a 1 Cor. 15. 26, 27. ch. 2. 16. b Exod. 32. 32, 33. IV. 1 1Ωστε, ἀδελφοί μου ἀγαπητοὶ καὶ ἐπιπόθητοι, χαρὰ καὶ στέφανός μου, οὕτω στήκετε ἐν Κυρίῳ ἀγαπητοί. 2 Εὐοδίαν παρακαλῶ, καὶ Συντύχην παρα- τι 2. 19, 20. καλῶ, τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν ἐν Κυρίῳ. 35 Ναὶ ἐρωτῶ καὶ σὲ, σύζυγε γνήσιε, συλ- Β λαμβάνου αὐταῖς, αἵτινες ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ συνήθλησάν μοι, μετὰ καὶ Κλήμεντος καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν συνεργῶν μου, ὧν τὰ ὀνόματα ἐν βίβλῳ ζωῆς. 4 © с tỷ e γνωρινοῦν, Luke 10. 20. ch. 1 27. Rev. 3. 5. & 13. 8. & 20. 12. & 21. 27. c Rom. 12. 12. 1 Thess. 5. 16. d Heb. 10. 25. e ι 22 & Ps. 55. Matt. 6. 25. Χαίρετε ἐν Κυρίῳ πάντοτε, πάλιν ἐρῶ, χαίρετε. 5 4 Τὸ ἐπιεικὲς ὑμῶν Tò 2 Cor. 13. 11. γνωσθήτω πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις· ὁ Κύριος ἐγγύς. 6. Μηδὲν μεριμνᾶτε, ἀλλ ̓ ἐν παντὶ τῇ προσευχῇ καὶ τῇ δεήσει μετὰ εὐχαριστίας τὰ αἰτήματα ὑμῶν ζέσθω πρὸς τὸν Θεόν. 7' καὶ ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἡ ὑπερέχουσα πάντα φρουρήσει τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν καὶ τὰ νοήματα ὑμῶν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. 8 4 Τὸ λοιπὸν, ἀδελφοὶ, ὅσα ἐστὶν ἀληθῆ, ὅσα σεμνὰ, ὅσα δίκαια, ὅσα ἁγνὰ, ὅσα προσφιλῆ, ὅσα εὔφημα, εἴ τις ἀρετὴ καὶ εἴ τις ἔπαινος, ταῦτα λογίζεσθε από 12. 17. the risen body under a change of condition. Thus Tertullian, 1. c., "In resurrectionis eventu mutari licebit cum salute substantiæ resurget hoc corpus nostrum quod humiliatur. Quomodo enim transfigurabit, si nullum erit ?" And Irenæus, 1. c., "Quod est humilitatis corpus quod transfigurabit Dominus? Manifestum est, quoniam corpus quod est caro, quod et humiliatur cadens in terram.' As St. Paul himself says, "It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory." 1 Cor. xv. 43, and see there, v. 51-54. After ἡμῶν Elz. has εἰς τὸ γενέσθαι αὐτὸ, which is a gloss. The construction is illustrated by Rom. viii. 29, роúpiσev σνμμóрpovs. Сp. Winer, p. 550 (who compares Matt. xii. 13), and Kühner, § 560. Matthiæ, § 414, 3. TO σwμati Tis dóns] Wonderful transformation! This frail body of ours, if it is conformed to the body of Christ in suffering on earth, will be also conformed to His body in glory, even to that body which is adored by Angels, and sits at the right hand of God. If all the world could weep, it would never shed tears enough for him who is excluded from that glory and consigned to everlasting shame. (Chrys., Theoph.) Christ, at His own Transfiguration, gave a pledge and glimpse of the future glorious transformation of the risen Body, and thus prepared the Apostles to suffer with Him on earth, in order that they might be glorified for ever with Him, in body and soul, in heaven. See on Matt. xvii. 2, 3. CH. IV. 3. Nal] Yea. So the best authorities. Elz. has kal. — σúŠvye yvhσie] true yoke-fellow. St. Paul might, if he had pleased, have handed down this person's name to the praise of the world in all generations by adding a single word. But he has not done so. And now it cannot be determined who this person was. It cannot be his wife, as some have imagined. Both grammar and history (1 Cor. vii. 7) refute such a supposition. He may, perhaps, be referring to St. Luke, who cannot have been now at Rome (see ii. 20), and who appears to have been specially conversant with the Philippians. Cp. on 2 Cor. viii. 18. But such particulars as these are doubtless left in uncertainty for a wise purpose, in order that we may not pretend to be wise above what is written (1 Cor. iv. 6), and also to remind us, that it is of little importance, whether our names are found recorded with honour in the world's history, provided they are found hereafter written "in the book of life." Compare what is said above, Introduction to the Acts of the Apostles, pp. xii, xiii. — avτaîs] them, i. e. Euodia and Syntyche. KAHUEVTOS] Clement; probably the same person who was afterwards Bishop of Rome, and whose Epistle to the Corinthians is still extant. So Origen in John i. 29. Eusebius, iii. 4, and iii. 15, and S. Jerome, de Viris Illust. 