tive. Whoever knows any thing of real Christianity, and the usual obloquy thrown upon it, will easily make just deductions, and separate what is true from what is false. Lucian was one of the most facetious authors of antiquity: He doubtless possessed the talents of wit and satire in a supreme degree. But truth and candour are not usually to be expected from writers of this sort: Lucian, like others of the same vein, had his eyes turned malignantly towards all objects but himself; He was intolerably self-conceited, and may be ranked with Voltaire, Rousseau, Hume, and other modern writers of that stamp: He was sarcastic, unfeeling; and suspicious of evil every where, except in his own heart. The common consequence of such a temper, indulged without restraint, is a sceptical indifference to all sorts of religion, a contempt of every mode of it without distinction, and a supercilious self-applause on account of superior discernment. Such men, of all others, seem most to fall under the censure of the wise man, HE THAT TRUSTETH HIS OWN HEART IS A FOOL. They take for granted the sincerity, humanity, and benevolence of their own hearts, with as much positiveness as they do the obliquity and hypocrisy of other men's. Antiquity had ONE Lucian; and, it must be confessed the absurdities of paganism afforded him a large field of satire, which, eventually, was not unserviceable to the progress of Christianity: Our times have ABOUNDED with writers of this stamp ; and it is one of the most striking characteristics of the depravity of modern taste, that they are so much read and esteemed.

Peregrinus is no very uncommon character. On a less extended scale, men of extreme wickedness in a similar way may frequently be noticed, viz. men, whose early life has been devoted to nothing but vices: Then, afterwards, something of the garb and mode of real Christians is assumed by these deceivers. But it is not every one who has the abilities of Peregrinus to wear the hypocritical garb so assumed with consummate address, and to impose on genuine Christians of undoubted discernment. The unfeeling heart of Lucian appears to rejoice in the impositions of Peregrinus; and particularly, that he was able to impose on Christians so long and so completely. A philanthropic mind would rather have been tempted to mourn over the depra

vity of human nature, that it should be capable of such wickedness. Providence, however, often sets a dismal mark upon such men in this life. Peregrinus lived long enough to be proved a complete impostor, and to be rendered intolerable to Christians; he acted the philosopher afterwards, it seems, a long time for what is often called philosophy is consistent enough with much hypocrisy ; and his dreadful end is awfully instructive to mankind.

Yet, what is there in all this account of the Christians, discoloured as it is by the malignant author, which does not tend to their honour? While Peregrinus made a creditable profession, they received and rejoiced in him: They did not pretend to infallibility. His superior parts and artifice enabled him a long time to deceive. It is probable that he avoided as much as possible the society of the most sagacious and penetrating among the Christians. The followers of Jesus had learnt to spare the mote in their brother's eye, and to feel the beam in their own. They were most solicitously guarded against that species of deception which is the most fatal, namely, the delusion of a man's OWN heart. If many of them were hence too much exposed to the snares of designing men, the thing tells surely to their honour, rather than to their disgrace. As for the rest; their liberality, their zeal, their compassion, their brotherly love, their fortitude, their heavenly-mindedness, are confessed in all this narrative to have been exceedingly great. I rejoice to hear from the mouth of an enemy such a testimony to the character of Christians: it is one of the best which I can meet with in the second century: Amidst such a dearth of materials it was not to be omitted. In morals, Christians must then have been, at least, much superior to the rest of mankind; and it is only to be lamented, that he who could relate this story, had not the wisdom to make a profitable use of it for himself.

IT

CHAP. VIII.

SOME ACCOUNT OF CHRISTIAN AUTHORS WHO FLOURISHED IN THIS CENTURY.

may throw additional light on the history of Christian doctrine and manners in this century, to give a brief view

of Christian authors. Some of the most renowned have been already spoken to, and a few more of great respectability must be deferred to the next century, because they outlived this.

*

Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, lived under the re gn of Marcus Antoninus and his son Commodus. He wrote many epistles to various churches, which demonstrate Dionysius. his care and vigilance in support of Christianity; -a pleasing proof that Corinth was singularly favoured by being possessed of a zealous and charitable pastor; though of his labours there, and of the state of the numerous society of Christians under his ministry, we have no account. He wrote to the Lacedæmonians an instruction concerning the doctrine of the Gospel, and an exhortation to peace and unity. He wrote to the Athenians also; and, by his testimony, he confirms the account before given of their declension after the martyrdom of Publius; and of their revival under the care of Quadratus; and he here informs us that Dionysius the Areopagite was the first bishop of Athens. In his letter to the Christians in Crete, he highly commends Philip the bishop, and guards them against heresies. In his epistle to the churches of Pontus, he directs that all penitents should be received who return to the Church, whatever their past crimes have been, even if guilty of heresy itself. One may hence infer, that discipline was as yet administered with much strictness in the churches; and that purity of doctrine, as well as of life and manners, were looked on as of high importance, insomuch that some were inclined to a degree of rigour incompatible with the Gospel, which promises full and free forgiveness through Christ to every returning sinner, without limitations or exceptions. Such inferences concerning the manners and spirit of the Christians at that time seem obvious and natural: The present state of church-discipline among all denominations of Christians in England, would undoubtedly suggest very different reflections. He writes. also to Pinytus, bishop of the Gnossians in Crete, advising him not to impose on the Christians the heavy burden of the obligation to preserve their virginity, but to have respect to the weakness incident to most of them. It seemed * [Euseb. iv, 23. Hieron. de vir. illust. c. 27.]

