2. The Genesis of Prelacy.

Jerome gives us the true explanation of the origin of the episcopate, when he tells us that it was set up with a view to prevent divisions in the Church. [62:1] These divisions were created chiefly by the Gnostics, who swarmed in some of the great cities of the empire towards the middle of the second century. About that time the president of the Presbytery was in a few places armed with additional authority, in the hope that he would thus be the better able to repress schism. The new system was inaugurated in Rome, and its Church has ever since maintained the proud boast that it is the centre of ecclesiastical unity. From the Imperial city Episcopacy gradually radiated over all Christendom. The position assumed by Dr. Lightfoot—that it commenced in Jerusalem—is without any solid foundation. To support it, he is obliged to adopt the fable that James was the first bishop of the mother Church. The New Testament ignores this story, and tells us explicitly that James was only one of the "pillars," or ruling spirits, among the Christians of the Jewish capital. [62:2] The very same kind of argumentation employed to establish the prelacy of James, may be used, with far greater plausibility, to demonstrate the primacy of Peter. Dr. Lightfoot himself acknowledges that, about the close of the first century, we cannot find a trace of the episcopate in either of the two great Christian Churches of Rome and Corinth. [63:1] "At the close of the first century," says he, "Clement writes to Corinth, as at the beginning of the second century Polycarp writes to Philippi. As in the latter Epistle, so in the former, there is no allusion to the episcopal office." [63:2] He might have said that, even after the middle of the second century, it did not exist either in Smyrna or Philippi. He admits also, that "as late as the close of the second century, the bishop of Alexandria was regarded as distinct, and yet not as distinct from the Presbytery." [63:3] "The first bishop of Alexandria," says he, "of whom any distinct incident is recorded on trustworthy authority, was a contemporary of Origen," [63:4] who flourished in the third century. Dr. Lightfoot tells us in the same place, that "at Alexandria the bishop was nominated and apparently ordained by the twelve presbyters out of their own number." [63:5] Instead of asserting, as has been done, that no single fact relating to the history of the Christian Church during the first half of the second century can be regarded as established, if we deny that the episcopate was widely spread in the early years of the second century in Asia Minor and elsewhere, it may be fearlessly affirmed that, at the date here mentioned, there is not a particle of proof that it was established ANYWHERE.

Irenaeus could have given an account of the genesis of Episcopacy, for he lived throughout the period of its original development; but he has taken care not to lift the veil which covers its mysterious commencement. He could have told what prompted Polycarp to undertake a journey to Rome when burthened with the weight of years; but he has left us to our own surmises. It is, however, significant that the presbyterian system was kept up in Smyrna long after the death of its aged martyr. [64:1] Dr. Lightfoot has well observed that "Irenaeus was probably the most learned Christian of his time;" [64:2] and it is pretty clear that he contributed much to promote the acceptance of the episcopal theory. When arguing with the heretics, he coined the doctrine of the apostolical succession, and maintained that the true faith was propagated to his own age through an unbroken line of bishops from the days of the apostles. To make out his case, he was necessitated to speak of the presidents of the presbyteries as bishops, [64:3] and to ignore the change which had meanwhile taken place in the ecclesiastical Constitution. Subsequent writers followed in his wake, and thus it is that the beginnings of Episcopacy have been enveloped in so much obscurity. Even in Rome, the seat of the most prominent Church in Christendom, it is impossible to settle the order in which its early presiding pastors were arranged. "Come we to Rome," says Stillingfleet, "and here the succession is as muddy as the Tiber itself; for here Tertullian, Rufinus, and several others, place Clement next to Peter. Irenaeus and Eusebius set Anacletus before him; Epiphanius and Optatus, both Anacletus and Cletus; Augustinus and Damasus, with others, make Anacletus, Cletus, and Linus all to precede him. What way shall we find to extricate ourselves out of this labyrinth?" [65:1] The different lists preserved attest that there was no such continuous and homogeneous line of bishops as the doctrine of the apostolical succession implies. When Irenaeus speaks of Polycarp as having "received his appointment in Asia from apostles as bishop in the Church of Smyrna," [65:2] he makes a statement which, literally understood, even Dr. Lightfoot hesitates to endorse. [65:3] The Apostle John may have seen Polycarp in his boyhood, and may have predicted his future eminence as a Christian minister,—just as Timothy was pointed out by prophecy [66:1] as destined to be a champion of the faith. When Episcopacy was introduced, its abettors tried to manufacture a little literary capital out of some such incident; but the allegation that Polycarp was ordained to the episcopal office by the apostles, is a fable that does not require refutation. Almost all of them were dead before he was born. [66:2]



CHAPTER V.

THE FORGERY OF THE IGNATIAN EPISTLES.