15. S. Irenæus says (iii. 3, 3), that the blessed Apostles (Peter and Paul) having founded the Church of Rome, committed the Episcopate of it to Linus, whom St. Paul mentions in his Epistles to Timothy (2 Tim. iv. 21), and that Linus was succeeded by Anencletus, and that after him, in the third place [S. Jerome says the fourth, and Tertullian says, de Præscr. 32, "Clementem à Petro ordinatum"], Clement was appointed to that Episcopate, who had beheld the blessed Apostles, and had been conversant with them, and who had their preaching still ringing in his ears, and their tradition before his eyes; and in this respect he was not single, for others were then surviving, who had been taught by the Apostles. In the time of this Clement, no small dissension arose among the brethren at Corinth; and the Church of Rome sent to the Corinthians a letter, very adequate to the occasion, constraining them to peace, and renovating their faith, and declaring to them f John 14. 27. & 16. 33. 2 Cor. 13. 11. Gal. 5. 22. Col. 3. 15. Rom. 1. 7. g Rom. & 13, 13. 1 Cor. 13. 4-7. 1 Thess. 4. 3-5. & 5. 22. the tradition which he had recently received from the Apostles. Clement was succeeded by Evarestus. (Irenæus.) On the succession of the earlier Bishops of Rome, see Bp. Pearson, Minor Works, ii. p. 461-468, with the additions of his learned Editor, p. 469-473. Bp. Pearson places the Episcopate of Linus, A.D. 55-67; that of Anencletus, to 69; that of Clement, from 69 or 70-83. It has happened providentially, that while the names of so many helpers of St. Paul are not specified, the names of Linus and Clemens were commemorated by him. The support of St. Paul's Apostolic authority was thus given to them and their public acts, as Bishops of the Church, after his death. It is not unworthy of remark, that these commemorations of them are found in Epistles written by him from Rome, of which City each of them was Bishop; and in his farewell Epistle, viz. in the Philippian Epistle, the last that he wrote to a Church, and that is addressed to a Colony of Rome; and in the second to Timothy, the last of all his Epistles. Ev BiBλw (wns] in the book of life. It need not, therefore, to be recorded by me. That this saying does not imply any assertion concerning the certainty of their salvation, appears from Exod xxxii. 32. Ps. lxix. 28. Rev. iii. 5, where names once written in the book of Life are represented as liable to be blotted out. 4. pw] I will say. 4-7.] Compare these verses with what he had before said, in his first Epistle. 1 Thess. v. 16–23. See above on iii. 1. 5. Tò TIELKÉS] See 1 Tim. iii. 3. - Kúpios yyús] The Christian Watchword. (1 Pet. iv. 7, compared with 2 Pet. iii. 8.) 6. τῇ προσευχῇ] Cp. 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2. 7. ἡ ὑπερέχουσα πάντα νοῦν] "Pax ista præcellit omnem intellectum nostrum, neque sciri à nobis nisi cùm ad coelestia venerimus potest." Augustine (de Fide, 16). 8. To λomóv] Finally. He repeats the word (see iii. 1), like one who still lingers, and is loth to bid farewell. bσa evpnμa] 'quæcunque bonæ fame.' St. Paul does not think it beneath him to pay regard to things of good report.' He who keeps his life clear of sin does good to himself; he who keeps it clear of suspicion, is merciful to others. Our life is necessary to ourselves, but our good name is necessary to others. Therefore the Apostle commands us to provide things honest, not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of men (2 Cor. vi. 7, 8). And in this exhortation he does not omit to mention things of 'good report,' as necessary to be minded by us. suppose the Apostle did not over-value the praise of men; for he says, If I pleased men I should not be the servant of Christ (Gal. i. 10; cp. 1 Cor. iv. 3. 