precis .jpsiifr^^ /m l^LcM-,. LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF CHURCH LIFE BY JOHN STOUGHTON, D.D. NEW YORK A. S. BARNES & CO. 56, EAST ioth STREET 1895 PREFACE A FEW years ago I printed for private circu lation a small volume on the lights and shadows of primitive Christendom, confining my view to the first three centuries, when the Church was unconnected with the State. Copies of the book were forwarded to several clergymen, in cluding some distinguished scholars whom it was my privilege to know, and a number of Noncon formist brethren, including , College professors and others of acknowledged learning. They asked me why I did not publish what I had written. Their kindly commendations encouraged me to review and revise the essay ; and I saw it was advisable, if I did so, to continue my review down to the end of the sixth century, when the Church appeared under a new aspect, as protected and patronised by the State. The approval of Episcopalian friends I took as PREFACE a recognition of the unsectarian purport of what I had written. The same spirit I had manifested in the first part of what I wrote I have endea voured to maintain in the second. My intention has been to present certain salient points in the constitution and proceedings of early Christendom, rather than to cover the whole ground which belongs to what is called "a history of the Church." Much is by me passed over which belongs to such a work as that title indicates, and subjects on the following pages are introduced not usually noticed by ecclesiastical historians. My aim is to point out on the one hand Christian excellences, and on the other religious defects. If we confine attention to what corroborates our own beliefs, and decline referring to what opposes them, we take the place, not of historians, but of advocates, probably at the expense of historical justice, and certainly we miss the opportunity of affording warnings and cautions to those who stand in need of them. Also, if we pay exclusive or principal attention to the shady side of our subject, and shut out or obscure what illustrates genuine principles and examples not adopted by ourselves, we sacrifice benefits which can be gained only by a study of the entire subject. PREFACE vii Illustrations of faith and holiness, in those from whom more or less we differ, should be to us inspiring no less- than grateful ; and traces of error, superstition, and worldliness seen in those who have set us a good example in other respects should be used as warnings, helpful in the resist ance of temptations besetting people in the nineteenth century as they did those of the first six. Christendom and Christianity are not the same. Christianity pure and simple is the source of real goodness ; but Christendom produces what is no part of Christianity. A system of doctrine and discipline exists in Revelation as a planetary system exists in the starry skies ; and as in nature, so in Revelation, Divine guidance should be sought in daily life. Astronomical schemes have been contrived contrary to the original order published long ago and stereotyped ; in like manner schemes of religious faith and ecclesiastical polity have been proposed in Christendom very different from inspired statutes in the Old and New Testa ments. The rise and progress of innovations in beliefs and practice it is our duty to trace to their real sources — some obvious, others difficult to discover. vm PREFACE Such discovery is the business of students in ecclesiastical history, and help in this direction is an object designedA and desired by the author of the present volume. Our judgment of principles and persons should not be guided by the same rules. Principles are not affected by times and circumstances ; they remain unalterable age after age, and what was taught by inspired Apostles remains the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. The forget- fulness of this has caused more mischief in Christendom than historians have discovered. But individual character is influenced to a wonderful extent by the age in which our lots are cast. Christians of the first six centuries are not to be judged in the same way as Christians of the nineteenth. There is a passage in the Second Epistle of Peter where the writer speaks of being diligent in the Christian life, by adding to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity. A beautiful addition is that to our pro fessed Christianity, for it is adapted to conciliate and bring over to Christ's side and service those who, at present, stand aloof. I believe nothing can be more winning on the Church's side than PREFACE ix to gather up and reflect lights which the Divine Lord kindled long ago, and keeps shining in Christian literature still. Brotherly kindness and charity will effect what nothing else can accom plish. " Charity suffereth long, and is kind ; charity envieth not ; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil ; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth ; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.'' The extent to which this charity is absent accounts for still existing shadows in contemporary Christendom. The great lights in literature have not always been charitably regarded. For instance, amongst primitive Fathers Origen of Alexandria has often been regarded simply as an example of theo logical self-sufficiency, making human reason the supreme test of truth and righteousness, and obstinately refusing to come under the yoke of Divine Revelation. On the other hand, Augustine of Hippo is regarded as self-bound on the chain of an eternal predestination, without any freedom of human activity and human choice. Some critics regard opinions, thus apprehended, as the x PREFACE sum and substance of specimens in patristic teaching. Thus wrong has been done to both. Even where " brotherly kindness " has been shown to these authors, as men of genius, charity has been denied to them as Christian teachers, and they have been unsparingly condemned. In other quarters such authors have been discriminatively treated, and what in them is true has been sifted out of what is erroneous. Such a course is what reason and justice demand. It is such an ideal course that I have endeavoured to pursue in the following pages ; but I fear not with the success desired. Note.— Owing to imperfection of sight at my advanced age (87), I have been mainly dependent on my dear daughter, Mrs. Lewis, for corrections of the press ; her assistance in many other ways has been of essential service in preparing this volume for publication. CONTENTS PART I CHAPTER I PAGE INSPIRED RECORDS AND OTHER CHRISTIAN WRIT INGS . .1 CHAPTER II RELIGIOUS NOVELS ... .... 14 CHAPTER III LANDMARKS OF EARLY ECCLESIASTICISM ... 25 CHAPTER IV LEADERS AND SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT .... 49 CHAPTER V DIFFUSION OF CHRISTIANITY . . . go CHAPTER VI PERSECUTION AND HEROISM .... .108 CONTENTS PART II CHAPTER I PAGE CHURCH AND STATE UNDER CONSTANTINE . . .129 CHAPTER II SUBSEQUENT EMPERORS .... . . 148 CHAPTER III POST-NICENE COUNCILS . . . . l(12 CHAPTER IV EASTERN SEES, BISHOPS, AND FAMILIES . . .182 CHAPTER V AFRICAN CHURCHES . CHAPTER VI WESTERN BISHOPS .... CHAPTER VII EPISCOPAL ROME AND ITS CATACOMBS 211 226 239 CONTENTS CHAPTER VIII PAGE LATIN DIVINITY. . . • 259 CHAPTER IX RELIGIOUS WORSHIP . • 280 CHAPTER X INCIPIENT EUROPEAN NATIONALISM . 