: veneration enjoined and sanctioned in these passages was unquestionably of a very high order. It was relative of course; but it was eminently religious. It was negative— "Take care you come not near the ark." It was positive— "Let there be between you and the ark the space of two thousand cubits." If it were said nevertheless that it did not involve such acts as the Catholic Church sometimes rendered to holy things, bowing, for instance, or uncovering the head, it was easy to cite from the history of Moses, a case that illustrated that point precisely-where the Spirit of God speaking from the burning bush said to that holy man, "Come not nigh hither: put off the shoes from thy feet for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." The relative religious veneration of inanimate things connected in some intimate way with God and his saints, and the absolute adoration of the power and goodness, the mercy and providence of God, in such objects as shewed forth these Divine perfections, were not repugnant to reason or common sense,-were not inconsistent with the relations of man to God, and his utter subjection to the dominion of His providence, and so far from being opposed to any positive Divine law, they had numerous sanctions in the inspired Scriptures of the Old Testament. It therefore is of little importance whether examples of relative worship occur in the pages of the New Testament, for we may be assured that the primitive disciples of the Lord, acting upon the dictates of reason and the suggestions of revelation, render to all things their due-civil respect to whom civil respect is due, religious veneration to objects that demanded it, "fear to whom fear," honour to whom honour;" and we need not argue upon the point to understand thoroughly how different was their conduct from that of those who, while they treasure the mementos of sinners, scoff at the mementos of the saints and friends of God. There is a city in Italy disinterred after lying for a 2 See Appendix B. 1 Exod. iii. v. decade and a half of centuries hidden in the bowels of the earth, into which we can now descend to study the arts and usages of ancient Rome, and almost to converse with the spirits of those who once tenanted its houses, and trod its desolate streets. Does it not appear that by descending a little into the deep mines of truth contained in the sacred writings, by sifting and examining, and throwing off the dark coverings which hang over certain passages, we find ourselves among the primitive disciples of the Lord, where a light is shed over all the institutions of that City of the living God, in which we can clearly discern the manners and usages, the belief and discipline, the worship and conversation of the immediate disciples of the Lord? There we see an altar, and a real sacrifice offered upon it, and veritable priests standing by it, and distributing the fruits of it-the very victim offered to the assembled people of God. Prayer and instruction, hymns and many tapers, prophecy and tongues accompanying the oblation, and serving as so many ornaments to embellish the dwelling of the great King. Much pomp, or state, or consequence? No, not much; but poverty honoured and commendedthe poor to sit near the rich in the congregation-the rich to renounce the goods of this world, and to become dependants living on the alms of the Church. Marrying and getting married? Yes! in many cases, but more exalted still the state of perpetual continency embraced for the love of God, as removing many obstacles to the contemplation of His infinite perfections. And the congregation in common, how spiritually favoured! Every individual washed from sin (Abluti estis), confirmed, anointed, sealed, and, as a result, endowed with the pledge of the Spirit in the heart-("Now he that confirmeth us with you in Christ and that anointeth us is God, Who also hath sealed us and given the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts;")-the sinner released from his actual sins before God, by a ministry of reconciliation, exercised by the Ministers of the Church on earth-the dying anointed 1 2 Cor. i. 21, 22. M 162 THE CHURCH OF THE FIRST THREE CENTURIES. with oil-the dead in the love of God " wept over and honoured by the pious," their relics preserved, their memories honoured, their intercession invoked the suffering dead prayed for-and high above all, as it will be before the coming of the day of the Lord, "the sign of the Son of Man," the cross, venerated as the symbol of redemption, gloried in as the instrument of God's incomprehensible love for His creatures. Part the Second. THE PERPETUATION OF THE FAITH AND PRACTICE DELIVERED TO THE FIRST SAINTS. ANNO 110-216. |