it is on all hands admitted, that they were, in the main, written by that father, yet they have been very much interpolated by those into whose hands they subsequently fell; so that it would be improper to employ them as evidence on a question of apostolical antiquity.* I proceed, therefore, to an examination of the testimonies of Clement and Polycarp; premising, that the dates annexed to the names of the several writers who are quoted in this chapter, are intended to denote at what times these men flourished, according to Dr Lardner, in his Credibility of the Gospel History.

CLEMENT OF ROME, A. D. 96.

"The writer," says Dr Mosheim, "whose fame surpassed that of all others in this century, the Apostles excepted, was Clement, bishop of Rome." He is generally thought to have been the person whom St Paul mentions among his "fellow-labourers, whose names are in the book of life," Phil. iv. 3. His epistle, from which I intend to quote some passages, was addressed, in the name of the church of Rome, to the church of Corinth, and was designed to put a stop to contentions and disturbances which had arisen in the latter body. "Upon this occasion," says Dr Lardner, "Clement recommends not only concord and harmony, but love in general, humility, and all the virtues of a good life, and divers of the great articles and principles of religion. The style is clear and simple. It is called by the ancients an excellent, an useful, a great, and admirable epistle." I add with pleasure, that having carefully read it (in the copy which we now have), I find it to have been the composition of a believer in the strict unity of God, and (I doubt not) the simple humanity of Jesus

* Mr Wakefield (in his Enquiry into the Opinions of the Christian writers of the three first centuries, ed. 1824, pp. 227, 228, 231,) has given the following examples of interpolation of the epistles of Ignatius. (1.) 'I glorify Jesus Christ [the God] who has thus made you wise. This is the reading of a passage in one set of Ignatius' epistles. But in another set (of the same epistles) we find: 'I glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who through him has thus made you wise.' (2.) 'Ye did well in receiving Philo, &c., who followed me unto the word of God, as ministers of Christ [a God].' But in another set we read: ‘Ye did well in receiving Philo, &c., who followed me unto the word of God, who are ministers of Christ, as ministers of Christ.' (3.) 'That ye may prosper in all that ye do, in flesh and spirit, in faith and love, [in the Son and the Father and the Spirit,] in the beginning and in the end, with your most worthy bishop, and that well woven spiritual crown your presbytery, and the deacons according to God.' But in the other set the reading is: 'that all things which you do may prosper, in flesh and spirit, in faith and love with your most worthy bishop, and the well woven and spiritual crown your presbytery, and the deacons according to God.'

Mosheim, vol. i. p. 109.

Lardner's Credibility of the Gospel History, in works, vol. i. p. 289.

C

Christ. It does not contain a sentence which ascribes Deity to our Saviour, or personality to the power or spirit of God. My readers will perceive, from the following quotations, that its language agrees very much with that of the New Testament, clearly distinguishing God from his Son and Servant, and leaving no room for the opinion, that the latter was more than a human being, chosen of, and approved by, the Almighty Father, as the instrument of his will. Clement thus begins his epistle :

the master of spirits, and the Lord of all flesh, who hath chosen our Lord Jesus Christ, and us thro' him. SECT. 59. The favour of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, and with all those who have been every where called by Gon, through him (Jesus): through whom (Jesus), to Him (Gon) be glory, honour, power, and majesty, an everlasting throne, from eternity to eternity. Amen. *

τῶν πνευμάτων καὶ κυρίως πάσης σαρκὸς, ὁ ἐκλεξάμενος τὸν κυρίου Ιησοῦν Χριστὸν, καὶ ἡμᾶς δι αὐτοῦ.

Η χάρις τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μὲν ̓ ὑμῶν, καὶ μετὰ πάντων πανταχῆ τῶν κεκλημένων ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ δι ̓ αὐτοῦ· δι ̓ οὐ αὐτῷ δόξα, τιμὴ, κράτος, καὶ μεγαλωσύνη, θρόνος αἰώνιος, ἀπὸ τῶν αἰωνῶν, εἰς τοὺς αἰώνας τῶν αἰώνων. Αμήν.

POLYCARP, A. D. 108.