If, as there is every reason to believe, the Ignatian Epistles are forgeries from beginning to end, various questions arise as to the time of their appearance, and the circumstances which prompted their fabrication. Their origin, like that of many other writings of the same description, cannot be satisfactorily explored; and we must in vain attempt a solution of all the objections which may be urged against almost any hypothesis framed to elucidate their history. It is, however, pretty clear that, in their original form, they first saw the light in the early part of the third century. About that time there was evidently something like a mania for the composition of such works,—as various spurious writings, attributed to Clemens Romanus and others, abundantly testify. Their authors do not seem to have been aware of the impropriety of committing these pious frauds, and may even have imagined that they were thus doing God service. [67:1] Several circumstances suggest that Callistus—who became Bishop of Rome about A.D. 219—may, before his advancement to the episcopal chair, have had a hand in the preparation of these Ignatian Epistles. His history is remarkable. He was originally a slave, and in early life he is reported to have been the child of misfortune. He had at one time the care of a bank, in the management of which he did not prosper. He was at length banished to Sardinia, to labour there as a convict in the mines; and when released from servitude in that unhealthy island, he was brought under the notice of Victor, the Roman bishop. To his bounty he was, about this time, indebted for his support. [68:1] On the death of Victor, Callistus became a prime favourite with Zephyrinus, the succeeding bishop. By him he was put in charge of the cemetery of the Christians connected with the Catacombs; and he soon attained the most influential position among the Roman clergy. So great was his popularity, that, on the demise of his patron, he was himself unanimously chosen to the episcopal office in the chief city of the empire. Callistus was no ordinary man. He was a kind of original in his way. He possessed a considerable amount of literary culture. He took a prominent part in the current theological controversies,—and yet, if we are to believe Hippolytus, he could accommodate himself to the views of different schools of doctrine. He had great versatility of talent, restless activity, deep cunning, and much force of character. Hippolytus tells us that he was sadly given to intrigue, and so slippery in his movements that it was no easy matter to entangle him in a dilemma. It may have occurred to him that, in the peculiar position of the Church, the concoction of a series of letters, written in the name of an apostolic Father, and vigorously asserting the claims of the bishops, would help much to strengthen the hands of the hierarchy. He might thus manage at the same time quietly to commend certain favourite views of doctrine, and aid the pretensions of the Roman chief pastor. But the business must be kept a profound secret; and the letters must, if possible, be so framed as not at once to awaken suspicion. If we carefully examine them, we shall find that they were well fitted to escape detection at the time when they were written.

The internal evidence warrants the conclusion that the Epistle to the Romans was the first produced. It came forth alone; and, if it crept into circulation originally in the Imperial city, it was not likely to provoke there any hostile criticism. It is occupied chiefly with giving expression to the personal feelings of the supposed writer in the prospect of martyrdom. It scarcely touches on the question of ecclesiastical regimen; and it closes by soliciting the prayers of the Roman brethren for "the Church which is in Syria." [69:1] "If," says Dr. Lightfoot, "Ignatius had not incidentally mentioned himself as the Bishop 'of' or 'from Syria,' the letter to the Romans would have contained no indication of the existence of the episcopal office" [70:1] Whilst observing this studied silence on the subject which above all others occupied his thoughts, the writer was craftily preparing the way for the more ready reception of the letters which were to follow. The Epistle to the Romans tacitly embodies their credentials. It slyly takes advantage of the connection of the name of Ignatius with Syria in the letter of Polycarp to the Philippians; assumes that Syria is the eastern province; and represents Ignatius as a bishop from that part of the empire on his way to die at Rome. It does not venture to say that the Western capital had then a bishop of its own,—for the Epistle of Clemens, which was probably in many hands, and which ignored the episcopal office there—might thus have suggested doubts as to its genuineness; but it tells the sensational story of the journey of Ignatius in chains, from east to west, in the custody of what are called "ten leopards." This tale at the time was likely to be exceedingly popular. Ever since the rise of Montanism—which made its appearance about the time of the death of Polycarp—there had been an increasing tendency all over the Church to exaggerate the merits of martyrdom. This tendency reached its fullest development in the early part of the third century. The letter of Ignatius to the Romans exhibits it in the height of its folly. Ignatius proclaims his most earnest desire to be torn to pieces by the lions, and entreats the Romans not to interfere and deprive him of a privilege which he coveted so ardently. The words reported by Irenaeus as uttered by one of the martyrs of Lyons are adroitly appropriated by the pseudo-Ignatius as if spoken by himself; and, in an uncritical age, when the subject-matter of the communication was otherwise so much to the taste of the reader, the quotation helped to establish the credit of the Ignatian correspondence. Another portion of the letter was sure to be extremely acceptable to the Church of Rome— for here the writer is most lavish in his complimentary acknowledgements. That Church is described as "having the presidency in the country of the region of the Romans, being worthy of God, worthy of honour, worthy of felicitation, worthy of praise, worthy of success, worthy in purity, and having the presidency of love, filled with the grace of God, without wavering, and filtered clear from every foreign stain."

"The Epistle to the Romans," says Dr. Lightfoot, "had a wider popularity than the other letters of Ignatius, both early and late. It appears to have been circulated apart from them, sometimes alone." [71:1] It was put forth as a feeler, to discover how the public would be disposed to entertain such a correspondence; and, in case of its favourable reception, it was intended to open the way for additional Epistles. It was cleverly contrived. It employed the Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians as a kind of voucher for its authenticity, inasmuch as it is there stated that Ignatius had written a number of letters; and it contained little or nothing which any one in that age would have been disposed to controvert. The Christians of Rome had long enjoyed the reputation of a community ennobled by the blood of martyrs, and they would be quite willing to believe that Ignatius had contributed to their celebrity by dying for the faith within their borders. It is very doubtful whether he really finished his career there: some ancient authorities attest that he suffered at Antioch; [72:1] and the fact that, in the fourth century, his grave was pointed out in that locality, apparently supports their testimony. [72:2] The account of his hurried removal as a prisoner from Antioch to Rome, in the custody of ten fierce soldiers—whilst he was permitted, as he passed along, to hold something like a levee of his co-religionists at every stage of his journey—wears very much the appearance of an ill-constructed fiction. But the disciples at Rome about this period were willing to be credulous in such matters; and thus it was that this tale of martyrdom was permitted to pass unchallenged. In due time the author of the letters, as they appeared one after another, accomplished the design of their composition. The question of the constitution of the Church had recently awakened much attention; and the threat of Victor to excommunicate the Christians of Asia Minor, because they ventured to differ from him as to the mode of celebrating the Paschal festival, had, no doubt, led to discussions relative to the claims of episcopal authority which, at Rome especially, were felt to be very inconvenient and uncomfortable. No one could well maintain that it had a scriptural warrant. The few who were acquainted with its history were aware that it was only a human arrangement of comparatively recent introduction; and yet a bishop who threatened with excommunication such as refused to submit to his mandates, could scarcely be expected to make such a confession. Irenaeus had sanctioned its establishment; but, when Victor became so overbearing, he took the alarm, and told him plainly that those who presided over the Church of Rome before him were nothing but presbyters. [73:1] This was rather an awkward disclosure; and it was felt by the friends of the new order that some voucher was required to help it in its hour of need, and to fortify its pretensions. The letters of an apostolic Father strongly asserting its claims could not fail to give it encouragement. We can thus understand how at this crisis these Epistles were forthcoming. They were admirably calculated to quiet the public mind. They were comparatively short, so that they could be easily read; and they were quite to the point, for they taught that we are to "regard the bishop as the Lord Himself," and that "he presides after the likeness of God." [74:1] Who after all this could doubt the claims of Episcopacy? Should not the words of an apostolic Father put an end to all farther questionings?

