been preached in apostolic purity. But Christianity suffered a corruption in Egypt, more cruel than did the Israelitish faith of old. It went forth from Alexandria adulterated with vain philosophy of every kind; and the worship of the one true God was again converted into a polytheism, the more dangerous, because no longer gross, sensible, and palpable in its absurdity, but subtle, spiritual, philosophical.80 It would be vain to inquire into the various steps, by which Christianity maintained its struggle with the powers of this world, and either gained or lost ground in these several countries; much more to attempt its history in each separate church or city; but there are some Churches, the fate of which has been so much more closely connected than the rest with all Christian societies in all ages, that any notices which may be gleaned of their primitive condition may not be unnacceptable. Jerusalem is, of course, one of these. THE CHURCH AT JERUSALEM. relative to destruction The history of the Church at Jerusalem, until the death of its St. James. first bishop St. James, is no further known, than from the scriptural record. On the martyrdom of that apostle, Symeon, the son of Symeon. Cleopas, and, as has been asserted, one of the seventy disciples of our Lord, was appointed in his room. The importance of the see may be conjectured, from the anxiety of the whole Christian world about the succession. Apostles, and other eminent men, among their coadjutors, were present at the election, and aiding by their advice.81 In this, and in other instances, we may recognise the Effect of the operation of the most unqualified faith in the fulfilment of the Prophecies Christian prophecies. 82 The period was at hand, when our Lord's the mournful prediction, respecting the fate of Jerusalem and its blinded of people, was known to be approaching to its accomplishment. 83 The Jerusalem. risk and distress to which even his followers would be exposed, had been foretold in no equivocal terms. On the appearance of the fatal ensign of desolation, their flight was to be instantaneous, whatever sacrifice it might require. The dissolution of the nearest connexions which existed between the believer and the friends or kindred who yet held back or wavered, was to be awfully abrupt. Even the positive wo, announced to those who should be "with child, or give suck, in those days," can scarcely be applied to the Jews alone; but accords with the closing assertion, that unless those Matt. xxiv. days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; and that they were shortened for the elect's sake. 80 Consult Cave's "Life of Justin Martyr,' "whose remains, as well as those of Origen, abound in Platonism. 81 Euseb. Hist. Lib. III. C. 11. 82 A similar instance, is the collection made for the poor Christians of Jerusa lem, as a provision against a predicted 83 Besides the prophetic signs given, it 22; Mark xiii. 20. The solemn suspense, with which the whole Christian world looked on, from one prophetic sign to another, for the consummation of this scene of sorrows, must have been more intense than that which is said to seize on the minds of men, when the first shock of an earthquake awakens an anticipation of a second and that of a third. In the mortal and visible agents which were at work, producing the catastrophe, they saw the slow appearing sign of the Son of man in heaven. But the faith that made them tremble, made them proportionably resolute to abide in Jerusalem, and to wait for the signal of their departure. Under the superintendence of the mild and conciliating St. James, the most prudent human measures were likely to co-operate with the promised aid of heaven. But, in the midst of his exemplary course, they beheld him fall a martyr to the bigotry of the Jews, and the Church in Jerusalem obliged suddenly to appoint another bishop. Hence the general interest which was felt in Symeon's election. Between the appointment of Symeon, and the war which ended in the destruction of the holy city, the affairs of the Church were probably conducted with a prudence which did not disappoint the Christians; for, in the interval, we hear of no further attempts against the peace of the believers, nor of any internal dissensions. It was during the reign of Nero, that hope long deferred emboldDaniel ix.24. ened the Jews to revolt. The seventy weeks of Daniel had been long fulfilled; and while they obstinately rejected the claims of a spiritual Messiah, they as obstinately clung to the hope of a temporal deliverer. Up to the time now mentioned, they patiently and sullenly endured all oppression, in the daily expectation, that their avenger would appear descending from the clouds of heaven. So violent, however, had their sense of wrongs become, and so rancorous their suppressed hatred to the Romans, that on the first signal the whole of Judæa was in a state of determined rebellion. 