to this consideration, which removes one very ma- other, by the interchange of letters, and the jourterial class of objections to its employment, we neyings of ministers and missionaries, is equally may add another which enlarges the sphere out probable; and to suppose that this species of inof which the writer may, with safety and honesty, formation could be quickly lost, or that it could draw materials for his purpose; that is to say, become so thoroughly corrupted by the intermixthere is probability on the side of tradition in re- ture of fable as to be unworthy of notice in a subspect to its biographical uses; and it can almost sequent age, is to do violence to the rules on which always be judged of by the rule of verisimilitude, all evidence must rest, which is in any way transwhen limited to this employment. It is an ac-mitted through channels not sealed and guarded knowledged fact, that the writers of the New Tes- by formal testaments. tament selected the circumstances they recorded out of a much larger number of incidents than it came within their province to detail: were it not, therefore, a sacred duty to sacrifice every object to the perfect preservation of Scripture from the least mixture with even possible error, it might be argued, that it is not probable, that the striking and powerfully interesting events connected with the establishment of the gospel, could any of them be lost; and that we may therefore look with confidence on many of those traditionary relations which purport to be details of occurrences left unnoticed by the inspired penmen. But the judicious jealousy with which the purity of the gospel is watched, has raised a barrier against the introduction of such auxiliaries to the Scripture narrative. Where this narrative ceases, the case becomes different, and the probability of the tradition remains without any prohibition to its employment. The character of the period immediately succeeding the first founding of the church, was singularly fitted for the production of incidents not sufficiently important to demand a continuance of the sacred and inspired narrative, but in every way calculated to excite and secure attention. When the apostles and first disciples left the original seat of the gospel, to spread its glad tidings over the world, they did not perform their allotted duties with so little energy as to remain obscure among the people to whom they ministered. Fulfilling the precept of their glorified Master, they became beacons of truth, shining from the eminence on which their election had placed them, over wide regions of gloom and sterility; but not freed from suffering, they were also set forth to men and to angels a spectacle of much and patient endurance. In both these respects the apostles could not fail of being scrutinized by large classes of observers, who moved by their doctrines, startled by their miracles, or enraged by their severe rebukes, would not easily forget their addresses, or lose sight of the circumstances which attended their appeals. The personal appearance, the voice and gesture even of such men, would long have a permanent place in the memory; and many a saying, many a minute action that had sunk deep into the hearts of retired, devout converts, would, when the spirit became accustomed to the new and overpowering thoughts which the gospel message had awakened, come back upon the mind with a long, fresh train of impressive associations. We would gather from this, that a biographer of the apostles, and their first successors, has a wide field open to him which he may traverse with safety and profit; but at the same time imposing on him this strict and uniformly applicable rule, that that species of traditional information only is to be made use of, which is found adopted by those who lived at a period sufficiently near the apostolic times to judge of its origin and its authors. Taking this as a primary principle in the selection of incidents, and in every instance examining them by the rule of analogy and verisimilitude, there will be little danger of our adopting any of those weak inventions by which the superstition of former ages was amused and fostered. Lives of the apostles were written at an early period; but they are for the most part filled with accounts evidently intended to excite the attention of weak, uninstructed minds, and possessing no claim to belief. The period was favorable to such productions; the excitement occasioned by extraordinary events requiring all those modifying principles which are only found in the purest faith and piety; and creating, consequently, a very wide field for the employment of invention. This is amply shown by the rapid multiplication of writings, purporting to have been of apostolic origin. Even before the end of the first century new gospels had been forged, and the acts of Christ and his apostles were described in books which, claiming reverence by the nature of their contents, were not less calculated to interest than to deceive. Such were the gospel according to the Hebrews, and the gospel according to the Egyptians; both of which furnished sufficient authorities to support very numerous sects in dangerous errors: nor were they altogether deprived of their pretensions to credit, till after the canon of Scripture had been some time settled by diligent and cautious inquiry. Besides these, there were the gospel of St. Peter, the gospel of Philip, the gospel of James, and of every other apostle, not excepting the traitor Judas himself, whose supposed composition is