spiritual. With respect to the one, our Lord is said to be év σapki, in the flesh, and ik Mapías, of Mary; with respect to the other, he is Oɛòs, God, and έk Oɛoũ, of God. In like manner, referring to the disciples after the resurrection, the following remarkable passage elsewhere occurs:- “And immediately they touched him, and believed, being convinced by his flesh and by his spirit. Wherefore they despised death, and were found superior unto it. For after his resurrection, he ate and drank with them, as fleshly, (ws σapкIKòs,) although in spirit, (TVεVμATIKÕS,) one with the Father." (Ad Smyrn., c. iii., pp. 35, 36.)

The citation No. 10 presents an antithesis not less distinct. Of the latter clause a variation is supplied by Theodoret. Instead of, "according to the will and power of God," he quotes it, "according to Deity and power” (κατὰ θεότητα καὶ δύναμιν); and if this be the true reading, as is probable, the doctrine of our author expressly is, that with respect to the flesh, the proper human nature, Christ was of the race of David; but that with respect to the divine nature, the Deity and power, he was the Son of God.

11. "There is one Jesus Christ, than whom nothing is better. Therefore ye all, as one man, gather together, as into one temple of God, as unto one altar, as unto one Jesus Christ, who proceeds from one Father, and exists in and returns unto one. (τὸν ἀφ' ἑνὸς Πατρὸς προελθόντα, καὶ εἰς ἕνα ὄντα, καὶ χωρήσαντα.) Be not beguiled with heterodox opinions, nor with ancient fables, which are without profit. For if, up to this time, we live according to the Jewish law, we confess that we have not received grace. For the divine Prophets lived according to Jesus Christ. Therefore also were they persecuted; being inspired by his grace to assure the unbelieving that there is one God, who hath manifested himself by Jesus Christ his Son, who is his Eternal Word; not

proceeding from Silence, (ουκ ἀπὸ Σιγῆς προελθὼν,) who in all things is well pleasing to him that sent him." (Ep. ad Magnes, c. vii., viii., T. i., p. 19.)

Here our Lord, in his one person, is represented as Jesus Christ, the Son,-and the Eternal Logos; in opposition, probably, to the notion that these were appellations of distinct divine emanations. He is said to proceed, not from Sige, or Silence,—the maternal Æon so named, but from the one Father, in whom he exists, and unto whom he returns. The procession here referred to, it is well known, was generative; and our author therefore distinctly recognises a generative emanation in the divine nature, of which, as clearly, he makes our Lord the subject.*

THE EPISTLE OF THE CHURCH AT SMYRNA, CONCERNING THE MARTYRDOM OF POLYCARP, A.D. 166.— The sentiments of the Smyrnæan church were of course identical with those of their venerable Bishop, whose martyrdom is recorded in this interesting document. Though chronologically beyond the apostolic period, it is therefore cited here in evidence of the doctrines maintained by Polycarp up to the time of his decease. I annex but one passage.

12. "To Nicetas he suggested that he should go to the Governor to prevent him from giving us the body of Polycarp. Lest, saith he, forsaking the Crucified, they should begin to worship this man.-Not knowing that we can never abandon Christ, nor worship any besides him. For him, indeed, as BEING THE SON of God, we do adore; (τοῦτον μὲν γὰρ, Υιὸν ὄντα τοῦ Θεοῦ,

* The reader who wishes to see a satisfactory vindication of the genuineness of this passage, and more fully to ascertain its import and value, may consult Pearson's Vindicia, Par. II., c. iii.—vii., `with the notes of Vossius and Cotelerius in loc.

προσκυνοῦμεν ;) but the martyrs we worthily love as the disciples and followers of the Lord." (Epist. Eccles. Smyrn., c. xvii., Pat. Apost., T. i., p. 200.)

THE PESHITO, OR SYRIAC VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.-Date uncertain, but probably executed during the lifetime of St. John.

13. In John i. 18, it reads, "No man hath seen God at any time; the Only Begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared [him].”

This was also the reading of some early Greek MSS.; for in Irenæus, who is, I believe, the first father who quotes the passage, it is found, both as in the received text and as above. Other fathers of the second and third centuries, as will be seen from the following sections, employ the Syriac formula; and though there is no sufficient ground for altering the received Greek text, yet the occurrence of such a variation is a conclusive proof that the generation of the Son was at this period esteemed properly and exclusively divine.

SECTION III.

TESTIMONIES OF THE ANTE-NICENE PERIOD, DOWN TO THE END OF THE SECOND CENTURY.

WE now enter upon a period, the ecclesiastical literature of which is very dissimilar from that which preceded it. The church, so multiplied as, from its numerical amount alone, to be politically important, assumed towards its oppressors a tone of remonstrance. Its writers addressed themselves to the defence of their faith against the aspersions of the Heathen, and hence arose numerous apologetic treatises, which, though generally moderate and courteous, supplied a considerable contrast to the subdued and silent suffering of the early times.

The exigences of the church demanded also more precise and comprehensive expositions of Christian doctrine than had been before attempted. The Apostles were dead; and, with comparatively few exceptions, their contemporaries also. Personal character and authority were no longer available for the suppression of error. Heresies, some of them crude, monstrous, and short-lived; others, digested, systematized, and fortified, presented themselves on every hand. Men of influence and of intelligence became the leaders and defenders of these unhappy innovations; and in some instances succeeded in seducing from the true faith numerous bodies of Christian professors. The church was compelled to assume a defensive position. Many valuable treatises were published, some against individual heresiarchs, others against heresy in general; while a third class of writers, by expositions of the faith, more or less argumentative, laboured to exert a restrictive influence upon

such Christians as might be exposed to the perils of seductive discourses or example. A considerable body of the writings of this period has survived the lapse of ages, and is still extant, while a yet larger proportion has perished.

The subject before us received its share of consideration; and the whole of the testimonies, more or less appropriate, supplied from these sources would occupy a volume. The following selection, though comparatively inconsiderable, will, however, afford a succession of evidence down to the time of the Nicene council.

JUSTIN MARTYR. A. D. 140.

This father was by birth a Samaritan, and was a disciple of philosophy, successively in the stoic, peripatetic, Pythagorean, and Platonist schools. He was probably born about the time of the death of St. John; and, as it is conjectured, became a Christian when about thirty years of age. But the date of these events is uncertain, as is also that of his martyrdom. His principal remaining works are two Apologies for Christianity, and the Dialogue with the Jew Trypho.

The writings of Justin are highly valuable relics of ecclesiastical antiquity. His contiguity to the apostolic times; his residence at Ephesus, where, according to Eusebius, he had his memorable disputation with Trypho, and where St. John spent the latter portion of his life; his consequent acquaintance with some of the contemporaries of that Apostle, and with their immediate successors; his varied learning; his evidently cordial attachment to Christianity; his aversion from heretical innovations, against which he wrote a considerable treatise, now unhappily lost; his position as the first writer of ecclesiastical antiquity that can properly be called doctrinal; with the reputation which he enjoyed