of fasting and rest I endure not; even if ye 
 come to present yourselves before me, I will not hear 
 you. Your hands are full of blood: even if ye bring 
 fine flour and incense, it is an abomination unto me. 
 I desire not the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls. 
 For who hath required this at your hands*®.” “ But 
 loosen every band of wickedness, rend asunder the 
 ties of violent contracts: cover the naked and him that 
 hath no house: deal thy bread to the hungry’.” Thus, 
 then, may ye understand what kind of precepts are 
 delivered from God by the prophets. 
 
 48. When, again, the prophetic spirit speaks in the 
 person of Christ, it expresses itself thus: “1 have 
 stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gain- 
 saying people, unto those who walked in a way that 
 was not good®.” And again, “I gave my back to 
 stripes, and my cheeks to buffetings: I turned not 
 away my face from the shame of spitting. And the 
 Lord was my helper. Wherefore I turned not: but I 
 set my face as a solid rock; and I knew that I should 
 not be ashamed, for he is near that justifieth me ’.” 
 And again, when he saith, “They cast lots for my 
 vesture: and pierced my feet and my hands*.” “ But 
 I lay down and slept and rose up again: for the Lord 
 sustained me”.” And again, when he saith, “They 
 spake with their lips, they shook the head, saying, Let 
 him save himself*.” All which things, as ye may 
 
 5 Isa. xvi. 1. 6 Isa. i. L1I—14. 
 
 7 Isa. lviii. 6, 7. ~ 8 Isa. Ixy. 2. Rom. x. 21. 
 9 Tsa. 1. 6—8. Ἵ Ps, xxii. 16—18. 
 2 Py, iii. 5. 3 Ps, xxii 7, 9: 
 
192 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 learn, were done to Christ by the Jews. For when he 
 was crucified, they pouted their lips, and shook their 
 heads, saying, Let him that raised the dead save 
 himself *. 
 49. Moreover, when the prophetic spirit speaks to 
 7g foretel things to come, it is in this manner. “ For 
 out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the 
 Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the 
 nations, and shall rebuke many people. And they 
 shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their 
 spears into pruning hooks. And nation shall not lift 
 up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war 
 any more®*.” And that it did so come to pass, ye may 
 readily learn. For from Jerusalem twelve men went 
 forth into the world, and they unlearned °, not know- 
 ing how to speak. But by the power of God they 
 preached to every nation of men, that they were sent 
 by Christ to teach all men the word of God. Where- 
 fore we who formerly killed one another, now not only 
 abstain from fighting against our enemies, but are 
 ready to meet death with cheerfulness, confessing the 
 faith of Christ, rather than lie, or deceive those who 
 persecute us. For we might, on such an occasion, 
 have acted according to that saying (of the poet ’,) 
 
 “* My tongue alone hath sworn, and not my mind.” 
 
 However it would be absurd, while soldiers, once 
 engaged and enrolled by you, adhere to the oath which 
 they have made, in preference even to their own lives, 
 their parents, their country, and all their families, 
 when ye can offer them nothing immortal; that we, 
 ardently desirous of immortality, should not endure 
 every thing, in order to obtain the object of our wishes, 
 from him who is able to fulfil them. 
 
 4 Matt. xxvii. 39. 5 Jsa. ii. 3, 4. 
 6 ἰδιῶται. Actsiv. 13. 1 Cor. ii. 1. 4.6.13. 2 Cor. xi. 6. 
 7 Eurip. Hippolytus, 608. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 193 
 
 -ὅθ. Hear also in what manner prophecy was made 
 concerning those who preached his doctrine, and de- 
 clared his appearing; the aforesaid prophet and king 
 having thus spoken by the prophetic spirit, “ Day unto 
 day uttereth speech: and night unto night showeth 
 knowledge. There is no speech nor language whose 
 voices are not heard. Their sound is gone out through 
 all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the 
 world. In the sun he hath placed his tabernacle: and 
 he (is) as a bridegroom going out of his chamber: he 
 will rejoice as a giant to run his course °.” 
 
 —ot. In addition to these, we have thought it right 
 and appropriate to mention some other prophecies, 
 delivered by the same David; whence ye may learn in 
 what manner the prophetic spirit exhorts men to live: 
 and how it speaks of the conspiracy which was formed 
 against Christ by Herod, king of the Jews, and the 
 Jews themselves, and Pilate who was your procurator 
 
 among them, with his soldiers: declaring that all 79 
 
 nations of men should believe in him; showing that 
 God calls him his Son, and hath promised to put all 
 his enemies under him: in what manner the devils 
 endeavour, as far as is possible, to escape the power of 
 God the Father and Lord of all things, and that of 
 Christ himself: and how God calls all men to repent- 
 ance, before the day of judgment shall come. The 
 words are to this effect 5: “ Blessed is the man, who 
 hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, and 
 hath not stood in the way of sinners, and hath not sat 
 upon the seat of the scornful’. But his will is in the 
 Jaw of the Lord, and in his law will he meditate day 
 and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the 
 water-courses, which shall give its fruit in its season: 
 and the leaf whereof shall not fall off, and all which it 
 
 8 Ps, xix. 2—5. Rom. x. 18. IPs τ τἷς 
 1 λοιμῶν. Of pestilences. 
 O 
 
 > 
 
194 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 beareth ἢ shall prosper. Not so the wicked, not so; 
 but (they are) even as the chaff, which the wind 
 scattereth from the face of the earth. Therefore the 
 ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners 
 in the council of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth 
 the way of the righteous, and the way of the ungodly 
 shall perish.” ‘“ Why did the heathen rage, and the 
 people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth 
 stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against 
 the Lord, and against his Anointed, saying, Let us 
 break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yoke 
 from us. He that dwelleth in the heavens shall laugh 
 them to scorn; and the Lord shall have them in 
 derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, 
 and in his anger he shall trouble them. But I am set 
 up by him as a king, upon Sion his holy mountain, 
 declaring the command of the Lord. The Lord hath 
 said unto me, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten 
 thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen 
 for thine inheritance, and for thy possession the ex- 
 tremities of the earth. Thou shalt rule them with a 
 rod of iron; as vessels of a potter shalt thou dash 
 them in pieces. And now, ye kings, be wise; be in- 
 structed, all ye that judge the earth. Serve the Lord 
 with fear, and rejoice in him with trembling. Receive 
 instruction ®, lest haply the Lord be angry, and so ye 
 perish from the right way, when his wrath is quickly 
 kindled. Blessed are all they that put their trust in 
 him.” 
 
 52. And again the prophetic spirit, declaring. by the 
 same David that Christ should reign after his crucifixion, 
 spake thus: “Sing unto the Lord, all the earth, and 
 
 2 ὅσα ἃ ποιῇ. 
 
 5. Δράξασθε παιδείας. This is the version of the Septuagint. Capellus, 
 Critica Sacra, lib. iv. sect. 5, p. 243, endeavours to show how the differ- 
 
 ence between the present Hebrew reading and the Greek may have 
 arisen. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 195 
 
 show forth his salvation from day to day. For the 
 Lord is great, and greatly to be praised; he is to be 80 
 feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations 
 are idols of devils: but God made the heavens. Glory 
 and praise are before his face; and strength and 
 majesty ὁ in the place of his holiness. Give glory unto 
 the Lord, the Father of the worlds’: bring an offering °, 
 and come in before his face, and worship in his holy 
 courts. Let the whole earth fear before his face, and 
 be established, and not be shaken. Let them rejoice 
 among the nations. The Lord hath reigned from the 
 wood ’.” 
 
 53. But whereas the prophetic spirit speaks of future 
 events, as if they were already past, as may have been 
 observed in what hath been said, we will explain this 
 also, that it may not perplex those who meet with it. 
 
 (The spirit) speaks of things which it assuredly 
 knows shal! happen, as if they had already taken place. 
 And that we must so receive these writings will be 
 evident, if ye attend to the following considerations. 
 David spake the words which have been recited, fifteen 
 hundred years*® before Christ was made man and 
 
 * Katynpa. ; 
 
 5 τῷ πατρὶ τῶν αἰωνῶν. The Sept. has ai πατριαὶ τῶν ἔθνων, “Ὁ ye 
 kindreds of the people ;” and Justin so quotes the passage in Dial. p. 299, A. 
 
 δ λάβετε χάριν. 
 
 7 Ps. xevi. 1, 2.4—10. Compare Col. ii. 14, 15. 
 
 The passage is thus quoted by many of the Fathers. Tertullian, adv. 
 Jud. c. 11, says, “ Age nunc, si legisti penes prophetam in psalmis, Deus 
 regnavit ἃ ligno, expecto quid intelligas, ne forte lignarium aliquem regem 
 significari putetis, et non Christum, qui exinde a passione Christi (crucis) 
 superata morte regnavit.” And again, c. 13, Unde et ipse David regna- 
 turum ex ligno Dominum dicebat. See also Tertullian, adv. Marcion. iii. 
 c. 19. Barnabas, Epist. c. 8, is supposed to recognise the words, when he 
 says, Ore δὲ τὸ ἔριον ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον ; ὅτι ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ ᾿Ιησοῦ ἐπὶ τῷ ξύλῳ. 
 Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue with Trypho, p. 298, accuses the Jews of 
 having erased the words ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου. There is no trace, however, of 
 the words in any Hebrew or Greek MS. of the Old Testament, or in 
 Origen or Jerome. 
 
 8. Inc. 39, Justin appears to allude to David, when he says, in round 
 numbers, that some of the prophets lived one thousand years before Christ. 
 
 o 2 
 
8 
 
 — 
 
 196 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 crucified: and yet no one, of those who lived either 
 before David or after him, gave occasion of rejoicing 
 to the heathen by his sufferings upon the cross. But 
 now, in our days ὅ, Jesus Christ was crucified, and died, 
 and rose again, and ascended into heaven, and reigned 
 there ; and, in consequence of what hath been preached 
 in all nations, by the apostles sent from him, there is 
 great joy to those who look for the immortality, which 
 he hath promised. 
 
 54. And that no persons may imagine, from what 
 we have now advanced, that we conceive events to 
 happen by fatal necessity, because, as we have said, 
 they are foreknown, we will explain this also. We 
 have learned from the prophets, and declare it for a 
 truth, that punishment and torments, as well as rewards, 
 will be given to every one according to his works. For 
 if this is not so, but every thing takes place by 
 irresistible necessity, then there is nothing at all in our 
 own power. For if it is fated that one man must be 
 good, and another bad, neither is the one to be praised, 
 nor the other to be blamed. And again, if the human 
 race hath no power, by its free will, to avoid the evil 
 and to choose the good, it is not responsible for any 
 actions of any kind. But that men do stand and fall 
 by free will is thus shown. We see that the conduct 
 of the same man is different at different times. But if 
 it was fated, that he should be either bad or good, he 
 could never act so differently, nor change so frequently. 
 Neither indeed would some be good, and some bad: 
 since in that case, we should represent fate as the cause 
 of evil, and at variance with itself: or else we must 
 profess that opinion to be true, which we have before 
 Theophilus (ad Autolycum, p. 138), places David eleven hundred years 
 before Christ. The chronology of Justin seems to have been rather 
 loose ; but it is probable that the numbers here have been altered by an 
 
 error of a transcriber. 
 2 Ὁ καθ’ ἡμᾶς ᾿Ιησοῦς Χριστός. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 197 
 
 mentioned ', that virtue and vice are nothing, but 
 actions are reckoned to be good or bad by opinion 
 only; which, as true reason plainly shows, is the. 
 greatest impiety and injustice. 
 
 55. But we say that this only is irreversibly deter- 
 mined, that they who choose what is good shall be 
 proportionably rewarded, and in like manner, they who 
 choose the reverse shall be punished as they deserve. 
 For God did not make man like the other creatures, 
 such as trees and four-footed beasts, incapable of doing 
 any thing by free choice; since he would not be a fit 
 object of reward or praise, if he did not himself choose 
 the good, but were so made; nor, if he were bad, 
 would he deserve punishment, if he were not such by 
 his own act, but were unable to become in any respect 
 different from what he was made. 
 
 56. Now the holy prophetic Spirit taught us this, 
 saying by Moses, that God thus spake to the man who 
 was first created: “Behold, before thy face is good 
 and evil; choose the good’.” Again it is thus spoken 
 by another prophet, Isaiah, as in the name of God the 
 Father and Lord of all things: ‘ Wash you, make 
 you clean, put away the evil from your souls: learn to 
 do well: do justice to the fatherless, and avenge the 
 widow; and come and let us reason together, saith the 
 Lord. Even if your sins should be as scarlet, I will 
 make them as white as wool: and if they should be as 
 crimson, I will make them white as snow. And if ye 
 will, and will hearken unto me, ye shall eat the good 
 of the land. But if ye will not hearken unto me, the 
 sword shall devour you. For the mouth of the Lord 
 hath spoken these things’.” Now that which is said 
 above, “ The sword shall devour you,” implies not, that 
 
 ᾿ς, 806. 
 
 > Deut. xxx. 1ὅ. 19. Justin Martyr erroneously attributes to Moses an 
 application made in Ecclus. xv. 14—17. 
 
 3 Isa. i. 16—20. 
 
τῷ 
 
 198 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 they who are disobedient shall perish by the sword ; 
 but the sword of the Lord is the fire, by which those 
 shall be consumed who choose to do evil. Wherefore. 
 he saith, “The sword shall devour you; for the mouth 
 of the Lord hath spoken 10. But if he had spoken of 
 the sword which cuts, and immediately ceases, he 
 would not have said, it shall devour *. 
 
 57. Wherefore also when Plato said *, “The fault 
 lies with him who chooses, but God is blameless,” he 
 took it from the prophet Moses, who was more ancient 
 than all the writers of the Greeks. And in all, which 
 philosophers or poets have said concerning the immor- 
 tality of the soul, or punishments after death, or the 
 contemplation of heavenly things, or the like opinions, 
 they could conceive and explain such notions only as they 
 
 .first derived them from the prophets. Whence there 
 
 appear to be the seeds of truth among them all: but 
 they are proved not to have thoroughly understood 
 them, since they so speak as to contradict themselves. 
 
 58. When therefore we say, that prophecies have 
 been delivered respecting future events, we assert not 
 that they were foreseen, because they happened by a 
 fatal necessity; but that God, well knowing what the 
 actions of all men would be, and having determined 
 that he would reward every man according to his 
 deeds, declared by his prophetic spirit, that his deal- 
 ings with them would correspond with those actions, 
 thus always leading the human race to reflection and 
 repentance, and showing his care and providence for 
 them. 
 
 59. But the evil spirits denounced death against 
 those who read the books of Hystaspes, or the Sibyl, 
 
 4 Justin’s interpretations are sometimes fanciful enough. The mouth 
 of the sword, laine is acommon Hebrew expression. Jer. xxi. 7. Job 
 
 1.151}. 
 5. De Republ. x. p. 617. H. Steph. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 199 
 
 or the prophets, that they might deter them from 
 improving such an opportunity of learning what was 
 for their real good, and retain them in slavery to them- 
 selves. But this purpose they could not entirely 
 effect. For we not only fearlessly study these books, 
 but, as ye perceive, offer them for your consideration, 
 being assured that they will be well pleasing to all 
 men. And even if we persuade but a few, our gain 
 will be great: for as good husbandmen we shall receive 
 the reward from our Master. 
 
 60. Hear also what was spoken by David the pro- 
 phet, to show that God the Father of all things would 
 receive Christ into heaven, after having raised him 
 from the dead, and retain him there, until he should 
 tread under foot his enemies the devils, and the number 
 of those should be fulfilled, who, as he foreknew, 
 would be good and virtuous; for whose sake also the 
 final destruction® of all things by fire is yet delayed. 
 The words are these: “The Lord said unto my Lord, 
 Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies 
 thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy 
 strength out of Jerusalem: and rule thou in the midst 
 of thine enemies. With thee shall be the rule in the 
 day of thy power, in the splendours of thy saints. 
 From the womb, before the day-star, have I begotten 
 thee’.” The words, “The Lord shall send the rod of 
 thy strength out of Jerusalem,” are a prophecy of that 83 
 powerful word, which the Apostles of Christ, who went 
 out from Jerusalem, preached every where, although 
 death was threatened against those who taught, or 
 even confessed the name of Christ, and which we now 
 every where embrace and teach. And if ye too receive 
 what we now offer, in an hostile manner, ye can do no 
 
 6 ἐκπύρωσιν for ἐπικύρωσιν, as in c. 28. 74. 77, and Apol. ii. p. 45, C. 
 7 Ps. cx. 1—3. This is the reading of the Septuagint. See Lud. 
 Cappellus, Critica Sacra, lib. iv. c. 2. 8, c. 11. 3. 
 
200 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 more, as we have already said *, than slay us: which 
 brings, in fact, no evil upon us, but will procure ever- 
 lasting punishment by fire upon yourselves, and all 
 those who hate us without reason, and repent not. 
 
 61. But, lest any one should unreasonably object to 
 what is taught by us, saying, that Christ was born but 
 an hundred and fifty years since, in the time of 
 Cyrenius, and taught what we ascribe to him still 
 later, under Pontius Pilate, and should accuse us of 
 maintaining that all men, who lived before that time, 
 were not accountable for their actions, we will anticipate 
 and solve the difficulty. We have learned, and have 
 before explained, that Christ was the first-begotten of 
 God, being the Word, or reason, of which all men were 
 partakers’. They then who lived agreeably to reason, 
 were really Christians, even if they were considered 
 atheists, such as Socrates, Heraclitus, and the like 
 among the Greeks; and among other nations Abra- 
 ham, Ananias, Azarias, Misael, and Elias, and many 
 others, the actions and even the names of whom we at 
 present omit, knowing how tedious the enumeration 
 would be. Those therefore who of old lived without 
 right reason, the same were bad men ', and enemies to 
 Christ, and the murderers of those who lived agree- 
 ably to reason. Whereas they who ever lived or now 
 live, in a manner which reason would approve, are 
 truly Christians, and free from fear or trouble. From 
 what we have already so fully stated, any intelligent 
 
 8 Ce, 2. 18. 
 
 9 Justin’s notion was, that every degree of intelligence which men 
 possessed, respecting the nature of the Deity, and their relation to him, 
 was derived from a portion of the Divine reason, λόγος, communicated to 
 them ; but that the true believer in Christ only possesses this quality in 
 perfection. He uses the word λόγος in different senses. Sometimes it 
 denotes the second person of the ‘Trinity, the Word ; sometimes reason or 
 intelligence : and sometimes word or speech. This necessarily creates 
 ambiguity in determining the sense of the term in any particular passage. 
 
 1 ἄχρηστοι, καὶ ἐχθροὶ τῷ Χριστῷ ἦσαν. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 201 
 
 man may understand, for what cause he was made man 
 and born of a virgin, by the power of the Word’ and 
 the counsel of God the Father and Lord of all things, 
 and was named Jesus, and died on the cross, and rose 
 again, and went up again into heaven. But since any 
 further disquisition for the explanation of this point is 
 not now necessary, we will proceed to the proof of 
 that which is more closely connected with our present 84 
 purpose. 
 
 62. Hear, then, what was spoken by the prophetic 
 spirit, declaring that the whole land of Judea should 
 also be laid waste. The words, it will be observed, 
 are spoken in the person of the people themselves 
 wondering at what was done; and they are these: 
 “Sion is become a wilderness; Jerusalem is become 
 as a wilderness: the house, our holy place, is accursed : 
 and the glory, which our fathers blessed, is burned 
 with fire. And all its glories are fallen down. And 
 in these things thou didst refrain thyself, and didst 
 hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore ’*.” 
 
 Now, that Jerusalem is laid waste, as it was pre- 
 dicted it should be, ye have good proof. It was also 
 thus spoken by Isaiah the prophet, concerning its 
 desolation, and that no one should return thither to 
 dwell: “Their land is desolate: their enemies devour 
 it before their face*: and none of them shall dwell 
 therein’.” Ye well know also that ye have forbidden 
 any man to dwell there: and that the punishment of 
 death is denounced against any Jew who shall be found 
 within the place °. 
 
 2 See note (1) on c. 43. Compare Phil. ii. 7. 
 
 3 Isa. Ixiv. 10—12. Sulsal 1 7. 
 
 5 Justin adds what is spoken, Jer. |. 3, respecting Babylon. 
 
 6 Tertullian (Apol. c. 21) speaks of the Jews as banished from their 
 country ; and not even permitted as strangers to set foot upon their own 
 land. He repeats the same assertion, adv. Judwos, c. 15; Eusebius (H. 
 E. iv. 6, and in his Chronicon) states that an edict was made, in the 
 
202 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 63. Hear also in what manner it was predicted that 
 our Christ should heal all manner of diseases, and raise 
 the dead. Thus it is said, “At his coming the lame 
 man shall leap as an hart, and the tongue of the stam- 
 merer shall be eloquent, the blind shall receive their 
 sight, and the lepers shall be cleansed, and the dead 
 shall arise and walk’.” And that Christ did these 
 things ye may learn from the records of what was done 
 under Pontius Pilate*. Hear again what was said by 
 Isaiah, foretelling by the prophetic spirit that Christ 
 should be slain, together with those men who hoped in 
 him. The words are these: “Behold, how the just 
 man perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and 
 merciful men are taken away, and no one considereth. 
 The just man is taken away from before injustice: and 
 his grave shall be in peace: he is taken away from the 
 midst *.”. And again, how is it declared by the same 
 Isaiah that the people of the Gentiles who expected 
 him not, should worship him; but the Jews, who con- 
 stantly expected him, should know him not when he 
 came. The words were spoken as in the person of 
 Christ; and are to this effect. “I was made known 
 to them that looked not for me; I was found of them 
 that sought me not: I said, Behold, here am JI, to a 
 people who called not upon my name. I stretched 
 forth my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying 
 
 85 people: to those that walked in a way which was not 
 good, but after their own sins: a people that provoketh 
 to anger before me’.” For the Jews, who had the 
 prophecies, and always expected the Christ to come, 
 not only knew him not, but evil entreated him. But 
 
 eighteenth year of the Emperor Adrian, forbidding any Jew to approach 
 within sight of Jerusalem.  Valesius, in his notes on Eusebius, H. E., 
 shows that there was one day in the year, on which the restriction was 
 removed. 
 
 7 1538. χχχν. ὅ, 6. 8 See Justin Martyr’s Apol. c. 45. 
 
 9. Isa. lvii. 1, 2. 1 Tsa. Ixv. 1—3. Rom. x. 21. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 203 
 
 they of the Gentiles, who had never heard any thing 
 of Christ, until the apostles who went forth from Jeru- 
 salem declared what he had done, and delivered the 
 prophecies respecting him, were then filled with joy; 
 and renounced their belief in idols; and dedicated 
 themselves to the unbegotten God through Christ 5. 
 Hear also what was briefly spoken by Isaiah, to show 
 that these harsh accusations should be brought against 
 those who confessed Christ; and how wretched those 
 should be who spoke ill of him, and maintained that 
 the ancient customs ought to be preserved. His words 
 are these: “ Woe unto them that call sweet bitter, and 
 bitter sweet °.” 
 
 64. Hear also in what manner it was prophesied, 
 that he should be made man for us; and submit to 
 suffer, and be set at naught; and should come again 
 with glory. The words are these. “Because * he hath 
 given up his soul unto death, and was numbered with 
 the transgressors; he hath borne the sins of many, and 
 shall make intercession for the transgressors. For 
 behold my Son shall understand, and shall be exalted, 
 and shall be exceedingly glorified. As many shall be 
 astonished at thee; so shall thy appearance be without 
 honour, more than any men, and thy glory more than 
 any men: so shall many nations wonder at thee; and 
 kings shall shut their mouths at thee; for they to 
 whom nothing had been told of thee, and who had not 
 heard, shall understand. Lord, who hath believed our 
 report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ? 
 We have declared before him, as (if he were) a child; 
 as a root in a thirsty ground. There is no form in 
 
 2 ταῦθ observes, that this is a formula in which Catechumens, who 
 were subsequently to be baptized, were dismissed from the Church. 
 Such a formula is given by the author of the Apostolical Constitutions, 
 (vill. c. 6,) as part of the bidding prayer, which the Deacon was to use 
 for the Catechumens. Compare similar expressions in ce. 17. 33. 79. 
 
 3 Isa. v. 20. 4 Compare Epist. of Clement, c. 16. 
 
204 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 him, nor glory. Yea we saw him; and he had no 
 form nor comeliness: but his form was without honour, 
 and marred more than men. He was a man in stripes, 
 and knowing how to bear infirmity. For his face was 
 turned away, he was despised, and esteemed not. He 
 beareth our sins and for us is he afflicted. And we 
 considered him to be in trouble, in stripes, and in 
 affliction. But he was wounded for our iniquities, and 
 bruised for our sins. The chastisement of peace was 
 
 86 upon him: by his stripes we were healed. All we like 
 sheep have gone astray. Man hath erred from his 
 way. And (the Lord) gave him for our sins: and he 
 opened not his mouth through his suffering. He was 
 led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before 
 her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 
 In his affliction his judgment was taken away ’®.” 
 Wherefore after his crucifixion even all his disciples 
 forsook him, and denied him. But afterwards, when 
 he arose from the dead, and appeared to them, and 
 taught them that they should read the prophecies in 
 which all these events were predicted, and when they 
 had seen him going back into heaven, they believed, 
 and received power which was thence sent down upon 
 them from him, and went into all the world, and 
 preached these things, and were themsélves called 
 Apostles. 
 
 65. Again, these are the words of the prophetic 
 spirit, declaring to us that he, who suffered thus, hath 
 an origin which cannot be expressed, and rules over 
 his enemies: “ Who shall declare his generation; for 
 his life is taken from the earth. For their transgres- 
 sions he comes to death. And I will give the wicked 
 for his tomb, and the rich for his death. Because he 
 did no iniquity, neither was guile found in his mouth: 
 and the Lord will cleanse him from his stripes. If he 
 
 5 Isa. lii. 111, Septuagint. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 205 
 
 shall be given an offering for sin, your soul shall see a 
 long-lived seed. And the Lord is pleased to take his 
 soul out of travail, to show him light, and to form him 
 in understanding, to justify the just one who minis- 
 tereth well to many. And he himself shall bear our 
 sins. For this cause he shall inherit many; and shall 
 divide the spoil of the strong. Because his soul was 
 given up to death, and he was numbered with the 
 transgressors; and he bare the sins of many, and he 
 himself was given for their transgressions*®.” Hear 
 also in what manner it was predicted that he should 
 ascend up to heaven. For thus it was spoken: “ Lift 
 up the gates of heaven; be ye opened, that the King 
 of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? 
 The Lord mighty, even the Lord powerful’.” Hear 
 also what was spoken by Jeremiah* the prophet, to 
 show that he should also come again from heaven with 
 glory. His words are these: “Behold how the Son of 
 man cometh upon the clouds of heaven, and the angels 
 with him.” 
 
 66. Since, then, we have shown that all things 87 
 which have already happened were foretold by the pro- 
 phets, before they came to pass, we must necessarily 
 believe with full faith, that those things, which are in 
 like manner foretold, but are still to happen, will 
 assuredly come to pass. For in the same manner as 
 past events, which were predicted and not known, did 
 come to pass, so events which are yet to happen, even 
 if they be unknown and disbelieved, will come to pass. 
 For the prophets foretold two comings of Christ; the 
 first, which hath already taken place, as of a man with- 
 out honour and exposed to suffering; and the second, 
 when it is declared he will come with glory from 
 heaven, with his angelic host; when also he shall raise 
 
 6 Isa. lili, 8—1Y. @ PSs χχῖν. 7, 8: 
 8 The passage alluded to is in Dan. vii. 13. See Matt. xxv. 91. 
 
206 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 again the bodies of all men who have ever lived, and 
 shall clothe with incorruption the bodies of those who 
 so deserve, but shall send those of the wicked into 
 everlasting fire, there to dwell in endless consciousness 
 with the evil spirits. 
 
 67. Now that these things also are foretold, we will 
 proceed to show. Thus, then, was it spoken by Eze- 
 kiel the prophet: “There shall be brought together 
 joint to joint, and bone to bone: and flesh shall grow 
 upon them®.” And, “ Every knee shall bow to the 
 Lord, and every tongue shall confess to him’.” Hear 
 also what is in like manner foretold, to show in what 
 degree of sensibility and punishment the wicked shall 
 be. The words are these: “Their worm shall not 
 cease, and their fire shall not be quenched’.” And 
 then shall they repent, when it will avail them nothing. 
 Moreover what the people of the Jews shall say and 
 do, when they see him coming in glory, is foretold in 
 these words by the prophet Zechariah *: “I will com- 
 mand the four winds to bring together my children 
 that are scattered: I will command the north to bring, 
 and the south to oppose not. And then in Jerusalem 
 shall there be great wailing; not the wailing of the 
 mouth or of the lips, but wailing of the heart. And 
 they shall rend not their garments but their con- 
 sciences. One tribe shall mourn to another: and 
 then shall they look on him whom they pierced, and 
 shall say, Wherefore, Lord, hast thou caused us to 
 wander from thy way? The glory, which our fathers 
 blessed, is turned to our reproach.” 
 
 68. Although we might mention also many other 
 prophecies, we here pause, persuaded that these are 
 
 9 See Ezek. xxxvii. 6—8. 1 Tsa. xlv. 23: see Rom. xiv. 11. 
 
 2 Isa. Ixvi. 24. Mark ix. 44. 
 
 3 See Zech.ii.6 ; xii. 2.10.12. Isa. xi.12; xlili. 5,65; Ixiii.17; Ixiv. 11. 
 Joel ii. 13. 
 
JUSTIN. MARTYR. 207 
 
 sufficient to convince such as have ears to hear, and 
 hearts to understand ; and nothing doubting that they 
 will perceive, that we are not like those, who devise 
 fables concerning the supposed sons of Jupiter, assert- 
 ing what we are unable to prove. For how should we 
 believe of a man who was crucified, that he was the 
 first-born of the unbegotten God, and should himself 
 be the judge of all the human race, unless we found 
 testimonies of him foretold, before he came and was 
 made man, and saw also that it so came to pass? For 
 we have witnessed the desolation of the land of the 
 Jews, and have seen such men, as we ourselves are, 
 men out of every nation, persuaded by the teaching of 
 his apostles, and renouncing their former manner of 
 life, in which they had gone astray: and that Chris- 
 tians more numerous and more true have been made 
 from the Gentiles, than from the Jews and Samaritans. 
 For all other nations of mankind are called Gentiles, by 
 the prophetic spirit ; but the tribes of Judea and Sama- 
 ria are denominated Israel and the house of Jacob. 
 
 69. And to show that it was foretold that there 
 should be a greater number of believers from the Gen- 
 tiles, than from the Jews and Samaritans, we will 
 produce the prophecies, which are these: “ Rejoice, 
 thou barren that bearest not, break out and cry, thou 
 that travailest not: for the children of the barren are 
 more than those of her which hath an husband *.” 
 For all the nations were barren of the knowledge of 
 the true God, worshipping the works of their own 
 hands: but the Jews and Samaritans, who by the pro- 
 phets had the word delivered to them from God, and 
 continually looked for the Christ, knew him not when 
 he came, except a certain few, who should be saved; 
 even as the prophetic spirit foretold, by Isaiah. For 
 
 4198. live 1; (Θὅ]. 1γ- 927. 
 
89 
 
 208 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 he said, in their name, “ Except the Lord had left us 
 a seed, we should have been as Sodom and Go- 
 morrah δ. These are related by Moses to have been 
 cities of wicked men, which God overthrew, and burned 
 with fire and brimstone, so that no one who was in 
 them was saved, except one man of another nation, 
 a Chaldean by birth, named Lot, with whom his 
 daughters also were saved. And any who wish, may 
 now see the whole of that country desolate and burnt 
 up, and still remaining unproductive. Moreover to 
 show that it was foreseen that they of the Gentiles 
 should be more true and more faithful, we will state 
 what was thus spoken by the prophet Isaiah °: “ Israel 
 is uncircumcised in heart, but the Gentiles (are un- 
 circumcised) in the flesh.” 
 
 70. What, then, hath now been so fully seen may 
 reasonably produce conviction and faith in those who 
 embrace the truth, and are not vain glorious, nor 
 governed by their passions. {Whereas they who teach 
 the fables which have been invented by the poets, 
 offer no proof to the young men who learn them: 
 and we have shown that such tales are spoken, by the 
 influence of evil demons, to deceive the human race, 
 and lead them astray. For having heard that it was 
 declared by the prophets that Christ should come, and 
 that wicked men should be punished by fire, they put 
 forward many, whom we have already mentioned ’, to 
 be called the sons of Jupiter; supposing that thus they 
 might persuade men to consider what was related re- 
 specting Christ to be merely fabulous prodigies, of the 
 same nature with those related by the poets. And 
 these inventions were circulated both among the Greeks 
 and all other nations, where they understood the pro- 
 phets to declare that the belief in Christ should most 
 
 © lsai5.9: 6 This quotation is from Jer. ix. 26. TC. 29; 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 209 
 
 prevail. We shall show, however, that when they 
 thus heard what was spoken by the prophets, they 
 did not perfectly understand it, but erroneously imi- 
 tated what was really performed by Christ, in whom 
 we believe. 
 
 71. Moses, then, the prophet, was, as we have before 
 stated 5, more ancient than all other writers; and he 
 delivered this prophecy, which hath been already 
 quoted ὃ: “A prince shall not fail from Judah, nor a 
 ruler from between his feet’, until He shall come for 
 whom it is reserved: and He shall be the expectation 
 of the Gentiles, binding his colt to a vine, washing his 
 garment in the blood of the grape’.”. The demons 
 then, hearing these prophetic words, asserted that 
 Bacchus was born the son of Jupiter; they ascribed to 
 him also the invention of the vine, and in the celebra- 
 tion of his mysteries led an ass* in procession, and 
 taught that Bacchus was torn in pieces, and taken up 
 into heaven. And since, in the prophecy of Moses, it 
 was not plainly expressed, whether he who should come 
 was to be the Son of God (or of man), and whether, 
 thus riding upon a colt, he should remain upon earth, 
 or ascend into heaven; since also the word “colt,” 
 might imply the foal either of an ass or of a horse, 
 and they doubted whether he who was predicted should 
 lead an ass’s colt, or that of a horse, as the sign of his 
 coming, and whether he should be the Son of God or 
 of man, they said that Bellerophon also, a man born of 
 a human parent, went up to heaven* upon the horse 
 
 SiCrOds 2° ¢.40- 
 
 1 ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν, from his thighs. See the first note on c. 40. 
 
 2 Gen. xlix. 10. 
 
 3 οἶνον (ὄνον) ἐν τοῖς μυστηρίοις αὐτοῦ ἀναγράφουσι (ἀναφέρουσι). 
 Compare Dial. with Trypho, p. 295, where the same argument is used, 
 and the same instances adduced. Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxiv. 1, says that the 
 ass was sacred to Bacchus. 
 
 # See Ὁ. 29. 
 
210 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 90 Pegasus. When also they heard that it was said by 
 another prophet, Isaiah, that Christ should be born of 
 a virgin, and should ascend to heaven by himself, they 
 devised the story of Perseus. Knowing, again, that it 
 was said, as hath been already shown by reference to 
 the prophets, “ He shall be strong as a giant to run a 
 race’,” they told of Hercules, who was strong, and 
 wandered over the whole earth. And when again they 
 learned that it was prophesied, that Christ should heal 
 all manner of disease, and raise the dead, they intro- 
 duced Esculapius °. 
 
 72. But in no instance, nor in the history of any of 
 those who were called the sons of Jupiter, did they 
 imitate his crucifixion: for since all that was spoken 
 respecting this was figuratively expressed, as we have 
 shown, it was unintelligible to them. Now the cross, 
 as the prophet hath predicted, is the greatest sign of 
 his might and dominion; as is plain from what falls . 
 under our own observation. For observe how impos- 
 sible it is that any thing in the world should be regu- 
 lated, or any mutual intercourse carried on, without 
 employing this figure. The sea cannot be navigated, 
 unless this symbol, as the mast and yard-arm of the 
 sail, remains firm in the ship. Without an instrument 
 in this form, the land cannot be ploughed: neither can 
 they who dig exercise their labour, nor handicraft-men 
 pursue their occupations, without implements which 
 are fashioned in like manner. The human figure also 
 differs from those of irrational animals in no respect 
 but this, that it is erect, and hath the hands extended: 
 and in the countenance also hath the nose reaching 
 downward from the forehead, by which we are able to 
 breathe. This again shows no figure but that of the 
 cross. It is spoken also by the prophet, “The breath 
 
 Sige Seis δ: ® Compare ec. 30. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 211 
 
 before our nostrils is Christ the Lord’.” The signs 
 also in use among yourselves show the force of the 
 same figure‘, [as in the instance of standards] and 
 trophies, by which your progress is every where marked. 
 In all these, ye show the true sign of authority and 
 power, although ye do it ignorantly. Moreover by the 
 use of the same figure, ye set up the figures of your 
 deceased emperors, and denominate them gods, by the 
 accompanying inscriptions. Having then thus exhorted 
 you, to the utmost of our power, both by an appeal to 
 your reason, and to these sensible signs, we know that 
 we shall henceforth be blameless, even if ye believe 91 
 not. For we have done our duty, and brought our 
 work to an end. 
 
 79. It was not sufficient, however, for the evil 
 demons to declare, before the coming of Christ, that 
 those sons, who have been spoken of, were born to 
 Jupiter: but afterwards, when Christ had appeared 
 and dwelt with men, and they learned in what manner 
 he was predicted by the prophets, and knew that men 
 of all nations believed on him and expected him [to 
 
 7 Lament. iv. 20: πνεῦμα πρὸ προσώπου ἡμῶν Χριστὸς Κύριος. The 
 Septuagint version now has πνεῦμα προσώπου, the breath of our nostrils. 
 And the words are so quoted by Tertullian, Adversus Marcion. iii. 6; 
 Advers. Praxeam. c. 14; Irenaeus, iii. 11, p. 315. In the Apostolical 
 Constitutions, v. 20, and Eusebius, H. E. i. 3, the words are quoted in the 
 same manner as by Justin. Tertullian argues from this passage, that it was 
 Christ, who spake by the prophets, and appeared at various times, before 
 his coming in the flesh. The mystical senses, which Justin and others of 
 the Fathers have applied to this passage, depend upon the Greek version, 
 in which is found Χριστὸς Κύριος, and not Χριστὸς Κυρίου, m7 mw, 
 
 “the Anointed of the Lord ;” by which term probably Zedekiah was meant. 
 
 8 Kai τὰ παρ’ ὑμῖν δὲ σύμβολα τὴν τοῦ σχήματος τούτυυ δύναμιν 
 δηλοῖ. . ..... λλωμεν καὶ τῶν τροπαίων. 
 
 Some words are here lost. Among the different conjectures, that of 
 Thirlby seems as probable as any :—dn\ot* λέγω δὲ τὰ τῶν καλουμένων 
 παρ᾽ ὑμῖν οὐιξίλλων καὶ τῶν τροπαίων. 
 
 Notions of the same fanciful kind, respecting the universal use of the 
 figure of the cross, are found in Minucius Felix, Octavius, c. 29; and in 
 Justin’s Dialogue, p. 317,318. 332. He finds it exemplified, among other 
 instances, in the horu of the unicorn. 
 
 Pp 2 
 
D2, THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 come again to judgment], they again raised up others, 
 as we have before shown, as Simon and Menander 
 from Samaria’: who by the display of magical arts de- 
 ceived, and continue to deceive, many. For Simon 
 being with you, as we have already said, in the imperial 
 city of Rome, under Claudius Cesar, did so astonish 
 the sacred senate and the people of Rome, that he was 
 considered to be a god, and honoured with a statue, 
 even as the other gods who are worshipped among 
 you. Wherefore we request that the sacred senate 
 and your people would join with you in considering 
 this our address; that if there be any one who hath 
 been seduced by his doctrine, he may learn the truth, 
 and be able to avoid error: and, if it please you, de- 
 stroy the statue. 
 
 ~#4, For the evil demons can never persuade men 
 that the wicked shall not be punished in fire; even as 
 they were unable to cause Christ to be unknown, 
 when he did come; but this only: they can cause 
 those men who oppose right reason by their lives, and 
 have been brought up in depraved habits of sensuality, 
 and are puffed up with vain glory, to destroy and hate 
 us. Yet we not only bear no malice against these 
 men, but, as is hereby manifest, pity them and endea- 
 vour to persuade them to repentance. For we fear 
 not death, since it is acknowledged that at all events 
 we must die: and there is nothing new', but a con- 
 tinual repetition of the same things in this life. And 
 if they who partake of these delights are satiated with 
 them in one year, they must surely hearken to our in- 
 struction, that they may live for ever, free from suffer- 
 ing and fear. But if they believe that there will be 
 nothing after death, and are of opinion that they who 
 die pass into a state of insensibility, then they act as 
 our benefactors, in liberating us from sufferings and 
 
 9 See c. 34. 1 Eccles. i. 9, 10. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 213 
 
 privations, while they yet show themselves to be in- 
 fluenced by hatred and enmity and vain-glory: for 92 
 their object in thus removing us is not to relieve us 
 from distress, but by our death to deprive us of life 
 and all its pleasures. 
 
 -75~ The evil demons also, as we have already shown, 
 raised up Marcion of Pontus, who even now continues 
 to teach men to deny God the Creator of all things in 
 heaven and earth, and Christ his Son, who was foretold 
 by the prophets: and asserts that there is some other 
 God, besides the Maker of all things, and also another 
 Son. And many, believing his pretensions to be the 
 only one acquainted with the truth, deride us, although 
 they can produce no proof of what they assert, but 
 contrary to all reason are hurried away, as lambs are 
 by wolves, and become a prey to wicked doctrines and 
 to demons. For the demons, which we have spoken 
 of, strive to do nothing else but to lead men away 
 from God the Creator and Christ his first-begotten 
 Son. Wherefore they have fixed and continue to fix 
 down to earthly things and such as are made with 
 hands, those men who cannot raise themselves from 
 the earth: but as for those who turn to the contempla- 
 tion of heavenly things, they mislead them, and cast 
 them into ungodly living, unless they have a wise 
 judgment, and lead a life of purity free from human 
 passions. 
 
 76. Further, that ye may be convinced that when 
 Plato asserted, that God made the world by a change 
 wrought in matter previously unformed, he was in- 
 debted to our teachers, that is, to the word of God 
 delivered by the prophets, hear the very words of 
 Moses, whom we have before mentioned as the first 
 prophet, and more ancient than any writers among the 
 Greeks. The prophetic spirit, declaring by him in 
 what manner, and from what materials, God in the 
 
214 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 beginning made the world, spake thus’: “In the be- 
 ginning God created the heaven and the earth. And 
 the earth was invisible and unformed; and darkness 
 was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God 
 moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, 
 Let there be light; and it was so*.”. Wherefore Plato 
 and they who agree with him, as well as we ourselves, 
 have all learned that the whole world was made by the 
 word of God, from what was related and made known 
 by Moses; as ye also may be convinced. Moreover 
 we know that what is called Erebus by the poets, was 
 before spoken of by Moses *.” 
 
 ΞΡ. Moreover, when Plato discussing the physical 
 nature of the Son of God, saith in his Timzus°®, “ He 
 impressed him upon the universe in the form of a 
 cross,” he here also borrowed his assertion from Moses. 
 For in the writings of Moses it is recorded, that, at 
 
 99 the time when the Israelites came out of Egypt, and 
 were in the desert, venomous creatures, vipers and 
 asps, and all kinds of serpents, met them, and de- 
 stroyed the people: and that Moses, by the inspiration 
 and power which were given him from God, took 
 brass, and made it into the form of a cross, and placed 
 this upon the holy Tabernacle, and said to the people, 
 “If ye look upon this figure, and believe, ye shall be 
 saved by it.” He related also, that as soon as this was 
 done, the serpents perished and the people escaped 
 death. Plato reading this relation, and not fully com- 
 prehending it, nor aware that it was a type of the 
 cross, but conceiving only a division in that form °, said 
 
 .“ 
 
 2 Gen. i. 1—3. 3 καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως (φῶς). 
 
 3 any Gen. i. 5. 
 
 5 The passage, to which Justin alludes, relates to the creation of the 
 soul of the universe. Ταύτην οὖν τὴν ξύστασιν πᾶσαν, διπλῆν κατὰ μῆκος 
 σχίσας; μέσην πρὸς μέσην ἑκατέραν ἀλλήλαις, οἷον Χ προσβαλὼν, κατέκαμψεν 
 εἰς κύκλον. Timeus, tom. ili. p. 86, Ὁ. 
 
 § χίασμα, the form of the letter X. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 215 
 
 that the virtue which was next to the supreme God 
 was impressed upon the universe in the form of a 
 cross. And he spoke also of that third quality, since, 
 as we have already said’, he read what Moses related 
 of the Spirit of God being carried over the waters. 
 For he assigns the second place to the Word of God, 
 whom he declares to have been impressed upon the 
 universe in the form of a cross, and the third, to the 
 Spirit, which is said to have been borne over the 
 water, when he saith, “ And what is in the third place 
 about the third*®.” Hear also in what manner the 
 prophetic spirit declared by Moses that there should 
 be a destruction of all things by fire. For he spake 
 thus: “There shall go down an ever-living fire, and 
 shall consume even unto the abyss beneath.” 
 
 8. It is not therefore that we hold the same opinions 
 with others, but that all others speak in imitation of 
 ours. For with us information may be obtained upon 
 these points, from those who have not received even 
 the rudiments of learning, who, although unlearned, 
 and speaking a strange language °, had wisdom and 
 faith in their hearts: though some of them were lame 
 and blind, so as to make it evident that these things 
 were not done by human wisdom, but spoken by the 
 power of God. 
 
 48-We will state also in what manner we are 
 
 7 Ὁ 70: 
 
 8 Ὧδε γὰρ ἔχει" περὶ τὸν πάντων βασιλέα πάντ᾽ ἐστὶ, καὶ ἐκείνου ἕνεκα 
 πάντα" καὶ ἐκεῖνο αἴτιον ἁπάντων τῶν καλῶν" δεύτερον δὲ πέρι, τὰ δεύτερα, 
 καὶ τρίτον πέρι, τὰ τρίτα. Plato, Epist. 2, tom. iil. p. 312, 6. 
 
 For thus it is: around the King of the universe are all things, and all 
 things for him; and he is the cause of every good thing: and about the 
 second are those which are in the second place ; and about the third those 
 which are in the third place. 
 
 9 ἰδιωτῶν μὲν καὶ βαρβάρων τὸ φθέγμα. ITreneeus, iii. 4, expresses the 
 same sentiments: “ Hane fidem qui sine literis crediderunt, quantum ad 
 sermonem nostrum, barbari sunt, quanttim autem ad sententiam et con- 
 suetudinem, et conversationem, propter fidem perquam sapientissimi sunt, 
 et placent Deo, conversantes in omni justitia et castitate et sapientia.” 
 
216 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 created anew by Christ, and have dedicated ourselves 
 to God: that we may not, by omitting this, appear 
 to dissemble any thing in our explanation. As many 
 as are persuaded and believe that the things which we 
 teach and declare are true, and promise that they are 
 determined to live accordingly, are taught to pray, and 
 to beseech God with fasting, to grant them remission 
 of their past sins, while we also pray and fast with 
 them. We then lead them to a place where there is 
 water, and there they are regenerated in the same 
 manner as we also were: for they are then washed 
 in that water, in the name of God the Father and 
 
 94 Lord of the universe, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, 
 and of the Holy Spirit. For Christ said, “ Except ye 
 be born again, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven':” and that it is impossible, that those who 
 are once born should again enter into their mother’s 
 wombs is evident to all. Moreover, it is declared by 
 the prophet Isaiah, as we have before written, in what 
 manner they who have sinned and repent may escape 
 (the punishment of) their sins. For thus it is said: 
 “ Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil from 
 your souls; learn to do well; do justice to the father- 
 less, and avenge the widow: and come and let us 
 reason together, saith the Lord. Even if your sins 
 should be as scarlet I will make them as white as 
 wool: and if they should be as crimson I will make 
 them white as snow. But if ye will not hearken unto 
 me the sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the 
 Lord hath spoken these things *.” 
 
