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-Ver. 19," Write the things which thou hast seen." Ch. ii. 1, “Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write." And so of the rest. Hermas also in his visions receives orders to speak to those who preside over the church to order their ways in righteousness.' Again: After this I saw a vision in my house, and the old woman whom I had seen before came unto me, and asked me, whether I had delivered the book [or her book] to the elders. And I answered, that I had not yet. She replied, thou hast well done. Thou shalt write two books, [that is, two copies,] and send one to Clement and one to Grapte.'

2. In the Revelation, ch. xii. the church is represented under the figure of a woman, as we have already seen the church to be in Hermas; who is expressly told, that old woman is the church, and he has the reasons of the figure given him. In the Revelation, that woman is persecuted by a dragon. Hermas also sees a great and terrible beast, which he is informed is" the figure of the trial which was coming.' St. John saw the "holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." Ch. xxi. 2, Hermas says, • Behold there met me a virgin well adorned, as if she were just come out of the bride-chamber, clothed in white.And I knew by my former visions, that it was the church.' St. John sees a city, the "foundations of the walls of which were garnished with all manner of precious stones," Ch. xxi. 19. Hermas sees a tower built with bright square stones.' In the Revelation, v. 16, "the city lies four square." The tower in Hermas likewise is built upon a square.'

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3. Farther, the writer of the Revelation says, xxi. 14, "And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." The woman in Hermas says to him: Hear now concerning the stones that are in the building. Those square and white stones, which agree exactly in their joints, are the apostles, and bishops, and teachers, and ministers'

* Dices ergo eis qui præsunt ecclesiæ, ut dirigant vias suas in justitiâ. Vis. ii. sect. 2. 1 Interrogavit me, si jam libellum dedissem senioribusscribes ergo duos libellos, et mittes unum Clementi, et unum Graptæ. Ibid. m Anum illamquam putas esse?·

sect. 4.

-Est ecclesia n Bestia hæc figura est pressuræ super• Ecce occurrit mihi virgo quædam tota in albis. Ibid. P Nonne ædificatur super aquas, lapidibus In quadrato enim ædificabatur Lapides quidem illi quadrati et albi, convenientes in commissuris suis, i surt apostoli, et episcopi, et doctores, et ministri. V

Dei. Vis. ii. sect. iv.
venientis. V. iv. sect. 2.
exornata, tanquam de thalamo prodiens,
vides contra te turrim magnam, quæ
quadratis splendidis? V. iii. sect. 2.
turris. Ibid.

iii. sect. 5.

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4. St. John is bid to write, ch. xix. 9, " Blessed are they which are called to the marriage-supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God." Hermas is informed: Whens the structure of the tower is 'finished, they shall feast together near the tower, and shall glorify God, because the structure of the tower is finished.' And soon after: Say unto them, that all these things are 'true, and that there is nothing in them that is not true.'

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5. In the Revelation is frequent mention of the "book of life." Ch. iii. 5, "I will not blot his name out of the book of life." xii. 8, "whose names are not written in the book of life." See also xvii. 8. xx. 15. Hermas is required to admonish his sons. For the Lord knows they will repent with all their heart, and he will write thee in the book of life. Others read, they shall be written in the book of life.' Again: Keep" the commandments of the Lord, and thou shalt be approved, and shalt be written in the number of those that keep his commandments.'

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6. In Rev. vii. 9, "After this I beheld, and lo a great multitude-stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands." Hermas says; Then the angel of the Lord commanded crowns to be brought, made as of palms. And the angel crowned those men, -and commanded them to go into the tower.' The writer of the Revelation is soon after informed, who these are. v. 14, He said to me; "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.". In Hermas we have a like explication. But who then, Lord, said I, are they who enter into the tower crowned? He says to me: All who having striven with the devil, have overcome him, these are crowned. And these are they who have suffered hard things that they might keep the law.' Again; Rev. iii. 5, " He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment." vi. 11, "And white robes were given unto every one of them." Hermas says of the persons before mentioned, and of some others; Forx they had the same garment, which was white as snow, with which he commanded them to go into the tower.' And presently • Cum ergo consummata fuerit structura turris, omnes simul epulabuntur juxta turrim, et honorificabunt Deum. Dic illis, quod hæc omnia sunt vera, et nihil extra veritatem est. V. iii. sect. 4. t Vis. i. sect. 3. u Sim. v. sect. 3. ▾ Tunc nuntius Domini coronas jussit adferri. Allatæ sunt autem coronæ, velut ex palmis factæ ; et coronavit eos viros nuntius- -et jussit eos ire in turrim. Sim. viii. sect. 2.

sect. 3.

66

* Sim. viii. sect. 2.

w Sim. viii.

after of some others: 'He gave them a white garment, and so sent them away into the tower.'

7. In the book of the Revelation is mention made of a

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new name, and a new city. Ch. ii. 17, "To him that overcometh will I give a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it." iii. 12, “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, and I will write upon him my new name." In Hermas: They Son of God is indeed more ancient than any creature. But the gate is therefore new, because he appeared in the last days in the fulness of time, that they who shall attain to salvation may by it enter into the kingdom of God. No man shall enter into the kingdom of God, but he who shall receive the name of the Son of God. For if you would enter into any city, and that city should be encompassed with a wall, and had only one gate; could you enter into that city but by that one gate? So neither can any enter into the kingdom of God, but only by the name of his Son, who is most dear to him.'

8. I forbear to transcribe any more. But this book of Hermas may be of use to explain divers things in the first epistle of St. John, and the book of the Revelation. And one may be apt to conclude, they were all written about the same time.