worth while to mention this also as a proof that monastic austerities were beginning to appear in the Church; and that the best men, after the example of the Apostles, laboured to control them. Pinytus, in his reply, extols Dionysius, and exhorts him to afford his people more solid nourishment; lest, being always fed with milk, they should remain in a state of infancy. This answer speaks something of the depth of thought and knowledge in godliness, with which Pinytus was endowed.

In his letter to the Romans, directed to Soter their bishop, he recommends to them to continue a charitable custom, which, from their first plantation, they had always practised; namely, to send relief to divers Churches throughout the world, and to assist particularly those who were condemned to the mines ;-a strong proof both that the Roman church continued opulent and numerous, and also that they still partook much of the spirit of Christ.*

Theophilus.

Theophilus of Antioch is a person of whom it were to be wished that we had a larger account. He was brought up a Gentile; was educated in all the knowledge then reputable in the world, and was doubtless a man of considerable parts and learning. His conversion to Christianity seems to have been the most reasonable thing imaginable. The Holy Spirit in his operations ever appears to adapt himself much to different tempers. Theophilus was a reasoner; and the grace of God, while it convinced him of his own inability to clear up his doubts, effectually enlightened his understanding. The belief of a resurrection appears to have been a mighty impediment to his reception of the Gospel: It contradicted his philosophy. The notions of proud philosophers vary in different ages; but they seldom fail in some form or other to withstand the religion of Jesus.

Of his labours in his bishopric of Antioch we have no account. He carried on a correspondence with a learned man named Autolycus; but with what success we are not told. He appears also to have been very vigilant against fashionable heresies. He lived thirteen years in his bishop

*Euseb. B. iv. c. 23. [Hieron. de vir. illust. c. 28.] [Theophilus was the earliest Christian writer who has used the word Tpias in speaking of the Deity.-See Burton's Lect. 19.]

ric; and died in peace about the second or third Commodus.*

Melito.

year of

Melito, bishop of Sardis, from the very little of his remains that are extant, may be conceived to be one whom God might make use of for the revival of godliness in that drooping church. The very titles of some of his works excite our regret for the loss of them. One of them is on the submission of the senses to faith: another on the soul, the body, and the spirit; another on God incarnate. A fragment of his, preserved by the author of the Chronicle, called the Alexandrian, says, "that the Christians do not adore insensible stones, but that they worship one God alone, who is before all things and in all things, and Jesus Christ, who is God before all ages." [In another fragment from the third book of his work on the Incarnation of Christ written against Marcion "for the same (Jesus Christ) being at once both perfect God and perfect man, gave satisfactory evidence to us of his two natures, his Godhead by the miracles wrought in the three years after his baptism, his manhood in the thirty years before it, in which the imperfection of the flesh hid the proofs of his Godhead, although he was the true God from everlasting."]‡ He lived under the reign of Marcus Antoninus. His unsuccessful but masterly apology presented to that emperor has already been noticed.§ He travelled into the east on purpose to collect authentic ecclesiastical information; and he gives us a catalogue of the sacred books of the Old Testament. He died and was buried at Sardis ;-a man whom Polycrates, bishop of Ephesus, his contemporary, calls an eunuch, that is, one who made himself an eunuch for the kingdom of heaven's sake. Several such, I apprehend, were in the primitive times. But the depravity of human nature is ever pushing men into extremes. There soon arose some, who made a self-righteous use of these instances of self-denial; and clogged them with unwarrantable excesses. The contrary extreme is now so prevalent, that,if a person were to follow the example of Melito on the same generous principles which our Saviour expresses,- it * Euseb. B. iv. c. 24. Cave's Life of Theophilus. [Hieron. de vir. illust. c. 25.] + [Routh's Reliq. Sacr. vol. i. p. 112.] [Routh's Reliq. vol. i. p. 115.] S [Euseb. iv. c. 26.] || [Matt. xix. 12. Euseb. v. c. 24.] Du Pin and Cave.