 “60: The apostles have also taught us for what rea- 
 son this new birth is necessary. Since at our first 
 birth, we were born without our knowledge or con- 
 sent, by the ordinary natural means, and were brought 
 
 1 John iii. 3. 5. 2 Isa. i. 16—20. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. Pai bi 
 
 up in bad habits and evil instructions*, in order that 
 we may no longer remain the children of necessity or 
 of ignorance, but may become the children of choice 
 and judgment, and may obtain in the water remission 
 of the sins which we have before committed, the name 
 of God the Father and Lord of the universe is pro- 
 nounced over him who is willing to be born again, and 
 hath repented of his sins; he who leads him to be 
 washed in the laver of baptism, saying this only over 
 him‘: for no one can give a name to the ineffable 
 God ; and if any man should dare to assert that there 
 is such a name, he is afflicted with utter madness. 
 And this washing is called illumination ®, since the 
 minds of those who are thus instructed are enlightened. 
 And he who is so enlightened is baptized also in the 
 name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius 
 Pilate, and in the name of the Holy Spirit, who by the 
 prophets foretold all things concerning Jesus °. 
 
 +t. The demons also, who heard that this washing 
 of baptism was predicted by the prophet, caused that 
 those who entered into their holy places, and were 
 about to approach them, to offer libations and the fat 
 of victims, should sprinkle themselves. Moreover, ‘ 
 they cause them to wash themselves, as they depart 
 (from the sacrifice), before they enter into the temples 
 
 3 dvarpogaic. 
 
 4 The translation follows the reading proposed by Thirlby, αὐτὸ τοῦτο 
 μόνον ἐπιλέγοντος τοῦ τὸν λουσόμενον ἄγοντος ἐπὶ τὸ λουτρόν. They pro- 
 nounced over the new convert the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Spirit, according to the apostolical precept, Matt. xxviii. 
 19, but did not presume to give any other name to God, whose name is 
 ineffable. 
 
 5 φωτισμός. Justin in Dial. p. 258, A, uses the same language, φωτιζό- 
 μένοι διὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ rovrov. Terms of a like import were 
 constantly applied to baptism. Instances are given by Suicer, Thesaurus, 
 on the word φωτισμός : and Bingham, Eccles. Ant. xi. 1. 4; Euseb. H.E. 
 
 iii. 23 ; and Valesius’ note. 
 6 Justin resumes this subject in c. 85. 
 
218 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 where their images are placed. Again, the demons 
 having learned what happened to Moses, the prophet 
 of whom we have spoken, and, wishing to imitate him, 
 introduced the practice, that those who enter into 
 their temples, and worship the gods there, should be 
 exhorted by the priests to loose their shoes from off 
 their feet. For at the time when Moses was com- 
 manded to go down to Egypt, and lead out the people 
 of the Israelites who were there, as he was feeding 
 the flock of his mother’s brother’, in the land of 
 Arabia, Christ, whom we worship, spake with fim in 
 the appearance of fire out of a bush, and said, “ Put off 
 thy shoes, and come and hear®.” And he put off his 
 shoes, and went; and heard that he must go down 
 to Egypt, and lead out the people of the Israelites 
 who were there; and received great power from Christ 
 who spake with him in the appearance of fire. So he 
 went down, and led out the people, and performed 
 great and wonderful miracles; which, if ye wish to hear 
 them, ye may learn perfectly from his writings. 
 
 62 Now all the Jews to this day, teach that God, 
 who cannot be named, spake to Moses’. Whence the 
 prophetic spirit reproached them by Isaiah the afore- 
 mentioned prophet, as we have already declared, thus, 
 saying ', “The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his 
 master’s crib: but Israel doth not know me; and the 
 people doth not consider me.” And in like manner 
 Jesus Christ himself also said, upbraiding the Jews for 
 that they knew not what the Father is, and what the 
 Son is: “ No one knoweth the Father, but the Son; 
 
 7 Exod. iii. 1. Jethro was the father-in-law of Moses. Justin was 
 perhaps led into the error by thinking of Jacob feeding the flock of Laban, 
 his mother’s brother. Gen. xxix. 10; xxx. 29. 
 
 8 Exod. iii. 5. 
 
 9 Justin treats on this subject, in his Dialogue with Trypho, p. 282. 
 
 I 758. 1.9: 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 219 
 
 neither knoweth any one the Son, but the Father, and 
 they to whomsoever the Son shall reveal it*.” And 
 the Word of God is his Son, as we have before said. 
 He is called also the Angel* (who declares), and the 
 Apostle* (who is sent); since he declares whatever 
 is necessary to be known, and is sent to publish what- 
 ever is entrusted to him: as our Lord himself. said, 
 “He that heareth me, heareth him that sent me°.” 
 This also will plainly appear from the writings of 
 Moses. For in them it is thus said: “And the Angel 
 of the Lord spake unto Moses in a flame of fire out of 
 the bush, and said, I am he who is: the God of Abra- 
 ham, the God of Isaae, the God of Jacob, the God of 
 thy fathers. Go down to Egypt, and lead out my 
 people *.” Ye may learn what follows .from the 
 writings themselves; since it is impossible to comprise 
 every thing in the present address. 
 
 83. Now these words have been spoken, to show οὐ 
 that the Son of God, and Apostle, is Jesus Christ, who 
 before was the Word, and appeared sometimes in the 
 form of fire, and sometimes in the image of incor- 
 poreal beings, but hath now, by the will of God, and 
 for the sake of mankind, been made man; and en- 
 dured whatsoever the demons caused to be inflicted 
 upon him by the senseless Jews: who, when they find 
 it expressly declared in the writings of Moses, “ And 
 the Angel of God spake to Moses in a flame of fire 
 in a bush, and said, I am he who is; the God of 
 Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of 
 Jacob’,” say that it was the Father and Creator of all 
 things who so spake. Whence also the prophetic 
 
 2 Matt. xi. 27. This passage is quoted in the same manner in the next 
 chapter, 83. 
 
 3 Exod. iii. 2. 4 Heb. iii. 1, 2. 
 
 5 Matt. x. 40. COB xods ills ὡς 14; 15: 
 
 * Exod. iii. 2. 14, 15. 
 
220 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 spirit reproached them, saying, “But Israel doth not 
 know me, and the people doth not consider me °.” 
 And again Jesus, while he was with them, said, as 
 we have already shown, “ No one knoweth the Father 
 but the Son: neither knoweth any one the Son, but 
 the Father, and they to whomsoever the Son shall 
 reveal it®.” The Jews, therefore, who always thought 
 that it was the Father of all things who spake to 
 Moses, whereas he who spake to him was the Son of 
 God, who is also called the Angel and the Apostle, are 
 justly upbraided both by the prophetic spirit, and by 
 Christ himself, as knowing neither the Father nor the 
 Son. For they who say that the Son is the Father, 
 are proved not to know the Father, nor that the Father 
 of all things hath a Son, who, being the first-be- 
 gotten Word of God, is also God. He also for- 
 merly appeared to Moses and the prophets in the form 
 of fire, and of an incorporeal image: but now in the 
 time of your empire, as we have already said, was made 
 man, and born of a virgin, according to the will of the 
 Father, for the salvation of those who believe in him. 
 He permitted himself also to be set at naught, and 
 to suffer, that by dying and rising again he might 
 conquer death. Moreover, when he spake out of the 
 bush to Mases, saying, “Iam he who is; the God of 
 Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, 
 and the God of thy fathers,” he intimated that they 
 who were dead did still exist, and were men of Christ 
 himself. For they were the first of all men who 
 diligently sought after God, Abraham being the 
 father of Isaac, and Isaac of Jacob, as Moses also hath 
 recorded. 
 
 -84. Ye may also, from what hath been already said, 
 perceive, that it was in imitation of that which was 
 
 8 Isa. i. 3. 9 Matt. xi. 27. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 291 
 
 written by Moses, that the demons caused to be placed 
 by fountains of water, the statue of her who is called 97 
 Proserpine, and said to be the daughter of Jupiter. 
 For Moses said, in the words which have been already 
 adduced '°, “ In the beginning God created the heaven 
 and the earth: and the earth was invisible and un- 
 formed: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of 
 the waters.” They therefore said, that Proserpine was 
 the daughter of Jupiter, in imitation of the Spirit of 
 God, which was said to have moved over the water. 
 By a similar perversion, they spake of Minerva as being 
 the daughter of Jupiter, but not by natural generation. 
 But having learned that God after deliberation made 
 the world by the Word ', they spake of Minerva as the 
 first Intelligence. Now this we consider most absurd, 
 to carry about the image of Intelligence in a female 
 form. In like manner, the actions of the others, who 
 are called sons of Jupiter, prove what they really are. 
 &5: We, then, after having so washed him who hath 
 expressed his conviction and professes the faith, lead 
 him to those who are called brethren, where they are 
 gathered together, to make common prayers with great 
 earnestness, both for themselves and for him who is 
 now enlightened, and for all others in all places, that 
 having learned the truth, we may be deemed worthy to 
 be found men of godly conversation in our lives, and 
 to keep the commandments, that so we may attain to 
 eternal salvation. When we have finished our prayers, 
 we salute one another with a kiss. After which, there 
 is brought, to that one of the brethren who presides, 
 bread and a cup of wine mixed with water?. And he 
 
 10 Sect. 76. Gen.1. 1, 2. 1 See note on c. 34. 
 
 ? Trenzus, in like manner, speaks of the cup of the Eucharist, as con- 
 sisting of wine mixed with water. He calls it κεκραμένον ποτήριον (v. 2), 
 and speaks of our Saviour, who in his last supper declared the mixture of 
 the cup to be his own blood (¢emperamentum calicis suum sanguinem de- 
 claravit); (iv. 57): and, in describing the promise of our Lord, that he 
 
222 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 having received them, gives praise and glory to the 
 Father of all things, through the name of the Son and 
 of the Holy Spirit, and gives thanks in many words for 
 that God hath vouchsafed to them these things. And 
 
 would drink the fruit of the vine new with his disciples in his Father’s 
 kingdom (Matt. xxvi. 29), he uses the expression, "" Hzec enim et Dominus 
 docuit, mixtionem calicis novam in regno cum discipulis habiturum se pol- 
 licitus” (v. 86). 
 
 Some early heretics, as part of the sect of the Ebionites and of the 
 followers of Tatian, used water only in the administration of the Eucharist ; 
 whence they are opposed by Epiphanius (Heer. xlvi.; Encrat. 4. 16), who 
 calls them Encratite ; by Augustin (de Heres. 64), under the appellation 
 of Aquarii; and by Theodoret (de Fab. Heret. i. 20), who styles them 
 Encratite and Hydroparastate. Clemens Alexandrinus (Stromat. 1. p.375; 
 Pedagog. ii. 2, p. 177. Potter), mentions the same error. An Epistle of 
 Cyprian to Cecilius (Ep. 63, p. 148. Fell), is directed against this prac- 
 tice. His argument is intended to prove, that wine is essential to the 
 sacrament, and supposes that the cup, of which our Lord partook, contained 
 water as well as wine. He imagines that the union of water with the 
 wine indicated a mystical union between the people and Christ, and that 
 the absence of either substance dissolves this union. It will be observed, 
 that the object of Cyprian in this Epistle, is to show, not that the wine 
 must be mixed with water, but that water alone did not represent sacra- 
 mentally the blood of Christ. 
 
 The third Council of Carthage (c. 24), decreed that in the Eucharist the 
 wine should be mixed with water. And many other early writers main- 
 tain the same opinion. 
 
 In the first Common Prayer Book of the Church of England, published 
 by authority of Edward the Sixth, the Minister was directed by the rubric, 
 when he put the wine into the chalice, ‘to put thereto a little pure and 
 clean water.” The same custom existed in the Anglo-Saxon Church. 
 See Palmer’s Antiquity of the English Ritual, c. iv. sect. 9. 
 
 Although, however, this custom is primitive, and perhaps apostolical, 
 and although it is probable that the cup which our Saviour consecrated at 
 the last supper did contain water as well as wine, according to the general 
 practice of the Jews (Maimonides, Lib. de Solennitate Pasch. c. 7), yet it 
 has been long decided by theologians that the mixture of water is not 
 essential to the sacrament. Cardinal Bona refers to Bernard, as speaking 
 of those who considered water to be essential, but, he says, “ the judgment 
 of theologians is certain, that the consecration of the elements is valid, 
 even if water be omitted, although he who omits it is guilty of a grievous 
 offence.” (Bona, Rer. Lit. lib. ii. c. 9. 3.) 
 
 In our present rubric, although the mixture of water with wine is not 
 enjoined, it is not prohibited. 
 
 This question is treated by Bingham, Eccl. Ant. xv. 2.7; Wheatley on 
 the Common Prayer, c. 6, sect. 10. 5; Palmer’s Antiquity of the English 
 Ritual, c. 4, sect. 9,and ina Dissertation by Vossius, Thes. Theolog. p. 494. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 993 
 
 when he hath finished his praises and thanksgiving, all 
 the people who are present express their assent, saying, 
 Amen, which in the Hebrew tongue, implies, So be it. 
 The President having given thanks, and the people 
 having expressed their assent, those whom we call 
 deacons give to each of those who are present a por- 
 tion of the bread which hath been blessed, and of the 
 wine mixed with water; and carry some away for those 
 who are absent. 
 
 86. And this food is called by us the Eucharist (or 
 Thanksgiving): of which no one may partake unless he 
 believes that what we teach is true, and is washed in 98 
 the laver, which is appointed for the forgiveness of sins 
 and unto regeneration, and lives in such a manner as 
 Christ commanded. For we receive not these elements 
 as common bread or common drink. But even as 
 Jesus Christ our Saviour, being made flesh by the 
 Word of God’, had both flesh and blood for our sal- 
 vation, even so we are taught, that the food which is 
 blessed by the prayer of the word which came from 
 him, by the conversion of which (into our bodily sub- 
 stance) our blood and flesh are nourished, is the flesh 
 and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. For the 
 Apostles, in the Memoirs composed by them, which 
 are called Gospels, have related that Jesus thus com- 
 manded them‘; that having taken bread, and given 
 thanks, he said, “ Do this in remembrance of me: this 
 is my body:” and that in like manner having taken the 
 cup, and given thanks, he said, “This is my blood ;” 
 and that he distributed them to these alone. And this 
 too the evil demons have in imitation commanded to 
 be done in the mysteries of Mithra. For ye either 
 know or may learn, that bread and a cup of water are 
 
 3 See note on c. 43, and Bp. Kaye’s Account of Justin Martyr, ch. 4, 
 p- 86, note 6. 
 4 Matt. xxvi. 26. Mark xiv. 22. Luke xxii. 19. 
 
OA: THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 placed in the rites appointed for the initiated, with cer- 
 tain prayers. After these solemnities are finished, we 
 afterwards continually remind one another of them. 
 And such of us as have possessions assist all those 
 who are in want; and we all associate with one 
 another. 
 
 &#; And over all our offerings, we bless the Creator 
 of all things, through his Son Jesus Christ, and through 
 the Holy Spirit. And, on the day which is called 
 Sunday, there is an assembly in one place of all who 
 dwell either in towns or in the country; and the 
 Memoirs of the Apostles or the writings of the pro- 
 phets are read, as long as the time permits. Then, 
 when the reader hath ceased, the President delivers a 
 discourse, in which he reminds and exhorts them to 
 the imitation of all these good things. We then all 
 stand up together, and put forth prayers. Then, as we 
 have already said, when we cease from prayer’, bread 
 is brought, and wine, and water: and the President in 
 like manner offers up prayers and praises with his ut- 
 most power: and the people express their assent by 
 saying, Amen. The consecrated elements are then 
 distributed and received by every one; and a portion 
 is sent by the deacons to those who are absent. 
 
 99 88. Each of those also, who have abundance and are 
 willing, according to his choice, gives what he thinks 
 fit: and what is collected is deposited with the Pre- 
 sident, who succours the fatherless and the widows, and 
 those who are in necessity from disease or any other 
 cause; those also who are in bonds, and the strangers 
 who are sojourning among us; and in a word takes 
 care of all who are in need °. 
 
 > The previous description was that of the first Communion after bap- 
 tism ; Justin here relates the ordinary celebration of the Eucharist. 
 
 6 Bp. Kaye, in his Account of Justin Martyr, p. 9], notices the altera- 
 tions which had taken place in the mode of celebrating the communion 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. 225 
 
 8S: We all of us assemble together on Sunday, 
 because it is the first day in which God changed dark- 
 ness and matter, and made the world. On the same 
 day also Jesus Christ our Saviour rose from the dead. 
 For he was crucified the day before that of Saturn: 
 and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day 
 of the Sun, he appeared to his apostles and disciples, 
 and taught them what we now submit to your con- 
 sideration. 
 
 90. If now what we have advanced appears to be 
 reasonable and true, honour it accordingly; and if it 
 appears folly, despise it as foolish, but pass not sentence 
 of death against those who have done no evil, as if 
 they were enemies. For we have already forewarned 
 you, that ye shall not escape the future judgment of 
 God, if ye continue in ‘unrighteousness. And we 
 shall exclaim, What God wills, let that come to pass. 
 Although we might demand of you, from the epistle 
 of the most great and illustrious Cesar Adrian, your 
 father, that which we require, that ye should command 
 right judgment to be made, we have yet preferred that 
 this should not take place because it was so ordained 
 by Adrian, but have made this address and explanation 
 to you, knowing that we demand what is just. And 
 we have subjoined also a copy of the letter of Adrian, 
 that in this too ye may perceive that we speak the 
 truth. The copy is as follows: 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF ADRIAN RESPECTING THE 
 CHRISTIANS. 
 
 TO MINUCIUS FUNDANUS. 
 
 WE have received the letter written to me by the 
 most renowned Serenius Granianus whom you suc- 
 
 between the time of the Apostles and that of Justin. The chief of these 
 was the separation of the time of partaking of the Eucharist from that of 
 their ordinary meal. 
 
 Q 
 
226 THE APOLOGY OF 
 
 ceeded. It seems then to me that the matter must 
 not be left without inquiry; Test those men should be 
 troubled, and a means of evil doing should be open to 
 false accusers. If then the people in the provinces are 
 able to advance so far in their accusations against the 
 Christians, as to answer before the seat of judgment, 
 let them have recourse to these means alone, and not 
 act by vague accusations or mere clamour. For it is 
 far better, if any one wishes to bring an accusation, 
 that you should examine it. If therefore any one 
 accuses them, and proves that they have done any 
 thing against the laws, dispose of the matter according 
 to the severity of the offence. But I require you, if 
 any man bring such a charge false, deal with him 
 according to his deserts, and take care that you punish 
 him. 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF THE EMPEROR ANTONINUS PIUS 
 TO THE COMMON ASSEMBLY OF Αβια. 
 
 The Emperor Cesar, Titus lius Adrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius, 
 Pontifex Maximus, fifteenth time Tribune, thrice Consul, Father of his 
 Country, to the Common Assembly of Asia, sends greeting. 
 
 I am well assured, that the gods themselves will take 
 heed that men of this kind shall not escape: for it is 
 much more their interest to punish, if they can, those 
 who refuse to worship them. Whereas ye trouble 
 them, and accuse the opinions which they hold, as if 
 they were Atheists: and bring many other charges of 
 which we are able to discover no proof. Nay, it would 
 be in their estimation a great advantage to die for that 
 
 7 Eusebius, H. E. iv. 18, gives this Epistle, as having been written 
 by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, although in c. 12 he appears to ascribe it 
 to Antoninus Pius. Valesius and Scaliger think that it was written by 
 Marcus Aurelius. Halloix, in his Life of Justin, c. 5, and Cave, in his Life 
 of Justin, c. 10, agree in ascribing the letter to Antoninus Pius. The 
 authenticity of this Epistle rests on very slight grounds. 
 
JUSTIN MARTYR. pAat 6 
 
 of which they are accused: and they conquer you, by 
 throwing away their own lives, rather than comply 
 with what ye require them to do. 
 
 With respect to earthquakes, which either have 
 happened or do happen, it is not fitting that ye should 
 regard them with despondency, whatever they may be, 
 comparing your own conduct with theirs, and observing 
 how much more confidence they have towards God, 
 than ye. Ye, in fact, at such periods, appear to forget 
 the gods, and neglect your sacred rites. And ye know 
 not the worship which belongs to God; whence ye 
 envy those who do worship him, and persecute them 
 even unto death. Respecting such men, certain others 
 of the rulers of provinces wrote to my Father of blessed 
 memory; to whom also he wrote in reply, that they 
 should in no wise trouble men of that kind, unless 
 they were shown to be making any attempt agains 
 the dominion of the Romans. Many too have give 
 information respecting such men to me also, to whom 
 I answered, in conformity with my father’s opinion. 
 If then any one shall bring any charge against one of 
 these men, simply as such, let him who is so accused 
 be released, even if he should be proved to be one of 
 this kind of men: and let the accuser himself be 
 subject to punishment. 
 
 Qa 2 
 
THE APOLOGY 
 
 OF 
 
 QUINTUS SEPTIMIUS FLORENS 
 TERTULLIANUS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Tr ye, rulers! of the Roman Empire, sitting judicially 
 ‘pon your open and lofty seat of judgment, and 
 occupying, as it were, the most elevated position in the 
 state, are yet unable openly to inquire, and closely to 
 examine, what is the real truth, in questions respecting 
 the Christian religion—if in this case alone your 
 authority in matters of justice is either afraid or 
 ashamed to inquire,—or if, as hath recently occurred ’, 
 
 1 Antistites. In other parts of the Apology, Tertullian calls the same 
 persons Presides ; as inc. 2,9. 50. ‘They were the governors of Pro- 
 consular Africa. Eusebius, indeed, H. E. v. 5, says that this Apology was 
 addressed to the Roman Senate: but this is contradicted by internal 
 evidence. Had it been written at Rome, or addressed to Romans, 
 Tertullian would not have used such expressions as Hoc imperium, cujus 
 ministri estis: ec. 2. [Ecce in illa religiosissima urbe Aineadum : c. 9, or, 
 Ipsos Quirites, ipsam vernaculam septem collium plebem, convenio, c. 35. 
 The manner in which he contrasts the fear of God with that of the Pro- 
 consul, at the conclusion of c. 45, implies that the Apology was written in 
 some province which was under a Proconsul. 
 
 It is most probable, that this Apology was both written and presented 
 at Carthage. 
 
 2 One of those, who is here addressed, had probably exercised some act 
 of severity towards some of his own family, in consequence of their pro- 
 fessing the Christian religion. 
 
THE APOLOGY OF TERTULLIAN. 229 
 
 the great severity with which ye have persecuted this 
 sect in your own families prevents your listening to an 
 impartial defence,—the truth may still be permitted to 
 reach your ears by the secret means of a written 
 apology. Truth demands no favour in her cause; for 
 she wonders not at her own condition. She knows that 
 she is a sojourner upon earth; that she must find 
 enemies among strangers; but that her origin, her 
 home, her hopes, her honours, her dignities are placed 
 in heaven. She hath but one desire, not to be con- 
 demned unknown. What injury can the authority of 
 the laws suffer, which are absolute in their own realm, 
 if the truth be heard*? Nay, their power will be 
 more manifested, if they even condemn her, after she 
 is heard. Butif they condemn her unheard, in addition 
 to the odium attached to injustice, they will deservedly 
 incur the suspicion, that they wilfully refused to hear, 
 knowing that, if they had heard, they could not have 
 condemned her. 
 
 This, therefore, is the first reason which we allege, 
 to prove how unjust is the hatred borne towards the 
 name of Christian ; an injustice, which is at once ag- 
 gravated and proved to exist, by the very cause, which 
 at first appears to excuse it, namely, ignorance *. For 
 what can be more unjust than that men should hate 
 that of which they are ignorant, even if the subject 
 should deserve their hatred? For then only can any 
 thing be said to deserve such treatment, when the fact 
 
 3 The laws can never suffer any diminution of their authority, by per- 
 mitting those who are accused to answer for themselves. The very 
 demand for an audience is an acknowledgment of their power. Nay, if 
 absolute authority must prevail, arbitrary power would appear more 
 conspicuously, if it condemned, after having heard. 
 
 An (at) hoc magis gloriabitur potestas earum, quo etiam auditam 
 damnabunt veritatem. 
 
 4 Tertullian uses the same argument, in nearly the same words, Ad 
 Nationes, i. 6. i. 
 
230 THE APOLOGY [ CHAP. I. 
 
 is clearly ascertained. And where there is no know- 
 ledge of what are the true merits of the case, upon 
 what grounds can the justice of the hatred be de- 
 fended, when that justice must be proved, not from 
 the fact that hatred exists, but from previous know- 
 ledge of the grounds on which it rests? Since, there- 
 fore, their only reason for hatred is that they are 
 ignorant what it is which they hate, why may not the 
 subject be really of such a nature as not to deserve 
 hatred? Hence we establish the unreasonableness of 
 our adversaries in each case, by proving that they are 
 in ignorance, while they hate, and that, while they are 
 thus in ignorance, their hatred is unjust. <A proof of 
 this ignorance, which, while it excuses their injustice, 
 doth yet condemn it, is this, that all who once were 
 enemies, through ignorance, as soon as they have ceased 
 to be ignorant, cease also to hate. They are changed 
 from what they were, and become Christians, as soon 
 as they learn what that religion really is*; they begin 
 to hate what they were, and to profess the opinions 
 which they hated, and are become as numerous as we 
 are shown to be. Our enemies exclaim that the whole 
 state is overrun with us°: they lament it as a great 
 calamity, that Christians are found in the country, in 
 cities, in the islands; that persons of each sex, and of 
 all ages, and station, and dignity, come over to that 
 name. Yet not even this fact is sufficient to rouse 
 their minds to imagine that there is some latent good 
 in Christianity. They permit themselves not to enter- 
 tain any more reasonable suspicion, nor to investigate 
 the truth more clearly. In this instance alone the 
 curiosity natural to man is not excited; they please 
 
 5 “ Utique de comperto.” He contrasts the docility of a conscientious 
 convert with the determined ignorance of their persecutors, who con- 
 tinued to oppose a religion of which they were ignorant. 
 
 6 Compare c. 37, and Ad Nationes, i. c. i. 
 
CHAP. I. | OF TERTULLIAN. 231 
 
 themselves in ignorance of that, which others are de- 
 lighted to have known. Anacharsis’ permitted none 
 but those skilled in the science, to judge of music: 
 with how much greater justice might he have accused 
 these men of folly, who, in their utter ignorance, pre- 
 sume to form a judgment respecting those, who have 
 diligently inquired and learned the truth? They prefer 
 ignorance of Christianity, because they already hate it: 
 yet, by thus voluntarily encouraging ignorance, they 
 tacitly confess their conviction that, if they did know 
 what it was, they would be unable to hate it: since, if no 
 just ground of hatred should be discovered, they would 
 certainly act a wiser part in dismissing an unjust 
 hatred ; but if, on the other hand, sufficient cause for 
 hatred should appear, the hostility, which now exists, 
 would not only be continued, but acquire fresh reason 
 and encouragement, even on the authority of justice 
 itself. 
 
 But, it is said, the numbers, who are persuaded to 
 embrace Christianity, afford no proof that the religion 
 is good in itself; for how many are prone to evil ? 
 how many desert the paths of truth for error? Doubt- 
 less: yet not even they, who are led away by that 
 which is evil in itself, dare to defend it, as good. 
 Nature herself hath spread over every thing which is 
 evil, either fear or shame. Evil doers are anxious for 
 concealment; avoid publicity; when detected, tremble; 
 when accused, deny; even under torture, do not rea- 
 dily, nor always, confess: at all events, when they are 
 condemned, they grieve; they reflect upon themselves 
 
 7 Plutarch, in his Life of Solon, relates that Anacharsis, witnessing 
 judicial proceedings at Athens, expressed his surprise, that in so civilized 
 a state wise men should plead causes, and fools determine them. Dio- 
 genes Laertius, in his Life of Anacharsis, has preserved a saying of the 
 philosopher, which more closely resembles Tertullian’s allusion: θαυμάζειν 
 δὲ ἔφη, πῶς παρὰ τοῖς “Ἕλλησιν ἀγωνίζονται μὲν οἱ τεχνίται, κρίνουσι δὲ οἱ 
 
 μὴ τεχνίται. 
 
232 THE APOLOGY [cHapP. II. 
 
 with remorse; they attribute the sins, which arise from 
 an evil heart, either to fate, or to the stars: for they 
 would not have that, which they acknowledge to be 
 evil, to belong to themselves. But what similarity is 
 there between this and the conduct of a Christian? 
 No one is ashamed, no one is sorry, except that he 
 was not a Christian long before. If he is pointed out, 
 he glories in the charge: if accused, he makes no de- 
 fence; if questioned, he confesses, even of his own 
 accord ; if condemned, he returns thanks. What kind 
 of evil, then, is this, which hath none of the natural 
 attributes of evil, fear, shame, subterfuge, repentance, 
 sorrow? What kind of evil is this, in which the 
 culprit delights; the accusation of which is the com- 
 pletion of his wishes; and its punishment, his happi- 
 ness? You cannot call this madness, since you are 
 proved to be entirely ignorant of the real cause. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Ir, however, it be ascertained that we are really most 
 guilty, why are we treated differently from other 
 criminals, our fellows? since similar offences ought to 
 receive the same treatment. When others are accused 
 of the offences, which are laid to our charge, they are 
 permitted freely to speak, and to employ an advocate 
 to prove their innocence: they have the privilege of 
 replying, and objecting; since it is illegal that any 
 should be condemned, entirely undefended or unheard. 
 Christians alone are not permitted to advance any 
 thing which may repel the charge, or defend the truth, 
 or justify the judge. That alone is required, which 
 the public hatred renders necessary, a confession of the 
 name of Christian, not any inquiry into the offence. 
 
CHAP. 1. | OF TERTULLIAN. 233 
 
 Whereas when ye examine any other accused person, 
 ye are not induced to pronounce sentence, as soon as 
 he hath confessed himself guilty of murder, or sacri- 
 lege, or incest, or treason, (to speak of the ordinary 
 heads of accusation against ourselves,) without de- 
 manding in corroboration proof of the nature of the 
 act, the number of the perpetrators, the place, manner, 
 time, accomplices, companions. In our case, no care of 
 this kind is taken; although it is equally necessary 
 that whatever is now falsely asserted should be elicited ; 
 upon how many infants each had already fed*; how 
 many incestuous crimes he had hidden in darkness ; 
 who were employed to prepare the human banquet ; 
 what dogs to extinguish the lights. Great would be 
 the glory of that president, who could discover one 
 who had already devoured an hundred infants! Yet 
 we find that even inquiry into our cases has been 
 forbidden. For the younger Pliny, when he had the 
 command of a province, and had condemned some 
 Christians, and removed others from their offices, was 
 yet perplexed at their number, and at that time con- 
 sulted the emperor Trajan’ what he should do with 
 the remainder, declaring that, with the exception of 
 their obstinate refusal to sacrifice, he had discovered 
 nothing respecting their religious obligations, than 
 that they assembled at daybreak to sing to Christ as 
 God, and to unite in the exercises of their religion, 
 prohibiting murder, adultery, fraud, perfidy, and all 
 other crimes. Upon this, Trajan returned for answer, 
 that persons of this persuasion should not be inquired 
 after, but should be punished if brought before him. 
 
 8 See Justin Martyr’s Apology, c. 35, note (5) and Tertullian’s Apology, 
 ce. 7, 8. 
 
 9 Pliny, Epist. x. 97. The Epistle and answer of Trajan, as trans- 
 lated by Melmoth, are subjoined, for convenience of reference, at the end 
 of the volume. 
 
234 THE APOLOGY [ CHAP. II. 
 
 What a self-contradictory sentence! He assumes 
 their innocence, when he directs inquiry not to be 
 made; yet commands them to be punished, as guilty. 
 He is lenient, and cruel; he connives, and censures. 
 Why do you thus contradict yourself in your own 
 determination? If you condemn, why do you not also 
 inquire? If you inquire, why do you not also acquit ? 
 Throughout every province, military stations are esta- 
 blished for the discovery of robbers. Against those 
 guilty of treason and public offences every man is a 
 soldier: strict inquiry is made even into the com- 
 panions and accomplices of such offenders. In the 
 case of a Christian alone, inquiry is forbidden, accusa- 
 tion is permitted: as if inquiry itself were intended 
 for any other purpose than as the foundation of an 
 accusation. Yecondemn, therefore, him who is brought 
 before you, although no one wished him to be inquired 
 for; and it seems, that the accused did not deserve 
 punishment, because he was guilty, but because he was 
 discovered, in opposition to the edict which forbade 
 inquiry to be made. Again, ye violate, in our case, 
 the ordinary process, which is followed in the investi- 
 gation of crimes; since ye torture other criminals, to 
 make them confess; Christians alone, to compel them 
 to deny: whereas, if that of which we are accused 
 were evil, we should deny the fact, and ye would 
 compel us by tortures to confess. For ye ought not to 
 think it needless to make inquiry respecting the crimes 
 alleged, on the plea that they are admitted, by the 
 very confession of the name of Christian; since, at 
 this day, although ye well know what murder is, ye 
 still think it necessary to extract the circumstances of 
 his crime, even from one who confesses himself guilty 
 of murder. Nay, still more unreasonably, having pre- 
 sumed our guilt, from the mere confession of the name 
 of Christian, ye compel us by tortures to retract our 
 
CHAP. II. | OF TERTULLIAN. 235 
 
 confession ; as if, by denying the name, we should at 
 once deny the crimes, which, from that confession, ye 
 had presumed to exist. But, we are, perhaps, to 
 imagine, ye wish us not to perish, bad as ye consider 
 us to be. Your custom may be to entreat the mur- 
 derer to deny his crime; to torture the sacrilegious, if 
 he persists in his confession. If this is not the prin- 
 ciple upon which ye act towards us, as guilty, then ye 
 consider us most innocent; since, as most innocent, ye 
 will not permit us to continue in that confession, which, 
 as ye well know, ye condemn from compulsion, rather 
 than from a sense of justice. A man exclaims, I am a 
 Christian. He speaks the truth: ye desire to hear 
 what is not the truth. Ye, who preside for the pur- 
 pose of extorting truth, from us alone endeavour to 
 hear falsehood. The accused declares, I am, such as 
 ye inquire whether Iam. Why do ye seek to mislead 
 me by torture? I confess; and ye torture me: what 
 would ye do, if I denied? When others deny, ye 
 believe them not readily; when we deny, ye believe 
 us at once. This contradiction might alone lead you 
 to suspect, that there is some secret force, which 
 instigates you in opposition to the very forms and 
 nature of judicial proceedings, and to the very laws 
 themselves. For, if I rightly judge, the laws require 
 the guilty to be discovered, not concealed ; they pro- 
 nounce that those who confess should be punished, not 
 acquitted. The decrees of the senate, the commands 
 of princes, the supreme power, of which ye are the 
 ministers, dictate this. Your authority is legal, not 
 tyrannical: for with tyrants, tortures form also a part 
 of punishment: with you, they are used only for 
 eliciting the truth. Maintain this your law, respecting 
 the application of torture, until confession is made. 
 And if torture is anticipated by a confession, it will be 
 superseded, and sentence should be passed. The male- 
 
236 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. II. 
 
 factor is to be discharged! from the punishment due 
 to his offences, by its infliction, not by its remission. 
 No one, in fact, desires to release him, or is permitted 
 to entertain such a wish. Hence, no one is ever com- 
 pelled to deny. Whereas ye regard a Christian as a 
 man stained with every crime, the enemy of the gods, 
 of the emperors, of the laws, of morals, of all nature ; 
 and compel him to deny, that ye may absolve him; 
 since, without his denial, ye could not extend mercy 
 to him. Thus ye pervert the laws*. Would ye then 
 have him deny his guilt, that ye may treat him as 
 innocent, and absolve him, even against his will, of all 
 previous guilt? Whence is this inconsistency? Con- 
 sider ye not, that his voluntary confession was far more 
 credible than his compulsory denial? Or that, if he 
 be compelled to retract, his disavowal may be insin- 
 cere; and that, when dismissed, he will again become 
 a Christian, and smile, behind your judgment seat, at 
 the absurdity of your hatred ? 
 
 Since, then, your treatment of us is entirely different 
 from that of other criminals; since this is your only 
 object, that we should be deprived of the name of 
 Christians,—for we are deprived of it, if we act as 
 those who are not Christians—ye may understand ° 
 that there is no crime in the fact itself; but that some 
 active principle of hatred pursues the very name of 
 Christian, and produces especially this effect, that men 
 are determined not to acquire any certain knowledge 
 of a subject, of which they well know they are totally 
 
 1 Expungendus est. 
 
 ? Prevaricaris in leges. Having taken upon yourselves the office of 
 accusers, ye so conduct your proceedings, as if your principal object were, 
 not to investigate the guilt of the accused, but to give him every oppor- 
 tunity of escaping, 
 
 3 Intelligere potestis, non scelus aliquod in causa esse, sed nomen, 
 quod quedam ratio emule operationis insequitur, hoc primum agens, ut 
 homines nolint scire pro certo quod se nescire pro certo sciunt. 
 
CHAP. III. | OF TERTULLIAN. 237 
 
 ignorant. Hence it is, that they believe circumstances 
 respecting us, which are not proved; and will not 
 inquire, lest those accusations should be proved to be 
 false, which they would rather wish to be believed ; 
 that the name, which is so opposed to that principle of 
 hatred, should be condemned simply on its confession ; 
 upon the presumption, not upon the proof, of guilt. 
 Hence we are tortured, if we confess; and punished, if 
 we persevere; and absolved, if we deny; because the 
 question regards the name only. 
 
 Moreover, why, in the accusation, do ye charge a 
 person as a Christian? If a Christian be a murderer, 
 or incestuous, why not accuse him of murder, or of any 
 other crime, of which ye believe us guilty*? In our 
 case alone, is there the least scruple or hesitation to 
 declare the crimes of which any one is accused. The 
 term Christian *, if it implies no crime, is nugatory; if 
 it implies merely the crime of professing that name, it 
 must surely possess some very peculiar and hateful 
 meaning. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Ir is almost needless to observe, that the greater part 
 follow their hatred of Christianity so blindly, that, 
 even when they bear testimony to any one’s good 
 qualities, they still upbraid him with the name which 
 he bears. “Caius Seius,” they say, “is a good man, 
 except that he is a Christian.” Another observes, “I 
 
 * Denique quid de tabella recitatis illum Christianum ? cur non et 
 homicidam? cur non et incestum? si homicida Christianus, vel quod- 
 cumque aliud esse nos creditis Ὁ (Havercamp.) 
 
 5 Christianus, si nullius criminis nomen est, valdé ineptum ; si solius 
 nominis crimen est, valdé infestum. 
 
238 THE APOLOGY [ CHAP. III. 
 
 am quite surprised that so wise a man as Lucius Titius 
 should have suddenly become a Christian.” No one 
 thinks of demanding in return, whether Caius is not 
 good, or Lucius prudent, because he is a Christian; or 
 a Christian, because he is prudent and good. They 
 praise what they know; they blame what they know 
 not; at the same time distorting what they know, by 
 reasons drawn from that of which they are ignorant ; 
 although justice would rather require them to form an 
 opinion of that which is unknown, from that which is 
 known, than to condemn what is evident, from that 
 which is secret. Others, in describing persons, whom, 
 before their profession of Christianity, they had known 
 to be given up to licentiousness, to every base lust, 
 and immorality, use terms, which are really those of 
 approbation; thus, in the blindness of their hatred, 
 bearing unwilling testimony to the excellence of that 
 which they condemn. They say of a woman, “How 
 wanton, how gay she used to be!” of a young man, 
 “What a libertine, what a profligate, he was! now 
 they are both become Christians!” Thus the name is 
 coupled with their reformation. 
 
 Some would even make a compromise with their 
 hatred of Christianity, to their own disadvantage ; 
 being well satisfied to be injured in the tenderest 
 points, provided they are freed from the intrusion of 
 such objects of hatred in their own homes. The 
 husband, who hath now no longer any reason for 
 jealousy, expels his now virtuous wife from his house: 
 the father, formerly indulgent, disinherits his now 
 obedient son: the master, once lenient, sends his now 
 faithful servant from his sight. Each one becomes 
 hateful, in proportion as he is amended by the pro- 
 fession of this faith. The improvement, which hath 
 followed from it, 15 not sufficient to counteract the 
 general hatred towards the Christians. 
 
CHAP. III. | OF TERTULLIAN. 239 
 
 Further, then, if the hatred belongs to the name, 
 what guilt can be attached to any appellation? what 
 accusation can be founded on a word? unless it be 
 said, that the very name itself hath a barbarous sound, 
 or is of evil omen, or scandalous, or immodest. Now 
 the term Christian, as to its meaning, is derived from 
 a word, which signifies to anoint. And even when it 
 is mis-pronounced Chrestian by you',—for ye are in 
 ignorance even of the name itself—that appellation 
 would, from its derivation, imply sweetness or be- 
 nignity. Hence even a harmless name is hated, in 
 men who are harmless too. 
 
 But, it will be said, the sect’ is hated for the name 
 of its author. Is it then a new thing that persons, 
 holding peculiar tenets, should receive an appellation 
 from the name of the author of them? Are not phi- 
 losophers denominated from Plato, Epicurus, and Py- 
 thagoras; or even Stoics and Academics from their 
 places of meeting, and ordinary resort? Have not 
 physicians been named from Erasistratus, grammarians 
 from Aristarchus, and even cooks from Apicius? Yet 
 no one ever took offence at a name, thus _ trans- 
 
 6 It is not surprising that gentile writers should have confounded the 
 words Christus and Chrestus (Xpyoréc). Thus Suetonius (Claud. xxv.) 
 says “Judzos, impulsore Chresto assidué tumultuantes, Roma expulit 
 (Claudius).” The words of Suetonius do not necessarily imply, that he 
 conceived Christ to have lived in the time of Claudius ; but that tumults 
 then arose in Rome among the Jews, respecting him, some of them affirm- 
 ing and others denying that he was the Messiah. The expulsion of the 
 Jews from Rome, by Claudius, is mentioned, Acts xviii. 2. Lactantius, iv. 
 7, treats of the common error in the name of Christ ; “Sed exponenda 
 hujus nominis ratio est, propter ignorantium errorem, qui eum, immutata 
 litera, Chrestum solent dicere.” 
 
 The names Chrestus and Chresta were not uncommon among the 
 Greeks and Romans. 
 
 7 The word secta, like the corresponding term αἵρεσις, was originally 
 indifferent in its application: it implied the adoption of certain opinions, 
 without any such expression of disapprobation as the term heresy subse- 
 quently conveyed. (Havercamp.) 
 
240 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. IV. 
 e 
 
 mitted from the founder of a system with his peculiar 
 tenets. 
 
 If, indeed, any one proves that the author of any 
 opinions was bad, or his sect bad, he will then prove 
 that the name ought to be hated for the faults of the 
 sect, and of its author. Wherefore, before hatred of 
 the name of Christian should have been indulged, a 
 judgment ought to have been formed, either of the 
 sect from its author, or of the author from his sect. 
 But now, without the slightest inquiry or knowledge 
 of either, the name is made the subject of detention 
 and accusation: and the appellation alone at once con- 
 demns the sect, and the author, equally unknown; 
 because they bear this name, not because their guilt is 
 proved. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Havina, then, premised these remarks, to expose the 
 injustice of the public hatred against us, I shall now 
 proceed to establish the plea of our innocence; and 
 not only disprove what is objected against us, but also 
 retort the charge upon our accusers: that hence all 
 may know, that practices do not prevail among the 
 Christians, which actually exist among themselves, 
 without their knowledge: and that they may be put 
 to the blush, when accusations are thus brought—I 
 say not by men of the worst character against the 
 best,—but, if they will have it so, against men like 
 themselves. We shall answer every separate charge, 
 both what we are accused of doing in secret, and what 
 we openly avow: the actions in which we are regarded 
 as impious, or foolish, or culpable, or ridiculous. But 
 since, even when our plain statement of the truth hath 
 
CHAP. IV. | OF TERTULLIAN. 241 
 
 removed all reasonable objections, we are, after all, 
 borne down by the authority of the laws themselves, 
 and ὅ by the assertion, that, when laws are once estab- 
 lished, no alteration must be made in them, or that 
 judges must, however unwillingly, prefer absolute 
 obedience to the laws, to the plain investigation of 
 truth; I will first argue with you, as with the guar- 
 dians of the laws. 
 
 Now, in the first place, when ye pronounce your 
 decision, in these words, “Ye are not permitted to 
 exist ;” and deliver this command, without any more 
 lenient modification, ye act by arbitrary force, and an 
 iniquitous and absolute power, if ye forbid our exist- 
 ence, because it is contrary to your will, not because 
 we ought not to be. But, if ye determine that, be- 
 cause we ought not to exist, therefore we shall not; 
 doubtless that which is evil in itself ought not to be 
 allowed; yet this very conclusion implies that what is 
 good ought to be permitted. If I shall discover that 
 what your law forbids is in itself good, shall I not at 
 once prove, that the law cannot forbid that which, if it 
 
 8 This passage plainly shows, that, at the period when this Apology was 
 written, certain laws were in existence against the Christian religion. 
 Tertullian makes the same assertion in c. 5, and 37: and in his first book 
 ad Nationes, c. 7, he says, that the edicts of Nero against the Christians 
 were still in force. “Et tamen permansit, erasis omnibus, hoc solum 
 institutum Neronianum: justum denique, ut dissimile sui auctoris.” 
 Mosheim inadvertently states (Cent. ii. Part i. c. 2) that “In the be- 
 ginning of the second century, there were no laws in force against the 
 Christians: for the senate had annulled the cruel edicts of Nero: and 
 Nerva had abrogated the sanguinary laws of his predecessor Domitian.” 
 Yet in c. 7, he says, “the imperial laws against the Christians were not 
 abrogated, and the iniquitous edicts of Trajan and Marcus Antoninus 
 were still in force; there was consequently a door open to the fury and 
 injustice of corrupt magistrates, as often as they were pleased to exercise 
 them on the Church.” Gibbon, c. xvi. p. 540 (418), concludes, from the 
 celebrated letter addressed by Pliny to Trajan, that at that period “there 
 were no general laws or decrees of the senate in force against the Chris- 
 tians.” See Bp. Kaye’s Tertullian, p. 114. 
 
 R 
 
242 THE APOLOGY [cHapP. Iv. 
 
 were evil, it might justly prohibit’? If your law hath 
 erred, it is, 1 imagine, of human origin; it fell not 
 from heaven’. Is it astonishing, that man could 
 either err in framing laws, or show his better judg- 
 ment in amending them? Did not the amendment of 
 the laws of Lycurgus himself by the Lacedamonians 
 cause such grief to their author, that he starved him- 
 self to death in his retirement?. Do not even ye your- 
 selves, in daily endeavouring to throw light upon the 
 darkness of antiquity, clear away and fell all the old 
 and unsightly forest of laws, by the renovating axes of 
 the rescripts and edicts of your princes? Did not 
 Severus, that most determined of your emperors, but 
 yesterday abrogate those most absurd Papian laws’, 
 
 9 Si bonum invenero esse, quod lex tua prohibuit, nonne ex illo prae- 
 judico prohibere eam non posse, quod, si malum esset, jure prohiberet ? 
 
 1 Tertullian covertly alludes to the pretensions which Numa and other 
 early Romans made, to preternatural communications; and to the 
 Ancilia, which were said to have fallen from heaven. Compare Acts 
 xix. 35. 
 