Hippolytus, who was his contemporary, has given us much information in relation to Callistus. He writes, indeed, in an unfriendly spirit; but he speaks, notwithstanding, as an honest man; and we cannot well reject his statements as destitute of foundation. His account of the general facts in the career of this Roman bishop obviously rest on a substratum of truth. As we read these Ignatian letters, it may occur to us that the real author sometimes betrays his identity. Callistus had been originally a slave, and he here represents Ignatius as saying of himself, "I am a slave." [74:2] Callistus had been a convict, and more than once this Ignatius declares, "I am a convict." [74:3] May he not thus intend to remind his co-religionists at Rome that an illustrious bishop and martyr had once been a slave and a convict like himself? Callistus, when labouring in the mines of Sardinia, must have been well acquainted with ropes and hoists; and here Ignatius describes the Ephesians as "hoisted up to the heights through the engine of Jesus Christ," having faith as their "windlass," and as "using for a rope the Holy Spirit." [74:4] Callistus had at one time been in charge of a bank; and Ignatius, in one of these Epistles, is made to say, "Let your works be your deposits, that you may receive your assets due to you." [75:1] Callistus also had charge of the Christian cemetery in the Roman Catacombs; and Ignatius here expresses himself as one familiar with graves and funerals. He speaks of a heretic as "being himself a bearer of a corpse," and of those inclined to Judaism "as tombstones and graves of the dead." [75:2] It is rather singular that, in these few short letters, we find so many expressions which point to Callistus as the writer. There are, however, other matters which warrant equally strong suspicions. Hippolytus tells us that Callistus was a Patripassian. "The Father," said he, "having taken human nature, deified it by uniting it to Himself, ... and so he said that the Father had suffered with the Son." [75:3] Hence Ignatius, in these Epistles, startles us by such expressions as "the blood of God," [75:4] and "the passion of my God." [75:5] Callistus is accused by Hippolytus as a trimmer prepared, as occasion served, to conciliate different parties in the Church by appearing to adopt their views. Sometimes he sided with Hippolytus, and sometimes with those opposed to him; hence it is that the theology taught in these letters is of a very equivocal character. Dr. Lightfoot has seized upon this fact as a reason that they are never quoted by Irenaeus. "The language approaching dangerously near to heresy might," says he, "have led him to avoid directly quoting the doctrinal teaching." [76:1] A much better reason was that he had never heard of these letters; and yet their theology is exactly such a piebald production as might have been expected from Callistus.

It is not easy to understand how Dr. Lightfoot has brought himself to believe that these Ignatian Epistles were written in the beginning of the second century. "Throughout the whole range of Christian literature," says he, "no more uncompromising advocacy of the episcopate can be found than appears in these writings ... It is when asserting the claims of the episcopal office to obedience and respect that the language is strained to the utmost. The bishops established in the farthest part of the world are in the counsels of Jesus Christ." [76:2] It is simply incredible that such a state of things could have existed six or seven years after the death of the Apostle John. All the extant writings for sixty years after the alleged date of the martyrdom of Ignatius demonstrate the utter falsehood of these letters. It is certain that they employ a terminology, and develop Church principles unknown before the beginning of the third century, and which were not current even then. The forger, whoever he may have been, has displayed no little art and address in their fabrication. From all that we know of Callistus, he was quite equal to the task. Like the false Decretals, these letters exerted much influence on the subsequent history of the Church. Cyprian, though he never mentions them, [77:1] speedily caught their spirit. His assertion of episcopal authority is quite in the same style. Origen visited Rome shortly after they appeared; he is the first writer who recognises them; and it is worthy of note that, of the three quotations from them found in his works, two are from the Epistle to the Romans. It is quite within the range of possibility that evidence may yet be forthcoming to prove that they emanated from one of the early popes. They are worthy of such an origin. They recommend that blind and slavish submission to ecclesiastical dictation which the so-called successors of Peter have ever since inculcated. "It need hardly be remarked," says Dr. Lightfoot, "how subversive of the true spirit of Christianity, in the negation of individual freedom and the consequent suppression of direct responsibility to God in Christ, is the crushing despotism with which" the language of these letters, "if taken literally, would invest the episcopal office." [77:2] And yet, having devoted nearly thirty years off and on to the study of these Epistles, the Bishop of Durham maintains that we have here the genuine writings of an apostolic Father who was instructed by the inspired founders of the Christian Church!!

In this Review no notice is taken of the various forms of these Epistles. If they are all forgeries, it is not worth while to spend time in discussing the merits of the several editions.



APPENDICES.

I.

LETTER OF THE LATE DR. CURETON.

Immediately after the appearance of the second edition of The Ancient Church, a copy of it was sent to the late Rev. W. Cureton, D.D., Canon of Westminster—the well-known author of various publications relating to the Ignatian Epistles. It was considered only due to that distinguished scholar to call his attention to a work in which he was so prominently noticed, and in which various arguments were adduced to prove that all the letters he had edited are utterly spurious. In a short time that gentleman acknowledged the presentation of the volume in a most kind and courteous communication, which will be read with special interest by all who have studied the Ignatian controversy. I give the letter entire—just as it reached me. It was published several years ago, appended to my Old Catholic Church.

