On the Creation of the World.1

To me, as I meditate and consider in my mind concerning the creation of this world in which we are kept enclosed, even such is the rapidity of that creation; as is contained in the book of Moses, which he wrote about its creation, and which is called Genesis. God produced that entire mass for the adornment of His majesty in six days; on the seventh to which He consecrated it . . . with a blessing. For this reason, therefore, because in the septenary number of days both heavenly and earthly things are ordered, in place of the beginning I will consider of this seventh day after the principle of all matters pertaining to the number of seven; and as far as I shall be able, I will endeavour to portray the day of the divine power to that consummation.

In the beginning God made the light, and divided it in the exact measure of twelve hours by day and by night, for this reason, doubtless, that day might bring over the night as an occasion of rest for men’s labours; that, again, day might overcome, and thus that labour might be refreshed with this alternate change of rest, and that repose again might be tempered by the exercise of day. “On the fourth day He made two lights in the heaven, the greater and the lesser, that the one might rule over the day, the other over the night,” (Gen_1:16, Gen_1:17) – the lights of the sun and moon; and He placed the rest of the stars in heaven, that they might shine upon the earth, and by their positions distinguish the seasons, and years, and months, and days, and hours.

Now is manifested the reason of the truth why the fourth day is called the Tetras, why we fast even to the ninth hour, or even to the evening, or why there should be a passing over even to the next day. Therefore this world of ours is composed of four elements – fire, water, heaven, earth. These four elements, therefore, form the quaternion of times or seasons. The sun, also, and the moon constitute throughout the space of the year four seasons – of spring, summer, autumn, winter; and these seasons make a quaternion. And to proceed further still from that principle, lo, there are four living creatures before God’s throne,2 four Gospels, four rivers flowing in paradise; (Gen_2:10) four generations of people from Adam to Noah, from Noah to Abraham, from Abraham to Moses, from Moses to Christ the Lord, the Son of God; and four living creatures, viz., a man, a calf, a lion, an eagle; and four rivers, the Pison, the Gihon. the Tigris, and the Euphrates. The man Christ Jesus, the originator of these things whereof we have above spoken, was taken prisoner by wicked hands, by a quaternion of soldiers. Therefore on account of His captivity by a quaternion, on account of the majesty of His works, – that the seasons also, wholesome to humanity, joyful for the harvests, tranquil for the tempests, may roll on, – therefore we make the fourth day a station or a supernumerary fast.

On the fifth day the land and water brought forth their progenies. On the sixth day the things that were wanting were created; and thus God raised up man from the soil, as lord of all the things which He created upon the earth and the water. Yet He created angels and archangels before He created man, placing spiritual beings before earthly ones. For light was made before sky and the earth. This sixth day is called parasceve,3 that is to say, the preparation of the kingdom. For He perfected Adam, whom He made after His image and likeness. But for this reason He completed His works before He created angels and fashioned man, lest perchance they should falsely assert that they had been His helpers. On this day also, on account of the passion of the Lord Jesus Christ, we make either a station to God, or a fast. On the seventh day He rested from all His works, and blessed it, and sanctified it. On the former day we are accustomed to fast rigorously, that on the Lord’s day we may go forth to our bread with giving of thanks. And let the parasceve become a rigorous fast, lest we should appear to observe any Sabbath with the Jews, which Christ Himself, the Lord of the Sabbath, says by His prophets that “His soul hateth;” (Isa_1:13, Isa_1:14) which Sabbath He in His body abolished, although, nevertheless, He had formerly Himself commanded Moses that circumcision should not pass over the eighth day, which day very frequently happens on the Sabbath, as we read written in the Gospel. (Joh_7:22) Moses, foreseeing the hardness of that people, on the Sabbath raised up his hands, therefore, and thus figuratively fastened himself to a cross. (Exo_22:9, Exo_22:12) And in the battle they were sought for by the foreigners on the Sabbath-day, that they might be taken captive, and, as if by the very strictness of the law, might be fashioned to the avoidance of its teaching. (1 Macc. 2:31-41)

And thus in the sixth Psalm for the eighth day,4 David asks the Lord that He would not rebuke him in His anger, nor judge him in His fury; for this is indeed the eighth day of that future judgment, which will pass beyond the order of the sevenfold arrangement. Jesus also, the son of Nave, the successor of Moses, himself broke the Sabbath-day; for on the Sabbath-day he commanded the children of Israel (Jos_6:4) to go round the walls of the city of Jericho with trumpets, and declare war against the aliens. Matthias5 also, prince of Judah, broke the Sabbath; for he slew the prefect of Antiochus the king of Syria on the Sabbath, and subdued the foreigners by pursuing them. And in Matthew we read, that it is written Isaiah also and the rest of his colleagues broke the Sabbath (Mat_12:5) – that that true and just Sabbath should be observed in the seventh millenary of years. Wherefore to those seven days the Lord attributed to each a thousand years; for thus went the warning: “In Thine eyes, O Lord, a thousand years are as one day.” (Psa_110:4) Therefore in the eyes of the Lord each thousand of years is ordained, for I find that the Lord’s eyes are seven. (Zec_4:10) Wherefore, as I have narrated, that true Sabbath will be in the seventh millenary of years, when Christ with His elect shall reign. Moreover, the seven heavens agree with those days; for thus we are warned: “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the powers of them by the spirit of His mouth.”6 There are seven spirits. Their names are the spirits which abode on the Christ of God, as was intimated in Isaiah the prophet: “And there rests upon Him the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of wisdom7 and of piety, and the spirit of God’s fear hath filled Him.” (Isa_11:2, Isa_11:3) Therefore the highest heaven is the heaven of wisdom; the second, of understanding; the third, of counsel; the fourth, of might; the fifth, of knowledge; the sixth, of piety; the seventh, of God’s fear. From this, therefore, the thunders bellow, the lightnings are kindled,8 the fires are heaped together; fiery darts9 appear, stars gleam, the anxiety caused by the dreadful comet is aroused.10 Sometimes it happens that the sun and moon approach one another, and cause those more than frightful appearances, radiating with light in the field of their aspect. But the author of the whole creation is Jesus. His name is the Word; for thus His Father says: “My heart hath emitted a good word.”11 John the evangelist thus says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made that was made.” (Joh_1:1, Joh_1:2, Joh_1:3) Therefore, first, was made the creation; secondly, man, the lord of the human race, as says the apostle. (1Co_15:45-47) Therefore this Word, when it made light, is called Wisdom; when it made the sky, Understanding; when it made land and sea, Counsel; when it made sun and moon and other bright things, Power; when it calls forth land and sea, Knowledge; when it formed man, Piety; when it blesses and sanctifies man, it has the name of God’s fear.

Behold the seven horns of the Lamb, (Rev_5:6) the seven eyes of God (Zec_4:10) – the seven eyes are the seven spirits of the Lamb; (Rev_4:5) seven torches burning before the throne of God (Rev_4:5) seven golden candlesticks, (Rev_1:13) seven young sheep, (Lev_23:18) the seven women in Isaiah, (Isa_4:1) the seven churches in Paul, (Act_6:3?) seven deacons, (Act_6:3) seven angels,12 seven trumpets, (Jos_6:1-27; Rev_8:1-13) seven seals to the book, seven periods of seven days with which Pentecost is completed, the seven weeks in Daniel, (Dan_9:25) also the forty-three weeks in Daniel; (Dan_9:1-27) with Noah, seven of all clean things in the ark; (Gen_7:2) seven revenges of Cain, (Gen_4:15) seven years for a debt to be acquitted, (Deu_15:1) the lamp with seven orifices, (Zec_4:2) seven pillars of wisdom in the house of Solomon. (Pro_11:1)

Now, therefore, you may see that it is being told you of the unerring glory of God in providence; yet, as far as my small capacity shall be able, I will endeavour to set it forth. That He might re-create that Adam by means of the week, and bring aid to His entire creation, was accomplished by the nativity of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Who, then, that is taught in the law of God, who that is filled with the Holy Spirit, does not see in his heart, that on the same day on which the dragon seduced Eve, the angel Gabriel brought the glad tidings to the Virgin Mary; that on the same day the Holy Spirit overflowed the Virgin Mary, on which He made light; that on that day He was incarnate in flesh, in which He made the land and water; that on the same day He was put to the breast, on which He made the stars; that on the same day He was circumcised,13 on which the land and water brought forth their offspring; that on the same day He was incarnated, on which He formed man out of the ground; that on the same day Christ was born, on which He formed man; that on that day He suffered, on which Adam fell; that on the same day He rose again from the dead, on which He created light? He, moreover, consummates His humanity in the number seven: of His nativity, His infancy, His boyhood, His youth, His young-manhood, His mature age, His death. I have also set forth His humanity to the Jews in these manners: since He is hungry, is thirsty; since He gave food and drink; since He walks, and retired; since He slept upon a pillow; (Mar_4:38) since, moreover, He walks upon the stormy seas with His feet, He commands the winds, He cures the sick and restores the lame, He raises the blind by His speech,14 – see ye that He declares Himself to them to be the Lord.

The day, as I have above related, is divided into two parts by the number twelve – by the twelve hours of day and night; and by these hours too, months, and years, and seasons, and ages are computed. Therefore, doubtless, there are appointed also twelve angels of the day and twelve angels of the night, in accordance, to wit, with the number of hours. For these are the twenty-four witnesses of the days and nights (Rev_4:4) which sit before the throne of God, having golden crowns on their heads, whom the Apocalypse of John the apostle and evangelist calls elders, for the reason that they are older both than the other angels and than men.

FOOTNOTES

1 A fragment by the martyr Victorinus, bishop of Petau, who flourished towards the end of the third century. [He died in the persecution of a.d. 304. For the text and full annotations, see Routh, iii. 451-483. His See must not be confounded with the Gallic Poictiers. He was of Petau in Austria (Pannonia Superior), as Launoy demonstrated, a.d. 1653.]

2 Rev_4:6. [See vol. 5. note 22, p. 618, this series.]

3 παρασκευή.

4 Psa_6:1; [also Psa_12:1-8. On Sheminith, 1Ch_15:21].

5 Mattathias, interp. Vulg.

6 Psa_33:6. [Seven, say the Rabbis. Vol. 2. note 66, p. 438, this series.]

7 Probably “knowledge.”

8 Or, “the rivers are spread abroad.”

9 Trabes. [There is no proof of seven heavens in Scripture.]

10 Coma horribilis curabitur.

11 Psa_14:1. [Vol. 1. p. 213, this series.]

12 Rev. passim.

13 Ex die in sanguine.

14 “He makes the deaf tohear, and recalls the dead:” this is inserted conjecturally by Routh.

Rev_1:1-20

Rev_1:1 “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him, and showed unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass, and signified it. Blessed are they who read and hear the words of this prophecy, and keep the things which are written.”] The beginning of the book promises blessing to him that reads and hears and keeps, that he who takes pains about the reading may thence learn to do works, and may keep the precepts.

Rev_1:4 “Grace unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come.”] He is, because He endures continually; He was, because with the Father He made all things, and has at this time taken a beginning from the Virgin; He is to come, because assuredly He will come to judgment.

“And from the seven spirits which are before His throne.”] We read of a sevenfold spirit in Isaiah,1 – namely, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, of knowledge and of piety, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord.

Rev_1:5 “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first-begotten of the dead.”] In taking upon Him manhood, He gave a testimony in the world, wherein also having suffered, He freed us by His blood from sin; and having vanquished hell, He was the first who rose from the dead, and “death shall have no more dominion over Him,” (Rom_6:9) but by His own reign the kingdom of the world is destroyed.

Rev_1:6 “And He made us a kingdom and priests unto God and His Father.”] That is to say, a Church of all believers; as also the Apostle Peter says: “A holy nation, a royal priesthood.” (1Pe_2:9)

Rev_1:7 “Behold, He shall come with clouds, and every eye shall see Him.”] For He who at first came hidden in the manhood that He had undertaken, shall after a little while come to judgment manifest in majesty and glory. And what saith He?

Rev_1:12 “And I turned, and saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks one like unto the Son of man.”] He says that He was like Him after His victory over death, when He had ascended into the heavens, after the union in His body of the power which He received from the Father with the spirit of His glory.

Rev_1:13 “As it were the Son of man walking in the midst of the golden candlesticks.”] He says, in the midst of the churches, as it is said in Solomon, “I will walk in the midst of the paths of the just,” (Pro_8:20) whose antiquity is immortality, and the fountain of majesty.

“Clothed with a garment down to the ankles.”] In the long, that is, the priestly garment, these words very plainly deliver the flesh which was not corrupted in death, and has the priesthood through suffering.

“And He was girt about the paps with a golden girdle.”] His paps are the two testaments, and the golden girdle is the choir of saints, as gold tried in the fire. Otherwise the golden girdle bound around His breast indicates the enlightened conscience, and the pure and spiritual apprehension that is given to the churches.

Rev_1:14 “And His head and His hairs were white as it were white wool, and as it were snow.”] On the head the whiteness is shown; “but the head of Christ is God.” (1Co_11:3) in the white hairs is the multitude of abbots2 like to wool, in respect of simple sheep; to snow, in respect of the innumerable crowd of candidates taught from heaven.

“His eyes were as a flame of fire.”] God’s precepts are those which minister light to believers, but to unbelievers burning.

Rev_1:16 “And in His face was brightness as the sun.”] That which He called brightness was the appearance of that in which He spoke to men face to face. But the glory of the sun is less than the glory of the Lord. Doubtless on account of its rising and setting, and rising again, that He was born and suffered and rose again, therefore the Scripture gave this similitude, likening His face to the glory of the sun.

Rev_1:15 “His feet were like unto yellow brass, as if burned in a furnace.”] He calls the apostles His feet, who, being wrought by suffering, preached His word in the whole world; for He rightly named those by whose means the preaching went forth, feet. Whence also the prophet anticipated this, and said: “We will worship in the place where His feet have stood.” (Psa_132:7) Because where they first of all stood and confirmed the Church, that is, in Judea, all the saints shall assemble together, and will worship their Lord.

Rev_1:16 “And out of His mouth was issuing a sharp two-edged sword.”] By the twice-sharpened sword going forth out of His mouth is shown, that it is He Himself who has both now declared the word of the Gospel, and previously by Moses declared the knowledge of the law to the whole world. But because from the same word, as well of the New as of the Old Testament, He will assert Himself upon the whole human race, therefore He is spoken of as two-edged. For the sword arms the soldier, the sword slays the enemy, the sword punishes the deserter. And that He might show to the apostles that He was announcing judgment, He says: “I came not to send peace, but a sword.” (Mat_10:34) And after He had completed His parables, He says to them: “Have ye understood all these things? And they said, We have. And He added, Therefore is every scribe instructed in the kingdom of God like unto a man that is a father of a family, bringing forth from his treasure things new and old,” (Mat_13:51, Mat_13:52) – the new, the evangelical words of the apostles; the old, the precepts of the law and the prophets: and He testified that these proceeded out of His mouth. Moreover, He also says to Peter: “Go thou to the sea, and cast a hook, and take up the fish that shall first come up; and having opened its mouth, thou shalt find a stater (that is, two denarii), and thou shalt give it for me and for thee.” (Mat_17:27) And similarly David says by the Spirit: “God spake once, twice I have heard the same.” (Psa_112:1-10:11) Because God once decreed from the beginning what shall be even to the end. Finally, as He Himself is the Judge appointed by the Father, on account of His assumption of humanity, wishing to show that men shall be judged by the word that He had declared, He says: “Think ye that I will judge you at the last day? Nay, but the word,” says He, “which I have spoken unto you, that shall judge you in the last day.” (Joh_12:48) And Paul, speaking of Antichrist to the Thessalonians, says: “Whom the Lord Jesus will slay by the breath of His mouth.” (2Th_2:8) And Isaiah says: “By the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.” (Isa_11:4) This, therefore, is the two-edged sword issuing out of His mouth.

Rev_1:15 “And His voice as it were the voice of many waters.”] The many waters are understood to be many peoples, or the gift of baptism that He sent forth by the apostles, saying: “Go ye, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” (Mat_28:19)

Rev_1:16 “And He had in His right hand seven stars.”] He said that in His right hand He had seven stars, because the Holy Spirit of sevenfold agency was given into His power by the Father. As Peter exclaimed to the Jews: “Being at the right hand of God exalted, He hath shed forth this Spirit received from the Father, which ye both see and hear.” (Act_2:33) Moreover, John the Baptist had also anticipated this, by saying to his disciples: “For God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him. The Father,” says he, “loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hands.”3 Those seven stars are the seven churches, which he names in his addresses by name, and calls them to whom he wrote epistles. Not that they are themselves the only, or even the principal churches; but what he says to one, he says to all. For they are in no respect different, that on that ground any one should prefer them to the larger number of similar small ones. In the whole world Paul taught that all the churches are arranged by sevens, that they are called seven, and that the Catholic Church is one. And first of all, indeed, that he himself also might maintain the type of seven churches, he did not exceed that number. But he wrote to the Romans, to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Thessalonians, to the Philippians, to the Colossians; afterwards he wrote to individual persons, so as not to exceed the number of seven churches. And abridging in a short space his announcement, he thus says to Timothy: “That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the Church of the living God.” (1Ti_3:15) We read also that this typical number is announced by the Holy Spirit by the month of Isaiah: “Of seven women which took hold of one man.” (Isa_4:1) The one man is Christ, not born of seed; but the seven women are seven churches, receiving His bread, and clothed with his apparel, who ask that their reproach should be taken away, only that His name should be called upon them. The bread is the Holy Spirit, which nourishes to eternal life, promised to them, that is, by faith. And His garments wherewith they desire to be clothed are the glory of immortality, of which Paul the apostle says: “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on mortality.” (1Co_15:53) Moreover, they ask that their reproach may be taken away – that is, that they may be cleansed from their sins: for the reproach is the original sin which is taken away in baptism, and they begin to be called Christian men, which is, “Let thy name be called upon us.” Therefore in these seven churches, of one Catholic Church are believers, because it is one in seven by the quality of faith and election. Whether writing to them who labour in the world, and live4 of the frugality of their labours, and are patient, and when they see certain men in the Church wasters, and pernicious, they hear them, lest there should become dissension, he yet admonishes them by love, that in what respects their faith is deficient they should repent; or to those who dwell in cruel places among persecutors, that they should continue faithful; or to those who, under the pretext of mercy, do unlawful sins in the Church, and make them manifest to be done by others; or to those that are at ease in the Church; or to those who are negligent, and Christians only in name; or to those who are meekly instructed, that they may bravely persevere in faith; or to those who study the Scriptures, and labour to know the mysteries of their announcement, and are unwilling to do God’s work that is mercy and love: to all he urges penitence, to all he declares judgment.

Rev_2:1-29

Rev_2:2 “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience.”] In the first epistle He speaks thus: I know that thou sufferest and workest, I see that thou art patient; think not that I am staying long from thee.

“And that thou canst not bear them that are evil, and who say that they are Jews and are not, and thou has found them liars, and thou hast patience for My name’s sake.”] All these things tend to praise, and that no small praise; and it behoves such men, and such a class, and such elected persons, by all means to be admonished, that they may not be defrauded of such privileges granted to them of God. These few things He said that He had against them.

Rev_2:4, 66 2:5 “And thou hast left thy first love: remember whence thou hast fallen.”] He who falls, falls from a height: therefore He said whence: because, even to the very last, works of love must be practised; and this is the principal commandment. Finally, unless this is done, He threatened to remove their candlestick out of its place, that is, to disperse the congregation.

Rev_2:6 “This thou hast also, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes.”] But because thou thyself hatedst those who hold the doctrines of the Nicolaitanes, thou expectest praise. Moreover, to hate the works of the Nicolaitanes, which He Himself also hated, this tends to praise. But the works of the Nicolaitanes were in that time false and troublesome men, who, as ministers under the name of Nicolaus, had made for themselves a heresy, to the effect that what had been offered to idols might be exorcised and eaten, and that whoever should have committed fornication might receive peace on the eighth day. Therefore He extols those to whom He is writing; and to these men, being such and so great, He promised the tree of life, which is in the paradise of His God.

The following epistle unfolds the mode of life and habit of another order which follows. He proceeds to say: – 

Rev_2:9 “I know thy tribulation and thy poverty, but thou art rich.”] For He knows that with such men there are riches hidden with Him, and that they deny the blasphemy of the Jews, who say that they are Jews and are not; but they are the synagogue of Satan, since they are gathered together by Antichrist; and to them He says: – 

Rev_2:10 “Be thou faithful unto death.”] That they should continue to be faithful even unto death.

Rev_2:11 “He that shall overcome, shall not be hurt by the second death.”] That is, he shalt not be chastised in hell.

The third order of the saints shows that they are men who are strong in faith, and who are not afraid of persecution; but because even among them there are some who are inclined to unlawful associations, He says: – 

Rev_2:14-16. “Thou hast there some who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught in the case of Balak that he should put a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat and to commit fornication. So also hast thou them who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes; but I will fight with them with the sword of my mouth.”] That is, I will say what I shall command, and I will tell you what you shall do. For Balaam,5 with his doctrine, taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the eyes of the children of Israel, to eat what was sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication, – a thing which is known to have happened of old. For he gave this advice to the king of the Moabites, and they caused stumbling to the people. Thus, says He, ye have among you those who hold such doctrine; and under the pretext of mercy, you would corrupt others.

Rev_2:17 “To him that overcometh I will give the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone.”] The hidden manna is immortality; the white gem is adoption to be the son of God; the new name written on the stone is “Christian.”

The fourth class intimates the nobility of the faithful, who labour daily, and do greater works. But even among them also He shows that there are men of an easy disposition to grant unlawful peace, and to listen to new forms of prophesying; and He reproves and warns the others to whom this is not pleasing, who know the wickedness opposed to them: for which evils He purposes to bring upon the head of the faithful both sorrows and dangers; and therefore He says: – 

Rev_2:24 “I will not put upon you any other burden.”] That is, I have not given you laws, observances, and duties, which is another burden.

Rev_2:25, 66 2:26 “But that which ye have, hold fast until I come; and he that overcometh, to him will I give power over all peoples.”] That is, him I will appoint as judge among the rest of the saints.

Rev_2:28 “And I will give him the morning star.”] To wit, the first resurrection. He promised the morning star, which drives away the night, and announces the light, that is, the beginning of day.

Rev_3:1-22

The fifth class, company, or association of saints, sets forth men who are careless, and who are carrying on in the world other transactions than those which they ought – Christians only in name. And therefore He exhorts them that by any means they should be turned away from negligence, and be saved; and to this effect He says: – 

Rev_3:2 “Be watchful, and strengthen the other things which were ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect before God.”] For it is not enough for a tree to live and to have no fruit, even as it is not enough to be called a Christian and to confess Christ, but not to have Himself in our work, that is, not to do His precepts.

The sixth class is the mode of life of the best election. The habit of saints is set forth; of those, to wit, who are lowly in the world, and unskilled in the Scriptures, and who hold the faith immoveably, and are not at all broken down by any chance, or withdrawn from the faith by any fear. Therefore He says to them: – 

Rev_3:8 “I have set before thee an open door, because thou hast kept the word of my patience.”] In such little strength.

Rev_3:10 “And I will keep thee from the hour of temptation.”] That they may know His glory to be of this kind, that they are not indeed permitted to be given over to temptation.

Rev_3:12 “He that overcometh shall be made a pillar in the temple of God.”] For even as a pillar is an ornament of the building, so he who perseveres shall obtain a nobility in the Church.

Moreover, the seventh association of the Church declares that they are rich men placed in positions of dignity, but believing that they are rich, among whom indeed the Scriptures are discussed in their bedchamber, while the faithful are outside; and they are understood by none, although they boast themselves, and say that they know all things, – endowed with the confidence of learning, but ceasing from its labour. And thus He says: – 

Rev_3:15 “That they are neither cold nor hot.”] That is, neither unbelieving nor believing, for they are all things to all men. And because he who is neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm, gives nausea, He says: – 

Rev_3:16 “I will vomit thee out of My mouth.”] Although nausea is hateful, still it hurts no one; so also is it with men of this kind when they have been cast forth. But because there is time of repentance, He says: – 

Rev_3:18 “I persuade thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire.”] That is, that in whatever manner you can, you should suffer for the Lord’s name tribulations and passions.

“And anoint thine eyes with eye-salve.”] That what you gladly know by the Scripture, you should strive also to do the work of the same. And because, if in these ways men return out of great destruction to great repentance, they are not only useful to themselves, but they are able also to be of advantage to many, He promised them no small reward, – to sit, namely, on the throne of judgment.

Rev_4:1-11

“After this, I beheld, and, lo, a door was opened in heaven.”] The new testament is announced as an open door in heaven.

“And the first voice which I heard was, as it were, of a trumpet talking with me, saying, Come up hither.”] Since the door is shown to be opened, it is manifest that previously it had been closed to men. And it was sufficiently and fully laid open when Christ ascended with His body to the Father into heaven. Moreover, the first voice which he had heard when he says that it spoke with him, without contradiction condemns those who say that one spoke in the prophets, another in the Gospel; since it is rather He Himself who comes, that is the same who spoke in the prophets. For John was of the circumcision, and all that people which had heard the announcement of the Old Testament was edified with his word.

“That very same voice,” said he, “that I had heard, that said unto me, Come up hither.”] That is the Spirit, whom a little before he confesses that he had seen walking as the Son of man in the midst of the golden candlesticks. And he now gathers from Him what had been foretold in similitudes by the law, and associates with this scripture all the former prophets, and opens up the Scriptures. And because our Lord invited in His own name all believers into heaven, He forthwith poured out the Holy Spirit, who should bring them to heaven. He says: – 

Rev_4:2 “Immediately I was in the Spirit.”] And since the mind of the faithful is opened by the Holy Spirit, and that is manifested to them which was also foretold to the fathers, he distinctly says: – 

“And, behold, a throne was set in heaven.”] The throne set: what is it but the throne of judgment and of the King?

Rev_4:3 “And He that sate upon the throne was, to look upon, like a jasper and a sardine stone.”] Upon the throne he says that he saw the likeness of a jasper and a sardine stone. The jasper is of the colour of water, the sardine of fire. These two are thence manifested to be placed as judgments upon God’s tribunal until the consummation of the world, of which judgments one is already completed in the deluge of water, and the other shall be completed by fire.

“And there was a rainbow about the throne.”] Moreover, the rainbow round about the throne has the same colours. The rainbow is called a bow from what the Lord spake to Noah and to his sons,6 that they should not fear any further deluge in the generation of God, but fire. For thus He says: I will place my bow in the clouds, that ye may now no longer fear water, but fire. 

Rev_4:6 “And before the throne there was, as it were, a sea of glass like to crystal.”] That is the gift of baptism which He sheds forth through His Son in time of repentance, before He executes judgment. It is therefore before the throne, that is, the judgment. And when he says a sea of glass like to crystal, he shows that it is pure water, smooth, not agitated by the wind, not flowing down as on a slope, but given to be immoveable as the house of God.

“And round about the throne were four living creatures.”] The four living creatures are the four Gospels.