 2 Plutarch’s account is, that Lycurgus starved himself, after having 
 taken an oath of his citizens, that they would maintain his laws inviolate 
 till his return. 
 
 3 The Julian law, introduced by Augustus, A. U. c. 736, as a means of 
 repairing the great waste of population in the civil wars, encouraged 
 marriages by facilitating and regulating the nuptial contract, and imposing 
 penalties on those who should continue unmarried after a certain age. 
 
 The Papian law, called also Papia Poppza from the Consuls Papius 
 and Poppeeus, was introduced a. τ. c. 762, at the conclusion of the reign 
 of Augustus. This offered greater advantages to married men, and estab- 
 lished more severe penalties upon those who lived in a state of celibacy, 
 and those who had no children, than the Julian law, or the previous 
 customs of the Romans. 
 
 Thus married men had precedence in the public spectacles (Suetonius, 
 Aug. 44) ; they had a priority in the election to public offices ; and many 
 other privileges. The same law confirmed the rights conferred upon 
 those who had children: in all competition for public offices gave the 
 preference to the candidates in proportion to the number of their family, 
 and permitted those, who were fathers at an early age, to fill offices, for 
 which their youth would otherwise have disqualified them. 
 
 The celebrated Jus trium liberorum had its origin in the Julian law. 
 
 The principal restrictions attached to a state of celibacy regarded the 
 
CHAP. IV. | OF TERTULLIAN. 243 
 
 which inflicted a penalty, if children were not born to 
 persons, before they had attained the age, at which the 
 Julian laws required them to have contracted marriage ; 
 and that too, after the laws had acquired all the autho- 
 rity of long duration? There were also laws’ pro- 
 viding, that those, who were previously condemned, 
 might be cut in pieces by their creditors: but by 
 public consent this cruel enactment was erased: and 
 the capital punishment was commuted for a mark of 
 disgrace. The confiscation of a man’s goods was 
 directed against his feelings of shame, not against his 
 
 capability of inheriting property and receiving testamentary benefactions. 
 Single men could inherit nothing, except from their most immediate 
 relatives ; and those who had no children could receive only the half of a 
 legacy. Sozomen has noticed this circumstance, Eccles. Hist. i. 9. 
 
 Νόμος ἦν Ῥωμαίοις παλαιὸς, ἀπὸ εἴκοσι καὶ πέντε ἐτῶν τῶν ἴσων ἀξιοῦ- 
 σθαι κωλύων τοὺς ἀγάμους τοῖς μὴ τοιούτοις, περὶ ἄλλα τε πολλὰ, καὶ τὸ 
 μηδὲν κερδαίνειν ἐκ διαθήκης τοὺς μὴ γένει ἐγγυτάτῳ προσήκοντας" τοὺς δὲ 
 ἄπαιδας, ζημιῶν τὸ ἥμισυ τῶν καταλελειμμένων. 
 
 Such legacies and inheritances were forfeited to the state. Tertullian, 
 de Monogamia, c. 16, alludes to the same custom. “ Aliud est, si et apud 
 Christum legibus Juliis agi credunt, et existimant, celibes et orbos ex 
 testamento Dei solidum non posse capere.” 
 
 The absurdity, here mentioned by Tertullian, is a contradiction which 
 had subsisted for many years between the Julian and Papian laws. The 
 Papian law subjected to restrictions those who were childless, a man at 
 the age of twenty-five, and a woman at the age of twenty, a time of 
 life, at which, by the Julian law, they were still permitted to remain un- 
 married. 
 
 The penalties against celibacy were removed by Constantine, to favour 
 those Christians who continued in that state from motives of religion. 
 Eusebius, Vit. Constantin. iv. 2, 6. 
 
 The substance of the Julian and Papian laws is given by Lipsius, in his 
 Excursus ad Taciti Ann. iii. 25. 
 
 4 The laws of the twelve tables, c. 8. Aul. Gellius, Noct. Att. xx. 1. 
 Si plures forent, quibus reus esset judicatus, secare, si vellent, atque 
 partiri corpus addicti sibi hominis permiserunt. Et quidem verba ipsa 
 legis dicam, ne existimes invidiam me istam forté formidare. TERTIIS. 
 inquit, NUNDINIS. PARTIS. SECANTO. SI. PLUS. MINUS. VE. SECUERUNT. 
 SE. FRAUDE. ESTO. 
 
 Quinctilian, Instit. Orat. iii. 6. 84, alludes to the same law. Sunt enim 
 quedam non laudabilia natura, sed jure concessa: ut in xii. tabulis 
 debitoris corpus inter creditores dividi Jicuit, quam legem mos publicus 
 repudiavit. 
 
 R 2 
 
244 THE APOLOGY [ CHAP. IV. 
 
 life’. How many laws of yours yet remain to be 
 reformed, which are maintained neither by their own 
 antiquity, nor by the dignity of those who enacted 
 them, but by justice alone; and, therefore, when they 
 are proved to be unjust, they, which condemn others, 
 are justly condemned themselves. But why should we 
 call them simply unjust? If they punish a mere name, 
 they are foolish too. And if they punish men for 
 their actions, why, in our case, do they punish such 
 actions on the presumption of the name alone, while, 
 in other cases, they require them to be proved from 
 circumstances, not from the mere name? Suppose I 
 am guilty of incest: why do not the laws inquire into 
 the offence? Suppose I have murdered an infant: 
 why do they not put me to the torture? Suppose I 
 have committed a crime against the gods, against 
 Cesar: why am 1 not heard, when 1 have the means 
 of clearing myself? No law forbids the investigation 
 of an action which it disallows. Since not even a 
 judge can rightly put the law in force, unless he first 
 ascertains that a crime hath been committed : neither 
 can a citizen faithfully obey the law, while he is 
 ignorant what offence is punished. Every law is 
 required to give proof of its justice, not only to itself, 
 but to those from whom it expects obedience. And 
 any law is justly suspected, which will not submit to 
 proof; and unjust, if, without proof, it yet exercises 
 arbitrary power. 
 
 5 Bonorum adhibita proscriptio suffundere maluit hominis sanguinem 
 quam effundere, 
 
CHAP. V. | OF TERTULLIAN. 245 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Now, to refer in some measure to the origin of laws of 
 this kind, there was an old decree *, that no Deity 
 should be consecrated by the Emperor, without the 
 approbation of the senate. Marcus Emilius knows 
 this well, in the matter of his god Alburnus. This 
 circumstance also is in our favour, that the divinity of 
 your gods depends upon the estimation of man. A 
 god is no god, unless he pleases man; and man must 
 now be propitious to the god. Tiberius’, then, in 
 
 5 The law is given in Cicero de Legibus, ii. Separatim nemo habessit 
 Deos, neve novos ; sed ne adyenas, nisi publicé adscitos, privatim colunto. 
 
 7 The fact here mentioned, and repeated inc. 21, with the addition that 
 Tiberius received the account from Pilate, who in his conscience was a 
 Christian, rests solely on the authority of Tertullian. Eusebius, H. E. ii. 
 2, gives a translation of this passage, but refers to no other testimony in 
 confirmation of it: and Justin Martyr, when, in two instances, he refers 
 to the Acts of Pilate (Apol. cc. 45, 63), mentions no proposal made to the 
 senate of Rome by Tiberius, respecting Christ. 
 
 It is not surprising that Jortin (Remarks on Eccles. Hist. vol. i. p. 2) 
 and Gibbon (Decline and Fall, c. xvi. p. 556, 4to.) should agree with 
 Le Clere (Hist. Eccles. p. 324) in giving little credit to this statement. 
 Dupin (Bibliotheque, tom. i. p. 24) considers the fact doubtful: and Bp. 
 Kaye (Tertullian. c. ii. p. 112) is of opinion “that the story is liable to 
 just suspicion :” and observes, “ How happened it that so remarkable a fact, 
 as a public proposal from the Emperor to the Senate to receive Christ 
 among the gods of Rome, escaped the notice of every other writer?” 
 
 Lardner, in his Testimonies of Ancient Heathen Authors, c. 2, discusses 
 this question at length: and concludes “that the accounts of those 
 ancient authors Justin Martyr and Tertullian deserve some regard.” 
 
 He observes, after Bp. Pearson, (Lection. in Act. Apost. iv. sect. 15, 
 p- 65), that those two are early writers of good repute : that it was cus- 
 tomary for governors of provinces to compose memoirs or acts, such 
 as are here referred to: that, if Pilate wrote at all to Tiberius respecting 
 Christ, he was likely to speak favourably and honourably of him : that it 
 was not inconsistent with the known character of Tiberius to make such a 
 proposal, nor improbable that the senate should not comply with it ; that 
 it is not necessary to suppose that the Emperor was well acquainted with 
 the doctrines of Christianity, or at all inclined to be a Christian, since the 
 very reverse is immediately asserted by Tertullian. 
 
 In his observations upon this question, Lardner has scarcely made 
 
246 THE APOLOGY [ CHAP. V. 
 
 whose time the name of Christian entered into the 
 world, laid before the senate intelligence, which had 
 been sent from Palestine, and proved the truth of the 
 Divine power there displayed, and added the influence 
 of his own vote. The Senate rejected the proposal, 
 because it had not itself first approved it. The 
 Emperor persisted in his opinion; and threatened those 
 with punishment, who should accuse the Christians. 
 Consult your own records; ye will there find that Nero 
 was the first who wielded the sword of the empire 
 against the Christian religion, then first springing up 
 in Rome. And we justly glory in the fact, that our 
 first persecutor was such a man. For whoever knows 
 his character may understand that nothing but what 
 was excellently good would be persecuted by Nero. 
 Domitian also, who had a portion of Nero’s cruelty, 
 made a similar attempt; but retaining some sentiments 
 of humanity °, soon desisted, and even permitted those 
 whom he had banished to return. Such have ever 
 been our persecutors; the unjust, the ungodly the 
 vile; men of such character, that ye yourselves have 
 been accustomed to condemn them, and to restore 
 those whom they have condemned. But from that 
 time down to the present reign, out of so many emperors 
 who were acquainted with religion or humanity, we 
 
 sufficient distinction between the testimonies of Justin Martyr and Ter- 
 tullian. Justin speaks of the Acts of Pilate, and appeals to them, as being 
 accessible at the time when he wrote. But he does not expressly state 
 even that the contents of those acts was made known to Tiberius. 
 
 Tertullian asserts, that Pilate did communicate with Tiberius, and that, 
 in consequence of the extraordinary nature of that communication, he pro- 
 posed to the senate that Jesus Christ should be received among the 
 deities of Rome. The last fact rests upon the single testimony of 
 Tertullian. 
 
 Christopher Iselin wrote a letter in defence of the truth of this fact, 
 published in the Bibliotheque Germanique, tom. xxxii. p. 147, tom. xxii. p. 
 12. Lardner refers also to Tillemont, Mém. Eccles. tom. i. St. Pierre, 
 Art. 19. Sueur, Hist. de l'Eglise et de l’Empire, tom. i. p. 180, and 
 Grotius on Matt, xxiv. 11. 
 
 8 ἅτε ἔχων τι συνέσεως. Euseb. H. Ε΄ iii. 20. 
 
CHAP. V. | OF TERTULLIAN. 247 
 
 challenge you to mention one, who was an enemy of 
 the Christians. On the contrary, we appeal to a pro- 
 tector, if the letters of that most worthy Emperor 
 Marcus Aurelius are examined ', in which he testifies, 
 that, in Germany, the thirst of his troops was dispelled 
 by a shower, obtained by the prayers of some Christian 
 
 1 At nos ὃ contrario edimus protectorem, si litera Marci Aurelii 
 gravissimi imperatoris requirantur, quibus illam Germanicam sitim, Chris- 
 tianorum forté militum precationibus impetrato imbri, discussam testatur. 
 The same words, with an inconsiderable variation of expression, are given 
 by Jerome in his Latin translation of Eusebius’s Chronicon, p. 170. 
 
 Tertullian repeats the assertion in his Treatise ad Scapulam, ec. 4. 
 Marcus quoque Aurelius, in Germanica expeditione Christianorum militum 
 orationibus ad Deum factis, imbres in siti illa impetravit. But he there 
 makes no mention of the letter of Marcus Aurelius. Eusebius (H. E. v. 
 5), refers to this passage of Tertullian’s Apology, as one of his authorities 
 for the account which he gives of the Thundering Legion ; and he and 
 subsequent writers (Orosius, vii. 15. Nicephorus, iv. 12. Zonaras, Ann. 
 tom. ii. 207), make considerable additions to the facts mentioned by 
 Tertullian. Eusebius states, but in a manner which shows he doubted the 
 authority on which the fact rested, that a violent storm of thunder and 
 lightning put the enemy to flight, while a shower refreshed the Roman 
 army which was about to perish with thirst. 
 
 The fact, that such a seasonable shower did happen, is expressly asserted 
 by several heathen writers; and there is still extant the celebrated Antonine 
 Column, which represents Jupiter Pluvius, under the appearance of an 
 aged man with outstretched arms, pouring down a violent rain, which 
 refreshes the Romans and discomfits their enemies. A coin of M. 
 Aurelius records the same fact. Dion Cassius, Il. 71, ascribes the shower to 
 the magical arts of Arnuphis, an Egyptian magician: and Suidas, on the 
 word Arnuphis, says that others attributed it to the power of Julian a 
 Chaldean. 
 
 Tertullian does not here state that he had seen the letter of Marcus 
 Aurelius, to which he appeals. And such a letter is quite at variance 
 with the general character of that Emperor, and with the persecutions to 
 which the Christians were subject under his reign. Mosheim (De rebus 
 Christianor. ante Constantin. sect. xvii.) is of opinion that Tertullian was 
 thinking of the edict, which Antoninus Pius, who is often confounded 
 with Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, wrote to the community of Asia. 
 (Euseb. H. E. iv. 13.) See p. 278. 
 
 The letter on this subject, purporting to be written by Marcus Aurelius, 
 and subjoined to Justin Martyr’s Apology (p. 101, Paris edition), is gene- 
 rally believed to be spurious. 
 
 Lardner (Testimony of Ancient Heathens, Marcus Antoninus, sect. iii.) 
 has collected the opinions of various writers upon this subject. See also 
 a most luminous and accurate account in Bp. Kaye’s Tertullian, p. 106. 
 
248 ‘THE APOLOGY [ CHAP. VI. 
 
 soldiers, who happened to be in his army. That 
 Emperor, although he did not publicly abrogate the 
 punishments directed against the Christians, averted 
 them by another public act, by subjecting their accusers 
 to a punishment of a still more severe nature. 
 
 What then are these laws, which none but the 
 impious, the unjust, the vile, the trifling, the insane 
 enforce? of which Trajan partly frustrated the effect, 
 by forbidding inquiry to be made after Christians ? 
 which neither Adrian, although a searcher out of all 
 new and curious doctrines, nor Vespasian, although 
 the conqueror of the Jews, nor Pius', nor Verus put 
 into action. Now it is plain, that men, as bad as 
 Christians are represented to be, would be destroyed 
 by all the best princes, who would naturally be op- 
 posed to them, rather than by those who were like 
 themselves, 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 I sHoULD now wish that they who make such a pro- 
 fession of scrupulously protecting and observing the 
 laws and institutions of their fathers, would answer a 
 question as to the faithfulness with which they have 
 themselves honoured and respected them. Is there 
 no law which they have violated? none which they 
 have transgressed? Have they not abrogated the most 
 necessary and wholesome parts of ancient discipline ? 
 What is become of those laws, which were enacted to 
 restrain luxury and ostentation; which commanded 
 
 1 Antoninus Pius, to whom the Apology of Justin Martyr is addressed. 
 It is doubtful whether the Verus, to whom this allusion is made, is Lucius 
 Elius Verus, the adopted son of Adrian, or his son Lucius Verus. See 
 note (2) at the beginning of the Apology of Justin Martyr. The name 
 Verus may even refer to Marcus Aurelius, to whom it was sometimes 
 applied. 
 
CHAP. VI. | OF TERTULLIAN. 249 
 
 that no more than an hundred pence should be ex- 
 pended upon an entertainment, nor more than one 
 fowl, and that not fatted, should be set before the 
 guests; which removed from the Senate, as a man of 
 notorious ostentation, one who possessed ten pounds 
 of silver; which immediately destroyed the theatres, 
 which were then beginning to be raised, as tending 
 to the destruction of morals; and permitted no one, 
 without just and sufficient cause, to assume the dignity, 
 and adopt the distinctions, of noble birth? For now 
 I see that the expense of entertainments is to be 
 reckoned by hundreds, not of pence, but of pounds ; 
 and that massive silver is formed into dishes, not for 
 senators only, but for men just freed from slavery, and 
 hardly yet escaped from the lash. I see that one 
 theatre alone is not sufficient; they must be both 
 numerous and covered’*: and we are to suppose the 
 Lacedzemonians invented that odious cloak, lest winter 
 should throw a chill upon the immodest pleasures of 
 the theatre *. I recognize no longer any distinction 
 of dress, between a matron and a prostitute. And all 
 those regulations of our ancestors have fallen into 
 disuse, which favoured modesty and sobriety in the 
 conduct of women: when no woman wore a gold ring 
 on more than one finger, that, namely, on which it 
 was placed at her espousal: when women abstained 
 from the use of wine so scrupulously, that a matron 
 was starved to death by her family, for having broken 
 open the vaults of a wine cellar: and, in the time of 
 
 ? The theatres were originally open : afterwards coverings of different 
 kinds were devised to shelter the spectators from the heat of the sun. 
 
 3 Nam (Jam) ne vel hyeme voluptas impudica frigeret, primi Lacede- 
 monii odium penule ludis excogitaverunt. 
 
 Luxury hath reached such a point, that neither the heat of summer nor 
 the cold of winter prevents the assembling of the people in the theatres. 
 Even the thick cloak, which the Lacedaemonians invented, to defend 
 themselves from the weather in war, might appear to have been invented 
 to shelter from the cold our effeminate frequenters of the theatres. 
 
250 THE APOLOGY [ CHAP. VI. 
 
 Romulus, a woman, who had touched wine, was killed 
 with impunity by her husband Mecenius. Hence the 
 custom arose for them to salute their near relations 
 with a kiss, that their breath might detect them. 
 Where is now that happiness of the marriage state, 
 which accompanied the severity of ancient manners, 
 so that not one family was sullied by a divorce for 
 nearly six hundred years after the foundation of the 
 city of Rome? Now, as for your women, their whole 
 person is weighed down with gold; their breath uni- 
 versally betrays their indulgence in wine; and divorce 
 is now a part of the marriage vow, as if it were the 
 natural consequence of matrimony. [Even the very 
 decrees, which your ancestors have wisely enacted re- 
 specting your gods, ye, their most obedient followers, 
 have rescinded. The consuls, with the authority of 
 tle Senate, banished the worship of Bacchus, with its 
 mysteries, not only from the city (of Rome), but from 
 all Italy. Although Piso and Gabinius were no Chris- 
 tians, yet in their consulship they forbade Serapis, Isis, 
 and Harpocrates, with his accompanying deity having 
 a dog’s head, to be brought into the capitol; which 
 was, in fact, expelling them from the assembly of the 
 gods; and overthrew their altars, in their anxiety to 
 suppress the abuses of their base and idle superstitions. 
 Now these very deities ye have restored, and invested 
 with supreme authority. Where, then, is your reli- 
 gion? Where is the reverence which ye owe to your 
 ancestors? In dress, in diet, in equipage, in ex- 
 pense, nay, even in language, ye have degenerated 
 from your forefathers. Ye are constantly praising the 
 ancients; ye live daily as moderns. And in this it is 
 made manifest, that, in departing from the good in- 
 stitutions of your ancestors, ye retain and observe what 
 ye ought not, while ye observe not what ye ought. 
 Thus ye maintain, with the utmost fidelity, the law de- 
 
CHAP. VII. | OF TERTULLIAN. 251 
 
 livered down from your ancestors, by which ye prin- 
 cipally condemn the Christians, that law respecting the 
 worship of strange gods, which was one of the greatest 
 errors of antiquity. Still, although ye have restored 
 the altars of Serapis, now made a Roman god ; although 
 ye have introduced all the furious orgies dedicated to 
 Bacchus, now naturalized in Italy, I will yet take oc- 
 casion to show in its proper place*, that ye have in 
 fact despised, and neglected, and destroyed, the autho- 
 rity of your ancestors. For at present I shall answer 
 the infamous accusation of secret atrocities, with which 
 we are charged, to clear the way for the vindication of 
 the actions which we avowedly perform. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Ir is said, then, that we are guilty of most horrible 
 crimes; that, in the celebration of our sacrament, we 
 put a child to death*®, which we afterwards devour; 
 and at the end of our banquet revel in incest; that 
 we employ dogs, as ministers of our impure delights, 
 to overthrow the lights, and thus to provide darkness, 
 and remove all shame, which might interfere with 
 these impious lusts. But this is always mere asser- 
 tion: and ye take no pains to prove what for so long 
 a time, ye continue to assert. Either therefore inves- 
 tigate the truth, if ye believe the charge, or cease to 
 believe, what ye have not proved. Your dissimulation 
 in this matter plainly implies, that crimes, which ye 
 
 4 See c. 19. 
 
 5. See Justin Martyr’s Apology, c. 35. This calumny might possibly 
 have originated from some misconception, or wilful perversion, of the 
 solemnization of the Eucharist. See Athenagoras, Legatio pro Chris- 
 
 tianis, p. 15. Theophilus, ad Autolycum, lib. iii. Minucius Felix, Octavius, 
 p. 288. Eusebius, H. E. iv. 7. 
 
252 THE APOLOGY [cHaP. VII. 
 
 dare not investigate, have no existence. Ye impose 
 upon your executioner very different commands re- 
 specting the Christians; not that they should confess 
 what they do, but deny what they are. 
 
 That religion, as we have already declared, arose in 
 the reign of Tiberius. At its very first appearance, 
 truth was an object of detestation and hostility. It 
 had as many enemies, as there were strangers: for 
 instance, the Jews from a spirit of envy; the soldiers, 
 from interested motives; our very domestics, from 
 their natural hostility to their superiors. We are every 
 day pursued and betrayed; we are especially attacked 
 in our very places of public resort, and in our religious 
 assemblies. Yet who ever surprised us with an infant 
 weeping in the manner described? Who ever kept us 
 to be brought before the judge, with our faces red 
 with blood, as he found us, like the Cyclops or Syrens ? 
 Who ever detected the slightest traces of indelicacy, 
 even in their wives (who have become Christians ?) 
 who is there, who having made such discoveries, was 
 either silent, or bribed to conceal them °, thus betray- 
 ing his duty towards mankind? Besides, if our actions 
 are always so secret, when were they ever made 
 known? Nay, by whom could they be made public ? 
 not, certainly, by those who committed them; since a 
 profound silence is part of the very essence of all mys- 
 teries. No one divulges the secrets of the Samothra- 
 cian and Eleusinian mysteries; how much mote, then, 
 would such rites be kept secret, as, if once betrayed 
 would provoke the rigour of human laws, while they 
 are exposed to the vengeance of divine wrath ἢ 
 
 If, then, our accusation comes not from ourselves, it 
 
 6 Quis talia facinora, ctim invenisset, celavit, aut vendidit, ipsos trahens 
 
 homines ? 
 Betraying his duty tosociety, which ought to have led him to prosecute 
 men guilty of such atrocious crimes. 
 
CHAP. VII. | OF TERTULLIAN. 253 
 
 comes from strangers. And whence have strangers 
 this knowledge? since even in initiations, which are 
 regarded as religious, the profane are excluded, and no 
 witnesses admitted; unless it can be conceived that 
 they, who are conscious of impiety, would be less 
 fearful. 
 
 The nature of common fame is known to all. One 
 of your own poets’ declares, 
 
 “ Fame is an ill, swifter than all besides :” 
 
 Why doth he call fame an evil? is it because she is swift? 
 because she gives intelligence ? or because she is gene- 
 rally mendacious? For even when what she reports is 
 true, she still is not free from the guilt of falsehood, by 
 diminishing, or increasing, or distorting the plain truth. 
 In fact, her condition is such, that, as soon as she ceases 
 to be false, she ceases to exist. She lives no longer, 
 than while she fails to prove her assertions. For as 
 soon as she hath proved them, she ceases to be. Her 
 office of relating being, as it were, at an end, she de- 
 clares a fact; and thenceforth it is considered as a 
 fact, and so denominated. No one, for instance, says, 
 “Tt is reported that such a circumstance hath hap- 
 pened at Rome,” or, “ The rumour is, that he hath 
 obtained such a province;” but, “He hath the pro- 
 vince,” and “It hath taken place at Rome.” Fame, 
 the very name of which implies that it is uncertain, 
 hath no existence when a fact is certain. And who, 
 but a man of no reflection, would ever believe common 
 report? for no wise man trusts to what is uncertain. 
 All men are competent to judge upon this point ; with 
 whatever perseverance it is disseminated, upon what- 
 ever strength of asseveration it is built. It must have 
 had its origin from one source, and thence have been 
 
 7 Virgil, En. iv. 174. 
 
254 THE APOLOGY [ CHAP. VILLI. 
 
 transmitted through many tongues and ears. Thus 
 the circumstances, which have gathered round a rumour, 
 so hide the error and meanness of its origin, that no 
 one inquires whether the first reporter did not disse- 
 minate a falsehood; a circumstance which frequently 
 happens, either from an envious disposition, or by the 
 ageravation of a mere suspicion, or by the habitual and 
 natural pleasure which some take in lying. 
 
 Well is it, that according to your own proverbs and 
 sayings, Time reveals all things; that events are so 
 ordered by the constitution of nature, that nothing is 
 long concealed, even though fame should never have 
 reported it. 
 
 Yet this common fame is the only accuser, which ye 
 bring against us; an accuser, which hath never yet 
 been able to prove, what it hath at different times 
 asserted, and for so long a period endeavoured to 
 corroborate. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 In answer to those who think these accusations 
 credible, I would appeal to the testimony of nature 
 herself. ‘Suppose that we promise a reward for these 
 atrocities, even eternal life. Conceive this for a mo- 
 ment. And then I demand, whether, if you believed 
 this, you would think eternity itself worth purchasing 
 at the price of such a burden on the conscience? 
 Suppose a man were thus addressed: “ Come, plunge 
 your steel into an infant, who can have committed no 
 offence,can be no one’s enemy, and may be any one’s child. 
 Or, if this murderous office falls to another, merely be 
 present, while a human being dies, almost before he is 
 brought to life; wait for the departure of the soul but 
 just united with the body; catch the scarcely-formed 
 
CHAP. VIII. | OF TERTULLIAN. 255 
 
 blood, saturate your bread with it, eat freely. Mean- 
 while, as you recline at the banquet, observe the places 
 where your mother and your sister sit; mark them 
 well; that when the dogs shall have put out the lights, 
 you may be sure to make no mistake; for it will be a 
 mortal sin, if you fail to commit incest. Thus initiated 
 and thus sealed you shall live for ever.” I would have 
 you answer me, whether eternity is worth all this; and 
 if not, that you will allow the charge to be incredible. 
 Even if you believed such promises as these, I am per- 
 suaded you would not comply; even if you would, I 
 know you could not. Why, then, should others be 
 able to do so, if ye cannot? why are ye unable to do 
 it, if others can? Are we conceived to be of a dif- 
 ferent nature from yourselves‘, monsters, like those 
 described in India and in Africa, with the heads of 
 dogs, and feet which would overshadow the body? 
 Are our teeth set differently from yours, or our bodies 
 so framed as to be peculiarly fitted for incestuous 
 passion? If you can believe this of any human being, 
 you are yourself capable of committing it: you yourself 
 are aman; and so is a Christian. What you could 
 not do, you ought not to believe. For a Christian too 
 is a human being; and in all respects such as you are. 
 
 But, it will be said, none but the ignorant are im- 
 posed upon, and seduced into the commission of these 
 atrocities: men who never knew that crimes like these 
 were ascribed to the Christians. But surely, in such 
 cases, every one would observe and diligently examine 
 for himself. 
 
 It is, I imagine, customary for all those, who are 
 desirous of being initiated, first to apply to the chief 
 
 8 Alia nos, opinor, natura; Cynopzne an Sciapodes? 
 
 Tertullian has the same expression, ad Nationes, i.c.8. Plané tertium 
 genus dicimur. Cynopenne (Cynopene) aliqui, vel Sciapodes, vel aliqui 
 
 sub terra Antipodes? Si qua istic apud vos saltem ratio est, edatis velim 
 primum et secundum genus, ut ita de tertio constet. 
 
256 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. Ix. 
 
 priest, and to ascertain what preparation is to be made. 
 We are to believe, then, that when this enquiry is 
 made by any one who is desirous of becoming a Chris- 
 tian, he is told, “ You must procure a young and tender 
 child, one who knows not what death is, and will smile 
 under your knife: you must have some bread too, to 
 suck up every drop of blood which flows; and besides 
 these, candlesticks and lights; and some dogs, and 
 bits of meat to draw them off, so as to throw down the 
 candles. Above all, take care and come with your 
 mother and your sister.” What is the poor candidate 
 to do, if he cannot persuade them to accompany him, 
 or should have none at all? What becomes of all 
 Christians who have no such relations? No one, I 
 suppose, can be a regular Christian, unless he be a 
 brother, or a son. 
 
 But suppose that all these preparations are made with- 
 out the knowledge of the new Christians. At all events, 
 they know all this afterwards, and yet submit to it, 
 and allow it. They fear to be punished, while, if they 
 proclaimed the truth, they would deserve universal 
 approbation; and ought rather to prefer death, than 
 submit to live with such a burden on their conscience. 
 And even if they feared to disclose the past, why do 
 they also persevere for the future? For surely no one 
 would continue to be such as he would never have 
 been, had he been forewarned. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 For the more complete refutation of these accusations, 
 I will now show, that these very atrocities are com- 
 mitted by yourselves, partly in public, and partly in 
 secret, whence probably ye are so ready to believe us 
 
CHAP. IX. | OF TERTULLIAN. 257 
 
 also guilty of them. In Africa, infants were openly 
 sacrificed, until the time of Tiberius', who exposed the 
 priests themselves alive, upon crosses made of the trees, 
 to which their votive offerings used to be suspended, in 
 the very groves of the temples which had overshadowed 
 their murderous rites. In proof of this fact, we can 
 appeal to the soldiers of our own country, who were 
 employed by the proconsul in the execution of this 
 very duty. And even now the same horrible sacrifice 
 is secretly continued. Your ordinances are despised by 
 others besides the Christians; no atrocity is for ever 
 abrogated: no deity changes his habits’. Since Saturn 
 spared not his own children, he continued implacable 
 to those of others. Nay, the very parents offered up 
 their own children, paid their vows with the greatest 
 alacrity, and soothed their infants, that they might not 
 be sacrificed while in tears. Surely this murder of 
 children by their parents is a far greater crime than 
 homicide itself. 
 
 Adults were sacrificed to Mercury by the Gauls. 
 I refer to the fables of the Tauric Chersonese, to the 
 theatres, where they are such favourite subjects: but 
 even in the most religious city of the pious descend- 
 ants of Aineas, there is a Jupiter (Latiaris), whom they 
 sprinkle with human blood at his annual games. 
 
 But the blood thus shed, ye will say, is merely that 
 of men already condemned to the beasts. As if this 
 were not equally the murder of a human being; and 
 an offering still more dishonourable to a god, inasmuch 
 as it is that of a bad man. At all events, such blood- 
 shed is murder. How truly is Jupiter thus a Christian, 
 
 1 Usque ad proconsulatum Tiberii; until the time of a Proconsul of 
 Africa, in the reign of Tiberius. Scaliger, Epist. ad Casaub. 66, proposes 
 to read proconsulem. 
 
 2 There are others, besides the Christians, who disobey your commands ; 
 since the secret sacrifices continue to be made in honour of Saturn, 
 although your laws have long since prohibited them. 
 
 5 
 
258 THE APOLOGY [cuaP. IX. 
 
 as ye conceive Christians to be, and the only son of his 
 father for cruelty ! 
 
 But since the guilt of infanticide is by no means 
 different, whether the crime be committed out of 
 superstition or voluntarily,—although it is a great 
 aggravation that the parents should be the agents—I 
 will turn to the people. How many of those who 
 stand around, and are so eager to shed the blood of 
 the Christians, nay, how many of you who preside 
 with such justice and severity in receiving the accu- 
 sations against us, will be cut to the heart, when your 
 consciences accuse you of the murder of your own 
 children ! 
 
 There is a difference also in the manner of inflicting 
 death; and yours is more cruel than any of which we 
 are accused; ye drown the breath of infants in the 
 waters, or expose them to perish by cold, or famine, or 
 the dogs. Surely any one able to make a choice would 
 prefer the sword to such an end as this. 
 
 Our religion, on the contrary, not only forbids 
 murder, but protects the fruit conceived in the womb, 
 while yet the tender elements are scarcely formed into 
 a human being. To prevent the birth is anticipated 
 homicide: to take away life or to interrupt it in its 
 natural course is equally culpable. That, which is to 
 be a man, hath all the rights of humanity; the whole 
 future fruit is concentrated in the seed. 
 
 With respect to feeding upon human blood, and 
 other tragic banquets of a like nature, see if it be not 
 related, I believe by Herodotus *, that certain nations 
 ratified their treaties by mutually tasting the blood 
 drawn from each other’s arms. Something of the same 
 kind is told of Catiline*. And it is reported that, 
 
 3 Herodotus, i. 74. 
 4. Sallust mentions such a report: Bell. Catilin. c. 28. ‘‘Fuere ea 
 tempestate, qui dicerent, Catilinam, oratione habité, cum ad jusjurandum 
 
CHAP. IX. | OF TERTULLIAN, 259 
 
 among some nations of the Scythians, every one, as 
 soon as he dies, is devoured by his own family. But I 
 need not seek so far for an example. At this very 
 day, blood drawn by incisions in the thighs and given 
 in the hand ἢ to drink, marks those who are consecrated 
 to Bellona. Again, where are those who, for the cure 
 of epilepsy, eagerly drink the fresh blood which flows 
 from the throats of the condemned gladiators, who are 
 stabbed in the arena? those too who feed upon the 
 animals which are slain in public combat; who ask 
 with eagerness for a piece of the boar or the stag? 
 That boar tore, in the mortal struggle, the man whose 
 blood he shed: that stag lay down in the gore which 
 flowed from the gladiator’s wound. The very entrails 
 of wild boars are required for food, before they have 
 themselves digested the human flesh, which they have 
 devoured: and one human being is gorged to repletion 
 with the flesh of animals which lived upon men. 
 While ye practise such atrocities, how far are ye your- 
 selves from the horrible banquets of which ye accuse 
 the Christians? And the still more ineffable abomina- 
 tions, which some of you commit °, exceed in enormity 
 even the crime of devouring children which is ascribed 
 tous. Ye, who act thus, may blush at the Christians, 
 who consider the blood even of animals forbidden 
 food; and abstain from things strangled, and from 
 such as die naturally, lest we should contract impurity 
 by unwittingly feeding upon some portion of blood 
 contained in the body. 
 
 populares sceleris sui adigeret, humani corporis sanguinem vino per- 
 mistum in pateris circumtulisse: inde cum post execrationem omnes 
 degustavissent, sicuti in solemnibus sacris fieri consuevit, dicitur aperuisse 
 consilium.” 
 
 5 Palmula : perhaps we should read parmula, a shield. 
 
 5 Minus autem et illi faciunt, qui libidine fera humanis membris inhiant 
 quia vivos vorant ? minds humano sanguine ad spurcitiam consecrantur, 
 quia futurum sanguinem lambunt ? non edunt infantes plane, sed magis, 
 puberes. 
 
 5 2 
 
260 ‘THE APOLOGY [ CHAP. IX. 
 
 Besides, among the trials to which ye expose Chris- 
 tians, one is to offer him to eat food prepared with the 
 blood of animals, well knowing that the act, by which 
 ye thus tempt them to transgress, is forbidden by our 
 laws. Now, how can it be believed, that those, who 
 thus abhor the blood of animals, should eagerly devour 
 human blood? unless perhaps ye have yourselves 
 tasted it, and found it sweeter. If that be the case, 
 he who undertakes to examine a Christian should offer 
 this to him, instead of the fire and incense, which is 
 now used for the purpose. Christians would be known, 
 by their taste for human blood, as well as they now 
 are, by refusing to offer sacrifice; and should be put to 
 death, if they tasted the blood, as they now are, if 
 they sacrifice not. And, as long as ye conduct the 
 accusation and condemnation of prisoners in the same 
 manner as at present, there would be no lack of human 
 blood, with which to make the experiment. 
 
 With respect to the alleged crime of incest, who was 
 ever so great an example of this crime as Jupiter him- 
 self? Ctesias relates, how common the union of sons 
 with their own mothers was, among the Persians. 
 And the Macedonians are suspected of the same enor- 
 mity, since, when they first witnessed the representa- 
 tion of the tragedy of Cidipus, they ridiculed the grief 
 which he expressed for his involuntary crime, crying 
 out ἤλαυνε τὴν ματέρα. 
 
 Consider, now, how wide a field is opened to the 
 involuntary commission of this crime of incest among 
 yourselves, by the universal licentiousness which pre- 
 vails. In the first place, ye expose your sons, as soon 
 as they are born, to be taken up by the casual pity of 
 some passing stranger; or give them up for adoption 
 to others, who will make better parents than yourselves. 
 The memory of a race thus dispersed must sometimes 
 be lost. And if once such an error is committed, it 
 
CHAP. X.] OF TERTULLIAN. 261 
 
 will soon be aggravated by the addition of the crime of 
 incest to the original guilt. Wherever ye go, at home, 
 abroad, or beyond the sea, ye carry your unbridled 
 passions with you: and this licentiousness may well, in 
 some instances, produce a race of children springing 
 up, without their fathers’ knowledge, as if they grew 
 from seed scattered at random: and this promiscuous 
 race, in the ordinary vicissitudes of human intercourse, 
 is liable to unite with those of their own blood, and 
 thus fall unwittingly into the perpetration of incest. 
 
 The constant and entire chastity, which we observe, 
 defends us from this danger: we are as secure from 
 the commission of incest, as we are free from all 
 excesses and licentiousness after marriage. Some of 
 us, with still greater security, prevent the possibility of 
 errors of this nature, by preserving an immaculate con- 
 tinence, retaining in their old age the virgin purity of 
 youth. 
 
 If ye properly consider, that all these enormities 
 exist among yourselves, ye would at once perceive, 
 that they are not found among the Christians. The 
 same light would inform you of both these facts. But 
 two kinds of blindness are frequently united, that which 
 sees not what is, and that which thinks it sees what is 
 not. 
 
 I shall show how true this is, in all particulars. But 
 first I will treat of what is most obvious. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Yer accuse us Christians, of neither worshipping the 
 gods, nor offering sacrifice for the safety of the Empe- 
 rors. It follows, as a necessary consequence, that we 
 
262 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. X. 
 
 sacrifice not for others, since we do not sacrifice even 
 for ourselves, nor ever pay reverence to the gods. 
 Hence we are accused at once of sacrilege and treason. 
 This is the main part of the accusation against us; nay, 
 it is the whole of it, and well worthy to be investigated, 
 if judgment be formed without prejudice, and without 
 injustice; the former of which hath no hope that the 
 truth can be established, and the latter refuses to hear 
 its voice. 
 
 We have refused to worship your gods, from the 
 time that we were convinced that they were no gods’. 
 Ye ought, therefore, to require us to prove that they 
 are no gods, and therefore ought not to be worshipped : 
 for undoubtedly they are worthy of all reverence, if 
 only they be truly gods. Then also ought the Chris- 
 tians to be punished, if it should appear, that those are 
 gods, whom they refused to worship, believing them 
 not to be so. But, ye say, in our estimation they are 
 gods. Here, then, we appeal at once from yourselves 
 to your own conscience. That shall judge us; that 
 shall condemn us, if it can deny that all those, whom 
 ye consider gods, were once men. If your conscience 
 denies this, it shall be convinced by a reference to your 
 own works of antiquity, from which your knowledge of 
 your deities is derived: for these bear testimony at the 
 present day, both to the cities, in which they were born, 
 and to the countries, in which they left traces of their 
 achievements, and where their burial-places are even 
 now shown. It will be needless for me to enumerate 
 every individual of such an endless variety, new and 
 old, barbarian, Greek, Roman, or foreign; such as were 
 captives, or adopted; national or general; male or 
 female ; attached to the country or the town; naval or 
 
 7 1 Cor. viii 4. 
 
CHAP AX] OF TERTULLIAN. 263 
 
 military. It would be tedious and useless even to 
 mention all their titles. I will then make a compen- 
 dious summary; and this, not for the purpose of in- 
 structing, but of reminding you, for ye act as if ye had 
 forgotten the facts. 
 
 There is, among you, no god before Saturn: from 
 his date, every other deity, although more esteemed or 
 better known, is to be reckoned. Whatever, then, is 
 established respecting the origin, will be true of those 
 derived from it. Now, as far as your records extend, 
 neither Diodorus the Greek, nor Thallus, nor Cassius 
 Severus, nor Cornelius Nepos, nor any other writer of 
 antiquity of the same kind, speaks of Saturn as any 
 other than aman. If we refer to facts, I find none 
 better attested any where than in Italy itself, in which 
 Saturn took up his abode, after many wanderings, and 
 after he had been entertained in Attica, being received 
 by Janus, or Janes, as the Salii call him. The moun- 
 tain, in which he dwelt, is called Saturnius; the city, 
 which he founded, retains the name of Saturnia to this 
 day: and all Italy, which before was called Cnotria, 
 received the appellation of Saturnia. From him was 
 first received the knowledge of written characters, and 
 the art of making impressions upon coins: whence he 
 is the deity, who is supposed to preside over the trea- 
 sury. If, then, Saturn was a man, he was of human 
 birth; and if of human birth, he derived not his origin 
 from the heaven and the earth. It was however an 
 easy fiction to call him, whose true parents were un- 
 known, the son of those elements, of which we all may 
 seem to be the offspring. For who is there, who speaks 
 not of the heaven and the earth as his mother and 
 father, under a feeling of reverence and honour, or by 
 the ordinary custom, by which those, who appear sud- 
 denly or unexpectedly, are said to have come from 
 the skies? Hence it happened, that, wherever Saturn 
 
264 -THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XI. 
 
 came suddenly, he received the appellation of heaven- 
 born®. Just as even now those, whose descent is 
 unknown, are commonly said to spring from the earth. 
 I say nothing of the fact, that men were then in so 
 rude and uncultivated a state, that they regarded the 
 appearance of every stranger as something divine: 
 since, even civilized as they now are, they consecrate 
 among the gods those, whom, but a few days before, 
 they confessed to be mortal, by the public mourning 
 for their death. These few words are sufficent to show, 
 what Saturn really was. 
 
 We shall hereafter show, that Jupiter is also a man, 
 and of human origin; and that the whole swarm of 
 that race of beings are both mortal, and of the same 
 nature with the stock whence they arose. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 SIncE, then, ye dare not deny that these were men, but 
 have taken upon yourselves to assert that they were 
 made gods, after their death, let us consider the causes, 
 which have produced this. Now, first ye must admit, 
 that there is some superior Deity, who hath the power 
 of conferring divinity, and thus deifies mortals. For 
 they could not themselves assume a divine nature, 
 which they never had; nor could any one confer it, 
 upon those who possessed it not, unless it were inherent 
 in himself. And, if there were no person to make 
 
 8 Minucius Felix, Octavius, c. 22, adopts this argument of Tertullian. 
 
 Homo igitur utique qui fugit, homo utique qui latuit, et pater hominis, 
 et natus ex homine: terre enim et ceeli filius, quod apud Italos esset 
 ignotis parentibus proditus: ut in hodiernum inopinato visos, ccelo missos : 
 ignobiles et ignotos terre filios nominamus. 
 
 Lactantius (Divin. Institutionum lib. i. 11) appears to give Minucius 
 the credit of inventing this explanation of the fable of Saturn. 
 
CHAP. XI. | OF TERTULLIAN. 265 
 
 them gods, by removing the supposition of such an 
 agent, ye destroy the possibility that they ever should 
 have been made gods. For, assuredly, had they been 
 able to make themselves, they never would have ex- 
 isted as men, while they had the power of assuming a 
 more excellent nature. If, therefore, there exists some 
 Being, who hath the power of making men into gods, 
 IT return to the consideration of the causes, which should 
 induce him to exercise this power; and I find none, 
 except that such a supreme Deity might require instru- 
 ments and agents, for performing the offices belonging 
 to divinity. Now, in the first place, it is a supposition 
 unworthy of the Divine nature, that the Supreme 
 Being should stand in need of the aid of any one, 
 much less of a dead man; since, had he been liable to 
 require such assistance, it would have been more con- 
 formable with his dignity, to have at once created some 
 god. But I see no room for such a supposition. For 
 the universe, whether we regard it, with Pythagoras, as 
 self-existent and uncreated, or, with Plato, as taking its 
 origin from a creator, was, at all events, disposed once 
 for all in the original design, and so framed and or- 
 dered; since every part is regulated by the guidance of 
 reason. Now that, which brought every thing to per- 
 fection’, could not itself be imperfect. It required 
 not the aid of Saturn and his race. Men would be 
 foolish indeed, not to be certain, that, from the begin- 
 ning of the world, rain fell from heaven, and the stars 
 sent forth their beams, and the light shone, and the 
 thunder roared, so that Jupiter, in whose hand ye place 
 the thunderbolt, did himself tremble at it. In like 
 manner it must be conceived, that all kinds of fruit 
 abounded, before the time of Bacchus, and Ceres, and 
 
 9 Imperfectum non potuit esse, quod perfecit omnia. The world, which 
 
 at its first creation was formed perfect, so as to require no subsequent 
 improvement. 
 
266 THE APOLOGY [cHaP. XI. 
 
 Minerva; nay, even before the existence of the first 
 man, whoever he was; since nothing, which was devised 
 for the support and maintenance of man, could be 
 introduced after man himself. Besides, those deities 
 are said to have discovered those necessaries of life, not 
 to have created them: now that which is discovered, 
 already exists: and that which was in existence must 
 not be ascribed to him who discovered its use, but to 
 him who made it; for it was formed before it could be 
 discovered. And if Bacchus is therefore a god, be- 
 cause he first showed the use of the vine, Lucullus was 
 hardly used, who first introduced the cherry out of 
 Pontus into Italy, that he was not consecrated as the 
 creator of a new fruit; since he invented it, and showed 
 its use. If, therefore, the universe was originally or- 
 dained and destined for the due performance of certain 
 offices, there is no pretence, on these grounds, for 
 adopting the human into the divine nature; since the 
 stations and powers which ye attribute to them, were 
 from the beginning such as they would have been, even 
 if ye had not made them gods. 
 
 Ye have recourse, however, to another reason, assert- 
 ing that their deification was intended as the reward of 
 their merit; assuming, I suppose, that the God, who 
 deified them, excels in justice, so as to dispense so 
 magnificent a reward neither without consideration, 
 nor upon unworthy objects, nor with undue profusion. 
 I should wish, therefore, to enumerate their merits, 
 and see whether they are of such a nature as to raise 
 them to heaven, and not rather to sink them to the 
 bottom of Tartarus, which ye and many others affirm 
 to be the place of infernal punishments. For to that 
 place are usually sent the impious, those who have 
 committed incest with parents or sisters, adulterers, 
 ravishers of virgins, corrupters of youth; men who 
 commit violence, or murder, or theft; those who de- 
 
CHAP. Xt. OF TERTULLIAN. ἡ 267 
 
 ceive, or are like any of those gods of yours, not one of 
 whom ye can prove to be free from such vices or crimes, 
 unless ye deny that he was once a man. But since ye 
 cannot pretend to deny that they were men, they are 
 also branded with such marks, as prevent us from be- 
 lieving that they should afterwards be made gods. 
 For, if ye preside on your judgment seats, for the 
 purpose of punishing crimes like these—if every one 
 of you, who is upright, avoids all intercourse, conversa- 
 tion, or society with men of such infamous and _ base 
 character,—and yet that supreme God, whom ye 
 suppose, raised men like these to partake of his majesty, 
 —why do ye condemn, in men, the qualities, which ye 
 adore in your god? Your administration of justice is 
 a reflection upon heaven. Ye ought to deify all your 
 vilest offenders, to please your gods. Their honour is 
 involved in the consecration of their fellows. 
 
