It should be added however, in fairness, that the passage does not necessarily mean, that Ignatius received the doctrine of the Trinity from angels, but that he heard angels singing hymns to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the three persons who were described, in the time of Socrates, by the name of the Trinity. The value of this testimony must depend upon the antiquity of the tradition; and that cannot now be ascertained. 66 POLYCARPUS, A. D. 108. In my Testimonies of the Ante-Nicene Fathers to the Divinity of Christ, I did not give any particular account of Polycarp, because no passage was alleged from his writings, though his name was incidentally mentioned in that work, and some facts were alluded to in connexion with his history. The most valuable information concerning him is that furnished by Irenæus, who tells us that he had seen him, and adds, "He had not only been instructed "by the apostles, and had lived with many who "had seen Christ, but had been appointed to the bishopric of Smyrna by the apostles f." Polycarp was a very old man, when Irenæus saw him; and the expression used by himself, of "having served "Christ eighty-six years," is generally taken to mean, that then, at the time of his death, he was eighty-six years old. The time of his death has been fixed at different periods. Eusebius placed it in 167 : and the latest date assigned to it is in 175: but Pearson has advanced some strong arguments for supposing it to have happened in 147h. Acs Eus. Hist. Eccl. IV. 15. p. 167. h Op. Posthum. Chronol. Diss. II. c. 14, &c. f III. 3, 4. p. 176. cording to this notion he was born about the year 61, or five or six years before the death of St. Peter and St. Paul: and since there is reason to believe, that most of the apostles died soon after that period, we are probably to restrict the expression of Irenæus to Polycarp having lived with St. John, and having been appointed by that apostle to the bishopric of Smyrna. If these words of Irenæus are in any sense to be taken literally, Polycarp must have been bishop of Smyrna before the death of St. John, who was the last surviving apostle: and if St. John wrote his Apocalypse but a short time before his death, we can hardly avoid concluding, that the angel of the church in Smyrna, addressed in ii. 8, was Polycarp; and such was the opinion of Usher and several learned men. Irenæus speaks of Polycarp having gone to Rome, when Anicetus was bishop of that see and Eusebius supplies the additional fact, that he went thither on account of the dispute between the eastern and western churches concerning the time of celebrating Easteri. Pearson and Dodwell suppose Anicetus to have held the see from 142 to 161; which will enable us nearly to fix the date of Polycarp's arrival in Rome, if we also adopt the notion of Pearson, that he suffered martyrdom in 147. The two bishops could not come to any agreement, since both of them urged ancient, if not apostolical authority for the customs of their respective churches. It is pleasing however to read, that the conference was carried on amicably; and writers of the church of Rome have been perplexed to find it said, that when the two bishops were in the church together, Anicetus allowed Polycarp, as a mark of i Hist. Eccl. IV. 14. p. 160. V. 24. p. 249. honour, to consecrate the eucharist. Polycarp is stated, during this visit to Rome, to have brought back to the church many heretics, who had embraced the tenets of Valentinus and Marcion: and Irenæus informs us, that meeting one day with Marcion himself, who said to him, "Do you recognise me?” he replied, "I recognise the firstborn of Satan." The martyrdom of Polycarp took place in the amphitheatre of Smyrna, in the presence of the proconsul and a most interesting account of it was written by the Christians in that city, and sent to the other churches. Eusebius has preserved part of this letter in his Ecclesiastical History, (IV. 15,) and the whole of it was published by archbishop Usher in 1647. We have the authority of Irenæus for the fact of Polycarp having written many epistles but only one genuine work of this kind has come down to us, which was addressed to the Christians at Philippi. It was published for the first time in Latin by J. Faber Stapulensis in 1498, and in Greek by Peter Halloix in the first volume of his Lives of Oriental Writers, p. 525, in 1633. A fuller and more perfect copy of it was printed by archbishop Usher in 1644. 3. Epistola Ecclesiæ Smyrnensis de Martyrio Polycarpi. The testimony, which I adduce from the words of Polycarp, is not taken from his Epistle to the Philippians, but from the circular Epistle, which was written, as just stated, by the church at Smyrna: and I adduce it, as enabling me to say a few words concerning the form of the ancient doxologies. The holy martyr, when he was fastened to the stake, and was about to surrender his soul to the Master, whom he had faithfully served, so many years, addressed Him in a solemn and affecting prayer, the last words of which were, "For this "and for every thing I praise thee, I bless thee, I glorify thee, together with the eternal and heavenly Jesus Christ, thy beloved Son, with whom "to thee and the Holy Ghost be glory, both now "and for evermore. Amen k' 66 66 دو Such are the concluding words of the prayer in the edition of archbishop Usher: but Eusebius has quoted them differently, "— I glorify thee, through "the eternal High Priest Jesus Christ, thy beloved "Son, through whom be glory to thee with him "in the Holy Ghost, both now and for evermore. "Amen1" The difference between these two forms of expression appears considerable, and is connected in some measure with the Arian controversy: for it is well known, that the Arians, if they would have used the former doxology at all, would have greatly preferred the latter: and Usher seems to hint, that the genuine words of Polycarp may have been altered by a favourer of Arianism. The first of the two forms unites the Son and the Holy Ghost with the Father, and ascribes equal glory to all the three persons: the second seems to place the Father above the two other persons, and by expressions which are not very distinct and intelligible, to glorify the Father through the Son and in the Holy Ghost. It was remarked so long ago as by Socrates in the * Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ περὶ πάντων αἰνῶ σε, εὐλογῶ σε, δοξάζω σε, σὺν τῷ αἰωνίῳ καὶ ἐπουρανίῳ Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ, ἀγαπητῷ σου παιδί, μεθ ̓ οὗ σοι καὶ Πνεύματι Αγίῳ ἡ δόξα, καὶ νῦν καὶ εἰς τοὺς μέλλοντας αἰῶνας. Αμήν. 1 Διὰ τοῦ αἰωνίου ἀρχιερέως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ σου παιδός· δι ̓ οὗ σοι σὺν αὐτῷ ἐν Πνεύματι ̔Αγίῳ δόξα, καὶ νῦν καὶ εἰς τοὺς μέλλοντας αἰῶνας. p. 169. fifth century, that one of the grounds for charging Eusebius with Arianism was taken from his using the phrase through Christ in his doxologies: and that such was his practice, may be seen in some of his works now extant ". It is added however by Socrates, that the phrase was often used by orthodox writers and bishop Bull observes, that the words μeo and di' cũ, with whom and through whom, occur in doxologies written before the council of Nice o. "The early orthodox writers,” as bishop Bull goes on to remark," while they glorified "the Father through the Son, intended to express "the subordination of the Son, in his relation of "Son, and the preeminence of the Father, in his "relation of Father: but by adoring the Son toge“ther with the Father, they intended to express his 66 being of one substance and his existing in the "same divine essence and nature with the Father." Basil also defends the expression, through the Son, in the Holy Ghost, as bearing an orthodox sense?: and it may be stated generally, that both forms were used indifferently before the council of Nice; but the Arians after that time made a distinction, and glorified the Father, not together with, but through the Son. Theodoret informs us, that in the middle of the fourth century the clergy and people of Antioch were divided, some using the conjunction and, when they glorified the Son, (i. e. saying and to the |