2 Cor. i. 12). But he endeavoured not only to live a good life, but also to keep a good name-the one for his own sake, the other for the sake of other men, as well as for himself. Bp. Sanderson (in his excellent Sermon on Eccles. vii. 1. Vol. i. p. 1-32). I ET TIS ȧpeTh] Not to be rendered, if there is any virtue' (for this could not be questioned), but whatever virtue there is.' Cp. el TIS BÉλEI, whosoever desires, Luke xiv. 26; and the phrase, εἴ τις ἔχει ὦτα ἀκούειν, whosoever hath ears to hear, Mark iv. 23; vii. 16, which is equivalent to d exwv rа ἀκούειν: and Rom. xiii. 9, εἴ τις ἑτέρα ἐντολὴ, whatsoever other commandment there is; 1 Cor. iii. 14, et Tivos ěpyov μeveî, whosesoever's work shall remain; and viii. 3. See also John iii. 3. 5; vi. 53, where this phrase introduces very important doctrinal declarations. h Rom. 15. 33. 2 Cor. 13. 11. i 2 Cor. 11. 9. Gal. 6. 6. j 9 * ἃ καὶ ἐμάθετε καὶ παρελάβετε καὶ ἠκούσατε καὶ εἴδετε ἐν ἐμοὶ, ταῦτα πράσ σετε· καὶ ὁ Θεὸς τῆς εἰρήνης ἔσται μεθ' ὑμῶν. Ο ''Εχάρην δὲ ἐν Κυρίῳ μεγάλως, ὅτι 11 Τim. 6. 6, 8. φρονεῖν, ἐφ ̓ ᾧ καὶ ἐφρονεῖτε, ἠκαιρεῖσθε δέ. ἐγὼ γὰρ ἔμαθον ἐν οἷς εἰμὶ αὐτάρκης εἶναι. k 1 Cor. 4. 11. 2 Cor. 11. 27. 1 John 15. 5. 2 Cor. 12. 9. ἤδη ποτὲ ἀνεθάλετε τὸ ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ j 1 Οὐχ ὅτι καθ' ὑστέρησιν λέγω· 113 12 κ οἶδα καὶ ταπεινοῦσθαι, οἶδα καὶ περισσεύειν, ἐν παντὶ καὶ ἐν πᾶσι μεμνημαι καὶ χορτάζεσθαι καὶ πεινᾷν, καὶ περισσεύειν καὶ ὑστερεῖσθαι· 13 1 πάντα ἰσχύω ἐν τῷ ἐνδυναμοῦντί με. 14 Πλὴν καλῶς ἐποιήσατε συγκοινωνήσαντές μου τῇ θλίψει. m 2 Cor. 11. 8, 9. 15 m Οἴδατε δὲ καὶ ὑμεῖς, Φιλιππήσιοι, ὅτι ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, ὅτε ἐξῆλθον ἀπὸ Μακεδονίας, οὐδεμία μοι ἐκκλησία ἐκοινώνησεν εἰς λόγον δόσεως καὶ λήψεως, εἰ μὴ ὑμεῖς μόνοι· 16 ὅτι καὶ ἐν Θεσσαλονίκῃ καὶ ἅπαξ καὶ δὶς εἰς τὴν ei eis χρείαν μοι ἐπέμψατε. 7" Οὐχ ὅτι ἐπιζητῶ τὸ δόμα, ἀλλὰ ἐπιζητῶ τὸν καρπὸν n Rom. 15. 28. Tit. 3. 14. The thought is expressed, according to his degree, by Horace (1 Ep. i. 10), Quid verum atque decens curo et rogo, et omnis in hoc sum." See also 1 Sat. iv. 137, "hæc ego mecum Compressis agito labris." 10. ἀνεβάλετε τὸ ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ φρονεῖν] ye put forth fresh sprouts of your care for me; repullulastis sapere pro me' (Aug.); ‘refloruistis sentire pro me.' (Vulg.) He rejoices that they had sprouted forth afresh in their care for him, now that he was relieved by their alms, as in a second spring. Cp. Aug. (Conf. xiii. 26.) 'Avaláλw is used here in an active sense, as in Ezek. xvii. 24. Ecclus. i. 18. Ye had the mind of tender affection for me always, but ye now displayed it; like a tree which has life in it in winter, but which puts forth evidence of that inner life by its foliage in spring. The Christian, in his almsgiving, like a tree planted by the water-side, whose leaf does not wither, and which brings forth its fruit in due season. (Ps. i. 3.) The former germinations of their loving care for the Apostle had shown themselves when he was at Thessalonica, on his first visit to Greece (v. 15), and probably when he was afterwards at Corinth. See on Acts xviii. 5, and on 2 Cor. xi. 9. nкаιрeîσle] уe had not a season. It was not from any barrenness on your part, that you did not put forth buds and sprouts of affection, but you had no favourable season for such spiritual vegetation. 11, 12.] On these verses, see Bp. Sanderson's Sermon, Vol. i. 113–171. 12. Olda kal] I know both, &c. Elz. has δὲ instead of καὶ, which is more expressive, and is in the best MSS. Ev TаVT) Kai év mão] in each thing (taken singly), and in all (collectively). 13. évduvaμoûvтí μe] So Ignatius (ad Smyrn. 4) looking forward to martyrdom, ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς τὸ συμπαθεῖν αὐτῷ πάντα ὑπομένω αὐτοῦ με ἐνδυναμοῦντος. Cp. 1 Tim. i. 12. 2 Tim. iv. 17. Elz. adds Xplore, not in A, B, D*. 