66

path of truth-to set before them a digest of Christian doctrine,* drawn from the Scriptures themselves, by which they may readily "examine themselves, whether they be in the faith." Let them not think this of little consequence! If the confession of the doctrine of the Trinity be so intimately connected, as I have endeavoured to show it to be, with all the other distinguishing Articles of our religion: if our faith in general have the relation, which we are told it has, with the due sanctity of our lives and conversation, let them not think it superfluous to make this examination frequently. I say, by the Holy Scriptures themselves, if they have full opportunity and ability to do so: if not, by this "form of sound words," which the Church has provided. For, if we sin wilfully,"—if we fall away from the faith through want of care and circumspection-" after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?"+" He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."

J. L.

MISCELLANEOUS.

ON THE EARLY FATHERS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

No. V.

(Continued from p. 301.)

CLEMENT OF ROME.

Κλήμηντος, τοῦ ἀληθοῦς κλήματος τοῦ ἀμπέλου Χριστοῦ, δι ̓ οὗ ἡμῖν ὁ τῆς διδασκαλίας βότρυς περκάσας, γλεύκος εὐσεβείας καὶ σωτηρίας ἐστάλαξεν.—Clem. Mart. Mirac. ap. Sim. Metaph. §. 2.

WE come now to the occasion and scope of St. Clement's first epistle, of which the genuineness has been sufficiently established. The errors and dissensions which had formerly divided the Church of Corinth, yielded, for a time, to the advice of St. Paul; but they seem rather to have been checked in their progress by the authority of the Apostle than radically and permanently subdued. His death was the signal for renewed divisions; and about thirty-six years from the date of his epistles, the Corinthians found it expedient to apply to the

"For albeit, conflict with Arians brought forth the occasion of writing that creed, which long after was made a part of the Church Liturgy,-yet cause sufficient there is why it should remain in use, as a most divine explication of the chiefest Articles of our Christian belief."-HOOKER'S Eccl. Pol. Book V. § 42. Read to the end of the Section.

Heb. x. 26-29. Compare vi. 4-6.

Church of Rome for advice, in relation to the difficulties with which they were surrounded. At the time when this communication was received, the Roman Christians were themselves involved in a fiery trial of persecution; but as soon as this had subsided, Clement, in the name of the Church, of which God had made him overseer, sent them the letter now under review. The nature of the schisms in which it originated may readily be gathered from its contents; and they bear so close an analogy to those which St. Paul was called upon to reconcile, that we are not surprised to find an occasional reference to his Canonical Epistles, and a great similarity in many of the precepts which each writer respectively enjoined.

It appears, then, that certain unauthorized persons had thrust themselves into the office of the ministry, and, by an ostentatious display of pretended zeal, had seduced many from their ecclesiastical allegiance, and kindled strifes and animosities among the brethren. They seem also to have set on foot some false notions respecting the resurrection; or rather, perhaps, to have denied the doctrine altogether. Clement commences his epistle by reminding them, in terms of commendation, of their unanimity and christian charity before the present divisions appeared among them, (Sect. 1, 2,) and, tracing the origin of their schisms to a spirit of jealousy and envy, (3) produces a variety of examples, from the Old Testament, and from the early history of the Church, of the pernicious effects of such a spirit. (4, 5, 6.) He then exhorts them to desist immediately from their religious contentions; he entreats them to turn to God with all contrition and humility of heart; he sets before them the fruits of obedience, and the efficacy of repentance, in the examples of devout and holy men of all ages; he points to the deep humiliation of Christ himself, and intimates that even the order and harmony of the natural world should read them a lesson of obedience, and prevail with them "to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (7-21.) He warns them, moreover, that their humility and obedience must proceed from a principle of faith in Christ, (22, 23,) and then adverts to the blessed hope of a resurrection of the dead, of which Christ had become the first-fruits, and the possibility of which he illustrates by analogous phenomena in the natural world; such as the succession of day and night, the growth of seeds, and the reproduction of the Phoenix. (24-26.) Having this hope, therefore, he entreats them to hold fast to him who is faithful in his promises, and not to forfeit the blessing of eternal life by contention and disobedience. (27-37.) He again exhorts them to unity, and mutual forbearance, and to a due performance of their services to God at their appointed seasons, and through the ministration of those persons who had been set apart for that purpose. (38-41.) Certain orders of ministers, he observes, were instituted by the Apostles, at Christ's command, and after the example of Moses, for the service and regulation of the Church; and he reprobates, with just indignation, the presumptuous wickedness of those who had endeavoured to displace the authorized pastors of the flocks, by kindling strifes, and raising seditions among them. (42-44.) In drawing his epistle to a close, he reminds them of the admonitions which St. Paul had formerly addressed to them; recom

mends the duty of Prayer, in order to the re-establishment of mutual charity and goodwill; sets before them the examples of Moses, and others of eminent piety, to lead them to repentance and humiliation; commits them to the mercy of God; and hopes that a beneficial effect may be produced by means of his epistle. (45-60.)