289 CHAPTER XI MONKS AND MISSIONS 312 CHAPTER XII ECCLESIASTICAL REVENUE AND OUTSIDE HELP . . 332 CHAPTER XIII SEPARATION BETWEEN EASTERN AND WESTERN CHRISTENDOM 34 ' CHAPTER XIV THE BORDERLAND OF CHRISTENDOM . . . . 35 1 CHAPTER XV THE DIVINE LAWBOOK OF THE CHURCH . . • 359 CONTENTS CHAPTER XVI PAGE HOLY CATHOLIC COMMUNION . . . 372 CHAPTER XVII ON THE EDGE OF THE DARK AGES . . 381 INDEX . ... . . 38Q PART I CHAPTER I INSPIRED RECORDS AND OTHER CHRISTIAN WRITINGS NO one can study the origin of Christianity as we find it in Scripture, without being struck with the large information afforded on the subject. Buddhism, Brahmanism, Parseeism, are indistinct, as to origin and early progress. But in the New Testament we are face to face with the Divine Founder of our faith, and His disciples. In the four Gospels, with the Acts and the Epistles, we learn the foundation of Christianity ; in the Acts of the Apostles we discover the beginnings of Christendom. The four Gospels reveal the history of our Lord ; and as old painters sometimes put their initials in the corner of their pictures, so the first Evangelist introduces his name in an early part of his narrative : " And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man, named . I 2 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF CHRISTENDOM [Parti Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom ; and He saith unto him, Follow Me. And he arose and followed Him." 1 Sharp-sighted, clear-headed, honest-hearted, with a divinely given mastery of his subject, he wrote down what he had seen and heard, while following the Lord. At the beginning of his Gospel he reports the Sermon on the Mount; and at the close, a prophetic discourse touching the world's end, and the division of mankind into two com panies, as "the shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." The second historian is Mark — to a large extent the amanuensis of Peter, who refers to him in his First Epistle, saying, " The Church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you ; and so doth Marcus my son!' 2 This connection of the two, Mark and Peter, in authorship, gives special interest to the second Gospel, imparting a touch of inimitable ten derness to the angelic message after the resurrection, " Go, tell His disciples and Peter that He goeth be fore you into Galilee." 3 Justin Martyr calls Mark's Gospel " The Reminiscences of Peter." Tertullian says the Gospel is named after Mark, because " Mark edited the Gospel of Peter " ; Irenaeus adds, " Mark 1 Matt. ix. 9. 2 j Peter v. 13. 3 Mark xvi. 7. Ch. I] INSPIRED RECORDS, ETC. 3 wrote it after the Exodus of Peter." Jerome describes it as '' Peter's narration, and Mark's penmanship." 1 With these testimonies still preserved, we can scarcely doubt Peter's share in the composition of the second Gospel. It is remarkable that sections, peculiar to Matthew and Luke, have no corresponding passages in Mark. The third historian, Luke, like Mark, was not a personal witness of the Saviour's words and deeds. The author tells us the way in which he produced his history : " Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us, which from the be ginning were eye-witnesses, and ministers of the Word [i.e. the Apostles] ; it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most ex cellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed." 2 Luke was the companion of Paul, and as a principal authority for some facts and words 1 Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, 106 ; Ter- tullian, Marc, 4, 5 ; Irenseus, Hcer., iii., 1 ; Jerome, Catal. 2 Luke i. 1-4. 4 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF CHRISTENDOM [Part I employed in the third narrative, Luke was, doubtless, indebted to the Apostle Paul, who had seen the glory of the Lord, not in the days of His pilgrimage on earth, but in the midday sky after His enthronement in heaven. For the credibility of these three Gospels, then, we have the highest historical evidence, and if any one rejects that evidence, so great in its amount, the whole history of the world, down to that period, must to him, if consistent, be in a doubtful condition. We come to the fourth Gospel. A theory has been invented that it did not appear till about the middle of the second century. But if internal proof carries with it authority, this wonderful book carries credentials sufficient to satisfy all unprejudiced in quirers. It is surprising how any critic, acquainted with second-century literature, can attempt to ac count for such an exception as this to productions of that period. We shall have occasion, presently, to notice narratives written then, and it will be plainly seen what a contrast the fourth evangelical narrative presents to traditional stories and to ob vious fictions written at that time. The comparison demonstrates the difference between them and the fourth Gospel. Long discourses and minutely Ch.rj INSPIRED RECORDS, ETC. 5 detailed conversations are rehearsed in that Gospel, which, if corredtly given without supernatural aid, or if preserved only by tradition, must appear such a literary marvel, that it is far easier even on rationalistic grounds to accept it at once as a Divine record of what took place. The enlightenment of the Holy Spirit alone explains the origin of tins unique production. Inspiration alone accounts for the origin of the Gospel according to St. John. So it was accepted by those who lived soon after ward. Modern scholarship has gone patiently into this question touching the origin of Christianity and the Church, and the evidence supporting the fourth Gospel.1 In the Acts of the Apostles we read of marvels on the day of Pentecost, the cloven tongues of fire on the heads of the Apostles, their speaking in languages they had never learnt, as the Spirit gave them utterance. " And the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." These were so many miraculous lights to shine on a dark world. That Whitsuntide was the birth- 1 To enter at large upon controversies touching the fourth Gospel is impossible within the limits of this work. I must refer the reader to what has been written on the subject by Westcott and others. 6 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF CHRISTENDOM [Part I day of Christendom, but shadows soon overcast the Church's sky. In the same book we are told that certain men came down to Antioch from Judasa, and taught the brethren, saying, " Except ye be circumcised after the custom of Moses, ye cannot be saved." 1 We are not surprised that sons of Abraham imagined the rite of circumcision to be binding on Gentiles, saved by faith like Abraham himself. Their inference, however, was mistaken. We are distinctly told the rule for Jews was not binding on Gentile followers of Abraham's faith. God did not put a yoke " on the necks of Christ's disciples " which neither their fathers nor they were able to bear. The old law was abolished. "Not at once did a severance between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians take place. It was more manifest after the fall of Jerusalem than before. Then the custom in the synagogues of cursing apostates from the law became prevalent and established ; and this would naturally rend asunder any previously existing friendly relationship." 