15. év àрxy Toû evayyeλlov] at the beginning of the Gospel preached by me. He makes it a subject of praise to the Philippians, that at the beginning of his Apostolic career, when he was little known in Greece, and had rendered comparatively little service to the Churches of that Country, they, a poorer Church, had come forward, and stood alone in ministering to his needs, and had twice sent pecuniary supplies to him, even when he was in the wealthy City of Thessalonica-the capital of Macedonia. Clement of Rome says to another Greek Church, that of Corinth (c. 47), "Take the Epistle of the blessed Paul into your hands. What did he write to you first of all, év àpx? Tоv evayyeλíov, i. e. at the beginning of his preaching to you?" He then refers them to the first Chapter of the first Epistle (1 Cor. i. 10). In that case the word evayyéxiov seems to be used (as Cotelerius observes) of preaching by writing. Here it is said of preaching by word of mouth, and signifies his first preaching of the Gospel among them.' See Acts xvi. 12; xvii. 1. Cp. Sanderson (i. p. 112). We are not to imagine (as some have done) that St. Paul's Apostolic career began at his Conversion. It is not to be dated from his Conversion at Damascus, but from his Ordination at Antioch. See Acts xiii. 3, 4. This mention here of the kindness of the Philippians at the beginning of his Apostolic Ministry, is more striking, as a record of his thankful remembrance of them, because it is made in this Epistle, almost at the end of his Ministry. It is observable that there is a similar retrospect in the last Epistle of all that he wrote-the Second to Timothy. There he goes back, with grateful reminiscence, to the earliest period of his own Ministry-the persecutions he endured at Antioch, and Iconium, and Lystra (iii. 11), and to the com. mencement of his intercourse with Timothy (i. 5). At the close of his career, he takes a review of the whole, from the beginning, in order that he may be duly sensible or God's continual care and love towards him. So here. An exemplary pattern of thankfulness to all—especially at the end of life. There is a difficult passage, hitherto unexplained, in the Epistle of S. Polycarp to the Philippians, which illustrates, and is illustrated by this text. In the Old Latin Version of S. Polycarp's Epistle, sect. xi. (the original Greek of that section is lost), we read, "Nihil tale sensi in vobis, in quibus laboravit beatus Paulus, qui estis in principio Epistolæ ejus." This clause has been usually supposed to mean that the Philippians are mentioned in the beginning of his Epistle; but this is unintelligible. The true meaning seems to be, that they themselves are his Epistles (compare 2 Cor. iii. 2, † èmiotoλh ¡μŵv vμeîs ¿ote) in the beginning (èv àpx?) of his ministry. εἰς λόγον δόσεως καὶ λήψεως] for an account or reckoning (see v. 17), of giving on one side, and of taking on the other. In ratione dati atque accepti." Augustine. No other Church gave, and I took from no other Church but from you. It may be said, that there could be no taking, if there was no giving. But it is to be remembered, that the word Aaußárei, as applied to ministerial maintenance, signifies to take as a due. See 2 Cor. xi. 8. 20, et Tis λaußável. The minister of God Aaußável by right under the Gospel, as under the Law. See on 1 Cor. ix. 14, and Irenæus iv. 8. 3, who shows the unity of both Testaments in this provision. 16. kal év Oeσoaλovík?] even in Thessalonica, that great and wealthy City, where it might be expected that some would befriend me. Ye sent and succoured me even there. 