Rev_4:7-10 “The first living creature was like to a lion, and the second was like to a calf, and the third had a face like to a man, and the fourth was like to a flying eagle; and they had six wings, and round about and within they were full of eyes; and they had no rest, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord Omnipotent. And the four and twenty elders, falling down before the throne, adored God.”] The four and twenty elders are the twenty-four books of the prophets and of the law, which give testimonies of the judgment. Moreover, also, they are the twenty-four fathers – twelve apostles and twelve patriarchs. And in that the living creatures are different in appearance, this is the reason: the living creature like to a lion designates Mark, in whom is heard the voice of the lion roaring in the desert. And in the figure of a man, Matthew strives to declare to us the genealogy of Mary, from whom Christ took flesh. Therefore, in enumerating from Abraham to David, and thence to Joseph, he spoke of Him as if of a man: therefore his announcement sets forth the image of a man. Luke, in narrating the priesthood of Zacharias as he offers a sacrifice for the people, and the angel that appears to him with respect of the priesthood, and the victim in the same description bore the likeness of a calf. John the evangelist, like to an eagle hastening on uplifted wings to greater heights, argues about the Word of God. Mark, therefore, as an evangelist thus beginning, “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet;”7 The voice of one crying in the wilderness,” (Isa_40:3) – has the effigy of a lion. And Matthew, “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham:” (Mat_1:1) this is the form of a man. But Luke said, “There was a priest, by name Zachariah, of the course of Abia, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron:” (Luk_1:5) this is the likeness of a calf. But John, when he begins, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” (Joh_1:1) sets forth the likeness of a flying eagle. Moreover, not only do the evangelists express their four similitudes in their respective openings of the Gospels, but also the Word itself of God the Father Omnipotent, which is His Son our Lord Jesus Christ, bears the same likeness in the time of His advent. When He preaches to us, He is, as it were, a lion and a lion’s whelp. And when for man’s salvation He was made man to overcome death, and to set all men free, and that He offered Himself a victim to the Father on our behalf, He was called a calf. And that He overcame death and ascended into the heavens, extending His wings and protecting His people, He was named a flying eagle. Therefore these announcements, although they are four, yet are one, because it proceeded from one mouth. Even as the river in paradise, although it is one, was divided into four heads. Moreover, that for the announcement of the New Testament those bring creatures had eyes within and without, shows the spiritual providence which both looks into the secrets of the heart, and beholds the things which are coming after that are within and without.

Rev_4:8 “Six wings.”] These are the testimonies of the books of the Old Testament. Thus, twenty and four make as many as there are elders sitting upon the thrones. But as an animal cannot fly unless it have wings, so, too, the announcement of the New Testament gains no faith unless it have the fore-announced testimonies of the Old Testament, by which it is lifted from the earth, and flies. For in every case, what has been told before, and is afterwards found to have happened, that begets an undoubting faith. Again, also, if wings be not attached to the living creatures, they have nothing whence they may draw their life. For unless what the prophets foretold had been consummated in Christ, their preaching was vain. For the Catholic Church holds those things which were both before predicted and afterwards accomplished. And it flies, because the living animal is reasonably lifted up from the earth. But to heretics who do not avail themselves of the prophetic testimony, to them also there are present living creatures; but they do not fly, because they are of the earth. And to the Jews who do not receive the announcement of the New Testament there are present wings; but they do not fly, that is, they bring a vain prophesying to men, not adjusting facts to their words. And the books of the Old Testament that are received are twenty-four, which you will find in the epitomes of Theodore. But, moreover (as we have said), four and twenty elders, patriarchs and apostles, are to judge His people. For to the apostles, when they asked, saying, “We have forsaken all that we had, and followed Thee: what shall we have?” our Lord replied, “When the Son of man shall sit upon the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Mat_19:27, Mat_19:28) But of the fathers also who should judge, says the patriarch Jacob, “Dan also himself shall judge his people among his brethren, even as one of the tribes in Israel.” (Gen_49:16)

Rev_4:5 “And from the throne proceeded lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and seven torches of fire burning.”] And the lightnings, and voices, and thunders proceeding from the throne of God, and the seven torches of fire burning, signify announcements, and promises of adoption, and threatenings. For lightnings signify the Lord’s advent, and the voices the announcements of the New Testament, and the thunders, that the words are from heaven. The burning torches of fire signify the gift of the Holy Spirit, that it is given by the wood of the passion. And when these things were doing, he says that all the elders fell down and adored the Lord; while the living creatures – that is, of course, the actions recorded in the Gospels and the teaching of the Lord – gave Him glory and honour.8 In that they had fulfilled the word that had been previously foretold by them, they worthily and with reason exult, feeling that they have ministered the mysteries and the word of the Lord. Finally, also, because He had come who should remove death, and who alone was worthy to take the crown of immortality, all for the glory of His most excellent doing had crowns.

Rev_4:10 “And they cast their crowns under His feet.”] That is, on account of the eminent glory of Christ’s victory, they cast all their victories under His feet. This is what in the Gospel the Holy Spirit consummated by showing, For when about finally to suffer, our Lord had come to Jerusalem, and the people had gone forth to meet Him, some strewed the road with palm branches cut down, others threw down their garments, doubtless these were setting forth two peoples – the one of the patriarchs, the other of the prophets; that is to say, of the great men who had any kind of palms of their victories against sin, and cast them under the feet of Christ, the victor of all. And the palm and the crown signify the same things, and these are not given save to the victor.

Rev_5:1-14

Rev_5:1 “And I saw in the right hand of Him that sate upon the throne, a book written within and without, sealed with seven seals.”] This book signifies the Old Testament, which has been given into the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ, who received from the Father judgment.

Rev_5:2, 66 5:3 “And I saw an angel full of strength proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no one was found worthy, neither in the earth nor under the earth, to open the book.”] Now to open the book is to overcome death for man.

Rev_5:4 “There was none found worthy to do this.”] Neither among the angels of heaven, nor among men in earth, nor among the souls of the saints in rest, save Christ the Son of God alone, whom he says that he saw as a Lamb standing as it were slain, having seven horns. What had not been then announced, and what the law had contemplated for Him by its various oblations and sacrifices, it behoved Himself to fulfil. And because He Himself was the testator, who had overcome death, it was just that Himself should be appointed the Lord’s heir, that He should possess the substance of the dying man, that is, the human members.

Rev_5:5 “Lo, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed.”] We read in Genesis that this lion of the tribe of Judah hath conquered, when the patriarch Jacob says, “Judah, thy brethren shall praise thee; thou hast lain down and slept, and hast risen up again as a lion, and as a lion’s whelp.” (Gen_49:8, Gen_49:9) For He is called a lion for the overcoming of death; but for the suffering for men He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. But because He overcame death, and anticipated the duty of the executioner, He was called as it were slain. He therefore opens and seals again the testament, which He Himself had sealed. The legislator Moses intimating this, that it behoved Him to be sealed and concealed, even to the advent of His passion, veiled his face, and so spoke to the people; showing that the words of his announcement were veiled even to the advent of His time. For he himself, when he had read to the people, having taken the wool purpled with the blood of the calf, with water sprinkled the whole people, saying, “This is the blood of His testament who hath purified you.” (Exo_24:7, Exo_24:8) It should therefore be observed that the Man is accurately announced, and that all things combine into one. For it is not sufficient that that law is spoken of, but it is named as a testament. For no law is called a testament, nor is any thing else called a testament, save what persons make who are about to die. And whatever is within the testament is sealed, even to the day of the testator’s death. Therefore it is with reason that it is only sealed by the Lamb slain, who, as it were a lion, has broken death in pieces, and has fulfilled what had been foretold; and has delivered man, that is, the flesh, from death, and has received as a possession the substance of the dying person, that is, of the human members; that as by one body all men had fallen under the obligation of its death, also by one body all believers should be born again unto life, and rise again. Reasonably, therefore, His face is opened and unveiled to Moses; and therefore He is called Apocalypse, Revelation. For now His book is unsealed – now the offered victims are perceived – now the fabrication of the priestly chrism; moreover the testimonies are openly understood.

Rev_5:8, 66 5:9 “Twenty-four elders and four living creatures, having harps and phials, and singing a new song.”] The proclamation of the Old Testament associated with the New, points out the Christian people singing a new song, that is, bearing their confession publicly. It is a new thing that the Son of God should become man. It is a new thing to ascend into the heavens with a body. It is a new thing to give remission of sins to men. It is a new thing for men to be sealed with the Holy Spirit. It is a new thing to receive the priesthood of sacred observance, and to look for a kingdom of unbounded promise. The harp, and the chord stretched on its wooden frame, signifies the flesh of Christ linked with the wood of the passion. The phial signifies the Confession,9 and the race of the new Priesthood. But it is the praise of many angels, yea, of all, the salvation of all, and the testimony of the universal creation, bringing to our Lord thanksgiving for the deliverance of men from the destruction of death. The unsealing of the seals, as we have said, is the opening of the Old Testament, and the foretelling of the preachers of things to come in the last times, which, although the prophetic Scripture speaks by single seals, yet by all the seals opened at once, prophecy takes its rank.

Rev_6:1-17

Rev_6:1, 66 6:2 “And when the Lamb had opened one of the seven seals, I saw, and heard one of the four living creatures saying, Come and see. And, lo, a white horse, and He who sate upon him had a bow.”] The first seal being opened, he says that he saw a white horse, and a crowned horseman having a bow. For this was at first done by Himself. For after the Lord ascended into heaven and opened all things, He sent the Holy Spirit, whose words the preachers sent forth as arrows reaching to the human heart, that they might overcome unbelief. And the crown on the head is promised to the preachers by the Holy Spirit. The other three horses very plainly signify the wars, famines, and pestilences announced by our Lord in the Gospel. And thus he says that one of the four living creatures said (because all four are one), “Come and see.” “Come” is said to him that is invited to faith; “see” is said to him who saw not. Therefore the white horse is the word of preaching with the Holy Spirit sent into the world. For the Lord says, “This Gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world for a testimony to all nations, and then shall come the end.” (Mat_24:14)

Rev_6:3, 66 6:4 “And when He had opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red, and to him that sate upon him was given a great sword.”] The red horse, and he that sate upon him, having a sword, signify the coming wars, as we read in the Gospel: “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be great earthquakes in divers places.” (Luk_21:10, Luk_21:11) This is the ruddy horse.

Rev_6:5 “And when He had opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, Come and see. And, lo, a black horse; and he who sate upon it had a balance in his hand.”] The black horse signifies famine, for the Lord says, “There shall be famines in divers places;” but the word is specially extended to the times of Antichrist, when there shall be a great famine, and when all shall be injured. Moreover, the balance in the hand is the examining scales, wherein He might show forth the merits of every individual. He then says: – 

Rev_6:6 “Hurt not the wine and the oil.”] That is, strike not the spiritual man with thy inflictions. This is the black horse.

Rev_6:7, 66 6:8 “And when He had opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living creature saying, Come and see. And, lo, a pale horse; and he who sate upon him was named Death.”] For the pale horse and he who sate upon him bore the name of Death. These same things also the Lord had promised among the rest of the coming destructions – great pestilences and deaths; since, moreover, he says: – 

“And hell followed him.”] That is, it was waiting for the devouring of many unrighteous souls. This is the pale horse.

Rev_6:9 “And when He had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain.”] He relates that he saw under the altar of God, that is, under the earth, the souls of them that were slain. For both heaven and earth are called God’s altar, as saith the law, commanding in the symbolical form of the truth two altars to be made, – a golden one within, and a brazen one without. But we perceive that the golden altar is thus called heaven, by the testimony that our Lord bears to it; for He says, “When thou bringest thy gift to the altar” (assuredly our gifts are the prayers which we offer), “and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar.” (Mat_5:23, Mat_5:34) Assuredly prayers ascend to heaven. Therefore heaven is understood to be the golden altar which was within; for the priests also were accustomed to enter once in the year – as they who had the anointing – to the golden altar, the Holy Spirit signifying that Christ should do this once for all. As the golden altar is acknowledged to be heaven, so also by the brazen altar is understood the earth, under which is the Hades, – a region withdrawn from punishments and fires, and a place of repose for the saints, wherein indeed the righteous are seen and heard by the wicked, but they cannot be carried across to them. He who sees all things would have us to know that these saints, therefore – that is, the souls of the slain – are asking for vengeance for their blood, that is, of their body, from those that dwell upon the earth; but because in the last time, moreover, the reward of the saints will be perpetual, and the condemnation of the wicked shall come, it was told them to wait. And for a solace to their body, there were given unto each of them white robes. They received, says he, white robes, that is, the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Rev_6:12 “And I saw, when he had opened the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake.”] In the sixth seal, then, was a great earthquake: this is that very last persecution.

“And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair.”] The sun becomes as sackcloth; that is, the brightness of doctrine will be obscured by unbelievers.

“And the entire moon became as blood.”] By the moon of blood is set forth the Church of the saints as pouring out her blood for Christ.

Rev_6:13 “And the stars fell to the earth.”] The falling of the stars are the faithful who are troubled for Christ’s sake.

“Even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs.”] The fig-tree, when shaken, loses its untimely figs – when men are separated from the Church by persecution.

Rev_6:14 “And the heaven withdrew as a scroll that is rolled up.”] For the heaven to be rolled away, that is, that the Church shall be taken away.

“And every mountain and the islands were moved from their places.”] Mountains and islands removed from their places intimate that in the last persecution all men departed from their places; that is, that the good will be removed, seeking to avoid the persecution.

Rev_7:1-17

Rev_7:2 “And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God”] He speaks of Elias the prophet, who is the precursor of the times of Antichrist, for the restoration and establishment of the churches from the great and intolerable persecution. We read that these things are predicted in the opening of the Old and New Testament; for He says by Malachi: “Lo, I will send to you Elias the Tishbite, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, according to the time of calling, to recall the Jews to the faith of the people that succeed them.” (Mal_4:5, Mal_4:6) And to that end He shows, as we have said, that the number of those that shall believe, of the Jews and of the nations, is a great multitude which no man was able to number. Moreover, we read in the Gospel that the prayers of the Church are sent from heaven by an angel, and that they are received against wrath, and that the kingdom of Antichrist is cast out and extinguished by holy angels; for He says: “Pray that ye enter not into temptation: for there shall be a great affliction, such as has not been from the beginning of the world; and except the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved.” (Mar_13:18-20) Therefore He shall send these seven great archangels to smite the kingdom of Antichrist; for He Himself also thus said: “Then the Son of man shall send His messengers; and they shall gather together His elect from the four corners of the wind, from the one end of heaven even to the other end thereof.” (Mar_13:27) For, moreover, He previously says by the prophet: “Then shall there be peace for our land, when there shall arise in it seven shepherds and eight attacks of men; and they shall encircle Assur,” that is, Antichrist, “in the trench of Nimrod,” (Mic_5:5, Mic_5:6) that is, in the nation of the devil, by the spirit of the Church. Similarly when the keepers of the house shall be moved. Moreover, the Lord Himself, in the parable to the apostles, when the labourers had come to Him and said, “Lord, did not we sow good seed in Thy field? whence, then, hath it tares? answered them, An enemy hath done this. And they said to Him, Lord, wilt Thou, then, that we go and root them up? And He said, Nay, but let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, that they gather the tares and make bundles of them, and burn them with fire everlasting, but that they gather the wheat into my barns.” (Mat_13:27-30) The Apocalypse here shows, therefore, that these reapers, and shepherds, and labourers, are the angels. And the trumpet is the word of power. And although the same thing recurs in the phials, still it is not said as if it occurred twice, but because what is decreed by the Lord to happen shall be once for all; for this cause it is said twice. What, therefore, He said too little in the trumpets, is here found in the phials. We must not regard the order of what is said, because frequently the Holy Spirit, when He has traversed even to the end of the last times, returns again to the same times, and fills up what He had before failed to say.10 Nor must we look for order in the Apocalypse; but we must follow the meaning of those things which are prophesied. Therefore in the trumpets and phials is signified either the desolation of the plagues that are sent upon the earth, or the madness of Antichrist himself, or the cutting off of the peoples, or the diversity of the plagues, or the hope in the kingdom of the saints, or the ruin of states, or the great overthrow of Babylon, that is, the Roman state.

Rev_7:9 “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man was able to number, of every nation, tribe, and people, and tongue, clothed with white robes.”] What the great multitude out of every tribe implies, is to show the number of the elect out of all believers, who, being cleansed by baptism in the blood of the Lamb, have made their robes white, keeping the grace which they have received.

Rev_8:1-13

Rev_8:1 “And when He had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.”] Whereby is signified the beginning of everlasting rest; but it is described as partial, because the silence being interrupted, he repeats it in order. For if the silence had continued, here would be an end of his narrative.

Rev_8:13 “And I saw an angel flying through the midst of heaven.”] By the angel flying through the midst of heaven is signified the Holy Spirit bearing witness in two of the prophets that a great wrath of plagues was imminent. If by any means, even in the last times, any one should be willing to be converted, any one might even still be saved.

Rev_9:1-21

Rev_9:13, 66 9:14 “And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is in the presence of God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels.”] That is, the four corners of the earth which hold the four winds.

“Which are bound in the great river Euphrates.”] By the corners of the earth, or the four winds across the river Euphrates, are meant four nations, because to every nation is sent an angel; as said the law, “He determined them by the number of the angels of God,” (Deu_32:8) until the number of the saints should be filled up. They do not overpass their bounds, because at the last they shall come with Antichrist.

Rev_10:1-11

Rev_10:1, 66 10:2 “I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: and he had in his hand an open book: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot upon the earth.”] He signifies that that mighty angel who, he says, descended from heaven, clothed with a cloud, is our Lord, as we have above narrated.

“His face was as it were the sun.”] That is, with respect to the resurrection.

“Upon his head was a rainbow.”] He points to the judgment which is executed by Him, or shall be.

“An open book.”] A revelation of works in the future judgment, or the Apocalypse which John received.

“His feet,”] as we have said above, are the apostles. For that both things in sea and land are trodden under foot by Him, signifies that all things are placed under His feet. Moreover, he calls Him an angel, that is, a messenger, to wit, of the Father; for He is called the Messenger of great counsel. He says also that He cried with a loud voice. The great voice is to tell the words of the Omnipotent God of heaven to men, and to bear witness that after penitence is closed there will be no hope subsequently.

Rev_10:3 “Seven thunders uttered their voices.”] The seven thunders uttering their voices signify the Holy Spirit of sevenfold power, who through the prophets announced all things to come, and by His voice John gave his testimony in the world; but because he says that he was about to write the things which the thunders had uttered, that is, whatever things had been obscure in the announcements of the Old Testament; he is forbidden to write them, but he was charged to leave them sealed, because he is an apostle, nor was it fitting that the grace of the subsequent stage should be given in the first. “The time,” says he, “is at hand.” (Rev_1:3; Rev_22:10) For the apostles, by powers, by signs, by portents, and by mighty works, have overcome unbelief. After them there is now given to the same completed Churches the comfort of having the prophetic Scriptures subsequently interpreted, for I said that after the apostles there would be interpreting prophets.

For the apostle says: “And he placed in the Church indeed, first, apostles; secondly, prophets; thirdly, teachers,” (1Co_12:28) and the rest. And in another place he says: “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the others judge.” (1Co_14:29) And he says: “Every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered, dishonoureth her head.” (1Co_11:5) And when he says, “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the others judge,” he is not speaking in respect of the Catholic prophecy of things unheard and unknown, but of things both announced and known. But let them judge whether or not the interpretation is consistent with the testimonies of the prophetic utterance.11 It is plain, therefore, that to John, armed as he was with superior virtue, this was not necessary, although the body of Christ, which is the Church, adorned with His members, ought to respond to its position.

Rev_10:10 “I took the book from the hand of the angel, and ate it up.”] To take the book and eat it up, is, when exhibition of a thing is made to one, to commit it to memory.

“And it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.”] To be sweet in the mouth is the reward of the preaching of the speaker, and is most pleasant to the hearers; but it is most bitter both to those that announce it, and to those that persevere in its commandments through suffering.

Rev_10:11 “And He says unto me, Thou must again prophesy to the peoples, and to the tongues, and to the nations, and to many kings.”] He says this, because when John said these things he was in the island of Patmos, condemned to the labour of the mines by Cæsar Domitian. There, therefore, he saw the Apocalypse; and when grown old, he thought that he should at length receive his quittance by suffering, Domitian being killed, all his judgments were discharged. And John being dismissed from the mines, thus subsequently delivered the same Apocalypse which he had received from God. This, therefore, is what He says: Thou must again prophesy to all nations, because thou seest the crowds of Antichrist rise up; and against them other crowds shall stand, and they shall fall by the sword on the one side and on the other.

FOOTNOTES

1 Isa_11:2. [P. 342, supra.]

2 [Abba = father. Fathers, rather.]

3Jo_1:3:34, 35. [Compare Wordsworth on the Apocalypse.]

4 Operantur, conjectured to be “vivunt.”

5 Num_23:1-30. [Wordsworth, ed. 1852, pp. 78-92.]

6 Gen_9:1-29. [Wordsworth, Lect. iv.]

7 Mar_1:3. [On the Zoa, see p. 341, supra.]

8 The living creatures are held to be the Gospels, or the acts and teaching of our Lord narrated in them. [Wordsworth, Lect. iv.]

9 [The Creed and the evangelical priest. Vol. 2. note 5, p. 173.]

10 [The rule of Mede’s “Synchronisms.”

11 [Some excuse for Tertullian’s lapse is found in the prevailing uncertainty about the withdrawal of the prophetic gifts.]

Rev_11:1-19

Rev_11:1 “And there was shown unto me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.”] A reed was shown like to a rod. This itself is the Apocalypse which he subsequently exhibited to the churches; for the Gospel of the complete faith he subsequently wrote for the sake of our salvation. For when Valentinus, and Cerinthus, and Ebion, and others of the school of Satan, were scattered abroad throughout the world, there assembled together to him from the neighbouring provinces all the bishops, and compelled him himself also to draw up his testimony. Moreover, we say that the measure of God’s temple is the command of God to confess the Father Almighty, and that His Son Christ was begotten by the Father before the beginning of the world, and was made man in very soul and flesh, both of them having overcome misery and death; and that, when received with His body into heaven by the Father, He shed forth the Holy Spirit, the gift and pledge of immortality, that He was announced by the prophets, He was described by the law, He was God’s hand, and the Word of the Father from God, Lord over all, and founder of the world: this is the reed and the measure of faith; and no one worships the holy altar save he who confesses this faith.

Rev_11:2 “The court which is within the temple leave out.”] The space which is called the court is the empty altar within the walls: these being such as were not necessary, he commanded to be ejected from the Church.

“It is given to be trodden down by the Gentiles.”] That is, to the men of this world, that it may be trodden under foot by the nations, or with the nations. Then he repeats about the destruction and slaughter of the last time, and says: – 

Rev_11:3 “They shall tread the holy city down for forty and two months; and I will give to my two witnesses, and they shall predict a thousand two hundred and threescore days clothed in sackcloth.”] That is, three years and six months: these make forty-two months. Therefore their preaching is three years and six months, and the kingdom of Antichrist as much again.

Rev_11:5 “If any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies.”] That fire proceedeth out of the mouth of those prophets against the adversaries, bespeaks the power of the world. For all afflictions, however many there are, shall be sent by their messengers in their word. Many think that there is Elisha, or Moses, with Elijah; but both of these died; while the death of Elijah is not heard of, with whom all our ancients have believed that it was Jeremiah. For even the very word spoken to him testifies to him, saying, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” (Jer_1:5) But he was not a prophet unto the nations; and thus the truthful word of God makes it necessary, which it has promised to set forth, that he should be a prophet to the nations.

Rev_11:4 “These are the two candlesticks standing before the Lord of the earth.”] These two candlesticks and two olive trees He has to this end spoken of, and admonished you that if, when you have read of them elsewhere, you have not understood, you may understand here. For in Zechariah, one of the twelve prophets, it is thus written: “These are the two olive trees and two candlesticks which stand in the presence of the Lord of the earth;” (Zec_4:14) that is, they are in paradise. Also, in another sense, standing in the presence of the lord of the earth, that is, in the presence of Antichrist. Therefore they must be slain by Antichrist.

Rev_11:7 “And the beast which ascendeth from the abyss.”] After many plagues completed in the world, in the end he says that a beast ascended from the abyss. But that he shall ascend from the abyss is proved by many testimonies; for he says in the thirty-first chapter of Ezekiel: “Behold, Assur was a cypress in Mount Lebanon.” Assur, deeply rooted, was a lofty and branching cypress – that is, a numerous people – in Mount Lebanon, in the kingdom of kingdoms, that is, of the Romans. Moreover, that he says he was beautiful in offshoots, he says he was strong in armies. The water, he says, shall nourish him, that is, the many thousands of men which were subjected to him; and the abyss increased him, that is, belched him forth. For even Isaiah speaks almost in the same words; moreover, that he was in the kingdom of the Romans, and that he was among the Cæsars. The Apostle Paul also bears witness, for he says to the Thessalonians: “Let him who now restraineth restrain, until he be taken out of the way; and then shall appear that Wicked One, even he whose coming is after the working of Satan, with signs and lying wonders.” (2Th_2:7, 2Th_2:8, 2Th_2:9) And that they might know that he should come who then was the prince, he added: “He already endeavours after the secret of mischief” (2Th_2:10) – that is, the mischief which he is about to do he strives to do secretly; but he is not raised up by his own power, nor by that of his father, but by command of God, of which thing Paul says in the same passage: “For this cause, because they have not received the love of God, He will send upon them a spirit of error, that they all may be persuaded of a lie, who have not been persuaded of the truth.” (2Th_2:11) And Isaiah saith: “While they waited for the light, darkness arose upon them.”(Isa_59:9) Therefore the Apocalypse sets forth that these prophets are killed by the same, and on the fourth day rise again, that none might be found equal to God.

Rev_11:8 “And their dead bodies shall lie in the streets of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt.”] But He calls Jerusalem Sodom and Egypt, since it had become the heaping up of the persecuting people. Therefore it behoves us diligently, and with the utmost care, to follow the prophetic announcement, and to understand what the Spirit from the Father both announces and anticipates, and how, when He has gone forward to the last times, He again repeats the former ones. And now, what He will do once for all, He sometimes sets forth as if it were done; and unless you understand this, as sometimes done, and sometimes as about to be done, you will fall into a great confusion. Therefore the interpretation of the following sayings has shown therein, that not the order of the reading, but the order of the discourse, must be understood.

Rev_11:19 “And the temple of God was opened which is in heaven.”] The temple opened is a manifestation of our Lord. For the temple of God is the Son, as He Himself says: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” And when the Jews said, “Forty and six years was this temple in building,” the evangelist says, “He spake of the temple of His body.” (Joh_2:19, Joh_2:20, Joh_2:21)

“And there was seen in His temple the ark of the Lord’s testament.”] The preaching of the Gospel and the forgiveness of sins, and all the gifts whatever that came with Him, he says, appeared therein.

Rev_12:1-17

Rev_12:1 “And there was seen a great sign in heaven. A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. And being with child, she cried out travailing, and bearing torments that she might bring forth.”] The woman clothed with the sun, and having the moon under her feet, and wearing a crown of twelve stars upon her head, and travailing in her pains, is the ancient Church of fathers, and prophets, and saints, and apostles,12 which had the groans and torments of its longing until it saw that Christ, the fruit of its people according to the flesh long promised to it, had taken flesh out of the selfsame people. Moreover, being clothed with the sun intimates the hope of resurrection and the glory of the promise. And the moon intimates the fall of the bodies of the saints under the obligation of death, which never can fail. For even as life is diminished, so also it is increased. Nor is the hope of those that sleep extinguished absolutely, as some think, but they have in their darkness a light such as the moon. And the crown of twelve stars signifies the choir of fathers, according to the fleshly birth, of whom Christ was to take flesh.

Rev_12:3 “And there appeared another sign in heaven; and behold a red dragon, having seven heads.”] Now, that he says that this dragon was of a red colour – that is, of a purple colour – the result of his work gave him such a colour. For from the beginning (as the Lord says) he was a murderer; and he has oppressed the whole of the human race, not so much by the obligation of death, as, moreover, by the various forms of destruction and fatal mischiefs. His seven heads were the seven kings of the Romans, of whom also is Antichrist, as we have said above.