 But, to dwell no longer upon their unworthiness, I 
 will suppose that they were honest and spotless and 
 good. Yet how many far better men have ye left in 
 the shades below? Men celebrated, for instance, as 
 Socrates, for wisdom; Aristides, for his integrity ; 
 Themistocles, for his valour; Alexander, for his magna- 
 nimity; Polycrates, for his good fortune; Croesus, for 
 his riches; Demosthenes, for his eloquence? Which 
 of those, whom ye have made gods, was more dis- 
 tinguished for gravity and wisdom, than Cato; for 
 justice and military skill, than Scipio; for grandeur 
 of soul, than Pompey; for success, than Sylla; for 
 wealth, than Crassus; for eloquence, than Cicero ? 
 How much more worthily would your supreme God 
 have waited to confer divinity upon those men, well 
 knowing that these better men would exist. But we 
 are to suppose he hastened, and once for all shut the 
 gates of heaven, and now blushes, when he sees so 
 many far better men murmuring in the shades below. 
 
268 " ‘THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XII. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 I sHALL pursue these observations no further, well 
 knowing that I can truly show what they are not, by 
 setting forth what they really are. Now, in the persons 
 of your gods, I perceive nothing but the names of 
 certain men long since dead; I hear nothing but fables ; 
 I recognize only sacred rites founded on fables. And 
 as for the images themselves, I discover nothing but 
 the mothers and sisters', as it were, of vessels and 
 common utensils, or things, which, by the act of conse- 
 eration, and the transforming power of art, change 
 their destination with those vessels and utensils. Yet 
 even this dedication is not unaccompanied with insult 
 and sacrilege, in the very act itself; so that we, who 
 are punished principally on account of the gods, may 
 derive some consolation from the reflection, that they 
 themselves underwent similar treatment, in the act of 
 fabrication. If ye impale the Christians upon crosses, 
 and stakes, every image of a god hath been first con- 
 structed upon a cross and stake, and plastered with 
 cement. The body of your god is first dedicated upon 
 a gibbet. If ye tear the bodies of Christians with your 
 nails; your hatchets, and planes, and files are more 
 unmercifully used upon all the members of your gods. 
 If we lay our heads upon the block; your deities have 
 no heads, before the lead, and the solder, and the rivets 
 are applied. If we are exposed to the beasts; those 
 animals are the same, which ye make the constant 
 attendants on Bacchus, Cybele, and Ceres. If we are 
 burned in the fire; the substance, of which they are 
 
 1 Nihil amplius deprechendo quam matres sorores esse vasculorum, ὅζα. 
 The images of your worship are formed of the same material, and are 
 equally worthless, with your most ordinary vessels. Compare Isa. xliy. 
 
 16, 17. 
 
CHAP. XIII. | OF TERTULLIAN. 269 
 
 composed, was first submitted to the same trial. If 
 we are condemned to the mines; thence come they, 
 whom ye believe to be gods’. If we are banished into 
 islands; an island is the favourite spot for the birth or 
 death of every god. If this constitutes divinity, those 
 who are punished are consecrated; to be condemned 
 is to be deified. But, in good truth, your gods are as 
 unconscious of the insults, thus offered to them in 
 their fabrication, as they are of the worship, which is 
 paid to them. ‘“Impious assertions!” I hear you 
 exclaim—“ sacrilegious insult!” But however great 
 may be your rage and fury against us, ye at the same 
 time approve of a Seneca, who inveighs at greater 
 length and with greater bitterness against your super- 
 stition. If, then, we refuse to adore statues and 
 images cold as death, the real nature of which birds, 
 and mice and spiders well understand’, are we not 
 rather worthy of praise than blame, for rejecting an 
 acknowledged error? For how can we seem to injure 
 those, whom we assuredly know to be nothing in the 
 world‘? That, which is not, can be in no way affected 
 by that which is. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 In our estimation, however, ye say, they are gods. If 
 so, how impious and sacrilegious and irreligious are ye 
 proved to be towards these gods, in neglecting those, 
 
 2 Gods of silver, or gold, or marble. Compare c. 39. Puto autem et 
 hee ipsee materize de metallis Caesarum veniunt. 
 
 3 Compare Baruch vi. 22. Minucius Felix, Octavius, c. 24. Quanta 
 vero de diis vestris animalia muta naturaliter judicant ὃ Mures, hirundines, 
 milvi, non sentire eos sciunt, norunt; inculcant, insident, ac nisi abiguatis, 
 in ipso dei ore nidificant. Aranew vero faciem ejus intexunt, et ipso 
 capite sua fila suspendunt. 
 
 4 1 Cor. viii. 4. 
 
270 THE APOLOGY [ CHAP. XIII. 
 
 whose existence ye believe, destroying the objects of 
 your fear, and insulting those, whose rights ye defend. 
 Judge, yourselves, whether I speak truth or not. In 
 the first place, since some of you worship one god, and 
 some another, ye undoubtedly offend those whom ye 
 do not worship: ye cannot prefer one without offering 
 an insult to others; nor choose one, without rejecting 
 another. Ye despise, therefore, those whom ye reject, 
 and have no fear of so offending them. For, as we 
 have before noticed, the condition of every god de- 
 pended upon the estimation in which the Senate held 
 him. He was no god, if the men, who deliberated 
 upon the question, determined against his claim, and, 
 by refusing to admit him, condemned him. As for 
 your family gods, which ye call Lares, ye treat them, 
 as other household articles, with arbitrary power, by 
 pledging, or selling them, or by changing a statue of 
 Saturn or Minerva into the basest utensils, whenever 
 it is battered or worn out with the length of service 
 paid to it, or when any one finds his domestic distress 
 a more powerful deity than his household gods. Ye 
 publicly commit a like outrage against your public 
 gods, whom ye expose in catalogues, and sell by 
 auction. The Capitol and the herb-market are sold in 
 the same manner®. The divinity of your gods itself 
 is put up to sale by the same voice of the crier, at the 
 same appointed place, under the same inspection of 
 the Questor. Estates, however, liable to a tax are on 
 that account less valuable; the persons of men who 
 are subject to tribute are less noble; for all these are 
 marks of servitude. But your gods are the more holy, 
 the greater the tribute is, to which they are subject; 
 or rather, those who are most holy, are most heavily 
 
 5 The revenue arising from the temples was let by public contract, in 
 the same manner as the tolls arising from the markets. Compare Ter- 
 tullian, Ad Nationes, I. ce. 10. 
 
CHAP. XIII. | OF TERTULLIAN. 271 
 
 taxed. Their majesty is made a source of gain. Re- 
 ligion goes round the taverns begging. Ye demand 
 payment for entering the temple, and for a place at 
 festivals. No one can become acquainted with the 
 gods for nothing; access to them is purchased. What 
 do ye for their honour, more than for your dead? 
 The temples and altars are precisely the same. They 
 have the same dress and ornaments upon their statues. 
 The age, the profession, the occupation of the dead 
 man are preserved in his effigy; and it is the same 
 with the god. What difference is there in the feast 
 of Jupiter, and in that made for aged men at a 
 funeral °? between the vessel, in which wine is poured 
 out in sacrifices, and that with which libations are 
 made to the dead? between an augur, who predicts by 
 observation of the entrails, and an embalmer? for he 
 performs the office of an augur to the dead. But ye 
 consistently enough confer the honour of divinity upon 
 your dead emperors, since ye ascribe it to them in 
 their lives. Your gods will feel deeply indebted to 
 you, and be delighted that those who have ruled even 
 over them, are put upon a level with them. But when 
 ye introduce Larentina’, a common _prostitute,—I 
 should have preferred, at all events, Lais or Phryne,— 
 among such goddesses as Juno, and Ceres, and Diana ; 
 when ye honour Simon Magus with a statue *, and an 
 inscription, bearing the title of holy god, when ye 
 introduce one of the infamous pages® of the court 
 into the council of the gods; although your ancient 
 gods could boast of no more noble origin, yet they will 
 
 6 Quo differt ab epulo Jovis silicerninm ? a simpulo obba, ab aruspice 
 pollinctor ? nam et aruspex mortuis apparet. 
 
 Tertullian sarcastically compares the different offices paid to Jupiter in 
 his dotage, with those which accompanied funerals. 
 
 7 Larentina, or Larentia, was said to have been the nurse of Romulus. 
 Tertullian, Ad Nationes, II. c. 10.; Lactantius, lib. i. 20. 
 
 8 See Justin Martyr’s Apology, c. 34. 9. Antinous. 
 
272 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XIV. 
 
 think ye use them ill, by conferring a dignity upon 
 others, to which they conceive their antiquity gives 
 them a prescriptive right. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 [ witt not observe upon your religious rites, nor men- 
 tion the shameful manner in which ye perform your 
 sacrifices, slaying for that purpose any animals which 
 are emaciated, or rotten, or diseased, and cutting off 
 from the fat and entire carcases the useless head and 
 hoofs, which even at home ye would have thrown to 
 the dogs, or given to slaves; and place upon thie altar 
 of Hercules not a third part of the tenth, which is his 
 share. In all this, I rather praise your wisdom, in 
 reserving something from that which would otherwise 
 be totally lost. But I will turn to your literature, 
 whence ye derive your instruction in prudence and the 
 liberal sciences; what absurdities are there found? I 
 read of gods, who fought like pairs of gladiators, for 
 Trojans and Greeks: of Venus being wounded by an 
 arrow, directed by a human hand, in her anxiety to 
 save her son Atneas, who was on the point of being 
 slain by the same man, Diomede: of Mars almost 
 worn out, by an imprisonment of thirteen months in 
 chains: of Jupiter, who was freed by the aid of some 
 monster (Briareus), when he was in danger of suffering 
 the same treatment from the immortals; and, at one 
 time, weeping for the fate of Sarpedon, at another, 
 reviving his passion for Juno, his sister, by a disgraceful 
 enumeration of his former adulteries, in none of which 
 he was so enamoured'. After this, what poet is there 
 
 Tl. 5. 314. 
 
CHAP. XV. | OF TERTULLIAN. 273 
 
 who hath not followed the prince of poets, in calum- 
 niating the gods? One gives Apollo, to keep the 
 sheep of King Admetus; another lets out Neptune, to 
 build walls for Laomedon. There is also the cele- 
 brated lyric poet, Pindar’, who declares Esculapius 
 to have been deservedly struck by lightning, for his 
 avarice in exercising the art of medicine to a bad 
 purpose. If this was Jupiter’s thunder, he acted ill; 
 with injustice towards his grandson, and with envy 
 towards the inventor of so noble an art. Among men 
 so very religious, these facts, if true, ought never to 
 have been betrayed; if false, ought never to have been 
 invented. Even the writers of tragedy and comedy 
 are not more cautious; but take for their subject the 
 miseries, or the crimes, of some of your gods. I say 
 nothing of your philosophers, being content to mention 
 Socrates, who, out of contempt for your gods, used to 
 swear by an oak, a goat, anda dog. But, ye will say, 
 Socrates was put to death, for destroying the authority 
 of the gods. So indeed he was, for, aforetime, as ever, 
 truth is hated. Yet when the Athenians afterwards 
 repented of their error, punished the accusers of 
 Socrates, and placed a golden statue of him in a 
 temple, the repeal of the sentence restored the tes- 
 timony of Socrates to its original importance. Besides 
 this, Diogenes turned Hercules into ridicule; and the 
 Roman cynic Varro introduces three hundred Joves, 
 or Jupiters, without heads. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ALL your inventors of wanton tales minister to your plea- 
 sures, by disgraceful stories of your gods. [Examine the 
 2 Pythia, iii. 96; Antist. 3. 
 
 T 
 
274 THE APOLOGY [CHAP, xv. 
 
 most admired beauties of your Lentuli and Hostilii; in 
 the jokes and tricks which are there displayed, are the 
 actors or the gods the subjects of your derision? When, 
 for instance, ye Jaugh at an adulterous Anubis, at a 
 Moon of the male sex, at Diana being flogged, at the 
 reading of the will of Jupiter after his death, and at 
 three half-starved Hercules. Besides, your dramatic 
 literature describes all their most disgraceful actions. 
 Ye are delighted to hear the Sun grieving for his son 
 Pheton, cast down from heaven; ye blush not to hear 
 Cybele sighing for a shepherd, who rejects her with 
 disdain: and ye tolerate the enumeration of all the 
 infamous tales attributed to Jupiter, and the judgment 
 which a shepherd passed upon Juno, Venus, and Mi- 
 nerva. Again, how disgraceful is it, that the mask, 
 which is formed to represent one of your gods, should 
 be worn by a man of infamous and notorious character ; 
 that one personally dissolute, and with his frame ren- 
 dered effeminate for tle purpose, should represent 
 sometimes a Minerva, and sometimes an Hercules. Do 
 ye not applaud, while the majesty of your gods is thus 
 insulted, and their divinity abused? Ye are, however, 
 J presume, more scrupulous in your arene, where the 
 gods are introduced dancing in the midst of the blood 
 of the gladiators, and the pollution of capital punish- 
 ments, affording the plot and history, in the course of 
 which these wretched victims may be put to death; not 
 to mention that the culprits themselves sometimes sup- 
 port the character of some of your gods. We have 
 formerly seen a man mutilated in the character of 
 Atys, your god fiom Pessinum; and one, who person- 
 ated Hercules, burnt alive. We have joined in the 
 laugh, at the cruel entertainments, with which ye be- 
 guile the middle of the day, when Mercury went about 
 to try with a red-hot caduceus, whether the bodies were 
 really dead. We have seen also Pluto, the brother of 
 
CHAP. XV. | OF TERTULLIAN. 275 
 
 Jupiter, dragging off the corpses of the gladiators, with 
 a hammer in his hand. 
 
 But who can enumerate every particular of this kind? 
 If such representations injure the honour of the divine 
 character, if they lay its majesty in the dust, they infer 
 a contempt of the gods, both in those who act in any 
 thing of the kind, and in those for whose entertainment 
 they are performed. 
 
 But, ye will say, this is merely in sport. If, however, 
 I should add, what your consciences would admit to 
 be equally true, that adulterous assignations are made 
 in your temples; that before your very altars, the viola- 
 tion of chastity is contrived; that acts of the grossest 
 kind are usually committed in the very houses of the 
 ministers and priests of the temples; while the gar- 
 lands, and ornaments, and purple vestments of the 
 priesthood are still upon them, and the incense is still 
 burning; I fear your gods would have more reason to 
 complain of you, than of the Christians themselves. 
 
 At all events, all those, who are found guilty of 
 sacrilege, are of your religion; for the Christians never 
 enter your temples, even in the day time: had they 
 entered them to worship, perhaps they too would have 
 been led to rob them. What, then, is likely to be the 
 object of adoration to men, who refuse to worship ob- 
 jects such as these? From this very circumstance it 
 may be inferred, that they worship the truth; since 
 they have desisted from worshipping falsehood. It is 
 unlikely that they should again fall into an error, which 
 they had ceased to commit, as soon as they came to 
 the knowledge of themselves. 
 
 I would have you, then, first weigh this fact atten- 
 tively, and then proceed to learn all the particulars of - 
 our religion, after I shall first have refuted certain 
 false prejudices. 
 
 TZ 
 
276 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XVI. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Some of you have adopted an absurd notion, that an 
 ass’s head is our God. Cornelius Tacitus first promul- 
 gated this report. In the fifth book of his History’, 
 he begins his description of the Jewish war with an 
 account of the origin of that people; and, in discussing 
 this question, offers his own opinion respecting their 
 name and religion. He states, that the Jews were 
 liberated, or, as he conceives, expelled, from Egypt, 
 and wandered in the extended plains of Arabia, where 
 there was the greatest scarcity of water: while they 
 were suffering from intense thirst, they observed cer- 
 tain wild asses proceeding, as they imagined, to drink 
 after pasture. Following their guidance, they disco- 
 vered a spring, and, in commemoration of this benefit, 
 consecrated the head of an animal of the same kind. 
 Hence, 1 imagine, hath arisen the erroneous notion, 
 that in our religion, which is conceived to be closely 
 connected with that of the Jews, the same image is 
 worshipped. Yet the same Cornelius Tacitus—whose 
 loquacity in falsehood agrees but ill with his name— 
 in another part of the same history* relates, that Cneius 
 Pompeius, when he had taken Jerusalem, and entered 
 the Temple, to witness the secret rites of the Jewish 
 religion, found there no image at all. If, however, any 
 object represented in a bodily form had been wor- 
 shipped, it would surely have been found in the most 
 holy place; and so much the more, as the worship, 
 however absurd, was in no danger of the intrusion of 
 strangers: since none but the priests were allowed to 
 enter; and a veil hid that part of the temple, even 
 from the sight of all other men. Ye, however, will 
 
 3 Tacitus, Hist. v. 3. 4 Tacitus, Hist. v. 9. 
 
CHAP. XVI. ] OF TERTULLIAN. 277 
 
 not deny, that all kinds of beasts of burden, and not 
 merely the heads, but the whole bodies of geldings, 
 with their goddess Epona, are objects of adoration to 
 you. This, I suppose, is our crime, that among the 
 worshippers of cattle, and beasts of all kinds, we adore 
 an ass only. 
 
 Those, again, who conceive that we pay too much 
 honour to the cross, are themselves our fellow-worship- 
 pers*®. If adoration is paid to any wood, the particular 
 
 5 This passage has been alleged, to prove that, in Tertullian’s time, 
 some kind of worship was paid to the cross. It is plain, from the context, 
 that it proves just the reverse. In this part of his Apology, he is refuting 
 several calumnious or mistaken charges, which were brought against the 
 Christians ; and he applies to each of them the argument ad hominem, of 
 which he was rather fond. He endeavours to show, that, even if they 
 had been all true, the worshippers of false gods were equally exposed to 
 blame. 
 
 The first calumny is, that an ass’s head was the object of their worship ; 
 he shows this to be unfounded ; and then retorts upon the accusers of the 
 Christians, that all kinds of cattle were worshipped by the pagans. 
 
 The next accusation is that brought by those who imagined the Chris- 
 tians to be worshippers of the cross. (Sed et qui crucis nos religiosos 
 putat, consecraneus erit noster.) And this too he answers, by showing 
 that, even if it were true, the heathens also worshipped images of wood ; 
 and that the Christians had, even on that erroneous supposition, an advan- 
 tage over them, in worshipping a whole and perfect god, and not a mere 
 block, which was part of a cross. 
 
 (Nos, si forté, integrum et totum Deum colimus.) The phrase, si forté, 
 is a favourite expression of Tertullian, when he repels an accusation, or 
 retorts it upon his opponents. 
 
 He disposes of the other charges, the worship of the sun, and of a deity 
 of monstrous form, by arguments of the same kind. 
 
 There is no doubt, that, in the age of Tertullian, great respect was paid 
 to the sign of the cross. A well-known passage in his Treatise de Corona 
 Militis, c. 3, shows, that the sign of the cross was used, not only in baptism, 
 but on numerous other occasions, as a sign of the faith in Christ crucified. 
 “ Ad omnem progressum atque promotum, ad omnem aditum, et exitum, 
 ad vestitum, ad calciatum, ad lavacra, ad mensas, ad lumina, ad cubilia, ad 
 sedilia, quzecunque nos conversatio exercet, frontem crucis signaculo teri- 
 mus.” This respect, however, was very different from adoration. Minu- 
 cius Felix, Octavius, c. 29, who imitates Justin Martyr, Apol. c. 72, and 
 this passage of Tertullian’s Apology, expressly states, that the cross was 
 no object of worship. 
 
 Cruces etiam nec colimus nec optamus. Vos plane qui ligneos deos 
 
278 THE APOLOGY (CHAP. XVI. 
 
 shape signifies nothing, provided the material is the 
 same: the form is of no importance, if that be regarded 
 as the substance of a god. But in what way can the 
 Athenian Minerva and the Pharian Ceres be distin- 
 guished from the wood of a cross, when each is formed 
 of a rough block and unfinished timber? Every stake, 
 which is erected, is but part of a cross; we, at all events, 
 worship a whole and perfect deity. We have before 
 shown ®, that the very images of your gods are obtained 
 by models, formed upon a cross-like frame. Besides 
 this, ye adore the goddess of victory, while a cross is 
 made the foundation, on which your trophies are hung. 
 The whole religion of your camp teaches your soldiers 
 to adore their standards, to swear by them, to prefer 
 them to all other gods. All those series of images, 
 suspended around your standards, are so many neck- 
 laces to a cross; all those pendant hangings of your 
 standards and ensigns are but the robes of a cross. I 
 admire your care: ye would not consecrate simple and 
 unadorned crosses. 
 
 Others, again, with more probability and reason, 
 believe that the Sun is the object’of our adoration. 
 If this be the case, we are joined with the Persians, 
 although we do not adore its image painted upon a 
 banner; since we have the Sun itself with us, wherever 
 we go, set in the heavens as in a shield. ‘This sus- 
 picion, however, hath arisen from our well-known 
 custom of turning towards the East when we pray’. 
 
 consecratis, cruces ligneos, ut deorum vestrorum partes, forsitan adoratis. 
 Nam et signa ipsa, et vexilla castrorum, quid aliud quam inauratz cruces 
 sunt et ornate? Tropza vestra victricia non tantium simplicis crucis 
 faciem, verum et affixi hominis imitantur. 
 
 δι; 125 
 
 7 The custom of turning to the East in prayer was very ancient in the 
 Christian Church. The East was considered an emblem of Christ, pro- 
 bably from such passages as Zech. iii. 8; vi. 12. Mal. iv. 2. Luke i. 78. 
 Clemens Alexandrinus, Stromat. vii. p. 856, considers the custom to be 
 
CHAP. XVI.] OF TERTULLIAN. 279 
 
 And many even of yourselves, out of an affectation of 
 sometimes adoring the heavenly bodies also, move 
 your lips towards the quarter, in which the sun rises. 
 In like manner if we do observe Sunday, as a day of 
 festivity, not from any worship which we pay to the 
 Sun, but from a very different reason, we are, in that 
 custom, closely allied to such of you as set apart the 
 Saturday for a day of ease and feasting; although, 
 
 significative of the rising of the Sun of Righteousness upon the benighted 
 mind. ᾿Επεὶ δὲ γενεθλίου ἡμέρας εἰκὼν ἡ ἀνατολὴ, κἀκεῖθεν τὸ φῶς αὔξεται 
 ἐκ σκότους λάμψαν τὸ πρώτον᾽ ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἐν ἀγνοίᾳ κυλινδουμένοις 
 ἀνέτειλε γνώσεως ἀληθείας ἡμέρα, κατὰ λόγον τοῦ ἡλίου" πρὸς τὴν ἑωθίνην 
 ἀνατολὴν αἱ εὐχαί. 
 
 Augustin (De Sermone Domini, lib. ii. c. 5) refers to the same custom : 
 Quum ad orationes stamus, ad orientem convertimur, unde ceelum surgit : 
 non tanquam ibi sit Deus, et quasi cateras mundi partes deseruerit, qui 
 ubique presens non locorum spatiis sed majestate potentie; sed ut 
 admoneatur animus ad naturam excellentiorem se convertere, id est, ad 
 Dominum. 
 
 Many other reasons, which might have led to this observance, are 
 adduced from various early authorities, by Bingham, Eccles. Ant. 
 Book x1. c. 8.15. Bingham is inclined to think that it arose from a 
 ceremony in baptism, in which the convert, in renouncing the devil, 
 turned his face to the West, as the region of darkness, and, in declaring 
 his faith in Christ, turned to the East. Book xt. c. 7. 4. This, how- 
 ever, seems to have been rather a particular instance of the general 
 custom, than its origin. 
 
 The same veneration for the East caused Churches to be usually built, 
 in very early times, with the principal entrance to the West, and the 
 altar towards the East. ‘Tertullian seems to allude to this position of 
 places of worship, as well as to the attitude of the worshippers ; Advers. 
 Valent. c. 3. Nostra columbe etiam domus simplex, in editis semper et 
 apertis, et ad lucem. Amat figura Spiritus sancti Orientem, Christi 
 figuram. 
 
 The few exceptions to this position of the churches, which are occa- 
 sionally found, show only that the custom was not general. There is one 
 remarkable instance, in the splendid church erected at Tyre by Paulinus 
 the Bishop, at the beginning of the fourth century. The entrance of 
 that magnificent edifice was to the East, and the altar in the centre. 
 (Eusebius, H. E. x. 14, p. 311, Ὁ. 312, B.) Socrates (H. E. v. 22, p. 235, 
 D.) mentions that the church at Antioch in Syria was placed in a direc- 
 tion opposite to that which was usual, having the altar towards the West, 
 instead of the East. 
 
280 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XVII. 
 
 even in that, they deviate from the Jewish custom, 
 which they have ignorantly followed. 
 
 But a new calumny hath recently been published, 
 in the city of Rome, against the God whom we wor- 
 ship; where a vile wretch, who had for money exposed 
 himself with criminals to fight with wild beasts, 
 carried about a picture with this inscription, The God 
 of the Christians, ONOKOITIZ. This figure was 
 painted with asses’ ears, having a hoof upon one foot; 
 carrying a book in his hand, and wearing a robe. We 
 smiled at the absurdity of the name, and the extra- 
 vagance of the figure. But the idolatrous heathen 
 ought at once to fall down and worship the twofold 
 divinity; since they have already received into the 
 number of their gods those who had the head of a 
 dog and of a lion united, and others horned like a 
 buck, or a ram, and with loins like a goat, and with 
 their lower extremities like a serpent, or with wings 
 upon their back or feet. 
 
 I have mentioned this absurdity, although there was 
 no necessity for noticing it, that 1 might not incur the 
 imputation of purposely omitting any rumour against 
 the Christians. Having then cleared away all these 
 charges, we will proceed to the proof of what our 
 religion really is. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE object of our worship is One God, who made out 
 of nothing the whole frame of this universe, furnished 
 with all the elements, and bodies, and spirits, by his 
 word, which commanded; by his wisdom, which or- 
 dained; by his power, which ruled; for the glory of 
 
CHAP. XVII. ] OF TERTULLIAN. 281 
 
 his own majesty; whence also the Greeks denominated 
 the world by a word *, which implies order and beauty. 
 God is invisible, although plainly seen ; incomprehensi- 
 ble by touch, although represented to us by his gra- 
 cious revelation; inappreciable, although all our senses 
 bear testimony to his existence. Hence he is the true 
 God, since he is immensely great. But that which 
 can be seen by the ordinary senses, or touched, or de- 
 fined, is less than the eyes, by which it is discerned, 
 and the hands, by the contact of which it is defiled, 
 and the senses, by which it is discovered. But that 
 which is immense is known to itself alone. This it is 
 which causes God to become intelligible, although he 
 cannot be fully understood. The immensity of his 
 being presents him to our minds as at once known and 
 unknown. And in this, in short, consists the guilt of 
 those who will not know him, of whom they c&nnot 
 be ignorant. Would ye have this proved from his 
 manifold and great works, by which we are sur- 
 rounded, and sustained, and filled, sometimes with 
 delight, and sometimes with alarm? Would ye have 
 this proved, from the testimony of the soul itself, 
 which, although weighed down and confined by its 
 prison, the body, although surrounded by evil customs, 
 although enervated by lusts and passions, although 
 enslaved to false gods, yet,, when it doth come to itself 
 as it were from intoxication, or sleep, or some grievous 
 sickness, from which it is restored to its natural state 
 of health, then speaks of God by this name only, 
 because it is the proper name of the true God. Then 
 “the Great God,” “the Good God,” and “ What God 
 shall give,” is the language in every one’s mouth. In 
 like manner, the ordinary expressions, “God knows,” 
 “T leave it to God,” and “God will restore it to me,” 
 
 8 κόσμος. 
 
282 THE APOLOGY [ CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 all testify that he is the universal judge’. O glorious 
 testimony of the soul, naturally impressed with the 
 truths of Christianity! And when she gives utterance 
 to these sentiments, her eyes are directed not to the 
 Capitol, but to heaven. For she knows, that there is 
 the habitation of the living God, that he is the author 
 of her being, and there the place whence she came 
 down. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Burt, in order that we might approach to a more full 
 and clear knowledge, both of himself, and of his dis- 
 position and will towards man, God hath further given 
 us his written word; that all, who desire, may inquire 
 respecting God; and gradually proceed from inquiry 
 to knowledge, and from knowledge to belief, and from 
 belief to obedience. For God, from the beginning, 
 sent forth into the world men, whose righteouspess and 
 innocence qualified them to understand, and make 
 known his will; and poured down upon them his Holy 
 Spirit, by which they were enabled to declare, that 
 there is One God, who created all things, and formed 
 man of the dust of the earth:—for he is the true 
 Prometheus ',—who ordered the world to be governed 
 
 9 Tertullian uses the same argument, in his Treatise de Resurrectione 
 Carnis, c. 3. Utar ergo et sententia Platonis alicujus pronunciantis, 
 Omnis anima immortalis. Utar et conscientia populi, contestantis Deum 
 deorum. Utar et reliquis communibus sensibus, qui Deum judicem pre- 
 dicant; Deus videt; et, Deo commendo. He uses the same language, 
 and argues upon it; De Testimonio Anima, cc. 2, 3,4,5. He is followed 
 by Minucius Felix, Octavius, c. 18, p. 49. Quid, quod omnium de isto 
 habeo consensum? Audio vulgus, cum ad cclum manus tendunt, nihil 
 aliud quam Deum dicunt: et, Deus magnus est, et, Deus verus est: et, si 
 Deus dederit. Vulgi iste naturalis sermo est, an Christiani confitentis 
 oratio ? 
 
 1 Tertullian makes the same allusion, Adv. Marcion. i. c.i. Quidni ? 
 Penes quem verus Prometheus, Deus omnipotens, blasphemiis lancinatur. 
 
CHAP. XVIII. | OF TERTULLIAN. 283 
 
 by a certain course of time and seasons; and afterwards 
 gave signs of his majesty in judgment, by water, and 
 by fire ; who established laws, which ye either know 
 not, or forsake, for obtaining his favour; and hath 
 prepared rewards for those who observe and keep them; 
 for, at the end of the world, he will by his judgment 
 restore his worshippers to eternal life, but will con- 
 demn the wicked to endless streams of fire; all who 
 have ever lived being raised from the dead, and restored 
 to their bodies, and judged, every man according to his 
 works. We too, as well as yourselves, once derided 
 all this. We were of your party: for Christians are 
 made, not born so. Those preachers, of whom we 
 speak, were called prophets, from their office of fore- 
 telling the future. Their words, and the signs which 
 they performed, as proofs of their divine mission, still 
 remain in the treasures of the Scriptures, and are now 
 no longer hidden. The most learned of the Ptolemies, 
 surnamed Philadelphus, was a prince who made the 
 most diligent search into all branches of literature. 
 Being desirous of imitating, as I imagine, the fame of 
 Pisistratus in the formation of a library, he collected 
 from all quarters such books as had acquired celebrity 
 for their antiquity or curiosity. Among these, at the 
 suggestion of Demetrius Phalereus, the most celebrated 
 grammarian of the age, to whom he had entrusted the 
 care of his library, he procured from the Jews also 
 their Scriptures written in their own native language, 
 and kept in their possession alone: for the prophets 
 had always been raised up among the Jews, and had 
 spoken to them, who, from the love which God bore to 
 their forefathers, were his peculiar people. Those who 
 are now Jews, were formerly Hebrews; whence the 
 Scriptures were written in the Hebrew character, and 
 in the Hebrew language. Lest, however, the contents 
 of these volumes should remain unknown, the Jews 
 
284 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XIx. 
 
 sent to Ptolemy also seventy-two interpreters, whom 
 Menedemus the philosopher, the asserter of a Divine 
 Providence, treats with great respect, as agreeing with 
 him in opinion. Aristeas also assures us of this fact. 
 Thus Ptolemy left these documents plainly translated 
 into the Greek language. At this very day, in the 
 temple of Serapis, the library of Ptolemy is in exist- 
 ence, with the Hebrew copy itself. The Jews read it 
 openly ; it is a privilege to which their tribute entitles 
 them ἡ. All constantly go thither every Sabbath. Who- 
 ever hears those Scriptures, will discover what God is: 
 and whoever studies to comprehend him, will be com- 
 pelled to believe in him also. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THESE records, then, have the greatest claim to our 
 attention, by the authority which is due to their high 
 
 2 Vectigalis libertas. 
 
 Some have concluded, from this passage, that the tribute alluded to was 
 paid solely for the privilege of reading the Scriptures in the original 
 Hebrew ; that the Jews at first held the version of the Septuagint in the 
 greatest estimation, but afterwards rejected it, because it was believed to 
 favour Christianity more than the original Hebrew ; and that they were 
 therefore obliged to purchase the privilege of reading the Hebrew Scrip- 
 tures every Sabbath. There is, however, no trace of such an impost ; and 
 it can scarcely be believed that Adrian felt any interest in the question 
 whether the Jews read their Scriptures in Hebrew or Greek. The 
 tribute here alluded to was, probably, the half shekel which the Jews paid, 
 to secure the public exercises of their religion, of which reading the law 
 was one. 
 
 The author of the Apostolical Constitutions (lib. vi. ec. 24, 25) asserts, 
 without foundation, that, under the Romans, the Jews were not permitted 
 to use their ordinances: and that they were forbidden by the law of 
 Moses (Deut. xii. 14) to erect an altar in any place but Jerusalem, and to 
 read the law without the bounds of Judea. The last assertion appears 
 to have arisen from following the erroneous Septuagint Version of Amos 
 iv. 5. Kai ἀνέγνωσαν ἔξω νόμον. See L. Cappellus, Critica Sacra, lib. iv. 
 Ὁ: li, 23. 
 
CHAP. XIX. | OF TERTULLIAN. 285 
 
 antiquity ; and, even among yourselves, it is as it were 
 a part of your religion to pay regard to any observance 
 in proportion to itsage. Now the writings of one only 
 of the Prophets, Moses, which are in themselves a 
 treasure of all the Jewish religion, and consequently 
 of our own, are by many ages superior in antiquity to 
 your most ancient records. They surpass writings of 
 all kinds, upon whatever fabric or substance, and the 
 very earliest origin, and rude beginnings of all the 
 most ancient inscriptions: nay, they are prior to almost 
 all nations and distinguished cities, to the earliest 
 traces of history and tradition, even to the invention 
 of pictorial characters, which were long the only 
 records of events: and they surpass—what are of far 
 less antiquity—your gods themselves, their temples, 
 oracles, and sacred rites. If ye have ever heard men- 
 tion made of Moses, he was contemporary with the 
 Argive Inachus: and wanted but seven years to be 
 four centuries before Danaus, who is himself the most 
 ancient of any among yourselves: he lived about a 
 thousand years before the death of Priam. I should 
 have good authority for placing him full five hundred 
 years before the time of Homer. 
 
 Although the other prophets also are later than 
 Moses, yet the last of them are earlier than your first 
 philosophers, lawgivers, and historians. We could 
 easily give reasons sufficient to prove this to you, if it 
 were not beyond our present design: the task would 
 not be difficult, although tedious. It would be necessary 
 to sit down quietly, with all the leisure and means for 
 computation; and to open the archiyes of the most 
 ancient nations, the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Pha- 
 nicians; to call upon those natives of the several 
 nations, who furnish us with information, such as 
 Manetho among the Egyptians, and Berosus among 
 the Chaldeans. We should be obliged to have recourse 
 
286 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XX. 
 
 to Iromus the Phoenician, king of Tyre; and to the 
 followers of these ancient testimonies, Ptolemy of 
 Mendes, Menander the Ephesian, Demetrius Phalereus, 
 King Juba, Appion, Thallus, and Josephus, who wrote 
 the history and antiquities of his own countrymen the 
 Jews, and either confirms or refutes the more ancient 
 writers. It would also be necessary to compare the 
 historical records of the Greeks, and to notice the time 
 when each event took place, in order that the con- 
 nexion of the different periods might be made apparent, 
 and the order of all the facts be clearly set forth. It 
 would be necessary to digress into the history and 
 literature of the whole world. However, we have in 
 some degree introduced a part of this proof, by touch- 
 ing upon the manner in which it might be effected. 
 But it will be better to defer all this, for the present, 
 lest either our want of time should prevent us from 
 following the inquiry to a sufficient extent, or, if we 
 followed it, we should wander too widely from our 
 present subject. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 WE shall now make more than amends for deferring 
 the consideration of this question, by proving the 
 majesty and authority of Scripture, if not its antiquity ; 
 we shall establish its divine origin, even if a doubt 
 should still remain respecting its age. This requires 
 us not to search long, nor at any great distance: the 
 grounds of proof are obvious, namely, the state of the 
 world, the history of all ages, and the general course 
 of events. Whatever is now done was foretold: what- 
 ever is now seen, was first heard. If earthquakes 
 swallow up cities, if islands are invaded by the sea; if 
 foreign and domestic wars distract states; if kingdom 
 
CHAP. XXI. | OF TERTULLIAN. 287 
 
 rises up against kingdom; if there are famine, and 
 pestilence, and slaughters, in divers places; if the wild 
 beasts of the mountains Jay waste many regions; if the 
 humble are exalted, and the lofty are laid low; if 
 justice is rare, and iniquity abounds; if the regard for 
 every good and wholesome discipline waxes cold; if 
 even the times and seasons vary from their appointed 
 order; and the natural form of animals is violated, by 
 the production of monsters and prodigies; all these 
 have been predicted by the providence of God. While 
 we suffer these calamities, we read of them: when we 
 recognize them as the objects of prophecy, the truth of 
 the Scriptures, which predict them, is proved. The 
 daily fulfilment of prophecy is, surely, a full proof 
 of revelation. Hence, then, we have a well-founded 
 belief in many things which are yet to come, namely, 
 the confidence arising from our knowledge of the past ; 
 because some events, still future, were foretold at the 
 same time with others which are past. The voice of 
 prophecy speaks alike of each; the Scriptures record 
 them equally; the same spirit taught the prophets 
 both. In the predictions, there is no distinction of 
 time: if there be any such distinction, it is made by 
 men; while the gradual course of time makes that 
 present, which was future, and that past, which was 
 present. How can we, then, be blamed for believing 
 also what is predicted respecting the future, when our 
 confidence is founded upon the fulfilment of prophecies 
 relating to the present and the past ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Since, however, we have declared our religion to be 
 founded upon those most ancient writings of the Jews, 
 
288 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XXI. 
 
 —although almost every one knows, and we. acknow- 
 ledge, that Christianity is of recent origin, having 
 sprung up in the reign of Tiberius,—there may, per- 
 chance, at this point arise an objection, that we are 
 desirous of sheltering ourselves from some of the odium 
 which attaches to us, under the shadow of a religion 
 which hath been long known, and is, at all events, 
 tolerated: whereas, besides the very different degrees 
 of antiquity in the Jewish and Christian faith, we do 
 not agree with them, either in abstinence from certain 
 kinds of food, or in the observance of certain festivals, 
 or in the peculiar rite of circumcision, or in the name 
 which we profess; in all of which there ought to be no 
 difference, if we were subject to the same God. Be- 
 sides, every one of you considers Christ to have been a 
 man, such as the Jews believe him to have been; 
 whence the error might the more easily arise, that we 
 worship some human being. 
 
 We are not, however, ashamed of Christ; since we 
 count it our highest privilege to be accused and con- 
 demned in his name, nor are our opinions respecting 
 God different from those of the Jews. 
 
 It will be necessary then, to speak a few words of 
 Christ as God. 
 
 The people of the Jews were so highly favoured of 
 God, on account of the remarkable justice and faith 
 of their forefathers; whence their numbers were mul- 
 tiplied, and their kingdom flourished, and increased ; 
 and so great were their privileges, that the voice of 
 God which instructed them, taught them how to obtain 
 his favour, and avoid his anger. Yet their present 
 condition, even without their own confession, suffi- 
 ciently proves, with what vain confidence in the merits 
 of their ancestors they were urged to madness, and 
 driven profanely to desert their ordinances. They are 
 dispersed and vagabond, wandering as exiles from their 
 
CHAP. XXI. | OF TERTULLIAN. 289 
 
 native soil throughout the whole world; without either 
 man or God for their king, and not even permitted as 
 strangers to set foot upon their own land*. Now all 
 the sacred scriptures, with one voice, predicted that 
 this would be their condition; that, in the last days, 
 God would gather together from every nation, and 
 people, and country, more faithful servants, to whom 
 he would impart a fuller portion of his grace, in pro- 
 portion to the measure which the founder of this faith 
 should be capable of receiving. The author, then, and 
 master of this grace and this religion, who was to 
 enlighten the world, and lead the human race in the 
 way of salvation, was predicted as the Son of God, yet 
 not born in such a manner as to be ashamed of the 
 title of a Son, or of his descent from his Father. In 
 your fables, Jupiter is represented to have been the 
 father of some of your heroes, by incest with a sister, 
 or by violence committed upon a daughter, or by adul- 
 tery, in the form of a serpent, or of a bull, or of a 
 swan, or of a shower of gold. The true Son of God 
 was born in no such manner; he had no mother, after 
 the flesh, even in lawful matrimony, for she who bare 
 him had not known man. 
 
 I will first, however, declare what was the nature of 
 his substance; and then the manner of his nativity will 
 plainly appear. We have already declared, that God 
 created this Universe of the world by his Word, and 
 Reason, and Power. Even your philosophers agree in 
 ascribing the creation of the Universe to the Logos, 
 that is, to the Word or Reason. For Zeno asserts 
 that this was the maker, who formed every thing in its 
 order; and he called it Fate, and God, and the Mind 
 of Jupiter, and Necessity, the compulsory cause of all 
 things. Cleanthes ascribes all this to the Spirit, which, 
 
 3 See Justin Martyr, c. 62. 
 
290 THE APOLOGY [ CHAP. XXI. 
 
 he declares, pervades the Universe. Now we also 
 consider the Spirit to be the proper substance of the 
 Word, and Reason, and Power, by which we have 
 declared that God made all things; since it was by the 
 Word that he prophesied, by reason that he ordained, 
 and by power that he perfected all things. We have 
 been taught, that he came forth from God, and was 
 begotten by that procession, and so is the Son of God, 
 and called God from the unity of his substance: for 
 God also is a Spirit. Thus, when a ray of light issues 
 from the sun, it is a part from the whole: but the sun 
 will be in the ray of light, because it is a ray of the 
 sun; and the substance is not separated, but extended. 
 Thus, Spirit comes from Spirit, and God from God, as 
 light is kindled from light *. The matter, which is the 
 origin, remains whole and unimpaired, although you 
 should derive from it many other substances which 
 transmit the same qualities. In the same manner, 
 that which proceeds from God, is God, and the Son of 
 God; and both are one. Thus a Spirit of a Spirit, 
 and God of God, makes one different in order, not in 
 number; in gradation, not in nature: it proceeds from 
 its origin, but is not separated from it. That emana- 
 tion, therefore, of the Divinity, as was always before 
 predicted, being sent down upon a virgin, and in her 
 womb made flesh, was born God united with man. His 
 flesh, animated with the Spirit, was nourished, grew up, 
 spake, taught, acted, and was Christ. 
 
 Ye can surely have no difficulty in receiving this, for 
 a time, even as a fable, for it is like your own; while 
 we show in what manner the true character of Christ 
 is demonstrated. Those amongst you, who devised 
 fables of a similar nature, for the destruction of the 
 
 4 Compare Tertullian, Adv. Praxeam,c. 8. Protulit enim{Deus Ser- 
 monem, quemadmodum etiam Paracletus docet, sicut radix fruticem, et 
 fons fluvium, et sol radium. 
 
CHAP. XXI. | OF TERTULLIAN. 291 
 
 truth, well knew this. The Jews also, to whom the 
 prophets foretold that Christ should come, knew this. 
 For even to this day they look for his coming; and 
 one of the greatest points of controversy between us 
 and them is, that they believe not that he is come 
 already. For since the Scriptures speak of two comings 
 of Christ’,—the first which he hath already fulfilled, by 
 appearing in the humility of the human nature; and 
 the second, which is now at hand, when, at the con- 
 summation of all things, he shall be manifested in the 
 sublimity of his divine power,—they, who understood 
 not his first coming, considered it to be the same as his 
 second coming, which they conceive to be more clearly 
 predicted. For their guilt well deserved this punish- 
 ment, that they should not understand his first coming, 
 inasmuch as, had they understood it, they would have 
 believed ; and had they believed, they would have been 
 saved. They themselves read the scripture in which 
 it is written, that they were deprived of wisdom and 
 knowledge, and of the use of their eyes and ears®. 
 Since, then, they considered Christ, in consequence 
 of his humility, to be a mere man, it naturally followed 
 that they should regard him as a magician, in con- 
 sequence of his preternatural power; when he cast out 
 devils by a word, gave sight to the blind, cleansed the 
 lepers, restored the palsied to strength, and, lastly, by 
 a word raised the dead to life; when he ruled the very 
 elements, calmed the storms, walked upon the sea, and 
 showed himself to be the Logos of God, that is, the 
 original Word, the first-begotten, endued with divine 
 power and with reason, and sustained by the Spirit’. 
 But at his doctrine, by which the teachers and 
 
 > Tertullian refers to the same subject, Adv. Judzos, ο. 14. 
 
 6 Isa. vi. 10. 
 
 7 In most editions, there are here added the words, eundem, qui verbo 
 omnia et faceret, et fecisset. 
 
 U2 
 
292 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XXI. 
 
 leaders of the Jews were condemned, they were so 
 exasperated, especially when a great multitude were 
 converted to him, that, at the last, by the urgency of 
 their violence, they compelled Pontius Pilate, the Ro- 
 man governor of Syria, before whom he had been 
 brought, to give him up to them to be crucified. Christ 
 himself had foretold that they would do so. But this, 
 in itself, would have been an inconsiderable fact, had 
 not the prophets also of old predicted the same. Yet 
 when he was crucified, he voluntarily gave up the 
 ghost, with a word addressed to his heavenly Father ; 
 and thus anticipated the last office of the executioner. 
 At the same moment, the mid-day was deprived of the 
 sun, which hid its light. Those who were ignorant 
 that this also was predicted respecting Christ, thought, 
 doubtless, that it was a natural eclipse, and when they 
 could not account [for an eclipse of the sun at the 
 time of the full moon], they denied the fact; although 
 ye have the occurrence related in your annals®. 
 
 After that, the Jews took him down from the cross, 
 and placed him in a sepulchre, which they carefully 
 surrounded with a military guard, lest, since he had 
 predicted that he would rise again from the dead, on 
 the third day, his disciples coming secretly should 
 escape their vigilance, and steal the body away. But, 
 behold, on the third day, suddenly there was a great 
 earthquake, and the stone which closed the sepulchre 
 was rolled away; the guards were struck down with 
 fear; and, without any of his disciples being there, 
 there was nothing found in the tomb, but the clothes 
 in which he had been buried. Yet the chief of the 
 Jews, whose interest it was to promulgate a falsehood, 
 
 8 Tertullian alludes, in like manner, to the miraculous darkness at the 
 crucifixion, Adv, Judwos, c. 10. Nam quod in passione ejus accidit, ut 
 media dies tenebresceret, Amos Propheta annunciat, dicens, Et erit, inquit, 
 in die illa, dicit Dominus, occidet sol media die ; &c. Amos viii. 9. 
 
CHAP. XXI. | OF TERTULLIAN, 293 
 
 and recall the people from their belief in Christ, to 
 be tributary and enslaved to them, declared that his 
 disciples had stolen him away. 
 