DEANS YARD, WESTMINSTER, Sept. 24, 1861.

DEAR SIR,—I beg to thank you very much for your kindness in sending me a valuable contribution to Ecclesiastical History in your book, The Ancient Church, which I found here upon my return to London two or three days ago. How much would it contribute to the promotion of charity and the advancement of the truth were all who combated the opinions and views of another to give him the means of seeing what was written fairly and openly, and not to endeavour to overthrow his arguments without his knowledge. This will indeed ever be the case when truth is sought for itself, and no personal feelings enter into the matter.

I have read your chapters on Ignatius, and you will perhaps hardly expect that I should subscribe to your views. It is now about twenty years since I first undertook this inquiry, and constantly have I been endeavouring to add some new light ever since. I once answered an opponent in my present brother canon, Dr. Wordsworth, but since that time I have never replied to any adverse views—but have only looked to see if I could find anything either to show that I was wrong or to strengthen my convictions that I was right. And I have found the wisdom of this, and have had the satisfaction of knowing that my ablest opponents, after having had more time to inquire and to make greater research, have of their own accord conformed to my views and written in their support.

I attach no very great importance to the Epistles of Ignatius. I shall not draw from them any dogma. I only look upon them as evidence of the time to certain facts, which indeed were amply established even without such evidence. I think that in such cases, we must look chiefly to the historical testimony of facts; and you will forgive me for saying that I think your arguments are based upon presumptive evidence, negative evidence, and the evidence of appropriateness—all of which, however valuable, must tumble to the ground before one single fact. You notice that Archbishop Ussher doubted the Epistle to Polycarp. But why? simply because its style (not having been altered by the forger) was different from the rest. But you know he says there was more historical evidence in its favour than for any of the rest. It thus becomes an argument in support of the Syriac text instead of against it. Can you explain how it happens that the Syriac text, found in the very language of Ignatius himself, and transcribed many hundreds of years before the Ignatian controversy was thought of, now it is discovered, should contain only the three Epistles of the existence of which there is any historical evidence before the time of Eusebius, and that, although it may contain some things which you do not approve, still has rejected all the passages which the critics of the Ignatian controversy protested against? You go too far to say that Bentley rejected the Ignatian Epistles—he only rejected them in the form in which they were put forth by Ussher and Vossius, and not in the form of the Syriac. So did Porson, as Bishop Kaye informed me—but he never denied that Ignatius had written letters—indeed, the very forgeries were a proof of true patterns which were falsified.

A great many of the ablest scholars in Europe, who had refused to accept the Greek letters, are convinced of the genuineness of the Syriac. But time will open. Believe me, yours faithfully, WILLIAM CURETON.

THE REV. DR. KILLEN.

Some time after this letter was written, ecclesiastical literature sustained a severe loss in the death of its amiable and accomplished author. Though Dr. Cureton here expressed himself with due caution, his language is certainly not calculated to reassure the advocates of the Ignatian Epistles. One of their most learned editors in recent times—so far from speaking in a tone of confidence respecting them—here admits that he attached to them "no very great importance." Though he had spent twenty years chiefly in their illustration, he acknowledges that he was constantly endeavouring "to add some new light" for his guidance. To him, therefore, the subject must have been still involved in much mystery.

It is noteworthy that, in the preceding letter, he has not been able to point out a solitary error in the statement of the claims of these Epistles as presented in The Ancient Church. He alleges, indeed, that the arguments employed are "based upon presumptive evidence, negative evidence, and the evidence of appropriateness;" he confesses that these proofs are "valuable;" but, though he contends that they must all "tumble to the around before one single fact," he has failed to produce the one single fact required for their overthrow.

Dr. Cureton had obviously not been previously aware that Dr. Bentley, the highest authority among British critics, had rejected the Ignatian Epistles. Had he been cognisant of that fact when he wrote the Corpus Ignatianum, he would have candidly announced it to his readers. The manner in which he here attempts to dispose of it is certainly not very satisfactory. He pleads that, though Bentley condemned as spurious the letters edited by Ussher and Vossius, he would not have pronounced the same decision on the Syriac version recently discovered. Why not? This Syriac version is an edition of the same Epistles in an abbreviated form. If Bentley denounced the whole as a forgery, it seems to follow, by logical inference, that he would have pronounced the same verdict on the half or the third part. Dr. Cureton is mistaken when he affirms in the preceding communication that his Syriac version has rejected "all the passages" against which "the critics of the Ignatian controversy" had protested. The very contrary has been demonstrated in The Ancient Church. A large number of the sentences which had provoked the most unsparing criticism are retained in the Curetonian edition. It is right to add that Archbishop Ussher more than "doubted" the Epistle to Polycarp. He discarded it altogether. Without hesitation he set it aside as spurious. Whilst he disliked its style, he felt that it wanted other marks of genuineness. When writing The Ancient Church—now nearly thirty years ago—I was disposed to think that the Ignatian Epistles had been manufactured at Antioch; but more mature consideration has led me to adopt the conclusion that they were concocted at Rome. They bear a strong resemblance to several other spurious works which appeared there; and the servile submission to episcopal authority which they so strenuously inculcate was first most offensively challenged by the chief pastor of the great Western bishopric. These Epistles tended much to promote the progress of ecclesiastical despotism.

Any one who studies the two chapters on the Ignatian Epistles in The Ancient Church, must see that what is there urged against them is something more than "presumptive evidence, negative evidence, and the evidence of appropriateness." It is shown that their anachronisms, historical blundering, and false doctrine clearly convict them of forgery.



II.