XLIV. The allusions which I have here produced from Hermas relate to these several books of the New Testament : the gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John. And for Mark's gospel Numb. XXV. may be observed; the Acts; the epistle to the Romans; first and second to the Corinthians ; the epistles to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians; first to the Thessalonians; second to Timothy; to the Hebrews; the epistle of James; first and second of Peter; the epistles of John, Jude, and the book of the Revelation.

If the reader is desirous to distinguish these allusions into those which are more, and those which are less probable; I hope he will be willing to place in the former rank the allusions to the gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John, especially those to the two former. I would likewise will

y Simil. ix. sect. 12.

z Quia in consummatione in novissimis diebus apparuit, ut qui assecuturi sunt salutem, per eam intrent in regnum Dei. a And here is a reference to Gal. iv. 4. or rather to Eph. i. 9, 10. At least, it is the doctrine of those texts.

ingly place here the allusions to the Acts, the epistle to the Romans, the first to the Corinthians, the epistle to the Ephesians, and the epistle of James. And all the rest deserve consideration; except that I think those to the Galatians, Philippians, first to the Thessalonians, second to Timothy, and the epistle to the Hebrews, some of the least material.

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Here are certainly many allusions to our genuine books of the New Testament, which show the great respect these writings were in, though they are not expressly cited. But the reason is, that it was not suitable to the nature of the work to quote books. The only quotation in Hermas is in this manner: The Lord is nigh to them that turn to him, as it is written in Heldam and Modal, who prophesied to the people in the wilderness.' Compare Numb. xii. 26, 27. But it is reasonable to suppose, this is not a christian, but a Jewish writing. Eldad and Modad are mentioned among the apocryphal books of the Old Testament in the Synopsis Scripturæ, ascribed to Athanasius, but not his. It was no unusual thing for the ancient christians to quote Jewish as well as heathen books, without intending to give them any authority. Finally, I do not perceive in this work of Hermas any allusions to any apocryphal gospels, or other apocryphal books of the New Testament. It is certain, no such books are here quoted.

CHAP. V.

ST. IGNATIUS. HIS HISTORY.

IGNATIUS was bishop of Antioch in Syria, the latter part of the first, and the beginning of the second century. He is said by some to have been the child whom our Lord took in his arms and set in the midst of his disciples, as an emblem of humility. But for this story there is no foundation in the earliest antiquity.

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Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History says, That Euodius having been the first bishop of Antioch, Ignatius ́ succeeded him.' With whom St. Jeromb agrees. In his Chronicle, Eusebius places the ordination of Ignatius in the year 69, after the death of Peter and Paul at Rome. Nevertheless some think, that Ignatius was ordained by Peter; and suppose, that Euodius and Ignatius were both bishops of Antioch at one and the same time; the one of the Jewish, b Vis. iii. sect. 3. a Lib. 3. cap. 22. b De Vir. Ill. n. 16.

and the other of the Gentile christians: but that after the death of Euodius they all came to be under Ignatius, as their bishop. If Ignatius only succeeded Euodius about the year of our Lord 70, it may be reasonably concluded, he was acquainted with several of the apostles. And St. Chrysostom says, 'he conversed familiarly with them, and was perfectly acquainted with their doctrine;' and had the hands of apostles laid upon him.

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Beside the bishoprick, the martyrdom of this good man is another of those few things concerning him which are not contradicted. But the time of it, as well as some other things, is disputed. Du Pin places it in the tenth of Trajan, A. D. 107, as do Tillemont and Cave. But Pearson, Loyd, Pagi, Le Clerc, Fabricius, in 116.

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Having given this general account of the age of Ignatius,

I shall next transcribe the most ancient testimonies concerning him and his epistles. And then I shall make a few remarks.

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We have this passage in 1 Irenæus; As one of our people, 'for his testimony of God condemned to wild beasts, said: 'I am the wheat of God, and ground by the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be found to be pure bread.' bread.' Which words are in sect. 4. of Ignatius's epistle to the Romans. And this passage is also cited from Irenæus bym Eusebius; who in another place likewise says: Irenæus mentions 'Justin Martyr, and Ignatius, making use of testimonies out ' of their writings.'

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We meet with Ignatius twice mentioned by Origen. Finally,' says he, I remember, that one of the saints, Ignatius by name, has said of Christ: My love is cruci'fied,' which words are in the same epistle to the Romans, sect. vii. Again: I have observed it elegantly written in an epistle of a martyr, I mean Ignatius, second bishop ' of Antioch after Peter, that the virginity of Mary was un'known to the prince of this world.' See the epistle to Ephesians, sect. xix.

Eusebius, beside what has been already taken from him, says in another place, after the mention of Polycarp and Papias, as contemporaries: At the same time also flourish

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c T. i. Hom. 42. in Ignat. p. 562. c.

d Ib. p. 563. B.

• Mem. Eccl. Tom. 2. p. 2. Ignace, Art. ix. g Dissertat. de Anno quo S. Ignatius condemnatus. Baron, 107. n. 3, &c. i Hist. E. 116. n. 7. 1 Advers. Hær. 1. v. cap. 28.

v. p. 39.

f Hist. Lit.

h Critic. in k Bibl. Gr. T. m H. E. 1. 3. c. 36. Prolog. in Cant. Cantic. p. 496. T. i. Basil. P Hom. vi. in Luc. Tom. 2. p. 214. 9 H. E. 1. 3

n L. v. c. 8. p. 173. 1571. cap. 36.

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