Imagini ale paginilor
PDF
ePub

neyings of those devout men to the end of their

days.

Christ in the flesh." And this contemplation of their primary calling and dignity, will conduct the mind to some apprehension of the glory they will be seen enjoying when, as the still supremely exalted, and eldest born brethren of Christ, they will judge, on their thrones, the twelve tribes of Israel.

of the church ere the might of Divine power descended to present it to, and to make it one with The whole of these works were rejected by the Christ; they became, when his prayer was answerchurch; and private Christians were warned ed, "sanctify them through thy truth," the types of against their dangerous errors by the many acute Christian believers in all ages and countries of the and pious scholars who devoted themselves to the world; and in their journeyings and sufferings they examination of whatever assumed the title of an show how, according to the language of St. Paul inspired production. Conferences between the the followers of the Redeemer were to go on, “fillbelievers of one city and another, and the succes-ing up that which is behind of the afflictions of sion of highly devout and gifted men, as bishops of the several infant establishments, led gradually to the clear and firm determination of the Scripture canon. Numerous synods, held in subsequent ages, reinvestigated with minute particularity the reason upon which this rule was established; and a line was drawn, which the boldness of heresy has never since been able to pass. But while no The eminent writer of the following memoirs writer, of common penetration or honesty, would merits all the confidence due to distinguished worth venture to look for materials in these counterfeit and ability. His own history may be given in a narratives, there is still a source of information few lines. He was born at the close of the sixopen, to which suspicion cannot justly attach.-teenth, or beginning of the seventeenth century, at This is found in the writings of those fathers who Pickwell, in Leicestershire; the living of which lived in the first three centuries, to the end of parish was held by his father, a man of learning which period much even of the unwritten history and piety, who bore his full share in the troubles of the apostolic age might be carried by a natural endured by the clergy during the civil wars. Our and easy tradition. The epistle generally ascribed author received his education at St. John's Colto Barnabas, though evidently unimportant as to lege, Cambridge; and took the degree of Bachelor doctrine, deserves to be regarded in a much higher of Arts in 1656. He proceeded to the degree of light when consulted simply for historical illustra- Master at the regular period; and in 1662 obtaintion: the same may be said of the remains of ed the vicarage of Islington, and not long after Papias, whose theoretical conceits, though they the dignity of Chaplain in Ordinary to Charles the greatly diminish our confidence in the strength of Second. In 1672 he took the degree of D. D., to his capacity, ought certainly not to deprive him which he was also admitted at the sister univerof all credit as a witness, when the circumstances sity; and in 1681, his merits as a scholar obtainhe mentions have no intrinsic improbability. To ed for him the rectory of Allhallows, and a canonrefuse to believe a writer on a matter of fact, be- ry at Windsor. But the numerous calls which cause he appears incapable of acutely discerning his London preferments made upon him were found between truth and error in theoretical or purely prejudicial to the important labors he had underintellectual subjects, would be to introduce a rule taken as an historian of Christianity; and he that would render it impossible, in most cases, to gladly accepted, in exchange for Islington and get evidence on any subject whatever. In the Allhallows, the vicarage of Isleworth, to which he fragments of such men as Clemens Romanus, Ig- retired in the year 1690; and where he continued natius, Polycarp, the least glimpses of information to enjoy for many years the leisure which he emare of inestimable value; nor is it to be supposed, ployed so greatly to the advantage of religion and when coming to a later period, that writers like learning. His death took place on the 4th of AuOrigen, or Cyprian, or Chrysostom, or the histo- gust, 1713; and he lies buried in the parish rian Eusebius or Theodoret, would not avail them-church of Islington, where a monument is placed selves of the most credible traditions, or that be- to his memory. fore adopting them, they would not fairly examine their claims to belief. That much uncertainty on several points of interest must remain, after every source of information has been investigated, cannot be denied. But this is not to prevent our using the utmost diligence to collect whatever lies within the reach of learning: and it will generally be found, that when the combined caution and sound erudition of Christian scholars are taken as a guide on this subject, that both instruction and satisfaction will follow in the track they have pursued.