2 Other dark shadows fall across our path as we pursue the early history of Christendom. Paul says 1 Acts xv. i. * See Westcott, Epistle to the Hebrews, Int. 7 Ch.I] INSPIRED RECORDS, ETC. to the Corinthians : " I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ." x Further, he urges Timothy to warn the brethren against " profane and old wives' fables."2 He predicts that some would "fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, . . . forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats." 3 Also he refers to a coming time when sound doctrine would not be endured by some having itching ears, who would turn from truth to fables.4 Peter predicts, as near at hand, the activity of " false teachers, denying even the Master that bought them."5 Thus were painted before the eyes of early Christians, pastures where not only the flock might feed, but where also wolves would prowl. The second Eden, like the first, would have in it a serpent "more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made." 6 Warnings are accompanied by unmistakable allusions to contemporary facts. We are startled when told that there were among the Christians at Corinth those who denied the distinguishing doctrine 1 2 Cor. xi. 3. 3 1 Tim. iv. 1,3. 5 2 Peter ii. 1. 2 1 Tim. iv. 7. * 2 Tim. iv. 3. 6 Gen. iii. I. 8 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF CHRISTENDOM [Parti of the Gospel. " Now," writes Pam to the Church there, "if Christ is preached that He hath been raised from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?"1 It seems almost incredible to those who have only sunny views of primitive Christendom, that Paul should have written in his second letter to Timothy,2 "This thou knowest, that all that are in Asia turned away from me ; of whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes." How strange to read of "unruly men," "vain talkers and deceivers, teaching things they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake," and of "questionings and strifes unprofitable and vain " ; and of a man heretical (or factious), who after admonition ought to be avoided ; 3 and of Hymenaeus and Philetus, who said the resurrection • was past, and overthrew the faith of some.4 Once more, we find the Apostle John declaring, " Even now have there arisen many antichrists ; whereby we know that it is the last hour." Also, he says, " Many deceivers are gone forth into the world, even they that confess not that Jesus Christ cometh in the flesh."5 We have in the Epistle to the Hebrews a view 1 i Cor. xv. 12. 4 2 Tim. ii. 17. s 2 Tim. i. 15. 5 1 John ii. 18 ; 2 John 7. 8 Titus i. 10, 11; iii. 9, 10. Ch. I] INSPIRED RECORDS, ETC. 9 of Christian life such as is drawn in detail nowhere else. It represents a remarkable phase in the Church's growth. Its enthusiasm, its first hope, had passed. Believers began to reckon loss and gain. Some were inclined to overrate the loss ; and we learn elsewhere that dark clouds overhung the sky. From all this we see that Christendom is historical ; subject, in the lives of its professors, to common temptations. We perceive that its early difficulties were not dealt with tentatively, as if truth resulted only from free conflict of thought. " The false view was met at once by the corresponding lesson. Error called out the decisive teaching, but it had no part in creating it."1 In the Third Epistle of John we read of " Dio- trephes, who loveth to have the pre-eminence." Was he a presbyter, a deacon, or, in modern phrase, a layman ? At all events, he was an unfavourable specimen of early professors. This is not strange. But what follows is so. Diotrephes " receiveth us not. Therefore, if I come, I will bring to remembrance his works which he doeth, prating against us with wicked words : and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren " (whom St. John 1 Westcott, Epistle to the Hebrews, Int., xxxvii. 10 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF CHRISTENDOM [Parti sent), "and them that would, he forbiddeth and casteth them out of the Church." Differences of opinion occurred even between Peter and Paul ; Jewish and Gentile Churches fell into controversy; party spirit broke out in Corinth ; 1 and beyond all, there was one who abused "that disciple whom Jesus loved," and would not receive those whom he sent. Reading the New Testament for edification, we are apt to overlook these scattered notices ; but they are windows through which one catches sight of existing evils around and within. There is a curious relic of ancient date bearing the name of Barnabas, and spoken of as written by the fellow-labourer of St. Paul. Clement of Alexandria so regarded it.2 Origen cites it as the Catholic Epistle of Barnabas,3 and it is found in the Sinaitic manuscript of the New Testament. Westcott sum marises its character thus : " It treats the Mosaic legislation as having only a symbolical meaning. It had no historical, no disciplinary value whatever. The outward embodiment of the enigmatic ordinances was a pernicious delusion. As a mere fleshly ob- 1 Gal. ii, ii ; Acts xv. ; i Cor. i. 10-17. 2 Strom., vi., 84. 3 Contra Celsum, i., 63. Ch. I] INSPIRED RECORDS, ETC. II servance circumcision was the work of an evil power." 1 The contents are inconsistent with apostolic authorship, and the production is to me a great puzzle.2 At the close of the first century, and early in the second, a group of letters appeared written by " Apostolic Fathers." The earliest is from the pen of Clement, Bishop of Rome, whose death is dated under the year ioo A.D. It appears possible that in the Clementines, to be presently noticed, there are fragments of truth respecting Clement's relatives, but they throw no light whatever upon his biography. Legends followed touching his martyrdom, and the transportation of his relics to the East, where they were said to be discovered by Greek missionaries. The first of the two epistles ascribed to Clement is genuine. There is in it nothing, properly speaking, historical, nor, in the exact sense, theological. It is simply practical and religious ; it supplies no reference to any apocryphal literature. 1 Westcott, Epistle to the Hebrews, lxxxii. 2 There is a learned pamphlet, entitled An Argument by Constantine Tischendorf with a narrative of the discovery of the Sinaitic Manuscript, translated and published by the Religious Tract Society, in which this Epistle of Barnabas is critically noticed, in a chapter on " The Testimony of Apostolic Fathers.'' 