endued with so eminent a portion of the gifts of the blessed Spirit for the doing of it; nor have their writings been judged by the common consent of the Church in those first ages of it, when they were so much better qualified than we are now to judge of the divine authority of these kind of writings, to be of equal dignity with those of the Apostles and Evangelists) yet worthy of a much greater respect than any composures that have been made since, however men seem to have afterwards written with more art, and to have shewn a much greater stock of human learning than what is to be found not only in the foregoing pieces, but even in the sacred books of the New Testament itself.

24. I shall add but one consideration more, to shew the true deference that ought to be paid to the treatises here collected, and that is, sixthly, that they were not only written by such men as I have said, instructed by the Apostles, and judged worthy by them both for their knowledge and their integrity, to govern some of the most eminent churches in the world; and lastly, endued with the extraordinary gift of the Holy Ghost; and upon all these accounts to be much respected by us; but were moreover received by the Church in those first ages, as pieces that contained nothing but what was agreeable to sound doctrine, which could scarcely be mistaken in its judgment of them.

25. The Epistle of St. Clement was a long time read publicly with the other Scriptures in the congregations of the faithful; made a part of their Bible, and was numbered among the sacred writings, however finally separated from them. And not only the Apostolical canons, but our most ancient Alexandrian manuscript, gives the same place to the second that it does to the first of them and Epiphanius after both, tells us, that they were both of them wont to be read in the Church in his time.e

⚫ Epiphan. num. 15.

26. The Epistle of St. Polycarp, with that of the Hares. II

Church of Smyrna, were not only very highly approved of by particular persons, but like those of St. Clement, were read publicly too in the assemblies of the faithful. And for those of Ignatius, besides that we find a mighty value put upon them by the Christians of those times, they are sealed to us by this character of St. Polycarp; "that they are such Epistles, by which we may be greatly profited: for, says he, they treat of faith and patience, and of all things that pertain to edification in the Lord.” 27. The Epistle of Barnabas is not only quoted with great honour by those of the next age to him, but in the Annot. In ancient stichometry of Cotelerius,f we find it placed the very next to the Epistle of St. Jude, and no difference put between the authority of one and the other.

Barnab. p. 9,

10.

28. And for the book of Hermas, both Eusebius and St. Jerome tell us, that it was also wont to be read in the churches. In the same stichometry I before mentioned, it is placed in the very next rank to the Acts of the holy Apostles; and in some of the most ancient manuscripts of the New Testament, we find it written in the same volume with the books of the Apostles and Evangelists, as if it had been esteemed of the same value and authority with them.

29. So that we must either say, that the Church in those days was so little careful of what was taught in it, as to allow such books to be publicly read in its congregations, the doctrine whereof it did not approve; or we must confess, that the foregoing pieces are delivered to us, not only by the learned men of the first ages of the Church, but by the whole body of the faithful, as containing the pure doctrine of Christ, and must be looked upon to have nothing in them but what was then thought worthy of all acceptation.

30. Now how much this adds to the authority of these discourses, may easily be concluded from what I have before observed. For since it is certain that in those times the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost

were bestowed, not only upon the Bishops and Pastors of the Church, (though upon them in a more eminent degree) but also upon a great many of the common Chris.ians too; since one particular design of these gifts was for the discerning of prophecies; to judge of what was proposed by any to the Church, or written for the use and benefit of it: we cannot doubt but that what was universally approved of, and allowed, not by a few learned men, but by the whole Church in those days; what was permitted to be publicly read to the faithful for their comfort and instruction, must by this means have received the highest human approbation, and ought to be looked upon by us, though not of equal authority with those books which the same Church has delivered to us as strictly canonical, yet as standing in the first rank of ecclesiastical writings, and containing the true and pure doctrine of Christ in all things necessary to our salvation, without the mixture of any of those errors which have since been so unhappily brought into the Church, and have been worthily censured as dangerous if not destructive to it.

OF THE SUBJECT OF THE FOREGOING TREATISES, AND OF THE USE THAT IS то BE MADE OF THEM.

That in the foregoing treatises, there is delivered to us a good account both of the doctrine and discipline of the Church in the Apostolical times. This shewn in several particulars. What they taught concerning God the Father, our Saviour Christ, and the Holy Ghost. Of Angels and Spirits. Of the rest of the articles of the Apostles' creed. Concerning the two Sacraments of Baptism, and the Lord's Supper. Of the holy Scriptures, and the divine authority of them. What we meet with in these treatises concerning the government of the Church. Of the necessity of communicating with the Bishops and Pastors of it. Of Schismatics, Heretics, and Apostates. Of their public assembling for the service of God, and what was done by them in those meetings. Of several other instances of their discipline; particularly of their fasting and confession of sins. Of the care which their Bishops had of the whole Church. Of the respect that was paid to them. Of their martyrs, and the veneration which they thought due to them. Of their practical instructions, and how severe their morality was; shewn in several particulars. That upon the whole, we may here see what the state of Christianity then was, and still ought to be.

1. HAVING shewn, in the foregoing chapter, what deference we ought to pay to the authority of those holy men, whose writings I have here collected, it may not be amiss in the third place, to inquire, what it is which they deliver to us? What account we find in them of the doctrine and discipline of the Church, in those times in which they lived?

2. It would be endless for me to go about to make a just catalogue of all the particulars of this kind that occur in the foregoing pieces; I shall therefore here consider only a few particulars, in such points as may seem most worthy to be remarked; and by them (as by a short specimen) shew how the judicious reader may him

1

self improve it, as a more particular history of the faith and practice of the Church, in the first and purest period of it.

3. First, concerning the doctrines of those times; there is hardly any point that is necessary to be believed, or known by us, that is not very plainly delivered in some of the foregoing pieces.

4. Here we may read what we are to believe concerning the first article of our belief, God the Father. That he is one, almighty, invisible, the creator and maker of all things. That he is omniscient, immense; neither to be comprehended within any bounds, nor so much as to be perfectly conceived by us. That his providence is over all things; and that we can none of us flee from him, or escape his knowledge. That we are to believe in him, to fear him, to love him; and fearing him to abstain from all evil.

5. If from thence we go to the next person of the blessed trinity, our Saviour Jesus Christ; here we shall find all that either our creed teaches us to profess concerning him, or that any Christian need to believe. That he existed not only before he came into the world, but from all eternity. That he is not only the Son of God, but is himself also God. That in the fullness of time he took upon him our nature, and became man: was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified under Pontius Pilate; that he suffered for our salvation, and was raised again from the dead, not only by the power of the Father, but by his own also. That he is our High Priest, and protector now, and shall come again at the end of the world, to judge the whole race of mankind. That there is no coming unto God but by him: insomuch that even the ancient Fathers, who died before his appearing, were indeed saved by the same means that we are now.

6. Concerning the Holy Spirit, the third person in the glorious Godhead; he is here set out to us as the