The style of the epistle is simple and easy. It is written in a tone of mild, yet persuasive exhortation; occasionally breaking forth into a strain of holy eloquence, and devout admiration of the goodness of God. We quote at length a beautiful eulogy on Charity, which bears, in some respects, a close resemblance to that of St. Paul in 1 Cor. xiii.

Ὁ ἔχων ἀγάπην ἐν Χριστῷ, τηρησάτω τὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ παραγγέλματα. Τὸν δεσμὸν τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Θεοῦ, τίς δύναται ἐξηγήσασθαι ; τὸ μεγα λεῖον τῆς καλλονῆς αὐτοῦ, τίς ἀρκεῖ, ὡς ἔδει, εἰπεῖν; τὸ ὕψος εἰς ὃ ἀνάγει ἡ ἀγάπη, ἀνεκδιήγητόν ἐστιν. ̓Αγάπη κολλᾷ ἡμᾶς τῷ Θεῷ, ἀγάπη καλύπτει πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν· ἡ ἀγάπη πάντα ἀνέχεται, πάντα μακροθυμεῖ οὐδὲν βάναυσον ἐν ἀγάπῃ, οὐδὲν ὑπερήφανον ἀγάπη σχίσμα οὐκ ἔχει, ἀγάπη οὐ στασιάζει, ἀγάπη πάντα ποιεῖ ἐν ὁμονοίᾳ· ἐν ἀγάπῃ ἐτελειώθησαν πάντες οἱ ἐκλεκτοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ· δίχα ἀγάπης οὐδὲν εὐαρεστόν ἐστιν τῷ Θεῷ ἐν ἀγάπῃ προσελάβετο ἡμᾶς ὁ δεσπότης· διὰ τὴν ἀγάπην ἣν ἔσχεν πρὸς ἡμᾶς, τὸ αἷμα αὐτοῦ ἔδωκεν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν, ἐν θελήματι Θεοῦ, καὶ τὴν σάρκα ὑπὲρ τῆς σαρκὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ὑπὲρ τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν. Ὁρᾶτε ἀγαπητοὶ, πῶς μέγα καὶ θαυμαστ τόν ἐστιν ἡ ἀγάπη, καὶ τῆς τελειότητος αὐτῆς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐξήγησις. Τίς ἱκανὸς ἐν αὐτῇ εὑρεθῆναι, εἰ μὴ οὓς ἂν καταξιώσῃ ὁ Θεὸς; εὐχώμεθα οὖν καὶ αἰτώμεθα εἶναι ἀξίους αὐτοῦ, ἵνα ἐν ἀγάπῃ ζῶμεν, δίχα προσκλίσεως ἀνθρωπίνης, ἄμωμοι. Αἱ γενεαὶ πᾶσαι ἀπὸ ̓Αδὰμ ἕως τῆσδε ἡμέρας παρῆλθον, ἀλλ ̓ οἱ ἐν ἀγάπῃ τελειωθέντες, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ χάριν, ἔχουσιν χώραν εὐσεβῶν· οἱ φανερωθήσονται ἐν τῇ ἐπισκοπῇ τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Γέγραπται γάρ Εἴσελθε εἰς τὰ ταμεῖα μικρὸν ὅσον ὅδον, ἕως οὗ παρέλθῃ ἡ ὀργὴ καὶ θυμός μοῦ. Καὶ μνησθήσομαι ἡμέρας ἀγαθῆς, καὶ ἀναστήσω ὑμᾶς ἐκ τῶν σηκῶν ὑμῶν. Μακάριοι ἐσμεν, ἀγαπητοὶ, εἰ προστάγματα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐποιοῦμεν ἐν ὁμονοίᾳ ἀγάπης, εἰς τὸ ἀφεθῆναι ἡμῖν, δι' ἀγάπης, τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν. Γέγραπται γάρ Μακάριοι ὧν αφέθησαν αἱ ἀνομίαι, καὶ ὧν ἐπεκαλύφθησαν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι. Μακάριος ἀνὴρ ᾧ οὐ μὴ λογίσηται κύριος ἁμαρτίαν, οὐδέ ἐστιν ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ δόλος. Οὗτος ὁ μακαρισμὸς ἐγένετο ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐκλελεγμένους ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Αμήν. (Sect. 49, 50.)

66

We have already had occasion to notice the observation of Photius, that Clement does not speak with becoming reverence of the person of Christ. Whitby, also, in his reply to Waterland, maintains that he never calls him God." In direct opposition to these charges it will be found that the epistle to the Corinthians contains many express testimonies to the divinity of our Lord. In chap. xvi. he speaks of his humiliation, which consisted in laying aside his divine nature, in terms

which strongly remind us of the words of St. Paul, in Phil. ii. 7;— in chap. xxxii. the expression that "Christ came of Abraham according to the flesh," implies, that he had another nature beside that according to the flesh, (comp. Rom. i. 3. ix. 5);-and in chap. xxxvi. his pre-existence is distinctly asserted, and that it was one of celestial splendour, superior to that of the angels. See Heb. i. 3. To set the matter, however, beyond all doubt, the name of God is unequivocally applied to him in chap. ii. in connexion with his sufferings. Пávtes τε ἐταπεινοφρονεῖτε, μηδὲν ἀλαζονευόμενοι, ὑποτασσομένοι μᾶλλον ἢ ὑποτάσσοντες, μᾶλλον διδόντες ἢ λαμβανόντες· τοῖς ἐφοδίοις τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀρκούμενοι, καὶ προσέχοντες τοὺς λόγους αὐτοῦ ἐπιμελῶς· ἐστερνισμένοι ἦτε τοῖς σπλάγχνοις, καὶ τὰ παθήματα αὐτοῦ ἦν πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν ὑμῶν.