13 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF CHRISTENDOM [Parti The next Father is Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, martyred at Rome early in the second century — to be noticed hereafter. The use made of his writings will also be noticed in a future chapter. Exhortations to unity, faith, and the confession of Christ; a con demnation of false teachers, and an expression of a desire for speedy dismissal from a world of sin and sorrow, are characteristics of the Ignatian remains. An epistle, by an unknown author, addressed to Diognetus is without date, but no doubt it belongs to the early part of the second century, and is a precious relic. He says : " God did not, as one might have imagined, send to men any servant, or angel, or ruler, or any who bear sway over the earth, or one to whom the government of things in the heavens has been entrusted, but the very Creator and Fashioner of all — by whom He made the heavens —by whom He enclosed the sea within its bounds — whose ordinances the stars observe — from whom the sun received the measure of his course— whom the moon obeys — whom the stars obey, following the moon in her course ; by whom all things have been placed within their limits, and to whom all are subject— the heavens and the things that are therein, the earth and the things that are therein, the sea and the things therein. He gave His own Ch.l] INSPIRED RECORDS, ETC. 13 Son as a ransom for us, the holy for transgressors, the blameless for the wicked, the righteous for the unrighteous, the incorruptible for the corrupted, the immortal for those that die. What else was capable of covering our sins but His righteousness ? O sweet exchange ! O unsearchable operation ! O benefits surpassing all expectation ! that the wickedness of many should be hid in a righteous One, and that the righteousness of One should justify many transgressors." He would have Christians trust His loving-kindness, and regard Him as " Nourisher, Parent, Teacher, Counsellor, Healer, Wisdom, Light, Honour, Glory, Power, and Life." CHAPTER II RELIGIOUS NOVELS WE must now notice productions different from those just described. Fiction has played a considerable part in the literature of all ages and communities. Christendom presents no exception. Much has been written respecting one of the oldest books we have — The Shepherd of Hennas — belonging to the second century, and containing six visions, twelve commandments, and ten similitudes. The Church is represented with six youths, who are bid to go and build ; with stones provided, white and square, signifying apostles, bishops, and teachers, living in Gospel holiness. Other stones, representing reprobate teachers, are set aside. Then appear seven women, who are Faith and her daughters — Self-restraint, Simplicity, Guileless- ness, Chastity, Intelligence, and Love. Tribulation Ch.ll] RELIGIONS NOVELS 15 approaches her in the form of wild beasts. Then comes a man, in shepherd's attire, from whom the book derives its title, and he delivers twelve com mandments in figurative words. The ten similitudes refer to faith, fasting, repentance, and good works ; and present an elaborate allegory relative to building up the Church militant and triumphant. In the ninth similitude, respecting the Church under the image of a tower, stones are represented as piled up, symbolical of righteous men during the first and second ages, and of apostles, prophets, and teachers. Those not baptised before, were after death " sealed with the seal of the Son of God." The seal is water, into which souls enter subject to death, and rise out of it appointed to life. The Clementines figure in the history of early centuries. They consist of Recognitions and Homilies, with an epitome or abridgment. They all turn on the history of Clement. The Greek original of the Recognitions is lost, but a Latin version of it has been preserved. There is also in existence a Syriac translation of the first three books. Its circulation, with the other Clementines, was probably large, and its influence is to be estimated accordingly. The chief characters in this fiction are Simon Magus, the Apostle Peter, and Clement of Rome with his family. 1 6 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF CHRISTENDOM [Part I A slight sketch of its contents will give the reader some idea of its nature and tendency. Of Simon Magus impossible stories are told. He declares : " I have flown through the air. I have made myself a body of fire. I can make statues move, and give life to what is dead. Angels uphold me with their wings." His tricks exceed those of clever conjurers in our day. Much is said of his transforma tions. He appeared with other people's faces. The title of Recognitions relates to Clement's family. Faustinianus is his father, Mattidia his mother ; Faustus and Faustinus are twin brothers. Suddenly the mother departs from her husband, in obedience, she says, to a dream which she had feigned as an excuse for escaping the licentious solicitations of her brother-in-law. In her flight she takes the twin boys, and the father cannot learn what has become of them. At length he goes him self in search of the wanderers, leaving Clement behind, who, in his thirty-second year, travels after them. He meets with Peter at Cassarea, and an intimate friendship springs up between the two. A beggar-woman appears, who turns out to be the lost mother. Then follows the discovery of the twins, after they had suffered shipwreck. What had become of the father? He is recognised in the Ch.II] RELIGIOUS NOVELS 17 person of an old workman, casually met with. A long discussion follows by the seaside respecting generation, creation, providence, the atomic theory, the human body, and other subjects, including the origin of evil. Before this talk is over, the parties enter upon heathen mythology, and describe the doings of gods and goddesses. The " novel " closes with the baptism of Mattidia in the sea, her sons being present. The Homilies are not sermons, but twenty chapters going over the same ground, and giving a confused and wearisome account of Clement and Appion — the latter a grammarian of Alexandria. The chapters contain offensive descriptions, mixed up with magical absurdities. They are followed by revolting con versations and correspondence, together with amorous tales of Greek deities. Numerous pages are full of heathen mythology, with allegorical explanations. I do not, however, find any sympathy expressed with what is evil ; on the contrary, some amount of moral and religious instruction may be found amongst much of a different kind. The origin of the Clementines has been discussed ; x but the moral significance of 1 It is impossible here to enter upon this question ; I can only refer to a full discussion of it in Smith's Dictionary of Christian Biography, article " Clementine Literature." Ill 2 1 8 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF CHRISTENDOM [Parti this early romance does not appear to me to have been sufficiently considered. With the fictitious literature of early Christendom must be included a number of apocryphal gospels, and other writings of a similar character. Some are of later date than the third century. Indeed, their origin is uncertain ; and the earliest, probably, have been more or less interpolated and changed. The Protevangelium of fames, translated repeatedly — fifty MSS. of it in the original are said still to exist — relates to the birth of our Lord's mother, and contains the story of Joachim, Anna, and the Christ-Child, as conveyed in early legends, and depicted by Giotto and other mediaeval artists. Similar tales are found in The Gospel of Mary's Nativity, The History of foseph the Carpenter, and The Gospel of Thomas. In the last of these, actions are attributed to our Saviour's boyhood derogatory to His holy character. The