 Yet Christ did not show himself to all the people; 
 lest the wicked should be compelled to forsake their 
 error; and in order that faith, to which so high a 
 reward was to be attached, should not be attained 
 without difficulty. He remained, however, with some 
 of his disciples in Galilee, a region of Judea, for the 
 space of forty days, teaching them what they were 
 themselves to teach others. After this, having ordained 
 them to the office of preaching the Gospel throughout 
 the world, he was taken up into heaven, concealed in a 
 cloud, in a manner far more real than that which such 
 witnesses as Proculus report of Romulus, and your 
 other kings. 
 
 Pilate, who in his conscience was persuaded of the 
 innocence of Christ, sent a full account of all these 
 transactions to Tiberius Ceesar*®. And even emperors 
 would have believed in Christ, if either emperors were 
 not necessary for conducting the affairs of this world, 
 or Christians could also be emperors. His disciples 
 also scattered throughout the world were obedient to 
 the commands of God their master, and, confident in 
 the faith, suffered many things from the Jews who 
 persecuted them, and lastly shed their Christian blood 
 in Rome, by the cruelty of Nero. 
 
 We will however show you sufficient witnesses of 
 the truth of Christ, those very gods which ye adore. 
 It will be a great point, if I can so produce them as 
 testimonies, that ye may embrace the Christian faith, 
 by means of those who now persuade you to dis- 
 believe the Christians. Meanwhile, this is the manner 
 of our argument. We declare to you the origin of 
 
 ® Compare c. 5. 
 
294 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XXI. 
 
 our religion and of our name, and who was the author 
 of it. 
 
 Let no one, therefore, any longer bring against us 
 those infamous accusations, or ascribe to our religion 
 any other origin; since, in matters of faith, it is the 
 highest impiety for any one to speak differently from 
 the truth. For, from the moment that any one pro- 
 fesses that he worships any other deity than the real 
 object of his adoration, he denies that which he wor- 
 ships, he transfers his devotion to another; and, by 
 such a change, ceases at once to worship the Being 
 whom he denies. Now we declare, and openly pro- 
 fess in the midst of all your tortures; while torn and 
 bleeding, we cry out, We worship God through Christ. 
 Ye consider him to be a mere man. Suppose this 
 were true, still it is through him that God will have 
 himself known and worshipped. In answer to the 
 Jews, we say, that they have learned to worship God 
 by the mediation of Moses; in answer to the Greeks, 
 that Orpheus upon the mountain Pieria, Museus at 
 Athens, Melampus at Argos, and Trophonius in Boeotia, 
 all introduced their religious ceremonies into their 
 country. And with reference to yourselves, who are 
 the masters of tle world, Pompilius Numa was a man, 
 although he loaded the Romans with the most burden- 
 some superstitions. Surely then Christ may be per- 
 mitted to set forth the divinity, which properly belongs 
 to him. He did not, like Numa, reduce to civilization 
 men yet rude and uncultivated, astonishing them by an 
 enumeration of so great a multitude of fictitious gods, 
 whose favour must be propitiated ; but led to the sight 
 and knowledge of the truth men who were already 
 polished, and led astray even by the errors of their 
 mental cultivation. Examine, then, whether the 
 divinity of Christ is real or not. If his claim to the 
 divine character be such, that by knowledge of it a 
 
CHAP. XXII] OF TERTULLIAN. 295 
 
 man is formed anew to every thing which is good, it 
 follows, that all other pretended gods, which are dis- 
 covered to be contrary to him, must be renounced as 
 false ; and, above all, those deities are by every means 
 to be repudiated, which, hiding themselves under the 
 names and appearances of dead men, endeavour to pro- 
 cure belief in their divine nature, by means of certain 
 signs, and miracles, and oracles. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 WE assert, then, that there are certain spiritual sub- 
 stances, the name of which is well known. Your 
 philosophers acknowledge the existence of demons, for 
 Socrates himself was guided by the counsel of one of 
 them. This is plain; for he said that a demon attended 
 him from his very youth, and constantly dissuaded 
 him—and, so, doubtless, it did—from all good. All 
 your poets are well acquainted with them. And even 
 now, the uninstructed vulgar, in their imprecations, 
 frequently call upon Satan, the chief of this evil race ; 
 and thus by the very terms which they use in cursing, 
 betray what are the inward sentiments of their minds. 
 Plato also denies not the existence of angels; and even 
 those who profess the practice of magical arts confess 
 the existence of both demons and angels. Now it is 
 known from the holy Scriptures, in what manner from 
 certain angels, who voluntarily corrupted themselves, 
 there arose a still more depraved race', condemned of 
 
 1 Tertullian, in his Treatise de Virginibus Velandis, c. 7, refers to Gen. 
 vi. 2, in proof that the angels married the virgin daughters of men. He 
 repeats the same assertion, de Idololatria, c. 9. Unum propono, angelos 
 esse illos desertores Dei, amatores foeminarum: and, in his Treatise de 
 Cultu Foeminarum, lib. i. 2, 8, he quotes the Apocryphal book of Enoch 
 
296 THE APOLOGY (CHAP, XXI. 
 
 God together with the authors of their being, and with 
 him whom we have spoken of as their chief. It will 
 here be sufficient to explain the manner of their agency. 
 Their ordinary occupation is the injury of man; as the 
 malice of evil spirits from the beginning contrived the 
 perdition of the human race. Hence they bring upon 
 the body diseases and certain grievous accidents, and 
 violently affect the mind with sudden and extraordinary 
 passions. Their surprising subtility and tenuity give 
 them the facility of thus entering into the body and 
 mind of man. As spirits, they possess the astonishing 
 power of being invisible and insensible; so that their 
 influence is perceived rather in the effects which it 
 produces, than at the time of its action. In the same 
 manner as it often happens in fruit or in grain, that 
 some secret blight in the air blasts the blossom, kills 
 the produce in the seed, or destroys it when it hath 
 arrived at maturity; or that the air, affected by some 
 unknown cause, breathes forth pestilence and death. 
 By some influence equally obscure, the inspiration of 
 angels and demons agitates the corrupt passions of the 
 mind with fury and disgraceful excesses, and inordinate 
 lusts, together with various errors. One of the prin- 
 
 to the same purpose. Josephus (Ant. Jud. lib. i. c. iv. 1) makes the same 
 use of Gen. vi. 2. 
 
 It was imagined that from these corrupt angels arose the demons, a race 
 still more corrupt, who injured and deceived men, and were principally 
 employed in seducing them from the worship of the true God to that of 
 idols. 
 
 The principal passages of Tertullian bearing upon this point, are collected 
 in Bp. Kaye’s Tertullian, p. 214. 
 
 Lactantius (lib. ii. c. 14) adopts the same fanciful notions: “ Itaque 
 illos cum hominibus commorantes dominator ille terre fallacissimus con- 
 suetudine ipsa paulatim ad vitia pellexit, et mulierum congressibus in- 
 quinavit. Tum in ccelum ob peccata, quibus se immerserant, non recepti, 
 ceciderunt in terram. Sic eos Diabolus ex angelis Dei suos fecit satellites, 
 ac ministros. Qui autem sunt ex his procreati quia neque homines fuerunt, 
 sed mediam quandam naturam gerentes, non sunt ad inferos recepti, sicut 
 nec in ccelum parentes eorum.” 
 
CHAP. XXII. | OF TERTULLIAN. 297 
 
 cipal of these is the delusion, which recommends those 
 gods to the blinded and prejudiced minds of men, in 
 order that the demons may procure for themselves 
 their proper food, the odour of the fat and the blood 
 of the sacrifices offered to those shadows and images. 
 But what they pursue with still greater anxiety is, to 
 remove man from the knowledge of the true God, by 
 the subtil craftiness of false divination. How they 
 effect this, I will show. Every spirit flies: and angels 
 and demons possess this faculty. Hence they are 
 every where in a moment. The whole world is to 
 them one place: they know, with the same readiness 
 with which they declare it, what is done, and where. 
 This velocity is taken for a proof of divinity, because 
 the nature of all spiritual substances is not understood. 
 Thus they sometimes wish to appear to have done what 
 they only relate: and so indeed they sometimes are 
 the causes of the evil, but never of the good. They 
 formerly obtained a knowledge of the intentions of 
 God, from the declarations of the prophets, and now 
 gather it from hearing their writings read aloud. Thus, 
 collecting some conjectural knowledge of the future, 
 they emulate the divine authority, by means of the 
 power of divination, which they have surreptitiously 
 obtained. 
 
 With what dexterity, in their oracles, they framed 
 their answers so ambiguously as to apply to either 
 event, such men as Croesus and Pyrrhus well know. 
 But the Pythian Apollo was able, in the manner which 
 we have described, to bring back word that Croesus * 
 was cooking a tortoise with the flesh of a lamb; he 
 had been to Lydia, and returned in an instant. From 
 their dwelling in the air, and their vicinity to the 
 stars, and their acquaintance with the clouds, they are 
 able to know what changes are taking place in the 
 
 2 Herod. i. 46—48. 
 
298 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 atmosphere, so that they can predict rain, which they 
 already perceive forming. Even in the means which 
 they are believed to possess of curing sickness, their 
 evil nature is displayed: for they first inflict an injury, 
 and then propose remedies, which appear so new as to 
 be miraculous, or even of a directly contrary nature ; 
 and after this, they desist from injuring, and are be- 
 lieved to have cured. It is needless for me to dwell 
 upon the other contrivances, or even upon the powers 
 of deception which these spirits possess: such as the 
 appearances of Castor and Pollux, the sieve which 
 contained water, a ship drawn by the girdle of a vestal, 
 a beard which changed colour, and became red by a 
 touch *. All these were illusions devised to persuade 
 men to believe images of stone to be gods, and not to 
 seek for the true God. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Moreover, if the practisers of magical arts call forth 
 spectres, and even injure and insult the souls of the 
 dead,—if they throw boys into convulsions‘, to pre- 
 
 3 Suetonius (Nero, c. 1) relates a report of this nature respecting 
 Domitius, the ancestor of the Domitian family at Rome. “ Ainobarbi 
 auctorem originis, itemque cognominis habent L. Domitium: cui rure 
 quondam revertenti, juvenes gemini augustiore forma ex occursu im- 
 perasse traduntur, nuntiaret senatui ac populo victoriam, de qua incertum 
 adhuc erat : atque in fidem majestatis adeo permulsisse malas ut ἃ nigro 
 rutilum, zrique assimilem capillum redderent. Quod insigne mansit et in 
 posteris ejus, ac magna pars rutila barba fuerunt.” 
 
 4 Elidunt. 
 
 This refers either to the sacrificing of children, βρεφομαντεία, or παιδο- 
 μαντεία, to propitiate the god, who was supposed to give the oracle, (see 
 Justin Martyr’s Apology, c. 24,) or else to the convulsion fits, into which 
 boys were thrown, in order that the words which they uttered, in a state 
 of mental alienation, might be taken for an oracular reply. 
 
CHAP. XXIII. ] OF TERTULLIAN. 299 
 
 pare them to give utterance to the words of the oracle, 
 —if by means of juggling tricks, they pretend to per- 
 form numerous miracles,—if they inspire dreams too, 
 by having the powerful assistance of the angels and 
 demons once invited to attend them, by whose means 
 even kids and tables have been made the instruments 
 of divination,x—how much more should that spiritual 
 power be exerted of its own accord, and for its own 
 objects, to produce the same effects, which it thus per- 
 forms for the advantage of another? Or, if angels and 
 demons perform the same operations which your gods 
 perform, where then is that supreme excellence of 
 divinity, which must be believed superior to all other 
 authority? Would it not be a more reasonable as- 
 sumption, that they were truly gods, who made them- 
 selves so, since they perform the very same actions 
 which cause you to believe the divine nature of your 
 gods, than that they are gods simply because they are 
 equal to angels and demons? We are to conceive, 
 I suppose, that the difference of place causes a dis- 
 tinction: that the divinity of your gods is acknow- 
 ledged in their temples, but not in any other place: 
 that the madness which urges one man to leap from a 
 consecrated tower, is different from that which makes 
 another throw himself from a neighbouring house ; and 
 aman, who mutilates his body, or lacerates his arms, 
 labours under a different insanity from that which 
 causes another to cut his own throat. The end of 
 these different acts of madness is the same, and they 
 are incited by the same cause. 
 
 But these are mere words: we now appeal to a 
 matter of fact, as a proof that the nature of your gods 
 and of the demons is the same under different titles. 
 Let any one, who is confessedly under the influence of 
 demoniacal possession, be brought out here before your 
 
300 THE APOLOGY (CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 tribunal. If the spirit be commanded by any Chris- 
 tian to speak, he shall as truly confess himself to be a 
 demon, as, in other places, he falsely professes himself 
 to be a god*. In like manner, let any one of those 
 be produced, who are believed to be influenced by 
 your gods, who inhale the inspiration of divinity by 
 breathing the fumes of the altars, who are bent double 
 in the agonies of suppressed divination, and pant for 
 breath in giving utterance to their oracles. If that 
 very heavenly virgin, Juno, who promises you rain, if 
 Esculapius himself, the inventor of medicine, who gave 
 life to Socordius, and Thanatius, and Asclepiadotus,— 
 men who must yet die some other day,—do not confess 
 themselves to be demons, not daring to lie to a Chris- 
 tian, then shed the blood of that most impudent Chris- 
 tian upon the spot. What can be plainer than such 
 an appeal to facts? What can be more impartial than 
 such a mode of proof? ‘Truth is before you in all her 
 simplicity: she is supported by her own power alone. 
 There is no room for suspicion. 
 
 Will ye say that this effect is produced by magic, 
 or by some fallacy of that kind? ‘The testimony of 
 your own eyes and ears will not suffer you to be so 
 deceived. And what can be objected to that which 
 
 6 Tertullian advances the like assertions respecting the power of 
 Christians in expelling demons, in cc. 37. 43; De Testimonio Anime, 
 6. 8; Ad Scapulam, c. 2; De Spectaculis, c. 29 ; De Idololatria, c. 11 ; 
 De Corona, ce. 11. 
 
 Bp. Kaye observes, (Tertullian, c. 2,) that Tertullian “ casts a doubt 
 upon the accuracy of his own statement by ascribing to Christians in 
 general those extraordinary gifts, which even in the days of the Apostles 
 appear to have been confined to them, and to the disciples upon whom 
 they Jaid their hands.” 
 
 The learned prelate discusses the question respecting the continuance 
 of miraculous power in the Church with his well-known judgment and 
 caution. He is of opinion that they ceased with the death of the last 
 disciple, upon whom the Apostles laid their hands. 
 
CHAP. XXIII. | OF TERTULLIAN. 301 
 
 shows itself in naked simplicity? If, on the one hand, 
 they are truly gods, why do they falsely confess them- 
 selves demons? Is it in subserviency to us? If so, 
 whatever their divinity be, it is subject to the Chris- 
 tians. And surely that can be no real divinity at all, 
 which is subject to men, and, to add to the disgrace, 
 to men who confess a rival divinity. If, on the other 
 hand, they are demons or angels, why do they on other 
 occasions represent themselves to be gods? For as 
 those, who bear the title of gods, if they were really 
 divine, would not degrade themselves from the majesty 
 of their nature by acknowledging themselves to be 
 merely demons, so those, whom by their own confes- 
 sion ye know to be demons, would not dare to pass for 
 gods on other occasions, if there actually were any such 
 gods, as those whose names they usurp; for they would 
 fear to insult the majesty of those, who are doubt- 
 less superior to themselves, and the objects of their 
 reverence. 
 
 So absolutely nugatory is that divinity of your gods, 
 which ye maintain: since, if it existed, it would neither 
 be assumed by demons, nor denied by the gods them- 
 selves. Since, therefore, each party agrees in one 
 confession, acknowledging that they are no gods, do 
 ye confess that the two are actually one kind, that is, 
 that they are demons. 
 
 Inquire, then, of each of them, which are really 
 gods: for those, whom ye formerly considered to be 
 such, ye now acknowledge to be demons. But since, 
 by our exertions, we have extorted from your gods this 
 avowal, among many others, that neither they nor any 
 such beings are truly divine, ye may immediately pro- 
 ceed to discover who truly is God; whether he is the 
 same, and he alone, whom we Christians profess, and 
 whether he is to be believed in, and worshipped, ac- 
 cording to the Christian faith and discipline. 
 
302 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 Some, however, will say on this occasion, And who 
 is this Christ, with his marvellous tale? As if he 
 were a mere ordinary man, or a practiser of magic; as 
 if he were stolen from his grave by his disciples, and 
 were really now with the dead; as if he were not in 
 heaven, whence he shall quickly come, with a terrible 
 commotion of the whole world, with distress of nations 
 and wailing of all men, except Christians; as the 
 Virtue of αοα δ, as the Spirit of God, as the Word, 
 and the Wisdom, and the Reason, and the Son of 
 God. Let your pretended gods join with you in any 
 such profane ridicule; let them deny that Christ will 
 come to judge every soul which ever lived, reunited to 
 the body; let them assert their belief, before the tri- 
 bunal, if haply they agree with Plato and the poets, 
 in regarding this office of judgment to belong to 
 Minos and Rhadamanthus, and at least avoid the 
 stigma of their present infamy and future damnation. 
 Let them deny that they are foul spirits, a fact which 
 might at once be understood even from their food, 
 which is blood, and smoke, and disgusting sacrifices of 
 animals; and from the impure tongues of their very 
 priests. Let them deny, that, for their wickedness, 
 they are already condemned to that day of judgment, 
 with all their worshippers and accomplices. 
 
 Now all the dominion and power, which we exercise 
 
 6 Jesus Christ is in like manner spoken of in c. 21, as the Word, 
 and Reason, and Power of God. Jam ediximus Deum universitatem 
 hance mundi Verbo, et Ratione, et Virtute molitum. And soon after, 
 Et nos etiam Sermoni, atque Rationi, itemque Virtuti, per que omnia 
 molitum Deum ediximus, propriam substantiam Spiritum inscribimus, cui 
 et sermo insit prenuntianti, et ratio adsit disponenti, et virtus preesit 
 perficienti. 
 
 Tertullian uses the same expression, in his Treatise De Oratione, c. 1. 
 Omnia de carnalibus in spiritalia renovavit nova Dei gratia, superducto 
 Evangelio expunctore totius retro vetustatis, in quo et Dei Spiritus, et - 
 Dei Sermo, et Dei Ratio approbatus est Dominus noster Jesus Christus ; 
 spiritus quo valuit, sermo quo docuit, ratio qua venit. 
 
CHAP. XXIV. | OF TERTULLIAN. 303 
 
 over them, is obtained by the name of Christ, and by 
 reminding them of the punishment which will come 
 upon them from God by Christ their judge. Fearing 
 Christ in God, and God in Christ, they are subject to 
 the servants of God and Christ. Hence at our touch, 
 or at our breath, they are alarmed with the contempla- 
 tion and representation of that fire, and at our com- 
 mand depart even from the bodies of men, with re- 
 luctance and grief, and blushing with shame at your 
 presence. 
 
 Believe them, when they speak the truth of them- 
 selves, since ye believe them, when they speak falsely. 
 No one speaks a falsehood to disgrace himself, but to 
 enhance his credit; they are therefore more entitled 
 to belief, when they confess against themselves, than 
 when they deny in their own favour. Finally, the 
 testimony thus borne by your gods frequently converts 
 men to Christianity: since, by giving full credit to it, 
 we believe in our Lord Christ. Those very gods 
 animate our faith in the Scriptures; and establish the 
 confidence of our hope. Ye appease them, I well 
 know, even with the blood of Christians. If, there- 
 fore, they dared to deny the truth, when any Christian 
 desires by their confession to prove to you what the 
 truth is, they surely would not lose you, who are such 
 profitable and sedulous servants to them. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 ALL this confession of your deities, in which they 
 acknowledge that they are not gods, and that there is 
 none other God but one, whom we serve, is at once a 
 sufficient answer to the accusation of treason against 
 
304 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 the public and peculiarly Roman form of religion. 
 For, if they are assuredly no gods, their religion can 
 have no solid foundation. And if their religion is 
 nugatory, because they are assuredly no gods, then we, 
 assuredly, are not guilty of treason against religion. 
 But, on the contrary, from the real nature of the facts, 
 the charge will be turned against yourselves, since, in 
 worshipping a lie, ye not only neglect, but openly 
 oppose, the true religion of the true God, and thus 
 commit the real crime of actual irreligion. 
 
 But even if it should now be granted that those are 
 gods, will not ye allow, according to the common 
 opinion, that there is some Being of greater dignity 
 and power, who is the supreme governor of the world, 
 of infinite might and majesty? For this is the 
 manner, in which most of your philosophers conceive 
 the Divine power to be exercised, that the absolute 
 authority is vested in one, but that the various offices 
 are divided among many: as Plato describes the 
 supreme Jupiter in heaven accompanied with a nume- 
 rous train of gods and demons. If so, procurators and 
 prefects and presidents ought all to receive the same 
 respect which is paid to the Emperor. Yet of what 
 offence is any man guilty, who turns his whole atten- 
 tion, and directs all his hopes, to deserve the favour of 
 Ceesar himself; and, as he gives the name of Emperor 
 to none but Cesar, ascribes divinity to the supreme 
 God alone? since it is considered a capital offence to 
 speak or hear of any other sovereign than Cesar. 
 
 Let one, however, be at liberty to worship God, 
 another Jupiter; let one lift his hands in supplication 
 towards heaven, another towards the altar of Faith; 
 let one address his prayers to the clouds—if ye so 
 think of our worship—and another to the decorated 
 ceilings of a temple; let one devote his own soul to 
 his God, and another sacrifice the life of a goat. For 
 
CHAP. XXIV. | OF TERTULLIAN. 3095 
 
 beware, lest, in addition to the charge of irreligion, ye 
 expose yourselves to the accusation of taking away 
 religious liberty, and forbidding a person to make 
 choice of the deity, which he will worship, so that I 
 may not pay my adorations where I will, but be com- 
 pelled to pay them where I would not. No one, not 
 even a man, would choose to be treated with forced 
 respect: hence even the Egyptians have permission 
 granted them to practise their vain superstition, to 
 consecrate birds and beasts, and to condemn to death 
 those who should kill any of those deities. Besides, 
 every province and state hath its own god. Thus 
 Atargatis is worshipped in Syria, Dusares in Arabia, 
 Belenus in Noricum, the heavenly Virgin in Africa, in 
 Mauritania their princes. All these, which I have 
 enumerated, are, I believe, Roman provinces; yet the 
 gods, which they worship, are not Roman gods, for 
 they are not worshipped at Rome, any more than those 
 are, which are consecrated, throughout Italy also, as 
 the municipal deities of particular cities; such as 
 Delventinus at Casinum, Visidianus at Narnia, An- 
 charia at Aesculum, Nortia at Volsinium, Valentia at 
 Ocriculum, Hostia at Sutrium; and among the Falisci, 
 Juno succeeded to the honour once paid to her father 
 Cures, and thence received a peculiar appellation. 
 We alone are forbidden to exercise our own religion: 
 we offend the Romans, and are not considered to be 
 Romans, because we worship not the god of the 
 Romans. Our happiness is to know that there is one 
 God of all, whose servants we all are, whether we will 
 obey, or whether we will forbear. But with you, per- 
 mission is given to worship any god, except the true 
 God: as if he, whose we all are, were not peculiarly 
 the God of all. 
 
306 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XXV. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 I wave already, I trust, sufficiently proved which is 
 the false, and which is the true God, having established 
 the fact, in the foregoing demonstration, not only by 
 reasoning and argument, but by the very testimony of 
 those, whom ye believe to be gods: so that no further 
 discussion is necessary upon that point. But since in- 
 cidental mention hath been made of the name of the 
 Romans, I will not elude the further question, which 
 is offered by those who maintain that the Romans have 
 been raised to such a degree of prosperity as to govern 
 the whole world, in consequence of their diligent 
 observance of their religion: and that the objects of 
 their worship are certainly gods, since those who are 
 their most faithful adherents, are blessed with pros- 
 perity above all others. 
 
 We are to suppose then, I presume, that these bene- 
 fits have been conferred by the Roman gods, as the 
 reward of piety towards them. Sterculus, and Mutunus, 
 and Larentina have raised the empire to its present 
 height. For I can never imagine that foreign gods 
 would have favoured a strange nation, more than they 
 did their own, and given to a people from beyond the 
 sea their own country, in which they were born, and 
 brought up, and deified, and buried. Let Cybele say, 
 whether her love to the city of Rome arose from her 
 attachment to the memory of the Trojan race, who 
 were her natural protectors against the Greeks; and 
 whether she foresaw that she was then passing over 
 to her avengers, who, she knew, would subdue Greece, 
 the destroyer of Troy. She hath, therefore, even in 
 our time, given a striking proof what that divinity is, 
 which she transferred to the city of Rome; since, 
 when the Emperor Marcus Aurelius died at Syrmium, 
 
CHAP. XXv.] OF TERTULLIAN. 307 
 
 on the seventeenth of March, her chief priest, that 
 most venerable prince of Kunuchs, was offering the 
 accustomed vows for the safety of the Emperor, 
 Marcus, and to enforce his prayers, was drinking the 
 impure blood which flowed from his lacerated arms, 
 seven days after the Emperors death! Oh! lazy 
 messengers! oh! tardy despatches! by whose delay it 
 happened, that Cybele was not sooner acquainted 
 with the death of the Emperor, that so the Chris- 
 tians might have had no cause to deride so sage a 
 deity. 
 
 But, if the gods had that power of protecting and 
 rewarding their worshippers, surely Jupiter would 
 never have suffered his own Crete to be subdued by 
 the Roman power: he never would so soon have for- 
 gotten that cave of Ida, and the brazen cymbals of the 
 Corybantes, and the delightful odour of his nursing- 
 mother the goat. Would he not have rendered his 
 own tomb far superior to the whole Capitol, that so 
 the land which contained the ashes of Jupiter should 
 be chosen, in preference to any other, as the mistress 
 of the world? Again, would Juno have suffered Car- 
 thage, that colony of the Phoenicians, for love of which 
 she neglected Samos, to be destroyed, especially by the 
 descendants of A‘neas? I well know, 
 
 «*____. Here were her arms, 
 And here her chariot stood : this favourite realm 
 The goddess lcved and cherish’d, as the seat 
 Of universal empire, if the fates 
 Should smile propitious 7.” 
 The unhappy wife and sister of Jupiter could do nothing 
 against the fates: in fact, 
 
 “Even mighty Jove himself must bend to fate.” 
 Yet, although the fates thus gave Carthage up to the 
 
 7 Aneid. i. 16. 
 5 Gy 
 
308 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. ΧΧΥ. 
 
 Romans, against the will and intention of Juno, they 
 never received half so much honour from the Ro- 
 mans as was paid to that most abandoned harlot 
 Larentina. 
 
 Again, it is an acknowledged fact, that many of your 
 gods were sovereigns on earth. If, then, they possess 
 the power of conferring terrestrial dominion, from 
 whom did they receive their royal authority when they 
 reigned? Whom did Saturn and Jupiter adore? Some 
 such god as Sterculus, I suppose, with the other native 
 Italian gods, who are since so honoured at Rome ὃ. 
 And even if some of your gods were not sovereigns, at 
 all events, some, at that time, reigned who were not 
 their worshippers; for they were not yet accounted 
 gods. Hence the power of conferring dominion is 
 vested in some one else; since royal sway was exer- 
 cised, long before one of their idols was ever carved, 
 and his titles engraved. 
 
 But how unreasonable is it to ascribe the extent 
 of the Roman power to their scrupulous observance of 
 their religious ordinances, when their religion hath 
 received its principal advancement since the Empire 
 hath been established, and raised by gradual accession 
 to its present state. For although Numa first intro- 
 duced the peculiarities of your superstition, yet, in his 
 time, the service of your gods was conducted without 
 images or temples. Your religion was then frugal, 
 and its rites simple: there were no Capitols lifting 
 their heads to heaven, but altars casually made of turf, 
 and vessels merely of earth, whence the odour of 
 the offerings arose; and no statues of the gods were 
 any where seen. The invention of the Greeks and 
 Tuscans had not yet been exercised to inundate the 
 
 8 Quem coluerat Saturnus et Jupiter? aliquem, opinor, Sterculum, sed 
 
 Rome postea cum indigenis. 
 The words, ‘sed Rome postea,” appear to be an interpolation. 
 
CHAP. XXvV. | OF TERTULLIAN. 309 
 
 city with statues. The Romans, then, were not thus 
 religious, until they were great: and, therefore, did 
 not become great, because they were religious. Nay, 
 how could their greatness be the reward of their re- 
 ligion, when it was obtained by irreligion? For I 
 suppose it will be granted, that all dominion is ac- 
 quired by war, and extended by victories. Now war 
 and victories are usually signalized by the capture and 
 destruction of the enemies’ cities: and that cannot 
 be effected, without injuring their gods. Walls and 
 temples fall in one common ruin: the sword spares 
 neither citizens nor priests; and rapine commits equal 
 ravages upon sacred and profane wealth. The sacri- 
 leges of the Romans, therefore, are as numerous as 
 their trophies: their triumphs are celebrated equally 
 over the gods and over the nations: the statues of 
 captive deities still existing are so many spoils of 
 war. 
 
 These very gods, then, suffer themselves to be adored 
 by their enemies, and reward with endless empire 
 those, whom they ought rather to punish for their 
 outrages, than to favour for their adulation. But on 
 beings without consciousness, as injuries may be com- 
 mitted with impunity, so honour is vainly bestowed. 
 No one can, surely, believe, that a people have risen 
 to power for their religion, who, as we have shown, 
 have either augmented their power by injuring reli- 
 gion, or injured religion by that very increase. For 
 even all those nations, whose independent kingdoms 
 are now united to form the Roman Empire, had their 
 own several religions, at the time when they lost their 
 power. 
 
310 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XXVIL 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 ConsIpER, then, whether he is not the dispenser of king- 
 doms, to whom belongs the world, which is governed, 
 and man, who governs it: whether he hath not ordained 
 all the changes of empire, in their several periods during 
 all ages; who was, before all time ; who framed eternity 
 into a regular succession of time; whether it is not he 
 who raises and depresses states, under whom the 
 human race once existed without any kind of civil 
 government. Why do ye err in this matter? Rome, 
 in her humble and rustic state, was prior to some of 
 her own gods: she reigned, before the circuit of the 
 Capitol was erected. The Babylonian monarchy was 
 established before your priests; the Medes reigned 
 before your Quindecimviri; the Egyptians before the 
 Salii; the Assyrians before the Luperci; the Amazons 
 before your Vestal virgins. Finally, if the religion of 
 the Romans had the power of conferring kingdoms, 
 Judea, which despised all those gods alike, would 
 never have reigned in times past. And yet ye Romans 
 honoured the God of the Jews with victims, and his 
 temple with gifts, and the people, at various periods, 
 with treaties; and, would never have subdued that 
 nation, if in the end it had not filled up the measure of 
 its iniquities, by its treatment of Christ. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 WE have now sufficiently answered the accusation of 
 treason against your religion; and proved that we are 
 not guilty of any injury against the divinity of your 
 gods, by showing it hath no existence. When, there- 
 
CHAP. XXVII. | OF TERTULLIAN. 311 
 
 fore, we are invited to offer sacrifice, we strenuously 
 defend ourselves, by advancing the faithful testimony 
 of our own conscience, which assures us what persons 
 they really are, to whom those rites are consecrated, 
 by the dedication of images, and the deification of 
 human names. Some, however, think it mere mad- 
 ness in us, obstinately to prefer perseverance to safety : 
 we might, easily, they think, offer sacrifice for the 
 present, and depart uninjured, still mentally retaining 
 our ownsentiments. Thus ye yourselves suggest means, 
 by which we might deceive you. But we know what 
 enemy it is, who suggests all these expedients, who 
 causes all this vexation, and strives to overcome our 
 constancy, sometimes by cunning craftiness of per- 
 suasion, and sometimes by the severity of punishment. 
 It is that spirit, who partakes at once of the nature of 
 devils and of angels; who, in consequence of his own 
 fall, being jealous of us, and envious of the divine 
 grace which is given unto us, influences your minds 
 against us, moulding and leading them by his secret 
 inspiration to that violation of justice, and that iniquity 
 of punishment, which I have already exposed in the 
 beginning of this Apology. For although all the power 
 of demons and of spirits of a like nature is subject to 
 us, they still are like vicious servants, who add con- 
 tumacy to their fear, and strive to injure those, whom 
 they otherwise reverence: for fear itself inspires hatred. 
 Besides this, their desperate condition of eternal damna- 
 tion finds some kind of consolation in the indulgence of 
 malice; while their punishment is yet delayed. Yet, 
 when they are taken, they are at once subdued, and 
 yield to the necessity of their condition ; at a distance 
 they fight against those, whose mercy they supplicate 
 when near at hand. Hence, when they exercise their 
 malice against us, in whose power they are, and 
 cause us to be condemned, like disobedient and rebel- 
 
312 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 lious slaves, to labour in prisons, or in the mines, or to 
 undergo any other kind of servile punishment, they 
 know well how unequal in power they are, and that 
 their real nature is the more surely betrayed ’ by these 
 abortive attempts. We, therefore, oppose these evil 
 spirits as it were upon equal ground; we resist them 
 by persisting in the cause which they oppose; and are 
 never more triumphant over them, than when we are 
 condemned to suffer for our perseverance in the faith. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Ir would easily appear how unjust it is that free men 
 should be driven to sacrifice to the gods, when in all 
 other instances a willing mind is required as an indis- 
 pensable qualification for any office of religion ; but, at 
 all events, it must seem the height of absurdity, that 
 any one should be compelled to honour the gods, whom 
 he ought to propitiate for their own sake; that he may 
 not have the liberty of saying, I will not have Jupiter 
 propitious to me. Who are you? Let Janus meet 
 me with anger seated upon either of his brows. What 
 right have you to interfere with me? Ye are, in fact, 
 urged by the same spirits, to compel us to sacrifice for 
 the safety of the Emperor. The necessity of com- 
 pelling us is as obligatory upon you, as the duty of 
 suffering for our faith is upon us. 
 
 We now come to the second charge of treason 
 against a Majesty more august than that of your gods. 
 For ye reverence Cesar with greater apprehension, and 
 more fervent timidity’, than the Olympian Jove him- 
 
 9. Hoc magis proditos: this is the reading of Havercamp’s edition, 
 instead of perditos. 
 1 Calidiore timiditate. 
 
CHAP. XXIX.] OF TERTULLIAN. 313 
 
 self; and with good reason, if ye knew the truth. For 
 is not every living person far better than any dead 
 one’? Neither do ye even this so much from the 
 dictates of reason, as from the respect which ye bear 
 to his immediate and intrinsic power. Thus, in this 
 instance also, ye are proved to be guilty of irreverence 
 towards your gods, since ye pay greater respect to 
 human power. In fact, among you, a man had better 
 forswear himself by all the gods, than by the simple 
 genius of Ceesar. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 YE ought, then, first to prove, whether they, to whom 
 sacrifice is offered, are able to give prosperity to the 
 Emperor, or to any man; and then to accuse us for 
 neglecting to comply. If angels or demons, in their 
 own nature the worst kind of spirits, confer any benefit ; 
 if the lost can save ; if the condemned can liberate ; if 
 the dead—as your conscience confesses them to be— 
 can defend the living; then let them first protect their 
 own statues, and images, and temples, which, now I 
 fancy, require the nightly protection of the imperial 
 guard. Nay, I imagine the very materials, of which 
 they are composed, come from Czesar’s mines; and 
 every temple depends upon Cesar’s will. Besides, 
 many gods have had an enemy in Caesar. Even if he 
 is propitious, this strengthens our cause, that he should 
 be able so to exercise his liberality, and to confer 
 privileges upon them. Now, how should they, who 
 are in Ceesar’s power, who depend entirely upon him, 
 have the prosperity of Czesar in their power? How 
 can they grant to him what they might more easily 
 obtain from him ? 
 
 2 Eccles. ix. 4. Seec. 4. 
 
314 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XXX, 
 
 This, then, is the amount of our crime against the 
 Emperors, that we will not subject them to what is 
 their own; that we do not join in ridiculous addresses 
 for their welfare, nor believe them to be in hands, 
 which require to be fastened with lead. Ye, I pre- 
 sume, are the only religious persons, who seek for 
 prosperity for your Emperors, where it cannot be found; 
 who demand it of him, who hath it not to give; while 
 ye pass over him, in whose power it is: and, besides, 
 persecute those who know how to ask for it; and by 
 such knowledge would be able to obtain it. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 For the God whom we invoke for the safety of the 
 Emperors, is the eternal God, the true God, the living 
 God, whom the Emperors themselves would wish to 
 propitiate above all others. They know who it is who 
 hath given them power: they know, as human beings, 
 who hath given them life also. They perceive that he 
 is God alone, in whose power alone they are, under 
 whom they hold the second place, after whom they 
 occupy the first rank, before all and above all gods. 
 For they are superior to all men living; and all who 
 live are surely superior to the dead ὁ They consider 
 how far the bounds of their power extends; and thus 
 understand what God is. They acknowledge that their 
 power is derived from him, against whom their authority 
 avails nothing. Let any Emperor make war on heaven, 
 lead heaven captive in his triumphal procession, set a 
 guard over heaven, and impose a tribute upon it. He 
 can do no such thing. His power arises only from 
 this, that he is inferior to heaven. For he belongs to 
 
 5 Eccles. ix. 4. 
 
CHAP. XXX. | OF TERTULLIAN. 315 
 
 that Being, in whose power is heaven and every crea- 
 ture. He hath no other origin as Emperor, than he 
 had, as a man, before he was Emperor: his power and 
 his life are alike the gifts of God. To that God we 
 Christians look up with hands extended, because they 
 are innocent; with head uncovered, because we have 
 nothing of which we are ashamed ; and pray without a 
 prompter *, because we pray from the heart. We all 
 pray without ceasing for all Emperors, beseeching for 
 them a long life, a secure reign; that their families 
 may be preserved in safety, their armies brave, the 
 senate faithful, the people honest, the whole world 
 peaceful, and whatever other things either the people 
 or the Emperor can desire. I can prefer these prayers 
 to Him only, who I know will grant them, since it is 
 he alone, in whose power they are; and I am one 
 whom he will hear, one of those who alone are his 
 servants. For his sake I am killed. To him I offer 
 the rich and more excellent sacrifice, which he himself 
 hath ordained*, prayer out of a clean heart, and in- 
 nocent mind, and sanctified spirit. I offer not a grain 
 of frankincense which is sold for one farthing, nor the 
 tears of an Arabian tree, nor two drops of wine, nor 
 the blood of a cast-away ox, which would be glad to 
 die; and after all other abominations, even a defiled 
 
 4 Denique sine monitore, quia de pectore, oramus. 
 
 It is plainthat Tertullian is here not condemning the use of set forms of 
 prayer, but contrasting the hearty and earnest devotions, which the Chris- 
 tians offered for the Emperor, with the desultory and forced exclamations 
 of the idolatrous people. Compare c. 35. There is probably also an 
 allusion to the persons who were appointed, at the sacrifices of the Romans, 
 to prompt the magistrates, lest they should incidentally omit a single word 
 in the appropriate formule, which would have vitiated the whole proceed- 
 ings. ““ Vidimus certis precationibus obsecrasse summos magistratus: et 
 ne quid verborum pretereatur, aut preposterum dicatur, de scripto preire 
 aliquem, rursusque alium custodem dari qui attendat, alium vero preponi 
 qui favere linguis jubeat ; tibicinem canere, ne quid aliud exaudiatur.” 
 Plin. Hist. Nat. xxviii. c. 2. See Bingham, Eccles, Ant. Book xiii. ο. 5, 5. 
 
 5 Heb. xiii. 15. Hos. xiv. 2. 
 
316 THE APOLOGY [ CHAP. XXXI. 
 
 conscience; so that it is a wonder, when the most 
 reprobate priests are appointed to examine your victims, 
 why the inquiry is made into the hearts of the sacrifices, 
 rather than into those of the sacrificers. 
 
 When, then, we are thus stretching forth our hands 
 in prayer to God, let piercing instruments lacerate our 
 flesh, let crosses sustain, and flames devour us, let 
 swords strike off our heads, and wild beasts rend us; 
 the very attitude of a Christian in prayer is prepared 
 for every kind of punishment. 
 
 Take especial care of this®, ye excellent and just 
 judges: rack the soul which is praying to God for the 
 Emperor. This will be a crime, when truth and devo- 
 tion to God is. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Bur perhaps it will be said, we merely flatter the 
 Emperor, and counterfeit the vows, which we have 
 mentioned, to avoid punishment. The accusation of 
 this deceit is not without its advantage; for ye permit 
 us to prove what we allege in our defence. Ye, there- 
 fore, who think we care nothing for the safety of the 
 Emperors, examine the word of God, our Scriptures; 
 we conceal them not, and many accidents bring them 
 to the knowledge of those who are strangers to our 
 faith. Learn from them, that we are commanded, in 
 the overflowing fulness of Christian charity, to pray to 
 God even for our enemies, and to supplicate all good 
 things for our persecutors’. Who are greater enemies 
 
 6 Hoc agite, boni presides. 
 
 Tertullian here makes a sarcastic allusion to the well-known institution 
 of Numa, that, while the magistrates and priests were engaged in any 
 religious ceremony, a herald should proclaim Hoc age, to fix the attention 
 of the people. 
 
 7 Matt. v. 44. Luke vi. 27. 35. 
 
CHAP. XXXII. | OF TERTULLIAN. 317 
 
 and persecutors of the Christians, than those against 
 whom we are accused of treason? Whereas we are 
 commanded plainly and expressly, in these words, 
 “ Pray for kings, and for princes, and authorities, that 
 all things may be peaceable to γοι δ" For when the 
 whole empire is shaken, by the disturbance of its other 
 members, we too, although entirely removed from all 
 civil contentions, must yet be found in some place 
 exposed to accidental injuries. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 WE have another and greater necessity, which urges 
 us to pray for the Emperors, and for the prosperity of 
 the whole Empire and condition of the Romans, since 
 we know that the violent commotions which are im- 
 pending over the whole world, and even the end of 
 all things, which threatens the most horrible desola- 
 tion, is retarded by the continuance of the Roman 
 Empire’. We would willingly avoid these evils; and 
 
 SeRome ΠῚ 1. 1 lim. 11:9. Vit. it. 1. 1, Pet. 1.138. 
 
 9. It was a prevailing opinion, in the early ages of the Church, that the 
 day of judgment was at hand. Thus Cyprian, De Mortalitate, p. 165 
 (Fell). 
 
 Quod cim semper faciendum fuerit Dei servis, nunc fieri multo magis 
 debet, corruente jam mundo, et malorum infestantium turbinibus obsesso : 
 ut qui cernimus czepisse jam gravia, et scimus imminere graviora, lucrum 
 maximum computemus, si istinc velocitis recedamus. Si in habitaculo tuo 
 parietes vetustate nutarent, tecta supertremerent, domus jam fatigata, jam 
 lassa, edificiis senectute labentibus ruinam proximam minaretur, nonne 
 omni celeritate migrares? Si, navigante te, turbida et procellosa tem- 
 pestas fluctibus violentils excitatis, prenunciaret futura naufragia, nonne 
 portum velociter peteres? Mundus ecce nutat et labitur: et ruinam sui 
 non jam senectute rerum sed fine testatur: et tu non Deo gratias agis, 
 non tibi gratularis, quod exitu maturiore subtractus, minis, et naufragiis, et 
 plagis imminentibus exuaris ? 
 
 Tertullian, in many parts of his writings, as well as in this Apology, 
 expresses his belief that the consummation of all things would immediately 
 
318 THE APOLOGY (CHAP. XXXII. 
 
 while we pray that they may be deferred, we favour 
 the duration of the Roman power. 
 
 Moreover, if we swear not by the genius of the Em- 
 perors', we swear by their safety, which is an oath of 
 greater respect than any genius. Can ye possibly be 
 ignorant, that the genii are called Demons, and thence 
 by a diminutive, Demonia? We reverence, in the 
 Emperors, the providence of God, who placed them on 
 their throne*. We know that the power which they 
 possess is in conformity to the will of God; and we 
 therefore are desirous that what is the will of God 
 should be safe; and we regard this as a powerful oath. 
 But, with respect to the demons, that is the genii of 
 which ye speak, our custom is to adjure® them, in 
 
 follow the dissolution of the Roman Empire: and in his Treatise de Re- 
 surrectione Carnis, c. 24, he thus interprets the prophecy of St. Pau 
 (2 Thess. ii. 6), respecting the man of sin: “ Et nunc quid detineat scitis, 
 ad revelandum eum in suo tempore. Jam enim arcanum iniquitatis agita- 
 tur; tantum qui nunc tenet, teneat ; donec de medio fiat.” Quis, nisi 
 Romanus status? Cujus abscessio in decem reges dispersa Antichristum 
 superducet. 
 
 Hence, although, as in Resurrect. Carnis, c. 22, he sometimes represents 
 the final judgment as the completion of the hopes of a Christian—vota 
 nostra suspirant in seculi hujus occasum, in transitum mundi quoque ad 
 diem Domini magnum, diem ire et retributionis: and in his Treatise de 
 Oratione, c. 5, he appears to oppose those who pray for a longer con- 
 tinuance of the world, as contrary to the petition in the Lord’s Prayer, 
 Thy kingdom come—he yet speaks of the connexion between the day of 
 judgment and the termination of the Roman power as a reason why 
 Christians should earnestly pray for the Emperor and the Empire. Thus, 
 ad Scapulam, c. 2, he says, Christianus nullius est hostis, nedum Impera- 
 toris: quem sciens 4 Deo suo constitui, necesse est ut ipsum diligat et 
 revereatur, et honoret, et salvum velit, cum toto Romano imperio, quous- 
 que szculum stabit: tamdiu enim stabit. 
 
 1 See note on the Martyrdom of Polycarp, c. 9. 
 
 2 Thus the military oath, under the Christian Emperors, was altered, 
 in compliance with the conscientious feelings of the Christian soldiers. 
 Vegetius, de re militari, ii.5, has preserved the form: “ Jurant per Deum, 
 et per Christum, et per Spiritum Sanctum, et per majestatem Imperatoris> 
 que secundim Deum generi humano diligenda est et colenda.” 
 
 3 Adjurare consuevimus, ut illos de hominibus exigamus ; non dejerare, 
 ut illis honorem divinitatis conferamus. 
 
CHAP. XXXIII. | OF TERTULLIAN. 919 
 
 order to cast them out of men, and not to swear by 
 them, as if we attributed to them divine honour. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXITI. 
 
 But why should I longer dwell upon the religion and 
 piety of the Christians towards the Emperor, whom we 
 must necessarily reverence as the person whom our 
 Lord hath chosen, and who, I might justly say, is to us 
 something more than Cesar, since he is appointed by 
 our God. Hence I act the more efficaciously for his 
 welfare in this respect, that I not only pray for it to 
 Him who is able to grant it, and, as a Christian, deserve 
 to obtain it, but by subjecting the majesty of Cesar to 
 God, I commend him the more to God, to whom alone 
 I make him subject. And in thus subjecting him to 
 God, I do not make him equal to God. For I will 
 never call the Emperor god, not only because I cannot 
 lie, but because I dare not insult him by pretended 
 devotion, and because he would not wish himself to be 
 called a god. If he be a man, it is the true interest of 
 every human being to give way to God: it is sufficient 
 for him to be called Emperor. Even this is a noble 
 title, which is given to him by God. He who calls 
 him a god, deprives him of the title of Emperor*. He 
 is not an Emperor unless he be a man. He is ad- 
 monished of his human nature, even when he is riding 
 in triumphal procession in his lofty chariot; for even 
 then a person placed behind him whispers in his ear, 
 “ Look back: remember that thou art a man.” And, 
 in fact, the necessity that he should be thus admonished 
 
 4 The Emperors were not deified till after their death. He, therefore, 
 who calls them by the appellation of a god addresses them as if they were 
 already dead, and either seems to wish for their death, or, at least, utters 
 words of ill omen. See the end of ο. 34. 
 