This father had been the disciple of St John, and was appointed by him bishop of the church of Smyrna. From the opportunity which he had of conversing with some of the immediate followers of our Saviour, his testimony concerning the faith of Christian antiquity should be esteemed of great value; but as he wrote little, I can produce only a few passages illustrative of his doctrine. They are taken from his epistle to the church of Philippi, the only work of his now remaining. It will be seen, that they are of the same nature with the quotations from Clement, plainly distinguishing Jesus Christ from the God and Father, who selected him for his messenger. The epistle to the Philippians commences thus:

Polycarp, and the elders with him, to the church of Gov, which sojourneth at Philippi; mercy and peace be multiplied unto you from Gop ALMIGHTY, and the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour.

SECT. 2.—Believing in Him, who raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, and gave him glory, and a seat at His right hand.

SECT. 3.—Hope following, love preceding, viz., love to Gon, to Christ, and to our neighbour.

SECT. 5.-Likewise the deacons, that they be blameless before him in

Πολυκάρπος, καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ πρεσ‐ βύτεροι, τῇ ἐκκλήσιᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῇ παροικούσῃ Φιλίπποις· ἐλεὸς ὑμῖν, καὶ εἰρήνη παρὰ Θεοῦ παντοκράτορος, καὶ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν πληθυνθεῖη.

Πιστεύσαντες εἰς τὸν ἐγείραντα τὸν κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἐκ νέκρων καὶ δόντα αὐτῷ δόξαν, καὶ θρόνον ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ·

Επακολουθούσης τῆς ἔλπιδος, προα γούσης τῆς ἀγαπῆς, τῆς εἰς Θεὸν, καὶ Χριστὸν, καὶ εἰς τὸν πλήσιον.

Ομοίως διάκονοι ἀμέμπτοι κατενώπιον αὐτοῦ τῆς δικαιοσυνῆς, ὡς Θεοῦ

* Photius, a zealous Trinitarian, after the council of Nice, censured the Epistle of Clement for three things, the last of which was, that, “speaking of our high-priest and master, Jesus Christ, he did not make use of expressions sufficiently lofty and becoming a God, though he no where openly blasphemes him." Priestley's Hist. o Opinions, vol. i. p. 97.

righteousness, as the servants of καὶ Χριστοῦ διάκονοι, καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωGOD, and of Christ, and not of men.

We ought, therefore, to abstain from all these (sins), and to be subject to the presbyters and deacons, as to God, and to Christ.

SECT. 12. The GoD and FATHER of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the perpetual high-priest himself, the Son of God, Christ Jesus, build you up in faith, and truth, and in all meekness, &c.; and grant to you a lot and portion among his saints, and to us with you, and to all who, under heaven, shall believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, and in his FATHER, who raised him from the dead.

πων

Διὸ δέον ἀπεχέσθαι ἀπὸ πάντων τουτῶν, ὑποτασσομένους τοῖς πρεσβύ τεροις καὶ διάκονοις, ὡς Θεῷ καὶ Χριστῷ

Deus autem et Pater Domini Jesu Christi; et ipse sempiternus Pontifex, Dei Filius, Christus Jesus, ædificet vos in fide et veritate, et in omni mansuetudine, &c.; et det vobis sortem et partem inter sanctos suos, et nobis vobiscum, et omnibus qui sunt sub cœlo, qui credituri sunt in Dominum nostrum, Jesum Christum, et in ipsius Patrem, qui resuscitavit eum a mortuis.

II. SECOND, OR SEMI-TRINITARIAN PERIOD.

Most of the quotations which I shall produce under this head, I first found in Dr Priestley's History of Early Opinions concerning Christ; and it was my wish, on seeing them, to have procured the original writings from which they had been taken, with a view to revising the passages for confirmation or correction. But having again met with them, and with several more in Dr Samuel Clarke's Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity, I was sufficiently convinced, after a careful comparison, that they were accurate transcriptions, precluding the necessity of immediate revisal, They are here brought forward to show what were the opinions of the fathers of the latter part of the second century, and of the whole of the third century, and of the beginning of the fourth, concerning God and Christ. It will appear from them, that our Saviour was believed, in those ages, to have existed before his incarnation, and that he was esteemed a divine being, or deity; but inferior to God the Father, as is confessed in the most unambiguous manner. Similarly, other passages might be added concerning the Holy Spirit,† showing him also to have been reckoned below the Father, and sometimes below the Son. But I think it proper, on account of the greater importance that has been attached to the Son, in all ages, since his deification, to confine attention at present to him.