Gospel of Nicodemus describes Christ's descent into Hades. Of about twenty such works, I can notice, in addition to those now mentioned, only The Passing of Mary and The Acts of Paul and Thecla. T/ie Passing of Mary contains marvellous accounts of the apostles gathering about her ; together with the visit of angelic multitudes, her celestial assump tion, the descent of Christ to receive her soul, the Ch.H] RELIGIOUS NOVELS 19 dropping of her girdle into the hands of St. Thomas, and a meeting between the Virgin and St. Paul in Paradise. The Acts of Paul and Thecla form an incredible story, in which the damsel is described as visiting the Apostle in prison, " enchained to him by affection." The Virgin is the principal subject in The Gospel of the Nativity and The History offoseph the Carpenter. The falling asleep and The passing away of Mary present a story of her birth, visits paid to her by angels, her spinning purple and scarlet for the Temple, her conception, her marriage with Joseph, her presence at his death, the gathering of the apostles at her funeral, the assumption of her body to heaven, her meeting with Paul in Paradise, and the homage paid her by angels. The picturesqueness and poetry manifest in these details are made familiar to art students by Italian painters. Such legends grew up by degrees, and vary in different recensions — Syriac, Arabic, Greek, and Latin. Tischendorf assigns their earliest date to the fourth century ; but it is probable that germs of them existed at an earlier period ; large additions were made afterwards. Grote, in his History of Greece, justly remarks : " Neither discrepancies nor want of evidence, in refer ence to alleged antiquities, shocked the faith of a 20 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF CHRISTENDOM [Part I non-historical public. What they wanted was a picture of the past, impressive to their feelings and plausible to their imagination." 1 The remark may be applied to the credulity of many early Christians. The same author says: "Even during the third century of the Christian era, when the old forms of Paganism were waning, and when the stock of myths in existence was extremely abundant, we see this demand in great force." A spirit in the air would be likely to affect large classes distinct from each other. Christian apologists saw clearly enough the absurdities of heathen fables. How they regarded these stories, which made way among ignorant Christians, does not appear. If some productions now noticed were heretical, most were chiefly intended to gratify curiosity and a love for the marvellous ; hence their circulation is not likely to have been confined to particular sects. Orthodox and heretical people do not appear to have been gathered into distinct camps, though contro versial writings may suggest that idea. People of different opinions talked together and told sensational tales ; they read what was written, and the influence of fiction would be diffused over a wide circle. 1 History of Greece, vol. i., p. 43, edit. 1869. Ch.IIj RELIGIOUS NOVELS 21 Perhaps some readers nowadays, after being reminded of apocryphal gospels and similar writings, may wonder why anybody should care to examine their contents. Like many things, however, which a hasty judgment would doom to destruction, these remains may be put to useful account. Examination of them serves to show, by way of contrast, the superiority of Holy Scripture, and how wisely, through Divine direction, those thoughtful men who settled the Canon set the apocryphal aside. To study these relics critically is an aid to faith ; such study has been employed in establishing the genuine ness and authority of our New Testament. More than this, they are of historical, though not of religious use, throwing light on the period to which they pertain. They are specimens of a large class circulated about the same time — a number of them known only by their titles. The works them selves have perished, a fate probably they deserved. But the fact of their existing when they did, dissi pates the delusion that those who lived so near apostolic days, and honoured Christ's family and personal followers, must have been eminent Christian people, more intelligent and devout than those of aftertimes. Perhaps this mistaken idea exists still. What is more serious, no attempt appears to have 22 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF CHRISTENDOM [Part I been made at the time of their first circulation to expose their falsity. Wherever they were accepted their effect must have been injurious. Before I finish notices of this kind, mention should be made of recent discoveries in an old cemetery at Panapolis, Upper Egypt. An apocalypse— a Gospel of Peter— has been found there. Peter, it is related, had secrets of the other world revealed to him, and the redeemed were seen "white as driven snow," while the lost were wrapt in " the blackness of dark ness." The following is an extract from The Gospel of Peter : — " And I saw also another place, and it was a place of chastisement ; and those that were being chas tised, and the angels that were chastising, had their raiment dark according to the atmosphere of that place. And there were some there hanging by their tongues, and these were they that blaspheme the way of righteousness. And I saw the murderers and them that had conspired with them cast into a certain narrow place full of evil reptiles, and being smitten by those beasts, and wallowing there thus in that torment ; and there were set upon them worms as it were clouds of darkness. And the souls of them that had been murdered were stand ing and looking upon the punishment of those Ch.II] RELIGIOUS NOVELS 23 murderers, and saying, ' O God, righteous is Thy judgment' " The Gospel of Peter describes Pilate as nothing vithout Herod, and Nicodemus is represented as lilate's friend. Jesus is seen sitting on Pilate's throne ; and it is curious to notice that Archbishop Wiately used to give, "and set Him [i.e. Jesus] on the judgment-seat " (John xix. 1 3), as a legitimate renlering of the original.1 The writer describes our Lorl's crucifixion as painless, and thus indicates himalf as one of the Docetse (so-called), who sup- posec Christ was a man only in appearance. People are presented as carrying lamps during the super- natura darkness at the time of the crucifixion. The writer conveys the idea that the Divine nature descenced on the human Christ at His baptism, and dejarted whilst He hung upon the cross : — " Thee was a great voice from heaven, and (the soldiers) saw the heavens opened, and two men descendiig thence with a great light, and approach- 1 See p. 8 of the work The Gospel according to Peter, and the Revelation^ Peter. Edited by J. Armitage Robinson, B.D., and Montague Ihodes James, M.A. In this pamphlet the writers say: " Arcbishop , Whately used to translate the words in John xix. 13 'and set Him on the judgment-seat'— a legitimate rendering otthe Greek.'' So it seems Justin Martyr read the passage {Apt., I, 35). 