320 THE APOLOGY [ CHAP. XXXIV. 
 
 of his condition, adds to the satisfaction which he feels 
 at the splendour which glitters around him. He would 
 be really less, if he were then called a god; because it 
 would be false. He is greater when he is recalled to 
 himself, that he may not esteem himself a god. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 Avaustus, the founder of the Empire, would never 
 permit himself to be styled even Lord®. For this also 
 is a name peculiar to God. I may simply call the 
 Emperor, lord, but as an ordinary appellation, not when 
 [ am forced to call him Lord, in the place of God. 
 But I am his free subject ὃ: for I have but one Lord, 
 the omnipotent and eternal God, who is also his Lord. 
 How can he, who is properly styled the Father of his 
 country, be its lord. Besides, the name which entitles 
 him to filial respect is more grateful than that which 
 implies absolute power. Any one, in his own family, 
 would rather be called father than lord. So far is the 
 ‘Emperor from being entitled to be called God; a sup- 
 position indeed which never could be believed, except 
 by an adulation as pernicious as it is base. It is as if, 
 when ye have one Emperor, ye addressed yourselves to 
 another. By so doing, would ye not unpardonably 
 offend your own Emperor, and expose him, whom ye 
 address, to fearful danger? Be rather religious towards 
 God, if ye would have him favourable to the Emperor. 
 Cease to regard any other as God, and thus to call him 
 a god, who himself hath need of God. And if your 
 
 ® Suetonius, Aug. 53. 
 
 6 Liber sum illi. I owe allegiance to the Emperor ; but in matters of 
 religion I am free to pay my worship to him who is the supreme and only 
 God. 
 
CHAP. XXXV. | OF TERTULLIAN. 321 
 
 adulation be of such a nature that it blushes not to 
 assert such a falsehood, in addressing a man as God, at 
 least let it be afraid of the ill omen which it implies. 
 It is nothing less than a malediction to address Caesar 
 as a god, before his apotheosis. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 For this reason, then, the Christians are treated as 
 public enemies, because they refuse to ascribe vain, and 
 lying, and unauthorized honours to the Emperors; 
 because, in the spirit of true religion, their services are 
 seated in the heart, rather than displayed in wanton 
 excess. It is, forsooth, a great instance of zealous 
 attachment, to bring out publicly fire and couches, to 
 feast throughout all the streets, to turn the whole city 
 into one tavern, to spill wine upon the ground, and 
 run about in troops to commit every act of violence, 
 and indecency, and lust. Is the public joy thus 
 expressed by the public disgrace? Are acts proper to 
 be performed on the festal day of the Prince’, which 
 are improper on all other days*? Shall they who, out 
 of respect to Cesar, usually observe discipline, on his 
 account cast it off? Shall piety be an excuse for 
 licentiousness ; religion an occasion of luxury ? 
 
 O how justly are we to be condemned! For why 
 do we make our vows, and keep our festivities for 
 ‘Cesar, with chastity, and sobriety, and moderation ? 
 Why, on the day of public rejoicing, do we not cover 
 
 7 Cras nato Cesare festus 
 Dat veniam somnumque dies ; impune licebit 
 Zstivam sermone benigno tendere noctem. 
 Hor. Epist. i. 5. 9. 
 8 Confer Herod. i. 183 ; Grot. on Matt. xiv. 6. 
 
 AY 
 
322 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. ΧΧΧΥ. 
 
 our doors with laurel, and violate the light of day by 
 an artificial display of lamps? When a public solemnity 
 requires it, to decorate your house as if it were some 
 new brothel, is a mark of respectability. With respect, 
 however, to the religion which ye say is due to some 
 second degree of divine authority,—and for which ye 
 accuse us Christians of a second sacrilege, because we 
 refuse to celebrate the festivals of the Emperors, in a 
 manner not permitted by modesty, or bashfulness, or 
 sobriety, and introduced rather as an occasion of un- 
 lawful enjoyment, than in compliance with the per- 
 suasion of right reason,—I am desirous to show what 
 is your own fidelity and truth, lest, haply, those who 
 will not permit us to be regarded as Romans, but as 
 enemies of the Roman sovereigns, should in this 
 instance also be found worse than the Christians them- 
 selves. I appeal to the citizens of Rome, to the popu- 
 lace, who dwell upon the seven hills, whether their 
 language spares any one of the Caesars? The low 
 habitations on the border of the Tiber, and the shows 
 of wild beasts, which are the schools where the 
 multitude learn their manners, bear sufficient testimony 
 to this. In fact, had nature placed some transparent 
 substance in every man’s breast, on whose heart would 
 there not be found imprinted the scene of another and 
 again another Cxsar, presiding at the distribution of 
 the largess on his accession ; and that too in the very 
 hour when they are shouting, 
 
 “Jove, take our years to lengthen Cwsar’s life.” 
 
 A Christian would be as far from pronouncing such a 
 prayer, as he would be from wishing for a new 
 Kmperor. 
 
 But these, ye will say, are the mere vulgar. But 
 if they are the vulgar, they are yet Romans; and 
 there are no greater persecutors of the Christians than 
 
CHAP. XXXvV. | OF TERTULLIAN. 323 
 
 the vulgar. Of course, however, all the other orders 
 of the state are scrupulously faithful, in proportion to 
 their rank: no treason was ever breathed from the 
 Senate itself, from the Equestrian order, from the 
 military, or from the very court. Whence then came 
 a Cassius *, a Niger, an Albinus? Whence arose those 
 who attacked the Emperor (Commodus) between the 
 two groves of laurel? and those who exercised them- 
 selves in wrestling to acquire strength to strangle him ? 
 Whence came those who rushed in arms into the 
 palace, [to murder Pertinax,] in a more audacious 
 manner than Sigerius and Parthenius employed [in 
 the murder of Domitian?|] The actors in all these 
 scenes were Romans, I fancy, that is, were not Chris- 
 tians. Hence all of them, up to the very breaking 
 out of their treason, constantly sacrificed for the 
 welfare of the Emperor, and sware by his genius. In 
 all of them there was a great difference between their 
 outward deportment and their inward sentiments: and 
 doubtless they gave the Christians the name of public 
 enemies. Nay, look at those who are daily discovered 
 as the accomplices and abettors of similar wicked 
 attempts, a gleaning of the full vintage of parricide: 
 how careful were they to fill their door-ways with the 
 freshest and most umbrageous laurels? how did they 
 cover the entrance of their houses with the loftiest 
 and brightest lamps? how did they divide the forum 
 among themselves by a display of the most highly 
 decorated and splendid couches? All this they did, 
 not as partaking in the celebration of the public 
 festivity, but that they might pay their vows for the 
 success of their own schemes, in a solemnity appointed 
 for a different purpose, and inaugurate an emblem and 
 
 9 Compare Tertullian Ad Nationes, i. c. 17. Ad Martyr. c. 6. Ad 
 Scapulam, c. 2. 
 y 2 
 
324 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XXXVI. 
 
 image of their own hopes, changing in their hearts the 
 name of the Emperor. 
 
 Those also perform their duty in the same manner, 
 who consult astrologers and soothsayers, and augurs, 
 and magicians, respecting the person of the Emperor; 
 arts to which Christians never have recourse, even in 
 their own private affairs, inasmuch as they were de- 
 livered by fallen angels, and are forbidden by God. 
 For who can need to make any inquiry about the 
 welfare of the Emperor, unless he designs or wishes 
 something contrary to it, or encourages the expectation 
 of some benefit after his death? For a consultation 
 of this nature is made with a very different spirit 
 respecting a man’s friends and his sovereign. The 
 solicitude of natural affection is very different from 
 that of slavery. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 Ir, then, they are proved to be enemies, who yet were 
 called Romans, why are we refused the name of 
 Romans, because we are presumed to be enemies? Is 
 it impossible that we should be Romans, and yet not 
 enemies, because some are found to be enemies, who 
 were called Romans? Piety, and religion, and fidelity 
 to the Emperors consist not in those observances, 
 which rather serve as a cloak for the purposes of 
 hostility, but in conduct which obliges us to display 
 our respect to the Emperor as truly as our kindly dis- 
 position towards all men. For the exercise of good 
 will is not required of us with respect to the Em- 
 perors alone. We are bound to do good without 
 respect of persons; for we do it for our own sakes, 
 and look for a return of commendation and reward 
 
CHAP. XXXVII.] OF TERTULLIAN. 320 
 
 not from men but from God, who requires and will 
 repay disinterested charity. We trust our Emperors 
 and our neighbours alike. For we are alike forbidden 
 to wish, or to do, or to say, or to think any evil of any 
 one. What we are forbidden to do towards the 
 Emperor, we are not permitted to do towards any one 
 else. What we may do to no one else, we are perhaps 
 still more bound not to do to him, whom God hath 
 raised to such an elevation, 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 Ir, then, we are commanded to love our enemies, as I 
 have before shown, whom have we to hate? If, when 
 injured, we are forbidden to return evil for evil, lest 
 we should be like our adversaries, whom can we hurt ? 
 And on this point do ye yourselves be judges. For 
 how frequently do ye use violence against the Chris- 
 tians, sometimes at the instigation of private malice, 
 and sometimes according to the forms of law! How 
 often also—not to mention yourselves—do the common 
 people in their rage attack us of their own accord with 
 stones and flames! In the furious orgies of the Bac- 
 chanalians, they spare not even the dead bodies of the 
 Christians: they draw them forth, from the resting- 
 place of the grave, from the asylum of death; they 
 cut in pieces, and drag asunder, corpses which cannot 
 be recognized, and are no longer entire. But among 
 all those, against whom such cruelties are exercised, 
 and who are so provoked, even to death, what instance 
 did ye ever discover, in which the injury was re- 
 taliated? Although even one night, with the aid of a 
 torch or two, would afford abundant means of revenge, 
 
326 THE APOLOGY (CHAP. XXXVII. 
 
 if we were permitted to return evil for evil. But God 
 forbid that our religion should require the fires of the 
 incendiary to prove its divine origin, or should grieve 
 at sufferings by which its truth is tried. For if we 
 wished to act, not as secret avengers, but as open 
 enemies, think ye that we should lack numbers and 
 forces? As well might ye say that any one nation, 
 such as the Mauri, the Marcomanni, the Parthians 
 themselves, or any other tribe confined to its own terri- 
 tory, was more numerous than the rest of the world 
 united. We are but of yesterday, and have already 
 filled all your empire, your towns, islands, forts, 
 boroughs, councils, your very camp, every tribe and 
 quarter of the city, the palace, the senate, the forum’. 
 
 1 This is a remarkable testimony to the rapid propagation of the Chris- 
 tian religion. Tertullian makes assertions of the same nature in his 
 Apology, ec. 1. (p. 283.) In his Treatise ad Scapulam, ec. 2, he speaks of 
 the Christians as forming almost the majority in every place —“ tanta 
 hominum multitudo, pars pené major civitatis cujusque.” And at the con- 
 clusion of the same Treatise, c. 5, he declares, that if the cruel laws 
 against the Christians were rigidly enforeed, Carthage would be deci- 
 mated. ‘“ Hoc si placuerit et hic fieri, quid facies de tantis millibus homi- 
 num, tot viris ac feminis, omnis sexus, omnis etatis, omnis dignitatis 
 offerentibus se tibi? Quantis ignibus, quantis gladiis opus erit? Quid 
 ipsa Carthago passura est decimanda a te, cim propinquos cum contuber- 
 nales suos illic unusquisque cognoverit ?—Parce ergo tibi, si non nobis. 
 Parce Carthagini, si non tibi.” 
 
 Compare also Ad Nationes, i. c. 8. In another place (Adv. Jud.c. 7), 
 he speaks of the diffusion of Christianity throughout the world, and 
 enumerates Spain, Gaul, and Britain, among many other places to which 
 the Gospel had already extended. 
 
 £ Getulorum varietates, et Maurorum multi fines ; Hispaniarum 
 omnes termini, et Galliarum divers nationes, et Britannorum inaccessa 
 Romanis loca, Christo vero subdita: et Sarmatarum, et Dacorum, et 
 Germanorum, et Scytharum, et abditarum multarum gentium ; et provin- 
 ciarum et insularum multarum nobis ignotarum, et que enumerare minus 
 possumus ? In quibus omnibus locis Christi nomen, qui jam venit, regnat.” 
 De Corona, c. 12, he uses the incidental expression, “ Et apud barbaros 
 etiam Christus.” 
 
 We must make considerable allowance for the strong manner in which 
 Tertullian is in the habit of making his statements. But after all reason- 
 
CHAP. XXXVII. ] OF TERTULLIAN. 327 
 
 We leave you nothing but your temples. We can cal- 
 culate the number of your armies: the Christians of 
 one province would exceed it. Even with inferior 
 numbers, for what war should we not be ready, and 
 fitted, when we possess such passive courage as to sub- 
 mit patiently to death, if our principles did not in- 
 struct us rather to be slain than to slay? We might, 
 indeed, effectually oppose you even without arms, and 
 without active resistance or revolt, by merely sepa- 
 rating ourselves from you. For if such a multitude 
 of men, as we are, should suddenly remove to some 
 remote extremity of the world, the loss of so many 
 citizens, of whatever kind they were, would over- 
 whelm your whole empire with shame, and punish it 
 simply by desertion. Without all doubt ye would be 
 terrified at the solitude in which ye found yourselves 
 placed, at the silence of all things around you, and, as 
 it were, at the awful stillness of a dead world; and 
 would look about in vain for subjects to govern. Ye 
 would have more enemies than citizens left. For 
 even now ye have fewer enemies than ye otherwise 
 would have, on account of the multitude of Christians, 
 since almost all the citizens of almost all cities are 
 Christians. 
 
 But, notwithstanding this, ye prefer calling us ene- 
 mies of the human race. Whereas who else would 
 rescue you from enemies, which are secretly in all 
 directions destroying your souls, and undermining your 
 health? I speak of the incursions of demons, which 
 we repel from you without fee or reward °. 
 
 This alone would afford us an ample revenge, that 
 
 able deduction on this account, we cannot but regard his testimony as 
 very valuable in showing that the Christians formed a most numerous 
 body in many places, and that the religion of the Gospel was then very 
 widely diffused. 
 
 > Compare ce. 23, 47. 
 
328 THE APOLOGY (CHAP. XXXVIIL. 
 
 we should leave you in the undisturbed pcssession of 
 unclean spirits. Yet ye repay us not for this in- 
 valuable protection, but treat a race of men, who are 
 not only harmless, but necessary to your welfare, as 
 enemies; and enemies indeed we are, not of the 
 human race, but rather of all kinds of error. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 Our religion, therefore, ought to be still more leniently 
 regarded, among those sects which are tolerated ; since 
 we commit none of those enormities, which are ap- 
 prehended from such factions as are disallowed. For, 
 doubtless, the legitimate object of government, in pro- 
 hibiting factions, is to guard the public peace, and 
 prevent the state from being divided into various par- 
 ties; since this would soon create disturbance in your 
 assemblies, in your councils, your courts, your meet- 
 ings, and even in your public spectacles, by the conflict 
 of those who favour different parties, especially at a 
 time when men are found, who from vile and mer- 
 cenary motives will lend themselves to the perpetration 
 of any violence. But we, who are dead to all desires 
 of glory and dignity, have no occasion to join in any as- 
 semblies; and no life is more alien from our habits than 
 public life. We look upon ourselves as citizens of one 
 state only, which is the whole world. In like manner 
 we renounce your public spectacles, since we know 
 they originated in superstition; and have no dealings 
 with what is there transacted. What we speak, and 
 see, and hear, hath nothing in common with the mad- 
 ness of the circus, the indecency of the theatre, the 
 cruelty of the arena, or the vanity of your athletic 
 exercises. Ye permitted the Epicureans to boast that 
 
CHAP. XXXIX. | OF TERTULLIAN. 329 
 
 they had discovered the true secret of pleasure. Why 
 are ye offended at us if we have recourse to other 
 pleasures of our own? If we will be ignorant of the 
 art of enjoyment, the loss is ours; at all events, not 
 yours. But we renounce what pleases you, and our 
 occupations delight you not. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 T SHALL now set forth the facts relating to the Chris- 
 tian faith; that, having refuted the calumnies advanced 
 against it, I may display its goodness, by a representa- 
 tion of the truth. We are a body united in the 
 profession of religion, in the same rights of worship, 
 and in the bond of a common hope. We meet in one 
 place, and form an assembly, that we may, as it were, 
 come before God in one united body, and so address 
 him/in prayer. This is a violence, which is well pleas- 
 ing to God. We pray also for the Emperors, and for 
 those in authority under them, for the powers of this 
 world, for the maintenance of peace, and for the delay 
 of final judgment. 
 
 We meet, also, for reading the holy Scriptures, as 
 the circumstances of the times require us to receive 
 instruction for the future, or remembrance of the past. 
 By the study of those holy words we most surely 
 nourish our faith, elevate our hope, confirm our as- 
 surance, and strengthen our attachment to its precepts, 
 even under persecution *. In the same place we de- 
 liver exhortations, reproofs, and the religious censuré 
 of excommunication.’ For our judgments are given 
 
 3 Disciplinam preceptorum nihilominus in compulsationibus densamus. 
 Many editions have inculcationibus. 
 
330 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XXXIX. 
 
 with great solemnity, as among men who are conscious 
 that they are in the sight of God; and it is the surest 
 anticipation of future judgment, if any one who offends 
 is therefore banished from all communion of prayer, 
 and from our public assemblies, and from all holy 
 intercourse. . 
 
 There preside over us certain approved elders *, who 
 have obtained that honour not by purchase, but by 
 public testimony: for no office of God is to be bought 
 with money. If there is a public chest, the money 
 collected is no dishonourable sum, as if it belonged to 
 a purchased religion. Every one makes a small con- 
 tribution, on a certain day of the month, or when he 
 chooses, provided only he is willing and able: for no 
 one is compelled ; all is voluntary. The amount is, as 
 it were, a common fund of piety. Since it is expended 
 not in feasting, or drinking, or indecent excess, but in 
 feeding and burying the poor, and in supporting chil- 
 dren of either sex, who have neither parents nor means 
 of subsistence, and old men now confined to their 
 houses, and incapable of work ; in relieving those also 
 who have been shipwrecked: and if there are ary in 
 the mines, or in the islands, or in prison, provided they 
 
 * Tertullian here speaks of the order of Bishops and Presbyters under 
 the appellation of probati quique seniores. In his Treatise de Pra- 
 scriptione Hereticorum, c. 3, he mentions the orders of Bishop and 
 Deacon. Quid ergo si Episcopus, si diaconus——lJapsus ἃ regula fuerit. 
 In other places, he enumerates the three orders of Bishops, Priests, and 
 Deacons ; and makes a distinction between the Clergy and Laity. 
 
 Dandi quidem habet jus summus sacerdos, qui est Episcopus ; dehinc 
 Presbyteri et Diaconi: non tamen sine Episcopi auctoritate, propter 
 Ecclesiz honorem ; quo salvo, salva pax est. De Baptismo, c. 17. Sed 
 quum ipsi auctores, id est, ipsi Diaconi, Presbyteri, et Episcopi fugiunt, 
 quomodo laicus intelligere poterit, qua ratione dictum, Fugite de civitate 
 in civitatem ? De Fuga in Persecut. ο. 11. 
 
 In his Treatise de Prescriptione Hereticorum, c. 41, he accuses the 
 Heretics of confounding these distinctions : Itaque alius hodie Episcopus, 
 eras alius: hodie Diaconus, qui eras Lector: hodie Presbyter, qui cras 
 Laicus : nam et laicis sacerdotalia munera injungunt. 
 
CHAP. XXXIX. | OF TERTULLIAN. 331 
 
 suffer for the cause of God’s religion, they are the 
 almsmen of the bounty, to which their confession 
 entitles them. 
 
 But even the working of a charity like this is by 
 some made a cause of censure against us. “See,” 
 say they, “how these Christians love one another!” 
 For they themselves hate one another: and, “ How 
 ready each one is to die for the other!” For they 
 themselves are much more ready to put one another 
 to death. If, again, we are blamed for styling one 
 another brethren, this can, I imagine, be made matter 
 of reproach for this reason only, that among themselves 
 all names of kindred are affected only for feigned pur- 
 poses. We acknowledge ourselves to be even your 
 brethren, having one nature as our common mother, 
 although ye have forfeited your title to be considered 
 human beings, because ye are bad brethren. With 
 how much more reason, then, are we both called and 
 esteemed brethren, who have all recognized one Father, 
 even God, who have all drunk of one spirit of holi- 
 ness, who have all trembled with astonishment, when 
 we have been born, as it were, from the same womb of 
 ignorance, into the same light of truth! 
 
 But, it may be, we are the less regarded as real 
 brethren, because no tragedy derives materials for 
 declamation from our brotherhood, or because, as bre- 
 thren, we unite in the use of our common property, 
 which, with you, is the greatest cause of discord among 
 brethren. Hence we, who are of one mind and one 
 soul, hesitate not to communicate what we possess one 
 with another. All things which we have are in com- 
 mon, except our wives. Our community of property 
 ceases, in that very point, in which alone other men 
 have any thing in common; for they not only violate 
 the marriage bed of others, but most patiently allow 
 their friends access to their own; following, I imagine, 
 
332 THE APOLOGY [ CHAP. XXXIX. 
 
 the lessons of those wisest of men, the Grecian So- 
 crates, and the Roman Cato °, who lent to their friends 
 the wives whom they had married, that they might 
 bear children to others. How far this was against 
 the consent of their wives, I know not: for why should 
 they be careful of their chastity, of which their hus- 
 bands so easily disposed? Oh! wisdom of Athens! 
 oh! rare example of Roman gravity! The Philosopher 
 and the Censor each disposes of his wife’s virtue. 
 What wonder is it, then, if, maintaining such good 
 will towards each other, we should feast together. 
 For, I understand, our moderate entertainments are 
 not only accused as scenes of infamy, but censured as 
 extravagantly expensive. Whereas, in truth, Diogenes 
 might have alluded to us, when he said, “The people 
 of Megara feast as if they were to die to-morrow, and 
 build as if they were to live for ever.” But every one 
 sees a mote in another’s eye, sooner than a beam in his 
 own. The whole air is soured with the gross exhala- 
 tions of all your tribes, and wards, and quarters of 
 your city, at their feasts. The Salii cannot sup, with- 
 out borrowing money to pay for the banquet. Ac- 
 countants are necessary expressly to calculate the 
 expense of the tithes and offerings made to Hercules. 
 An especial levy of cooks is made for the Apaturia, 
 or mysteries of Bacchus®. At the smoke of the 
 supper of Serapis, firemen are called out. Yet the 
 only complaint which is made, is at the simple meal 
 of the Christians. Our supper sufficiently shows its 
 meaning by its very name. It is called by a term 
 which in Greek signifies love. Whatever may be its 
 5 Plutarch, in his life of Cato, the philosopher, great-grandson of Cato 
 the Censor, says that he gave his wife Marcia to Quintus Hortensius, 
 
 and, at his death, took her backagain. Tertullian here confounds the two 
 
 Catos, as, at the end of c. 11, he ascribes the virtues of the two Scipios 
 to one person. 
 6 The Eleusinian mysteries. 
 
CHAP XX XEX. | OF TERTULLIAN. 999 
 
 cost, an expense incurred in the cause of religion is in 
 fact a gain, since by this refreshment we assist all who 
 are in need; not in the manner in which parasites with 
 you eagerly expose themselves to every kind of in- 
 dignity and ill usage, which the licentiousness of the 
 banquet may inspire, to gratify their appetite; but 
 with the full conviction that God more especially 
 regards the poor. 
 
 If the cause of our feast be honourable, consider the 
 order of the rest of our regulations, how appropriate 
 it is to the duties of religion. It admits nothing in- 
 decorous, nothing indecent. We sit not down to eat, 
 until prayer to God be made, as it were, the first 
 morsel’, We eat as much as will satisfy hunger, and 
 drink as much as is useful for the temperate. We 
 commit no excess, for we remember that even during 
 the night we are to make our prayers to God. Our 
 conversation is that of men who are conscious that the 
 Lord hears them. After water is brought for the 
 hands, and lights, we are invited to sing to God, ac- 
 cording as each one can propose a subject from the 
 
 7 See 1 Tim. iv. 5. That this custom of making prayer before meals 
 was preserved in later ages of the Church, is plain from many occasional 
 references to it. Thus Chrysostom, in his forty-ninth Homily on Matt. 
 xiv., (tom. ii. p. 814. 82, Saville,) when speaking of our Lord blessing 
 the bread, before he gave it to the multitude, observes that this was in- 
 tended to teach us not to sit down to table, till we had first given thanks 
 to him who provides us with food. Ὁμοῦ μὲν ταῦτα κατασκευάζων, ὁμοῦ 
 δὲ ἅπερ εἶπον παιδεύων ἡμᾶς μὴ πρότερον ἅπτεσθαι τραπέζης, ἕως ὧν εὐχα- 
 ριστήσωμεν τῷ τὴν τροφὴν ἡμῖν ταύτην παρέχοντι. 
 
 The character which Tertullian here gives of the manners of the pri- 
 mitive Christians in society, agrees entirely with the delightful repre- 
 sentation made by Cyprian (Ad Donatum, ad fin. p. 10, Fell). Et 
 quoniam feriata nunc quies, ac tempus est otiosum ; quicquid inclinato 
 jam sole in vesperam diei superest, ducamus hane diem leti: nec sit vel 
 hora convivii gratiz czlestis immunis. Sonet psalmos convivium sobrium ; 
 et ut tibi tenax memoria est, vox canora; aggredere hoc munus ex more. 
 Magis carissimos pasces, si sit nobis spiritalis auditio ; prolectet aures 
 religiosa mulcedo. 
 
334 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XL. 
 
 Holy Scriptures, or of his own composing. This is the 
 proof in what manner we have drunk. 
 
 Prayer in like manner concludes the feast. Thence 
 we depart, not to join a crowd of disturbers of the 
 peace, nor to follow a troop of brawlers; nor to break 
 out in any excess of wanton riot; but to maintain 
 the same staid and modest demeanour, as if we were 
 departing, not from a supper, but from a lecture. 
 
 This society of the Christians is truly unlawful, 
 if it be like those which are unlawful: and ought in- 
 deed to be condemned, if it be not contrary to those 
 which are condemned ; if any one brings an accusation 
 against it, such as is alleged against other factions. 
 Whom have we ever injured in our assemblies? We 
 are the same when we are collected, as when dispersed ; 
 the same united, as we are separated; injuring no one, 
 grieving no one. When men of probity, and good- 
 ness, and piety, and chastity, are thus assembled, 
 the meeting is not to be called a faction, but a 
 court. 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 On the contrary, the name of a faction is appropriately 
 applied to those who unite in hatred of the just and 
 good, who join in the outery against innocent blood, 
 however they may cover their malice with the vain 
 pretext, that the Christians are the cause of every 
 public calamity and every inconvenience which the 
 people suffer. If the Tiber rises against the walls of the 
 city, or the Nile does not overflow its banks, if there is 
 drought, or earthquake, or famine, or pestilence, the 
 ery at once is, “Take the Christians to the lion !”— 
 What! so many to one beast? 
 
 Tell me, pray, before the reign of Tiberius, that is, 
 
CHAP. Xt. | OF TERTULLIAN. 335 
 
 before the birth of Christ, how many misfortunes 
 afflicted the empire and the city of Rome? We read 
 of the islands Hiera, Anaphe, Delos, Rhodes, and Cos 
 having been desolated, with the loss of many thousand 
 men. Plato also mentions a tract of land, greater 
 than Asia and Africa, to have been swallowed up 
 by the sea. An earthquake engulphed part of the 
 Corinthian sea; and the force of the waves cut off 
 Lucania from Italy, and caused its name to be changed 
 to Sicily. Now all these changes doubtless occurred 
 not without injury to the inhabitants. But where were 
 then,—I say not the Christians who despise your gods, 
 but where were your gods themselves,—when the 
 deluge destroyed the whole world; or, as Plato sup- 
 posed, the plains only? For the very cities, in which 
 your deities were born and died, and those which they 
 founded, unite in proving that they were subsequent to 
 the destruction caused by thedeluge. For had not the 
 cities been posterior to that period, they never would 
 have remained to this day. 
 
 The swarm of the Jewish nation had not yet settled 
 in Palestine, nor had the origin of the Christian religion 
 been there laid, when a shower of fire burnt up the 
 neighbouring region of Sodom and Gomorrha. The 
 whole earth there still retains the smell of fire, and the 
 fruit of any tree which endeavours to bear, is fair to the 
 eye, but dissolves to ashes at the touch. 
 
 Again, neither Tuscany nor Campania complained of 
 the Christians, when fire from heaven overwhelmed 
 the city Volsinii, and flames from their own mountain 
 consumed Pompeii. There were, at Rome, no wor- 
 shippers of the true God, when Hannibal, at Canne, 
 measured in a bushel the rings of the Romans who 
 were slain in battle. ΑἸ] your gods were universally 
 adored, when the Gauls besieged the very Capitol. It 
 is remarkable, too, that when any misfortune befel the 
 
336 THE APOLOGY [cHAP. XL. 
 
 cities, the temples suffered as well as the walls; so that 
 even from this fact I might prove, that the calamities 
 were not sent by your gods, since they happened to 
 themselves. 
 
 The human.race hath always deserved punishment 
 from God: in the first place, because they served him 
 not; but, when they understood him in part, they not 
 only sought him not out as an object of reverence and 
 fear, but speedily made for themselves other gods: 
 and then, because seeking him not as the rewarder of 
 innocence and the judge and avenger of guilt, they 
 have given themselves up to all kinds of vices and 
 crimes. If, on the other hand, they had sought him, 
 they would assuredly have found him; and, when found, 
 they would have served him, and, by serving him would 
 have been the objects of his mercy rather than of his 
 anger. But now it is just that they should be exposed 
 to the anger of God, in the same manner as they were 
 before the name of Christian was ever heard. Since 
 they experienced benefits from him, long before their 
 own gods were feigned to exist, why should they not 
 understand that their misfortunes have come from him, 
 whose benefits they had not noticed? They are justly 
 subject to condemnation, in that they are ungrateful. 
 
 If, however, we compare former calamities with the 
 present, we shall find that the world is now less severely 
 visited, since God gave Christians to inhabit it. For 
 from that period, their innocence hath tempered the 
 depravity of the age; and they have begun to be 
 intercessors with God. 
 
 Finally, when ye suffer so from drought, that your 
 summer is as barren as your winter, and ye fear even 
 for the natural return of the seasons, feeding daily to 
 the full, and running from one excess of gluttony to 
 another, after having indulged in your baths and in 
 taverns and brothels, ye sacrifice offerings to Jupiter to 
 
CHAP. XLI. | OF TERTULLIAN. 337 
 
 obtain rain, command the people to walk barefoot in 
 processions, seek for heaven in the Capitol, and look 
 for a supply of rain to the ceilings of your temples, for- 
 getful alike of God and of heaven. Meanwhile we, 
 shrunk with fasting, and worn out with abstinence of 
 every kind, cut off from all enjoyment of life, rolling in 
 sackcloth and ashes, weary heaven with the importunity 
 of our prayers, and reach the ear of God: and when we 
 have thus extorted mercy, ye give honour to Jupiter, 
 and neglect God. 
 
 CHAPTER ΧΙ: 
 
 Ye, therefore, are the causes of calamity to mankind: 
 ye bring misfortune and evil upon the state, by despising 
 the true God and adoring images. For it is plainly 
 more probable that he who is neglected should be 
 angry, rather than they who are worshipped. Or 
 surely they are of all others the most unjust, if, for the 
 sake of the Christians, they injure even their own wor- 
 shippers, whom they ought to keep separate from the 
 offences of the Christians. But, ye will say, this is an 
 argument which may be retorted against the God whom 
 ye Christians worship, since he too permits his followers 
 to be injured on account of the profane. First, how- 
 ever, admit the dispositions of his Providence to be 
 what they really are, and ye will no longer turn this 
 argument against us. For he, who hath decreed an 
 eternal judgment once for all, after the end of this 
 world, hastens not that separation, which is the peculiar 
 act of judgment, until the last day. Meanwhile, he is 
 impartial towards the whole human race, both in his 
 mercy and in his chastisement. His will is, that good 
 and evil should happen alike to the profane and to the 
 believer; that we might all alike experience both the 
 Ζ 
 
998 THE APOLOGY ΓΟΊΓΑΡ. ΧΊΠΙ. 
 
 goodness and the severity of God. Since we have been 
 so taught of him, we love his goodness, and fear his 
 severity, whereas ye, on the contrary, despise both. 
 Hence all the troubles of this world, if they happen to 
 fall upon us, are for ouradmonition ; if upon you, they 
 are regarded as a punishment sent from God. All 
 these things, however, injure us not: in the first place, 
 because we have no further concern with this world 
 than how we may most quickly depart from it; and 
 also, because if we suffer any affliction, we ascribe it to 
 your sins. And even if any of these affect us also, as 
 being connected with you, we rather rejoice, inasmuch 
 as we perceive in them the fulfilment of the divine 
 predictions, which confirm the confidence and faith of 
 our hope. But if all these evils come upon you, for 
 our sake, from the gods whom ye worship, why do ye 
 persevere in serving such ungrateful and unjust gods, 
 who ought rather to assist and relieve you, to the grief 
 and discomfort of the Christians? 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 But we are called upon to answer another charge: we 
 are said to be useless for the ordinary business of life. 
 How can such an accusation be maintained against 
 men who live among yourselves, using the same food 
 and raiment and habits of living, and the same neces- 
 saries of life? We are not like the Brachmans, or the 
 Gymnosophists of the Indians, dwellers in the woods, 
 and exiles from ordinary life. We remember the 
 gratitude which we owe to God our Lord and Creator. 
 We reject no fruit of his works; albeit we are tem- 
 perate, so as to use them not to excess, nor in an 
 improper manner. Hence, while we live in this world, 
 we frequent your market, your shambles, your baths, 
 
CHAP. XLII. ] OF TERTULLIAN. 339 
 
 your taverns, your shops, your inns, your fairs, and all 
 other places of resort. We unite with you in naviga- 
 tion, and in war, and in husbandry, and in trade. We 
 give you all the benefit of our arts and of our labour. 
 How then we can be accused of being useless to your 
 ordinary business, when we live with you and by you, 
 I know not. If I frequent not your religious ceremo- 
 nies, yet, on the day appointed for them, I am still a 
 human being, as on other days. At the period of your 
 Saturnalia, I bathe not, like yourselves, at night, lest 
 I should lose the night and the day too: but I do yet 
 bathe at my usual hour, which is the most salubrious, 
 and by those means preserve the warmth of my body, 
 and the wholesome condition of my blood. It will be 
 time enough for me to be stiff and pale after bathing, 
 when I am dead. At the feasts in honour of your 
 gods, I sit not down in public to the banquet, as those 
 unhappy men do, who take their last meal, before they 
 are thrown to the wild beasts; but. wherever I sup, I 
 eat of the same provisions as yourself. I purchase no 
 crown for my head*; how can ye be affected with the 
 
 8 Tertullian, in his Treatise de Corona Militis, argues upon the impro- 
 priety of a Christian using a custom, which to him appeared to imply a 
 culpable compliance with the forms of idolatry. In ec. 5, he dwells at some 
 length upon the subject here alluded to. Hoc sint tibi flores, et inserti, et 
 innexi, et in filo, et in scirpo, quod liberi, quod soluti: spectaculi scilicet 
 et spiraculi res. Coronam si forte fascem existimas florum per seriem 
 comprehensorum, ut plures simul portes, ut omnibus pariter utaris, jam 
 vero et in sinum conde, si tanta munditia est ; in lectulum sparge, si tanta 
 mollitia est; et in poculum crede, si tanta innocentia est. Tot modis 
 fruere, quot et sentis. Caterum in capite quis sapor floris? qui corone 
 sensus ? nisi vinculi tantum: quo neque color cernitur, neque odor ducitur, 
 nec teneritas commendatur. 
 
 Minucius Felix, in his Octavius, ec. 37 (p. 114, Rigalt), imitates and 
 explains this passage of Tertullian. 
 
 Quis autem ille, qui dubitat vernis indulgere nos floribus, clim capiamus 
 et rosam veris, et lilium, et quidquid aliud in floribus blandi coloris et 
 odoris est? His enim et sparsis utimur mollibus ac solutis, et sertis colla 
 complectimur. Sané quod caput non coronamus, ignoscite. Auram boni 
 floris naribus ducere, non occipitio capillisve solemus haurire. 
 
 Zoe 
 
340 THE APOLOGY (CHAP. XLII. 
 
 manner in which I choose to dispose of the flowers, 
 which I yet purchase? I conceive them to be more 
 grateful, when they are permitted to fall freely, and 
 loosely, and without constraint. But even if we form 
 them into a crown, we place them so as to be more 
 agreeable to the sense of smelling. Let those give as 
 rational an account of their custom, who act as if their 
 hair were the organ of that sense. We assemble not, 
 it is true, at your public spectacles: but if I require 
 any of the conveniences, which are so frequently sold 
 at those occasions of public resort, I prefer procuring 
 them in their proper places. We purchase not frank- 
 incense. If the people of Arabia complain, let them 
 remember that their spices are consumed in greater 
 profusion, and at a higher cost, in preparing the bodies 
 of Christians for burial, than in burning incense to 
 your gods. “ But,” ye say, “ the revenues of our tem- 
 ples continually decrease. How few now pay their 
 appointed tribute to the gods?” This charge may be 
 true: for we cannot afford to relieve your mendicant 
 gods, while we succour men who are in want. Be- 
 sides, we give to those only who ask. Let Jupiter, 
 then, hold out his hand, and he shall receive; for our 
 charity dispenses more in every street, than your reli- 
 gion in each temple. But tribute of every other kind 
 is deeply indebted to the Christians, who pay that 
 which is due, with the fidelity with which we abstain 
 from all fraud. Whereas, if an account were kept of 
 the injury which the commonwealth suffers by the 
 fraud and falsehood which ye exercise, it would plainly 
 appear, that the accurate statement, which we make, of 
 the tribute which we owe, was much more than a com- 
 pensation for any complaint which ye make upon any 
 other point. 
 
CHAP. XLIV. ] OF TERTULLIAN, 341 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 I wit, however, frankly confess, that there may be 
 some who have reason to complain of the little support 
 which they receive from the Christians. Among the 
 first of these will be the vile panders and slaves of 
 every kind of lust; in the next place, murderers, 
 poisoners, magicians, fortune-tellers, soothsayers, and 
 astrologers. ΤῸ be fruitless to such as these, is itself 
 a great gain. Yet, whatever loss ye may incur from 
 our religion, it may assuredly be counterbalanced by 
 some advantage. How much are ye indebted to men 
 —I say not now, who cast out devils from among you; 
 I say not now, who offer prayers even for you to the 
 true God, because perhaps ye believe nothing of this— 
 but to men from whom ye have nothing to fear ? 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 MEANWHILE no one pays attention to a loss, which the 
 state is suffering, as great as it is real: no one con- 
 siders the public injury inflicted, when so many just 
 men among us are consumed, when so many innocent 
 suffer. For we confidently appeal to your own records, 
 kept by those of you who preside in courts of justice, 
 and make a distinct enumeration of the crimes of those 
 who are brought before you. Out of so great a num- 
 ber of criminals as are there recorded, each with his 
 own accusation, what murderer among them, what 
 thief, what man guilty of sacrilege or of corrupting 
 youth, what pilferer®, is described also as a Christian ? 
 
 9 Quis lavantium prado: what robber of clothes from baths. This was 
 a very common crime, and punished capitally, in consequence of the facility 
 with which it could be committed. 
 
342 ‘THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XLV. 
 
 or when any Christians are brought before you to 
 answer to the charge of being such, who among them 
 is found to be like so many of your own criminals? 
 They are men of your own who fill your prisons; the 
 sighs which rise from the mines are breathed by men 
 of your religion; the wild beasts feed upon your men, 
 and the vile herds of gladiators are replenished from 
 the same source. Among these no Christian is found, 
 unless the name of Christian be his only offence; or if 
 he be accused of any other crime, he hath already 
 ceased to be a Christian. 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 But, it will be asked, are we Christians, then, the only 
 men who live innocently 2? What wonder is this, if it 
 be a necessary consequence, as it really is, of the prin- 
 ciples which we and others profess? Since it is God 
 himself who hath taught us to live innocently, we have 
 learned perfect obedience as revealed by a _ perfect 
 master; and we faithfully keep his commandments, 
 since they are delivered by one whose scrutiny we 
 cannot despise. Now the opinion of man hath given 
 the rules for your innocence; and human authority 
 hath imposed the law. Hence your precepts are nei- 
 ther so full nor so authoritative as they ought to be, to 
 establish innocence of life in all its truth. To what 
 extent can the prudence of man reach in showing what 
 is truly good? What authority can it exert to enforce 
 its commands? ‘The one can as easily be deceived as 
 the other despised. Thus, which is the more extensive 
 command, that which says, Thou shalt not kill, or that 
 which declares, Thou shalt not even beangry? Which 
 is the more perfeet, for a law to prohibit adultery, or 
 
CHAP. XLVI. | OF TERTULLIAN. 343 
 
 to forbid even the impurity of an unchaste look? 
 Whether is it wiser to interdict the doing or the 
 speaking evil? Whether is it more effectual to forbid 
 injury, or not to suffer even retaliation? We have 
 already spoken of the antiquity of Moses, that ye may 
 know that even those very laws of yours, which may 
 seem to tend to the encouragement of innocence of 
 life, have borrowed their enactments from the divine 
 law, which is older than they. 
 
 But, after all, what is the authority of human laws ? 
 since a man may usually evade them, by escaping 
 detection, and sometimes set them at naught, by plead- 
 ing that his offence was involuntary, or compulsory: 
 especially when it is remembered, that the punishment 
 which they can inflict is short; since, at the worst, it is 
 terminated by death. Thus it was that Epicurus 
 taught men to despise all pain and torture, declaring 
 that if it were small, it was unworthy of regard; if 
 great, it was of short duration. Whereas we, who are 
 to give our account to God who sees all things, and 
 know that he will inflict eternal punishment, are justly 
 considered the only persons who uphold innocency of 
 life, as well from the extent of God’s knowledge, as 
 from the difficulty of escape, and the greatness of a 
 punishment which is not only of long, but of eternal 
 duration ; for we fear him, who ought to be the object 
 of fear even to the judge, who condemns us, because 
 we fear God, and not the proconsul. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 We have now, I trust, sufficiently answered every 
 charge which hath served as a pretext for requiring 
 
344 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XLVI. 
 
 the blood of the Christians. We have shown the 
 whole of our real condition, and by what means we can 
 prove it to be what we assert, namely, by the fidelity 
 and antiquity of the sacred Scriptures, and by the con- 
 fession of spiritual powers. If there be any one bold 
 enough to attempt to confute us, he must endeavour to 
 establish the truth, not by the mere artifice of a verbal 
 dispute, but in the same manner in which we have 
 established our proof. 
 
 But, while our truth is made manifest to every one, 
 the incredulity of our adversaries—being no longer 
 able to deny the goodness of our religion, which hath 
 already been established even with reference to the 
 daily intercourse and transactions of life—hath recourse 
 to the excuse, that our faith is not of divine origin, 
 but rather a species of philosophy. The philosophers, 
 they say, preach and profess the same virtues with 
 yourselves, innocence, justice, patience, sobriety, chastity. 
 If this be true, why do we not enjoy the same impunity 
 for professing our doctrines, which those possess, to 
 whom we are thus compared? Or why is it, that, 
 while we are exposed to the greatest danger, for re- 
 fusing to perform certain services, they are not com- 
 pelled to do the same? For who ever thought of 
 obliging a philosopher to sacrifice, or to swear by your 
 gods, or vainly to light candles at noon-day? Yet they 
 openly oppose the worship of your gods, and in their 
 writings also, which ye receive with applause, inveigh 
 against your superstitions. Many of them also receive 
 your support while they attack your princes, and are 
 rather honoured with statues and pensions, than sen- 
 tenced to be exposed to the wild beasts; and justly so, 
 since they are denominated philosophers, not Christians. 
 Will this name of philosophers cast out devils? How 
 should it do so, when philosophers place those demons 
 in the rank of gods? It is an expression of Socrates, 
 
CHAP. XLVI. | OF TERTULLIAN. 345 
 
 “If the demon permit.” The same philosopher, when 
 he had attained some knowledge of the truth, in that 
 he denied your gods, did yet, in his last moments, 
 order a cock to be sacrificed to Esculapius; I suppose 
 in honour of his father Apollo, who had pronounced 
 Socrates the wisest of mortals. O thoughtless Apollo! 
 he gave testimony in favour of the wisdom of the man, 
 who denied the existence of the gods. In proportion 
 to the hatred to which truth is exposed, is the offence 
 which is given by him, who faithfully maintains truth. 
 But he who perverts and corrupts the truth, by that 
 very action obtains the favour of those who oppose 
 truth, by deriding and contemning it. The philoso- 
 phers affect to imitate the truth, but by that very 
 imitation they corrupt it; since they seek only vain 
 glory. Christians, on the other hand, necessarily seek 
 truth, and maintain it with constancy, since they regard 
 their own salvation. 
 
 Hence we are not, as ye suppose, like the philoso- 
 phers, either in our doctrine or in our discipline. For 
 what certain knowledge did Thales, the prince of natural 
 philosophers, give to Croesus, who inquired of him 
 respecting the divinity? Did he not disappoint his 
 expectations by requesting to delay his answer, without 
 effect? Now the meanest Christian knows and can 
 declare what God is; and hence he can actually show 
 that which is sought by those who endeavour to find 
 out God: although Plato declares that it is not easy 
 to discover the Maker of the universe; and most 
 difficult, when discovered, to make him known to 
 others. 
 
 Again, if a comparison is made between our chastity 
 and that of the philosophers, I read a part of the 
 sentence pronounced by the Athenians against Socrates, 
 in which he is called a corrupter of youth. The love 
 of a Christian is confined to its proper and natural 
 
346 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XLVI. 
 
 objects. Diogenes himself is accused of gratifying a 
 base passion with the harlot Phryne. A certain Speu- 
 sippus, of the school of Plato, is said to have perished 
 in the act of adultery. A Christian knows none but 
 his own wife. Democritus blinded himself, because he 
 could not look upon women without desire, and was 
 grieved if he could not satisfy his passion; thus de- 
 claring his incontinence, by the very means which he 
 took to amend it. But a Christian, without injuring 
 his eyes, looks not upon women; in his mind he is 
 blind to lust. 
 
 If I am to defend Christians against the accusation 
 of pride, we may see Diogenes treading upon the proud 
 couches of Plato, with muddy feet; thus displaying, by 
 that very action, pride of another kind: a Christian 
 shows no pride, even towards the poor. If there is any 
 question respecting moderation, we may appeal to 
 Pythagoras among the Thurians, and Zeno among the 
 people of Priene, each affecting absolute power. A 
 Christian is not ambitious of the meanest office. Ifa 
 comparison is proposed respecting the equanimity of 
 the Christian and the philosopher ; Lycurgus chose his 
 life to be shortened, because the Spartans amended his 
 laws'; the Christian, even when condemned to death, 
 returns thanks. If a question is made respecting the 
 fidelity of each; Anaxagoras denied a pledge to his 
 guests; a Christian is acknowledged to be faithful, 
 even to strangers. If I am to defend Christians upon 
 the ground of simplicity; Aristotle made his friend 
 Hermias disgracefully give way to himself: a Christian 
 injures not even his enemy. The same Aristotle was 
 as basely subservient in adulation to Alexander, whom 
 he ought rather to have governed, as Plato was to 
 Dionysius, for the sake of his appetite. Aristippus, 
 
 1 Tertullian gives the same account of Lycurgus in c. 4. 
 
CHAP. XLVII. | OF TERTULLIAN. 347 
 
 under an exterior of great gravity gave himself up to 
 excess, clothed in purple; and Hippias was slain, while 
 he was plotting against the state. No Christian ever 
 had recourse to such means for his fellows, with what- 
 ever severity they may be persecuted. 
 