It has been deemed right to subjoin here a copy of the Ignatian Epistle to the Romans, as some readers may not have it at hand for consultation. Various translations of this Epistle have been published. The following adheres pretty closely to that given by the Bishop of Durham:—

"Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, to her that has obtained mercy through the might of the Most High Father, and of Jesus Christ His only Son, to the Church which is beloved and enlightened through the will of Him who willeth all things that are according to the love of Jesus Christ our God, to her that has the presidency in the country of the region of the Romans; being worthy of God, worthy of honour, worthy of felicitation, worthy of praise, worthy of success, worthy in purity, and having the presidency of love, walking in the law of Christ, and bearing the Father's name, which I also salute in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, to those that are united both according to the flesh and spirit to every one of His commandments, being filled inseparably with the grace of God, and filtered clear from every foreign stain; abundance of happiness unblameably in Jesus Christ our God.

"1. Through prayer to God I have obtained the privilege of seeing your most worthy faces, and have even been granted more than I requested, for I hope as a prisoner in Jesus Christ to salute you, if indeed it be the will of God that I be thought worthy of attaining unto the end. For the beginning has been well ordered, if so be I shall attain unto the goal, that I may receive my inheritance without hindrance. For I am afraid of your love, lest it should be to me an injury; for it is easy for you to accomplish what you please, but it is difficult for me to attain to God, if ye spare me.

"2. For I would not have you to be men-pleasers, but to please God, as ye do please Him. For neither shall I ever have such an opportunity of attaining to God, nor can ye, if ye be silent, ever be entitled to the honour of a better work. For if ye are silent concerning me, I shall become God's; but if ye love my body, I shall have my course again to run. Pray, then, do not seek to confer any greater favour upon me than that I be poured out a libation to God, while there is still an altar ready; that being gathered together in love ye may sing praise to the Father through Jesus Christ, that God has deemed me, the bishop of Syria, worthy to be sent for from the east to the west. It is good to set from the world to God, that I may rise again to Him.

"3. Ye have never envied any one. Ye have taught others, and my desire is that those lessons shall hold good, which as teachers ye enjoin. Only request in my behalf both inward and outward strength, so that I may not only say it, but also desire it; that I may not only be called a Christian, but really be found one. For if I shall be found so, then can I also be called one, and be faithful then, when I shall no longer appear to the world. Nothing visible is good: for our God, Jesus Christ, now that He is with the Father, is all the more revealed. The work is not of persuasiveness, but of greatness, whensoever it is hated by the world.

"4. I write to all the Churches, and I bid all men know that of my own free will I die for God, unless ye should hinder me. I exhort you not to show an unseasonable good-will towards me. Suffer me to become food for the wild beasts, that through them I shall attain to God. I am the wheat of God, and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts that I may be found the pure bread of Christ. Rather entice the wild beasts that they may become my sepulchre, and may leave no part of my body behind, so that I may not, when I am fallen asleep, be burdensome to any one. Then shall I be truly a disciple of Jesus Christ, when the world shall not so much as see my body. Supplicate the Lord for me, that through these instruments I may be found a sacrifice to God. I do not enjoin you as Peter and Paul did. They were apostles, I am a convict; they were free, I am a slave to this very hour. But, when I suffer, I shall be a freed-man of Jesus Christ, and shall rise free in Him. Now I am learning in my bonds to put away every desire.

"5. From Syria even to Rome I fight with wild beasts; by land and sea, by night and by day, being bound amidst ten leopards, even a company of soldiers, who only become worse when they are kindly treated. Howbeit through their wrong-doings I am become more completely a disciple, yet am I not hereby justified. May I have joy of the beasts that have been prepared for me; and I pray that I may find them prompt; nay, I will entice them that they may devour me promptly, not as they have done to some, refusing to touch them through fear. Yea, though of themselves they should not be willing while I am ready, I myself will force them to it. Bear with me, I know what is expedient for me. Now am I beginning to be a disciple. May nought of things visible and things invisible envy me, that I may attain unto Jesus Christ. Come fire and cross, and grapplings with wild beasts, cuttings and manglings, wrenching of bones, hacking of limbs, crushings of my whole body, come cruel tortures of the devil to assail me, only be it mine to attain to Jesus Christ.

"6. The farthest bounds of the universe shall profit me nothing, neither the kingdoms of this world. It is good for me to die for Jesus Christ, rather than to reign over the farthest bounds of the earth. I seek Him who died on our behalf, I desire Him who rose again for our sake. My birth-pangs are at hand. Pardon me, brethren, do not hinder me from living. Do not wish to keep me in a state of death, while I desire to belong to God; do not give me over to the world, neither allure me with material things. Suffer me to obtain pure light; when I have gone thither, then shall I be a man. Permit me to be an imitator of the passion of my God. If any man has Him within himself, let him consider what I desire, and let him have sympathy with me, as knowing how I am straitened.

"7. The prince of this world would fain seize me, and corrupt my disposition towards God. Let not any of you, therefore, that are near abet him. Rather be ye on my side, that is, on God's side. Do not speak of Jesus Christ and set your desires on the world. Let not envy dwell among you. Even though I myself, when I am with you, should beseech you, obey me not, but rather give credit to those things which I now write. My earthly passion has been crucified, and there is no fire of material longing in me; but there is within me a water that lives and speaks, saying to me inwardly, 'Come to the Father.' I have no delight in the food of corruption, or in the delights of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Christ, who was of the seed of David; and for a draught I desire His blood, which is love incorruptible.

"8. I desire no longer to live after the manner of men; and this shall be, if ye desire it. Be ye willing, then, that ye also may be desired. In a brief letter I beseech you, do ye give credit to me. Jesus Christ will reveal these things to you, so that ye shall know that I speak the truth—Jesus Christ the unerring mouth by which the Father has spoken truly. Pray for me that I may attain the object of my desire. I write not unto you after the flesh, but after the mind of God. If I shall suffer, it was your desire; but if I am rejected, ye have hated me.