“And ten horns.”] He says that the ten kings in the latest times are the same as these, as we shall more fully set forth there.

Rev_12:4 “And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them upon the earth.”] Now, that he says that the dragon’s tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, this may be taken in two ways. For many think that he may be able to seduce the third part of the men who believe.13 But it should more truly be understood, that of the angels that were subject to him, since he was still a prince when he descended from his estate, he seduced the third part; therefore what we said above, the Apocalypse says.

“And the dragon stood before the woman who was beginning to bring forth, that, when she had brought forth, he might devour her child.”] The red dragon standing and desiring to devour her child when she had brought him forth, is the devil, – to wit, the traitor angel, who thought that the perishing of all men would be alike by death; but He, who was not born of seed, owed nothing to death: wherefore he could not devour Him – that is, detain Him in death – for on the third day He rose again. Finally, also, and before He suffered, he approached to tempt Him as man; but when he found that He was not what he thought Him to be, he departed from Him, even till the time. Whence it is here said: – 

Rev_12:5 “And she brought forth a son, who begins to rule all nations with a rod of iron.”] The rod of iron is the sword of persecution.

“I saw that all men withdrew from his abodes.”] That is, the good will be removed, flying from persecution.14

“And her son was caught up to God, and to His throne.”] We read also in the Acts of the Apostles that He was caught up to God’s throne, just as speaking with the disciples He was caught up to heaven.

Rev_12:6 “But the woman fled into the wilderness, and there were given to her two great eagle’s wings.”] The aid of the great eagle’s wings – to wit, the gift of prophets – was given to that Catholic Church, whence in the last times a hundred and forty-four thousands of men should believe on the preaching of Elias; but, moreover, he here says that the rest of the people should be found alive on the coming of the Lord. And the Lord says in the Gospel: “Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains;” (Luk_21:21) that is, as many as should be gathered together in Judea, let them go to that place which they have ready, and let them be supported there for three years and six months from the presence of the devil.

Rev_12:14 “Two great wings”] are the two prophets – Elias, and the prophet who shall be with him.

Rev_12:15 “And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman water as a flood, that he might carry her away with the flood.”] He signifies by the water which the serpent cast out of his mouth, the people who at his command would persecute her.

Rev_12:16 “And the earth helped the woman, and opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.”] That the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the waters, sets forth the vengeance for the present troubles. Although, therefore, it may signify this woman bringing forth, it shows her afterwards flying when her offspring is brought forth, because both things did not happen at one time; for we know that Christ was born, but that the time should arrive that she should flee from the face of the serpent: (we do not know) that this has happened as yet. Then he says: – 

Rev_12:7-9 “There was a battle in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon warred, and his angels, and they prevailed not; nor was their place found any more in heaven. And that great dragon was cast forth, that old serpent: he was cast forth into the earth.”] This is the beginning of Antichrist; yet previously Elias must prophesy, and there must be times of peace. And afterwards, when the three years and six months are completed in the preaching of Elias, he also must be cast down from heaven, where up till that time he had had the power of ascending; and all the apostate angels, as well as Antichrist, must be roused up from hell. Paul the apostle says: “Except there come a falling away first, and the man of sin shall appear, the son of perdition; and the adversary who exalted himself above all which is called God, or which is worshipped.” (2Th_2:3, 2Th_2:4)

Rev_13:1-1815

Rev_13:1 “And I saw a beast rising up from the sea, like unto a leopard.”] This signifies the kingdom of that time of Antichrist, and the people mingled with the variety of nations.

Rev_13:2 “His feet were as the feet of a bear.”] A strong and most unclean beast, the feet are to be understood as his leaders.

“And his mouth as the mouth of a lion.”] That is, his mouth armed for blood is his bidding, and a tongue which will proceed to nothing else than to the shedding of blood.

* * * * * * * *

Rev_13:18 “His number is the name of a man, and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”] As they have it reckoned from the Greek characters, they thus find it among many to be τειταν, for τειταν has this number, which the Gentiles call Sol and Phœbus; and it is reckoned in Greek thus: τ three hundred, ε five, ι ten, τ three hundred, α one, ν fifty, – which taken together become six hundred and sixty-six. For as far as belongs to the Greek letters, they fill up this number and name; which name if you wish to turn into Latin, it is understood by the antiphrase DICLUX, which letters are reckoned in this manner: since D figures five hundred, I one, C a hundred, L fifty, V five, X ten, – which by the reckoning up of the letters makes similarly six hundred and sixty-six, that is, what in Greek gives τειταν, to wit, what in Latin is called DICLUX; by which name, expressed by antiphrases, we understand Antichrist, who, although he be cut off from the supernal light, and deprived thereof, yet transforms himself into an angel of light, daring to call himself light.16 Moreover, we find in a certain Greek codex αντεμος, which letters being reckoned up, you will find to give the number as above: α one, ν fifty, τ three hundred, ε five, μ forty, ο seventy, ς two hundred, – which together makes six hundred and sixty-six, according to the Greeks. Moreover, there is another name in Gothic of him, which will be evident of itself, that is, γενσήρικος, which in the same way you will reckon in Greek letters: γ three, ε five, ν fifty, σ two hundred, η eight, ρ a hundred, ι ten, κ twenty, seventy, ς also two hundred, which, as has been said above, make six hundred and sixty-six.

Rev_13:11 “And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth.”] He is speaking of the great and false prophet who is to do signs, and portents, and falsehoods before him in the presence of men.

“And he had two horns like a lamb – that is, the appearance within of a man – and he spoke like a dragon.”] But the devil speaks full of malice; for he shall do these things in the presence of men, so that even the dead appear to rise again.

Rev_13:13 “And he shall make fire come down from heaven in the sight of men.”] Yes (as I also have said), in the sight of men. Magicians do these things, by the aid of the apostate angels, even to this day. He shall cause also that a golden image of Antichrist shall be placed in the temple at Jerusalem, and that the apostate angel should enter, and thence utter voices and oracles. Moreover, he himself shall contrive that his servants and children should receive as a mark on their foreheads, or on their right hands, the number of his name, lest any one should buy or sell them. Daniel had previously predicted his contempt and provocation of God. “And he shall place,” says he, “his temple within Samaria, upon the illustrious and holy mountain that is at Jerusalem, an image such as Nebuchadnezzar had made.” (Dan_11:45) Thence here he places, and by and by here he renews, that of which the Lord, admonishing His churches concerning the last times and their dangers, says: “But when ye shall see the contempt which is spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, let him who readeth understand.” (Mat_24:15; Dan_9:27) It is called a contempt when God is provoked, because idols are worshipped instead of God, or when the dogma of heretics is introduced in the churches. But it is a turning away because stedfast men, seduced by false signs and portents, are turned away from their salvation.

Rev_14:1-20

Rev_14:6 “And I saw an angel flying through the midst of heaven.”] The angel flying through the midst of heaven, whom he says that he saw, we have already treated of above, as being the same Elias who anticipates the kingdom of Antichrist in his prophecy.

Rev_14:8 “And another angel following him.”] The other angel following, he speaks of as the same prophet who is the associate of his prophesying. But that he says, – 

Rev_14:15 “Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather in the grapes of the vine,”] he signifies it of the nations that should perish on the advent of the Lord. And indeed in many forms he shows this same thing, as if to the dry harvest, and the seed for the coming of the Lord, and the consummation of the world, and the kingdom of Christ, and the future appearance of the kingdom of the blessed.

Rev_14:19, 66 14:20 “And the angel thrust in the sickle, and reaped the vine of the earth, and cast it into the wine-press of the wrath of God. And the wine-press of His fury was trodden down without the city.”] In that he says that it was cast into the wine-press of the wrath of God, and trodden down without the city, the treading of the wine-press is the retribution on the sinner.

“And blood went out from the wine-press, even unto the horse-bridles.”] The vengeance of shed blood as was before predicted, “In blood thou hast sinned, and blood shall follow thee.” (Eze_35:6)

“For a thousand and six hundred furlongs.”] That is, through all the four parts of the world: for there is a quadrate put together by fours, as in four faces and four appearances, and wheels by fours; for forty times four is one thousand six hundred. Repeating the same persecution, the Apocalypse says: – 

Rev_15:1-8

Rev_15:1 “And I saw another great and wonderful sign, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is completed the indignation of God.”] For the wrath of God always strikes the obstinate people with seven plagues, that is, perfectly, as it is said in Leviticus; and these shall be in the last time, when the Church shall have gone out of the midst.

Rev_15:2 “Standing upon the sea of glass, having harps.”] That is, that they stood stedfastly in the faith upon their baptism, and having their confession in their mouth, that they shall exult in the kingdom before God. But let us return to what is set before us.

Rev_17:1-18

Rev_17:1-6. “There came one of the seven angels, which have the seven bowls, and spake with me, saying, Come, I will show thee the judgment of that great whore who sitteth upon many waters. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs.”] The decrees of that senate are always accomplished against all, contrary to the preaching of the true faith; and now already mercy being cast aside, itself here gave the decree among all nations.

Rev_17:3 “And I saw the woman herself sitting upon the scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy.”] But to sit upon the scarlet beast, the author of murders, is the image of the devil. Where also is treated of his captivity, concerning which we have fully considered. I remember, indeed, that this is called Babylon also in the Apocalypse, on account of confusion; and in Isaiah also; and Ezekiel called it Sodom. In fine, if you compare what is said against Sodom, and what Isaiah says against Babylon, and what the Apocalypse says, you will find that they are all one.17

Rev_17:9 “The seven heads are the seven hills, on which the woman sitteth.”] That is, the city of Rome.

Rev_17:10 “And there are seven kings: five have fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he is come, he will be for a short time.”] The time must be understood in which the written Apocalypse was published, since then reigned Cæsar Domitian; but before him had been Titus his brother, and Vespasian, Otho, Vitellius, and Galba. These are the five who have fallen. One remains, under whom the Apocalypse was written – Domitian, to wit. “The other has not yet come,” speaks of Nerva; “and when he is come, he will be for a short time,” for he did not complete the period of two years.

Rev_17:11 “And the beast which thou sawest is of the seven.”] Since before those kings Nero reigned.

“And he is the eighth.”] He says only when this beast shall come, reckon it the eighth place, since in that is the completion. He added: – 

“And shall go into perdition.”] For that ten kings received royal power when he shall move from the east, he says. He shall be sent from the city of Rome with his armies. And Daniel sets forth the ten horns and the ten diadems. And that these are eradicated from the former ones, – that is, that three of the principal leaders are killed by Antichrist: that the other seven give him honour and wisdom and power, of whom he says: – 

Rev_17:16 “These shall hate the whore, to wit, the city, and shall burn her flesh with fire.”] Now that one of the heads was, as it were, slain to death, and that the stroke of his death was directed, he speaks of Nero. For it is plain that when the cavalry sent by the senate was pursuing him, he himself cut his throat. Him therefore, when raised up, God will send as a worthy king, but worthy in such a way as the Jews merited. And since he is to have another name, He shall also appoint another name, that so the Jews may receive him as if he were the Christ. Says Daniel: “He shall not know the lust of women, although before he was most impure, and he shall know no God of his fathers: for he will not be able to seduce the people of the circumcision, unless he is a judge of the law.” (Dan_11:37) Finally, also, he will recall the saints, not to the worship of idols, but to undertake circumcision, and, if he is able, to seduce any; for he shall so conduct himself as to be called Christ by them. But that he rises again from hell, we have said above in the word of Isaiah: “Water shall nourish him, and hell hath increased him;” who, however, must come with name unchanged, and doings unchanged, as says the Spirit.

Rev_19:1-21

Rev_19:11 “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sate upon him was called Faithful and True.”] The horse, and He that sits upon him, sets forth our Lord coming to His kingdom with the heavenly army. Because from the sea of the north, which is the Arabian Sea, even to the sea of Phœnice, and even to the ends of the earth, they will command these greater parts in the coming of the Lord Jesus, and all the souls of the nations will be assembled to judgment.

Rev_20:1-15

Rev_20:1-3 “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a chain in his hand. And he held the dragon, that old serpent, which is called the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be finished: after this he must be loosed a little season.”] Those years wherein Satan is bound are in the first advent of Christ, even to the end of the age; and they are called a thousand, according to that mode of speaking, wherein a part is signified by the whole, just as is that passage, “the word which He commanded for a thousand generations,” (Psa_105:8) although they are not a thousand. Moreover that he says, “and he cast him into the abyss,” he says this, because the devil, excluded from the hearts of believers, began to take possession of the wicked, in whose hearts, blinded day by day, he is shut up as if in a profound abyss. And he shut him up, says he, and put a seal upon him, that he should not deceive the nations until the thousand years should be finished. “He shut the door upon him,” it is said, that is, he forbade and restrained his seducing those who belong to Christ. Moreover, he put a seal upon him, because it is hidden who belong to the side of the devil, and who to that of Christ. For we know not of those who seem to stand whether they shall not fall, and of those who are down it is uncertain whether they may rise. Moreover, that he says that he is bound and shut up, that he may not seduce the nations, the nations signify the Church, seeing that of them it itself is formed, and which being seduced, he previously held until, he says, the thousand years should be completed, that is, what is left of the sixth day, to wit, of the sixth age, which subsists for a thousand years; after this he must be loosed for a little season. The little season signifies three years and six months, in which with all his power the devil will avenge himself under Antichrist against the Church. Finally, he says, after that the devil shall be loosed, and will seduce the nations in the whole world, and will entice war against the Church, the number of whose foes shall be as the sand of the sea.18

Rev_20:4, 66 20:5 “And I saw thrones, and them that sate upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were slain on account of the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast nor his image, nor have received his writing on their forehead or in their hand; and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years: the rest of them lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.”] There are two resurrections. But the first resurrection is now of the souls that are by the faith, which does not permit men to pass over to the second death. Of this resurrection the apostle says: “If ye have risen with Christ, seek those things which are above.” (Col_3:1)

Rev_20:6 “Blessed and holy is he who has part in this resurrection: on them the second death shall have no power, but they shall be priests of God and Christ, and they shall reign with Him a thousand years.”] I do not think the reign of a thousand years is eternal; or if it is thus to be thought of, they cease to reign when the thousand years are finished. But I will put forward what my capacity enables me to judge. The tenfold number signifies the decalogue, and the hundredfold sets forth the crown of virginity: for he who shall have kept the undertaking of virginity completely, and shall have faithfully fulfilled the precepts of the decalogue, and shall have destroyed the untrained nature or impure thoughts within the retirement of the heart, that they may not rule over him, this is the true priest of Christ, and accomplishing the millenary number thoroughly, is thought to reign with Christ; and truly in his case the devil is bound. But he who is entangled in the vices and the dogmas of heretics, in his case the devil is loosed. But that it says that when the thousand years are finished he is loosed, so the number of the perfect saints being completed, in whom there is the glory of virginity in body and mind, by the approaching advent of the kingdom of the hateful one, many, seduced by that love of earthly things, shall be overthrown, and together with him shall enter the lake of fire.

Rev_20:8-10 “And they went up upon the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil who seduced them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where both the beast and the false prophet shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”] This belongs to the last judgment. And after a little time the earth was made holy, as being at least that wherein lately had reposed the bodies of the virgins, when they shall enter upon an eternal kingdom with an immortal King, as they who are not only virgins in body, but, moreover, with equal inviolability have protected themselves, both in tongue and thought, from wickedness; and these, it shows, shall dwell in rejoicing for ever with the Lamb.

Rev_21:1-27 and Rev_22:1-21.

Rev_21:16 “And the city is placed in a square.”] The city which he says is squared, he says also is resplendent with gold and precious stones, and has a sacred street, and a river through the midst of it, and the tree of life on either side, bearing twelve manner of fruits throughout the twelve months; and that the light of the sun is not there, because the Lamb is the light of it; and that its gates were of single pearls; and that there were three gates on each of the four sides, and that they could not be shut. I say, in respect of the square city, he shows forth the united multitude of the saints, in whom the faith could by no means waver. As Noah is commanded to make the ark of squared beams, (Gen_6:14, LXX) that it might resist the force of the deluge, by the precious stones he sets forth the holy men who cannot waver in persecution, who could not be moved either by the tempest of persecutors, or be dissolved from the true faith by the force of the rain, because they are associated of pure gold, of whom the city of the great King is adorned. Moreover, the streets set forth their hearts purified from all uncleanness, transparent with glowing light, that the Lord may justly walk up and down in them. The river of life sets forth that the grace of spiritual doctrine flowed through the minds of the faithful, and that manifold flourishing forms of odours germinated therein. The tree of life on either bank sets forth the Advent of Christ, according to the flesh, who satisfied the peoples wasted with famine, that received life from One by the wood of the Cross, with the announcement of God’s word. And in that he says that the sun is not necessary in the city, he shows, evidently, that the Creator as the immaculate light shines in the midst of it, whose brightness no mind has been able to conceive, nor tongue to tell.

In that he says there are three gates placed on each of the four sides, of single pearls, I think that these are the four virtues,19 to wit, prudence, fortitude, justice, temperance, which are associated with one another. And, being involved together, they make the number twelve. But the twelve gates we believe to be the number of the apostles, who, shining in the four virtues as precious stones, manifesting the light of their doctrine among the saints, cause it to enter the celestial city, that by intercourse with them the choir of angels may be gladdened. And that the gates cannot be shut, it is evidently shown that the doctrine of the apostles can be separated from rectitude by no tempest of contradiction. Even though the floods of the nations and the vain superstitions of heretics should revolt against their true faith, they are overcome, and shall be dissolved as the foam, because Christ is the Rock20 by which, and on which, the Church is founded.21 And thus it is overcome by no traces of maddened men. Therefore they are not to be heard who assure themselves that there is to be an earthly reign of a thousand years; who think, that is to say, with the heretic Cerinthus.22 For the kingdom of Christ is now eternal in the saints, although the glory of the saints shall be manifested after the resurrection.

General Notes by the American Editor.

1. The whole subject of the Apocalypse is so treated,23 in the Speaker’s Commentary, as to elucidate many questions suggested by the primitive commentators of this series, and to furnish the latest judgments of critics on the subject. It is so immense a matter, however, as to render annotations on patristic specialties impossible in a work like this. Every reader must feel how apposite is the sententious saying of Augustine: “Apocalypsis Joannis tot habet sacramenta quot verba.”

2. The seven spirits, p. 344. ver. 4. That is, the one Spirit in His sevenfold gifts. He now fulfils the promise of Christ, “He shall show you the things to come.” Without this complement the Church would lack assurance that her great Head upon the throne has ordered and limited the whole course of this world for her conflicts and her final triumph by the Spirit’s power. St. John’s rapture was the Spirit’s work: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.”24 The whole Apocalypse is an Easter sermon (on the text, Rev_1:18) and an Easter song (vers. 9-14, And passim). It supplements the appearances of the risen Redeemer for identification, by a manifestation, which is the Church’s assurance of His glorification and of His perpetual work in her and for her, as well as of His presence with her, by the Spirit.

3. Seven golden candlesticks, p. 344. ver. 12. The symbol of the seven-fold Spirit in the Church. On the Arch of Titus this symbol had just been set up as proof of its removal from the Mosaic Church. It is now found to be transferred to the “seven churches,” a symbol of the Catholic Church25 or “the communion of saints.” The threatening of removal from particular churches derives force from the (then) recent removal out of Jerusalem.

4. A11 the saints shall assemble, p. 345, ver. 15. Our Author clings to the purer Chiliasm of Commodian, to which Augustine had now given the death-blow by his famous retractation.26

5. New forms of prophesying, p. 347, ver. 17. A retrospective glance at Montanism, and a caveat against the mistakes of Tertullian.

6. I will vomit thee, p. 347, ver. 16. Bishop Wordsworth suggests, that, if the canon of Scripture compiled by the church of Laodicea lacks the Apocalypse, its terrible reproof of that church may have influenced its unwillingness to accept it. Accordingly she was vomited, and perished in the Saracen invasion.

7. That is the Spirit. p. 348, ver. 1. Christ’s divine nature as distinguished from his flesh.27 “In a word,” says Professor Milligan,28 “πνευμα is a short expression for our Lord’s resurrection state.” A truth, but based on the distinction between the flesh of Christ and His spiritual nature as the Word. See Tertullian,29 vol. 3. p. 609, note 74, and note 78: also 2Co_3:17-18.

8. The genealogy of Mary, p. 348, vers. 7-10. It is remarkable that St. Matthew should be credited with this, and not St. Luke, who in the sixteenth century30 began to be regarded as giving the ancestry of Mary. See Africanus31 on the subject, and my elucidation,32 in which I followed Wordsworth. Though I had already prepared the pages of Victorinus for the press, I failed to note at that time this modification of the general truth, that antiquity regards both genealogies as those of Joseph.

9. Dan himself, p. 349, ver 8. Here is a touch of Chiliasm again, i.e., of the better sort. Even Dan is promised a restoration: and the use of Gen_49:16 for that intent is noteworthy, as compared with Rev_7:5-8, where Dan is omitted. But Hippolytus takes a very different view of the same text.33

10. Hades, p 351. “A region withdrawn from punishment and fires,” says our author. He identifies it with paradise, and shows that in his day the Latin churches knew of no purgatorial fires. He knows of nothing but a place for those “who die in the Lord,” and a place for the wicked. It is perpetually overlooked, that, in the fiction of “purgatory,” it is only the righteous who are entitled to it; none but those in full communion with the Church having any portion in it, or any title to Masses for their repose. Of all this our author had no conception.34

11. To take the book and eat it up, p. 353, ver. 10. We must not fail to note with this the passage Jer_15:16, where the Revised Version pedantically sacrifices the Septuagint reading, o( Lo&goj sou, (which is followed by the Vulgate), distinguishing “sermones tui” from “Verbum tuum.” The Seventy have testified to this distinction in their day, and their copies of the Hebrew must have supported it. So understood, what riches in the text of Jeremiah!

12. Thessalonians, p. 354, ver. 7. On which much that is suggestive is said by St. Augustine, though he confesses, concerning what St. Paul had said to the Thessalonians, “Ego prorsus quid dixerit me fateor ignorare.” See De Civ. Dei, lib. xx. cap. 19, p. 685, ed. Migne.

13. The woman, p. 355, ver. 1. Compare vol. 6. p. 337, note 105, and Elucidation II. p. 355. It is quite important to observe the voice of antiquity on a matter which, in our own times, has been made a stumbling-block to souls by a wanton, personal, act of the Bishop of Rome and his dogma of “Immaculate Conception.”

14. The hope those that sleep, p. 355, ver. 1. To make our author consistent with himself (see note 10, supra), we should read thus: “But they have in their darkness a light (some think) such as the moon.” Here, however, it seems to me, he is giving his mind to “the Church of fathers and prophets” exclusively, in which its “saints and apostles” were for a time waiting and looking for the Man-child. Even that Church of the Hebrews had, in Hades, light “like that of the moon,” where they reposed in Abraham’s bosom: but Christ removed them into a fairer region, i.e., Paradise, when He illuminated Hades, and then became “the first-fruits of them that slept.” Such seems to be the sense.

15. In a certain Greek codex, p. 356, ver. 18. Can αντεμος here be a reference to Anthemius, of the kindred of Julian (d. a.d. 472)? His history, mixed up with that of Ricimer, connects with Genseric. who died a.d. 477.

16. Sea of the north, p. 358, ver. 11. The Mediterranean, near Mount Carmel, is “the sea of Phœnice,” I suppose; but how the Arabian Gulf can be called the sea of the north, I do not comprehend. As Routh says, the manuscripts must have been much corrupted.

17. Two resurrections, p. 359, ver. 5. Here our author, who is supposed to be the contemporary of St. Augustine, accepts his final judgment.35 But Victorinus was a Chiliast of the better sort, according to St. Jerome. This confirms the corruption of the mss. Indeed, if the Victorinus mentioned by Jerome be the same as our author, the mention of Genseric proves the subsequent interpolation of his works.

18. It is evident that the fragment which is here preserved, if, indeed, it be the work of Caius Marius Victorinus, surnamed Afer, is full of the corrections of some pious disciple of St. Augustine who lived much later. The reader must consult Lardner,36 and compare Routh, whose notes on this treatise are indeed few. He does not think the reference to abbots37 of any consequence in determining its age, because he finds albatorum elsewhere sustained as the true reading, i.e., those “made white in the blood of the Lamb.” But the great probability that there were two authors of the name living in different ages seems more than suspected by the learned. Dupin, who calls him Marius without the Caius (changed to Fabius by the English translator), leaves one yet more in a mist as to the identity of our author with the one the one he writes about.

FOOTNOTES

12 [No hint here that this was a manifestation of the Blessed Virgin, the modern fiction of Rome. See vol. 6. p. 355, this series.]

13 [A noteworthy testimony to primitive interpretation.]

14 [Compare Tertullian, De Fuga, vol. 4. p. 117, this series.

15 [The Edinburgh edition seems to follow the confusion of the mss., introducing here the seventeenth chapter, out of place.]

16 [But see Irenæus, vol. 1. p. 559.]

17 [Apparently in conflict with what our author says supra, pp. 352 and 355.]

18 [Compare vol. 5. pp. 207, 215, caps. 15 and 54.]

19 [Called the philosophical virtues. Vol. 2. note 102, p. 502.]

20 [From a Western theologian of the date of our author. This is emphatic.]

21 [Compare vol. 5. p. 561, Elucidation VII.]

22 [Here is evidence that Cerinthus (see vol. 1. pp. 351, 352) and other heretics had disgusted the Church even with the less carnal views of the Millenium entertained by the better “Chiliast,” such as Commodian. See vol. 4. pp. 212 and 218.]

23 By William Lee, D.D., archdeacon of Dublin.

24 The Lord’s day is here the Paschal feast, “the Great Sunday,” probably. See Eichhorn in Rosenmüller, Scholia, tom. v. p. 626.

25 P. 345, sec. 16.

26 Civ. Dei, xx. cap. 7, p. 667, ed. Migne.

27 See vol. 3. note 108, pp. 624, 630.

28 Ut supra, p. 249, note 99.

29 See Kay’s Tertullian, p. 530, for a brief comment on this and its supposed scriptural base.

30 Virtually in the fifteenth, as Annius published his theory in 1502, and wrote, no doubt, before that century began. Vol. 6. p. 139.

31 Vol. 6. p. 126, this series.

32 Vol. 6. p. 139.

33 Vol. 5. p. 207, this series.

34 Compare vol. 3. p. 428, Elucidation VIII.

35 See p. 360, note 24.

36 Credib., vol. iv. p. 254.

37 P. 344, note 6, supra.

[a.d. 259-269.] Dionysius is no exception to the rule that Latin Christianity had no place in Rome till after the Nicene Council. He was a Greek by birth, and reflects the spirit and orthodoxy of the Greek Fathers; and what we have from him is written in the Greek language. We find it in Athanasius, where, remarks Waterland,1 its genuineness cannot be suspected, because “Athanasius did not entirely approve of it, and would certainly never have forged an interpretation different from his own.” He concurred with the Easterns in the discipline of Paul of Samosata. Waterland says of the following fragment: “It is of admirable use for showing the doctrine of the Trinity as professed by the Church of Christ at that time.”