To reflecting minds, the biography of Christ's apostles traced out according to these rules, will afford many a refreshing and elevating theme for thought. These messengers of Christ to the world were not teachers merely; they were the foundation-stones of the vast spiritual edifice which Christ and the Holy Spirit will continue to enlarge, till it is commensurate with the predescribed plan of the heavenly Jerusalem: they formed the natural body (19)

83

The works of this distinguished scholar are numerous. The chief are, the "Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Historia Literaria, or, a Literary History of Ecclesiastical Writers;" his "Lives of the Apostles ;" the "Apostolici, or the History of the Lives, Acts, Deaths, and Martyrdoms of those who were cotemporary with, or immediately succeeded the apostles, as also of the most eminent of the Primitive Fathers for the first three hundred years;" the "Primitive Christianity, or the Religion of the Ancient Christians;" the "Tabulæ Ecclesiasticæ, or Tables of the Ecclesiastical Writers;" "A Dissertation concerning the Government of the Ancient church, by Bishops, Metropolitans, and Patriarchs; those particularly concerning the Ancient Power and Jurisdiction of the Bishops of Rome, and the encroachment of that upon other Sees, especially the See of Constantinople;" "Ecclesiastici, or the History of the Lives, Acts, Deaths, and Writings, of the most eminent Fathers of the church, that flourished in

the fourth century: wherein, among other things, an account is given of the rise, growth, and progress of Arianism, and all other sects of that age, descending from it: together with an introduction, containing an Historical account of the State of Paganism under the first Christian Emperor:" and lastly, the "Chartophylax Ecclesiasticus," which is a succinct summary of the principal contents of the Historia Literaria, and an improvement on the Ecclesiastical Tables.

Cave's early estimation as a scholar on the continent is proved by the reprint of his chief work, the Historia Literaria, at Geneva; and of his Ta

bulæ Ecclesiasticæ at Hamburgh: nor can any student of religious history fail of finding in his works most important helps to investigation. Jortin, a writer more witty than acute, and better skilled to perform the part of a compiler than to reason or investigate, has affected to speak sarcastically of Cave's deep attention to the fathers: but the careful reader well knows how to appreciate the respective merits of these men; and even a cursory glance of the "Historia Literaria" of the one, and of the "Remarks on Ecclesiastical History" of the other, will at once show how little pretensions Jortin had to act the part of a critic in regard to this profound scholar.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

IT will not, I suppose, seem improbable to the reader, when I tell him with how much reluctancy and unwillingness I set upon this undertaking, intimately conscious as I was to my own unfitness for such a work at any time, much more when clogged with many habitual infirmities and distempers. I considered the difficulty of the thing itself, perhaps not capable of being well managed by a much better pen than mine; few of the ancient monuments of the church being extant, and little of this nature in those few that are. Indeed, I could not but think it reasonable, that all possible honor should be done to those that first "preached the gospel of peace, and brought glad tidings of good things;" that it was fit men should be taught how much they were obliged to those excellent persons, who were willing at so dear a rate to plant Christianity in the world; who they were, and what was that piety and that patience, that charity and that zeal, which made them to be reverenced while they lived, and their memories ever since to be honorably celebrated through the world; infinitely beyond the glories of Alexander, and the triumphs of a Pompey or a Cæsar. But then how this should be done out of those few imperfect memoirs that have escaped the general shipwreck of church antiquities; and much more by so rude and unskilful a hand as mine, appeared, I confess, a very difficult task, and next door to impossible. These, with some other considerations, made me a long time obstinately resolve against it, till, being overcome by importunity, I yielded to do it as I was able, and as the nature of the thing would bear.