"9. Remember in your prayers the Church which is in Syria, which has God for its shepherd in my stead. Jesus Christ alone shall be its bishop, He and your love; but for myself, I am ashamed to be called one of them; for neither am I worthy, being the very last of them and an untimely birth; but I have found mercy that I should be some one, if so I shall attain unto God. My spirit salutes you, and the love of the Churches which received me in the name of Jesus Christ, not as a mere wayfarer; for even those Churches which did not lie on my route after the flesh, went before me from city to city.

"10. Now I write these things to you from Smyrna, by the hand of the Ephesians, who are worthy of all felicitation. And Crocus also, a name very dear to me, is with me, with many others besides.

"11. As touching those who went before me from Syria to Rome, to the glory of God, I believe that ye have received instructions; whom also apprize that I am near, for they all are worthy of God and of you, and it becomes you to refresh them in all things. These things I write to you on the 9th before the Kalends of September. Fare-ye-well unto the end in the patient waiting for Jesus Christ."

This letter is a strange mixture of silly babblement, mysticism, and fanaticism; but throughout it wants the true ring of an honest correspondence. Why does the writer describe himself as the Bishop of Syria, and why does he never once mention Antioch from beginning to end? When an apostle was imprisoned, his brethren prayed for his release (Acts xii. 5); but this Ignatius forbade the Christians at Rome to make any attempt to save him from martyrdom. Paul taught that he might give his body to be burned, and yet after all be a reprobate (1 Cor. xiii. 3); but this Ignatius indicates that all would be well with him, if he had the good fortune to be eaten by the lions. His letter is pervaded, not by the enlightened and cheerful piety of the New Testament, but by the gloomy and repulsive spirit of Montanism. Bishop Lightfoot tells us that it had "a wider popularity than the other letters of Ignatius" (vol. ii, sec. i. p. 186). It was accommodated to the taste of an age of deteriorated Christianity. Polycarp would have sternly condemned its extravagance. But, in the early part of the third century, the tone of public sentiment in the Christian Church was greatly changed, and the writings of Tertullian contributed much to give encouragement to such productions as the Ignatian Epistles. Tertullian, however, in his numerous writings, never once names Ignatius. It would appear that he had never heard of these letters.



[ENDNOTES]

[2:1] Carwithen, Hist. Ch. of England, i. 554, 2nd ed.

[2:2] Instit. I. c. xiii. sec. 29. "There is," says Calvin, "nothing more abominable than that trash which is in circulation under the name of Ignatius."

[3:1] The Apostolic Fathers, Part II., S. Ignatius, S. Polycarp. Revised texts, with Introductions, Notes, Dissertations, and Translations. By J. B. Lightfoot, D.D., D.C.L., LL.D., Bishop of Durham. London 1885.

[4:1] Expositor for Dec. 1885, p. 401. London, Hodder & Stoughton.

[6:1] Vol. i. p. 316.

[6:2] Pref. I. vii.

[6:3] Vol. i. p. 107.

[7:1] Monk's Life of Bentley, ii. p. 44, ed. 1833. Monk adds, that the affair was "the talk of the Long Vacation"—a clear proof that the truth of the statement was indisputable.

[7:2] See my Old Catholic Church, p. 398, Edinburgh 1871; and Appendix No. 1 to this Reply.

[7:3] Vol. i. p. 321, note.

[8:1] Vol. i. p. 316.

[8:2] Vol. i. p. 321.

[8:3] Vol. i. p. 320.

[9:1] See Expositor for Dec. 1885, p. 403.

[9:2] Vol. ii. sec. i. p. 436.

[10:1] Vol. i. p.345.

[11:1] Vol. i. p. 331.

[11:2] See Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 131.

[12:1] See Expositor for Dec. 1885, p. 404.

[13:1] Page v.

[15:1] Preface, p. vi.

[16:1] Contra Haer. iii. 3. 4.

[16:2] Vol. ii. sec. i. p. 446.

[16:3] Ibid.

[17:1] Vol. i. p. 380. He says elsewhere "almost simultaneously," vol. i. p. 382.

[17:2] sec. 4, 5, 6. It is worthy of remark that Eusebius notices the letter of Polycarp, not along with the Ignatian Epistles, but in connection with the beginning of the reign of Marcus Aurelius. See Eusebius, Book IV. chap. xiv.

[18:1] The words "for kings" of this part of the letter are extant only in a Latin version. The passage in the Latin stands thus: "Orate etiam, pro regibus et potestatibus et principibus."

[18:2] As the great monarch of Assyria surveyed the potentates under his dominion, he was tempted to exclaim vaingloriously, "Are not my princes all of them kings?" Isa. x. 8, Revised Version. The emperor of Rome might have uttered the same proud boast.

[18:3] Vol. i. p. 576.

[18:4] Ibid. In support of this view Dr. Lightfoot appeals to 1 Tim ii. 2, where the apostle says that "supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks," as circumstances required, should be made "for kings and all that are in authority." Paul is here giving general directions suited to all time; but Polycarp is addressing himself to the Philippians, and furnishing them with instructions adapted to their existing condition.

[19:1] Vol. i. p. 407

[21:1] sec. 13. This part of the letter is only extant in the Latin version. Its words are: "De ipso Ignatio, et de his qui cum eo sunt, quod certius agnoveritis, significate." Dr. Lightfoot admits that "it was made from an older form of the Greek" than any of the existing Greek MSS., vol. ii. sec. ii. p. 201. He vainly tries to prove that the words "qui cum eo sunt" must be a mistranslation. They do not suit his theory. They imply that Ignatius and his party were still living when the letter was written.

[21:3] See Dr. Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 23, and Zahn, Ignatius von Antiochien, pp. 28 and 401.

[21:4] This road was several hundred miles in length.

[22:2] Vol. ii. sec. ii. p. 921, note.

