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of the Gospel, from moral truths to the Christian mysteries. On their first admission they were denominated hearers, from the leave granted them to attend the reading of the Scriptures and sermons in the Church. Afterwards, being allowed to stay during the prayers, and receiving the imposition of hands as the sign of their progress in spiritual knowledge, they were called worshippers. Lastly, some short time before their baptism, they were taught the Lord's Prayer (the peculiar privilege of the regenerate), were entrusted with the knowledge of the Creed, and, as destined for incorporation into the body of believers, received the titles of competent or elect. Even to the last, they were granted nothing beyond a formal and general account of the articles of the Christian faith; the exact and fully developed doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation, and still more, the doctrine of the Atonement, as once made upon the cross, and commemorated and appropriated in the Eucharist, being the exclusive possession of the serious and practised Christian. On the other hand, the chief subjects of catechisings, as we learn from Cyril7, were the doctrines of repentance and pardon, of the necessity of good works, of the nature and use of baptism, and the immortality of the soul;-as the Apostle had determined them.

The exoteric teaching, thus observed in the Catechetical Schools, was still more appropriate, when the Christian teacher addressed himself, not to the instruction of willing hearers, but to controversy or public preach

6 τέλειοι; ἀκροώμενοι, or audientes ; γονυκλίνοντες, or εὐχόμενοι; competentes, electi, or owτCóμevoi. Bingham, Antiq. book x. Suicer. Thes. in verb. κατηχέω. 7 Bingham, ibid.

ing. At the present day, there are very many sincere Christians, who consider that the evangelical doctrines are the appointed instruments of conversion, and, as such, exclusively attended with the Divine blessing. In proof of this position, with an inconsistency remarkable in those who profess a jealous adherence to the inspired text, and are not slow to accuse others of ignorance of its contents, they appeal, not to Scripture, but to the stirring effects of this (so-called) Gospel preaching, and to the inefficiency, on the other hand, of mere exhortations respecting the benevolence and mercy of God, the necessity of repentance, the rights of conscience, and the obligation of obedience. But it is scarcely the attribute of a generous faith, to be anxiously inquiring into the consequences of this or that system, with a view to decide its admissibility, instead of turning at once to the revealed word, and inquiring into the rule there exhibited to us. God can defend and vindicate His own command, whatever it turn out to be; weak though it seem to our vain wisdom, and unworthy of the Giver; and that His course in this instance is really that which the hasty religionist condemns as if the theory of unenlightened formalists, is evident to careful students of Scripture, and is confirmed by the practice of the Primitive Church.

As to Scripture, I shall but observe, in addition to the remarks already made on the passages in the Epistles to the Corinthians and Hebrews, that no one sanction can be adduced thence, whether of precept or of example, in behalf of the practice of stimulating the affections, such as gratitude or remorse, by means of the doctrine

of the Atonement, in order to the conversion of the hearers; that, on the contrary, it is its uniform method. to connect the Gospel with Natural Religion, and to mark out obedience to the moral law as the ordinary means of attaining to a Christian faith, the higher evangelical truths, as well as the Eucharist, which is the visible emblem of them, being received as the reward and confirmation of habitual piety;-that, in the preaching of the Apostles and Evangelists in the Book of Acts, the sacred mysteries are revealed to individuals in proportion to their actual religious proficiency; that the first principles of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, are urged upon Felix; while the elders of Ephesus are reminded of the divinity and vicarious sacrifice of Christ, and the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in the Church;-lastly, that among those converts, who were made the chief instruments of the first propagation of the Gospel, or who are honoured with especial favour in Scripture, none are found who had not been faithful to the light already given them, and were not distinguished, previously to their conversion, by a strictly conscientious deportment. Such are the divine notices given to those who desire an apostolical rule for dispensing the word of life; and as such, the ancient Fathers received them. They received them as the fulfilment of our Lord's command, not to give that which is holy to dogs, nor to cast pearls before swine; a text cited by Clement and Tertullian, among others, in justification of their cautious distribution of sacred truth. They also considered this caution as the result of the most truly chari8 Ceillier, Apol. des Pères, ch. ii. Bingh. Antiq. x. 5.

table consideration for those whom they addressed, who were likely to be perplexed, not converted, by the sudden exhibition of the whole evangelical scheme. This is the doctrine of Theodoret, Chrysostom, and others, in their comments upon the passage in the Epistle to the Hebrews". "Should a catechumen ask thee what the teachers have determined, (says Cyril of Jerusalem,) tell nothing to one who is without. For we impart to thee a secret and a promise of the world to come. Keep safe the secret for Him who gives the reward. Listen not to one who asks, 'What harm is there in my knowing also?' Even the sick ask for wine, which, unseasonably given, brings on delirium; and so there come two ills, the death of the patient and the disrepute. of the physician." In another place he says, "All may hear the Gospel, but the glory of the Gospel is set apart for the true disciples of Christ. To all who could hear, the Lord spake, but in parables; to His disciples He privately explained them. What is the blaze of Divine glory to the enlightened, is the blinding of unbelievers. These are the secrets which the Church unfolds to him who passes on from the catechumens, and not to the heathen. For we do not unfold to a heathen the truths concerning Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; nay, not even in the case of catechumens, do we clearly explain the mysteries, but we frequently say many things indirectly, so that believers who have been taught may understand, and the others may not be injured'."

The work of St. Clement of Alexandria, called Stro

9 Suicer. Thes. in verb. σToLXETOV.

1 Cyril. Hieros. ed. Milles, præf. § 7 catech. vi. 16.

E

mateis, or Tapestry-work, from the variety of its con-
tents, well illustrates the Primitive Church's method
of instruction, as far as regards the educated portion
of the community. It had the distinct object of inte-
resting and conciliating the learned heathen who perused
it; but it also exemplifies the peculiar caution then
adopted by Christians in teaching the truth, their desire
to rouse the moral powers to internal voluntary action,
and their dread of loading or formalizing the mind. In
the opening of his work, Clement speaks of his miscel-
laneous discussions as mingling truth with philosophy;
"or rather," he continues, "involving and concealing it,
as the shell hides the edible fruit of the nut." In
another place he compares them, not to a fancy-garden,
but to some thickly-wooded mountain, where vegetation
of every sort, growing promiscuously, by its very abun-
dance conceals from the plunderer the fruit-trees, which
are intended for the rightful owner. "We must hide," he
says, "that wisdom, spoken in mystery, which the Son
of God has taught us. Thus the Prophet Esaias has his
tongue cleansed with fire, that he may be able to declare
the vision; and our ears must be sanctified as well as
our tongues, if we aim at being recipients of the truth.
This was a hindrance to my writing; and still I have
anxiety, since Scripture says, 'Cast not your pearls
before swine;' for those pure and bright truths, which
are so marvellous and full of God to goodly natures, do
but provoke laughter, when spoken in the hearing of the
many 2"
The Fathers considered that they had the

Strom. i. 1. 12; v. 3; vi. 1; vii. 18.

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