said to have been received by the Gajanites, of whom, strange to relate, he was the titular saint. The acts of the apostles, subsequent to the time of Christ, furnished materials for an equal number of similar supposititious narratives. It is commonly believed that the first work of this nature was the production of a disciple of St. Paul, and that the writer was detected in his falsehoods by the knowledge of St. John, who still survived. The chief It may fairly be concluded from these conside- source, however, of fabulous traditions, was that rations, that for some time after the apostles lived, heretical spirit which so early infected the church. the memory of Christians was richly stored with Most of the spurious gospels had their origin with particulars respecting them: that these particu- the Ebionites, the Manichæans, or some other lars would form the subject of frequent conversa- powerful sect. From the same source proceeded tion among believers: that they would be com- the Acts of the Apostles, which pretended to demunicated from one division of the church to an-scribe, in particular terms, the labors and jour neyings of those devout men to the end of their days. of the church ere the might of Divine power descended to present it to, and to make it one with The whole of these works were rejected by the Christ; they became, when his prayer was answerchurch; and private Christians were warned ed, "sanctify them through thy truth," the types of against their dangerous errors by the many acute Christian believers in all ages and countries of the and pious scholars who devoted themselves to the world; and in their journeyings and sufferings they examination of whatever assumed the title of an show how, according to the language of St. Paul inspired production. Conferences between the the followers of the Redeemer were to go on, "fillbelievers of one city and another, and the succes-ing up that which is behind of the afflictions of sion of highly devout and gifted men, as bishops Christ in the flesh." And this contemplation of of the several infant establishments, led gradually their primary calling and dignity, will conduct the to the clear and firm determination of the Scrip- mind to some apprehension of the glory they will ture canon. Numerous synods, held in subsequent be seen enjoying when, as the still supremely exages, reinvestigated with minute particularity the alted, and eldest born brethren of Christ, they reason upon which this rule was established; and will judge, on their thrones, the twelve tribes of a line was drawn, which the boldness of heresy Israel. has never since been able to pass. But while no The eminent writer of the following memoirs writer, of common penetration or honesty, would merits all the confidence due to distinguished worth venture to look for materials in these counterfeit and ability. His own history may be given in a narratives, there is still a source of information few lines. He was born at the close of the sixopen, to which suspicion cannot justly attach.-teenth, or beginning of the seventeenth century, at This is found in the writings of those fathers who Pickwell, in Leicestershire; the living of which lived in the first three centuries, to the end of parish was held by his father, a man of learning which period much even of the unwritten history and piety, who bore his full share in the troubles of the apostolic age might be carried by a natural endured by the clergy during the civil wars. Our and easy tradition. The epistle generally ascribed author received his education at St. John's Colto Barnabas, though evidently unimportant as to lege, Cambridge; and took the degree of Bachelor doctrine, deserves to be regarded in a much higher of Arts in 1656. He proceeded to the degree of light when consulted simply for historical illustra- Master at the regular period; and in 1662 obtaintion the same may be said of the remains of ed the vicarage of Islington, and not long after Papias, whose theoretical conceits, though they the dignity of Chaplain in Ordinary to Charles the greatly diminish our confidence in the strength of Second. In 1672 he took the degree of D. D., to his capacity, ought certainly not to deprive him which he was also admitted at the sister univerof all credit as a witness, when the circumstances sity; and in 1681, his merits as a scholar obtainhe mentions have no intrinsic improbability. To ed for him the rectory of Allhallows, and a canonrefuse to believe a writer on a matter of fact, be-ry at Windsor. But the numerous calls which cause he appears incapable of acutely discerning his London preferments made upon him were found between truth and error in theoretical or purely prejudicial to the important labors he had underintellectual subjects, would be to introduce a rule taken as an historian of Christianity; and he that would render it impossible, in most cases, to gladly accepted, in exchange for Islington and get evidence on any subject whatever. In the Allhallows, the vicarage of Isleworth, to which he fragments of such men as Clemens Romanus, Ig-retired in the year 1690; and where he continued natius, Polycarp, the least glimpses of information to enjoy for many years the leisure which he emare of inestimable value; nor is it to be supposed, | ployed so greatly to the advantage of religion and when coming to a later period, that writers like learning. His death took place on the 4th of AuOrigen, or Cyprian, or Chrysostom, or the histo-gust, 1713; and he lies buried in the parish rian Eusebius or