24 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF CHRISTENDOM [Partil ing the tomb. And the stone which was put at the door rolled away of itself and departed on one side ; and the tomb was opened, and both the young men i entered it. When therefore the soldiers saw it they; awakened the centurion and the elders, for they tot* were hard by keeping watch ; and as they declared what things they had seen, again they see comng forth from the tomb three men, and the two sup porting the one, and a cross following them. Aid of the two the head reached unto the heavens, put the head of Him that was led overpassed the hea^ns. And they heard a voice from the heavens, saving ' Hast Thou preached to them that sleep ? ' A/d an answer was heard from the cross, ' Yea.' " CHAPTER III LANDMARKS OF EARLY ECCLESIASTICISM IT is well to glance at this subject thus early, because here we have something visible, which must have caught the eye of the outside world at an early period. Doctrines of the Gospel might be unintelligible to outsiders, but the word Ecclesia placed before people what they could see and under stand. The word denoted gatherings of different kinds, but it was specially employed to denote a gathering of Christian people. Its master meaning was a confederation of those who professed to obey Jesus of Nazareth. Divine authority was claimed for such societies. By Divine call, under Divine rule, they professed to meet and conduct their religious affairs. More of a popular element appeared in some cases than in others as to the control of affairs. Christian people at Corinth were conspicuously democratic. 26 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF CHRISTENDOM [Parti Bishops and deacons, as we shall see, were con spicuous in other Christian communities, but no mention of either is made in the Letters to Corinth. We have the echo of cries, " I am of Paul," " I am of Apollos," " I am of Cephas," and " I am of Christ." 1 It would seem that this Church, when assembled, contained members, some claiming to follow one teacher, and some another ; others repudiated these party cries, whilst they adopted another, and pro fessed in a special, if not exclusive sense, that they were followers of Jesus Christ. It is remarkable that in the Pauline Epistles, bishops and deacons are noticed together as ecclesi astical officers only in the case of Philippi.2 The name, however, of Bishop is recognised in the Apostle Paul's address to those who, in the narrative, are distinctly called Elders (Presbyters) of the Church.3 "It is a fact now generally recognised by theologians of all shades of opinion," says Bishop Lightfoot, " that in the language of the New Testament the same office in the Church is called indifferently Bishop and Elder."4 1 i Cor. i. 12. 2 Phil. i. i. 3 Acts xx. 17, 28. * Lightfoot on St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians, p. 95. Ch. Ill] LANDMARKS OF EARLY ECCLESIASTICISM 27 In the Epistle to Ephesus Paul gives a picture of brotherhood and love. " And He gave some to be apostles ; and some, prophets ; and some, evangelists ; and some, pastors and teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the body of Christ : till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." 1 The Epistles to Corinth and to Ephesus convey to us two different aspects under which ecclesiastical life would appear at. the time they were written. When Paul met the presbyters from Ephesus he called them Bishops. The primitive ministry included local and itinerant agents. We read of "apostles," "prophets," "evan gelists"; also of "bishops" and "angels." Seven men of good report, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, were appointed to look after poor brethren and sisters in Jerusalem. These seven disappear, and then we read of "deacons," who performed a like office. Was preaching a diaconal duty? Certainly in those days deacons did preach, but that might mean nothing more than religious conversation ; for 1 Eph. iv. 11-16. 28 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF CHRISTENDOM [Parti Philip, in the Eunuch's chariot, " preached unto him Jesus." We meet, as noticed already, with elders at Ephesus whom Paul addressed as bishops} Philippi, as we have seen, had bishops and deacons. Moreover, Paul uses the word " deacon " in a general as well as an official sense. Peter writes as an "elder." Timothy is named " deacon," and forbidden to rebuke an elder, but to work as "evangelist." Not one is called in the New Testament sacerdos, a priest. What is meant by the mention of " angel," in the epistles to the seven Churches noticed by St. John, has been largely discussed. Origen and Jerome regard it as meaning what is generally understood by the word. Hengstenberg believes it is intended to denote an associated body of rulers — in fact, a " presbytery." Ebrard explains it as signifying some special messenger deputed to St. John, to whom he entrusted an epistle in reply. Lightfoot remarks, whether the word denotes an actual person or per sonification, the " angel " is made responsible for the Church : " He is punished with it, and he is rewarded with it." 2 1 The word iiria-Kcmos, as indicative of ecclesiastical office, occurs four times in the New Testament : Acts xx. 28 ; Phil. i. 1 ; 1 Tim. iii. 2 ; Titus i. 7. 2 St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians, by Lightfoot, p. 200. Ch. Ill] LANDMARKS OF EARLY ECCLESIASTICISM 29 In the Epistle of Paul to Titus, we have directions given, not to a local bishop, but to a missionary superintendent appointed to ordain elders in every city of Crete where Churches were formed.1 Evi dently he had a special commission. We catch some further glimpses of early minis terial orders in a work entitled the Didactic"? spoken of by Clement of Alexandria. There were itinerant teachers who went from place to place under what they regarded as a Divine impulse. They are called " apostles," " prophets," " teachers." We are startled by the following words in this primitive relic : "Every apostle who cometh to you, let him be received as the Lord ; but he shall not remain more than one day ; if, however, there be need, then the next day ; but if he remain three days, he is a false prophet. But when the apostle departs, let him take nothing except bread enough to last him till he reach his resting-place for the night; but if he ask for money he is a false prophet." Were there religious tramps in those days, who made gain of godliness ? The fact that all early Churches were not exactly 1 Titus i. 5. 2 It has been translated and published by the Dean of Gloucester. 