*This quotation is from the Latin version, the Greek copy being wanting towards

the end.

In one of the passages from Origen, notice is taken of the Spirit along with the Son.

Dr Priestley's Hist. of Opinions, vol. ii. pp. 270, et seq.

JUSTIN MARTYR, A. D. 140.

He was a native of Palestine, originally a heathen philosopher, and converted to Christianity about the year 133. His principal works are two Apologies for the Christians, and a Dialogue with Trypho, a Jew. After a life of great piety and virtue, he suffered martyrdom. According to Mr Lindsey* and Dr Priestley,† he is the earliest author in whose writings any trace of the doctrine of Christ's deity is to be found. It was his opinion that Christ was a God, inferior to the Father, and that he appeared as such, on earth, several times before his incarnation.

He says: Neither Abraham, nor Isaac, nor Jacob, nor any man ever saw the FATHER, and INEFFABLE LORD OF ALL, even of Christ himself; but (they saw) him, who by his will was God, his Son, and an angel (or messenger), from his being subservient to his will, who, at his pleasure, was made a man from the virgin, who also, on one occasion, appeared in the form of fire, conversing with Moses, from the bush.

Οὔτε οὖν ̓Αβραάμ, οὔτε Ισαάκ, οὔτε ̓Ιακώβ, οὔτε ἄλλος άνθρωπων εἶδε τὸν πάτερα καὶ ἄῤῥητον κυρίου τῶν πάντων ἁπλῶς, καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἀλλ ̓ ἐκεῖνον τὸν κατὰ βουλὴν τὴν ἐκεῖνον καὶ θεὸν ὀντα, υἱὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἄγγελον ἐκ τοῦ ὑπηρετεῖν τῆ γνωμῇ αὐτοῦ, ὃν καὶ ἄνθρωπον γεννηθῆναι διὰ τῆς παρθένου βεβουλήται, ὃς καὶ πῦρ ποτε γεγόνε τῇ πρὸς Μώσεα ὁμιλιᾷ τῇ ἀπὸ τῆς βάτου. Dial. cum Tryphonte, p. 411.

Speaking of the God in heaven, and the God upon earth, viz., Christ, who conversed with Abraham and others, Justin Martyr says:

The former is the LORD of that Lord who was upon earth, being his FATHER, and Gop, the Cause of his existence, and of his being powerful, and Lord, and God.

Ὃς [ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς ὑπάρχων] καὶ τοῦ ἐπὶ γῆς κυρίου κυρίος ἐστὶν, ὡς πατὴρ καὶ Θεὸς, αἴτιος τὲ αὐτῷ τοῦ εἶναι, καὶ δύνατῳ, καὶ κυρίῳ, καὶ θεῷ. Dial. p. 413.

While this writer believed that Christ made all things in an inferior sense, there was a higher sense, in which the phrase, Maker of all things, was thought by him to be applicable to the Father only.

I will endeavour to show, that he who appeared to Abraham, Jacob, and Moses, and who is called God in scripture, is different from THE GOD WHO MADE ALL THINGS ; numerically different, but the same in will. For I say, that he never did any thing but what that GoD, WHO MADE

Πειράσομαι πείσαι ὑμᾶς ὅτι οὗτος ὁ τέ τῷ ̓Αβραὰμ, καὶ τῷ ̓Ιακώβ, καὶ τῷ Μώσει ὤφθαι λεγομένος, καὶ γεγράμμενος θεὸς, ἕτερος ἐστὶ τοῦ τὰ πάντα ποιῆσαντος Θεοῦ· ἀριθμῷ λέγω ἀλλ ̓ οὐ τῇ γνώμῃ. Οὐδὲν γὰρ φημὶ αὐτὸν πεπράχεναι πότε ἢ ἅπερ αὐτὸς ὁ τὸν κοσμὸν ποιήσας, ὑπὲρ ὃν

* Second Address to the Youth of both Universities, Introduc. p. xx. ; and p. 150. Hist. of Corruptions of Christianity in Works, vol. v. p. 37. Early Opinions,

vol. ii. p. 53.