Among all the remains of Christian Antiquity, we have not perhaps a more satisfactory refutation of the Romanist claims to ecclesiastical supremacy than the silence of Clement on the subject. His epistle exhibits no assumed superiority over the Church at Corinth. He does not even write in his own name, but addresses them as the representative of the Church of Rome, and writes in a tone of persuasion, earnest indeed, but totally devoid of authority. If the See of Rome, then, had laid claim to any such pretensions, in the early ages of the Gospel, as those which she asserts at the present day,— upon what principle can the silence of Clement respecting them be accounted for? Surely he had the same right to exercise authority over the Church of Corinth, as his successors in the Papal chair have possessed in similar cases. Why, then, do we not meet with penances and excommunications, instead of meek entreaties and brotherly advice?

66

The epistle of Clement is also applicable to the case of those who reject the ministry of their lawfully appointed teachers, and affords decisive testimony against self-appointment to any ministerial function. "Christ," says he, was sent from God, and the Apostles by Christ. Both were sent (εurákтwe) by proper appointments; and the Apostles, preaching through countries and cities, appointed the first-fruits of their conversions to be Bishops and Deacons (ἐπισκοποὺς καὶ διαKÓVOUS) over believers, having first proved them by the Spirit." (§. 42.) A few sentences onward he speaks of Presbyters, so that in his time there were evidently three orders of the ministry, corresponding with the Bishops, Priests, and Deacons of our own communion. On this subject, however, we shall have to speak more at large when we come to the Fathers of the third century.

From the striking similarity between many sentiments contained in Clement's epistle and that of St. Paul to the Hebrews, an opinion prevailed in very early times, that the latter was written originally in Hebrew, and translated by Clement into Greek. Clement of Alexandria, Jerome, and Eusebius, are among the supporters of this hypothesis; but all the other ancient Fathers, who have mentioned the subject, speak of the Greek as the original work; and as no copy of the Hebrew was ever known to exist, there can be no question that this is the correct opinion. Besides the Epistle to the Corinthians, however, which is undoubtedly genuine, some other writings have been attributed to this Father, which are still extant. In the first

place, we have a fragment of a second epistle, or, as some suppose, of a discourse or sermon, which has sometimes been looked upon as genuine. It is, however, expressly rejected by Photius as spurious. Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth in the second century, mentions but one epistle of Clement; Clement of Alexandria and Origen, who have quoted the first, take no notice of the second; nor does Irenæus appear to have had any knowledge of it. Hence Lardner, after Grabe, refers it, with great probability, to the middle of the third century.

The Apostolic Canons, Constitutions, and Recognitions; the Clementine Homilies; the Acts of Peter; and the Epistle to James, the Lord's brother, all of which have been reckoned among the reputed works of Clement, -have been long justly discarded as spurious. In addition to these, Two Epistles to Virgins, supposed to have been written in Syriac, were published by Wetstein, in 1752, with a Latin translation. But their genuineness was ably refuted by Lardner, and the controversy which ensued completely proved them to be spurious.

The editio princeps of Clement of Rome was printed at Oxford in 1633; the second edition appeared in 1677; and in 1718, an octavo edition, at Cambridge, under the superintendence of Dr. Wotton. The Patres Apostolici of Cotelerius embraces all the works attributed to Clement, both genuine and spurious; and there is a good critical edition of the Epistles, which was published by Eberth, at Fudda, in 1780. Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp, were published together in a single volume by Ittigius, at Leipsic, in 1699; and, by Frey, at Basle, in 1742.

The RUBRICK of the CHURCH OF ENGLAND, examined and considered; and its USE and OBSERVANCE most earnestly recommended to all its Members, according to the intent and meaning of it. By THOMAS COLLIS, D. D. of Magd. Coll. Oxon. London, 1737.

(Concluded from p. 307.)

The Order for the Visitation of the Sick.

If the Ministers visit the sick without notice given, they may chance to do it at an improper time. Whenever they have word brought them, that the sick person can best and most conveniently join in prayer, then the Minister coming into the sick man's house, shall

say :

Here shall the sick man be moved to make a special confession of his sins, if he feel his conscience troubled with any weighty matter. So that special confession is not required, as necessary; but they are to be moved to it, when they feel their consciences troubled with any weighty matter. After which confession the Priest shall absolve him (if he humbly and heartily desire it) after this sort :

The Communion of the Sick.

The Curate shall have timely notice, when the sick person is desirous to receive the Communion at home, signifying also how many there are