 But, some one will say, there are some even among 
 ourselves, who deviate from the strict rules of our 
 discipline. If so, we consider them Christians no 
 longer. Whereas philosophers among yourselves, who 
 do the like, continue to enjoy the name and distinctions 
 attached to the wisdom which they profess. 
 
 Such, and no other, is the degree of similitude 
 between a philosopher and a Christian; between a 
 disciple of Greece and of heaven; between one who 
 seeks fame, and one who strives for salvation; between 
 one who confines himself to words, and one who is 
 virtuous in deeds; between one who builds, and one 
 who destroys; between one who introduces error, and 
 one who supports truth; between one who despoils 
 truth, and one who preserves it. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 THE antiquity of the sacred Scriptures hath been 
 already alleged in our behalf’; whence it may easily 
 be believed, that they have been the treasure whence 
 all real wisdom hath been extracted. And unless 1 
 were desirous of restraining my work within proper 
 bounds, I might easily expatiate also upon this point of 
 the proof. Who is there of the poets and sophists, 
 who hath not drunk at the fountain of the prophets ? 
 Hence, then, the philosophers also have secretly satis- 
 fied their thirst of information. For the comparison 
 
 an 18: 
 
348 THE APOLOGY (CHAP. XLVII. 
 
 between us and them is founded upon the fact, that 
 they have some of our opinions. Hence, I imagine, it 
 is, that philosophy was banished by certain laws, as, for 
 instance, by those of Thebes, Sparta, and Argos. 
 While men, whose only passion—as we have said— 
 was the desire of glory and eloquence, thus endeavoured 
 to approach to some of our tenets, if they met with 
 any thing in the sacred Scriptures with which they 
 were offended, they immediately remodelled them 
 according to the dictates of their own fancy, and per- 
 verted them to serve their own purposes. They hesi- 
 tated not thus to interpolate the Scriptures, since they 
 did not sufficiently believe their divine inspiration, nor 
 sufficiently understand that they were yet in some 
 measure obscure, and concealed from the Jews them- 
 selves, to whom they seemed peculiarly to belong. 
 And even where there was nothing but the simplicity 
 of truth, yet, from this cause, the weakness of human 
 judgment, unsupported by faith, was the more in doubt; 
 whence they changed into uncertainty that which they 
 found certain. For when they had simply discovered 
 that there was a God, they were not contented to 
 declare what they had discovered, but entered into dis- 
 quisitions upon his quality and nature and the place of 
 his abode. Some asserted that he had not a bodily 
 shape, others that he had, as they were respectively of 
 the Platonic or Stoic schools; others conceived that he 
 was composed of atoms; others that he was formed 
 from the composition of various numbers, as either 
 Kpicurus or Pythagoras was followed: others imagined 
 he was composed of fire, as was the fancy of Hera- 
 clitus. The Platonic philosophers, again, contended 
 that God was the governor of all things; the Epi- 
 cureans, that he was inert and inactive, and a non- 
 entity, so to speak, in human affairs. The Stoics con- 
 sidered that he was placed without the world, and 
 
CHAP. XLVII. ] OF TERTULLIAN. 349 
 
 directed the motion of the universe as a potter that of 
 his vessel. The Platonics imagined that he was within 
 the world, which he directed, as a pilot steers a ship, 
 while remaining in it. 
 
 A similar disagreement was found in their opinions 
 respecting the world itself; whether it were created or 
 uncreated ; whether it would or would not remain for 
 ever: and concerning the nature of the soul, which 
 some considered to be divine and eternal, others to be 
 mortal: every one according to his own notions ad- 
 vanced his opinions, or changed those already esta- 
 blished. 
 
 It is no wonder, indeed, if the ingenuity of philo- 
 sophers perverted the Old Testament, since men 
 sprung from them have corrupted even the New 
 Testament by their opinions, so as to support the 
 tenets of their philosophy: and have cut many oblique 
 and intricate paths from the one only way. I mention 
 this, that the well-known variety among professors of 
 our religion may not furnish another point of resem- 
 blance between ourselves and the philosophers; and 
 that no one may form an opinion respecting the truth, 
 by the variety of means employed in our defence. 
 We at once, however, remind those who forsake our 
 doctrines, that the rule of truth is that which proceeds 
 from Christ, and was transmitted by his companions; 
 and all those different heretical teachers will be proved 
 to be somewhat later than those apostles. Every 
 thing which is written against the truth is formed 
 after the model of the truth, the imitation being 
 effected by the operation of the spirits of error. By 
 them have been established the false pretences to this 
 wholesome discipline: by them certain fables have 
 been introduced, which, by their likeness to the truth, 
 might weaken the faith of believers in it, or, if possi- 
 ble, induce men to give credit to them; so that an 
 
900 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XLVIII. 
 
 inquirer might be led to think Christians unworthy of 
 serious belief, because he disbelieved poets and philo- 
 sophers; or, because he disbelieved the Christians, 
 might be more ready to trust poets and philosophers. 
 Hence it is, that when we preach that God will come 
 to judge the world, we are derided; for in like manner 
 poets and philosophers teach that there is a tribunal in 
 the regions below. If we threaten hell, which is a 
 secret fire laid up for punishment beneath the earth, 
 we are equally laughed to scorn; for the heathen also 
 have a river of fire flowing through the regions of the 
 dead. If again we speak of Paradise, a place full of 
 divine pleasures, prepared for the reception of the 
 spirits of holy men, and separated from the knowledge 
 of the world in general by means of a wall of that 
 fiery zone; the story of the Elysian fields hath already 
 obtained credit. Whence, then, have the philosophers 
 and poets derived all these circumstances, so similar to 
 the truth, except from our religion? If they derive 
 them from our religion, which is the older, then our 
 account is more faithful and more credible, since even 
 the imitation of it obtains belief. If they derive them 
 from their own inventions, it would follow that our 
 religion was the image of something which was poste- 
 rior to itself, which is impossible; since the shadow 
 never precedes the substance, nor an imitation that 
 which it represents. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 OBsERVE then, if any philosopher should affirm, as 
 Laberius maintains after the opinion of Pythagoras, 
 that a man may be formed out of a mule, or a snake 
 out of a woman, and to establish this point should dis- 
 
CHAP. XLVIII. | OF TERTULLIAN. 351 
 
 play all the arts of oratory, would he not obtain the 
 assent of some, and persuade them to abstain from 
 animal food? And the principal ground of any one’s 
 alarm would be, lest in eating beef he should be de- 
 vouring one of his ancestors. Whereas if a Christian 
 assures you that a man shall himself be restored to 
 life, that an individual shall be revived, it is at once 
 received with reprobation, and the teacher is assailed 
 not only with blows but with stones. As if whatever 
 reason can be advanced, to prove the possibility of the 
 transmigration of human souls into other bodies, doth 
 not necessarily prove that they may be recalled into 
 the same bodies; for to be again what they once were, 
 is to be recalled into the same bodies. For, if they 
 are not what they were before, that is, endued with 
 the very identical human body which they then pos- 
 sessed, they are not the same as they once were. And 
 if they are not the same, how can they be said to have 
 returned to life? Either they are no longer the same, 
 since they are become something else; or, if they 
 remain the same, they can come from no where else. 
 If we had leisure to expatiate upon this part of the 
 question, we might here have ample room for ridicule, 
 by inquiring into what kind of animal each man might 
 be conceived to be changed. But what we advance is 
 much more credible, that man will be reformed from 
 man, each for himself, still retaining his human nature: 
 that the same quality of the soul will be restored into 
 the same condition although not into the same form ; 
 since the intention of judgment is to repay to every 
 man according to his deeds. But for our argument it 
 is rather necessary, that the very same person, who 
 once was, should be restored to life, that he may 
 receive from God the reward of good or evil. Hence 
 the bodies also will re-appear; both because the soul 
 is incapable of suffering any thing, without the inter- 
 
352 THE APOLOGY [cnap. XLVIII. 
 
 vention of solid matter, that is the flesh *, and because 
 the souls ought not to suffer by the judgment of God 
 without those bodies, within which all their actions 
 were performed. 
 
 But, it will be said, how can matter which hath 
 once been dispersed be reunited? Consider thyself, 
 O man, and thou wilt learn how to believe the fact. 
 Think what thou wast, before thy existence began, 
 that is, nothing; for hadst thou been any thing, thou 
 wouldst now remember it. Since, therefore, thou 
 wast nothing, before thou wast, and wast again re- 
 
 3 Tertullian maintains the same opinion respecting the impossibility of 
 the soul receiving impressions, except by means of the body, in his Trea- 
 tise de Testimonio Anima, c. 4. 
 
 Jam nune, quod ad necessariorem sententiam tuam spectet, quantum et 
 ad ipsum statum tuum tendit, afirmamus te manere post vite dispunc- 
 tionem, et expectare diem judicii, proque meritis aut cruciatui destinari, 
 aut refrigerio, utroque sempiterno. Quibus sustinendis necessario tibi 
 substantiam pristinam, ejusdemque hominis materiam et memoriam rever- 
 suram, quod et nihil mali ac boni sentire possis sine carnis passionalis 
 facultate, et nulla ratio sit judicii, sive ipsius exhibitione, qui meruit judicii 
 passionem. 
 
 In his Treatises, de Anima, passim, de Resurrectione Carnis, c. 17, 
 Adversus Marcion, v. ὁ. 15, he expresses himself somewhat differently, 
 maintaining that the soul is itself corporeal, possessing a peculiar sub- 
 stance, limited by space, possessing definite dimensions and a determinate 
 shape ; in consequence of which it is capable of sensation apart from the 
 human body. For a full account of his notions on this abstruse subject, 
 see Bp. Kaye’s Tertullian, c. 111. p. 190—214. In the Treatise De 
 Anima, c. 22, Tertullian thus recapitulates his opinions respecting the 
 nature of the soul: “ Definimus Animam, Dei flatu natam, immortalem, 
 corporalem, effigiatam, substantia simplicem, de suo sapientem, varié pro- 
 cedentem, liberam arbitrii, accidentiis obnoxiam, per ingenia mutabilem, 
 rationalem, dominatricem, divinatricem, ex una redundantem,” or, in the 
 language of his learned expositor, that the soul ‘derives its origin from 
 the breath of God—that it is immortal, (in its own nature, compare De 
 Res. Carnis, cc. 18, 34, 35,) corporeal ; that it has a figure; is simple in 
 substance ; possessing within itself the principle of intelligence, operating 
 in different ways (or through different channels) ; endued with free-will ; 
 affected by external circumstances, and thus producing that infinite variety 
 of talent and disposition observable among mankind ; rational ; designed 
 to rule the whole man; possessing an insight into futurity. Moreover 
 the souls of all the inhabitants of the earth are derived from one common 
 source, the soul of Adam.” 
 
“CHAP. XLVIII. | OF TERTULLIAN. 353 
 
 duced to nothing, when thou didst cease to be, why 
 shouldst thou not again be brought into existence from 
 nothing, by the will of the same great Creator who 
 determined that thou shouldst be from nothing? 
 What new thing will happen unto thee? Thou, who 
 wast not, wast made; when thou shalt again have 
 ceased to be, thou shalt again be made. If thou canst 
 give a reason how thou wast first made, then demand 
 a reason how thou shalt again be made. Yet thou, 
 who hast once been, may more easily be again made, 
 since, without difficulty thou wast made what pre- 
 viously thou hadst never been *. 
 
 But some man will, perhaps, doubt respecting the 
 power of God, who formed the vast frame of the 
 universe from nothing, from no less than from a death 
 of vacuity and annihilation, and animated it with a 
 spirit which gives life to all creatures, and stamped it 
 with examples of the resurrection of man, for a testi- 
 mony to us. The light, which dies daily, shines again’? ; 
 
 4 See Justin Martyr’s Apology, c. 25, p. 169, note (3). 
 
 5 Compare the Epistle of Clement, c. 24. Bp. Pearson, on the Creed, 
 Art. xi. p. 376, adopts the same reasoning, which Tertullian uses here, 
 and still more fully and more eloquently in his Treatise de Resurrectione 
 Carnis, c. 12. “ Aspice nunc ad ipsa quoque exempla divine potestatis. 
 Dies moritur in noctem, et tenebris usquequaque sepelitur. Funestatur 
 mundi honor: omnis substantia denigratur. Sordent, silent, stupent 
 cuncta: ubique justitium est. Ita lux amissa lugetur: et tamen rursus 
 cum suo cultu, cum dote, cum sole, eadem et integra et tota universo 
 orbi reviviscit ; interficiens mortem suam, noctem ; rescindens sepul- 
 turam suam, tenebras ; heres sibimet existens, donec et lux reviviscat, 
 cum suo et illa suggestu. Redaccenduntur enim et stellarum radii, quos 
 matutina succensio extinxerat. Reducuntur et siderum absentia, quas 
 temporalis distinctio exemerat. Redornantur et specula lune, que men- 
 struus numerus attriverat. Revolvuntur hyemes et estates, verna et 
 autumna, cum suis viribus, moribus, fructibus. Quippe etiam terre de 
 ccelo disciplina est arbores vestire post spolia, flores denuo colorare, 
 herbas rursus imponere, exhibere eadem que absumpta sint semina; nec 
 prius exhibere, quam absumpta. Mira ratio: de fraudatrice servatrix ; 
 ut reddat, intercipit ; ut custodiat, perdit; ut integret, vitiat ; ut etiam 
 ampliet, prius decoquit. Siquidem uberiora et cultiora restituit, quam 
 exterminavit : revera fenore interitu, et injurid usura, et lucro damno. 
 
 Aa 
 
304 THE APOLOGY (CHAP. XLVIII. 
 
 and darkness in like manner succeeds with a constant 
 variation : the stars, which lose their light, re-appear ; 
 periods of time begin again at the point where they 
 close; the fruits of the earth are consumed and repro- 
 duced ; and seeds rise not again with increase unless 
 they are corrupted and die: all things are preserved by 
 dissolution, all things are renewed by perishing. Shalt 
 thou, O man, a being of so noble a nature, if thou 
 rightly understandest thyself even as described by the 
 Pythian oracle, the lord of an universe of beings which 
 die and rise again, thyself die, merely to perish? In 
 whatever place thy soul shall be separated from the 
 body, whatever material means shall have destroyed 
 thee, or swallowed thee up, or scattered thee, or re- 
 duced thee to nothing, shall again restore thee. He, 
 who is Lord of all, can control even annihilation 
 itself. 
 
 But, ye will object, if these things be so, we must 
 continually die and rise again in constant succession. 
 If such had been the will of the Lord of the universe, 
 ye must, however unwilling, have submitted to the 
 law of your nature. But now his will is no other than 
 that which he hath revealed. The same Divine Reason 
 which hath formed the universe of various substances, 
 so that all should compose one whole, although the 
 parts are of opposite natures,—as vacuity and solidity, 
 animate and inanimate, comprehensible and incom- 
 prehensible, light and darkness, and even life and 
 death,—hath also arranged the whole course of time 
 itself in such an appointed and distinct order, that this 
 
 Semel dixerim, universa conditio recidiva est. Quodcunque conveneris, 
 fuit: quodcunque amiseris, nihil non iterum est. Omnia in statum 
 redeunt, quum abscesserint : omnia incipiunt, quum desierint: ideo 
 finiuntur, ut fiant. Nihil deperit, nisi in salutem. 
 
 “ Totus igitur hic ordo revolubilis rerum, testatio est resurrectionis mor- 
 tuorum. Operibus eam prescripsit Deus, anté quam literis: viribus 
 preedicavit, anté quam vocibus.” 
 
CHAP. XLVIU. | OF TERTULLIAN. 309 
 
 first period of our existence, after the beginning of 
 all things, should come to a definite end, but the 
 future life, for which we look, should continue to all 
 eternity. 
 
 When, then, the end, and the interval of separa- 
 tion which is interposed, shall have arrived °, and the 
 condition of this world,—which is equally temporary, 
 and is now spread forth, as it were, a curtain inter- 
 rupting the prospect of that eternal disposition of all 
 things,—shall be removed, then shall the whole human 
 race be restored to life, to receive the good or the 
 evil which they have deserved in that temporary life ; 
 and so will their condition be determined for the end- 
 less ages of eternity. 
 
 Hence there is no real death, nor a constant suc- 
 cession of resurrections; but we shall be the same 
 persous as we are now, and shall so continue for ever; 
 the worshippers of God, before him for ever, clothed 
 upon’ with the peculiar substance of immortality: 
 but the wicked, and those who have not given them- 
 selves wholly to God, in the punishment of equally 
 eternal fire, which possesses from its very nature, which 
 is divine, the means of continuing for ever without 
 exhaustion. Your philosophers themselves acknow- 
 ledge the difference between secret fire and that which 
 
 6 Cum ergo finis et limes medius, qui interhiat, affuerit, ut etiam mundi 
 ipsius species transferatur eque temporalis, &c. 
 
 This is probably an allusion to the opinion of a Millennium, which 
 Tertullian had adopted ; as is evident from the fanciful account which 
 he gives in his third Book against Marcion, c. 24, of a city which had 
 been suspended in the skies in Judea for forty successive days, in the 
 morning. This he conceived to be an image of the new Jerusalem. 
 “Nam et confitemur in terra nobis regnum repromissum ; sed ante ccelum, 
 sed alio statu: utpote post resurrectionem in mille annos, in civitate 
 divini operis Hierusalem clo delata, quam et Apostolus matrem nostrum 
 sursum designat,” &c. 
 
 72 Cor. v.2. So also Lactantius, vii. c. 2). Et tamen non erit caro 
 illa, quam Deus homini superjecerit, huic terrene similis, sed insolubilis, 
 et permanens in eternum. 
 
 Aa 2 
 
356 THE APOLOGY [CHAP. XLIX. 
 
 is before our eyes. Thus the nature of the fire, which 
 serves the ordinary purposes of life, is very different 
 from that of the fire which executes the judgments of 
 God; whether it darts lightning from heaven, or 
 bursts forth from the earth at the tops of the moun- 
 tains. For this fire consumes not that which it burns; 
 but, while it blasts, restores the substance. Thus the 
 mountains, which are continually burning, still remain ; 
 and a body stricken by the lightning is thenceforth 
 secure from the flames, for it cannot be burnt ὃ. 
 This, then, may seem as a testimony of eternal fire, 
 an example of a judgment, which constantly produces 
 the means of punishment. The mountains burn, and 
 
 continue. Much more the wicked, and the enemies 
 of God. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 Sucu are the opinions which in us alone are regarded 
 as prejudices, but in your philosophers and_ poets, 
 marks of the height of wisdom and strength of intel- 
 lect. They are prudent, we foolish; they are worthy 
 of honour, we of ridicule, and even still further, of 
 punishment. Suppose that the doctrines which we 
 advocate are prejudices, and merely fanciful; they are 
 yet necessary: if unfounded, they are yet useful, since 
 those who maintain them are compelled to be better 
 
 8 Ut qui de ceelo tangitur salvus est, ut nullo jam igni decinerescat. 
 
 Minucius Felix, Octavius, c. 34, p. 105, seems to have understuod 
 Tertullian as asserting that the bodies of those who are killed by lightning, 
 are apparently uninjured. 
 
 Nec tormentis aut modus ullus, aut terminus.  [Illic sapiens ignis 
 membra urit et reficit; carpit et nutrit; sicut ignes fulminum corpora 
 tangunt, nec absumunt: sicut ignes Atne et Vesuvii, et ardentium 
 ubiaque terrarum flagrant, nec erogantur. Ita pcenale illud incendium 
 
 non damnis ardentium pascitur, sed inexesa corporum laceratione 
 nutritur. 
 
CHAP. XLIX. | OF TERTULLIAN. 357 
 
 men, from the fear of eternal punishment, and the 
 hope of everlasting happiness. Those tenets, therefore, 
 ought not to be called false or foolish, which it is the 
 interest of every one to consider true. What is of 
 universal benefit ought by no means to be condemned. 
 The charge of prejudice falls upon you, for condemning 
 that which is useful. Neither can these opinions be 
 foolish: and even if they were both false and foolish, 
 they yet injure no one: they are even then merely like 
 many other notions, against which ye denounce no 
 punishment; fanciful and fabulous, perhaps, but yet 
 professed without danger of accusation or of punish- 
 ment, because they are perfectly innocent. But in 
 questions of this nature, if error is to be subject to 
 ridicule, it at least ought not to expose us to sword 
 and fire, to crucifixion and wild beasts; a degree of 
 unjust cruelty, which is not only the delight of this 
 blinded populace, but the boast of some even of your- 
 selves, who court the favour of the people; as if all 
 which we endure from you were not in our own power. 
 Assuredly it is at my own option to be a Christian; ye 
 will, therefore, then condemn me, when I am willing 
 to be condemned. Since, therefore, all the power, 
 which ye possess against me, ye possess not, unless 
 I choose, your power no longer depends upon you, but 
 upon my will. Hence also the pleasure which the 
 people take in tormenting us is but a vain delight: for 
 it is really our pleasure which they take to themselves, 
 since we prefer to be so condemned, rather than to fall 
 from God. On the other hand, they who hate us, 
 ought rather to grieve than to rejoice, when we have 
 attained the object of our choice. 
 
358 THE APOLOGY [ CHAP. L. 
 
 CHAPTER L. 
 
 “ WHEREFORE, then,” ye will say, “do ye Christians 
 complain that we persecute you, when ye ought to love 
 us as the instruments by which ye attain the object of 
 your wishes?” We are, indeed, willing to suffer; but 
 it is with the feelings of a soldier, who would not 
 choose to expose himself to the perils of war, but 
 involuntarily dreads the danger, which he is compelled 
 to encounter. He yet fights with all his might; and 
 he, who complained of the necessity of engaging in the 
 battle, rejoices, when he hath fought and conquered in 
 the battle, inasmuch as he hath obtained his reward of 
 glory, and his portion of the spoil. It is our battle, to 
 be called before the seats of judgment, there to con- 
 tend for the truth at the hazard of our lives. And it 
 is our victory, if we obtain that for which we strive. 
 That victory obtains the glory of pleasing God, and the 
 reward of eternal life. But, it will be said, we fall in 
 the contest. We do fall, but it is when the victory is 
 won: when we are slain, we are conquerors; when we 
 fall, we gain the battle. Call us if you will by names 
 of reproach®, derived from the stake, to which we are 
 bound, and the fagots, with which we are surrounded, 
 when burned to death. These are our ornaments of 
 victory; this is our robe of state; this is our triumphal 
 chariot. 
 
 It is no wonder, then, that we should displease 
 those whom we conquer; and hence we are regarded 
 
 9 Licet nunc sarmenticios et semaxios appelletis, quia ad stipitem 
 dimidii axis revincti sarmentorum ambitu exurimur. 
 
 The martyrs, who were burned alive, were usually fastened to a stake, 
 of about six feet in length, called Semaxis; and surrounded or covered 
 with fagots, Sarmenta. Hence the Christians were ridiculed by these 
 names, 
 
CHAP. L. | OF TERTULLIAN. 359 
 
 as men of desperate and obstinate resolution’. But 
 this very desperation and this inflexibility of purpose, 
 among yourselves, raise the standard of valour in the 
 pursuit of glory and fame. Mutius voluntarily left his 
 hand upon the altar: what sublimity of mind! Em- 
 pedocles threw himself alive into the burning abyss of 
 Ktna: what strength of courage! She who founded 
 Carthage married herself the second time to a funeral 
 pile: what an eulogy of chastity! Regulus, that his 
 life might not restore many enemies to his country, 
 endured exquisite torture in his whole body: what a 
 brave man, what a conqueror in his very captivity ! 
 Anaxarchus, when he was beaten with staves, as barley 
 is beaten in a sack, exclaimed, “ Beat on, beat on, upon 
 the case of Anaxarchus, for you cannot beat Anaxar- 
 chus himself:” what magnanimity in ἃ philosopher, 
 who could thus sport under such a death! 1 omit 
 those who have laid claim to praise, by falling upon 
 their own sword, or by choosing some milder kind of 
 death. Ye crown with approbation even those who 
 struggle successfully against torture. A harlot of 
 Athens, when the executioner was weary of tormenting 
 her, at length bit off her tongue, and spit it forth 
 against the angry tyrant, that she might thus spit forth 
 her voice also, and be unable to confess who the con- 
 spirators were, if she even should relent and wish to 
 betray them. Zeno Eleates, when asked by Dionysius ἢ 
 what advantages were derived from philosophy,answered, 
 “To have such a contempt of death as to be unmoved 
 at its approach:” and when the tyrant commanded 
 him to be scourged, he persisted in his opinion to the 
 
 1 The Christians were constantly accused of inflexible obstinacy ; as, 
 for instance, in the celebrated letter from Pliny to Trajan, at the end of 
 
 the volume. 
 2 Diogenes Laertius, in his life of Zeno Eleates, p. 645, A, says that the 
 
 name of the tyrant, under whom this Zeno suffered, was either Nearchus 
 or Diomedon. 
 
360 THE APOLOGY [cHapP. L. 
 
 very moment of his death. And doubtless the stripes 
 which the Spartans endured with such firmness, aggra- 
 vated by the presence of their nearest relatives who 
 encouraged them, conferred honour upon their family, 
 for the patience which was so displayed, in proportion 
 to the blood which was shed. Here is a subject of 
 glory, which is permitted, because it appertains to 
 human nature. Here no blame is imputed for obstinate 
 and inflexible perverseness, when death and all kinds 
 of torture are despised; and men are permitted to 
 undergo for a country, for a territory, for an empire, 
 -for private friendship, what they may not undergo for 
 God. Yet for all these ye cast statues, and write 
 inscriptions, and engrave titles, which are intended to 
 last for ever: and, as far as monumental records can 
 effect the purpose, ye yourselves give them, in some 
 measure, a resurrection after death. Yet if he, who 
 hopes for a true resurrection from God, doth as much 
 for God, he is considered insane. 
 
 But be attentive, most worthy judges’, and ye will 
 be in still greater favour with the people, if ye sacrifice 
 the Christians to their fury. Torment, rack, condemn, 
 crush us. For your injustice is the proof of our inno- 
 cence. God permits us to suffer these things for that 
 very purpose. For, on a late occasion, when ye sen- 
 tenced a Christian woman to pollution, rather than to 
 the lion *, ye confessed that, in our estimation, the loss 
 of chastity was more to be dreaded than any punish- 
 ment, or any kind of death. Yet the most exquisite 
 cruelty, which ye can devise, avails you nothing, but 
 rather induces the more to become Christians. As 
 often as we are cut down by your persecutions, we 
 
 3 Hoc agite, boni presides. 
 
 An allusion to the religious formula of the Romans, Hoc age; as in 
 ec. 30. 
 
 4 Ad lenonem damnando Christianam potits quam ad leonem. 
 
CHAP. L. | OF TERTULLIAN. 361 
 
 spring up the more abundantly: the blood of Christians 
 is the seed of the faith. 
 
 Among yourselves, many have given exhortations to 
 the patient endurance of pain and death; as Cicero in 
 his Tusculan Disputations, Seneca in his Treatise on 
 Accidents, Diogenes, Pyrrho, and Callinicus. Yet 
 none of these verbal exhortations ever gained so many 
 followers, as the Christians have obtained by the in- 
 struction which their actions have delivered. That 
 very obstinacy, which ye blame, is the best teacher. 
 For who is there that witnesses it, without being 
 irresistibly led to inquire, What inward principle pro- 
 duces it? Who, when he hath so inquired, doth not 
 embrace it? when he hath embraced it, is not himself 
 anxious to suffer? that he may pay the utmost debt of 
 gratitude to God, and obtain the fullest pardon from 
 him by the sacrifice of his own blood? for to the 
 martyr all his sins are remitted. Hence it is that we 
 return thanks to you for the sentence which ye pro- 
 nounce: for then there is a contest between things 
 human and things divine, when we are condemned by 
 
 you, and pardoned by God. 
 
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NOTES. 
 
 A. 
 
 ON THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT, c. 5. p. 5. 
 
 On the Preaching of St. Paul in the West. 
 
 Tuts is the earliest account of the preaching of St. Paul, after the 
 close of that part of his history, which is recorded in the Acts of 
 the Apostles. The testimony of Clement, the fellow-labourer of 
 St. Paul in the work of the Gospel (Phil. iv. 3), is very valuable, 
 and proves that at least a part of the Apostle’s labours was directed 
 to the West of Europe. 
 
 To form a judgment respecting the extent of his travels, it is 
 necessary to consider what time probably elapsed between the 
 termination of his two years’ residence in Rome (Acts xxiv. 10) 
 and his martyrdom ; and, consequently, to fix the date of his first 
 visit to Rome, which took place nearly at the time when Felix was 
 recalled from the government of Judea. (Acts xxiv. 27.) 
 
 To this journey different dates are assigned by different writers. 
 
 Eusebius and Jerome, (Eusebius, Chronicon; Jerome, Cata- 
 logus Scrip. Eccles. tom. iv. part ii. p. 103, Benedict. edit.) who 
 are followed by Scaliger, Cave, Stillingfleet, and others, fix upon 
 the second year of Nero, a.p. 56. Bp. Pearson, in his Annales 
 Paulini, places this visit in the sixth year of Nero, a.p.60. Hale, 
 in his Analysis of Chronology, fixes upon the seventh of Nero, 
 A.D. 61. And Abp. Usher places the event as late as the ninth 
 year of Nero, a.p. 63. 
 
 The earliest of these dates appears to correspond very well with 
 the period of the recall of Felix. Josephus (Ant. xx. ο. 8, 9) says 
 that Felix would have been punished for his misconduct, had he 
 
364 NOTES. 
 
 not been pardoned at the intercession of his brother Pallas, who 
 was then at the height of his favour with Nero. Tacitus (Annal. 
 xii. 54) shows how dependent Felix was upon the power of his 
 brother. 
 
 Now Pallas was himself dismissed by Nero, in the second year 
 of his reign; (Tacit. Ann. xiii. 14;) was soon after brought to 
 trial for treason, (Ibid. ¢. 23,) and was put to death in the ninth 
 year of Nero. (Tacit. Ann. xiv. 65.) It is probable that Pallas, 
 who was intimate with Agrippina, (Tacit. Ann. xii. 25, xiv. 2,) was 
 not restored to the favour of Nero, until after her death, in the 
 fifth year of Nero. If, therefore, the pardon of Felix was obtamed 
 by the intercession of Pallas with Nero, his recall probably took 
 place as early as the second year of Nero. 
 
 If we assume, however, that Eusebius and Jerome were correct 
 in assigning the second year of Nero as the date of St. Paul’s first 
 journey to Rome, his release would take place about the fifth year 
 of Nero, probably in consequence of favours shown to prisoners 
 and exiles, after the murder of Agrippina. (Massutius de Vita 
 Pauli, 1. 13, e. 1.) And he was put to death during the per- 
 secution which began in the eleventh year of Nero, and continued 
 four years. Eusebius and Jerome say that he suffered in the four- 
 teenth year of Nero. 
 
 This computation would leave a space of about eight years for 
 the labours of St. Paul, after his first imprisonment at Rome: an 
 opportunity which he doubtless employed with his characteristic 
 energy and activity. 
 
 It was during these years, then, that St. Paul, according to 
 Clement, visited “ the furthest extremity of the West.” 
 
 Hales, in his Chronology, (vol. iii. p. 546, edit. 2,) thinks that 
 Clement here “speaks rather rhetorically of St. Paul’s travels to 
 the western extremity of Europe.” And Basnage (Exercitationes 
 Historico-critice, p. 511) conceives that he means no more than 
 St. Paul visited Italy : “ Mihi certum non Hispaniam, sed Italiam 
 ἃ Clemente designari.’’ Considering, however, that Clement 
 wrote at Rome, we cannot but consider his words as referring to 
 some country included under the Western provinces with respect 
 to Rome. And the general current of ecclesiastical history plainly 
 points to Spain, as one of the countries which he visited, in com- 
 pliance with an intention which he himself expressed. (Rom. xvi. 
 24. 28.) 
 
 The evidence in favour of St. Paul having visited Spain appears 
 quite conclusive. 
 
 Caius, the Presbyter, in the beginning of the third century, says, 
 
NOTES. 365 
 
 that “writings not included in the canon of Scripture expressly 
 mention the journey of St. Paul from Rome into Spain'.”” Hippo- 
 lytus, in the same century, says, that “St. Paul went as far as 
 Hlyricum, and Italy, and Spain, preaching the Gospel?.” Atha- 
 nasius, in the fourth century, that St. Paul “did not hesitate to 
 go to Rome and to Spain*.”” Jerome, in the same century, says, 
 that “St. Paul, after his release from his trial before Nero, 
 preached the Gospel in the Western parts‘.” And Theodoret, in 
 the fifth century, that “when, in consequence of his appeal to 
 Cesar, he (St. Paul) was sent to Rome by Festus, and was ac- 
 quitted on his defence, he went to Spain, and carried the light of 
 the Gospel to other nations °.” 
 
 The expressions of Clement, however—émi τὸ τέρμα τῆς δύσεως 
 é\Owv—have been supposed to imply that the Apostle’s preaching 
 did not terminate in Spain, but extended to the British Islands. 
 Those who entertain this opinion observe, that in the language of 
 that period, Britain is often called the extremity of the West. 
 Thus Plutarch, in his Life of Czsar, denominates the sea between 
 Gaul and Britain, “the Western Ocean:’’ Eusebius and Nice- 
 phorus give the same name to the British Ocean (Euseb. Vita 
 Constant. 1. cc. 25, 41; ii. 6. 28. Niceph. Hist. lib. i. c. 1); and 
 
 1 Sicut et semota passionem Petri evidenter declarant, sed et profectionem 
 Pauli ab urbe ad Spaniam proficiscentis. Caii Presbyterifragmentum: Reliquize 
 Sacre, vol. iv. p. 4. 37. 
 
 2 Παῦλος δὲ μετ᾽ ἐνιαυτὸν Eva τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀναλήψεως εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὴν 
 ἀποστολὴν, καὶ ἀρξάμενος ἀπὸ Ἱερουσαλὴμ, προῆλθεν ἕως τοῦ ᾿Ιλλυρικοῦ καὶ 
 ᾿Ιταλίας καὶ Σπανίας κηρύσσων τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἔτη λέ. ᾿Επὶ δὲ Νέρωνος, ἐν 
 ἹῬώμῳ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποτμηθεὶς, θάπτεται ἐκεῖ. 
 
 Hippolytus de xii. Apostolis, Appendix, p. 31, Edit. Fabricii. 
 
 There is some doubt whether this tract was written by Hippolytus the Martyr. 
 At all events, it contains little more information than could be collected or con- 
 jectured from the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistle to the Romans. The 
 same remark applies to the subsequent passage of Athanasius. 
 
 3 Διὰ τοῦτο Kai σπουδῇ τῶν ἁγίων μέχρι τοῦ ᾿Ιλλυρικοῦ κηρύττει, Kai μὴ ὀκνεῖ, 
 μηδὲ εἰς τὴν Ρώμην ἀπελθεῖν, μηδὲ εἰς τὰς Σπανίας ἀναβῆναι. 
 
 Athanas. Epist. ad Dracontium, tom. i. p. 956, A, Edit. Paris, 1627. 
 
 4 Sciendum autem in prima satisfactione, needum Neronis imperio roborato, 
 nec in tanta erumpente scelera, quanta de eo narrant histori, Paulum ἃ Nerone 
 dimissum, ut Evangelium Christi in Occidentis quoque partibus priedicaretur, 
 sicut ipse scribit in secunda Epistola ad Timotheum, eo tempore quo et passus 
 est, de vinculis dictans Epistolam. (2 Tim. iv. 16.) 
 
 Hieron. Catalogus Scriptor. Eccles. Num. v. tom. iv. par. ii. p. 105. 
 Edit. Benedict. 
 
 5 Ἡνίκα τῇ ἐφέσει χρησάμενος εἰς THY Ῥώμην ὑπὸ τοῦ Φήστου παρεπέμφθη, 
 ἀπολογισάμενος ὡς ἀθῶος ἀφείθη, καὶ τὰς Σπανίας κατέλαβε, καὶ εἰς ἕτερα ἔθνη 
 δραμὼν, τὴν τῆς διδασκαλίας λαμπάδα προσήνεγκε. 
 
 Theodoret. in Epist. ii. ad Timoth. iv. 7. 
 
366 NOTES. 
 
 Eusebius elsewhere (De Martyr. Palestin. c. 18) describes Bri- 
 tain, under the appellation of the Western parts, beyond Gaul. 
 Theodoret also, speaking of the visitors attracted by the fame of 
 Simeon Stylites, enumerates the inhabitants of Spain, Britain, and 
 Gaul, which he says lies between the other two, and describes 
 them all as dwelling in the extreme bounds of the West*. In the 
 language of Catullus, Britain is “ Ultima Britannia,” and “ Ultima 
 Occidentis Insula.”” (Carm. xxix.) He speaks of the inhabitants 
 as “horribilesque ultimosque Britannos; (Carm. xi.) as Horace 
 afterwards calls them “ Ultimos orbis Britannos.”’ (Carm. 1. 35.) 
 
 The language of Clement might very well therefore imply that 
 St. Paul went not only to Spain, but to the most remote of the 
 three Western provinces, Spain, Gaul, and Britain. 
 
 There is distinct evidence that the Gospel was preached in 
 the British Islands by some of the Apostles. Thus Tertullian, 
 in the second century, speaks of “all the extremities of Spain, 
 and the different nations of Gaul, and parts of Britain inac- 
 cessible to the Romans, but subject to Christ.” See Tertullian’s 
 Apology, c. 57. The testimony of Eusebius to the same fact is 
 peculiarly valuable. As the favourite of Constantine, the first 
 Christian Emperor, who was born in Britain and there proclaimed 
 Emperor, he may be supposed to have been well acquainted with 
 the manner in which Christianity was introduced into Britain. 
 And the remarkable passage in his Demonstratio Evangelica, in 
 which he not only asserts the fact, that some of the Apostles 
 preached in Britain, but argues upon the fact, may be regarded as 
 a deliberate assertion, founded upon actual inquiry. His object 
 is to prove that the first preachers of Christianity were not de- 
 ceivers nor impostors. “ Observe,” he says, “this also. If they 
 were impostors and deceivers, and also uninstructed and entirely 
 ignorant men, nay, rather barbarians, acquainted with no other 
 than the Syrian language, how could they ever go through the 
 whole world? How could so bold an undertaking enter their 
 thoughts ? and by what power could they effect their purpose ἢ 
 For, supposing it possible for rustic men, wandering about in 
 their own country, to deceive and be deceived, and not to waste 
 their labour in vain; yet, that they should preach the name of 
 Jesus to all mankind, and teach his miraculous works in country 
 and city,—that some of them should visit the Roman Empire, and 
 the imperial city itself, and others severally the nations of the 
 
 6 ἀφίκοντο δὲ πολλοὶ, τὰς τῆς ἑσπέρας οἰκοῦντες ἐσχάτας, Σπάνοι τε καὶ 
 Βρεττανοὶ, καὶ Γαλάται, οἱ τὸ μέσον τούτων κατέχοντες. 
 
 Theodoret. Religiosa Hist. c. 26, tom. iii. p. 881, D, Edit. Paris, 1642. 
 
NOTES. 367 
 
 Persians, and Armenians, and Parthians, and Scythians—nay, 
 further, that some should proceed to the very extremities of the 
 inhabited world, and reach the country of the Indians, and others 
 again pass over the Ocean to those which are called the British 
 Islands—all this I conceive to be beyond the power of any human 
 being, not to say of ordinary and uninstructed men, and, still less, 
 
 of deceivers and impostors ’.’’ 
 
 Theodoret goes further than this, asserting that S¢. Paul 
 preached in islands beyond the Ocean, with respect to Spain; 
 which can scarcely refer to any other than the British Islands. 
 “The blessed Apostle St. Paul teaches us, in a few words, to how 
 many nations he carried the sacred doctrines of the Gospel; so that 
 from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, he fully preached 
 the Gospel of Christ. He went afterwards also to Italy and 
 Spain, and carried salvation to islands which lie in the Ocean *.” 
 
 Jerome also, besides the passage quoted above, appears to 
 allude, though with less precision than Theodoret, to St. Paul’s 
 preaching beyond the Ocean, when he says, that “St. Paul, having 
 been in Spain, went from one Ocean to another, imitating the 
 motion and course of the Sun of Righteousness, of whom it is 
 said, His going forth is from the end of heaven, and his circuit 
 unto the ends thereof; and that his diligence in preaching ex- 
 tended as far as the earth itself?.”’ 
 
 7*Ere δὲ καὶ τούτῳ πρόσχες. Ei δὴ καὶ αὐτοὶ πλανοὶ Kai ἀπατεῶνες trvy- 
 χανον, προσθὲς δ᾽ ὅτι καὶ ἀπαίδευτοι καὶ παντελῶς ἰδιῶται, μᾶλλον δὲ ὅτι καὶ 
 βάρβαροι, καὶ τῆς Σύρων οὐ πλέον ἐπαίοντες φωνῆς, καὶ πῶς ἐπὶ πᾶσαν 
 προῆλθον τὴν οἰκουμένην ; ἢ ποίᾳ τοῦτο διανοίᾳ ἐφαντάσθησαν τολμῆσαι ; 
 ποίᾳ δὲ δυνάμει τὸ ἐπιχειρηθὲν κατώρθωσαν ; Ἔστω γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκείας γῆς 
 καλινδουμένους ἀγροίκους ἄνδρας πλανᾶν καὶ πλανᾶσθαι, καὶ μὴ ἐφ᾽ ἡσυχίας 
 βάλλεσθαι τὸ πρᾶγμα. Κηρύττειν δ᾽ εἰς πάντας τὸ τοῦ ᾿Ιησοῦ ὄνομα, καὶ τὰς 
 παραδόξους πράξεις αὐτοῦ κατά τε τοὺς ἀγροὺς καὶ κατὰ πόλιν διδάσκειν, καὶ 
 τοὺς μὲν αὐτῶν τὴν ᾿Ρωμαίων ἀρχὴν, καὶ αὐτὴν τε τὴν βασιλικωτάτην πόλιν 
 νείμασθαι, τοὺς δὲ τὴν Περσῶν, τοὺς δὲ τὴν ᾿Αρμενίων, ἑτέρους δὲ τὸ Πάρθων 
 ἔθνος, καὶ αὖ πάλιν τὸ Σκυθῶν, τινὰς δὲ ἤδη καὶ ἐπ᾽’ αὐτὰ τῆς οἰκουμένης 
 ἐλθεῖν τὰ ἄκρα, ἐπί τε τὴν ᾿Ινδῶν φθάσαι χώραν, καὶ ἑτέρους ὑπὲρ τὸν 
 ᾿Ωκεανὸν παρελθεῖν ἐπὶ τὰς καλουμένας Βρεττανικὰς νήσους, ταῦτα οὐκ ἔτ᾽ 
 ἐγώ γε ἡγοῦμαι κατὰ ἄνθρωπον εἶναι, μήτιγε κατὰ εὐτελεῖς καὶ ἰδιώτας, 
 πολλοῦ δεῖ κατὰ πλάνους καὶ γόητας. 
 
 Euseb. Demonst. Evang. lib. iii. p. 112, D. Colonize, 1688. 
 
 8 Ὃ δὲ μακάριος Παῦλος διδάσκει συντόμως, ὅσοις ἔθνεσι προσενήνοχε τὰ 
 θεῖα κηρύγματα: ὥστε ἀπὸ Ἱερουσαλὴμ κύκλῳ μέχρι τοῦ ᾿Ιλλυρικοῦ πεπληρω- 
 κέναι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Χριστοῦ. ὕστερον μέντοι καὶ τῆς ᾿Ιταλίας ἐπέβη, 
 καὶ εἰς τὰς Σπανίας ἀφίκετο, καὶ ταῖς ἐν τῷ πελάγει διακειμέναις νήσοις τὴν 
 ὠφέλειαν προσήνεγκε. He then refers to St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, xv. 
 
 Theodoret. in Psalm. exvi. tom. i. p. 870, Ὁ, 871, A. 
 
 9 Paulus Apostolus————-qui vocatus ἃ Domino effusus est super faciem 
 
 universe terre, ut preedicaret Evangelium de Hierosolymis usque ad Illyricum, 
 
368 NOTES. 
 
 The earliest writer, however, who in express terms asserts that 
 St. Paul visited Britain, is Venantius Fortunatus, an Italian poet 
 of the sixth century. In the third book of his life of St. Martin, 
 he thus describes the preaching of St. Paul: 
 
 Transit et Oceanum, vel qua facit insula portum, 
 Quasque Britannus habet terras, quasque ultima Thule. 
 
 This is plainly, however, a poetical expression, on which no stress 
 whatever can be laid. And very little more weight can be at- 
 tached to the testimony of Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem, in 
 the seventh century, as quoted by Godwin, asserting that St. Paul 
 visited Britain ’. 
 
 Upon the whole, it seems clear that St. Paul preached “in the 
 West,” including Spain, in the interval between the termination 
 of his imprisonment in Rome, and his martyrdom: that the 
 Gospel was preached in Britain by some of the Apostles; that 
 the terms in which the field of St. Paul’s preaching is described, 
 may include the British Islands, and that there was probably time 
 for his visiting them. But whether he actually did so, may 
 reasonably admit of much doubt. Archbishop Usher in his 
 Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates, and Bishop Stillingfleet, 
 in his Origines Britannic, maintain the opinion that St. Paul 
 preached in Britain. The same side of the question has lately 
 found a learned and zealous advocate in Dr. Burgess, late Bishop 
 of Salisbury. His tracts on the origin and independence of the 
 Ancient British Church, and his two Sermons, the one preached at 
 the Anniversary Meeting of the Society for Promoting Christian 
 Knowledge and Church Union in the Diocese of St. David’s, in 
 the year 1818, the other preached, in the year 1831, before the 
 Royal Society of Literature, contain the principal facts and argu- 
 ments connected with the question. 
 
 The Bishop of London, in his Seventh Lecture on the Acts of 
 the Apostles, leans to the opinion of Jablonski, (Opuse. tom. iil. 
 p- 801,) that the preaching of St. Paul in Britain is extremely 
 improbable. 
 
 et sedificaret non super alterius fundamentum, ubi jam fuerit preedicatum, sed 
 usque ad Hispanias tenderet, et mari rubro imd ab Oceano usque ad Oceanum 
 curreret, imitans Dominum suum et solem justitize, de quo legimus, A summo 
 ceelo egressio ejus, et occursus ejus usque ad summum ejus: ut ante eum terra 
 deficeret quam studium preedicandi. 
 Hieron. in Amos Prophet. ¢. v. tom. iii. p. 1412, Edit. Benedict. 
 1 “Sophronius Patriarcha Hierosolymitanus disertis verbis asserit, Britan- 
 
 niam nostram eum invisisse.” 
 Godwin de Presul. p. 8. 
 
NOTES 369 
 
 B. 
 
 ON THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT, c. xvi. 
 
 As early as the middle of the ninth century, Photius, Patriarch of 
 Constantinople, objected to Clement of Rome that he had not 
 used terms sufficiently elevated and sufficiently significative, in 
 speaking of the divine nature of Christ, although he no where 
 speaks decidedly against it. (ὅτε ἀρχιερέα καὶ προστάτην τὸν 
 Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἐξονομάζων, οὐδὲ τὰς θεοπρεπεῖς καὶ 
 ὑψηλοτέρας ἀφῆκε περὶ αὐτοῦ φωνάς" οὐ μὴν οὐδ᾽ ἀπαρακαλύπτως 
 αὐτὸν οὐδαμῆ ἐν τούτοις βλασφημεῖ. Photius Bibl. Cod. 126.) 
 Assertions of the same nature have been more strongly repeated 
 by later writers. 
 