30 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF CHRISTENDOM [Part I alike distinctly appears. Corinth, as already noticed, had no bishop, no deacons. Clement writes to them, not in his own name, but in that of his flock. Bishops distinctly appear in the letters of Ignatius to Ephesians, Magnesians, Trallians, Romans, Phila- delphians, and Smyrnians. I cannot find anywhere notice of episcopal rule over a rural congregation. Changes in an episcopal form of government have become a subject of controversy. I content myself with the result of Bishop Lightfoot's researches. The learned author admits that a bishop was still called presbyter by Irenaeus ; that the same estimate of office appears in Clement of Alexandria ; that in the fourth and fifth centuries it was customary for a bishop to address a presbyter as a fellow presbyter ; that there early arose a considerable exal tation of the episcopate ; that the same tendency appears in notices of Ebionism ; that Montanism was a reaction against this change ; that the advance of episcopal power was unconnected with sacerdo talism in the primitive Church, though it rapidly spread at a later date ; that Cyprian was champion of priestliness ; and that later episcopacy was a development caused by surrounding influences.1 1 Lightfoot on Epistle to Philippians, pp. 98, 226, 236, 240-245. Ch.III] LANDMARKS OF EARLY ECCLESIASTICISM 31 Little is said in the New Testament about ordi nation. The word denoting it means " stretching out the hand " to indicate choice. The word used in Acts xiv. 23 (" xeiporovrjo-avTe? ") would literally imply a " show of hands," and whether this was the mode of election or not, we may conclude that Paul and Barnabas called upon the believers to recommend some of their number for the office of elder ; and the persons thus recommended were instructed in their duties, and had the care of the Church com mitted to them.1 The priesthood of the Gospel appears in the New Testament as pertaining to all believers. " Unto Him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by His blood, and He made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto His God and Father," are words at the opening of the Apocalypse to the same effect.2 " A royal priesthood " is an expression which fills us with devout astonishment ; but in the Book of Revelation it embraces the whole redeemed Church of Christ, and is never used to signify ministers of the. Gospel as distinguished from other people. No sacerdotal order, in and over the Church, finds place in the 1 Burton's Lectures on Ecclesiastical History — First Three Centuries, p. 150. 2 Rev. i. 6. 32 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF CHRISTENDOM [Part.I New Testament. When speaking of a priest-like ministration under the present economy, the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews extends it to the whole multitude of the redeemed. "Through Him [Christ, the High Priest of our profession] let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which make confession to His name." 1 But when we turn from these passages to the literature of the second and third centuries, we discover that Christendom was in some quarters being impregnated with a notion that bishops and presbyters were mediators between God and man, like the Aaronic order. Each of the Christian communities, with its pastor or pastors, was complete in itself; but there were bonds of union amongst them of two kinds. We find at an early period traces of commendatory letters sent by one Church to another, relative to disciples, upon their removal from place to place. Wherever a Christian traveller went, if provided with one of these certificates, he found welcome and hospitality.2 Such documents were not given by orthodox Churches to those out of communion with 1 Heb. xiii. 15. Here I follow Dean Vaughan. 2 Tertullian, De Prcescriptionibus Hareticorum, c. 20. Ch. Ill] LANDMARKS OF EARLY ECCLESIASTICISM 33 them ; hence no single practice of early Christians tended so much as this to impress a stamp of unity on collective communities recognising one another. Indeed, a person free of one Christian Church was free of others ; and whilst each Church was an entire fellowship in itself, the aggregate fellowships con stituted an extensive confederation. Gatherings of pastors of different local communities for counsel, and the determination of matters pertaining to the general welfare, constituted interlacing bonds. At an early period of the second century such meetings were held. They increased in Asia and in the West. Councils, however, is a term applied by Tertullian to meetings of a single Church.1 We proceed to notice Christian worship. Preach ing was accompanied by praise and prayer. When we remember the musical character of Jewish service, we do not wonder that " psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs" were common with primitive believers. Pliny says, in his letter to Trajan, " Christians sang hymns to Christ as God." 2 In the primitive Church of the third, if not the second century, catechumens engaged " in a service of song and Scripture reading." This was followed by the united worship of the 1 Tertullian, De Pudicitia. 2 Ep., I., x., 97. 3 34 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF CHRISTENDOM [Part I "faithful," as decided and accepted Christians were called, who joined in the Holy Communion.1 Metrical hymns, it is said, are not earlier than the days of Ambrose. An ancient hymn, ascribed to Clement of Alex andria, is filled with adoration of the Saviour. It is figurative in character and fragmentary in form, but intensely evangelical in spirit — difficult to trans late rhythmically, but clearly conveying the ideas which inspired it. As the wing to a bird, the helm to a ship, the shepherd to his flock, the husbandman to his field, and milk to an infant, such is Christ to the faithful. That is the substance of the hymn. Thoughts struggle for expression ; the neck of the vessel is too narrow for the outlet of what it contains. Bingham tells us there is evidence for set forms of worship in the third century, and adduces Hip- polytus in proof. Palmer, in his Origines, thinks there are strong reasons for believing the so-called Liturgy of St. fames may be traced back from the fifth to the third century. These authors, however, do not supply satisfactory proofs for their assumptions. Perhaps the earliest indication of liturgicak worship is found in a Carthaginian council of the third century. 1 Bingham's Works, Vol. III., pp. 8-n. Ch. Ill] LANDMARKS OF EARLY ECCLESIASTICISM 35 Bingham l has shown that worship was offered, in the ante-Nicene age, to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but not to any saints or angels ; and that it was always expressed in the language of the people. Cyprian refers to the daily celebration of the Eucharist.2 Egyptian Christians took off their shoes on entering church, as I saw them do when I was in Alexandria. Bishop Lightfoot remarks : " The origin of the earliest extant liturgies is a question of high im portance ; and with the increased interest which the subject has aroused in England of late years, it may be hoped that a solution of the problem connected with it will be seriously undertaken ; but no satis factory result will be attained unless it is approached in a thoroughly critical spirit, and without the design of supporting foregone conclusions." 3 "There was at this time no authoritative written liturgy in use in the Church of Rome, but the prayers were modified at the discretion of the officiating minister. Under the dictation of habit and ex perience, however, these prayers were gradually 1 Works, Vol. IV., chaps, ii., iii., iv. 2 De Orat. 3 Apostolic Fathers — Clement of Rome, j.., p. 385. 