15; Mark xiii. 14; 66 As the accomplishment of our Saviour's prediction drew nearer, the signs of the end of the Jewish polity had been discerned, and have been recorded even by unbelievers. But the trial of the Matt. xxiv. believer's faith, was to wait for the last sign, which, humanly speaking, was to put it out of his power to escape. Not until the Luke xxi. 20. Roman standard, the abomination of desolation," was brought to the siege of Jerusalem, and the holy city was "encompassed by armies," did the Church quit it. Before the formidable character of the rebellion was known, Cestius Gallus, the governor of Syria, marched with the united forces of his province against the capital, not doubting that the revolt would thus be at once suppressed; and being forced to raise the siege, and retire, a respite was given, whereby the Christians were providentially and signally left an opportunity for escape. Their city of refuge was Pella, which, being occupied by Gentiles, escaped the fury of the conquerors The Christians withdraw from the City. and here, during all the horrors of the war, and the subsequent miseries which resulted from it, they remained in perfect security. Not a hair of their heads perished. Luke xxi. 18. In the third year of the war, (A.D. 70,) Vespasian, who had been appointed by Nero to conduct it, left his station for Egypt, in order to secure support in his attempt to wrest the imperial dignity from Vitellius. He had already advanced into Galilee, burnt Gadara, and razed Jotapata, (where Josephus, the historian, was taken prisoner,) and was preparing to march against Jerusalem, when the prospect of obtaining the empire induced him to leave to his son Titus the completion of his plans. Under his command, the Roman army Its capture invested the holy city; and after a siege of five months, marked by scenes of horror which would be incredible did we not connect them with the peculiar temper of the Jewish nation, Jerusalem was taken, sacked, and levelled with the earth. Only enough was left standing, to form quarters for a garrison, or to be a monument of the greatness of the city subdued. Its temple, which was then left without one stone upon another, has never yet been rebuilt; Julian tried to restore it, and failed. Will the Jews, will any future Antichrist, be ever bold enough to renew the experiment? by Titus. Christians As soon as the terrors of war were past, the Christian Church The of Jerusalem returned to the desolate city; and took up its abode return. amidst its ruins. Here it existed until the final and utter destruction by Hadrian, who in the early part of his reign had rebuilt it, and called it Ælia. Long before this latter event, the good Symeon had suffered mar- Martyrdom of Symeon. tyrdom, having been permitted to preside over this first Christian Church, in its most trying season, for more than forty years; "God probably lengthening out his life," to use the words of a pious and learned man, 84 66 that, as a skilful and faithful pilot, he might steer and conduct the affairs of the Church in those dismal and stormy days.' Eusebius states, that he was put to death on information laid against him, that he was of the family of David. This, if true, strongly marks the impression made on the minds of the Romans, that the Jews were so convinced of the truth of the Messiah's time being come, as to make it unsafe to leave even the mild and aged Symeon amongst them, lest they should take him by force, and make him a king. THE CHURCH AT ROME. the assumed It requires some effort of imagination, to represent to ourselves, Causes of truly and fully, the feeling with which the imperial city was regarded Supremacy throughout the world, in the first ages of Christianity. It was not of this only the greatest, the leading city of the universe; for in this point 84 Cave, in his Life of St. Symeon. Church, of view, the influence of every association which flowed from it, might find a counterpart in the awe and admiration excited by turns for the capital of the Spanish, the French, or the British empires: but its character was distinct and supreme;-it stood alone, the one abode of authority and rule, to which all other places had contracted a relation of dependence and subjection. That the Church established there should, from the ordinary results of association, acquire a more august and dignified character, than similar societies elsewhere established, seems almost unavoidable. As it gradually numbered amongst its members more and more of those who held rank and influence in this great centre of worldly veneration, the principle of association would of course operate more strongly still. But when the Emperor himself, not only became enrolled among its members, but promoted the cause of Christ throughout the world, by the actual protection and patronage of the imperial government, any distinction of respect, unanimously conceded to that Christian body, through which, in the first instance, all these privileges and favours flowed, need not surprise us. We may readily understand that this tendency to exalt the Church at Rome