The purely receptive character of the Roman See during the Ante-Nicene period must be sufficiently apparent to the possessors of the volumes of this series. Until after the Council of Nice, as a Roman pontiff has testified, she was unfelt in the churches as a teaching church.2 Irenæus has justly stated her case: as the focus of the empire, she was the natural centre of exchange and social commerce among all nations. Thither all Christians converged, and there at all times might be found representatives of all the churches, — those of Gaul and Britain; those of Asia Minor and Syria; those of Alexandria and Egypt; those of North Africa, where Latin Christianity had begun to exist, and where it had reached a vigorous maturity at the Nicene period. Hence, from all these churches came into Rome a Catholic testimony, which was thus preserved at the metropolis by the pressure from without.

This is the fact which gives importance to the earliest dogmatic testimony proceeding from the See of Rome.3 Dionysius has the geat distinction of sustaining the orthodoxy which Hippolytus and other comprovincial bishops had established against the heresy of two of his predecessors; and this little essay, embedded in the works of Athanasius, comes forth as a genuine “bee” out of his precious amber, sweet with the honey of truth, and pungent with the sting of an acute and piercing testimony against error.

For the necessary preface to this essay or synodical letter, the reader must turn to the history of Dionysius of Alexandria, surnamed the Great, and to the letters he wrote to his namesake of Rome.4 For a complete view of the whole matter, and for the originals of both these great prelates, the student will not fail to consult Routh.5 Athanasius, the touchstone of orthodoxy, does not altogether commend the idioms of either; but he sustains the essential orthodoxy of both with that vast sweep of genius which could insist upon Nicene idioms after the council, but sustain those who, in defective language, fought previously for essential truth.

For a just view of Novatian and of the orthodoxy of Rome in the times of Dionysius, as that unhappy but competent witness sets it forth, the reader would do well to consult Dr. Waterland.6 For a vindication of the Alexandrian Dionysius, to whom his contemporaries gave the surname Magnus, see the same lucid expounder of antiquity.7 For a sententious statement of the subordination of the Son, on which so much hinges in these inquiries, consult the same theologian.8

I might have suffixed this essay to the works of the great Dionysius but for several important considerations: (1) I was glad to give due prominence to this exceptional voice from old Rome, and to place Dionysius with due dignity before the reader; (2) as the Bishop of Rome was without a hearing at Nicæa, I was anxious to show what good Sylvester would have said had he been able to attend the council; (3) I was not willing, therefore, to hide this writer’s light under the bushel of the pages devoted to the Alexandrian school; (4) I was anxious to close this important volume by a just exhibition of the Ante-Nicene doctrine, previous to the compilation of the Great Symbol; (5) I considered it judicious to elucidate Dionysius by the doctrines of Athanasius, to whom we owe the preservation of the fragment itself; and (6) I felt that here was the place to record the “Athanasian Confession” (so called), which, apocryphal though it be, as a “creed” under his name is allowed to embody the principles for which the whole life of Athanasius was a contest unparalleled in the history of Christianity.

FOOTNOTES

1 Works, vol. iii. p. 318.

2 Vol. 4. p. 170, this series. Compare Irenæus, vol. 1. pp. 415, 460, this series.

3 Novation (vol. 5. p. 607, this series) must not be overlooked, but he is valued merely as a personal witness.

4 See pp. 78 and 92, vol. 6., this series.

5 Religu. Sac., vol. iii. pp. 21-250.

6 Works, vol. iii. pp. 57, 119, 139, 214, 454-459.

7 Works, vol. iii. pp. 43, 111, 274.

8 Works, iii. p. 23.

Against the Sabellians.1

1. Now truly it would be just to dispute against those who, by dividing and rending the monarchy, which is the most august announcement of the Church of God, into, as it were, three powers, and distinct substances (hypostases), and three deities, destroy it.2 For I have heard that some who preach and teach the word of God among you are teachers of this opinion, who indeed diametrically, so to speak, are opposed to the opinion of Sabellius. For he blasphemes in saying that the Son Himself is the Father, and vice versa; but these in a certain manner announce three gods, in that they divide the holy unity into three different substances, absolutely separated from one another. For it is essential that the Divine Word should be united to the God of all, and that the Holy Spirit should abide and dwell in God; and thus that the Divine Trinity should be reduced and gathered into one, as if into a certain head – that is, into the omnipotent God of all. For the doctrine of the foolish Marcion, which cuts and divides the monarchy into three elements, is assuredly of the devil, and is not of Christ’s true disciples, or of those to whom the Saviour’s teaching is agreeable. For these indeed rightly know that the Trinity is declared in the divine Scripture, but that the doctrine that there are three gods is, neither taught in the Old nor in the New Testament.

2. But neither are they less to be blamed who think that the Son was a creation, and decided that the Lord was made just as one of those things which really were made; whereas the divine declarations testify that He was begotten, as is fitting and proper, but not that He was created or made. It is therefore not a trifling, but a very great impiety, to say that the Lord was in any wise made with hands. For if the Son was made, there was a time when He was not; but He always was, if, as He Himself declares,3 He is undoubtedly in the Father. And if Christ is the Word, the Wisdom, and the Power, – for the divine writings tell us that Christ is these, as ye yourselves know, – assuredly these are powers of God. Wherefore, if the Son was made, there was a time when these were not in existence;4 and thus there was a time when God was without these things, which is utterly absurd. But why should I discourse at greater length to you about these matters, since ye are men filled with the Spirit, and especially understanding what absurd results follow from the opinion which asserts that the Son was made? The leaders of this view seem to me to have given very little heed to these things, and for that reason to have strayed absolutely, by explaining the passage otherwise than as the divine and prophetic Scripture demands. “The Lord created me the beginning of His ways.” (Pro_8:22) For, as ye know, there is more than one signification of the word “created;” and in this place “created” is the same as “set over” the works made by Himself – made, I say, by the Son Himself. But this “created” is not to be understood in the same manner as “made.” For to make and to create are different from one another. “Is not He Himself thy Father, that hath possessed thee and created thee?” (Deu_32:6) says Moses in the great song of Deuteronomy. And thus might any one reasonably convict these men. Oh reckless and rash men! was then “the first-born of every creature”5 something made? – “He who was begotten from the womb before the morningstar?” (Ps. 110:3, LXX) – He who in the person of Wisdom says, “Before all the hills He begot me?” (Pro_8:25) Finally, any one may read in many parts of the divine utterances that the Son is said to have been begotten, but never that He was made. From which considerations, they who dare to say that His divine and inexplicable generation was a creation, are openly convicted of thinking that which is false concerning the generation of the Lord.

3. That admirable and divine unity, therefore, must neither be separated into three divinities, nor must the dignity and eminent greatness of the Lord be diminished by having applied to it the name of creation, but we must believe on God the Father Omnipotent, and on Christ Jesus His Son, and on the Holy Spirit. Moreover, that the Word is united to the God of all, because He says, “I and the Father are one;” (Joh_10:30) and, “I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me.” (Joh_14:10) Thus doubtless will be maintained in its integrity the doctrine of the divine Trinity, and the sacred announcement of the monarchy.

Elucidations.

I.

The Confession, improperly called “the Creed of Athanasius,” is acknowledged to embody the (Athanasian) doctrine of the Nicene Council; and I append it here as an index to the state of theology at the period which is the limit of our series. Nothing is properly a “creed” which has never been accepted as such by the whole Church, and the Greeks knew no other creed than that called Nicene. The Anglo-American Church has ceased to recite this Confession in public worship, but does not depart from it as doctrine. The “Reformed” communion in America6 retains it among her liturgical forms, and I suppose the same is true of the Lutherans. It is a Western Confession, and, like the Te Deum, is a hymn rather than a symbol, though breathing the spirit of the Creed.

Usher adopts a.d. 447 as its date, and Beveridge assigns it to the fourth century. Dupin gives it a later origin than Usher, and a considerable number of eminent authorities agree with him in the date a.d. 484.

What are called the anathemas are the enacting clauses (so to speak), and, like the same in the Nicene Creed, may be regarded as no part of the Confession itself. If they have disappeared from the Great Symbol itself, as unsuitable to liturgical recitation, why not apply the same rule here?

Confession of Our Christian Faith, Commonly Called the Creed of St. Athanasius.

Quicunque vult.

¶ Whosoever will be saved: before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholick Faith. Which Faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled: without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.

I.

And the Catholick Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; 

Neither confounding the Persons: nor dividing the Substance.

For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son: and another of the Holy Ghost.

But the God-head of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one: the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal.

Such as the Father is, such is the Son: and such is the Holy Ghost.

The Father un-create, the Son un-create: and the Holy Ghost un-create.

The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible: and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible.

The Father eternal, the Son eternal: and the Holy Ghost eternal.

And yet they are not three eternals: but one eternal.

As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three un-created: but one un-created, and one incomprehensible.

So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty: and the Holy Ghost Almighty.

And yet they are not three Almighties: but one Almighty.

So the Father is God, the Son is God: and the Holy Ghost is God. 

And yet they are not three Gods: but one God.

So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord: and the Holy Ghost is Lord.

And yet not three Lords: but one Lord.

For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity: to acknowledge every Person by Himself to be God and Lord;

So we are forbidden by the Catholick Religion: to say, there be three Gods, or three Lords. 

The Father is made of none: neither created, nor begotten.

The Son is of the Father alone: not made, nor created, but begotten.

The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son:7 neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding. 

So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons: one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts.

And in this Trinity none is afore, or after other: none is greater, or less than another; 

But the whole three Persons are co-eternal together: and co-equal.

So that in all things, as is aforesaid: the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, is to be worshipped.

¶ He therefore that will be saved: must thus think of the Trinity.

II.

Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation: that he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess: that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man;

God, of the Substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds: and Man, of the Substance of His Mother, born in the world; 

Perfect God, and perfect Man: of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting; 

Equal to the Father, as touching His God-head: and inferior to the Father, as touching His Manhood. 

Who although He be God and Man: yet He is not two, but one Christ;

One; not by conversion of the God-head into flesh: but by taking of the Manhood into God; 

One altogether; not by confusion of Substance: but by unity of Person.

For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man: so God and Man is one Christ;

Who suffered for our Salvation: descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead.

He ascended into heaven, He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty: from whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies: and shall give account for their own works.

And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting: and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.

¶ This is the Catholick Faith: which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved.

III.

It is with regret that I am forced to take exception to the most useful Ecclesiastical History of the learned Professor Schaff, in this connection. I quote from that work8 as follows: – 

“He, Dionysius, maintained distinctly, in (a) controversy with Dionysius of Alexandria, at once the unity of essence and the real personal distinction, etc., . . . and avoided tritheism, Sabellianism, and (b) subordinationism, with the instinct of orthodoxy, and also with the art of anathematizing, (c) already familiar to (d) the popes.”

Such a paragraph must convey to the youthful student a great confusion of ideas; all the greater, because the same valuable work elsewhere invites him to conclusions quite the reverse. Thus, (a) there was no controversy whatever between the two Dionysii; with a holy jealousy they entered into fraternal explanations of the same truth, held by each, but by neither very technically elucidated. The mere reader would probably infer that the greater of the two was guilty of tritheism or Sabellianism, although that is not the meaning of these unguarded expressions. But (b) the “subordinationism” which he repudiated was the doctrine of the subjection of the Son, not of the subordination, which orthodoxy has always maintained. Again, (c) I see no such “anathematizing” in the letter of Dionysius as is here charged; indeed, it contains no anathema9 whatever, much less the artificial cursing of the Papacy which is thus assumed. And last, (d) what can be meant by the expression, “already familiar to the popes?” The learned pages of the same author sufficiently prove that there were no such things10 as “popes” till a much later period of history; and, as to the “art of anathematizing,” if it existed at all in those days, we find it much more freely exemplified by the Greek Fathers than by bishops of Rome. I say, if it existed at all, because the primitive anathema was a purely scriptural enforcement of St. Paul’s great canon (Gal_1:8, Gal_1:9); while the “art of anathematizing,” so justly credited to “the popes,” was a vindictive and monstrous assertion, at a later date, of prerogatives which they impiously arrogated to themselves, against other churches.

FOOTNOTES

1 A fragment of an epistle or treatise of Dionysius, bishop of Rome. [From the epistle of St. Athanasius, De Decretis Nicæna Synodi, cap. xxvi. p. 231, ed. Benedict.]

2 Athan., Ep. de decret. Nic. Syn., 4. 26.

3Jo_1:14:11. [See vol. 5. Elucidation V. p. 156.]

4 [He quotes the formula, aftwards notorious, ἧν ὃτε οὐκ ἦν.]

5 Col_1:15. [See vol. 5. Elucidation XI. p. 159.]

6 Commonly called “the Dutch Church;” i.e., the Church of Holland.

7 The words italicized have never been accepted by the whole Church.

8 Vol. 2. p. 570.

9 “Culpandi sunt,” is quite strong enough for the original, καταμέμφοιτο. Routh, R. S., iii. p. 374.

10 The word existed, but then, and long afterwards, was universally applied to all bishops.

ntroductory Notice to the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles.

The interest so generally excited in the learned world by the (“Bryennios”) discovery of a very primitive document, rendered it indispensable that this republication should be enriched by it, in connection with the Apostolic Constitutions (so called), which had been reserved for the concluding volume of the series. The critics were greatly divided as to the genuineness of the Bryennios ms.; and, in order to gain time, I had relegated the Constitutions, with this document as its sequel or its preface, to a place with the Apocrypha. Dissatisfied with my own impressions and conjectures, I soon decided that the task of editing the Teaching, as the Bryennios document is entitled, must be entrusted to an “expert,” and that, if possible, it should be taken in hand with the Constitutions. In order to give sufficient time, I entrusted the task, a year ago, to the well-qualified head and hands of Professor Riddle of Hartford, who most kindly accepted my proposals, and who now enables me to present his completed work to the public with the volume to which it properly belongs. It will be hailed by literary men generally as a timely reviewal of the whole subject, nor should I be surprised to find Dr. Riddle’s estimate of the Teaching accepted as the most important contribution yet made to the literature of inquiry touching its worth and character. Appearing, as it does in this place, in close relations with the Constitutions, and with the editorial comparisons so felicitously introduced by the learned annotator, the student will find himself in a position to weigh and to decide for himself all the questions that have been raised in previous examinations of the case. Without risking any judgment of my own upon the decisions which have been reached by Dr. Riddle in the exercise of his great critical skill, I cannot withhold an expression of gratitude for the impartiality and scientific conscientiousness with which he has handled the matter. Uninfluenced by prepossessions, he presents the case with judicial calmness and with due consideration of what others have suggested. I am gratified to find that impressions of my own are strengthened by his conclusions. In an early notice of the Bryennios discovery, contributed to a leading publication, I stated my surmise that the Teaching, and its parallels in the Constitutions and other primitive writings, would prove to be based upon some original document, common to all. Even Lactantius, in his Institutes, shapes his instructions to Constantine by the Duæ Viæ, which seem to have been formulated in the earliest ages for the training of catechumens. The elementary nature and the “childishness” of the work are thus accounted for, and I am sure that the “mystagogic” teaching of Cyril receives light from this view of the matter. This work was “food for lambs:” it was not meant to meet the wants of those “of full age.” It may prove, as Dr. Riddle hints, that the Teaching as we have it, in the Bryennios document, is tainted by the views of some nascent sect or heresy, or by the incompetency of some obscure local church as yet unvisited by learned teachers and evangelists. It seems to me not improbably influenced by views of the charismata, which ripened into Montanism, and which are illustrated by the warnings and admonitions of Hermas.1

Introductory Notice by Professor M. B. Riddle, DD.

Section I. – The Discovery Of The Codex, And Its Contents.

In 1873 Philotheos Bryennios, then Head Master of the higher Greek school at Constantinople, but now Metropolitan of Nicomedia, discovered a remarkable collection of manuscripts in the library of the Jerusalem Monastery of the Most Holy Sepulchre at Constantinople. This collection is bound in one volume, and written by the same hand. It is signed “Leon, notary and sinner,” and bears the Greek date of 6564 = a.d. 1056. There is no reason to doubt the age of the manuscripts. The documents have been examined by Professor Albert L. Long of Robert College, Constantinople;2 and some of the pages, reproduced by photography, were published by the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, April, 1885. The jealousy of its guardians does not imply any lack of confidence in the age and value of the Codex. The contents of the 120 folios (240 pp.) are as follows: – 

I. Synopsis of the Old and New Testaments, by St. Chrysostom (fol. 1-32).

II. The Epistle of Barnabas (fol. 33-51b).

III. The two Epistles of Clement to the Corinthians (fol. 51b-76a).

IV. The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (fol. 76a-80).

V. The Epistle of Mary of Cassoboli to Ignatius (fol. 81-82a).

VI. Twelve Epistles of Ignatius (fol. 82a-120a).

The last part of fol. 120a contains the signature and date; then follows an account of the genealogy of Joseph, continued on the other page of the leaf.

Schaff (p. 6) gives a facsimile of fol. 120a.

Of these, I. supplies some unpublished portions, and furnishes matter for textual criticism. II. gives the second Greek copy of Barnabas, also furnishing new readings. III. is very valuable; the text of both Epistles is now complete. Two-fifths of that of the second was previously unknown.3 The value for purposes of textual criticism is also great. IV. is the Teaching, the value of which is discussed below. V. and VI. both belong to the Ignatian literature, and furnish new readings, which have already appeared in the editions of Funk (Opera Patr. Apost., ii., Tubingen, 1881) and Lightfoot (Epistles of St. Ignatius, London and Cambridge, 1885).

Section 2. – Publication of the Discovered Works: The Effect.

In 1875 Bryennios, who had been chosen Metropolitan of Serræ during his absence at the Old Catholic conference in Bonn, published at Constantinople the two Epistles of Clement, with prolegomena and notes; giving the text found in the Jerusalem Codex, as he termed it. All patristic scholars welcomed his work, which bore every mark of care and learning; showing the results of his contact, as a student, with German methods. Bishop Lightfoot and many others at once made use of this new material. The remaining contents of the Codex were named in the volume of Bryennios, and some interest awakened by the mention of the Teaching. The learned Metropolitan furnished new readings from other parts of the Codex to German scholars. At the close of 1883 he published in Constantinople the text of the Teaching, with prolegomena and notes. A copy of the volume was received in Germany in January, 1884; was translated into German, and published Feb. 3, 1884; translated from German into English, and published in America, Feb. 28, 1884; Archdeacon Farrar published (Contemporary Review) a version from the Greek in May, 1884. Before the close of the year the literature on the subject, exclusive of newspaper articles, covered fifty titles (given by Schaff) in Western Europe and America.4

Section 3. – Contents of Teaching, and Relation to Other Works.

In the Babel of conflicting opinions, it is best to notice first the obvious internal phenomena. The first part of the Teaching, (now distinguished as chaps. i.-vi.) sets forth the duty of the Christian; in chaps. vii.-x., xiv., we find a directory for worship; chaps. xi.-xiii., xv., give advice respecting church officers, extraordinary and local, and the reception of Christians; the closing chapter (xvi.) enjoins watchfulness in view of the coming of Christ, which is then described.

The amount of matter is not so great as that of the Sermon on the Mount.

The peculiarities of language are marked, but can only be indicated here in footnotes. They point to a period of transition from New-Testament usage to that of ecclesiastical Greek. The citations from the Scriptures resemble those of the Apostolic Fathers. The Gospel of Matthew is rnost frequently used, especially chaps. v.-vii. and xxiv.; but some of the passages fairly imply a knowledge of the Gospel of Luke. There are some remarkable correspondences with expressions and thoughts found in the Gospel of John, while there is good reason for inferring the writer’s acquaintance with all the groups of Pauline Epistles. His allusions to the other New-Testament books are less marked. There is nothing to prove that he did not know all of our canonical books. If an early date is accepted, the tone of the whole opposes the tendency-theory of the Tübingen school.

The most striking internal phenomena are, however, the correspondences of this document with early Christian writings, from a.d. 125 to the fourth century. With the so-called Epistle to Barnabas, chaps. xviii.-xx., the resemblances are so marked as to demand a critical theory which can account for them. A few passages in the Shepherd of Hermas show some resemblance; but only two sentences, in Commandment Second, are verbally the same. There is a still greater agrecment with the so-called Apostolical Church Order, of Egyptian origin, probably as old as the third century. It is now known in the Coptic (Memphitic), and also in Arabic and Greek.5 The first thirteen canons correspond quite closely, both in order and words, with chaps. i.-iv. of the Teaching.

Most noteworthy, however, is the parallel with the Apostolic Constituions, vii. 1-32, which contain more than half the Teaching, in precisely the same order, with very close verbal resemblances. The parts omitted are in most cases such as had lost their pertinence in the fourth century, while they seem appropriate to a much earlier period. The details will be found in the footnotes to the Teaching in this volume. These phenomena have called forth voluminous discussions, and are the most important facts in determining the authenticity and age of the Teaching.

Section 4. – Authenticity.

By this is meant, in this case, the substantial identity of the recently discovered document with the work known and referred to by early Christian writers under the same (or a similar) title. Of apostolic origin no one should presume to speak, since the text of the document makes no such claim, and internal evidence is obviously against such a suggestion. On the other hand, there no reason for doubting the age of the Codex, or the accuracy of the edition published by Bryennios.

Eusebius (d. 340) of Cæsarea, in the famous passage of his history (iii. 25) which treats books of the New Testament, names among the “spurious” works (νόθοι) “the so-called Teachings of the Apostles” (τῶν ἀποστόλων αἱ λεγόμεναι διδαχαί). The plural form does not forbid a reference to the work under discussion, since Athanasius (d. 373) has a notice clearly pointing to the same writing, in which he uses the singular (Festal Epistle, 39). Rufinus (d. 410) speaks of a brief work called The Two Ways, or The Judgment of Peter; and this fact, in view of the contents of the Teaching, furnishes one of the most important data for the critical discussion. The last notice of the Teaching was made by Nicephorus (d. 828) more than two hundred years before Leon made this copy. Clement of Alexandria (d. circa 216) and Irenæus (mart. 202) use expressions that may indicate an acquaintance with this writing. The more extended correspondences with Barnabas and later disciplinary works are noticed above (sec. 3). The existence of an old Latin translation of the Teaching, of the tenth century, a fragment of which has been preserved, furnishes general evidence to the authenticity of the Greek copy, but by its variations suggests the presence of many textual corruptions. Its closer correspondence with Bamabas has led to the theory that the translator used both documents. Others suppose that its form points to a document which was the common source of the Greek form of the Teaching and of Barnabas.

The various theories based on the above facts cannot even be stated. The following positions seem, on the whole, most tenable: – 

1. The Greek Codex presents substantially the writing referred to by Eusebius and Athanasius.

2. Owing to an absence of other copies, we cannot determine the purity of the text; but there is every probability of many minor corruptions.

3. This probability calls for care that we do not infer too much from verbal resemblances.

4. The resemblances to book vii., Apostolic Constitutions, are, however, of such a character as establish, not only a literary connection between the two works, but also the priority of the Teaching.

5. In the case of Barnabas, the resemblances can be accounted for (a) by accepting the priority of the Teaching, or (b) by assuming a common (earlier and unknown) source, or (c) by accepting the priority of Barnabas, and assuming such corruptions in the Greek copy of the Teaching as will account for the supposed marks of its priority. Despite the general adoption of (a), there remains a strong probability that (b) is the correct solution of the problem.

6. The Duæ Viæ, spoken of by Rufinus, may be the common source. We have no positive evidence, but the “two ways” form so prominent a topic in most of these documents which indicate literary relationship, as to encourage this theory. If there was a common source, it probably contained only matter similar to chaps. i.-v., which was variously used by the subsequent compilers. Here a number of theories have been suggested.6 None of them, however, necessarily call for a very late date of the Teaching, or compel us to deny that Eusebius and Athanasius referred to substantially the same work as that now existing in the Codex at Constantinople. Many resemblances have been noticed in other works. Probably in the course of a few years all the data will have been collected, and a well-defined result based upon them. But, even in this period of discussion, there is remarkable agreement among critics in regard to the main question of authenticity.

Section 5. – Time and Place of Composition.

Granting the general authenticity of the Greek work, the time of composition must be at least as early as the first half of the second century. If the Teaching is older than Barnabas, then it cannot be later than a.d. 120. If both are from a common source, the interval of time was probably not very great.7 The document itself bears many marks of an early date:  – 

(1) Its simplicity, almost amounting to childishness, not only discountenances all idea of forgery, but points to the sub-apostolic age, during which Christianity manifested this characteristic. The fact is an important one in the discussion of the canon of the New Testament.

(2) The undeveloped Christian thought, as well as the indications of undeveloped heresy,8 confirms this position. Christianity was at first a life, for which the Apostles furnished a basis of revealed thought. But the Christians of the sub-apostolic age had not consciously assimilated the thought to any large extent, while their ethical striving was stimulated by the gross sins surrounding them.9

(3) The Church polity indicated in the Teaching is less developed than that of the genuine Ignatian Epistles, and shows the existence of extraordinary travelling teachers (“Apostles” and “Prophets,” chap. xi.). This points to a date not later than the first half of the second century, probably as early as the first quarter.10

Most of these phenomena would, however, consist with a date as late as that of the Ignatian Epistles on the theory that the Teaching was written for a community of Christians in some obscure locality. But this theory must admit that there existed for a long time great variety of Church polity and worship.11 Of this there is, indeed, considerable evidence. The undeveloped form of the doctrinal elements of the work constitutes the most serious objection to the theory of a late origin. On the other hand, it seems on many accounts improbable that the work, in its present form, was written earlier than the beginning of the second century: (1) Such a document would not be penned during the lifetime of any of the Apostles. (2) There is no allusion in chap. xvi. to the destruction of Jerusalem. If the author was a Jewish Christian, as seems most probable, such silence implies an interval of at least one generation. (3) The position of the document in the Codex is after the Clementine Epistles, and before the Ignatian. This probably marks the chronological position. (4) The extreme simplicity scarcely consists with the view that the author was nearly contemporary with the Apostles.

Bryennios and Harnack assign, as the date, between 120 and 160; Hilgenfeld, 160 and 190; English and American scholars vary between a.d. 80 and 120. Until the priority to Barnabas is more positively established, the two may be regarded as of the same age, about 120, although a date slightly later is not impossible. All attempts to discover the author are, with our present lack of data, necessarily futile. Even the region in and for which it was composed cannot be determined. Jewish-Christian tendencies are not sufficiently indicated to warrant the assumption of a polemical aim.12 The document has been assigned to Alexandria, to Antioch, to Jerusalem; indeed, many other places have been named. In favour of the Syrian origin is the literary connection with the Apostolic Constitutions, while the correspondences with the Epistle to Barnabas suggest Egypt as the locality. If the Teaching and Barnabas have a common basis, e.g., the Duæ Viæ, the last may be assigned to Egypt, and the Teaching, in its present form, to Syria. The Palestinian origin is urged by those who lay stress upon the absence of Pauline doctrine in the Teaching. [If meant for catechumens only, this fact is sufficiently accounted for.]

The question is still an open one.

As regards the doctrine, polity, usages, and ethics expressed and implied in the Teaching, the reader can judge for himself. The writer is of the opinion that the work represents, on many of these points, a very small fraction of the Christians during the second century, and that, while it casts some light upon usages of that period, it cannot be regarded as an authoritative witness concerning the universal faith and practice of believers at the date usually assigned to it. The few notices of it, and its early disappearance, confirm this position. The theory of a composite origin also accords with this estimate of the document as a whole.

The version of the Teaching here given is that of Professor Isaac H. Hall and Mr. John T. Napier, which first appeared in the Sunday-School Times (Philadelphia), April 12, 1884. It is now republished by permission of the editor of that periodical and of the joint authors. A few slight changes have been made, some of them in accordance with suggestions from Professor Hall, others to indicate correspondences with book vii. of Apostolic Constitutions.