17. τὸ δόματὸν καρπόν] Observe the definite articles. The gift is not the thing that I seek for, in your love, but the fruit that aboundeth to your account, not to mine. "Non ut ego explear, sed ne vos inanes remaneatis." Aug. (Serm. 46.) I have learnt from Thee, O Lord, to distinguish between the gift and the fruit. The gift is the thing itself, which is given by one who supplies what is needed, as money, or raiment. But the fruit is the good and well-ordered will of the giver. It is a gift, to receive a Prophet, and to give a cup of cold water; but it is fruit, to do those acts in the name of a Prophet, and in the name of a Disciple. The raven brought a gift to Elias, when it brought him bread and flesh; but the widow brought fruit, because she fed him as a man of God. Augustine (Confess. τὸν πλεονάζοντα εἰς λόγον ὑμῶν. Βο’Απέχω δὲ πάντα καὶ περισσεύω· πεπλήρωμαι δεξάμενος παρὰ Επαφροδίτου τὰ παρ ̓ ὑμῶν, ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας, θυσίαν δεκτὴν εὐάρεστον τῷ Θεῷ. ο 2 Cor. 9. 12. Heb. 13. 16. 19 - Ο δὲ Θεός μου πληρώσει πᾶσαν χρείαν ὑμῶν, κατὰ τὸ πλοῦτος αὐτοῦ ἐν 2 Cor. 9. 8. δόξῃ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. 20 « Τῷ δὲ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ ἡμῶν ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, ἀμήν. 21 Ασπάσασθε πάντα ἅγιον ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ· ἀσπάζονται ὑμᾶς οἱ σὺν ἐμοὶ ἀδελφοί· ” ἀσπάζονται ὑμᾶς πάντες οἱ ἅγιοι, μάλιστα δὲ οἱ ἐκ τῆς Καίσαρος 22 οἰκίας. 23 Η χάρις τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μετὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος ὑμῶν. ἀμήν. xiii. 26, referring to St. Paul's words here, and to Matt. x. 41, 42, and to 1 Kings xvii.). 18. ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας ] See Eph. v. 2. θυσίαν-Θεῷ] An offering, therefore, not made to me, but to God, Whose Apostle I am. Cp. Prov. xix. 17. Matt. xxv. 35. Heb. xiii. 16. This is the true character of Christian almsgiving. Cp. i. 17, and see Irendus, iv. 18. 4, where he shows that the Jews are no longer able to offer oblations acceptable to God; which are offered in the Church, through Christ, and there only, and by Him alone, and explains what those oblations are. An important | lesson to those who imagine, that provided money is given, it signifies little from whom it comes, and with what motive it is given. 22. μάλιστα οἱ ἐκ τῆς Καίσαρος οἰκίας] Specially the Christians of Cesar's household-probably freedmen, and other domestics of the Palace. Cp. Lightfoot, Journal of Philology, Vol. iv. p. 57-79. St. Paul says, "specially they of Cæsar's household," and thus shows that he had special means of intercourse with them. In his confinement on the Palatine (see on i. 13) he had become acquainted with some members of the Imperial Household. Ps. 23. 1. & 115. 1. & 5. 12. Perhaps some of them had been employed in ministering to him, as a state-prisoner, in his detention; and he had gained influence over some who were appointed to guard him. At Philippi, a Colony of Rome, the Apostle had preached to the Jailor who guarded him, and to all his household (τῇ οἰκίᾳ αὐτοῦ, Acts xvi. 32), and they all were baptized by him. He is now at Rome, and has made converts of Cesar's household, who salute the Philippians as their brethren in Christ. Such a greeting as this must have been specially welcome to the Philippians. See above, i. 13. The Gospel was first preached to the poor (Matt. xi. 5), and God chose the weak things of this world (1 Cor. i. 26-28), and the Apostle had shown his Christian tenderness for the large and despised class to which Onesimus belonged, by his letter to Philemon (Philem. 16). Now Christianity has found its way into the household of Cæsar. At length, after it had been persecuted by the Cæsars, it won Emperors to Christ. Thus the mustardseed of the Gospel grew, and stretched forth its branches, and overshadowed the world. (Matt. xiii. 31. Luke xiii. 19.) 