qua Chriftum ubique defignat, fed etiam ex toto Sermonis contextu, de Jefu Servatore duntaxat agente. And it is yet farther obfervable, that the introductory part of this Epiftle (as Voffius has remarked) is rather obfcure; and that (however it happened) the Most Rev. Tranflator has not done full juftice to the plaineft expreffion in it. The blood of Chrift in the tranflation is in the original fimply the blood of God; εν αιματι το θεό. BULL'S Defen. Fid. Nica. cap. 2. Sect. 2. IGNA. Epif. to the Ephef. Sect. 1. & 15. BARROW on the Cr. p. 156. See John. I. v. 14. Page 123. (0) in it proper place.] In matters not of faith, but merely of opinion, these venerable fathers in general are not altogether without peculiarities which are tinctured a little with the pious fancifulness of fuperftition. This is more especially apparent in their notion of fpiritual references, and emblematical reprefentations. The Scarlet-line which the fpies directed Rahab to fix to her window, &c. is fpecified by St. Clement himself, *and by fome others, as typical of the redemption of mankind by the blood of Jefus Chrift. But of all of them, except St. Barnabas, Origen is perhaps the largest dealer in fymbol and allegory, as has often been pointed out in numerous inftances; although it would be as unreafonable to object this in order to disparage the grounds of our common faith, as it would be to except * Epift. to the Corin. Sect. 12.. except, with the fame view, against the eccentricity of fome of this Father's tenets, or thofe of any others in any other refpects; as, e. g. that helltorments will not be eternal, for which affertion he had certainly no Scriptural warrant; or that the angel with whom Jacob wrested was an evil one, which was likewise a notion of Origen's; or that fouls after their feparation from bodies retain many corporeal properties, as Irenæus and Tertullian imagin'd, &c, &c. In truth, orthodoxy may be faid to be built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jefus Chrift himself being the chief corner-ftone, and has no concern with these particularities; and much less with the conceits which the luxuriance of piety itself has sometimes given birth to. The Father I laft named whimfically af ferted, that the devil invented buskins, that a man might ADD TO HIS STATURE, notwithstanding what our Saviour fays to the contrary; and gravely informs us in another place, that this prince of darknefs, or one of his infernal ministers, upon being exorcifed out of a certain woman, who was a frequenter of stage-entertainments, complained loudly that he was difpoffeffed of his property; the theatre being his own ground! Clemens of Alexandria advises us to lay our heads upon stone, as Jacob did, in order to our having vifions, &c. &c. But of fuch harmless extravagance infidelity strives in vain to avail itself. Whether Whether St. Barnabas, who was St. Paul's companion and fellow-labourer, was the author of the catholic Epistle to which his name is prefixed, is a question undecided at this day. Much has been urged on this fubject pro and con by learned men; nor am I concerned to inquire, on which fide the arguments preponderate. It will fuffice to fay, that many have thought the allegorical interpretation of Scripture with which the performance abounds, by far too imaginary, or indeed too trifling for the pen of one of the Minor Apoftles, as Voffius calls him. This able critic is however a strong advocate for him, and the primitive fathers in general; and gives it as his clear opinion, that nothing of this kind in him, or in St. Clement, (from whom he extracts the particulars above noticed,) ought in reafon to be alledged to the difcredit of their writings. His words are thefe. Quis a primis illis Chriftianis omnigenam fcientiam, et doctrinam expoftulet? Quis illos non æque hallucinatos exiftimet atque eorum nepotes; præfertim in rebus nibil ad fidem pertinentibus? Nunquid et in Epiftola Clementis fimilia occurrunt? Quis enim bono animo concoquere poffit fabellam illam quam de Phænice narrat, &c? Non puto etiam quemquam velle admittere expofitionem iftam, ut linteum coccineum Rabab meretricis fignum fuerit fanguinis Chrifti, &c. Atqui tamen iste * N. B. Many are of opinion that Rahab was no harlot. Clemens Clemens pari jure atque Barnabas dictus eft Apoftolus. Non debent itaque in boc reprehendere, quod in altero excufant. But it fhould be remembered all this while, that Voffius vindicates the authenticity of St. Barnabas's Epiftle, fo called, by a very unequal comparison. The Epiftle of St. Clement, and thofe of other fathers are interfperfed more or lefs with typical application, but they are not diftinguished by it. (See St. BARNABAS's Epift. particularly Sect. 5, 6, 8, 9, 13, 14.) I would take this opportunity to observe, that the doctrine of types and symbols, as it has been revived by many moderns, so has it by fome been upheld with a zeal which, in going beyond the bounds of judgment, has, it may be, done differvice to Christianity. Let me ask the most fanguin advocates for fymbols and prefigurations, how they relish this mode of fpeculation in the Romanifts, when, among the arguments which they adduce in pretended proof of St. Peter's primacy, they tell us his SHIP, out of which the Lord taught the people, was an emblem or type of the Chriftian Church? In short, the doctrine of types in general is, in my opinion, too often at best more ingenious than folid, and has a stronger foundation in fancy than in fact. Perhaps the reader may be entertained as well as convinced by two or three felect instances. The coat of the Jewish High-priest, fays Dr. Lightfoot, "fitly refembled Chrift's hu + Voffii Notæ ad Barnabæ Epift. Cathol. «man man nature: first, as this was of one ftuff with"out mixture, so that without fin, &c. fecondly, "as this was put on after an extraordinary manner, "fo Christ put on humanity by an extraordinary "conception; thirdly, as was the edge about the "hole to keep it from rending, fuch was the "unfeparable union of Christ's two natures; "fourthly as were the bells and pomegranates, "fuch were his life and doctrine." Another learned writer, Mr. Mede, fpeaking of the manna and the rock in the wilderness, which are mentioned by St. Paul as types of Chrift, 1 Cor. 10. v. 3, 4. expatiates in the following words. "As Manna "came from heaven befide the ordinary course "of nature, fo Chrift's birth was wonderful, &c. "As Manna was of a moft sweet tafte, fo is Chrift "unto the foul, &c. As Manna was of a white co"lour, fo our Saviour was white and pure. As "Manna before it was eaten was brayed in a mor tar, &c. fo was Christ our heavenly manna bro"ken upon the Crofs, &c. As the rock gave no "water before it was fmitten with the rod of Mo Jes, fo was Chrift fmitten upon the Cross, that "out of him might flow that fovereign ftream, "which he who drinketh fhall never thirst. As the "rock was fmitten with the rod of Mofes, fo was "Christ our redeemer with the rod of the Law, "&c. With much more to this effect." According to a modern author, Mr. Calcott, the Jewish tabernacle or temple was a type of the body |