That which I primarily designed to myself, was to draw down the history of the New Testament, especially from our Lord's death; to inquire into the first originals and plantations of the Christian church by the ministry of the apostles, the success

of their doctrine, the power conviction of the miracles, their infinite labors and hardships, and the dreadful sufferings which they underwent; to consider in what instances of piety and virtue they ministered to our imitation, and served the purposes of religion and a holy life. Indeed the accounts that are left us of these things are very short and inconsiderable; sufficient possibly to excite the appetite, not to allay the hunger of an importunate inquirer into these matters. A consideration that might give us just occasion to lament the irreparable loss of those primitive records, which the injury of time hath deprived us of; the substance being gone, and little left us but the shell and carcass. Had we the writings of Papias, bishop of Hierapolis,* and scholar (says Irenæus) to St. John; wherein, as himself tells us, he set down what he had learnt from those who had familiarly conversed with the apostles, the sayings and discourses of Andrew and Peter, of Philip and Thomas, &c.; had we the ancient Commentaries of Hegesippus, Clemens Alexandrinus's Institutions, Africanus's Chronography, and some others, the reader might expect more entire and particular relations. But, alas! these are long since perished, and little besides the names of them transmitted to us. Nor should we have had most of that little which is left us, had not the commendable care and industry of Eusebius preserved it to us. And if he complained, in his time, (when those writings were extant,) that towards the composing of his history he had only some few particular accounts here and there left by the ancients of their times, what cause have we to complain, when even those little portions have been ravished from us? So that he that would build a work of this nature, must look upon himself as condemned to a

* Hist. Eccl. lib. i. c. 2. p. 4.

kind of Egyptian task, to make brick without unerring spirit that presided over them. Others straw, at least to pick it up where he can find it, such, of whose faith and testimony, especially in though after all it amounts to a very slender par- matters of fact, there is no just cause to doubt; I cel. Which as it greatly hinders the beauty and mean the genuine writings of the ancient fathers; completeness of the structure, so does it exceed- or those, which, though unduly assigned to this or ingly multiply the labor and difficulty. For by that particular father, are yet generally allowed to this means I have been forced to gather up those be ancient, and their credit not to be despised, belittle fragments of antiquity, that lie dispersed in cause their proper parent is not certainly known. the writings of the ancients, thrown some into this Next to these came the writers of the middle and corner, and others into that; which I have at later ages of the church, who, though below the length put together, like the pieces of a broken former in point of credit, have yet some particular statue, that it might have at least some kind of advantages that recommend them to us. Such I resemblance of the person whom it designs to re-account Symeon Metaphrastes, Nicephorus Calpresent. listus, the Menaa and Menologies of the Greek Had I thought good to have traded in idle and church, &c., wherein, though we meet with many frivolous authors, Abdias Babylonius, "The Pas- vain and improbable stories, yet may we rationalsions of Peter and Paul," Joachim Perionius, Peter ly expect some real and substantial accounts of de Natalibus, and such like, I might have present- things; especially seeing they had the advantage ed the reader with a larger, not a better account. of many ancient and ecclesiastical writings extant But, besides the averseness of my nature to false- in their times, which to us are utterly lost. Though hoods and trifles, especially wherein the honor of even these too I have never called in, but in the the Christian religion is concerned, I knew the want of more ancient and authentic writers. As world to be wiser at this time of day, than to be for others, if any passages occur either in themimposed upon by pious frauds, and cheated with selves of doubtful and suspected credit, or borrowecclesiastical romances and legendary reports. ed from spurious and uncertain authors, they are For this reason, I have more fully and particularly always introduced or dismissed with some kind of insisted upon the lives of the two first apostles, so censure or remark; that the most easy and credugreat a part of them being secured by an unques lous reader may know what to trust to, and not tionable authority; and have presented the larger fear being secretly surprised into a belief of doubtportions of the sacred history, many times to very ful and fabulous reports. And now, after all, I minute circumstances of action. And I presume am sufficiently sensible how lank and thin this acthe wise and judicious reader will not blame me, count is, nor can the reader be less satisfied with for choosing rather to enlarge upon a story which it than I am myself; and I have only this piece of I knew to be infallibly true, than to treat him with justice and charity to beg of him, that he would those which there was cause enough to conclude suspend his censure till he has taken a little pains to be certainly false. to inquire into the state of the times and things I

The reader will easily discern, that the authors write of; and then, however he may challenge I make use of are not all of the same rank and size. my prudence in undertaking it, he will not, I hope, Some of them are divinely inspired, whose autho- see reason to charge me with want of care and rity is sacred, and their reports rendered not only faithfulness in the pursuance of it. credible, but unquestionable, by that infallible and

[ocr errors]

LIVES OF THE APOSTLES.