23. τοῦ Πνεύματος] So A, Β (see Mai), D, E, F, G, and Lachm., Tisch.. Alf., Ellicott. Elz. πάντων. INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. On the Authorship of the Epistle. THIS Epistle has been ascribed to different persons. The names of those to whom it has been assigned may be conveniently taken into consideration in the following alphabetical order. Apollos has been regarded as its author by many learned writers in ancient times'. But to this opinion there are several insurmountable objections. Apollos was of Alexandria'; and it may be safely affirmed, that, if Apollos had written the Epistle, his Christian fellow-countrymen would have been cognizant of the fact, and would have been moved by a sense of justice, as well as national zeal, to vindicate its authorship to him. The ancient Church of Alexandria was the most learned Church of Christendom. In its Catechetical School, founded by St. Mark, it reared a succession of men eminent for erudition and literary research. The early Christian Teachers of Alexandria would not have allowed that distinguished Alexandrine Teacher to be despoiled of his due honour. Apollos had many devoted adherents; and if he had been the writer of the Epistle, some of them would have come forward in his native country, and elsewhere, to claim for him the credit of so signal a service to the cause of the Gospel, as the composition of the Epistle to the Hebrews. But, as will be shown hereafter, the Christians of Alexandria, from the earliest times, unanimously ascribed this Epistle to another person. Not one Alexandrine writer can be cited as having assigned it to the Alexandrine Teacher Apollos. Nor is this all. The fact is, that not a single Author of any note, in any part of Christendom for fifteen centuries, attributed it to Apollos. That opinion first appeared in the world in the sixteenth century *. It is clear from the Epistle itself, that the author was known by his friends, especially those to whom it was first sent'; and few persons, it may be supposed, will be induced to imagine, that the authorship remained a secret for so long a time, and that it was first discovered fifteen hundred years after Christ". St. Barnabas has been supposed by others to be the author of the Epistle. This opinion has been maintained by many able advocates with much learning and ingenuity'. The most important argument in its favour is, that the Epistle is ascribed to Barnabas, without hesitation, by one of the most learned writers of the second and third centuries, Tertullian. In one of his Montanistic treatises, urging the necessity of a severe penitential discipline towards those who have lapsed into deadly sin, and having cited passages from the writings of St. Paul in support of his own opinion, he says: "I am willing, by way of supererogation, to add the testimony of one who was a companion of the Apostles; and who is qualified, by the nearness of his own rights, to confirm the discipline of his masters. There is extant a writing of Barnabas to the Hebrews,- -a man sufficiently authorized by God', inasmuch as Paul associated him with himself in the maintenance of self-denial, and verily the Epistle of Barnabas is more generally received among the Churches than the apocryphal Pastor' of adulterers." Tertullian proceeds to quote from the Epistle to the Hebrews that memorable passage which was the occasion of so much controversy in ancient times between the writers of the Church on the one side, and the partizans of the severe penitential discipline of Montanus and Novatian on the other. He then adds: "The writer who received this doctrine from the Apostles, and taught this with them, had never learnt, that a second repentance was promised by the Apostles to an adulterer or fornicator." This certainly is a strong testimony; and it derives additional cogency from the consideration, that Tertullian, who was distinguished by the extent of his learning, does not seem to have entertained any doubt as to the authorship of the Epistle; and that, if he had heard it attributed to any person of superior dignity to St. Barnabas, he would probably have mentioned the fact, in his desire' to procure the highest