Theodoret, would not avail them- church of Islington, where a monument is placed selves of the most credible traditions, or that be- to his memory. fore adopting them, they would not fairly examine their claims to belief. That much uncertainty on several points of interest must remain, after every source of information has been investigated, cannot be denied. But this is not to prevent our using the utmost diligence to collect whatever lies within the reach of learning: and it will generally be found, that when the combined caution and sound erudition of Christian scholars are taken as a guide on this subject, that both instruction and satisfaction will follow in the track they have pursued. To reflecting minds, the biography of Christ's apostles traced out according to these rules, will afford many a refreshing and elevating theme for thought. These messengers of Christ to the world were not teachers merely; they were the foundation-stones of the vast spiritual edifice which Christ and the Holy Spirit will continue to enlarge, till it is commensurate with the predescribed plan of the heavenly Jerusalem: they formed the natural body 83 (19) The works of this distinguished scholar are numerous. The chief are, the "Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Historia Literaria, or, a Literary History of Ecclesiastical Writers;" his "Lives of the Apostles ;" the "Apostolici, or the History of the Lives, Acts, Deaths, and Martyrdoms of those who were cotemporary with, or immediately succeeded the apostles, as also of the most eminent of the Primitive Fathers for the first three hundred years;" the "Primitive Christianity, or the Religion of the Ancient Christians;" the "Tabul Ecclesiasticæ, or Tables of the Ecclesiastical Writers;" "A Dissertation concerning the Government of the Ancient church, by Bishops, Metropolitans, and Patriarchs; those particularly concerning the Ancient Power and Jurisdiction of the Bishops of Rome, and the encroachment of that upon other Sees, especially the See of Constantinople;" "Ecclesiastici, or the History of the Lives, Acts, Deaths, and Writings, of the most eminent Fathers of the church, that flourished in the fourth century: wherein, among other things, an account is given of the rise, growth, and progress of Arianism, and all other sects of that age, descending from it: together with an introduction, containing an Historical account of the State of Paganism under the first Christian Emperor:" and lastly, the "Chartophylax Ecclesiasticus," which is a succinct summary of the principal contents of the Historia Literaria, and an improvement on the Ecclesiastical Tables. Cave's early estimation as a scholar on the continent is proved by the reprint of his chief work, the Historia Literaria, at Geneva; and of his Ta bulæ Ecclesiasticæ at Hamburgh: nor can any student of religious history fail of finding in his works most important helps to investigation. Jortin, a writer more witty than acute, and better skilled to perform the part of a compiler than to reason or investigate, has affected to speak sarcastically of Cave's deep attention to the fathers: but the careful reader well knows how to appreciate the respective merits of these men; and even a cursory glance of the "Historia Literaria" of the one, and of the "Remarks on Ecclesiastical History" of the other, will at once show how little pretensions Jortin had to act the part of a critic in regard to this profound scholar. AUTHOR'S PREFACE. It will not, I suppose, seem improbable to the reader, when I tell him with how much reluctancy and unwillingness I set upon this undertaking, intimately conscious as I was to my own unfitness for such a work at any time, much more when clogged with many habitual infirmities and distempers. I considered the difficulty of the thing itself, perhaps not capable of being well managed by a much better pen than mine; few of the ancient monuments of the church being extant, and little of this nature in those few that are. Indeed, I could not but think it reasonable, that all possible honor should be done to those that first "preached the gospel of peace, and brought glad tidings of good things;" that it was fit men should be taught how much they were obliged to those excellent persons, who were willing at so dear a rate to plant Christianity in the world; who they were, and what was that piety and that patience, that charity and that zeal, which made them to be reverenced while they lived, and their memories ever since to be honorably celebrated through the world; infinitely beyond the glories of Alexander, and the triumphs of a Pompey or a Cæsar. But then how this should be done out of those few imperfect memoirs that have escaped the general shipwreck | of church antiquities; and much more by so rude and unskilful a hand as mine, appeared, I confess, a very difficult task, and next door to impossible. These, with some other considerations, made me a long time obstinately resolve against it, till, being overcome by importunity, I yielded to do it as I was able, and as the nature of the thing would bear. That which I primarily designed to myself, was to draw down the history of the New Testament, especially from our Lord's death; to inquire into the first originals and plantations of the Christian church by the ministry of the apostles, the success of their doctrine, the power and conviction of their miracles, their infinite labors and hardships, and the dreadful sufferings which they underwent; to consider in what instances of piety and virtue they