The division of verses agrees with that of Harnack as given by Schaff. The headings to the chapters have been inserted by the editor. The Scripture references have been selected and verified. The notes have been kept within narrow limits. They serve to indicate the relation of the matter to that in other early writings, mainly the Apostolic Constitutions, and to give various readings and renderings. Occasionally explanations and comments have been inserted. In dealing with this, as with most other books, the best method of study is historico-exegetical. To read the book intelligently is better than to read about it. The editor has sought to furnish some help in this method.

FOOTNOTES

1 The reader has observed that all my notes, except the “General Notes,” are bracketed when they illustrate any other text except that of my own original prefaces, elucidations, etc. This rule will apply to Professor Riddle’s work, as well as to that of the Edinburgh translator’s.

2 See New York Independent, July 31, 1884.

3 See this volume, infra, the Second Epistle of Clement, so called.

4 See Bibliography at the close of vol. 8., this series, printed edition.

5 The Church Order is to be distinguished from the Ethiopic collection of Apostolic canons; see Introductory Notice to Apostolic Constitutions.

6 Compare the detailed discussions of Harnack, Holtzmann, Warfield, and most recently McGiffert, Andover Review, vol. v. pp. 430-442.

7 For the various dates, see following discussion.

8 [Note this mark of a possibly corrupted source.]

9 [See Apostolic Fathers, passim.]

10 [Compare Rev_2:2 and Rev_2:9.]

11 [In obscure regions such an admission is clearly consistent with apostolic experience. Compare 1Co_4:16, 1Co_4:17; 1Co_11:34; Gal_4:9.]

12 [Compare 1Jo_4:1; Tit_1:10.]

The Lord’s Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations.1

Chap. I. – The Two Ways; The First Commandment. 

1 There are two ways,2 one of life and one of death; (Deu_30:15, Deu_30:19; Jer_21:8; Mat_7:13, Mat_7:14) but a great difference between the two ways.    

2 The way of life, then, is this: First, thou shalt love God3 who made thee; second, thy neighbour as thyself; (Lev_19:18; Mat_22:37, Mat_22:39. Comp. Mar_12:30, Mar_12:31) and all things whatsoever thou wouldst should not occur to thee, thou also to another do not do. (Comp. Tobit 4:15; and Mat_7:12; Luk_6:31)   

3 And of these sayings4 the teaching is this: Bless them that curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for them that persecute you.5 For what thank is there, if ye love them that love you? Do not also the Gentiles do the same?6 But do ye love them that hate you; and ye shall not have an enemy.7   

4 Abstain thou from fleshly and worldly lusts.8 If one give thee a blow upon thy right cheek, turn to him the other also; (Mat_5:39; Luk_6:29) and thou shalt be perfect. If one impress thee for one mile, go with him two. (Mat_5:41) If one take away thy cloak, give him also thy coat. (Mat_5:40; Luk_6:29) If one take from thee thine own, ask it not back,9 for indeed thou art not able.   

5 Give to every one that asketh thee, and ask it not back;10 for the Father willeth that to all should be given of our own blessings (free gifts).11 Happy is he that giveth according to the commandment; for he is guiltless. Woe to him that receiveth; for if one having need receiveth, he is guiltless; but he that receiveth not having need, shall pay the penalty, why he received and for what, and, coming into straits (confinement),12 he shall be examined concerning the things which he hath done, and he shall not escape thence until he pay back the last farthing. (Mat_5:26)   

6 But also now concerning this, it hath been said, Let thine alms sweat13 in thy hands, until thou know to whom thou shouldst give.  

Chap. II.14 – The Second Commandment: Gross Sin Forbidden.

1 And the second commandment of the Teaching;   

2 Thou shalt not commit murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, (Exo_20:13, Exo_20:14) thou shalt not commit pæderasty,15 thou shalt not commit fornication, thou shalt not steal, (Exo_20:15) thou shalt not practise magic, thou shalt not practise witchcraft, thou shalt not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is begotten.16 Thou shalt not covet the things of thy neighbour, (Exo_20:17)   

3 thou shalt not forswear thyself, (Mat_5:34) thou shalt not bear false witness, (Exo_20:16) thou shalt not speak evil, thou shalt bear no grudge.17   

4 Thou shalt not be double-minded nor double-tongued; for to be double-tongued is a snare of death.18   

5 Thy speech shall not be false, nor empty, but fulfilled by deed.19   

6 Thou shalt not be covetous, nor rapacious, nor a hypocrite, nor evil disposed, nor haughty. Thou shalt not take evil counsel against thy neighbour.20   

7 Thou shalt not hate any man; but some thou shalt reprove,21 and concerning some thou shalt pray, and some thou shalt love more than thy own life.22  

Chap. III.23 – Other Sins Forbidden.

1 My child,24 flee from every evil thing, and from every likeness of it.   

2 Be not prone to anger, for anger leadeth the way to murder; neither jealous, nor quarrelsome, nor of hot temper; for out of all these murders are engendered.   

3 My child, be not a lustful one; for lust leadeth the way to fornication; neither a filthy talker, nor of lofty eye; for out of all these adulteries are engendered.   

4 My child, be not an observer of omens, since it leadeth the way to idolatry; neither an enchanter, nor an astrologer, nor a purifier, nor be willing to took at these things; for out of all these idolatry is engendered.   

5 My child, be not a liar, since a lie leadeth the way to theft; neither money-loving, nor vainglorious, for out of all these thefts are engendered.   

6 My child, be not a murmurer, since it leadeth the way to blasphemy; neither self-willed nor evil-minded, for out of all these blasphemies are engendered.   

7 But be thou meek, since the meek shall inherit the earth. (Mat_5:5)   

8 Be long-suffering and pitiful and guileless and gentle and good and always trembling at the words which thou hast heard.25   

9 Thou shalt not exalt thyself, (Comp. Luk_18:14) nor give over-confidence to thy soul. Thy soul shall not be joined with lofty ones, but with just and lowly ones shall it have its intercourse.   

10 The workings that befall thee receive as good, knowing that apart from God nothing cometh to pass.26  

Chap. IV.27 – Various Precepts.

1 My child, him that speaketh to thee the word of God remember night and day; and thou shalt honour him as the Lord;28 for in the place whence lordly rule is uttered,29 there is the Lord.   

2 And thou shalt seek out day by day the faces of the saints, in order that thou mayest rest upon30 their words.   

3 Thou shalt not long for31 division, but shalt bring those who contend to peace. Thou shalt judge righteously, thou shalt not respect persons in reproving for transgressions.   

4 Thou shalt not be undecided whether it shall be or no.32   

5 Be not a stretcher forth of the hands to receive and a drawer of them back to give.33   

6 If thou hast aught, through thy hands thou shalt give ransom for thy sins.34   

7 Thou shalt not hesitate to give, nor murmur when thou givest; for thou shalt know who is the good repayer of the hire.   

8 Thou shalt not turn away from him that is in want, but thou shalt share all things with thy brother, and shalt not say that they are thine own; for if ye are partakers in that which is immortal, how much more in things which are mortal?35   

9 Thou shalt not remove thy hand from thy son or from thy daughter, but from their youth shalt teach them the fear of God. (Comp. Eph_6:4)   

10 Thou shalt not enjoin aught in thy bitterness upon thy bondman or maidservant, who hope in the same God, lest ever they shall fear not God who is over both; (Comp. Eph_6:9; Col_4:1) for he cometh not to call according to the outward appearance, but unto them whom the Spirit hath prepared.   

11 And ye bondmen shall be subject to your36 masters as to a type of God, in modesty and fear. (Comp. Eph_6:5; Col_3:22)   

12 Thou shalt hate all hypocrisy and everything which is not pleasing to the Lord.   

13 Do thou in no wise forsake the commandments of the Lord; but thou shalt keep what thou hast received, neither adding thereto nor taking away therefrom. (Deu_12:32)   

14 In the church37 thou shalt acknowledge thy transgressions, and thou shalt not come near for thy prayer38 with an evil conscience.39 This is the way of life.40  

Chap. V.41 – The Way of Death.

1 And the way of death42 is this: First of all it is evil and full of curse:43 murders,44 adulteries, lusts, fornications, thefts, idolatries, magic arts, witchcrafts, rapines, false witnessings, hypocrisies, double-heartedness, deceit, haughtiness, depravity, self-will, greediness, filthy talking, jealousy, over-confidence, loftiness, boastfulness;   

2 persecutors of the good,45 hating truth, loving a lie, not knowing a reward for righteousness, not cleaving46 to good nor to righteous judgment, watching not for that which is good, but for that which is evil; from whom meekness and endurance are far, loving vanities, pursuing requital, not pitying a poor man, not labouring for the afflicted, not knowing Him that made them, murderers of children, destroyers of the handiwork of God, turning away from him that is in want, afflicting him that is distressed, advocates of the rich, lawless judges of the poor, utter sinners.47 Be delivered, children, from all these.48  

Chap. VI.49 – Against False Teachers, and Food Offered to Idols.

1 See that no one cause thee to err50 from this way of the Teaching, since apart from God it teacheth thee.   

2 For if thou art able to bear all the yoke51 of the Lord, thou wilt be perfect; but if thou art not able, what thou art able that do.   

3 And concerning food,52 bear what thou art able; but against that which is sacrificed to idols53 be exceedingly on thy guard; for it is the service of dead gods.54  

Chap. VII. – Concerning Baptism.

1 And concerning baptism,55 thus baptize ye:56 Having first said all these things, baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, (Mat_28:19) in living water.57   

2 But if thou have not living water, baptize into other water; and if thou canst not in cold, in warm.   

3 But if thou have not either, pour out water thrice58 upon the head into the name of Father and Son and Holy Spirit.   

4 But before the baptism let the baptizer fast, and the baptized, and whatever others can; but thou shalt order the baptized to fast one or two days before.59  

Chap. VIII.60 – Concerning Fasting and Prayer (The Lord’s Prayer).

1 But let not your fasts be with the hypocrites; (Comp. Mat_6:16) for they fast on the second and fifth day of the week; but do ye fast on the fourth day and the Preparation (Friday).61   

2 Neither pray as the hypocrites; but as the Lord commanded in His Gospel,62 thus pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. Give us to-day our daily (needful) bread,63 and forgive us our debt as we also forgive our debtors. And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (or, evil); for Thine is the power and the glory for ever.64   

3 Thrice in the day thus pray.65  

Chap. IX.66 – The Thanksgiving (Eucharist).

1 Now concerning the Thanksgiving (Eucharist), thus give thanks.   

2 First, concerning the cup:67 We thank thee, our Father, for the holy vine of David Thy servant,68 which Thou madest known to us through Jesus Thy Servant; to Thee be the glory for ever.   

3 And concerning the broken bread:69 We thank Thee, our Father, for the life and knowledge which Thou madest known to us through Jesus Thy Servant; to Thee be the glory for ever.   

4 Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills,70 and was gathered together and became one, so let Thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Thy kingdom;71 for Thine is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ for ever.   

5 But let no one eat or drink of your Thanksgiving (Eucharist), but they who have been baptized into the name of the Lord; for concerning this also the Lord hath said, Give not that which is holy to the dogs.(Mat_7:6)  

Chap. X.72 – Prayer After Communion.

1 But after ye are filled,73 thus give thanks:   

2 We thank Thee, holy Father, for Thy holy name which Thou didst cause to tabernacle in our hearts, and for the knowledge and faith and immortality, which Thou madest known to us through Jesus Thy Servant; to Thee be the glory for ever.   

3 Thou, Master almighty, didst create all things for Thy name’s sake; Thou gavest food and drink to men for enjoyment, that they might give thanks to Thee; but to us Thou didst freely give spiritual food and drink and life eternal through Thy Servant.74   

4 Before all things we thank Thee that Thou art mighty; to Thee be the glory for ever.   

5 Remember, Lord, Thy Church, to deliver it from all evil and to make it perfect in Thy love, and gather it from the four winds, sanctified for Thy kingdom which Thou hast prepared for it;75 for Thine is the power and the glory for ever.   

6 Let grace come, and let this world pass away.76 Hosanna to the God (Son)77 of David! If any one is holy, let him come; if any one is not so, let him repent.78 Maran atha.79 Amen.   

7 But permit the prophets to make Thanksgiving as much as they desire.80  

Chap. XI.81 – Concerning Teachers, Apostles, and Prophets.

1 Whosoever, therefore, cometh and teacheth you all these things that have been said before, receive him.82   

2 But if the teacher himself turn83 and teach another doctrine to the destruction of this, hear him not; but if he teach so as to increase righteousness and the knowledge of the Lord, receive him as the Lord.   

3 But concerning the apostles and prophets, according to the decree of the Gospel, thus do.   

4 Let every apostle that cometh to you be received as the Lord.84   

5 But he shall not remain except one day; but if there be need, also the next; but if he remain three days, he is a false prophet.   

6 And when the apostle goeth away, let him take nothing but bread until he lodgeth;85 but if he ask money, he is a false prophet.   

7 And every prophet that speaketh in the Spirit86 ye shall neither try nor judge; for every sin shall be forgiven, but this sin shall not be forgiven.87   

8 But not every one that speaketh in the Spirit is a prophet; but only if he hold the ways of the Lord. Therefore from their ways shall the false prophet and the prophet be known.   

9 And every prophet who ordereth a meal88 in the Spirit eateth not from it, except indeed he be a false prophet;   

10 and every prophet who teacheth the truth, if he do not what he teacheth, is a false prophet.   

11 And every prophet, proved true,89 working unto the mystery of the Church in the world,90 yet not teaching others to do what he himself doeth, shall not be judged among you, for with God he hath his judgment; for so did also the ancient prophets.   

12 But whoever saith in the Spirit, Give me money, or something else, ye shall not listen to him; but if he saith to you to give for others’ sake who are in need, let no one judge him.  

Chap. XII.91 – Reception of Christians.

1 But let every one that cometh in the name of the Lord be received,92 and afterward ye shall prove and know him; for ye shall have understanding right and left.   

2 If he who cometh is a wayfarer, assist him as far as ye are able; but he shall not remain with you, except for two or three days, if need be.   

3 But if he willeth to abide with you, being an artisan, let him work and eat; (Comp. 2Th_3:10)   

4 but if he hath no trade, according to your understanding see to it that, as a Christian,93 he shall not live with you idle.   

5 But if he willeth not to do, he is a Christ-monger.94 Watch that ye keep aloof from such.  

Chap. XIII.95 – Support of Prophets.

1 But every true prophet that willeth to abide among you96 is worthy of his support.97   

2 So also a true teacher is himself worthy, as the workman, of his support. (Mat_10:10; comp. Luk_10:7)   

3 Every first-fruit, therefore, of the products of wine-press and threshing-floor, of oxen and of sheep, thou shalt take and give to the prophets, for they are your high priests.98   

4 But if ye have not a prophet, give it to the poor.   

5 If thou makest a batch of dough, take the first-fruit and give according to the commandment.   

6 So also when thou openest a jar of wine or of oil, take the first-fruit and give it to the prophets;   

7 and of money (silver) and clothing and every possession, take the first-fruit, as it may seem good to thee, and give according to the commandment.  

Chap. XIV.99 – Christian Assembly on the Lord’s Day.

1 But every Lord’s day100 do ye gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions,101 that your sacrifice may be pure.102   

2 But let no one that is at variance103 with his fellow come together with you, until they be reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned.   

3 For this is that which was spoken by the Lord: In every place and time offer to me a pure sacrifice;104 for I am a great King, saith the Lord, and my name is wonderful among the nations.105  

Chap. XV.106 – Bishops and Deacons; Christian Reproof.

1 Appoint, therefore, for yourselves, bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord, men meek, and not lovers of money, (Comp. 1Ti_3:4) and truthful and proved; for they also render to you the service107 of prophets and teachers.   

2 Despise them not therefore, for they are your honoured ones, together with the prophets and teachers.   

3 And reprove one another, not in anger, but in peace, as ye have it in the Gospel; (Comp. Mat_18:15-17) but to every one that acts amiss108 against another, let no one speak, nor let him hear aught from you until he repent.   

4 But your prayers and alms and all your deeds so do, as ye have it in the Gospel of our Lord.109  

Chap. XVI.110 – Watchfulness; The Coming of the Lord.

1 Watch for your life’s sake.111 Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed;112 but be ye ready, for ye know not the hour in which our Lord cometh. (Mat_24:42)   

2 But often shall ye come together, seeking the things which are befitting to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you,113 if ye be not made perfect in the last time.   

3 For in the last days114 false prophets and corrupters shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love shall be turned into hate; (Comp. Mat_24:11, Mat_24:12)   

4 for when lawlessness increaseth, they shall hate and persecute and betray one another, (Comp. Mat_24:10) and then shall appear the world-deceiver115 as Son of God,116 and shall do signs and wonders,117 and the earth shall be delivered into his hands, and he shall do iniquitous things which have never yet come to pass since the beginning.   

5 Then shall the creation of men come into the fire of trial,118 and many shall be made to stumble and shall perish; but they that endure in their faith shall be saved119 from under the curse itself.120   

6 And then shall appear the signs of the truth;121 first, the sign of an out-spreading122 in heaven; then the sign of the sound of the trumpet; and the third, the resurrection of the dead;   

7 yet not of all, but as it is said: The Lord shall come and all His saints with Him.123   

8 Then shall the world see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven.124  

Elucidations.

I.

(Thus baptize ye)

If we compare this chapter with the corresponding one in the Apostolic Constitutions, the Teaching seems to me to be a somewhat abridged form of a common original. This being designed for the catechumens, there is an omission of what they are afterwards to know. A form originally drawn up for clergy and people has been very inartificially expurgated for the instruction of young disciples. This appears from the ninth chapter (p. 380), where only certain receptive or responsive forms are given. The liturgy of the Apostolic Constitutions, book viii., embodies what was studiously kept from all but the τέλειοι, i.e., those “of full age.”

II.

(Concerning apostles, note 81.)

The reference to “apostles,” probably itinerant, in Rev_2:2, corresponds with this. There were officers known in the Apostolic day (compare 2Co_8:23, Greek) as ἀπόστολοι ἐκκλησιῶν, for the pseud-apostles of the Apocalypse could not have pretended what they did had it been otherwise. Neither would it have been needful to “try those who said they were apostles,” in that case: the mere assertion of such a pretence would have sufficiently convicted them.

The very childish directions (suited to mere catechumens) given in the text illustrates Rev_2:2, and is, so far, evidence of the very early origin of the Teaching.

The name apostles was made technical by Christ Himself: “He named them Apostles” (Luk_6:13). And the word is never used in the loose way which Bishop Lightfoot hazardously suggests, as I must venture to believe.

III.

(Incipient fanaticism, note 90.)

Unquestionably, for even in St. Paul’s day his admonitions imply nothing less. See 1Co_14:1-40, passim. But, as in the Introductory Notice125 I hinted my suspicions of incipient Montanism in the Teaching, so I am strengthened in this idea by the learned critic to whose note I venture to append this remark for the purpose of asking a reference to my annotations of Hermas in vol. 2. of this series. May I also ask a reference to the same volume, pp. 4, 5, and 6? The “meal” (note 88, p. 380) of the Teaching is doubtless the Agape, which had been abused at so early a day, that St. Peter (2Pe_2:13. Comp. 1Jo_4:1) himself was forced to denounce the “false prophets” who polluted this feast of charity.

FOOTNOTES

1 The longer title is supposed to be the original one: the shorter, a popular abridgment. The latter has no real connection with Act_2:42. Many hold that the term “nations” (or “Gentiles”) points to a Jewish Christian as the author (so Byrennios), though this is denied by others (so Brown). A similar diversity of opinion exists as to the class of readers: but, if the early date is accepted, the more probable theory is, that the first part at least of the manual was for the instruction of catechumens of Gentile birth (so Byrennios, Schaff). Others extend it to Gentile Christians.

2 This phrase connects the book with the Duæ Viæ; see Introductory Notice. Barnabas has “light” and “darkness” for “life” and “death.”

3 Comp. Deu_6:5, which is fully cited in Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 2, though the verb here is more exactly cited from LXX.

4 These Old Testament commands are thus taught by the Lord.

5 Mat_5:44. But the last clause is added, and is of unknown origin; not found in Apostolic Constitutions.

6 Mat_5:46, Mat_5:47; Luk_6:32. The two passages are combined.

7 So Apostolic Constitutions. Comp. 1Pe_3:13.

8 1Pe_2:11. The Codex has σωματικῶν, “bodily;” but editors correct to κοσμικῶν.

9 Luk_6:30. The last clause is a peculiar addition; “art not able,” since thou art a Christian; otherwise it is a commonplace observation.

10 Luk_6:30. The rest of the sentence is explained by the parallel passage in Apostolic Constitutions, which cites Mat_5:45.

11 Byrennios finds a parallel (or citation) in Hermas, Commandment Second, p. 20, vol. 2. Ante-Nicene Fathers. The remainder of this chapter has no parallel in Apostolic Constitutions.

12 Gr. ἐν συνοχῇ. Probably = imprisonment; see next clause.

13 Codex: ἱδωτάτω, which in this connection is unintelligible. Bryrennios corrects into ἱδρωσάτω, rendered as above. There are various other conjectural emendations. The verse probably forbids indiscriminate charity, pointing to an early abuse of Christian liberality.

14 The chapter, except this opening sentence and part of verse 7, is found in Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 2-5; but the precepts are separated and enlarged upon.

15 Or, “corrupt boys,” as in the version of the Apostolic Constitutions.

16 Comp. Exo_21:22, Exo_21:23. The Codex reads γεννηθέντα, which Schaff renders “the new-born child.” Bryennios substitutes γεννηθέν, which is accepted by most editors, and rendered as above.

17 Rendered “nor shalt thou be mindful of injuries” in version of Apostolic Constitutions.

18 So Barnabas, xix.

19 Verse 5, except the first clause, occurs only here.

20 Latter half of verse 6 in Barnabas, xix.

21 Lev_19:17; Apostolic Constitutions.

22 Or, “soul.” The last part of the clause is found in Barnabas; but “and concerning some . . . pray, and some” has no parallel. An interesting verse in literary history.

23 About one-half of the matter of this chapter is to be found, in well-nigh the same order, scattered through Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 6-8. The precepts are aimed at minor sins, and require no particular comment. This chapter has the largest number of Greek words not found in the New Testament.

24 The address “my child” does not occur in the parallel passages.

25 Isa_66:2, Isa_66:5; Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 8.

26 Ecclus. 2:4. So Byrennios. Comp. last part of Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 8.

27 This chapter, with the exception of a few clauses and words, is found in Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 9-17. There are verbal variations, but the order is exact. In Barnabas not so much of the matter is found. There is, however, even greater verbal agreement in many cases, though the order is quite different. Two important clauses (verses 8, 14) find an exact parallel only in Barnabas. One phrase in peculiar to the Teaching; see ver. 14.

28 Comp. Heb_13:7. In Apostolic Constitutions there is a transposition of words.

29 Schaff: “The Lordship is spoken of.” Apostolic Constitutions, “where the doctrine concerning God is,” etc.

30 Or, “acquiesce in” (Apostolic Constitutions).

31 Some read ποιήσεις, “make,” as in Apostolic Constitutions and Barnabas, instead of ποθήσεις, Codex.

32 Comp. Ecclus. 1:28. The verse occurs in Barnabas; and in Apostolic Constitutions “in thy prayer” is inserted, which is probably the sense here.

33 Ecclus. 4:31. The Greek word συσπῶν occurs here and in Barnabas, but not in Apostolic Constitutions.

34 Apostolic Constitutions adds, in explanation, Pro_16:6.

35 Comp. Act_4:32; Rom_15:27. The latter half of the verse is in Barnabas (not in Apostolic Constitutions), but with the substitution of “incorruptible” and “corruptible.”

36 Codex reads “our;” editors correct to “your.”

37 “In the congregation;” i.e., assembly of believers. This phrase is omitted in both Barnabas and Apostolic Constitutions. Comp. Jam_5:16.

38 Or, “to thy place of prayer” (Schaff).

39 So Barnabas; but Apostolic Constitutions, “in the day of thy bitterness.”

40 So Apostolic Constitutions; but Barnabas, “the way of light.” See note on chap. i. 1.

41 This chapter finds nearly exact parallels in Barnabas, xx., and Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 18, but with curious variations.

42 Barnabas has “darkness,” but afterwards “way of eternal death.”

43 Not in Apostolic Constitutions, and no exact parallel in Barnabas.

44 Of the twenty-two sins named in this verse, Barnabas gives fourteen in differing order, and in the singular; Apostolic Constitutions gives all but one (υψος, “loftiness,” “haughtiness”), in the same order, and with the same change from plural to singular.

45 This verse appears almost word for word in Barnabas, with two additional clauses.

46 The Apostolic Constitutions give a parallel from this point; verbally exact from the phrase, “not for that which is good.”

47 The word πανθαμαρτητοι occurs only here, and in the parallel passage in Barnabas (rendered in this edition “who are in every respect transgressors,” vol. 1. p. 149), and in Apostolic Constitutions (rendered “full of sin”). A similar term occurs in the recently recovered portion of Clement, xviii., where Bishop Lightfoot renders, as above, “an utter sinner.”

48 Found verbatim in Apostolic Constitutions, not in Barnabas; with the latter there is no further parallel, except for a few phrases in chap. xvi. 2, 3 (which see).

49 Of this chapter, two phrases and one entire clause are found in Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 19-21.

50 Comp. Mat_24:4 (Greek); Revised Version, “lead you astray;” Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 19.

51 Or, “the whole yoke.” Those who accept the Jewish-Christian authorship refer this to the ceremonial law. It seems quite as likely to mean ascetic regulations. Of these there are many traces, even in the New Testament churches.

52 Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 20, begins with a similar phrase, but is explicitly against asceticism in this respect. The precepts here do not indicate any such spirit as that opposed by Paul.

53 Comp. Act_15:20, Act_15:29; 1Co_8:4, etc., 1Co_10:18, etc. (Rom_14:20 refers to ascetic abstinence.) This prohibition had a necessary permanence; comp. Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 21.

54 Comp. the same phrase in 2 Clement, iii. This chapter closes the first part of the Teaching, that supposed to be intended for catechumens. The absence of doctrinal statement does not necessarily prove the existence of a circle of Gentile Christians where the Pauline theology was unknown. If such a circle existed, emphasizing the ethical side of Christianity to the exclusion of its doctrinal basis, it disappeared very soon. From the nature of the case, that kind of Christianity is intellectually weak and necessarily short-lived.

55 Verse 1 is found, well-nigh entire, in Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 22, but besides this only a few words of 1Co_10:2 and 1Co_10:4. The chapter has naturally called out much discussion as to the mode of baptism.

56 [Elucidation I.]

57 Probably running water.

58 The previous verses point to immersion; this permits pouring in certain cases, which indicates that this mode was not unknown. The trine application of the water, and its being poured on the head, are both significant.

59 The fasting of the baptized is enjoined in Apostolic Constitutions, but that of the baptizer (and others) is peculiar to this document.

60 The entire chapter is found almost verbatim in Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 23, 24.

61 The reasons for fasting on Wednesday and Friday are given in Apostolic Constitutions (the days of betrayal and of burial). Monday and Thursday were the Jewish fast-days. The word “Preparation” (day before the Jewish sabbath) occurs in Mat_27:62, etc., and for some time retained a place in Christian literature.

62 Mat_6:5, Mat_6:9-13. This form of the Lord’s Prayer is evidently cited from Matthew, not from Luke. The textual variations are slight. The citation is of importance, as proving that the writer used this Gospel, and that the liturgical use of the Lord’s Prayer was common.