 It was scarcely to be expected that the language of Clement 
 upon this point should be so guarded, as that which was used 
 after controversies had arisen upon the question. But,—without 
 referring to his second Epistle, which is certainly free from any 
 such objection—there are passages enough in his first Epistle to 
 show that Photius does not accurately represent the sentiments of 
 Clement, if indeed he intended to imply a doubt of his belief of 
 the divine nature of Christ. 
 
 Thus in c. 2 of this Epistle we find the words—roic¢ ἐφοδίοις 
 τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀρκούμενοι, καὶ προσέχοντες τοὺς λόγους αὐτοῦ ἐπιμελῶς, 
 ἐστερνισμένοι ἦτε τοῖς σπλάγχνοις, καὶ τὰ παθήματα αὐτοῦ ἦν πρὸ 
 ὀφθάλμων ὑμῶν, 6. 2. (Compare Acts xx. 28, ποιμαίνειν τὴν ἐκκλη- 
 σίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἣν περιεποιήσατο διὰ τοῦ ἰδίου αἵματος.) Inc. 36, 
 Clement denominates Christ, ἀπαύγασμα τῆς μεγαλωσύνης αὐτοῦ 
 (Θεοῦ) c. 86. Inc. 82, he thus distinguishes the divine nature of 
 Christ from his human nature, ἐξ αὐτοῦ (Ἰσραὴλ) ὁ Κύριος Ἰησοῦς 
 τὸ κατὰ capxa.—Compare Rom. ix. 5. And, in the passage 
 above, c. 16, Clement expressly says of Christ, perhaps with an 
 allusion to Phil. ii. 5—8. To σκῆπτρον τῆς μεγαλωσύνης τοῦ Θεοῦ, 
 ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς, οὐκ ἦλθεν ἐν κόμπῳ ἀλαζονείας, οὐδὲ 
 ὑπερηφανίας, καίπερ δυνάμενος" ἀλλὰ ταπεινοφρονῶν. See Bp. Bull, 
 Defensio Fid. Nicen. Sect. i. ¢. 3. 
 
 The sentiments, here expressed by Clement, are set forth with 
 great eloquence in the Epistle to Diognetus, improperly ascribed 
 to Justin Martyr. The passage is long, but so beautiful that I 
 cannot forbear subjoining it. 
 
 The author of the Epistle, after showing the insufficiency of 
 
 ΒΡ 
 
370 NOTES. 
 
 sacrifices and ritual observances, such as the Jews retained, 
 proceeds thus to vindicate and explain the Christian faith. 
 (p. 496, D.) 
 
 “The Christians are not separated from the rest of mankind by 
 country, or by language, or by customs. They are confined to no 
 particular cities, use no peculiarity of speech, adopt no singularity 
 of life. Their doctrine embraces no tenet built upon the reason- 
 ing and subtilty of crafty men: neither do they, like others, 
 uphold the opinion of any man. Dwelling in the cities, whether 
 of Greeks or barbarians, as every man’s lot is cast, following the 
 customs of each country in dress, and diet, and manner of life, 
 they yet display the wonderful and indeed astonishing nature of 
 their own polity. They dwell in their own country; but as so- 
 journers: they partake of all things, as denizens: they endure all 
 things, as strangers. Every foreign land is their country; their 
 own country is to each a foreign land. Like other men they 
 marry, and have children: but their children they expose not. 
 Their table is common, not their bed’. They are in the flesh; 
 but they live not after the flesh. They abide on earth, but they 
 are citizens of heaven*. They obey the laws which are estab- 
 lished ; and in their own lives are superior to the laws. They love 
 all men; and are persecuted by all. Men know them not, yet 
 condemn them. Being slain, they are made alive: being poor, 
 they make many rich‘: deprived of all things, in all things they 
 abound. Being dishonoured, they are thereby glorified: being 
 calumniated, they are justified: being cursed, they bless: being 
 reviled, they give honour. Doing good, they are punished as evil 
 doers; when punished, they rejoice, as being made alive. The 
 Jews oppose them as a strange people: the Greeks persecute 
 them; and they who hate them can allege no reason for their 
 enmity. 
 
 “Tn a word, Christians are in the world what the soul is in the 
 body. The soul is dispersed over all the members of the body : 
 Christians over all the cities of the world. The soul dwells in the 
 body, but is no part of the body: Christians dwell in the world, 
 but are not of the world. The soul, invisible herself, is guarded 
 in a visible body: Christians are known to be in the world, but 
 their worship is unseen. The flesh hates the soul, which never 
 
 2 There are here some words lost: τράπεζαν κοινὴν παρατίθενται, ἀλλ᾽ 
 κοινήν. Perhaps we should supply some such expression as ἀλλ᾽ οὐ 
 κοίτην κοινήν. Compare Tertullian, Apol. c. xxxix. 
 
 3 Phil, iii. 20. 
 
 4 2 Cor. vi. 10. 
 
NOTES. 271 
 
 injured it, and wars against it, because it is thereby prevented 
 from indulging in its pleasures. The world hates Christians, who 
 injure it not, because they are opposed to its delights. The soul 
 loves the body and the members which hate her. Christians also 
 love their enemies. The soul is inclosed in the body, yet she 
 restrains the body. Christians are shut up and guarded in the 
 world, yet they restrain the world. The soul, herself immortal, 
 dwells in a mortal tabernacle. Christians dwell among the cor- 
 ruptible, looking for an incorruptible state in the heavens. The 
 soul, straitened in meats and drinks, is thereby improved. Chris- 
 tians, persecuted daily, the more abound. 
 
 “In such a post hath God placed them, whence they must not 
 retire. For this is no earthly invention which is committed to 
 their trust: it is no mortal device which they guard with such 
 jealous care ; no dispensation of human mysteries which is entrusted 
 to them. But even the Almighty, Invisible God, the Creator of 
 all things, himself sent down from heaven the Truth, and the holy 
 and incomprehensible Word, to dwell among men, and established 
 Him in their hearts. Not, as some one might suppose, sending 
 among men any minister, or angel, or archangel, or any of those 
 who do his pleasure upon earth, or are entrusted with their minis- 
 try in the heavens; but [he sent] the very Framer and Maker of 
 all things ; by whom he created the heavens: by whom he shut up 
 the sea in its own bounds: whose secret counsels all the elements 
 faithfully obey: who taught the sun to keep the measure of his 
 daily course: who commanded the moon to shine by night, and 
 she obeys; whom the stars too obey, following the moon in her 
 course: by whom all things are disposed and arranged : to whom 
 all things are subject; the heavens, and things in the heavens; the 
 earth, and things in the earth; the sea and they which are therein ; 
 fire, air, the abyss: things in the heights, things in the depths, 
 things between. Him did he send to them [man]. But did he 
 send him, as some men might imagine, for dominion and fear and 
 consternation? Nay verily: but in quietness and meekness. He 
 sent him as a king sending his son: he sent him as God *: he sent 
 him as to men. God, in sending him, would save mankind: he 
 would persuade men, not compel them ; for compulsion is not of 
 God. In sending him, God would invite, not persecute ; he acted 
 as one who loved, not as a judge. For he will send him to judge, 
 and who shall abide the day of his coming ?”’ 
 
 After discussing the impossibility that any one should know God 
 
 5. ὡς Θεὸν ἔπεμψε. 
 
 Bb2 
 
372 NOTES. 
 
 but the Son of God, or any one please God by his own works, the 
 author proceeds to speak of the love of God, manifested in the 
 redemption. (p. 500, B.) 
 
 “ Christ hated us not, nor rejected us; neither did he remember 
 our sins, but was long-suffering, patient; as he himself declared, 
 he bare our iniquities. God gave his own Son a ransom for us, the 
 holy for the unholy, the innocent for the guilty, the just for the 
 unjust, the incorruptible for the corruptible, the immortal for the 
 mortal. For what else was able to cover our sins but only his 
 righteousness ? How should we disobedient and impious be 
 justified, but only in the Son of God? O sweet interchange! O 
 inscrutable dispensation! O benefits surpassing all expectation ! 
 that the iniquity of many should be hidden in the Just One; and 
 the righteousness of one justify many sinners. [God,] having 
 convinced us, in the former time, how impossible it was that our 
 nature should attain life, but now having shown us a Saviour able 
 to save even those who could not have been saved, from both these 
 willed us to have faith in his mercy ; to conceive of him as our 
 supporter, father, teacher, counsellor, physician, mind, light, 
 honour, glory, strength, life.” 
 
 C. 
 
 ON IGNATIUS’S EPISTLE TO THE MAGNESIANS. 
 SECT. VII. 
 
 Λόγος ἀΐδιος, οὐκ ἀπὸ σιγῆς προελθών. 
 
 THIs passage has given rise to much discussion. An argument 
 has long been raised against the integrity, not only of this Epistle, 
 but of several other Epistles ascribed to Ignatius, founded upon 
 the assumption, that this and similar passages contain a manifest 
 allusion to erroneous opinions first held by Valentinus after the 
 death of Ignatius. 
 
 This argument has been lately urged, and the authorities cited, 
 by Mr. Cureton, in the Introduction to his Corpus Ignatianum, 
 p. ixi. 
 
 If, indeed, this be a reference to opinions first held by Valen- 
 tinus, the conclusion seems to be valid against the authenticity of 
 
NOTES. 979 
 
 the passage ; for the latest period fixed for the death of Ignatius 
 is A.D. 116; and according to Tertullian, de Prescriptione Here- 
 ticorum, 6. 30, Valentinus was living when Eleutherius was bishop 
 of Rome, which was, at least, as late as a.p. 185, or 70 years after 
 the death of Ignatius. 
 
 But it is contended, on the other hand, that if this be an allu-’ 
 sion to specific erroneous opinions, it may refer to persons who 
 undoubtedly lived before the death of Ignatius. 
 
 Trenzus, lib. i. 5; Tertullian, (de Prescriptione Heret. cap. 33. 
 46, 47; Adversus Valentinianos, cap. 3, 4,) and other authorities, 
 show that Valentinus, in many of his absurd notions, merely 
 adopted opinions which had been propagated by the Gnostics, 
 Nicolaitans, Simonians, and other heretics. Eusebius de Eccle- 
 siastica, Theologi, lib. ii. cap. 9, expressly alludes to Simon Magus, 
 as holding the impious opinion, that there was a time when “ God 
 and silence alone were.’ (ἃ δὲ Μάρκελλος ἐτόλμα ὑποτίθεσθαι, 
 πάλαι μὲν λέγων εἶναι τὸν Θεὸν, καί τινα Ἡσυχίαν ἅμα τῷ Θεῷ 
 ὑπογράφων ἑαυτῷ κατ᾽ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον τῶν ἀθέων αἱρεσιωτῶν ἀρχηγὸν, 
 ὃς τὰ ἄθεα δογματίζων ἀπεφαίνετο λέγων, ἦν Θεὸς καὶ Σιγή.) And 
 that this passage refers to Simon Magus is plain from Euseb. H. 
 E. ii. 18, where he speaks of him in the very same terms: πασῆς 
 μὲν οὖν ἀρχηγὸν αἱρέσεως πρῶτον γενέσθαι τὸν Σίμωνα παρειλή- 
 φαμεν. 
 
 Bp. Pearson, in his Vindicie Epistolarum S. Ignatii, observes 
 that the phraseology of Ignatius, οὐκ ἀπὸ σιγῆς προελθών, does not 
 agree with that of Valentinus and his followers, who, in this sense, 
 employed the word προβάλλεσθαι, and contends that the words in 
 question have no reference to that heretic, but are aimed at the 
 opinions of the Ebionites, received from the older Gnostics. 
 
 Bp. Bull, in his Defensio Fidei Nicene, sect. iii. cap. 1, examines 
 this passage at length, and arrives at a conclusion somewhat dif- 
 ferent from that of Bp. Pearson. He is of opinion, that the heresy 
 opposed by Ignatius is that of the Judaizing Gnostics, of whom 
 Cerinthus was the chief. This conclusion is founded upon a most 
 careful investigation of the whole passage. It is plain, he thinks, 
 from the context, that the heretics whom Ignatius opposes are one 
 and the same, throughout the whole of this portion of his Epistle : 
 that, since these heretics maintained that the law of Moses was 
 still binding upon Christians, a tenet never ascribed to Valentinus, 
 they were certainly not Valentinians ; and although this error was 
 maintained by the Ebionites, yet that there are other points which 
 evidently refer to some other heretics than they. Thus, the 
 Ebionites had no philosophical notions respecting the procession 
 
374 NOTES. 
 
 of the Word from the Father, which Ignatius appears to refute, 
 when he says that “the Word proceeds not from silence.” Again, 
 his exhortation, in sect. 7, that they should come “as unto one 
 Jesus Christ, who proceedeth from one Father, and exists in One 
 and is returned to One,”’ is a manifest allusion to the Cerinthian 
 Gnostics, who held that Jesus and Christ were two persons; that 
 Christ descended and entered into Jesus at his baptism, and before 
 his passion returned into the pleroma: and that the Father of 
 Jesus was the Demiurge, who made the world, but the Father of 
 Christ was a higher power. The words in sect. 8, “for this cause 
 they were persecuted, being inspired by his grace fully to convince 
 the unbelievers that there is One God, who hath manifested him- 
 self by Jesus Christ his Son,” refer also to the errors of the Gnos- 
 tics, who maintained that the world was created either by angels 
 or by a being different and inferior to the supreme God, who 
 revealed himself to mankind by Christ, his Son, Iren. 11, 11. Bp. 
 Bull is therefore of opinion that Ignatius in the words, “ not 
 proceeding from silence,’ intended to oppose some erroneous 
 notions of the same heretics concerning the procession of the Son 
 from the Father; as in sect. 9 he clearly refers to another error 
 of the Judaizing heretics, who denied the true passion of Christ. 
 In sect. 11, he warns the Magnesians “ not to fall into the snares 
 of vain glory,” another apparent allusion to the Gnostics, whose 
 very name was assumed to intimate their superiority in knowledge 
 to other Christians. 
 
 He then shows, by the testimony of Epiphanius, Philastrius, 
 and Augustine, that the observance of the peculiar rites of Judaism, 
 from prudential motives, was at that period one of the professed 
 tenets of the Cerinthians, although Cerinthus himself did not 
 submit to the rite of circumcision, as he taught others to do. It 
 is thought that St. John alludes to the Cerinthians, when he 
 speaks to the Philadelphians, respecting them of the synagogue of 
 Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie. Rev. iii. 
 9, see also Rey. ii. 9. And it is remarkable that Ignatius, writing 
 to the same Philadelphians, sect. 6, says, “If any one preach the 
 Jewish religion to you, hear him not. For itis better to learn the 
 Christian faith from one who is circumcised, than the Jewish from 
 one who is uncircumcised.” 
 
 Bp. Bull then proves, by the testimony of Ireneus, iii. 11, that 
 the Nicolaitans, Cerinthians, and other early heretics held tenets 
 of the same absurd kind as those afterwards professed by the 
 Valentinians, respecting various orders of ons, between the 
 supreme God and the Creator of the world; and shows that it is 
 
NOTES, 375 
 
 highly probable that the very procession of the Word from Sige, 
 or Silence, was one of their notions. Gregory Nazianzen, indeed, 
 Orat. 23, enumerates the Cerinthians among those Gnostics who 
 reckoned Bythus and Sige in the number of their ons. 
 
 It remains, however, to be considered whether the words of 
 Ignatius are, in fact, an allusion to specific heretical opinions, or 
 are simply a caution against errors which might arise in con- 
 sequence of Jesus Christ being styled the Word of God. 
 
 In this view the sense of the whole passage may be this ; 
 
 Jesus Christ is the Eternal Word, proceeding from the Father. 
 But this procession must not be confounded with any act of the 
 human faculties. The word, by which the thoughts of man are 
 made known, arises in consequence of a previous mental act; and 
 before man’s word goes forth, it is preceded by a state of silence. 
 But, in this respect, the analogy between the procession of the 
 Word from the Father, and the springing forth of the word from 
 the mind of man, entirely fails. The Word of God was Eternal, 
 and there was no period preceding the procession of the Word from 
 the Father, corresponding to the silence which exists before the 
 word of man is pronounced. 
 
 Irenzus, in exposing the fanciful and impious tenets of the 
 different sects of Gnostics, expresses the same sentiment, on more 
 than one occasion. Thus, lib. ii. cap. 18, he says, “Sed quoniam 
 quidem reprobabilis et impossibilis prima Noos, id est sensus 
 ipsorum, emissio est, manifesté ostendimus. Videamus autem et 
 de reliquis. Ab hoc enim Logon et Zoén fabricatores hujus Plero- 
 matis dicunt emissos, et Logi, id est Verbi, quidem emissionem ab 
 hominum affectione accipientes, et addivinantes adversus Deum, 
 quasi aliquid magnum adinvenientes in eo quod dicunt ἃ Nu (No#) 
 esse emissum Logon: quod quidem omnes videlicet sciunt, quoniam 
 in hominibus quidem consequenter dicatur, in eo autem qui sit 
 super omnes Deus, totus Nus, et totus Logus ctm sit, quemadmo- 
 dum prediximus, et nec aliud antiquius, nec posterius, aut aliud 
 alterius habente in se, sed toto #quali et uno perseverante, jam 
 non talis hujus ordinationis sequetur emissio. Quemadmodum 
 qui dicit eum totum visionem, et totum auditum, (in quo enim 
 videt, in ipso et audit; et in quo audit, in ipso et videt) non peccat: 
 sic et qui ait totum illum sensum, et totum verbum, et in quo 
 sensus est, in hoc et verbum esse, et verbum ejus esse hunc Nun 
 (Νοῦν) minus quidem adhuc de Patre omnium sentiet, decentiora 
 autem magis quam hi, qui lationem prolativi hominum verbi trans- 
 Serunt in Dei eternum Verbum, et prolationis initiwm donantes, et 
 genesin, quemadmodum et suo verbo.” 
 
376 NOTES. 
 
 And in a subsequent part of the same chapter : 
 
 “ Et usque hoc quidem, quemadmodum prediximus, omnes homi- 
 num affectiones, et notiones mentis, et generationes intentionum 
 et emissiones verborum conjicientes verisimiliter, non verisimiliter 
 mentiti sunt adversus Deum.” 
 
 In another place (lib. 1. cap. 47) he approaches still more nearly 
 the sense of this passage of Ignatius : 
 
 “ Hee autem cecitas et stultiloquium inde provenit nobis, quod 
 nihil Deo reservetis; sed et ipsius Dei, et Ennce ejus, et Verbi, 
 et Vitex, et Christi nativitates et prolationes annunciare vultis: et 
 has non aliunde accipientes, sed ex affectione hominum: et non 
 intelligitis quia in homine quidem, qui est compositum animal, 
 capit hujusmodi dicere, sicut prediximus, (lib. 11. 16) sensum 
 hominis, et Ennceam hominis: et quia ex sensu Ennoea, de Enncea 
 autem Enthymesis, de Enthymesi autem Logos: (quem autem 
 Logon? aliud enim est secundum Grecos Logos, quod est prin- 
 cipale quod excogitat, aliud organum per quod emittitur Logos :) 
 et aliquando quidem quiescere et tacere hominem, aliquando autem 
 loqui et operari. Deus autem cum sit totus mens, totus ratio, et 
 totus spiritus operans, et totus lux, et semper idem et similiter 
 existens, sicut et utile est nobis sapere de Deo, et sicut ex Scrip- 
 turis discimus, non jam hujusmodi affectus et divisiones decenter 
 erga eum subsequentur. Velocitati enim senstis hominum, proper 
 spiritale ejus, non sufficit lingua deservire, quippe carnalis existens: 
 unde et intus suffugatur verbum nostrum, et profertur non de 
 semel, sicut conceptum est ἃ sensu; sed per partes, secundum quod 
 lingua subministrare prevalet.” 
 
 Such are some of the arguments upon this much disputed ques- 
 tion. Mr. Cureton observes (Corpus Ignat. Introd. p. lxiv.), that 
 “the Syriac version cuts the knot, and solves the difficulty at 
 once,’ by omitting all such passages. 
 
NOTES. old 
 
 THE LETTERS OF THE YOUNGER PLINY, AND 
 TRAJAN, RESPECTING THE CHRISTIANS: 
 
 Referred to in Tertullian’s Apology, cap. ii. Book x. Letter xevii. 
 
 MEeEtMornH’s TRANSLATION. 
 
 PLINY TO THE EMPEROR TRAJAN. 
 
 Ir is a rule, sir, which I inviolably observe, to refer myself to you 
 in all my doubts; for, who is more capable of removing my 
 scruples, or informing my ignorance? Having never been present 
 at any trials concerning those persons who are Christians, I am 
 unacquainted, not only with the nature of their crimes, or the 
 measure of their punishment, but how far it is proper to enter 
 into an examination concerning them. Whether, therefore, any 
 difference is usually made with respect to the ages of the guilty, 
 or no distinction is to be observed between the young and the 
 adult ; whether repentance entitles them to a pardon; or, if a 
 man has been once a Christian, it avails nothing to desist from his 
 error; whether the very profession of Christianity, unattended 
 with any criminal act, or only the crimes themselves inherent in 
 the profession, are punishable: in all these points I am greatly 
 doubtful. In the mean while, the method I have observed towards 
 those who have been brought before me as Christians, is this: I 
 interrogated them whether they were Christians; if they con- 
 fessed, I repeated the question twice, adding threats at the same 
 time; and if they still persevered, I ordered them to be imme- 
 diately punished. For, I was persuaded, whatever the nature of 
 their opinions might be, a contumacious and inflexible obstinacy 
 certainly deserved correction. There were others also brought 
 before me possessed with the same infatuation; but being citizens 
 of Rome, I directed that they should be conveyed thither. But 
 this crime spreading (as is usually the case) while it was “ictually 
 under prosecution, several instances of the same nature oc- 
 
378 NOTES. 
 
 curred. An information was presented to me without any 
 name subscribed, containing a charge against several persons: 
 these, upon examination, denied they were, or ever had been, 
 Christians. They repeated after me an invocation to the gods, 
 and offered religious rites with wine and frankincense before your 
 statue, (which for that purpose I had ordered to be brought, 
 together with [those of the gods,) and even reviled the name of 
 Christ ; whereas there is no forcing, it is said, those who are really 
 Christians, into any of these compliances. I thought it proper, 
 therefore, to discharge them. Some among those who were 
 accused by a witness in person, at first confessed themselves 
 Christians, but immediately after denied it; the rest owned, 
 indeed, they had been of that number formerly, but had now 
 (some above three, others more, and a few above twenty years 
 ago) renounced that error. They all worshipped your statue, and 
 the images of the gods, uttering imprecations at the same time 
 against the name of Christ. They affirmed the whole of their 
 guilt, or their error, was, that they met on a certain stated day 
 before it was light, and addressed themselves in a form of prayer 
 to Christ, as to some god, binding themselves by a solemn oath, 
 not for the purposes of any wicked design, but never to commit 
 any fraud, theft, or adultery ; never to falsify their word, nor deny 
 a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after 
 which, it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble, to 
 eat in common a harmless meal. From this custom, however, 
 they desisted after the publication of my edict, by which, accord- 
 ing to your commands, I forbade the meeting of any assemblies. 
 In consequence of this their declaration, I judged it the more 
 necessary to endeavour to extort the real truth, by putting two 
 female slaves® to the torture, who were said to officiate in their 
 religious functions; but all I could discover was, that these people 
 were actuated by an absurd and excessive superstition. I deemed 
 it expedient, therefore, to adjourn all farther proceedings, in order 
 to consult you. For, it appears to be a matter highly deserving 
 your consideration; more especially as great numbers must be 
 involved in the danger of these prosecutions, which have already 
 extended, and are still likely to extend, to persons of all ranks 
 and ages, and even of both sexes. In fact, this contagious super- 
 stition is not confined to the cities only, but has spread its infec- 
 tion among the neighbouring villages and country. Nevertheless, 
 
 6 Two of the deaconesses. See Ignatius’s Epistle to the Smyrneans, c. 13, 
 and note. 
 
NOTES. 379 
 
 it still seems possible to restrain its progress. The temples, at 
 least, which were once almost deserted, begin now to be fre- 
 quented ; and the sacred solemnities, after a long intermission, are 
 revived ; to which I must add, there is again also a general demand 
 for the victims, which for some time past had met with but few 
 purchasers. From the circumstances I have mentioned, it is 
 easy to conjecture what numbers might be reclaimed, if a general 
 pardon were granted to those who shall repent of their error. 
 
 TRAJAN TO PLINY. 
 
 Tur method you have pursued, my dear Pliny, in the proceed- 
 ings against those Christians which were brought before you, is 
 extremely proper; as it is not possible to lay down any fixed rule 
 by which to act in all cases of this nature. But I would not have 
 you officiously enter into any enquiries concerning them. If 
 indeed they should be brought before you, and the crime should 
 be proved, they must be punished; with this restriction, however, 
 that where the party denies he is a Christian, and shall make it 
 evident that he is not, by invoking our gods; let him (notwith- 
 standing any former suspicion) be pardoned upon his repentance. 
 Informations without the accuser’s name subscribed, ought not to 
 be received in prosecutions of any sort; as it is introducing a 
 very dangerous precedent, and by no means agreeable to the 
 equity of my government. 
 
oo ἢ Γ 
 " Ϊ Ἄν ian ΟΣ | 7 
 my ΝΣ i 7 oe the i ant 7 " 
 on a ἢ a Lee, ae ; τ 
 1 Tay γ ἐπ a 7 ae ¥ ie #1 "7 
 a DOT, een aye 
 " "Ἢ ΠΥ F ᾿ tiv a 
 Oe) yimeradint πὰ if ; . ᾿ = 
 ' i ee ante, (MOE ne 
 7 Mae ἄν is Ae Pe Pan ΤᾺ 
 iv! ᾿ vi a ἐπ "ἢ ve 7 ἰὴ 7a 
 ), alls 7 y i! ᾿ ῃ 
 Π τ. ᾿ 4" } wrt | wit ᾿ 
 ; ᾿ς PP ts jst) ᾿ ΠΝ ᾿ 7 ; i 
 iY tu. ᾿ ᾿ i 
 ἢ τ a Lae a ee ee ΟΝ 7) ΐ 
 ; ; y 
 : Ἢ i “ a . ᾿ : Ὗ : ἢ " 
 Ν᾿ ἢ ΡΤ ΡΩΝ, ao 
 ' ᾽ rh aN 7 ἱ ᾿ ΤᾺ ᾿ ΙΝ 
 ls, if ᾿ Εν ἣν ᾿ a ᾿ | 
 ᾿ i ᾿ i a ι in ᾿ Ἷ 
 ᾿ τυ ΩΝ ᾿ i ῃ ᾿ ᾿ ᾿ ie ΓΝ a " " ‘We > Φ Ln 
 eer ἂν Γι AS ΝΣ ᾿ ᾿ ‘eae ᾿ ἂν» 7 . τ 
 ny " 7 f 1 ; Γ δὲ 
 ᾿ π ᾿ } mit iF τ εὖ ; 4 7 _ AP _ 7 a A , ἢ} nm δ᾿ 
 ΝΣ ΠΣ ᾿ Ἢ ᾿ Ι ΝΣ τ 4 Peal Τὰ] ᾿ 
 ΔῊ π᾿ ᾿ ᾿ a ϊ 
 Wy Ἰυ i on The | es, τς api 
 7 7 ᾿ ᾿ ᾿ ᾿ : ᾿ fy" 
 1 a rai ees neds va a ) ee ἣν ᾿ τὴν ΝῊ 
 ᾿ ᾿ a 7 i ᾿ ! ᾿ ' ᾿ ν᾿" an, ᾿ a 7 a n ᾿ Ν᾿ 
 Pie? ; I nd! ! ve te: ὶ be 
 ᾿ iw i ice a 7 ἃ 
 ᾿ eins, Li». ‘ 
 Π ἣν Ὁ ἡ Ἐν ne i ἢ rea 
 ar a een ΠΝ "1 ie, δι 7 
 A Ae po "ἪΝ ἰὸν Te |. 
 ᾿ Ὶ ΤᾺ + " Wi 7 νι La 
 ΜΝ eee Sy m 
 “ἑν ghee ngs aan 
 τ ΑΝ gk πῶ ἐν Os 
 αν.» ae νι ; an 
 Anu i 7 aia ἤ 
 if ᾿ Ay yy wo 7 ip = eens “ἢ 
 τως ne a Nar ν᾽ ie 
 . ! 4a Aik a ; st th J ᾿ Lae 
 ae ΜΚ 7 
 in Ι a Dit | v7 ᾿ ih 
 ΠΤ ) ᾿ ᾿ _ ἢ 
 ay Ϊ i "ἢ "ἘΠ. at ᾿ ᾿ iy -_ 
 " ἢ - ᾿ Wi AA hh af 
 a 1 
 ny “" ᾿ Ἶ ᾿ Υ ! " παν eX ny ' ᾿ 7 , " oh 
 — _ Ὶ ᾿ ᾿ ἫΝ 4 ine 
 i " od v4 ΕἾΤ ᾿ ἵ wall A ow ᾿ 
 : if ᾿ ἣν : 
 ta 7 7 mh ail 7 i” ᾿ hil δ " rn Ἢ ᾿ ᾿ 
 hut med hae ων ΠΝ Vth) a 
 ᾿ i. te) j . 5 ᾿ 
 | ἡ ἢ or oy ἡ ἢ κ᾿ ᾿ 
 πὴ wil a ῃ »"Ἥ" Te: ᾿ τὴ i a ἐ ae ie ys ἢ ἐγ: ᾿ 
 Ἐν Li ia Hat vei ys ΝΝ ΑΗ ΕΝ 
 i ᾿ : ἌΝ ᾿ 
 τ ῃ ' a 7 ie if γον 
 vi AF ᾿ Lay AAs th i a t 
 fan ; ; ᾿ εν i oi ἢ sr Me i ἂν ta : " _ 
 sy ἡ, it ἢν 
 ΠΤ ee ἘΝ _ 
 7 PAs |) Path ἮΝ ΛΝ 
 ΠῚ a Alt ᾿ 7 aie οἴ ἣν ‘an ra i) 7 ᾿ " ᾿ MTA, a 
 a a! ; ᾿ ον τ ΝΜ ᾿ ΝΣ ᾿ ae ΔΝ i me an ia ony γι 0 nn) a, ey ᾿ ᾿ 
 ᾿ Vig it nk "ἢ ΠΝ Wi! ν ἮΝ 7 On al _ ΠΝ Di 
 ; [eM Pte ee oi : i yy ib a : 
 ἢ : ιν ἢ] δ“ ΠΣ Ne " ΠΝ " po aa Ἵ j.’ wins ν ᾿ ᾿ i 
 oD “ἢ 7 ΗΝ Lith μ- i uit ; ιν Tae 7 
 ᾿ 7 vl va ᾿ ᾿ " re ἯΙ ΤΩΙ ᾿ OM nH | ee a uy i a ᾿ ᾿ bey 
 7 AM i IM ων Me Ϊ Τὴ i f ΜΝ ἽΝ mi ie Ἶ 
 Ἶ : af ὃ a va ior Ani " hid ale ᾿ ἢν bein ἢ i 4 Ϊ ta 1 i} 
 . ay ᾿ Alt ee ΕΣ ᾿ an ἢ" ha l ᾿ rt a 1] 7. ia 
 
INDEX OF SCRIPTURE TEXTS, 
 
 QUOTED OR REFERRED TO. 
 
 Those referred to in the Notes are marked with an asterisk. 
 Those from the Septuagint are marked (6). 
 
 GENESIS. 
 
 EXODUS. 
 
 li. 14 ᾿ ‘ 
 ii: 1.5 
 
 ili, 2. 14, 15 
 
 lii. 11 
 
 iv. 10 
 
 iv. 22 
 
 πεῖν. - 
 
 XXxii. 
 
 NUMBERS. 
 
 Page 
 . 22] 
 . 214 
 
 bo 
 Noe 
 oe 
 
 Noe iw) > 
 By 9 Go Oo ὅτ σα eT A cn 
 
 te) 
 OD 
 
 23 
 
 DEUTERONOMY. 
 
 Texts 
 
 iv. 34 
 
 vii. 6 
 
 ix 12 
 
 xiv. 2 
 
 xxx. 15.19 
 xxxil. 8, 9 (0) 
 xxxil. 15 
 
 1 SAMUEL. 
 
 2 CHRONICLES. 
 
 JOB. 
 
 sO) Wie 
 
 1. 15:17. 
 iv. 16.19 . 
 ixs 12 
 
 xi. 2,3 (6) 
 xiv. 4 
 
 xv. 15 
 xix. 4 
 
 xix. 26 
 xxix. 18 
 xxxviii. 11 
 
 PSALMS. 
 tert 
 lii. 5 
 iv. 4 
 xii. 4 
 
 Page 
 21 
 21 
 39 
 
 . 2) 
 - 197 
 21 
 
 9 
 
 - 
 
 14 
 
 20 
 
 . 156* 
 
 19* 
 
 20. 191 
 
382 
 
 PSALMS (continued). 
 
 Texts Page 
 Xviil. 26 α΄ a 
 xix. 1.3 ΟἹ 
 xix. 5 - 211 
 xxii. 6 els 
 xxii. 7,8. . 19) 
 xxii. 16. 18 189. 191 
 xxiii. 4 . 20 
 xxiv. 1 ὃ 12 
 xxiv. 7,8. - 295 
 xxxi. 18 40 
 xxxii. 1 38 
 xxxii. 10 . 18 
 Xxxili. 9 66 
 xxxiv. lI—17 . 17 
 Xxxvil. 9 ὃ 1] 
 XXXvil. 35—37 . 11 
 xxxix. 12 . 1* 
 xlv. 7 a 67 
 1. 16. 23 (6) 25 
 114. : 39 
 1. é 15 
 1:17 39 
 lv. 16 1 
 Ixii. 4 11 
 Ἰχιχ 9] --: 38 
 Ixxviii. 36, 37 11 
 Ixxxix. 20 14 
 xcii. 12 ἐ 19* 
 xevi. 1, 2. 4. 10 195 
 civ. 4 ς 20 
 cx. 1—3 (6) 199 
 cxviii. 19, 20 36 
 exvili. 18 . 41 
 cxix. 83 14 
 exxxili. 2. 67 
 CXxxix. 7 . 21 
 exl. 5 (6) . 4] 
 exlvii. 100 
 PROVERBS. 
 i. 23 : - 42 
 ii. 2] 11 
 iii. 12 . 4] 
 iii. 34 59 
 vii. 3 3* 
 xviii. 17 76 (6) 
 χΧΧ, 2) 17 
 ECCLESIASTES. 
 
 i. 9, 10 : : : - 212 
 ix. 4 .- 919, 514 
 ISATAH. 
 
 i. 3,4 : 190 
 Sau 5 5 218.220 
 . 1.7: . 201. 208 
 i. 11. 14 - 191 
 i. 16. 20 7. 197. 216 
 i. 18 750 
 ii. 3, 4 . 192 
 v. 20 203 
 
 Texts 
 v. 26 
 vi. 3 
 
 vi. 10 
 vii. 14 
 Χ 9 
 
 xi. 1.10 
 ΧΙ 10 
 xxiv. 22 
 xxvi. 29 
 Xxix. 
 xxix. 13 
 
 INDEX OF SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 
 
 ISAIAH (continued). 
 
 xxxv. 5,6 
 
 xl. 10 
 xli. 
 xli. 8 
 
 xliii, B, 6 . 
 
 xliv. 12. 
 xlv. 9 
 
 19 
 
 xlvi. 23. 45 
 
 xlix. 22 
 1. 6. 8 
 li. 5. 
 
 lii. liii. (6 
 liii. 
 
 liii. 4 
 liv. 1 
 
 ἵν 151. 2 
 lviii. 2. 6 
 lx. 17 
 lxii. 10 
 lxii. 11 
 lxiii. 17 
 lxiv. 4 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 . 
 . - . . 
 
 a 
 
 Eee oo oe 
 
 lxiv. 1] 
 Ixv. 2 
 lxvi. 3 
 Ixvi. 2 
 Ixvi. 24 
 
 iii. 4. 19 
 ix. 23 
 ix. 26 
 ΧΧΊ 7) 
 χχχὶϊ. 27 
 
 iv. 20 
 
 xviii. 30 —32 
 
 ΧΧΧΙΪ. 4 
 
 XXKD Ly. 
 xlvili. 15. 
 
 iv. 35 
 vii. 10 
 vii. 13 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 . 
 
 LAMENTATIONS. 
 
 . . . 
 
 EZEKIEL, 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 Xxxvil. 6— A 5 ᾿ 
 
INDEX OF SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 
 
 HOSEA. 
 Texts Page 
 xiii. 3 5 14 
 xiv. 2 295 
 xiv. 5 5 ὃ 70 
 
 JOEL. 
 ii. 13 : : 206 
 
 TOBIT. 
 xii. 9 : x 51 
 
 ECCLESIASTICUS. 
 xv. 14d—17 . 197 
 WISDOM. 
 xi. 21 3 20 
 xii. 12 20 
 MATTHEW. 
 
 1: ΟἹ ᾿ - 187, 188 
 i. 23 . 186. 188 
 ils) Ys xxxvii* 
 MG . 188 
 iii. 15 105 
 iv. 10 P loo 
 y.3—10 . : . 46 
 V. 10. 22.39. 41. ἼΣ ᾿ . 164 
 v. 28, 29. 32 : . 162 
 Veotioy : . 165 
 v.42. 44.46 . : . 163 
 v. 44 é i xxvii, 316 
 vi. 12—14 49, 50 
 vi. 19, 20. . 163 
 View Ὁ. 9]. on. . 164 
 vii. 1—12. : 10. 46 
 vii. 15, 16—19. 22 . xvii, 166 
 vii. 2]. 24. 5 - 165 
 viii. 17 . 114 
 viii. 28 . 168* 
 ix. 13 ‘ 163 
 x. 16. 28. 40 . 170 
 x. 16 Ε ΕΠ 115 
 x. 40 . 219 
 xi. 27 : 219, 220 
 χη ἅς : é 165, 166 
 xv. 13 4 5 ‘ - 89 
 xvi. 26 93. 164 
 xviii. 2 . 54* 
 Xvili. 6 xviii, 35 
 xviii. 19 . 59 
 xix, 12 108. 162 
 xix. 28 7 
 xix. 16, 17 165 
 xxi. 5 190 
 xxii. 17 166 
 xxv. 31 . 205 
 xxvi. 24 5 xviii, 35 
 xxvi. 26 5 PP! 
 xxvi. 29 : . 222 
 xxvii. 39. z . 192 
 
 383 
 MARK. 
 Texts Page 
 ΣῊ . 168* 
 Vii. ll 33* 
 ix. 36 xviii, 54* 
 ix. 42 . 206 
 ix. 42. 44. 35 
 ix. 47 . 162 
 >. 7-47 fr 20 
 xiv. 22 « 223 
 LUKE. 
 Lol. 33 . 187 
 Hye . 278* 
 li. ς Σ Ἐ : XXXVii* 
 v. 32. . 163 
 vi. 20. 37 . : 46. 316 
 vi. 27, 28. 32. 34 . 163 
 vi. 36—38 xviii, 10 
 vii. 25 . 168 
 x1; 4, ὃ = 170 
 xii. 48 . 167 
 xiii. 26 "165%, 166 
 xiv. 27 : 92 
 xvi. 18 . 162 
 xvii. 2 xviii, 35 
 xviii. 27 ZO 
 xxii. 19 223 
 xxiii. 54 i 5 133% 
 xxiv. 15. 2 : ς Ὁ ΠΣ 
 xxiv. 39 105, 
 JOHN. 
 iii. 3 : : 216 
 ili. 5 6 
 iii. 8 101 
 rae | 59 
 iv. l 95 
 Vii. l7 157 
 χ. 80 73 
 xiv. 11, 12 73 
 xvi. 28 73 
 xvii. 21, 22 73 
 xix. 91 133* 
 xx. 22 67 
 ACTS. 
 ii. 24 : 40 
 iv. 19 . 192 
 v. 26 - 58 
 Vind « ᾿ 2 : . 103 
 vii. 27 5 : ᾿ - 7 
 vii. 60 32 
 ΧΙ, 22 xviii, 14 
 ΧΥΠ Ὁ ᾿ς : : . 239 
 xviii. 27. : ‘ : 117 
 χΧΙχ θ΄ ‘ : . 242* 
 χχ, 7 74* 
 xx. 28 XXXVI 
 xx. 28 . 369* 
 xx. 29 98 
 xx. 35 xviil, 2 
 
384 INDEX OF 
 ROMANS. 
 
 Texts Page 
 i. 29. 25 
 132. 5 25 
 li. 24 2 8 
 ii.9,10 . XXVii 
 iv. 3. : ol 
 vi. 17 : A 783 
 vill. 9 ᾿ . 188* 
 ix. 3 : : ΘῈ 
 ix. 4 A ὃ : 2 . XVili 
 Ἴχ Ξ 23 
 ix. 19,20. ς 20 
 Xi2) Fs 189. 191. 202 
 xii. 5 xviii, 34 
 xiii. 1 . 317 
 xiv. 1 . XVili 
 xiv. 10 48, 49 
 xiv. 11 . 206 
 xvi. 1 ...11] 
 
 1 CORINTHIANS. 
 
 i. 10. : A Og) 
 1.12; 2 Xvi, Xvii, 35 
 1. 183 XXXviii* 
 i. 18—24 67 
 1. 20. 67 
 1.24. ὃ 102 
 ii. 1. 4. 6. 18 : 192 
 iu.9. : : 25. 130 
 iv. 4. 2 Xxxvii*, 91 
 v. 10 49 
 V12). . 8] 
 vi. 9, 10 48. 66 
 vii. 11 5 88 
 vii. 25 . 104 
 vii. 34 64. 114 
 viii. 4 2. 269 
 ix. 27 84 
 KG 66 
 x. 24 . XViil 
 xi. 18—20 xvii, 65*. 74*, 108 
 xi. 31 3 32 
 χὶὶ. 34 
 xii. 12 xviii 
 xii. 13 27 
 xiii. 4 xviii 
 xili. 7 37 
 Xivsoo - 69 
 xv. 8 2 96 
 xv. 20. 36. 38 XViii 
 KV ei 29*. 74* 
 xvi. 15. 17 xii 
 xvi. 18. 57 
 2 CORINTHIANS 
 li. 3 : 3 
 iii. 8 48 
 iv. 18 89 
 Ὡς 355 
 v. 10 xviii 
 v. 18 Ὁ Ὁ] 
 vi. 7 Ἔ ΧΧΥΙΪΪ 
 
 SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 
 
 2 CORINTHIANS (continued). 
 Texts Page 
 vi. 10 : . 370* 
 γι 1.15΄- : τς τ, 
 vi. 16 54*, 99. 123 
 vii. 13 . 192 
 viii. 5 Xvill, 57 
 xi. 6. 10 
 xi. 9. . Xviii 
 xi. 25 myiilts 11. 24 
 xii. 20 : 25 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 seal bere : ὲ 52. 98 
 Water Xviii 
 ii. 9. 5 
 iv. 6. - 183* 
 iv. 26 5 XXVii 
 iv. 27 207 
 v.4. 74 
 v.17 62 
 Visi 4's 4 
 vi. 9. 2 
 EPHESIANS. 
 Tao ‘ xxxiii*, 55 
 ii. 20 .62*. 100* 
 li, 22 XXxXvii* 
 iii. 8, 9 46 
 ii. 19 : : Fs F . δῦ 
 γι... Ξ : : : . 988 
 ἵν Ones - o 7163 
 iv. 4. ἐ Ἶ Xviii, 34. 76 
 iv. 19 46 
 iv. 26 . XXvii, 52 
 Vevliys xxvii, 51. 56. 63 
 Were). . 56 
 v. 25 27. 73: 117 
 γ1.:-.15. 1 Xxxvii* 
 vi. 14. 18 63* 
 viii. 18 84* 
 PHILIPPIANS. 
 i A Ν Ξ ὃ : 51 
 i. 10. Xviii 
 1.19. 188 
 12]. . XXXvii, 93 
 i. 23, 24 XVill 
 ne δ. ΘῈ, 369* 
 ii. 16 XXVii 
 ii. 30 40* 
 iii. 9. 79 
 iii. 17 73 
 iii. 20 370* 
 iv. 3. ΙΧ 
 ἵν: Οἱ: % 17 
 iv. 15 35* 
 v. 25 XxXXxvii* 
 COLOSSIANS 
 i. 10 Z xxiii 
 i. 28 ξ : 5 : XXVii 
 "1. 14:15΄ς 2 195 
 iil: 5 46. 51 
 
1 THESSALONIANS. 
 
 INDEX OF SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 
 
 HEBREWS (continued). 
 
 Texts Page | Texts Page 
 Way Ὁ : . 30 xi. 8. 20 xviii 
 iv. 13.15. : . 82 ΧΙ 9] xviii 
 v.17 47. 63.114 ΧΙ 2. 13 
 v. 22 5 - xxvii, 51 xii. 6 = 41 
 v. 23 3 . 103 ΧΗ Bog XViii 
 xiii. 15 315 
 2 THESSALONIANS. 
 ryt ὁ ὃ XXVi, XXVii JAMES. 
 iii. 13 24 1. δ΄: , : xviii 
 tig 18 
 1 TIMOTHY. ii. 21. 24 xviii 
 en eae 7 ᾿ : : Xviii ii. 23 7.15 
 1.1.2 . xxvii, 317 iii. 13 XViii 
 "ἃ. Xviii, 2] hp ote xviii 
 11.8. XXvili iv. 6. 22. 59 
 iii. 13 XVili v. 16 59 
 iv. 5. ~ 999Ὲ 
 Ved “0 1 PETER. 
 . 21 17 1.11 : ‘ A 188* 
 vi. 7. 10 47 ὶ. 8.12. 2] : 46 
 bibs ite 
 2 TIMOTHY. ee ae 317 
 1. 16ς A 5 By Gy ii. 11 1*. 48 
 ii. 4. XXXVii ii. 13 317 
 1.11 XXvil ii. 12 δ] 
 1.1. Xvili ii. 17 Xxvii 
 iv. 10 XXvli li. 22, 24 50 
 iii. 9 46 
 TITUS. iii. 18 141 
 i. 16 δι ἢ 135* | iv. 5. XXvii 
 115). 91 iv.7. 49 
 iii. 1. 317 iv. 8. . Xviii, 37 
 iii. 9 74 iv. 10, 11 : 124* 
 iv. 15 ᾿ : A 154 
 PHILEMON. v. 5. XVili, 2. 22. 27. 42. 59 
 i. 20 : : Xxxvii*, 57 
 2 PETER. 
 HEBREWS. 5. - : 6 
 a Phi : : 8 | ἢ. 5, 6 xviii 
 1 ὦ, 9... 19 20 lil. 4. xvill 
 io. 13 XVili 
 ge We . 159 1 JOHN. 
 π. LS 2 . 219 iii. 16 ; 2 . 69 
 ὙΠ ΩΝ 14. 31] ἵν. 3. 49. 83* 
 ili. 2. 5 : xviii A 
 iv. 12 . xxvil, 101 JUDE. ᾿ 
 iv. 14 : xvili, xxvii oar . ἢ ΧΧΥῚΙ 
 vi. 8. 13—15 xviii* 
 vi. 18 20 REVELATION. 
 vi. 20 ΧΑ) 1. 8. : 3 2 : 76 
 vii. 3 xxvii* | ii. 8. 10 Xxii 
 ix. 26 73 xiii. 16 72 
 xi. 5 xviii, 7 Σχ. 2 181 
 xi. ὅ. 8 22 xxii. 1] 24 
 THE END. 
 
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