INTRODUCTION.

of a general relation to the whole: wherein we shall especially take notice of the importance of the word, the nature of the employment, the fitness and qualification of the persons, and the duration and continuance of the office.

2. The word aroorodos, or sent, is among ancient writers applied either to things, actions, or persons. To things: thus, those dimissory letters that were granted to such who appealed from an inferior to a superior judicature, were in the language of the Roman laws usually called apostoli: Thus, a packet-boat was styled aroσTOλov λotov, be

of business. Thus, though in somewhat a different sense, the lesson taken out of the epistles is in the ancient Greek liturgies, called anocrudos; because usually taken out of the apostles' writings. Sometimes it is applied to actions, and so imports no more than mission, or the very act of

1. JESUS CHRIST, the great apostle and highpriest of our profession, being appointed by God to be the supreme ruler and governor of his church, was, like Moses, faithful in all his house; but with this honorable advantage, that Moses was faithful as a servant, Christ as a son over his own house, which he erected, established, and governed with all possible care and diligence. Nor could he give a greater instance either of his fidelity towards God or his love and kindness to the souls of men, than that after he had pur-cause sent up and down for advice and despatch chased a family to himself, and could now no longer upon earth manage its interests in his own person, he would not return back to heaven till he had constituted several orders and officers in his church, who might superintend and conduct its affairs, and according to the various circumstances of its state, administer to the needs and exigen-sending. Thus the setting out a fleet or a naval cies of his family. Accordingly therefore, "he expedition, was wont to be called amooTodos; so gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some Suidas tells us, that as the persons designed for the evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for care and management of the fleet were called the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the amorous, so the very sending forth of the ships ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; themselves, at rwv veWV EKTOμTAL, were styled anoσroλo. till we all come into the unity of the faith, and of Lastly; what principally falls under our present the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect consideration, it is applied to persons; and so imman, unto the measure of the stature of the ful-ports no more than a messenger, a person sent ness of Christ."* The first and prime class of upon some special errand, for the discharge of officers is that of apostles: God had set some in some peculiar affair in his name that sent him. the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, Thus Epaphroditus is called the apostle or mes&c. First apostles, as far in office as honor be- senger of the Philippians,* when sent by them to fore the rest, their election more immediate, their St. Paul at Rome. Thus Titus and his comcommission more large and comprehensive, the panions are styled arosoda "the messengers of the powers and privileges wherewith they were fur-churches." So our Lord; "He that is sent," nished greater and more honorable. Prophecy, the gift of miracles and expelling dæmons, the order of pastors and teachers, were all spiritual powers, and ensigns of great authority, a Tourwv ἀπαντων μείζων ἐσιν άρχη ἡ ἀποςολική, says Chrysostom; "but the apostolic eminency is far greater than all these;" which therefore he calls a spirit-rived upon them. ual consulship: an apostle having as great preeminence above all other officers in the church, as the consul had above all other magistrates in Rome. These apostles were a few select persons whom our Lord chose out of the rest, to devolve part of the government upon their shoulders, and to depute for the first planting and settling Christianity in the world: "he chose twelve, whom he named apostles;" of whose lives and acts being to give an historical account in the following work, it may not, possibly, be unuseful to premise some general remarks concerning them, not respecting this or that particular person, but

[blocks in formation]

anosolos, an apostle or messenger "is not greater than he that sent him." This, then, being the common notion of the word, our Lord fixes it to a particular use, applying it to those select persons whom he had made choice of to act by that peculiar authority and commission which he had deTwelve, whom he also named apostles; that is, commissioners, those who were to be ambassadors for Christ, to be sent up and down the world in his name, to plant the faith, to govern and superintend the church at present. and, by their wise and prudent settlement of affairs, to provide for the future exigencies of the church.

3. The next thing then to be considered is the nature of their office; and under this inquiry we shall make these following remarks. First, it is not to be doubted but that our Lord in founding this office had some respect to the state of things in the Jewish church; I mean not only in general,

* Phil. ii. 25; 2 Cor. viii. 23; John xiii. 16.

« ÎnapoiContinuă »