63 On this phrase, comp. Revised Version, Mat_6:11; Luk_11:3 (text, margin, and American appendix).

64 The variation in the form of the doxology confirms the judgment of textual criticism, which omits it in Mat_6:13. All early liturgical literature tends in the same direction; comp. Apostolic Constitutions, vii, 24.

65 This is in accordance with Jewish usage. Dan_6:10; Psa_55:17. Comp. Act_3:24.

66 The eucharistic prayers of this and the following chapter are only partially reproduced in Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 25, 26; that of verse 2 has no parallel.

67 This is a variation from the order of the New Testament and of all known liturgies; probably this led to its omission in Apostolic Constitutions. The word “for” may be substituted for “concerning” here and in verse 3. [Possibly a response for recipients.]

68 Peculiar to this passage, but derived from a common scriptural figure and from the paschal formula. Comp. especially Joh_15:1; Mat_26:29; Mar_14:25.

69 The word κλάσμα is found in the accounts of the feeding of the multitude. (Mat_14:20, Mat_15:37, and parallels); it was naturally applied to the broken bread of the Eucharist.

70 This reference to “hills,” or “mountains,” is used as an argument against the Egyptian origin of the Teaching.

71 This part of the verse is found in Apostolic Constitutions. Schaff properly calls attention to the distinction here made between “Thy Church” and “Thy kingdom.”

72 This post-communion thanksgiving is found in Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 26, but with many omissions, alterations, and additions. Still, the correspondence in thought and language is very remarkable. Schaff cites a similar prayer at the Passover (after the Hallel cup).

73 “After the participation” (Apostolic Constitutions) points to a distinct eucharistic service. Here the Lord’s Supper is evidently connected with the Agape [a noteworthy suggestion]; comp. 1Co_11:20-22, 1Co_11:33. This is an evidence of early date; comp. Justin Martyr,  Apol., i. chaps. 64-66, where the Lord’s Supper is shown to be distinct.

74 This last clause has no parallel in Apostolic Constitutions, and points to an earlier and more spiritual conception of the Eucharist. Verse 4 also is peculiar to this passage.

75 The above rendering follows Bryennios; that of Harnack (formerly accepted by Hall and Napier) is: “Gather it, sanctified, from the four winds” recalls Mat_24:31.

76 This is peculiar; but comp. 1Co_7:31 for the last clause.

77 The Codex reads τῷ θεῷ, whichBryennios alters to τῷ ὑιῷ. The former is the more diffcult reading, and is defended by Harnack.

78 This exhortation indicates a mixed assembly: acomp. Apostolic Constitutions. [If so, it belongs to the Agape.]

79 1Co_16:22, Revised Version, margin: “That is, our Lord cometh.” Comp. Rev_22:20.

80 A limitation as compared with 1Co_14:29, 1Co_14:31, and yet indicating a combination of extemporaneous devotion with the liturgical form. The verse prepares the way for the next chapter.

81 The Apostolic Constitutions (vii. 27) present scarcely any parallel to this chapter, which points to an earlier period, when ecclesiastical polity was less developed, and the travelling “Apostles” and “Prophets” here spoken of were numerous. [Elucidation II.]

82 This refers to all teachers, more fully described afterwards.

83 Lit. “being turned;” i.e., turned from the truth, perverted.

84 Mat_10:40. The mention of apostles here has caused much discussion, but there are many indications that travelling evangelists were thus termed for some time after the apostolic age. Bishop Lightfoot has shown, that, even in the New Testment, a looser use of the term applied it to others than the Twelve. Comp. Rom_16:7; 1Co_15:5, 1Co_15:7 (?); Gal_1:19; 1Th_2:6; also, as applied to Barnabas, Act_14:4, Act_14:14.

85 Reach a place where he can lodge.

86 Under the influence of the charismatic gift spoken of in 1Co_12:3; 1Co_14:2. Another indication of an early date.

87 Probably a reference to the sin against the Holy Spirit. Mat_12:31, Mat_12:32; Mar_3:29, Mar_3:30.

88 Probably a love-feast, commanded by the prophet in his peculiar utterance.

89 ἀληθινός, “genuine.”

90 ποιῶν εἰς μυστήριον κοσμικὸν ἐκκλησίας, “working unto a worldly mystery of (the) Church,” or “making assemblies for a worldly mystery.” Either rendering is grammatical: neither is very intelligible. The paraphrase in the above version presents one leading view of this difficult passage: the mystery is the Church, and a worldly one, because the Church is in the world. The other leading view joins ἐκκλησίας (as accusative) with ποιῶν, “making assemblies for a worldly mystery.” So Bryennios, who regards the worldly mystery as a symbolical act of the prophet. Others suggest, as the mystery for which the assemblies are called, revelation of future events, celibacy, the Eucharist, the ceremonial law. It seems, at all events, to point to incipient fanaticism on the part of the prophets of those days. [Elucidation III.] This was likely to take the form either of asceticism or of extravagant predictions and mystical fancies about the Church in the world. Did we know the place and the time more accurately, we might decide which was meant. This caution was evidently needed; Let God judge such extravagances.

91 Verse 1 is almost identical with the beginning of Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 28; the remaining verses have no parallel.

92 All professed Christians are meant.

93 The term occurs only here in the Teaching.

94 “Christ trafficker.” The abuse of Christian fellowship and hospitality naturally followed the remarkable extension of Christianity. This expressive term was coined to designate the class of idlers who would make gain out of their professed Christianity. It occurs in the longer form of the Ignatian Epistles (Tertullian, vi.) and in literature of the fourth century.

95 A large part of this chapter is found in Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 28, 29, but with modifications and additions indicating a later date.

96 “Who will settle among you” (Hitchcock and Brown). The itinerant prophets might become stationary, we infer. Chaps. xi.-xv. point to a movement from an itinerant and extraordinary ministry to a more settled one.

97 Lit., “nourishment,” “food.”

98 This phrase, indicating a sacerdotal view of the ministry, seems to point to a late date than that claimed for the Teaching. Some regard it as an interpolation: others take it in a figurative sense. In Apostolic Constitutions the sacerdotal view is more marked. [1Pe_2:9. If the plebs = “priests,” prophets = “high priest.”] Here the term is restricted to the prophets; compare Schaff in loco.

99 Verses 1 and 3 are given substantially in Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 30. This chapter would seem to belong more properly before chap. viii.; but the same order is followed in Apostolic Constitutions, – a remarkable proof of literary connection.

100 Comp. Rev_1:10. Here the full form is κατὰ κυρικὴν δὲ Κυρίου. If the early date is allowed, this verse confirms the view that from the first the Lord’s Day was observed, and that, too, by a eucharistic celebration.

101 Comp. chap. iv. 14. No parallel in Apostolic Constitutions.

102 On this spiritual sense of “sacrifice,” comp. Rom_12:1; Phi_2:17; Heb_13:15; 1Pe_2:5.

103 “That hath the (or, any) dispute” (ἀμφιβολίαν); comp. Mat_5:23, Mat_5:24.

104 [See Mal_1:11. See Irenæus, cap. xvii. 5, vol. 1. p. 484.]

105 Mal_1:11, Mal_1:14. Quoted in Apostolic Constitutions and by several Ante-Nicene Fathers, with the same reference to the Eucharist.

106 The larger part of verse 1, and a clause from verses 2, 3, respectively, are found in Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 31. Verses 1, 2, both in the use of terms and in the Church polity indicated, point to an early date: (1) There are evident marks of a transition from extraordinary to ordinary ministers. (2) The distinction between bishops and elders does not appear [1Pe_5:1. Vol. 1. p. 16, this series], and yet it is found in Ignatius. (3) The word χειροτονέω is here used in the sense of “elect” or “appoint” (by show of hands), and not in that of “ordain” (by laying on of hands). The former is the New-Testament sense (Act_14:23; 2Co_8:19), also in Ignatius: the latter sense is found in Apostolic Canons, i. (4) The choice by the people also indicates an early period.

107 Or, “ministry.” This clause and the following verse indicate that the extraordinary ministers were as yet more highly regarded.

108 The word ἀστοχέω, occuring here, means “to miss the mark;” in New Testament, “to err” or, “swerve.” See 1Ti_1:6, 1Ti_6:21; 2Ti_2:18.

109 The reference here is probably to the Sermon on the Mount: Matt. 5-7, especially to Mat_6:1-34.

110 The resemblance between this chapter and Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 31, 32, is mainly in order of topics and in the identity of some phrases and terms. Verses 3 and 4 (to the word “world-deceiver”) are reproduced almost verbatim. That the writer of the Teaching used Mat_24:1-51 is extremely probable, but the connection of Apostolic Constitutions with this passage is evident. In Barnabas, iv. there are a few corresponding phrases.

111 Or, “over your life;” the clause occurs verbatim in Apostolic Constitutions.

112 Comp. Luk_12:35, which is exactly cited in Apostolic Constitutions.

113 Here Barnabas, iv., furnishes a parallel.

114 This reference to the last days as present or impending is an evidence of the early dat; comp. Barnabas, iv., and many passages in the New Testament. The mistake has been in measuring God’s prophetic chronology by our mathematical standard of years.

115 ὁ κοσμοπλάνος, found only here and in Apostolic Constitutions, vii, 32. Comp. 2Th_2:3, 2Th_2:4, 2Th_2:8; Rev_12:9.

116 Not found in Apostolic Constitutions. The expression plainly implies the belief that Jesus Christ was Son of God.

117 Comp. Mat_24:24. The rest of the verse has no parallel.

118 Comp. 1Pe_4:12, where πύρωσις also occurs.

119 Comp. Mat_10:22 and similar passages; none of them directly cited here.

120 ὑπ ̓ αὐτοῦ τοῦ καταθέματος, “from under the curse itself,” namely, that which has just been described. Bryennios and others render “by the curse Himself;” that is, Christ, whom they were tempted to revile. All other interpretations either rest on textual emendations or are open to grammatical objections. Of the two given above, that of Hall and Napier seems preferable.

121 “Truth” might refer to Christ Himself, but the personal advent is spoken of in verse 8; it is better, then, to refer it to the truth respecting the parousia held by the early Christians. For this belief they were mocked, and hence dwelf upon it and the prophecies respecting it. The verse is probably based upon Mat_24:30, Mat_24:31; but some find here, as in verse 4, an allusion to Paul’s eschatological statements in the Epistles to the Thessalonians.

122 Professor Hall now prefers to render ἐκπετάεως, “outspreading,” instead of “unrolling,” as in his version originally. Hitchcock and Brown, Schaff, and others, prefer “opening;” that is, the apparent opening in heaven through which the Lord will descend. “outspreading” is usually explained (so Professor Hall) as meaning the expanded sign of the cross in the heavens, the patristic interpretation of Mat_24:30. Bryennios and Farrar refer it to the flying forth of the saints to meet the Lord. There are other interpretations based on textual emendations. As the word is very rare, it is difficult to determine the exact sense. “Opening” seems lexically allowable and otherwise free from objection.

123 Zec_14:5. This citation is given substantially in Apostolic Constitutions. As here used, it seems to point to the first resurrection. Comp. 1Th_4:17; 1Co_15:23; Rev_20:5. Probably it is based upon the Pauline eschatology rather than upon that of the Apocalypse. At all events, there is no allusion to the millennial statement of the later. Since there was in the early Church, in connection with the expectation of the speedy coming of Christ, a marked tendency to Chiliasm, the silence respecting the millennium may indicate that the writer was not acquainted with the Apocalypse. This inference is allowable, however, only on the assumption of the early date of the Teaching.

124 Comp. Mat_24:30. The conclusion is abrupt, and in Apostolic Constitutions the New-Testament doctrine of future punishmentand reward is added. The absence of all reference to the destruction of Jerusalem would indicate that some time had elapsed since that event. An interval of from thirty to sixty years may wll be claimed.

125 P. 371, supra.

Introductory Notice to Constitutions of the Holy Apostles.

Having learned from the erudite Beveridge what I long supposed to be a just view of the Constitutions, I have found in the recent literature of the subject not a little to increase my confidence in the general conclusions to which he was led by all that could be known in his times. The treatise of Krabbe guided me to some results of more modern investigations; and Dr. Bunsen, though not apart from his critics, has enabled me still further to correct some of my impressions. But, in connection with the late discovery of Bryennios, the field of discussion and inquiry has been so much enlarged, that I have felt it due to the readers and students of this republication to invoke the aid of Professor Riddle, who is able to enrich the work with the results of genuine learning and much patient research. Whatever may be my own convictions on some subordinate points, I have been glad to secure the judgment of a critical scholar who, I am persuaded, aims to shed upon the subject the colourless light of scientific investigation. This is all I can desire, anxious only to see facts clearly established and historic truth illustrated, no matter to what results they may seem to point. Where the professor’s decisions coincide with my own impressions, I am naturally gratified by his valued and independent corroboration: where the case is otherwise, I am hardly less gratified to present my indulgent readers with opinions deserving of their highest respect, and by which they will be stimulated, as well as influenced, in forming convictions for themselves.

The Constitutions are so full of material on which it is well for one in my position not to speak very freely in such a work as this, that I rejoice all the more to confide the task of annotation almost exclusively to another and to one from whom American Christians must ever be glad to hear on subjects requiring in an almost equal degree the skill of an expert critic and the candour of a conscientious Christian.

I prefix Professor Riddle’s Preface to the Introductory Notice of the Edinburgh editor, as follows: — 

New interest has been awakened in the Apostolic Constitutions by the discovery of an ancient manuscript in Constantinople.1 While it does not contain the Constitutions, it affords much material for discussion respecting the sources and authorship of this compilation. The so-called Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, found in the Codex at Constantinople, and published by Bryennios in 1883, is recognised as the basis of the seventh book of the Constitutions. The verbal coincidences, the order of topics, and other obvious phenomena, leave little room for reasonable doubt on this point. That the reader may be in possession of the main facts, the corresponding portions have been indicated both in book vii. of the Constitutions and in the version of the Teaching inserted in this volume. This literary connection has some bearing on the discussion as to the age of the Constitutions. If the Teaching is substantially the early work bearing that name, then some of the references by early writers which have been applied to the larger work must now be regarded as pointing to the Teaching; still, this only bears against the theory of a date as early as the third century. The new critical material furnished by the Bryennios manuscript for the Ignatian controversy has a bearing on the question respecting the work before us. The opinion has been strengthened (see below), that the same hand enlarged the Ignatian Epistles and adapted earlier matter (such as the Teaching) for the Apostolic Constitutions.

We may accept as established the following positions: — 

1. The Apostolic Constitutions are a compilation, the material being derived from sources differing in age.

2. The first six books are the oldest; the seventh, in its present form, somewhat later, but, from its connection with the Teaching, proven to contain matter of a very ancient date. The eighth book is of latest date.

3. It now seems to be generally admitted that the entire work is not later than the fourth century, although the usual allowance must be made for later textual changes, whether by accident or design.

Dr. Von Drey2 regards the first six books as of Eastern origin (mainly Syrian), and to be assigned to the second half of the third century. The seventh and eighth were more recent, he thinks, but united with the others before a.d. 325. With this, Schaff (in his Church History, vol. ii, rev. ed., p. 185) substantially agreed; but, in his later work on the Teaching, seems to assign the completion of the compilation to a date somewhat later. This is the view of Harnack, who, “by a critical analysis and comparison, comes to the conclusion3 that pseudo-Clement, alias pseudo-Ignatius, was a Eusebian, a semi-Arian, and rather worldly-minded anti-ascetic Bishop of Syria, a friend of the Emperor Constantius between 340 and 360; that he enlarged and adapted the Didascalia of the third and the Didache of the second century, as well as the Ignatian Epistles, to his own view of morals, worship, and discipline, and clothed them with Apostolic authority.”4

This is, at all events, a more reasonable view than that of Krabbe, who assigns the first six books to the end of the third century, and the eighth to the beginning of the fifth. The latter, it is true, he regards a compilation from older sources. The purpose of the whole, in his view, was to confirm the episcopal hierarchy, and to establish the unity of the Catholic Church on the basis of the unity of the priesthood, etc. But it is now generally held that the purpose of the compilation was merely to present a manual of instruction, worship, polity, and usage for both clergy and laity. Had it been designed to further some ecclesiastical tendency, it would be far less valuable, since it would less fairly reproduce the ecclesiastical life of the age or ages in which it originated. Bishop Beveridge at first attributed the Constitutions to Clemens Alexandrinus (end of second century), but afterwards accepted the third century as the more probable date. The views now prevalent do full justice to his opinions, but seem to be better sustained in detail.

The collection of Canons at the close of the Constitutions is undoubtedly a compilation. Some are evidently much more ancient than others, and there is every evidence that various collections or recensions existed. That of Dionysius (about a.d. 500), in Latin, contained fifty canons; that of John (Scholasticus) of Antioch (about a.d. 565) contained eighty-five canons: and “it is undeniable that the Greek copy which Dionysius had before him belonged to a (different family of collections from that used by John Scholasticus, for they differ frequently, if not essentially, both in text and in the way of numbering the canons.”5

Bishop Beveridge sought to trace these Canons to the synods of the first two centuries, while Daillé held that the collection was made as late as the fifth century. The latter view is not generally accepted, though the existence of a variety of collections tells against some of the views of Bishop Beveridge.6 It is impossible to enter into a full discussion here. It seemed better to annotate the Canons from the results of Drey and Hefele, two most candid and scholarly Roman-Catholic investigators.7 The brief notes indicate the sources according to these authors. The reader will at once perceive from the views thus suggested, as well as from the contents of the Canons, that, while some canons are presumably quite ancient, a number belong to the fourth century, and that, as a complete collection, they cannot antedate the compilation of the Apostolic Constitutions. Indeed, Drey, who accepts the latter as Ante-Nicene (see above), thinks five of the canons (30, 67, 74, 81, 83) were derived from the canons of the Fourth cumenical Council at Chalcedon, a.d. 451, and quite a number of others he traces to synods and councils of the fourth century. Hefele doubts the positions taken by Drey in regard to most of these. He does not, however, insist that the collection is Ante-Nicene, while he traces the origin of many of the canons to the Apostolic Constitutions.

[The following is Dr. Donaldson’s Introductory Notice: — ]

There has always existed a great diversity of opinion as to the author and date of the Apostolical Constitutions. Earlier writers were inclined to assign them to the apostolic age, and to Clement; but much discussion ensued, and the questions to which they give rise are still unsettled.

The most peculiar opinion in regard to them is that of Whiston, who devoted a volume (vol. iii.) of his Primitive Christianity Revived to prove that “they are the most sacred of the canonical books of the New Testament;” for “these sacred Christian laws or constitutions were delivered at Jerusalem, and in Mount Sion, by our Saviour to the eleven apostles there assembled after His resurrection.”

Krabbe, who wrote an elaborate treatise on the origin and contents of the Apostolical Constitutions, tried to show that the first seven books were written “towards the end of the third century.” The eighth book, he thinks, must have been written at the end of the fourth or beginning of the fifth.

Bunsen thinks that, if we expunge a few interpolations of the fourth and fifth centuries, “we find ourselves unmistakeably in the midst of the life of the Church of the second and third centuries.”8 “I think,” he says, “I have proved in my analysis, more clearly than has been hitherto done, the Ante-Nicene origin of a book, or rather books, called by an early fiction Apostolical Constitutions, and consequently the still higher antiquity of the materials, both ecclesiastical and literary, which they contain. I have shown that the compilers made use of the Epistle of Barnabas,9 which belongs to the first half of the second century; that the eighth is an extract or transcript of Hippolytus; and that the first six books are so full of phrases found in the second interpolation of the Ignatian Epistles, that their last compiler, the author of the present text, must either have lived soon after that interpolation was made, or vice versa, or the interpolator and compiler must have been one and the same person.10 This last circumstance renders it probable that at least the first six books of the Greek compilation, like the Ignatian forgeries,11 were the produce of Asia Minor. Two points are self-evident — their Oriental origin, and that they belong neither to Antioch nor to Alexandria. I suppose nobody now will trace them to Palestine.”12

Modern critics are equally at sea in determining the date of the collections of canons given at the end of the eighth book. Most believe that some of them belong to the apostolic age, while others are of a comparatively late date. The subject is very fully discussed in Krabbe.

Bovius first gave a complete edition of the Constitutions (Venice, 1563), but only in a Latin form. The Greek was first edited by the Jesuit Turrianus (Venice, 1563). It was reprinted several times. Cotelerius gave it in his Apostolical Fathers. In the second edition of this work, as prepared by Clericus (1724), the readings of two Vienna manuscripts were given. These V. mss. and Oxford ms. of book viii. are supposed by Bunsen to be nearer the original than the others, alike in what they give and in what they omit. The Constitutions have been edited by Ültzen (1853), and by Lagarde in Bunsen’s Analecta Ante-Nicæna, vol. ii. (1854). Lagarde has partially introduced readings from the Syriac, Arabic, Æthiopic, and Coptic forms of the Constitutions. Whiston devoted the second volume of his Primitive Christianity to the Constitutions and Canons, giving both the Greek and English. It is his translation which we have republished, with considerable alterations. We have not deemed it necessary to give a tithe of the various readings, but have confined ourselves to those that seem important. We have also given no indication of the Syriac form of the first six books. We shall give this form by itself. The translation of Whiston was reprinted by Irah Chase, D.D., very carefully revised, with a translation of Krabbe’s Essay on the Origin and Contents of the Constitutions, and his Dissertation an the Canons (New York, 1848).13

FOOTNOTES

1 See the brief account prefixed to the version of the Teaching, p. 372, supra.

2 Neue Untersuchungen über die Constitut. u. Kanones der Ap., Tübingen, 1832. Hefele (Conciliengaschichte, i., Freiburg, 1855, 2d ed., 1873, Edinb. trans., 1871, p. 449) speaks of this as the best work on the subject.

3 [Needless to say that this seems to me utterly inconsistent with admitted facts.]

4 Schaff, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, New York, 1885, pp. 134, 135. Comp. Harnack on the Teaching in Texte und Untersuchungen, u. s. w., ii. pp. 246-268, Leipzig, 1884. Bishop Lightfoot (Epistles of St. Ignatius, London and Cambridge, 1885) differs from Harnack, who futher discusses the topic in the Expositor, January 1886.

5 Hefele, History of Councils, i. p. 460.

6 The Ethiopic form of these Canons has recently appeared in an English translation (Journal of Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, 1885, pp. 63-72). Professor George H. Schodde, Ph. D., the translator, has made use of the edition of Winand Fell (Cologne, 1871) with a Latin version. The Canons in this form contain most of the matter given to the Edinburgh version from the Greek, and in the same order. But the number is only fifty-seven, in many cases several Greek canons being combined as one in the Ethiopic. Some modifications are found, but very little that differs materially from the Greek. This collection is not part of the Apostolical Church Order published by Tattam, Lagarde, Harnack, and others. Comp. Schaff, Teaching, pp. 237-247.

7 [However candid, even Hefele, unquestionably learned, has been enslaved to “Infallibility, and was never a freeman.]

8 Christianity and Mankind, vol. ii. p. 405.

9 [Evidently the Teaching must now be substituted for the Epistle of Barnabas. — R.]

10 [So Harnack, most decidedly; but Bishop Lightfoot oppses this view. — R.]

11 [Bunsen’s magisterial views on many subjects are swept away by the recent work of Bishop Lightfoot on the Ignatian literature.]

12 Christianity and Mankind, vol. ii. p. 418.

13 [A valuable work, apart from many of Dr. Chase’s personal ideas not generally received by critics.]

Book I.1

Concerning the Laity.

Sec. I. — General Commandments.

The apostles and elders to all those who from among the Gentiles have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ; grace and peace from Almighty God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, be multiplied unto you in the acknowledgment of Him.

The Catholic Church is the plantation of God and His beloved vineyard; (Isa_5:7, Isa_5:2) containing those who have believed in His unerring divine religion; who are the heirs by faith of His everlasting kingdom; who are partakers of His divine influence, and of the communication of the Holy Spirit; who are armed through Jesus, and have received His fear into their hearts; who enjoy the benefit of the sprinkling of the precious and innocent blood of Christ; who have free liberty to call Almighty God, Father; being fellow-heirs and joint-partakers of His beloved Son: hearken to this holy doctrine, you who enjoy His promises, as being delivered by the command of your Saviour, and agreeable to His glorious words. Take care, ye children of God, to do all things in obedience to God; and in all things please Christ our Lord.2 For if any man follows unrighteousness, and does those things that are contrary to the will of God, such a one will be esteemed by God as the disobedient heathen.

I. Concerning Covetousness.

Abstain, therefore, from all unlawful desires and injustice. For it is written in the law, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his field, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour’s;” (Exo_20:17) for all coveting of these things is from the evil one. For he that covets his neighbour’s wife, or his man-servant, or his maid-servant, is already in his mind an adulterer and a thief; and if he does not repent, is condemned by our Lord Jesus Christ: through whom3 glory be to God for ever, Amen. For He says in the Gospel, recapitulating, and confirming, and fulfilling the ten commandments of the law: “It is written in the law, Thou shalt not commit adultery: but I say unto you, that is, I said in the law, by Moses. But now I say unto you myself, Whosoever shall look on his neighbour’s wife to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” (Mat_5:28) Such a one is condemned of adultery, who covets his neighbour’s wife in his mind. But does not he that covets an ox or an ass design to steal them? to apply them to his own use, and to lead them away? Or, again, does not he that covets a field, and continues in such a disposition, wickedly contrive how to remove the landmarks, and to compel the possessor to part with somewhat for nothing? For as the prophet somewhere speaks: “Woe to those who join house to house, and lay field to field, that they may deprive their neighbour of somewhat which was his.” (Isa_5:8) Wherefore he says: “Must you alone inhabit the earth? For these things have been heard in the ears of the Lord of hosts.” And elsewhere: “Cursed be he who removeth his neighbour’s landmarks: and all the people shall say, Amen.” (Deu_27:17) Wherefore Moses says: “Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour’s landmarks (Deu_19:14) which thy fathers have set.”4 Upon this account, therefore, terrors, death, tribunals, and condemnations follow such as these from God. But as to those who are obedient to God, there is one law of God, simple,4 true, living, which is this: “Do not that to another which thou hatest another should do to thee.” (Tob. 4:16) Thou wouldst not that any one should look upon thy wife with an evil design to corrupt her; do not thou, therefore, look upon thy neighbour’s wife with a wicked intention. Thou wouldst not that thy garment should be taken away; do not thou therefore, take away another’s. Thou wouldst not be beaten, reproached, affronted; do not thou, therefore, serve any other in the like manner.

II. That We Ought Not to Return Injuries, Nor Revenge Ourselves on Him That Does Us Wrong.

But if any one curse thee, do thou bless him. For it is written in the book of Numbers: “He that blesseth thee is blessed, and he that curseth thee is cursed.” (Num_24:9) In the same manner it is written in the Gospel: “Bless them that curse you.” (Luk_6:28) Being injured, do not avenge yourselves, but bear it with patience; for the Scripture speaks thus: “Say not thou, I will avenge myself on my enemy for what injuries he has offered me; but acquiesce under them, that the Lord may right thee, and bring vengeance upon him who injures thee.” (Pro_20:22) For so says He again in the Gospel: “Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you; and ye shall be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to shine on the evil and on the good, and raineth on the just and unjust.” (Mat_5:44, Mat_5:45) Let us therefore, beloved, attend to these commandments, that we may be found to be the children of light by doing them. Bear, therefore, with one another, ye servants and sons of God.

Sec. II. — Commandments to Men.

