MINOR WRITERS AT THE CLOSE OF THE SECOND CENTURY. Ων γε μὴν ἔγγραφος ἡ τῆς πίστεως εἰς ἡμᾶς κατῆλθεν ὀρθοδοξία, τούτους εἰκότως ovoμзσтì KUTEλéçaμev. Euseb. Hist. Eccl. V. 22. AMONG others who "had left testimonies of the orthodoxy of their faith in their writings," Eusebius mentions expressly by name Sarapion, Theophilus, Narcissus, Bacchylus, and Polycrates. Of these testimonies none now remain; with the exception of a few sentences from Sarapion, and a short fragment from Polycrates. They were, however, good and useful in their generation: nor is it an ungrateful task to collect what little is known of them from the records of history. Upon the death of Maximin, who succeeded Theophilus in the See of Antioch, that Bishoprick devolved upon SARAPION about the eleventh year of the reign of Commodus, A. D. 191. This, at least, is the date assigned to the commencement of his episcopate in the Chronicle of Eusebius, and by Jerome (de Vir. Ill. §. 41.). As a writer he was principally known by a work on the Apocryphal Gospel ascribed to St. Peter, and a variety of letters addressed to certain individuals, who had seceded from the Church altogether, or fallen into heretical opinions. Most of his productions, though probably still extant in the time of Eusebius, were unknown to that historian ;* who was acquainted only with the work on the spurious Gospel-a letter to Dominus, who had lapsed into Judaism during the persecution under Severus-and another to Pontius and Caricus, on the subject of the Montanist heresy. The persons to whom this last was addressed are called by Eusebius ἐκκλησιαστικοὶ ἄνδρες; and they had probably requested from Sarapion his opinion respecting the prophetic delusions of this sect. With his own reply he transmitted the work of Apollinaris, Bishop of Hierapolis, who had previously refuted their tenets; together with the subscriptions of certain Bishops of Thrace to the orthodox sentiments of which he was the advocate.† As heresies began to arise in the Church, the different sects endeavoured to establish their peculiar tenets upon the authority of spurious Gospels, and other fictitious narratives, which they attributed to the pens of one or other of the apostles of Christ. Of these there are several still in existence; such as the Gospel of the Infancy, the • Euseb. Hist. Eccl. VI. 12. Τοῦ δὲ Σαραπίωνος τῆς περὶ λόγου ἀσκήσεως καὶ ἀλλὰ μὲν εἰκὸς σώζεσθαι παρ' ἑτέροις ὑπομνήματα· εἰς ἡμᾶς δὲ μόνα κατῆλθε κ. τ. λ. + Euseb. Hist. Eccl. V. 19. Ἐν ταύτῃ δὲ τῇ τοῦ Σαραπίωνος ἐπιστολῇ καὶ ὑποσημειώσεις φέρονται διαφόρων ἐπισκόπων. It is probable, therefore, that this was a synodic epistle, though it has been suggested that Sarapion merely quoted the opinions of the Thracian Hierarchy, with whom he had been in communication. But the signatures are subsequently described by the Historian as autographs (anμeiwocis avτóypapoi). 4 v VOL. XIV. NO. XI. Acts of Paul and Thecla, the Epistle of Christ to Abgarus, and others.* The absurd fables with which they abound, and their manifest contradictions of the four inspired Gospels, of which they did not dispute the authenticity, are sufficient indications of their spuriousness: not to mention that they were principally confined to the sects who set the forgery on foot; they were never admitted into the Canon; and, what is yet more decisive of the low estimation in which they were held, even the early adversaries of the Gospel have not quoted them for the purpose of ridicule. With the view of bolstering up their unholy doctrines, the Docetæ, as well as others, had their Gospel, in which the notion of the phantom existence of Jesus was maintained, and given to the world under the sanction of St. Peter. This Gospel, it appears, was circulated among the Christians of Rhossus in Cilicia, and had caused a division among the brethren as to the propriety of reading it in public; but so little was it generally known, that Sarapion had not heard of it; and, being unacquainted with its mischievous tendency, considered its retention preferable to a disunion in the Church. Thus he writes in the fragment preserved by Eusebius :Ἡμεῖς γὰρ, ἀδελφοὶ, καὶ Πέτρον καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἀποστόλους ἀποδεχόμεθα ὡς Χριστόν· τὰ δὲ ὀνόματι αὐτῶν ψευδεπίγραφα, ὡς ἔμπειροι, παραιτούμεθα, γινώσκοντες ὅτι τὰ τοιαῦτα οὐ παρελάβομεν. Ἐγὼ γὰρ, γενόμενος παρ' ὑμῖν, ὑπενόουν τοὺς πάντας ὀρθῇ πίστει προσφέρεσθαι καὶ, μὴ διελθὼν τὸ ὑπ' αὐτῶν προφερόμενον ονόματι Πέτρου εὐαγγέλιον, εἶπον, Ότι εἰ τοῦτό ἐστι μόνον τὸ δοκοῦν ὑμῖν παρέχειν