36 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF CHRISTENDOM [Part I assuming a fixed form ; a more or less definite order in the petitions, a greater or less constancy in the individual expressions, was already perceptible. As the chief pastor of the Romish Church would be the main instrument in thus moulding the liturgy, the prayers, without actually being written down, would assume in his mind a fixity as time went on. When, therefore, at the close of his epistle, he (Clement of Rome) asks his readers to fall on their knees, and lay down their jealousies and disputes, at the foot stool of grace, his language naturally runs into those antithetical forms and measured cadences which his ministrations in the Church had rendered habitual with him when dealing with such a subject. This explanation seems to suit the facts. The prayer is not given as a quotation from an acknowledged document, but as an immediate outpouring of the heart ; yet it has all the appearance of a fixed form. This solution accords, moreover, with the notices which we find elsewhere respecting the liturgy of the early Church, which seem to point to forms of prayer more or less fluctuating, even at a later date than this."1 But worship was always in the common language 1 Lightfoot's Clement of Rome, i., p. 386. Ch. Ill] LANDMARKS OF EARLY ECCLESIASTICISM 37 of the people. " Greeks use Greek, Romans Roman ; every one in his own dialect prays to God and gives thanks. The Lord of all languages hears those who pray in different tongues. He is not as one who selects one language knowing nothing of another." This is what Origen says in his Contra Celsum} The first day of the week — "the Lord's day," as the Apostle John calls it — was kept sacred as far as possible. But a slave was not master of his own time, and therefore many poor people would be debarred the privilege, until after imperial authority had made it a day of rest ; this was indicated by closing the law courts at that season. It requires a great effort in our time to realise the state of society in the first three centuries, as regards the use of the first day. Now it is with us in England a holiday. Business is suspended. Certain amusements are held in abeyance. In apostolic times, and long afterwards, the first day of the week was like other days. Business and amusement went on as usual. Shops were kept open, and so were places of amusement. The Christian slave was at his master's beck and call. He was not free "to attend church," as is now 1 1., viii., c. 37. 38 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF CHRISTENDOM [Parti the case commonly with our domestics. The state of society must have affected Christian habits in ways difficult for us to imagine. Sunday habits, as we may call them, could not be then what they are now. A state of civilisation, in the first three centuries different from ours, must have affected many usages of Christian life. The fact is often overlooked in the use we make of early ecclesiastical precedents. A review of New Testament teaching leaves the impression that all public worship was framed on the basis of a Jewish synagogue rather than the Jewish Temple. If worship was divinely designed to be elaborately ceremonial, as it afterwards be came, it is amazing to find nothing for that purpose taught in either Gospels or Epistles. Vitringa, Bernard, and others have gone far in a theory, that primitive worshippers imitated the Jews in having desk, pulpit, alms-chest, and ark in their solemnities. What we read of Paul's exhortation at Antioch, and his joining devout women at Philippi by "the river side, where prayer was wont to be made " — seems to run on a line with Jewish customs appearing after the return from captivity. But it appears to me that, whilst in the first century a synagogue fashion obtained, there set in N afterwards arrangements for religious Ch. Ill] LANDMARKS OF EARLY ECCLESIASTICISM 39 service more after the Temple form, with its altar and Holy of Holies. There are two Christian ordinances of Divine appointment — baptism and the Lord's Supper. The Teaching of the Twelve, Chap. VIL, says: "Baptise into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in running water. But, if thou hast not running water, baptise in other water ; and if thou canst not in cold, then in warm. But before the baptism let the baptiser and the baptised fast." Tertullian mentions, in connection with baptism, renouncing the devil, his pomps and angels ; " watching, confessing sin, dipping thrice, tasting honey and milk, and abstaining for a week afterwards from daily ablutions." 1 What Tertullian says of baptism is remarkable. He contends that in creation God " dignified the element of water." He says : " Darkness covered the earth, and the heavens were unformed, but water, perfect, cheerful, simple, pure, supplied a vehicle worthy of God. Water was a source of life at the beginning, and is so still. It is fit to be sanctified, and to sanctify. Water, after prayer, becomes the sacrament of sanctifi cation. Not that we obtain the Holy Spirit in water, 1 De Corona, 3. 40 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF CHRISTENDOM [Parti but, being cleansed in water, under the Angel [here Tertullian seems to allude to the Pool of Bethesda], we are prepared for the Holy Spirit." He adds : "Is it not wonderful that death should be washed away by bathing? If wonderful it ought, on that account, rather to be believed."1 I am struck with the different tone in which baptism is spoken of by Tertullian and others, from that employed in the New Testament. Cyprian refers to the baptismal rite as preceded by interrogation, and as being performed by asper sion or effusion, with water sanctified by a priest ; unction also is referred to as administered to the baptised.2 In all cases the name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost was solemnly pronounced ; and we notice that Easter and Pentecost were special seasons for administration. Very strong language respecting its efficacy is also used by Justin Martyr, who calls it " the washing of salvation," "the remedy for birth sin," and "the remission of transgressions " : 3 also by Clement of Alexandria, who writes : " Our transgressions are 1 De Bapt. Tertullian dwells on baptism at length, attaching to it great efficacy. * Ep., lxix., n, 12; lxx., 2, 3. 3 All this and more may be found in his Apol. Ch. Ill] LANDMARKS OF EARLY ECCLESIASTICISM 41 remitted by one sovereign medicine, baptism, accord ing to the Word. Being baptised we are illuminated, being illuminated we are adopted, being adopted we are perfected, being perfected we are immortal." 1 He speaks of life-giving water washing away former stains and pouring into the cleansed breast the light of heaven, of drinking in the Spirit, and being created into a new man by second birth.2 Irenaaus speaks of its regenerating power.3 Cyprian uses strong expressions in reference to baptism : " It remits sin '' ; " justifies, purifies, and sanctifies " ; it is the " laver of salvation " ; it " makes us new men, the sons and the temples of God " ; it is " a holy and heavenly washing," " a consummation of grace," " an entrance on eternal life," death to the old man, birth of the new one. These expressions are employed in his Epistles. Cyprian declares baptismal grace is equally bestowed, but unequally retained, and that Satan, repelled by baptism, returns when faith departs. Also, invalidity of the rite is attributed to its ad ministration by heretics and schismatics.4 After all I have read on the subject I find it hard 1 Pedag., i., 6-12. 3 Adv. H