III. Concerning the Adornment of Ourselves, and the Sin Which Arises from Thence.

Let the husband not be insolent nor arrogant towards his wife; but compassionate, bountiful, willing to please his own wife alone,4 and treat her honourably and obligingly, endeavouring to be agreeable to her; (III.) not adorning thyself in such a manner as may entice another woman to thee. For if thou art overcome by her, and sinnest with her, eternal death will overtake thee from God; and thou wilt be punished with sensible and bitter torments. Or if thou dost not perpetrate such a wicked act, but shakest her off, and refusest her, in this case thou art not wholly innocent, even though thou art not guilty of the crime itself, but only in so far as through thy adorning thou didst entice the woman to desire thee. For thou art the cause that the woman was so affected, and by her lusting after thee was guilty of adultery with thee: yet art thou not so guilty, because thou didst not send to her, who was ensnared by thee; nor didst thou desire her. Since, therefore, thou didst not deliver up thyself to her, thou shalt find mercy with the Lord thy God, who hath said, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” and, “Thou shalt not covet.” (Exo_20:14, Exo_20:17) For if such a woman, upon sight of thee, or unseasonable meeting with thee, was smitten in her mind, and sent to thee, but thou as a religious person didst refuse her,5 if she was wounded in her heart by thy beauty, and youth, and adorning, and fell in love with thee, thou wilt be found guilty of her transgressions, as having been the occasion of scandal to her, (Mat_18:7) and shalt inherit a woe.6 Wherefore pray thou to the Lord God that no mischief may befall thee upon this account: for thou art not to please men, so as to commit sin; but God, so as to attain holiness of life, and be partaker of everlasting rest. That beauty which God and nature has bestowed on thee, do not further beautify; but modestly diminish it before men. Thus, do not thou permit the hair of thy head to grow too long, but rather cut it short; lest by a nice combing thy hair, and wearing it long, and anointing thyself, thou draw upon thyself such ensnared or ensnaring women. Neither do thou wear over-fine garments to seduce any; neither do thou, with an evil subtilty, affect over-fine stockings or shoes for thy feet, but only such as suit the measures of decency and usefulness. Neither do thou put a gold ring upon thy fingers; for all these ornaments are the signs of lasciviousness, which if thou be solicitous about in an indecent manner, thou wilt not act as becomes a good man: for it is not lawful for thee, a believer and a man of God, to permit the hair of thy head to grow long, and to brush it up together, nor to suffer it to spread abroad, nor to puff it up, nor by nice combing and platting to make it curl and shine; since that is contrary to the law, which says thus, in its additional precepts: “You shall not make to yourselves curls and round rasures.” (Lev_19:27, Lev_21:5) Nor may men destroy the hair of their beards, and unnaturally change the form of a man. For the law says: “Ye shall not mar your beards.” (Lev_19:27, Lev_21:5) For God the Creator has made this decent for women, but has determined that it is unsuitable for men. But if thou do these things to please men, in contradiction to the law, thou wilt be abominable with God, who created thee after His own image. If, therefore, thou wilt be acceptable to God, abstain from all those things which He hates, and do none of those things that are unpleasing to Him.

IV. That We Ought Not to Be Over-Curious About Those Who Live Wickedly, but to Be Intent upon Our Own Proper Employment.

Thou shalt not be as a wanderer and gadder abroad, rambling about the streets, without just cause, to spy out such as live wickedly. But by minding thy own trade and employment, endeavour to do what is acceptable to God. And keeping in mind the oracles of Christ, meditate in the same continually. For so the Scripture says to thee: “Thou shalt meditate in His law day and night; when thou walkest in the field, and when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up, that thou mayest have understanding in all things.” (Jos_1:8; Deu_6:7) Nay, although thou beest rich, and so dost not want a trade for thy maintenance, be not one that gads about, and walks abroad at random; but either go to some that are believers, and of the same religion, and confer and discourse with them about the lively oracles of God: — 

V. What Books of Scripture We Ought to Read.

Or if thou stayest at home, read the books of the Law, of the Kings, with the Prophets; sing the hymns of David; and peruse diligently the Gospel, which is the completion of the other.

VI. That We Ought to Abstain from All the Books of Those That Are Out of the Church.

Abstain from all the heathen books. For what hast thou to do with such foreign discourses, or laws, or false prophets, which subvert the faith of the unstable? For what defect dost thou find in the law of God, that thou shouldest have recourse to those heathenish fables? For if thou hast a mind to read history, thou hast the books of the Kings; if books of wisdom or poetry, thou hast those of the Prophets, of Job, and the Proverbs, in which thou wilt find greater depth of sagacity than in all the heathen poets and sophisters, because these are the words of the Lord, the only wise God. If thou desirest something to sing, thou hast the Psalms; if the origin of things, thou hast Genesis; if laws and statutes, thou hast the glorious law of the Lord God. Do thou therefore utterly abstain from all strange and diabolical books. Nay, when thou readest the law, think not thyself bound to observe the additional precepts; though not all of them, yet some of them. Read those barely for the sake of history, in order to the knowledge of them, and to glorify God that He has delivered thee from such great and so many bonds. Propose to thyself to distinguish what rules were from the law of nature, and what were added afterwards, or were such additional rules as were introduced and given in the wilderness to the Israelites after the making of the calf; for the law contains those precepts which were spoken by the Lord God before the people fell into idolatry, and made a calf like the Egyptian Apis — that is, the ten commandments. But as to those bonds which were further laid upon them after they had sinned, do not thou draw them upon thyself: for our Saviour came for no other reason but that He might deliver those that were obnoxious thereto from the wrath which was reserved far them, that7 He might fulfil the Law and the Prophets, and that He might abrogate or change those secondary bonds which were superadded to the rest of the law. For therefore did He call to us and say, “Come unto me,7 all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will dive you rest.” (Mat_11:28) When, therefore, thou hast read the Law, which is agreeable to the Gospel and to the Prophets, read also the books of the Kings, that thou mayest thereby learn which of the kings were righteous, and how they were prospered by God, and how the promise of eternal life continued with them from Him; but those kings which went a-whoring from God did soon perish in their apostasy by the righteous judgment of God, and were deprived of His life, inheriting, instead of rest, eternal punishment. Wherefore by reading these books thou wilt be mightily strengthened in the faith, and edified in Christ, whose body and member thou art. Moreover, when thou walkest abroad in public, and hast a mind to bathe, make use of that bath which is appropriated to men, lest, by discovering thy body in an unseemly manner to women, or by seeing a sight not seemly for men, either thou beest ensnared, or thou ensnarest and enticest to thyself those women who easily yield to such temptations.7 Take care, therefore, and avoid such things, lest thou admit a snare upon thy own soul.

VII. Concerning a Bad Woman.

For let us learn what the sacred word says in the book of Wisdom: “My son, keep my words, and hide my commandments with thee. Say unto Wisdom, Thou art my sister; and make understanding familiar with thee: that she may keep thee from the strange and wicked woman, in case such a one accost thee with sweet words. For from the window of her house she looks into the street, to see if she can espy some young man among the foolish children, without understanding, walking in the market-place, in the meeting of the street near her house, and talking in the dusk of the evening, or in the silence and darkness of the night. A woman meets him in the appearance of an harlot, who steals away the hearts of young persons. She rambles about, and is dissolute; her feet abide not in her house; sometimes she is without, sometimes in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner. Then she catches him, and kisses him, and with an impudent face says unto him, I have peace-offerings with me; this day do I pay my vows: therefore came I forth to meet thee; earnestly I have desired thy face, and I have found thee. I have decked my bed with coverings; with tapestry from Egypt have I adorned it. I have perfumed my bed with saffron, and my house with cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning; come, let us solace ourselves with love,” etc. To which he adds: “With much discourse she seduced him, with snares from her lips she forced him. He goes after her like a silly bird.” (Pro_7:1, etc.) And again: “Do not hearken to a wicked woman; for though the lips of an harlot are like drops from an honey-comb, which for a while is smooth in thy throat, yet afterwards thou wilt find her more bitter than gall, and sharper than any two-edged sword.” (Pro_5:3, Pro_5:4) And again: “But get away quickly, and tarry not; fix not thine eyes upon her: for she hath thrown down many wounded; yea, innumerable multitudes have been slain by her.” (Pro_7:25, Pro_7:26) “If not,” says he, “yet thou wilt repent at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, and wilt say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart has avoided the reproofs of the righteous! I have not hearkened to the voice of my instructor, nor inclined mine ear to my teacher. I have almost been in all evil.” (Pro_5:11, etc.) But we will make no more quotations; and if we have omitted any, be so prudent as to select the most valuable out of the Holy Scriptures, and confirm yourselves with them, rejecting all things that are evil, that so you may be found holy with God in eternal life.

Sec. III. — Commandments to Women.

VIII. Concerning the Subjection of a Wife to Her Husband, and that She Must Be Loving and Modest.

Let the wife be obedient to her own proper husband, because “the husband is the head of the wife.” (1 Cor.1Co_11:3) But Christ is the head of that husband who walks in the way of righteousness; and “the head of Christ is God,” even His Father. Therefore, O wife, next after the Almighty, our God and Father, the Lord of the present world and of the world to come, the Maker of everything that breathes, and of every power; and after His beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom8 glory be to God, do thou fear thy husband, and reverence him, pleasing him alone, rendering thyself acceptable to him in the several affairs of life, that so on thy account thy husband may be called blessed, according to the Wisdom of Solomon, which thus speaks: “Who can find a virtuous woman? for such a one is more precious than costly stones. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that she shall have no need of spoil: for she does good to her husband all the days of her life. She buyeth wool and flax, and worketh profitable things with her hands. She is like the merchants’ ships, she bringeth her food from far. She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth” meat to her household, and food to her maidens. She considereth a field, and buyeth it; with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. She tasteth that it is good to labour; her lamp goeth not out all the whole night. She stretcheth out her arms for useful work, and layeth her hands to the spindle. She openeth her hands to the needy; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the poor. Her husband takes no care of the affairs of his house; for all that are with her are clothed with double garments. She maketh coats for her husband, clothings of silk and purple. Her husband is eminent in the gates, when he sitteth with the elders of the land. She maketh fine linen, and selleth it to the Phœnicians, and girdles to the Canaanites. She is clothed with glory and beauty, and she rejoices in the last days. She openeth her mouth with wisdom and discretion, and puts her words in order. The ways of her household are strict; she eateth not the bread of idleness. She will open her mouth with wisdom and caution, and upon her tongue are the laws of mercy. Her children arise up and praise her for her riches, and her husband joins in her praises. Many daughters have obtained wealth and done worthily, but thou surpassest and excellest them all. May lying flatteries and the vain beauty of a wife be far from thee. For a religious wife is blessed. Let her praise the fear of the Lord:9 give her of the fruits of her lips, and let her husband be praised in the gates.” (Pro_31:10, etc.) And again: “A virtuous wife is a crown to her husband.” (Pro_12:4) And again: “Many wives have built an house.”10 You have learned what great commendations a prudent and loving wife receives from the Lord God. If thou desirest to be one of the faithful, and to please the Lord, O wife, do not superadd ornaments to thy beauty, in order to please other men; neither affect to wear fine broidering, garments, or shoes, to entice those who are allured by such things. For although thou dost not these wicked things with design of sinning thyself, but only for the sake of ornament and beauty, yet wilt thou not so escape future punishment, as having compelled another to look so hard at thee as to lust after thee, and as not having taken care both to avoid sin thyself, and the affording scandal to others. But if thou yield thyself up, and commit the crime, thou art both guilty of thy own sin, and the cause of the ruin of the other’s soul also. Besides, when thou hast committed lewdness with one man, and beginnest to despair, thou wilt again turn away from thy duty, and follow others, and grow past feeling; as says the divine word: “When a wicked man comes into the depth of evil, he becomes a scorner, and then disgrace and reproach come upon him.” (Pro_18:3) For such a woman afterward being wounded, ensnares without restraint the souls of the foolish. Let us learn, therefore, how the divine word, triumphs over such women, saying: “I hated a woman who is a snare and net to the heart of men worse than death; her hands are fetters.” (Ecc_7:26) And in another passage: “As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is beauty in a wicked woman.” (Pro_11:22) And again: “As a worm in wood, so does a wicked woman destroy her husband.” (Pro_12:4, LXX) And again: “It is better to dwell in the corner of the house-top, than with a contentious and an angry woman.” (Pro_21:9, Pro_21:19) You, therefore, who are Christian women, do not imitate such as these. But thou who designest to be faithful to thine own husband, take care to please him alone. And when thou art in the streets, cover thy head; for by such a covering thou wilt avoid being viewed of idle persons. Do not paint thy face, which is God’s workmanship; for there is no part of thee which wants ornament, inasmuch as all things which God has made are very good. But the lascivious additional adorning of what is already good is an affront to the bounty of the Creator. Look downward when thou walkest abroad, veiling thyself as becomes women.

IX. That a Woman Must Not Bathe with Men.

Avoid also that disorderly practice of bathing in the same place with men; for many are the nets of the evil one. And let not a Christian woman bathe with an hermaphrodite; for if she is to veil her face, and conceal it with modesty from strange men, how can she bear to enter naked into the bath together with men? But if the bath be appropriated to women, let her bathe orderly, modestly, and moderately. But let her not bathe without occasion, nor much, nor often, nor in the middle of the day, nor, if possible, every day; and let the tenth hour of the day be the set time for such seasonable bathing. For it is convenient that thou, who art a Christian woman, shouldst ever constantly avoid a curiosity which has many eyes.

X. Concerning a Contentious and Brawling Woman.

But as to a spirit of contention, be sure to curb it as to all men, but principally as to thine husband; lest, if he be an unbeliever or an heathen, he may have an occasion of scandal or of blaspheming God, and thou be partaker of a woe from God. For, says He, “Woe to him by whom My name is blasphemed among the Gentiles;” (Isa_52:5) and lest, if thy husband be a Christian, he be forced, from his knowledge of the Scriptures, to say that which is written in the book of Wisdom: “It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.” (Pro_21:19) You wives, therefore, demonstrate your piety by your modesty and meekness to all without the Church, whether they be women or men, in order to their conversion and improvement in the faith. And since we have warned you, and instructed you briefly, whom we do esteem our sisters, daughters, and members, as being wise yourselves, persevere all your lives in an unblameable course of life. Seek to know such kind of learning whereby you may arrive at the kingdom of our Lord, and please Him, and so rest for ever and ever. Amen.

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES

FOOTNOTES

1 [On the titlepage of the Edinburgh edition is subjoined: “by Clement, bishop and citizen of Rome.”]

2 The reading of the V. mss. The others read, “Christ our God.”

3 “To whom” in V. mss., and “to God” is omitted.

4 Omitted in V. mss.

5 The V. mss. add: “didst abstain from her, and didst not sin against her.”

6 Not in V. mss.

7 Omitted in V. mss.

8 “To whom be glory,” V. mss.

9 [The incorrect rendering of the LXX. is here cited, as given in the text. — R.]

10 [A.V. “Every wise woman buildeth her house.” — R.] Pro_14:1.

Of Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons.

Sec. I. — On Examining Candidates for the Episcopal Office.

I. That a Bishop Must Be Well Instructed and Experienced in the Word.

But concerning bishops, we have heard from our Lord, that a pastor who is to be ordained a bishop for the churches in every parish, must be unblameable, unreprovable, free from all kinds of wickedness common among men, not under fifty years of age; for such a one is in good part past youthful disorders, and the slanders of the heathen, as well as the reproaches which are sometimes cast upon many persons by some false brethren, who do not consider the word of God in the Gospel: “Whosoever speaketh an idle word shall give an account thereof to the Lord in the day of judgment.” (Mat_12:36) And again: “By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” (Mat_12:37) Let him therefore, if it is possible, be well educated; but if he be unlettered, let him at any rate be1 skilful in the word, and of competent age. But if in a small parish one advanced in years is not to be found,2 let some younger person, who has a good report among his neighbours, and is esteemed by them worthy of the office of a bishop, — who has carried himself from his youth with meekness and regularity, like a much elder person, — after examination, and a general good report, be ordained in peace. For Solomon at twelve years of age was king of Israel, (1Ki_12:1-33, LXX) and Josiah at eight years of age reigned righteously, (2Ki_22:1) and in like manner Joash governed the people at seven years of age. (2Ch_24:1; 2Ki_11:3, 2Ki_11:4) Wherefore, although the person be young, let him be meek, gentle, and quiet. For the Lord God says by Esaias: “Upon whom will I look, but upon him who is humble and quiet, and always trembles at my words?” (Isa_66:2) In like manner it is in the Gospel also: “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” (Mat_5:5) Let him also be merciful; for again it is said: “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” (Mat_5:7) Let him also be a peacemaker; for again it is said: “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the sons of God.”3 Let him also be one of a good conscience, purified from all evil, and wickedness, and unrighteousness; for it is said again: “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” (Mat_5:8)

II. What Ought to Be the Characters of a Bishop and of the Rest of the Clergy.

Let him therefore be sober, prudent, decent, firm, stable, not given to wine; no striker, but gentle; not a brawler, not covetous; “not a novice, test, being puffed up with pride, he fall into condemnation, and the snare of the devil: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased.” (1Ti_3:6; Luk_14:11) Such a one a bishop ought to be, who has been the “husband of one wife,” (1Ti_3:2) who also has herself had no other husband, “ruling well his own house.” (1Ti_3:4) In this manner let examination be made when he is to receive ordination, and to be placed in his bishopric, whether he be grave, faithful, decent; whether he hath a grave and faithful-wife, or has formerly had such a one; whether he hath educated his children piously, and has “brought them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord;” (Eph_6:4) whether his domestics do fear and reverence him, and are all obedient to him: for if those who are immediately about him for worldly concerns are seditious and disobedient, how will others not of his family, when they are under his management, become obedient to him?

III. In What Things a Bishop Is to Be Examined Before He Is Ordained.

Let examination also be made whether he be unblameable as to the concerns of this life; for it is written: “Search diligently for all the faults of him who is to be ordained for the priesthood.” (Lev_21:17, etc.)

Sec. II. — On the Character and Teaching of the Bishop.

On which account let him also be void of anger; for Wisdom says: “Anger destroys even the prudent.” (Pro_15:1, LXX) Let him also be merciful, of a generous and loving temper; for our Lord says: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye love one another.” (Joh_13:35) Let him be also ready to give, a lover of the widow and the stranger; ready to serve, and minister, and attend; resolute in his duty; and let him know who is the most worthy of his assistance.

IV. That Charitable Distributions Are Not to Be Made to Every Widow, but that Sometimes a Woman Who Has a Husband Is to Be Preferred: And that No Distributions Are to Be Made to Any One Who Is Given to Gluttony, Drunkenness, and Idleness.

For if there be a widow who is able to support herself, and another woman who is not a widow, but is needy by reason of sickness, or the bringing up many children, or infirmity of her hands, let him stretch out his hand in charity rather to this latter. But if any one be in want by gluttony, drunkenness, or idleness, he does not deserve any assistance, or to be esteemed a member of the Church of God. For the Scripture, speaking of such persons, says: “The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom, and is not able to bring it to his mouth again.” (Pro_19:24) And again: “The sluggard folds up his hands, and eats his own flesh.” (Ecc_4:5) “For every drunkard and whoremonger shall come to poverty, and every drowsy person shall be clothed with tatters and rags.”4 And in another passage: “If thou give thine eyes to drinking and cups, thou shalt afterwards walk more naked than a pestle.”5 For certainly idleness is the mother of famine.

V. That a Bishop Must Be No Accepter of Persons in Judgment; That He Must Possess a Gentle Disposition, and Be Temperate in His Mode of Life.

A bishop must be no accepter of persons; neither revering nor flattering a rich man contrary to what is right, nor overlooking nor domineering over a poor man. For, says God to Moses, “Thou shalt not accept the person of the rich, nor shalt thou pity a poor man in his cause: for the judgment is the Lord’s.” (Lev_19:15; Exo_23:3) And again: “Thou shalt with exact justice follow that which is right” (Deu_1:17, Deu_16:20) Let a bishop be frugal, and contented with a little in his meat and drink, that he may be ever in a sober frame, and disposed to instruct and admonish the ignorant; and let him not be costly in his diet, a pamperer of himself, given to pleasure, or fond of delicacies. Let him be patient and gentle in his admonitions, well instructed himself, meditating in and diligently studying the Lord’s books, and reading them frequently, that so he may be able carefully to interpret the Scriptures, expounding the Gospel in correspondence with the prophets and with the law; and let the expositions from the law and the prophets correspond to the Gospel. For the Lord Jesus says: “Search the Scriptures; for they are those which testify of me.” (Joh_5:39) And again: “For Moses wrote of me.” (Joh_5:46) But, above all, let him carefully distinguish between the original law and the additional precepts, and show which are the laws for believers, and which the bonds for the unbelievers, lest any should fall under those bonds. Be careful, therefore, O bishop, to study the word, that thou mayest be able to explain everything exactly, and that thou mayest copiously nourish thy people with much doctrine, and enlighten them with the light of the law; for God says: “Enlighten yourselves with the light of knowledge, while we have yet opportunity.” (Hos_10:12)

VI. That a Bishop Must Not Be Given to Filthy Lucre, nor Be a Surety nor an Advocate.

Let not a bishop be given to filthy lucre, especially before the Gentiles, rather suffering than offering injuries; not covetous, nor rapacious; no purloiner; no admirer of the rich, nor hater of the poor; no evil-speaker, nor false witness; not given to anger; no brawler; not entangled with the affairs of this life; not a surety for any one, nor an accuser in suits about money; not ambitious; not double-minded, nor double-tongued; not ready to hearken to calumny or evil-speaking; not a dissembler; not addicted to the heathen festivals; not given to vain deceits; not eager after worldly things, nor a lover of money. For all these things are opposite to God, and pleasing to demons. Let the bishop earnestly give all these precepts in charge to the laity also, persuading them to imitate his conduct. For, says He, “Do ye make the children of Israel pious.” (Lev_15:31) Let him be prudent, humble, apt to admonish with the instructions of the Lord, well-disposed, one who has renounced all the wicked projects of this world, and all heathenish lusts; let him be orderly, sharp in observing the wicked, and taking heed of them, but yet a friend to all; just, discerning; and whatsoever qualities are commendable among men, let the bishop possess them in himself. For if the pastor be unblameable as to any wickedness, he will compel his own disciples, and by his very mode of life press them to become worthy imitators of his own actions. As the prophet somewhere says, “And it will be, as is the priest, so is the people;” (Hos_4:9) for our Lord and Teacher Jesus Christ, the Son6 of God, began first to do, and then to teach, as Luke somewhere says: (Act_1:1) “which Jesus began to do and to teach.”6 Wherefore he says: “Whosoever shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of God.” (Matt.Mat_5:19) For you bishops are to be guides and watchmen to the people, as you yourselves have Christ for your guide and watchman. Do you therefore become good guides and watchmen to the people of God. For the Lord says by Ezekiel, speaking to every one of you: “Son of man, I have given thee for a watchman to the house of Israel; and thou shalt hear the word from my mouth, and shalt observe, and shalt declare it from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his wickedness, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, and his blood will I require at thine hand. But if thou warn the wicked from his way, that he may turn from it, and he does not turn from it, he shall die in his iniquity, and thou hast delivered thy soul.” (Eze_33:7, etc.) “In the same manner, if the sword of war be approaching, and the people set a watchman to watch, and he see the same approach, and does not forewarn them, and the sword come and take one of them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood shall be required at the watchman’s hand, because he did not blow the trumpet. But if he blew the trumpet, and he who heard it would not take warning, and the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon him, because he heard the trumpet and took not warning. But he who took warning has delivered his soul; and the watchman, because he gave warning, shall surely live.” (Eze_33:2, etc.) The sword here is the judgment; the trumpet is the holy Gospel; the watchman is the bishop, who is set in the Church, who is obliged by his preaching to testify and vehemently to forewarn6 concerning that judgment. If ye do not declare and testify this to the people, the sins of those who are ignorant of it will be found upon you. Wherefore do you warn and reprove the uninstructed with boldness, teach the ignorant, confirm those that understand, bring back those that go astray. If we repeat the very same things on the same occasions, brethren, we shall not do amiss. For by frequent hearing it is to be hoped that some will be made ashamed, and at least do some good action, and avoid some wicked one. For says God by the prophet: “Testify those things to them; perhaps they will hear thy voice.” (Jer_26:1-24) And again: “If perhaps they will hear, if perhaps they will submit.” (Eze_2:7, Eze_3:11) Moses also says to the people: “If hearing thou wilt hear the Lord God, and do that which is good and right in His eyes.” (Exo_15:26) And again:6 “Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord.” (Deu_6:4; Mar_12:29) And our Lord is often recorded in the Gospel to have said: “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mat_11:1-30, Mat_13:1-58) And wise Solomon says: “My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and reject not the laws of thy mother.” (Pro_1:8) And, indeed, to this day men have not heard; for while they seem to have heard, they have not heard aright, as appears by their having left the one and only true God, and their being drawn into destructive and dangerous heresies, concerning which we shall speak again afterwards.

Sec. III. — How the Bishop Is to Treat the Innocent, the Guilty, and the Penitent.

VII. What Ought to Be the Character of the Initiated.

Beloved, be it known to you that those who are baptized into the death of our Lord Jesus are obliged to go on no longer in sin; for as those who are dead cannot work wickedness any longer, so those who are dead with Christ cannot practise wickedness. We do not therefore believe, brethren, that any one who has received the washing of life continues in the practice of the licentious acts of transgressors. Now he who sins after his baptism, unless he repent and forsake his sins, shall be condemned to hell-fire.

VIII. Concerning a Person Falsely Accused, or a Person Convicted.

But if any one be maliciously prosecuted by the heathen, because he will not still go along with them to the same excess of riot, let him know that such a one is blessed of God, according as our Lord says in the Gospel: “Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, or persecute you, or say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for your reward is great in heaven.” (Mat_5:11, Mat_5:12) If, therefore, any one be slandered and falsely accused, such a one is blessed; for the Scripture says, “A man that is a reprobate is not tried by God.”7 But if any one be convicted as having done a wicked action, such a one not only hurts himself, but occasions the whole body of the Church and its doctrine to be blasphemed; as if we Christians did not practise those things that we declare to be good and honest, and we ourselves shall be reproached by the Lord, that “they say and do not.” (Mat_23:3) Wherefore the bishop must boldly reject such as these upon full conviction, unless they change their course of life.

IX. That a Bishop Ought Not to Receive Bribes.

For the bishop must not only himself give no offence, but must be no respecter of persons; in meekness instructing those that offend. But if he himself has not a good conscience, and is a respecter of persons for the sake of filthy lucre, and receiving of bribes, and spares the open offender, and permits him to continue in the Church, he disregards the voice of God and of our Lord, which says, “Thou shalt exactly execute right judgment.” (Deu_16:20, Deu_1:17) “Thou shalt not accept persons in judgment: thou shalt not justify the ungodly.” (Exo_23:7, LXX) “Thou shalt not receive gifts against any one’s life; for gifts do blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.” (Exo_23:8) And elsewhere He says: “Take away from among yourselves that wicked person.” (Deu_27:25, Deu_16:19, Deu_17:7) And Solomon says in his Proverbs: “Cast out a pestilent fellow from the congregation, and strife will go out along with him.” (Pro_22:10)

X. That a Bishop Who by Wrong Judgment Spares an Offender Is Himself Guilty.

But he who does not consider these things, will, contrary to justice, spare him who deserves punishment; as Saul spared Agag, (1Sa_15:1-35) and Eli (1Sa_2:1-36) his sons, “who knew not the Lord.” Such a one profanes his own dignity, and that Church of God which is in his parish. Such a one is esteemed unjust before God and holy men, as affording occasion of scandal to many of the newly baptized, and to the catechumens; as also to the youth of both sexes, to whom a woe belongs, add “a mill-stone about his neck,” (Mat_18:6, Mat_18:7) and drowning, on account of his guilt. For, observing what a person their governor is, through his wickedness and neglect of justice they will grow sceptical, and, indulging the same disease, will be compelled to perish with him; as was the case of the people joining with Jeroboam, (1Ki_12:1-33) and those which were in the conspiracy with Corah. (Num_16:1-50) But if the offender sees that the bishop and deacons are innocent and unblameable, and the flock pure, he will either not venture to despise their authority, and to enter into the Church of God at all, as one smitten by his own conscience: or if he values nothing, and ventures to enter in, either he will be convicted immediately, as Uzza (2Sa_6:1-23) at the ark, when he touched it to support it; and as Achan, (Jos_7:1-26) when he stole the accursed thing; and as Gehazi, (2Ki_5:1-27) when he coveted the money of Naaman, and so will be immediately punished: or else he will be admonished by the pastor, and drawn to repentance. For when he looks round the whole Church one by one, and can spy no blemish, neither in the bishop nor in the people who are under his care, he will be put to confusion, and pricked at the heart, and in a peaceable manner will go his way with shame and many tears, and the flock will remain pure. He will apply himself to God with tears, and will repent of his sins, and have hope. Nay, the whole flock, at the sight of his tears, will be instructed, because a sinner avoids destruction by repentance.