would be likely to run into excess. The temptation would be twofold: in the several Churches, to honour extravagantly, and give undue precedence, to that one which had allied itself to a source of prosperity, of which all partook; in the Church elevated, to be puffed up by every suc cessive token of respect, and to aim at a still higher elevation; and, as the origin and history of its original equality became less familiar and less clearly to be ascertained, to claim, as legalized rights, those titles and that precedence which accident and custom had created. Such was the condition of the Church at Rome, in its progress from that primitive age, when it dwelt in equality and unity with its brethren, to the period at which it began to search, in Scripture and in legend, for the title-deeds to a supremacy, which courtesy and custom had unthinkingly established. On the transfer of the seat of empire from Rome to Constantinople, it was first awakened to the uncertain tenure of those rights, which it had so long enjoyed, not indeed without question, but with security. It had set an example of temporal ambition, which could not but prove attractive to those who ministered to that ambition; and the Church of Constantinople, accordingly, claimed for itself a share of that rank, which, if rightly paid to its sister at Rome, while Rome was the imperial city, clearly now was due to that Church which occupied the corresponding station. Constantinople, as her Church represented, was "the new Rome," the young heir of Italian Rome's greatness; and, as such, she desired a participation at least of her rank and influence. Hence the diligence which even from the first the Church of Rome has displayed, in casting a shade over the origin of its greatness, and endeavouring to account for it on scriptural authority, however palpably insufficient. This has been, ever since, its method of defence; and its purpose is partly answered, whenever the attention is thus decoyed from the real quarter, in which all its worldly grandeur was nestled and hatched. It is with pleasure, therefore, that we look back on a period, when even at Rome the Church of Christ was only spiritual, her highest character, that of trustee of the record of revelation, and the first ambition of her bishops, to be dispensers of revealed truth, ministers of the word, or martyrs for its sake. of her early It is not the least striking evidence of the correctness of this Barrenness view of the Church of Rome, that peculiar as its condition was, in records. the seat of empire, its authentic records are as barren as those of the more remote and obscure Churches. Even the exact order of succession among the first three bishops, has furnished matter for elaborate controversy, a fact, which would of itself be subversive of the claim to any peculiar rights, founded on a regular succession of bishops from St. Peter. Such a lineal descent would surely have had a record, as accurately preserved by the care of Providence, for the satisfaction of the Christian Church, as was the lineage of David, for that of God's former people. In the early bishops, as successors of St. Peter too, we should expect a record of authority exercised, to illustrate the right vested in them. of the Churches The probability that St. Peter and St. Paul were joint founders Probability of this important Church, (or rather, superintendents of the work, existence of for the Church had its beginning in Rome before either apostle had two separate visited it,) the former taking the apostleship to the Jews, the latter, Rome. that to the Gentile portion, has been already noticed. It has been further conjectured by some, that this division continued long after the decease of the two apostles; and that thus we are to account for the otherwise contradictory statements, on the one hand, that Clement was the third in the list of bishops, on the other, that he was ordained by St. Peter, to take charge of the Church, when his own martyrdom was at hand. This is, indeed, to suppose the existence of two Churches originally at Rome; the one governed by Linus, whom St. Paul appointed, and by his successor Anacletus, or Cletus; the other by Clement, who survived, and united both under one bishop. Undoubtedly, such an arrangement would never have been made but under peculiar and pressing circumstances, as one main feature in the Christian scheme was union of Jew and Gentile in the common bond of the Gospel. But as it is little less than certain, that during the ministry of the two apostles, such unity was not effected, the two parties may possibly have thus continued distinct, until an opportunity was afforded for their union. This appears to have occurred during Clement's bishopric; and it not a little coincides with this view, that the only genuine work of his which remains, is wholly occupied with the subject of unity and Christian love, as the highest characteristic of a Church. If this view, which is sanctioned by the learned Cave, and is, perhaps, the |