μικροψυχίαν, άναγιvwokέow. Having, however, borrowed a copy of the Gospel from one of the Docetæ, and ascertained, from its perusal, that some of the opinions therein advanced were at variance with a right faith in Christ, he pointed out to the Rhossians the objectionable passages, and promised to visit them shortly in the hope of re-establishing among them" the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." From the very design and import of this work, then, the orthodoxy of Sarapion's opinion respecting the Divine and human nature of the Redeemer, is abundantly manifest: and Socrates the historian (Hist. Eccl. III. 7.) unites his testimony to this effect with that of Irenæus, Clement, and Apollinaris. Of the events of his episcopate, nothing farther is known; but that the duties of his station were performed with zeal and ability is beyond a doubt. He died about the commencement of the reign of Caracalla, A. D. 211. and was succeeded by Asclepiades:-"a man," says Alexander, in his letter to the Antiochians (ap. Euseb. Hist. Eccl. VI. 11.), "fit and worthy, on account of the excellence of his faith, to be entrusted with the care of their Church." With respect to the Gospel according to St. Peter, it is of course a forgery of the second century; and is thought to have been compiled by one Leucius,† who is known to have been the author of divers impostures of a like nature. Those, which are still extant, were collected some years since, with no very honest intention, into a single volume; but the student will peruse them, with the advantage of a learned and unanswerable refutation of their claims to inspiration, in Jones's admirable work on the Canon. † See Grabe's SPICILEGIUM: Tom. I. p. 58. In the account which Eusebius has given (Hist. Eccl. VI. 23.) of the controversy respecting Easter, he mentions a letter on the subject from the brethren in Palestine, who were represented by Theophilus, Bishop of Cæsarea, and Narcissus, Bishop of Jerusalem; and another from Bacchylus, Bishop of Corinth. This Bacchylus was the successor of Dionysius, of whom some notice has been taken in a former chapter. According to Jerome (de Vir. Ill. §. 44.), who says that he flourished in the reign of the Emperor Severus, he wrote an elegant treatise (elegantem librum) respecting Easter; which is most probably the epistle mentioned by Eusebius. Of Theophilus nothing is known beyond his name and his episcopate. The synodic letter, to which his signature was attached, was possibly the joint composition of himself and Narcissus; but he seems, from the testimony of Eusebius in a previons passage, to have written other works, which have not come down to modern times. The same may also be believed of Narcissus, who was succeeded by Alexander, Bishop of Cappadocia; from which See he had been previously translated to a participation in the government of the Church of Jerusalem. Of the origin of this co-episcopate it will be necessary to speak in a future article. In the mean time, suffice it to remark that it was of long continuance; though Narcissus lived to so extraordinary an age, that he probably took no active part in it for some years before his death. In a letter to the Christians of Antinopolis in Egypt, Alexander tells them that he was then 116 years old, and still continued to govern the Church with his prayers. The time of his death is unknown. POLYCRATES was bishop of Ephesus during the reign of the Emperor Severus (Jerome de Vir. Ill. §. 45.), who succeeded Commodus in the year 193. He was the eighth of his family who had held the episcopal office; but whether his relatives had preceded him in the same See, he does not expressly intimate. It is possible that the seven relatives (ovyyɛveis), to whom he alludes, may have presided over other Asiatic cities; though there is some reason to believe that his progenitors are intended; and that the Church government of Ephesus descended from father to son through eight successive generations. Among the heathen, sacred functions were often exercised for ages by members of the same family:† and that the Jewish priesthood itself remained hereditary long after the destruction of the Holy City, is attested by Epiphanius (Hær. XXX. 7.). What is yet more to the point, however, it appears from Hegesippus (ap. Euseb. Hist. Eccl. III. 20.) that the Bishoprick of Jerusalem passed from James the Elder to Symeon, and thence to others of our Lord's relations, ὡς ἂν δὴ μαρτύρας ὁμοῦ καὶ ȧлò YévoνÇ ÖVTαç Tou Kupiov‡ From the estimation, therefore, in which the family of Polycrates may have been held by his fellow-citizens, or from motives of gratitude for benefits conferred upon their infant Jerome de Vir. Ill. §. 