XI. How a Bishop Ought to Judge Offenders.

Upon this account, therefore, O bishop, endeavour to be pure in thy actions, and to adorn thy place and dignity, which is that of one sustaining the character of God among men, as being set over all men, over priests, kings, rulers, fathers, children, teachers, and in general over all those who are subject to thee: and so sit in the Church when thou speakest, as having authority to judge offenders. For to you, O bishops, it is said: “Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Mat_18:18)

XII. Instruction as to How a Bishop Ought to Behave Himself to the Penitent.

Do thou therefore, O bishop, judge with authority like God, yet receive the penitent; for God is a God of mercy. Rebuke those that sin, admonish those that are not converted, exhort those that stand to persevere in their goodness, receive the penitent; for the Lord God has promised with an oath to afford remission to the penitent for what things they have done amiss. For He says by Ezekiel: “Speak unto them, As I live, saith the Lord, I would not the death of a sinner, but that the wicked turn from his evil way, and live. Turn ye therefore from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” (Eze_33:11) Here the word8 affords hope to sinners, that if they will repent they shall have hope of salvation, lest otherwise out of despair they yield themselves up to their transgressions; but that, having hope of salvation, they may be converted, and may address to God with tears, on account of their sins, and may repent from their hearts, and so appease His displeasure towards them; so shall they receive a pardon from Him, as from a merciful Father.

XIII. That We Ought to Beware How We Make Trial of Any Sinful Course.

Yet it is very necessary that those who are yet innocent should continue so, and not make an experiment what sin is, that they may not have occasion for trouble, sorrow, and those lamentations which are in order to forgiveness. For how dost thou know, O man, when thou sinnest, whether thou shalt live any number of days in this present state, that thou mayest have time to repent? For the time of thy departure out of this world is uncertain; and if thou diest in sin, there will remain no repentance for thee; as God says by David, “In the grave who will confess to Thee?” (Psa_6:5) It behoves us, therefore, to be ready in the doing of our duty, that so we may await our passage into another world without sorrow. Wherefore also the Divine Word exhorts, speaking to thee by the wise Solomon,8 “Prepare thy works against thy exit, and provide all beforehand in the field,” (Pro_24:27) lest some of the things necessary to thy journey be wanting; as the oil of piety was deficient in the five foolish virgins (Mat_25:1-46) mentioned in the Gospel, when they, on account of their having extinguished their lamps of divine knowledge, were shut out of the bride-chamber. Wherefore he who values the security of his soul will take care to be out of danger, by keeping free from sin, that so he may preserve the advantage of his former good works to himself. Do thou, therefore, so judge as executing judgment for God. For, as the Scripture says, “the judgment is the Lord’s.” (Deu_1:17) In the first place, therefore, condemn the guilty person with authority; afterwards try to bring him home with mercy and compassion, and readiness to receive him, promising him salvation if he will change his course of life, and become a penitent; and when he does repent, and has submitted to his chastisement, receive him: remembering that our Lord has said, “There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.” (Luk_15:7)

XIV. Concerning Those Who Affirm that Penitents Are Not to Be Received into the Church. That a Righteous Person, Although He Converse with a Sinner, Will Not Perish with Him. That No Person Is Punished for Another, but Every One Must Give an Account of Himself. That We Must Assist Those Who Are Weak in the Faith; And that a Bishop Must Not Be Governed by Any Turbulent Person Among the Laity.

But if thou refusest to receive him that repents, thou exposest him to those who lie in wait to destroy, forgetting what David says: “Deliver not my soul, which confesses to Thee, unto destroying beasts.” (Psa_74:19) Wherefore Jeremiah, when he is exhorting men to repentance, says thus: “Shall not he that falleth arise? or he that turneth away, cannot he return? Wherefore have my people gone back by a shameless backsliding? and they are hardened in their purpose. (Jer_8:4, Jer_8:5) Turn, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.” (Jer_3:22) Receive, therefore, without any doubting, him that repents. Be not hindered by such unmerciful men, who say that we must not be defiled with such as those, nor so much as speak to them: for such advice is from men that are unacquainted with God and His providence, and are unreasonable judges, and unmerciful brutes. These men are ignorant that we ought to avoid society with offenders, not in discourse, but in actions: for “the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” (Eze_18:20) And again: “If a land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, and I stretch out my hand upon it, and break the staff of bread upon it, and send famine upon it, and destroy man and beast therein: though these three men, Noah, Job, and Daniel, were in the midst of it, they shall only save their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God.” (Eze_14:13, Eze_14:14) The Scripture most clearly shows that a righteous man that converses with a wicked man does not perish with him. For in the present world the righteous and the wicked are mingled together in the common affairs of life, but not in holy communion: and in this the friends and favourites of God are guilty of no sin. For they do but imitate “their Farther which is in heaven, who maketh His sun to rise on the righteous and unrighteous, and sendeth His rain on the evil and on the good;” (Mat_5:45) and the righteous man undergoes no peril on this account. For those who conquer and those who are conquered are in the same place of running, but only those who have bravely undergone the race are where the garland is bestowed; and “no one is crowned, unless he strive lawfully.” (2Ti_2:5) For every one shall give account of himself, and God will not destroy the righteous with the wicked; for with Him it is a constant rule, that innocence is never punished. For neither did He drown Noah, nor burn up Lot, nor destroy Rahab for company. And if you desire to know how this matter was among us, Judas was one of us, and took the like part of the ministry which we had; and Simon the magician received the seal of the Lord. Yet both the one and the other proving wicked, the former hanged himself, and the latter, as he flew in the air in a manner unnatural, was dashed against the earth. Moreover, Noah and his sons with him were in the ark; but Ham, who alone was found wicked, received punishment in his son.9 But if fathers are not punished for their children, nor children for their fathers, it is thence clear that neither will wives be punished for their husbands, nor servants for their masters, nor one relation for another, nor one friend for another, nor the righteous for the wicked. But every one will be required an account of his own doing. For neither was punishment inflicted on Noah for the world, nor was Lot destroyed by fire for the Sodomites, nor was Rahab slain for the inhabitants of Jericho, nor Israel for the Egyptians. For not the dwelling together, but the agreement in their sentiments, alone could condemn the righteous with the wicked. We ought not therefore to hearken to such persons who call for death, and hate mankind, and love accusations, and under fair pretences bring men to death. For one man shall not die for another, but “every one is held with the chains of his own sins.” (Pro_5:22) And, “behold, the man and his work is before his face.” (Isa_62:11) Now we ought to assist those who are with us,10 and are in danger, and fall, and, as far as lies in our power, to reduce them to sobriety by our exhortations, and so save them from death. For “the whole have no need of the physician, but the sick;” (Mat_9:12) since “it is not pleasing in the sight of your Father that one of these little ones should perish.” (Mat_18:14) For we ought not to establish the will of hard-hearted men, but the will of the God and Father of the universe, which is revealed to us by Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

For it is not equitable that thou, O bishop, who art the head, shouldst submit to the tail, that is, to some seditious person among the laity, to the destruction of another, but to God alone. For it is thy privilege to govern those under thee, but not to be governed by them. For neither does a son, who is subject by the course of generation, govern his father; nor a slave, who is subject by law, govern his master; nor does a scholar govern his teacher, nor a soldier his king, nor any of the laity his bishop. For that there is no reason to suppose that such as converse with the wicked, in order to their instruction in the word, are defiled by or partake of their sins, Ezekiel, as it were on purpose preventing the suspicions of ill-disposed persons, says thus: “Why do you speak this proverb concerning the land of Israel? The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not henceforth have occasion to use this proverb in Israel. For all souls are mine, in like manner as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. But the man who is righteous, and does judgment and justice” (and so the prophet reckons up the rest of the virtues, and then adds for a conclusion, “Such a one is just”), “he shall surely live, saith the Lord God. And if he beget a son who is a robber, a shedder of blood, and walks not in the way of his righteous father” (and when the prophet had added what follows, he adds in the conclusion), “he shall certainly not live: he has done all this wickedness; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him. Yet they will ask thee, Why? Does not the son bear the iniquity of the father; or his righteousness, having exercised righteousness and mercy himself? And thou shalt say unto them, The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, and the father shall not bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” (Eze_18:2, etc.) And a little after he says: “When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, all his righteousness, by reason of all his wickedness which he has committed, shall not be mentioned to him: in his iniquity which he hath committed, and in his sin which he hath sinned, in them shall he die.” And a little after he adds: “When the wicked turneth away from his wickedness which he hath committed, and doth judgment and justice, he hath preserved his soul, he hath turned away from all his ungodliness which he hath done; he shall surely live, he shall not die.” And afterwards: “I will judge every one of you according to his ways, O house of Israel, saith the Lord God.”

XV. That a Priest Must Neither Overlook Offences, nor Be Rash in Punishing Them.

Observe, you who are our beloved sons, how merciful yet righteous the Lord our God is; how gracious and kind to men; and yet most certainly “He will not acquit the guilty:” (Nah_1:3) though He welcomes the returning sinner, and revives him, leaving no room for suspicion to such as wish to judge sternly and to reject offenders entirely, and to refuse to vouchsafe to them exhortations which might bring them to repentance. In contradiction to such, God by Isaiah says to the bishops: “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, ye priests: speak comfortably to Jerusalem.” It therefore behoves you, upon hearing those words of His, to encourage those who have offended, and lead them to repentance, and afford them hope, and not vainly to suppose that you shall be partakers of their offences on account of such your love to them. Receive the penitent with alacrity, and rejoice over them, and with mercy and bowels of compassion judge the sinners. For if a person was walking by the side of a river, and ready to stumble, and thou shouldest push him and thrust him into the river, instead of offering him thy hand for his assistance, thou wouldst be guilty of the murder of thy brother; whereas thou oughtest rather to lend thy helping hand as he was ready to fall, lest he perish without remedy, that both the people may take warning, and the offender may not utterly perish. It is thy duty, O bishop, neither to overlook the sins of the people, nor to reject those who are penitent, that thou mayst not unskilfully destroy the Lord’s flock, or dishonour His new name, which is imposed on His people, and thou thyself beest reproached as those ancient pastors were, of whom God speaks thus to Jeremiah: “Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard; they have polluted my heritage.” (Jer_12:10) And in another passage: “My anger is waxed hot against the shepherds, and against the lambs shall I have indignation.” (Zec_10:3) And elsewhere: “Ye are the priests that dishonour my name.” (Mal_1:6)

XVI. Of Repentance, the Manner of It, and Rules About It.

When thou seest the offender, with severity command him to be cast out; and as he is going out, let the deacons also treat him with severity, and then let them go and seek for him, and detain him out of the Church; and when they come in, let them entreat thee for him. For our Saviour Himself entreated His Father for those who had sinned, as it is written in the Gospel: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luk_23:34) Then order the offender to come in; and if upon examination thou findest that he is penitent, and fit to be received at all into the Church when thou hast afflicted him his days of fasting, according to the degree of his offence — as two, three, five, or seven weeks — so set him at liberty, and speak such things to him as are fit to be said in way of reproof, instruction, and exhortation to a sinner for his reformation, that so he may continue privately in his humility, and pray to God to be merciful to him, saying: “If Thou, O Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who should stand? For with Thee there is propitiation.” (Psa_130:3) Of this sort of declaration is that which is said in the book of Genesis to Cain: “Thou hast sinned; be quiet;” (Gen_4:7, LXX) that is, do not go on in sin. For that a sinner ought to be ashamed for his own sin, that oracle of God delivered to Moses concerning Miriam is a sufficient proof, when he prayed that she might be forgiven. For says God to him: “If her father had spit in her face, should she not be ashamed? Let her be shut out of the camp seven days, and afterwards let her come in again.” (Num_12:14. — R.) We therefore ought to do so with offenders, when they profess their repentance, — namely, to separate them some determinate time, according to the proportion of their offence, and afterwards, like fathers to children, receive them again upon their repentance.

XVII. That a Bishop Must Be Unblameable, and a Pattern for Those Who Are Under His Charge.

But if the bishop himself be an offender, how will he be able any longer to prosecute the offence of another? Or how will he be able to reprove another, either he or his deacons, if by accepting of persons, or receiving of bribes, they have not all a clear conscience? For when the ruler asks, and the judge receives, judgment is not brought to perfection; but when both are “companions of thieves, and regardless of doing justice to the widows,” (Isa_1:23) those who are under the bishop will not be able to support and vindicate him: for they will say to him what is written in the Gospel, “Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” (Luk_6:41) Let the bishop, therefore, with his deacons, dread to hear any such thing; that is, let him give no occasion for it. For an offender, when he sees any other doing as bad as himself, will be encouraged to do the very same things; and then the wicked one, taking occasion from a single instance, works in others, which God forbid: and by that means the flock will be destroyed. For the greater number of offenders there are, the greater is the mischief that is done by them: for sin which passes without correction grows worse and worse, and spreads to others; since “a little leaven infects the whole lump,” (Gal_5:9) and one thief spreads the abomination over a whole nation, and “dead flies spoil the whole pot of sweet ointment;” (Ecc_10:1) and “when a king hearkens to unrighteous counsel, all the servants under him are wicked.” (Pro_29:12) So one scabbed sheep, if not separated from those that are whole, infects the rest with the same distemper; and a man infected with the plague is to be avoided by all men; and a mad dog is dangerous to every one that he touches. If, therefore, we neglect to separate the transgressor from the Church of God, we shall make the “Lord’s house a den of thieves.” (Mat_21:13) For it is the bishop’s duty not to be silent in the case of offenders, but to rebuke them, to exhort them, to beat them down, to afflict them with fastings, that so he may strike a pious dread into the rest: for, as He says, “make ye the children of Israel pious.” (Lev_15:31) For the bishop must be one who discourages sin by his exhortations, and sets a pattern of righteousness, and proclaims those good things which are prepared by God, and declares that wrath which will come at the day of judgment, lest he contemn and neglect the plantation of God; and, on account of his carelessness, hear that which is said in Hosea: “Why have ye held your peace at impiety, and have reaped the fruit thereof?” (Hos_10:13, LXX)

XVIII. That a Bishop Must Take Care that His People Do Not Sin, Considering that He Is Set for a Watchman Among Them.

Let the bishop, therefore, extend his concern to all sorts of people: to those who have not offended, that they may continue innocent; to those who offend, that they may repent. For to you does the Lord speak thus: “Take heed that ye offend not one of these little ones.” (Mat_18:10) It is your duty also to give remission to the penitent. For as soon as ever one who has offended says, in the sincerity of his soul, “I have sinned against the Lord,” the Holy Spirit answers, “The Lord also hath forgiven thy sin; be of good cheer, thou shalt not die.” (2Sa_12:13) Be sensible, therefore, O bishop, of the dignity of thy place, that as thou hast received the power of binding, so hast thou also that of loosing. Having therefore the power of loosing, know thyself, and behave thyself in this world as becomes thy place, being aware that thou hast a great account to give. “For to whom,” as the Scripture says, “men have entrusted much, of him they will require the more.” (Luk_12:48) For no one man is free from sin, excepting Him that was made man for us; since it is written: “No man is pure from filthiness; no, not though he be but one day old.” (Job_14:4, LXX) Upon which account the lives and conduct of the ancient holy men and patriarchs are described; not that we may reproach them from our reading, but that we ourselves may repent, and have hope that we also shall obtain forgiveness. For their blemishes are to us both security and admonition, because we hence learn, when we have offended, that if we repent we shall have pardon. For it is written: “Who can boast that he has a clean heart? and who dare affirm that he is pure from sin?” (Pro_20:9) No man, therefore, is without sin. Do thou therefore labour to the utmost of thy power to be unblameable; and be solicitous of all the parts of thy flock, lest any one be scandalized on thy account, and thereby perish. For the layman is solicitous only for himself, but thou for all, as having a greater burden, and carrying a heavier load. For it is written: “And the Lord said unto Moses, Thou and Aaron shall bear the sins of the priesthood.” (Num_18:1) Since, therefore, thou art to give an account of all, take care of all. Preserve those that are sound, admonish those that sin; and when thou hast afflicted them with fasting, give them ease by remission; and when with tears the offender begs readmission, receive him, and let the whole Church pray for him; and when by imposition of thy hand thou hast admitted him, give him leave to abide afterwards in the flock. But for the drowsy and the careless, do thou endeavour to convert and confirm, and warn and cure them, as sensible how great a reward thou shalt have for doing so, and how great danger thou wilt incur if thou beest negligent therein. For Ezekiel speaks thus to those overseers who take no care of the people: “Woe unto the shepherds of Israel, for they have fed themselves; the shepherds feed not the sheep, but themselves. Ye eat the milk, and are clothed with the wool; ye slay the strong, ye do not feed the sheep. The weak have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but, violently ye chastised them with insult: and they, were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became meat to all the beasts of the forest.” And again: “The shepherds did not search for my sheep; and the shepherds fed themselves, but they fed not my sheep.” And a little after: “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hands, and cause them to cease from feeding my sheep, neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my sheep out of their hands, and they shall not be meat for them.” And he also adds, speaking to the people: “Behold, I will judge between sheep and sheep, and between rams and rams. Seemed it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, and to have trodden down with your feet the residue of your pasture, and that the sheep have eaten what was trodden down with your feet?” And a little after He adds: “And ye shall know that I am the Lord, and you the sheep of my pasture; ye are my men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.” (Eze_34:2, etc.)

XIX. That a Shepherd Who Is Careless of His Sheep Will Be Condemned, and that a Sheep Which Will Not Be Led by the Shepherd Is to Be Punished.

Hear, O ye bishops; and hear, O ye of the laity, how God speaks: “I will judge between ram and ram, and between sheep and sheep.” And He says to the shepherds: “Ye shall be judged for your unskilfulness, and for destroying the sheep.” That is, I will judge between one bishop and another, and between one lay person and another, and between one ruler and another (for these sheep and these rams are not irrational, but rational creatures): lest at any time a lay person should say, I am a sheep and not a shepherd, and I am not concerned for myself; let the shepherd look to that, for he alone will be required to give an account for me. For as that sheep that will not follow its good shepherd is exposed to the wolves, to its destruction; so that which follows a bad shepherd is also exposed to unavoidable death, since his shepherd will devour him. Wherefore care must be had to avoid destructive shepherds.

XX. How the Governed Are to Obey the Bishops Who Are Set Over Them.

As to a good shepherd, let the lay person honour him, love him, reverence him as his lord, as his master, as the high priest of God, as a teacher of piety. For he that heareth him, heareth Christ; and he that rejecteth him, rejecteth Christ; and he who does not receive Christ, does not receive His God and Father: for, says He, “He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that rejecteth you, rejecteth me; and he that rejecteth me, rejecteth Him that sent me.” (Luk_10:16) In like manner, let the bishop love the laity as his children, fostering and cherishing them with affectionate diligence; as eggs, in order to the hatching of young ones; or as young ones, taking them in his arms, to the rearing them into birds: admonishing all men; reproving all who stand in need of reproof; reproving, that is, but not striking; beating them down to make them ashamed, but not overthrowing them; warning them in order to their conversion: chiding them in order to their reformation and better course of life; watching the strong, that is, keeping him firm in the faith who is already strong; feeding the people peaceably; strengthening the weak, that is, confirming with exhortation that which is tempted; healing that which is sick, that is, curing by instruction that which is weak in the faith through doubtfulness of mind; binding up that which is broken, that is, binding up by comfortable admonitions that which is gone astray, or wounded, bruised, or broken by their sins, and put out of the way; easing it of its offences, and giving hope: by this means restore it in strength to the Church, bringing it back into the flock. Bring again that which is driven away, that is, do not permit that which is in its sins, and is cast out by way of punishment, to continue excluded; but receiving it, and bringing it back, restore it to the flock, that is, to the people of the undefiled Church. Seek for that which is lost, that is, do not suffer that which desponds of its salvation, by reason of the multitude of its offences, utterly to perish. Do thou search for that which is grown sleepy, drowsy, and sluggish, and that which is unmindful of its own life, through the depth of its sleep, and which is at a great distance from its own flock, so as to be in danger of falling among the wolves, and being devoured by them. Bring it back by admonition, exhort it to be watchful; and insinuate hope, not permitting it to say that which was said by some: “Our impieties are upon us, and we pine away in them; how shall we then live?” (Eze_33:10) As far as possible, therefore, let the bishop make the offence his own, and say to the sinner, Do thou but return, and I will undertake to suffer death for thee, as our Lord suffered death for me, and for all men. For “the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep; but he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, that is, the devil, and he leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf seizes upon them.” (Joh_10:11, Joh_10:12) We must know, therefore, that God is very merciful to those who have offended, and hath promised repentance with an oath. But he who has offended, and is unacquainted with this promise of God concerning repentance, and does not understand His long-suffering and forbearance, and besides is ignorant of the Holy Scriptures, which proclaim repentance, inasmuch as he has never learned them from you, perishes through his folly. But do thou, like a compassionate shepherd, and a diligent feeder of the flock, search out, and keep an account of thy flock. Seek that which is wanting; (Mat_18:12) as the Lord God our gracious Father has sent His own Son, the good Shepherd and Saviour, our Master Jesus, and has commanded Him to “leave the ninety-nine upon the mountains, and to go in search after that which was lost, and when He had found it, to take it upon His shoulders, and to carry it into the flock, rejoicing that He had found that which was lost.” (Luk_15:4, etc.) In like manner, be obedient, O bishop, and do thou seek that which was lost, guide that which has wandered out of the right way, bring back that which is gone astray: for thou hast authority to bring them back, and to deliver those that are broken-hearted by remission. For by thee does our Saviour say to him who is discouraged under the sense of his sins, “Thy sins are forgiven thee: thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.” (Luk_5:20; Mat_9:2; Mar_5:34) But this peace and haven of tranquillity is the Church of Christ, into which do thou, when thou hast loosed them from their sins, restore them, as being now sound and unblameable, of good hope, diligent, laborious in good works. As a skilful and compassionate physician, heal all such as have wandered in the ways of sin; for “they that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick. For the Son of man came to save and to seek that which was lost.” (Mat_9:12; Luk_19:10) Since thou art therefore a physician of the Lord’s Church, provide remedies suitable to every patient’s case. Cure them, heal them by all means possible; restore them sound to the Church. Feed the flock, “not with insolence and contempt, as lording it over them,” (Eze_34:4) but as a gentle shepherd, “gathering the lambs into thy bosom, and gently leading those which are with young.” (Mat_20:25; Isa_40:11)

XXI. That It Is a Dangerous Thing to Judge Without Hearing Both Sides, or to Determine of Punishment Against a Person Before He Is Convicted.

Be gentle, gracious, mild, without guile, without falsehood; not rigid, not insolent, not severe, not arrogant, not unmerciful, not puffed up, not a man-pleaser, not timorous, not double-minded, not one that insults over the people that are under thee, not one that conceals the divine laws and the promises to repentance, not hasty in thrusting out and expelling, but steady, not one that delights in severity, not heady. Do not admit less evidence to convict any one than that of three witnesses, and those of known and established reputation; inquire whether they do not accuse out of ill-will or envy: for there are many that delight in mischief, forward in discourse, slanderous, haters of the brethren, making it their business to scatter the sheep of Christ; whose affirmation if thou admittest without nice scanning the same, thou wilt disperse thy flock, and betray it to be devoured by wolves, that is, by demons and wicked men, or rather not men, but wild beasts in the shape of men — by the heathen, by the Jews, and by the atheistic heretics. For those destroying wolves soon address themselves to any one that is cast out of the Church, and esteem him as a lamb delivered for them to devour, reckoning his destruction their own gain. For he that is “their father, the devil, is a murderer.” (Joh_8:44) He also who is separated unjustly by thy want of care in judging will be overwhelmed with sorrow, and be disconsolate, and so will either wander over to the heathen, or be entangled in heresies, and so will be altogether estranged from the Church and from hope in God, and will be entangled in impiety, whereby thou wilt be guilty of his perdition: for it is not fair to be too hasty in casting out an offender, but slow in receiving him when he returns; to be forward in cutting off, but unmerciful when he is sorrowful, and ought to be healed. For of such as these speaks the divine Scripture: “Their feet run to mischief; they are hasty to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known. The fear of God is not before their eyes.” (Pro_1:16; Isa_59:7, Isa_59:8; Psa_36:1; Rom_3:15) Now the way of peace is our Saviour Jesus Christ, who has taught us, saying: “Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. Give, and it shall be given to you;” (Luk_6:37, Luk_6:38) that is, give remission of sins, and your offences shall be forgiven you. As also He instructed us by His prayer to say unto God: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” (Mat_6:12) If, therefore, you do not forgive offenders, how can you expect the remission of your own sins? Do not you rather bind yourselves faster, by pretending in your prayers to forgive, when you really do not forgive? Will you not be confronted with your own words, when you say you forgive and do not forgive? For know ye, that he who casts out one who has not behaved himself wickedly, or who will not receive him that returns, is a murderer of his brother, and sheds his blood, as Cain did that of his brother Abel, and his “blood cries to God,” (Gen_4:10) and will be required. For a righteous man unjustly slain by any one will be in rest with God for ever. The same is the case of him who without cause is separated by his bishop. He who has cast him out as a pestilent fellow when he was innocent, is more furious than a murderer. Such a one has no regard to the mercy of God, nor is mindful of His goodness to those that are penitent, nor keeping in his eye the examples of those who, having been once great offenders, received forgiveness upon their repentance. Upon which account, he who casts off an innocent person is more cruel than he that murders the body. In like manner, he who does not receive the penitent, scatters the flock of Christ, being really against Him. For as God is just in judging of sinners, so is He merciful in receiving them when they return. For David, the man after God’s own heart, in his hymns ascribes both mercy and judgment to Him.

FOOTNOTES

1 The words in italics occur only in the V. mss.

2 The V. mss. read: “But if in a small parish one advanced in years is not to be found whom his neighbors testify to be worthy of the office of bishop, and wise enough to be appointed to it, and if there be a young man who has carried,” etc.

3 From the V. mss.; Mat_5:9.

4 Not in V. mss. Pro_23:21.

5 Pro_23:31 (LXX). The word translated “pestle” has also been rendered “upper room,” and some suppose it corrupt.

6 Not in V. mss.

7 This passage is not found in Scripture. Some compare Jam_1:12 and Heb_12:8.

8 Not in V. mss.

9 A various reading gives: “Ham, one of his sons, who alone was found wicked, received punishment.”

10 One V. mss. reads: “those who are sick.”