sanction in his power for the testimony which he adduced from the Epistle in favour of his own tenets. On the other hand, it is to be remembered, that in the age of Tertullian, there was but little erudition among the Christians of the West. The Latin Church had no literature before his time". And Tertullian,-as this passage and many others in his writings show,--was accustomed to speak dogmatically, in an arbitrary, self-confident, and magisterial tone (a frailty incidental to learned men standing alone among their contemporaries), and to promulgate his own private opinions as oracles for the Church. The ascription of this Epistle to Barnabas may be reckoned among the private opinions of this great African Father. It never took root in Christendom. It was almost unknown in the East. It was not received in Cyprus, the country of St. Barnabas. Epiphanius, the learned Bishop of Salamis in Cyprus in the fourth century, who was by origin from Palestine, and therefore an important witness on this subject, knew nothing of it. He ascribed the Epistle to another author'. Nor was Tertullian's opinion accepted in Africa, his own country. S. Augustine, the ablest writer of the African Church, attributes the Epistle to another, the same person as Epiphanius ®. So does Primasius, a learned African Bishop of the sixth century, and an excellent commentator on St. Paul's Epistles, who discusses the question of the authorship. And what is of even greater importance, the Bishops of the African Church, in several Synods, ascribe it to another author 1. Besides, if Barnabas had written the Epistle, he would, in all probability, have prefixed his name to it. Barnabas had taken part with Peter at Antioch in the debate concerning the Ceremonial Law", and his name would have commended it to the favourable acceptance of the Jewish Christians. He would probably have followed the example of the Apostles St. Peter and St. James, who, in writing to Jewish Christians, placed their own names at the beginning of the Epistles which they wrote. Yet further; it is a constant tradition of the Church that Barnabas wrote one Epistle; and that Epistle is not reckoned by the ancients among the Canonical Scriptures 1. Whether that Epistle is the 1 The true reading (as Oehler and Delitzsch have pointed out) is, "à Deo satis auctorati viri," not "adeò satis auctoritatis viri." 2 That is, in not claiming ministerial wages from the Churches (1 Cor. ix. 6). 3 He so calls the work entitled the "Shepherd of Hermas," the discipline of which was regarded by him as too lax, and as affording encouragement to sin. 4 Heb. vi. 4. 8. 5 Evidence has been given of this fact in another place, in the Editor's volume on "S. Hippolytus and the Church of Rome," chap. ix. This statement is not contravened by the testimony of S. Jerome concerning the Epistle: "licet plerique eam vel Barnabæ, vel Clementis arbitrentur" (Epist. ad Dardan. 129), where "plerique "does not signify "most persons," but "many," and is designed to comprise those who ascribed it to S. Clement; and is to be explained by what S. Jerome says in another place (Cat. VOL. II.-PART III. 12 Eccles. Script. 5), "Epistola quæ fertur ad Hebræos non Pauli creditur, propter styli sermonisque dissonantiam, sed vel Barnabæ juxta Tertullianum, vel Lucæ Evangelista juxta quosdam, vel Clementis, Romanæ postea Ecclesiæ Episcopi, quem aiunt ipsi adjunctum sententias Pauli proprio ordinasse sermone." S. Jerome's own opinion will be stated hereafter. 7 Epiphan. Hær. 76. See also Hær. 42. 69, 70; the passages may be seen in Kirchofer, p. 14. 250. Ad Rom. § 11, and De Doct. Christ. ii. 12, 13. 9 Primasii Commentaria in Epist. S. Pauli Præfatio Generalis, and Præfat. ad Hebr. in Vol. lxviii. of Migne's Patrologia, p. Conc. Carth. iii. can 47; 415. 686. 10 Conc. Hippon. A.D. 393, can. 36. V. can. 29. 11 Gal. ii. 13. 12 See Euseb. H. E. iii. 25. Jerome, Scr. Eccl. 6. Z z |