ministered to our imitation, and served the purposes of religion and a holy life. Indeed the accounts that are left us of these things are very short and inconsiderable; sufficient possibly to excite the appetite, not to allay the hunger of an importunate inquirer into these matters. A consideration that might give us just occasion to lament the irreparable loss of those primitive records, which the injury of time hath deprived us of; the substance being gone, and little left us but the shell and carcass. Had we the writings of Papias, bishop of Hierapolis,* and scholar (says Irenæus) to St. John; wherein, as himself tells us, he set down what he had learnt from those who had familiarly conversed with the apostles, the sayings and discourses of Andrew and Peter, of Philip and Thomas, &c.; had we the ancient Commentaries of Hegesippus, Clemens Alexandrinus's Institu tions, Africanus's Chronography, and some others, the reader might expect more entire and particu lar relations. But, alas! these are long since perished, and little besides the names of them transmitted to us. Nor should we have had most of that little which is left us, had not the commendable care and industry of Eusebius preserved it to us. And if he complained, in his time, (when those writings were extant,) that towards the composing of his history he had only some few particular accounts here and there left by the ancients of their times, what cause have we to complain, when even those little portions have been ravished from us? So that he that would build a work of this nature, must look upon himself as condemned to a * Hist. Eccl. lib. i. c. 2. p. 4. kind of Egyptian task, to make brick without unerring spirit that presided over them. Others straw, at least to pick it up where he can find it, such, of whose faith and testimony, especially in though after all it amounts to a very slender par- matters of fact, there is no just cause to doubt; I cel. Which as it greatly hinders the beauty and mean the genuine writings of the ancient fathers; completeness of the structure, so does it exceed- or those, which, though unduly assigned to this or ingly multiply the labor and difficulty. For by that particular father, are yet generally allowed to this means I have been forced to gather up those be ancient, and their credit not to be despised, belittle fragments of antiquity, that lie dispersed in cause their proper parent is not certainly known. the writings of the ancients, thrown some into this Next to these came the writers of the middle and corner, and others into that; which I have at later ages of the church, who, though below the length put together, like the pieces of a broken former in point of credit, have yet some particular statue, that it might have at least some kind of advantages that recommend them to us. Such I resemblance of the person whom it designs to re- account Symeon Metaphrastes, Nicephorus Calpresent. listus, the Menca and Menologies of the Greek Had I thought good to have traded in idle and church, &c., wherein, though we meet with many frivolous authors, Abdias Babylonius, "The Pas- vain and improbable stories, yet may we rationalsions of Peter and Paul," Joachim Perionius, Peter ly expect some real and substantial accounts of de Natalibus, and such like, I might have present- things; especially seeing they had the advantage ed the reader with a larger, not a better account. of many ancient and ecclesiastical writings extant But, besides the averseness of my nature to false- in their times, which to us are utterly lost. Though hoods and trifles, especially wherein the honor of even these too I have never called in, but in the the Christian religion is concerned, I knew the want of more ancient and authentic writers. As world to be wiser at this time of day, than to be for others, if any passages occur either in themimposed upon by pious frauds, and cheated with selves of doubtful and suspected credit, or borrowecclesiastical romances and legendary reports. ed from spurious and uncertain authors, they are For this reason, I have more fully and particularly always introduced or dismissed with some kind of insisted upon the lives of the two first apostles, so censure or remark; that the most easy and credugreat a part of them being secured by an unques- lous reader may know what to trust to, and not tionable authority; and have presented the larger fear being secretly surprised into a belief of doubtportions of the sacred history, many times to very ful and fabulous reports. And now, after all, I minute circumstances of action. And I presume am sufficiently sensible how lank and thin this acthe wise and judicious reader will not blame me, count is, nor can the reader be less satisfied with or choosing rather to enlarge upon a story which it than I am myself; and I have only this piece of I knew to be infallibly true, than to treat him with justice and charity to beg of him, that he would those which there was cause enough to conclude suspend his censure till he has taken a little pains to be certainly false. The reader will easily discern, that the authors I make use of are not all of the same rank and size. Some of them are divinely inspired, whose authority is sacred, and their reports rendered not only credible, but unquestionable, by that infallible and to inquire into the state of the times and things I write of; and then, however he may challenge my prudence in undertaking it, he will not, I hope, see reason to charge me with want of care and faithfulness in the pursuance of it. |