[23:1] "Si quis vadit ad Syriam, deferat literas meas, quas fecero ad vos." This is the reading of the old Latin version, which, as Dr. Lightfoot tells us, "is sometimes useful for correcting the text of the extant Greek MSS." Vol. ii. sec. ii. p. 901. Even some of the Greek MSS. read, not [Greek: par humon] but [Greek: par haemon]. This reading is found in some copies of Eusebius and in Nicephorus, and is followed by Rufinus. See Jacobson, Pat. Apost. ii. 488, note.

[24:1] The apostles and elders assembled at Jerusalem directed their letters to the brethren "in Antioch, and Syria, and Cilicia," Acts xv. 23; but, according to Dr. Lightfoot and his supporters, Ignatius ignores his own city, though one of the greatest in the empire, and remembers only the province to which it belonged!

[25:1] Epistle to Polycarp, sec. 7.

[26:1] The words may be literally translated, "If any one is going to Syria, he might convey to you my letters which I shall have finished," that is, which I have ready. Friendly letters were then generally much longer than in our day, as the opportunities of transmitting them were few; and much longer time was occupied in their preparation.

[27:1] [Greek: Psuria]—see the Iliad and Odyssey, by J. B. Friedreich, p. 64. Erlangen 1856. It is mentioned by Homer in the Odyssey, lib. iii. 171. See also Dunbar's Greek Lexicon, art. [Greek: Psuria].

[27:2] Mr. Gladstone has remarked that "the [Greek: Suriae naesos], or Syros, has the same bearing in respect to Delos as [Greek: Psuriae] in respect to Chios."—Studies on Homer, vol. iii. 333, note.

[28:1] See Homer, Odyssey, xv. 402. See the note in the Odyssey, by F. H. Rothe, pp. 233-34. Leipsic 1834. In the Latin version of Strabo we have these words: "Videtur sub-Syriae nomine mentionem facere Homerus his quidem verbis:—

'Ortygiam supra Syria est quaedam insula.'"

Strabo, Rer. Geog. lib. x. p. 711. Oxford 1807. The passage in Homer is thus rendered by Chapman:—

"There is an isle above Ortygia, If thou hast heard, they call it Syria."

The present inhabitants of this island call themselves [Greek: Surianoi] or Syrians. See Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, art. "Syros."

[28:2] Bingham's Origines Ecclesiasticae, iii. 196. London 1840.

[28:3] Smith's Assyrian Discoveries, p. 22. London 1875.

[29:1] Smith, p. 21.

[29:2] Dr. Lightfoot imagines that he has discovered a wonderful confirmation of his views in the word "likewise" which here occurs (vol. i. p. 574). It is not easy to see the force of his argument; but, with the explanations given in the text, the word has peculiar significance. It implies that whilst the messenger was to carry the letters from Smyrna to Syria, he was also, or likewise, to bring back Smyrna the letters sent to Syria from Philippi.

[30:1] Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans, sec. 11.

[30:2] Zahn speaks of the mission to Antioch as "senseless, even considering the time of the year."—Ignatius von Antiochien, p. 287.

[34:1] I was myself so much impressed at one time by Dr. Lightfoot's reasoning in the Contemporary Review (May 1875), that I actually adopted his reckoning as to the date of Polycarp's death in a late edition of my Ancient Church; but, on more mature consideration, I have found it to be quite untenable.

[34:2] Vol. i. p. 629.

[34:3] Vol. i. pp. 629, 630.

[35:1] Vol. i. p. 630.

[37:1] Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 632.

[37:2] Ibid.

[37:3] Vol. i. p. 148.

[37:4] Vita Malchi, Opera iv. pp. 90, 91. Paris 1706.

[38:1] Doellinger's Hippolytus and Callistus, by Plummer, pp. 79, 80. Edinburgh 1876.

[38:2] Vol. i. p. 633.

[39:1] Dr. Lightfoot is not supported in his chronology by his favourite Zahn, who places the date of the martyrdom of Polycarp after the death of Peregrinus, in A.D. 165.—Ignatius von Antiochien, p. 517.

[40:1] Vol. i. p. 451.

[40:2] Vol. i. p. 635.

[41:1] Vol. i. p. 640.

[41:2] Vol. i. pp. 639, 640.

[42:1] Vol. i. 610.

[42:2] Ibid. Even the manuscript authorities of this postscript differ as to the name. According to some, the prenomen was Statius; according to others, Stratius; according to another, Tatius; whilst in another the name is omitted altogether. See Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 656, note; vol. ii. sec. ii. p. 984; see also Jacobson, ii. p. 593.

[43:1] It is probable that the postscript was written many years after the event; and, under these circumstances, the writer may have mistaken the name of the proconsul at the time. Eusebius seems to have known nothing of this postscript, and it is now impossible to tell when it was added.

[43:2] Ummidius Quadratus, in A.D. 167, was associated with the Emperor Lucius Verus in the consulship; and it would appear that about A.D. 169—on the ground of exceptional ability and influence—he was appointed to the proconsulship of Asia.

[43:3] Vol. i. pp. 460, 463. In another case we find the proconsul Sergius Paulus styled incorrectly Servillius Paullus, vol. i. p. 494. See also i. p. 508.

[44:1] It is stated in this same postscript, that "Philip of Tralles was high priest," or Asiarch, at the time of the martyrdom of Polycarp. From this fact Dr. Lightfoot has endeavoured to derive support for his chronology. His argument is, however, quite inconclusive. The dignity of Asiarch could be enjoyed only by the very rich, as none others could sustain the expense of it; and the same individual might hold it for years together, as well as again and again. The Philip of whom Dr. Lightfoot speaks, had a son of the same name, who may also have been high priest or Asiarch. See Lightfoot, vol. i. pp. 612, 613, 615, 616.

[44:2] Euseb. iv.

[45:1] Vol. i. p. 443.

[45:2] Vol. i. p. 343.

[45:3] Vol. i. pp. 443-44.

[46:1] Vol. i. p. 510.