62. Hic (Alexander) in fine cujusdam Epistolæ, quam scribit ad Antinoitas super pace ecclesiæ, ait: Salutat vos Narcissus, qui ante me hic tenuit episcopalem locum, et nunc mecum eundem orationibus regit, annos natus circiter centum sedecim, et vos mecum precatur, ut unum idemque sapiatis. See Euseb. Hist. Eccl. VI. 11. † Virg. Æn. VIII. 270.—domus Herculei custos Pinaria sacri. See Routhii Reliquiæ Sacræ ; Tom. I. p. 385. Church, the Christians of Ephesus may have pursued a similar course in the election of their spiritual overseer. The only event in the life of Polycrates which is recorded in the pages of the historian, affords a striking instance of his zeal and watchfulness in the discharge of his episcopal duties. Upon the occasion of the controversy respecting the time of keeping Easter, and the threat of excommunication held out by Victor, Bishop of Rome, against the Asiatic Churches, in the event of their refusal to conform to the custom which the Roman Christians had adopted, he convened the bishops of the adjacent districts, at the suggestion of Victor himself, for the purpose of advising on the measures which it would be necessary to pursue. In accordance with the resolutions of the assembled synod, he addressed a letter to the presumptuous pontiff, signifying their determination of celebrating Easter on the fourteenth of the month, as they had hitherto been accustomed; and expressing a perfect unconcern in regard to the consequences denounced against them. This epistle is described by Jerome as the composition of a writer of talent and authority. A short fragment of it is preserved by Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. V. 24.); in which, after stating his purposed resolve in the following terms, he appeals to his grey hairs, and the known conformity of his life to the doctrines of the Gospel, as proofs of his Christian sincerity and zeal.—Οὗτοι πάντες † ἐτήρησαν τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτης τοῦ πάσχα κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, μηδὲν παρεκβαίνοντες, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸν κανόνα τῆς πίστεως ἀκολουθοῦντες· ἔτι δὲ κἀγὼ ὁ μικρότερος πάντων ὑμῶν Πολυκράτης, κατὰ παράδοσιν τῶν συγγενῶν μου. * Καὶ πᾶσαν ἁγίαν γραφὴν διεληλυθὼς, οὐ πτύρομαι ἐπὶ τοῖς καταπλησσομένοις· οἱ γὰρ ἐμοῦ μείζονες ειρήκασι, Πειθαρχεῖν δεῖ Θεῷ μᾶλλον ἡ ἀνθρωποῖς. Notwithstanding this remonstrance, Victor persevered in his inconsiderate decision, as already stated in the account of that prelate. * * As Victor died in 167, the date of the synodical letter of Polycrates may, with sufficient accuracy, be fixed to the preceding year. At this period he states himself to have been " sixty-five years old in Christ." A similar mode of expressing himself was adopted by Polycarp before his judges; and in both cases a doubt has been entertained, whether the calculation is to be made from the birth or the conversion of the individual. In the case of Polycrates, the ambiguity is removed by the fact, that he was born of Christian parents, who had preceded him in the episcopacy; and a probable ground may hence be inferred for determining the age of the venerable Polycarp. How long after this period the Church of Ephesus remained under the guidance of Polycrates is unknown. Jerome de Vir. Ill. §.45. Hæc propterea posui, ut ingenium et auctoritatem viri ex parvo opusculo demonstrarem. The Apostles St. Philip and St. John, the venerable Polycarp, Thraseas, Sagaris, Papirius, and Melito. ISRAEL'S SONG OF TRIUMPHI ON THE OVERTHROW OF THE KING AND KINGDOM OF BABYLON. Isaiah xiv. 4-27. "Tu, licet extremos latè dominere per Indos, CLAUDIAN. "Non longa per atria miles How hath the proud oppressor ceased Earth's victor-queen-behold! Jehovah into dust hath trod And he, who scourged of old NUMANTIA. The nations with remorseless stroke, Earth with glad shouts from east to west In this the sabbath of her rest, Her hour of victory; And scatheless now on Lebanus The cedar cries "Hah! liest thou thus- Hell's inmost chambers rock ;-yea Hell And, from the the ones whereon they dwell, And bids them forth thy form to greet O'er him-who at that gloomy gate "And thou," they cry, "hast thou thus dark "And weak as we become? "Hell for thy pomp yawns wide, and, hark! Thy viols' sprightly hum. "Yea-creeping things from out the ground "And o'er thy beauty roam; Son of the morn! thou chiefest star- |