[46:2] sec. 2.

[46:3] See Neander, i. p. 147. Edinburgh 1847.

[46:4] Neander, i. p. 146.

[47:1] Antoninus Pius became emperor in A.D. 138.—Lightfoot, i. p. 703. Hadrian died on the 10th of July of that year.—Ibid.

[47:2] Book iv. 10.

[47:3] Book iv. 11. Dr. Lightfoot states that Eusebius had lists of Roman and Alexandrian bishops, "giving the lengths of their respective terms of office," vol. ii. sec. i. p. 451. It is said that Hippolytus was the first who ever made a chronological list of the Bishops of Rome.—Doellinger's Hippolytus and Callistus, p. 337.

[50:1] sec. 8, 9.

[50:2] Vol. i. p. 703.

[50:3] Vol. i. p. 650.

[51:1] Vol. i. p. 273.

[53:1] Contra Haer. lib. v. c. 28. sec. 4.

[54:1] Dr. Lightfoot seems to have been in a condition of strange forgetfulness when he asks, "Why does not Irenaeus quote Polycarp's Epistle?"—vol. i. p. 328. The simple answer is that he mentions the Epistle, and quotes Polycarp by name as a witness against the heretics. Contra Haer. book iii. c. 3. sec. 4.

[55:1] Eusebius, v. c. i. The writer here mentions a number of individuals by name, who were at this time "led into the amphitheatre to the wild beasts."

[55:2] Professor Harnack says: "If we do not retain the Epistle of Polycarp, then we must allow that the external evidence on behalf of the Ignatian Epistles is exceedingly weak, and hence is highly favourable to the suspicion that they are spurious."—Expositor for Jan. 1886, p. 11. We have seen, however, that the Epistle of Polycarp furnishes no evidence in their favour. See Chap. II.

[56:1] Vol. i. p. 578.

[57:1] Vol. i. p. 579.

[57:2] Vol. i. p. 580.

[57:3] Vol. i. p. 39.

[57:4] Vol. i. p. 583.

[57:5] To the Trallians, sec. 10.

[58:1] To the Romans, sec. 5.

[58:2] To the Trallians, sec. 4.

[58:3] To the Smyrnaeans, sec. 4.

[58:4] To the Romans, sec. 4.

[58:5] Letter of the Smyrnaeans relating to the death of Polycarp, sec. 4.

[58:6] To the Smyrnaeans, sec. 9.

[58:7] Polycarp to the Philippians, Section sec. 1, 5, 10.

[58:8] sec. 4, 6.

[59:1] To the Philad. sec. 3. To the Smyrnaeans, sec. 9. To Polycarp, sec. 6.

[59:2] The Ancient Church, Period II. sec. ii. chap. ii., iii.

[59:3] Epistle to the Philippians, pp. 181-269.

[60:1] Vol. i. p. 377.

[60:2] 1 Tim. i. 3, iii. 5.

[61:1] Acts xx. 28, 31.

[61:2] 1 Tim. iv. 14.

[62:1] Comment. in Titum.

[62:2] Gal. ii. 9.

[63:1] Philippians. Essay, pp. 216, 218.

[63:2] Dr. Lightfoot, as we have seen, here completely mistakes the date of the Epistle of Polycarp.

[63:3] Philippians, p. 226.

[63:4] Ibid. p. 227.

[63:5] Ibid. p. 226.

[64:1] See my Ancient Church, 4th edition, pp. 470-71. New York 1883.

[64:2] Vol. i. p. 377.

[64:3] It is quite clear that the bishops of whom Irenaeus speaks were not a distinct order from presbyters. Thus he says, "It is incumbent to obey the presbyters who are in the Church, those who possess the succession from the apostles, and who together with the succession of the episcopate have received the certain gift of truth." ... "It behoves us ... to adhere to those who ... hold the doctrine of the apostles, and who, together with the order of the presbytery, display sound speech and blameless conduct."—Contra Haer. lib. iv. c. 26, sec. 2, 4.

[65:1] Irenicum, part ii. chap. 7.

[65:2] Contra Haer. iii. 3, 4.

[65:3] "It is," says he, "at all events not likely," vol. i. p. 425.

[66:1] 1 Tim. i. 18.

[66:2] If he was eighty-six years of age at the time of his martyrdom in A.D. 169, he was born A.D. 83.

[67:1] Even Eusebius has given some countenance to this practice. See his Evangelical Preparation, xii. c. 31.

[68:1] Doellinger's Hippolytus and Callistus, p. 113.

[69:1] sec. 9. See this letter in Appendix II.

[70:1] Vol. i. p. 383. It is worthy of note that, in this Epistle to the Romans, Antioch is not named. Ignatius speaks of himself as "the bishop from Syria," sec. 2. He thus seeks to identify himself with the Ignatius mentioned in the Epistle of Polycarp, who speaks of sending letters to Syria.

[71:1] Vol. ii. sec. i. p. 186.

[72:1] Lightfoot, vol. ii. sec. i. pp. 435, 445.

[72:2] Vol. i. p. 46.

[73:1] Euseb. v. c. 24.

[74:1] Eph. sec. 6; Magn. sec. 6.

[74:2] Rom. sec. 4.

[74:3] Eph. sec. 12; Rom. sec. 4; Trallians, sec. 3.

[74:4] Eph. sec. 9.

[75:1] Polycarp, sec. 6.

[75:2] Smyrnaeans, sec. 5; Philad. sec. 6.

[75:3] Philosophumena, Book IX.

[75:4] Eph. sec. 1.

[75:5] Rom. sec. 6.

[76:1] Vol. i. p. 329.

[76:2] Philippians, p. 236.

[77:1] Cyprian could not sympathize with this Ignatius in his passion for martyrdom. The Bishop of Carthage incurred some odium by retiring to a place of safety in a time of persecution.

[77:2] Philippians, Essay 237.

THE END