Now these are specimens of patristic interpretation in the earliest and purest ages of Christianity! What purity of doctrine! What purity of practice! These specimens are taken from the best of the Fathers in the purest ages! And are we with the Bible in our hands to be shut up to such teach ing-teaching which substitutes the heathen principle of asceticism for Christian virtue and purity, which

soul excels the body, so does the state of virginity surpass the state of matrimony!" Says Basil, surnamed the Great on account of his excellence, born A. D. 329, "A great virtue truly is virginity, which, to say all in a word, renders man like to the incorruptible God." Says Gregory Nazianzen, born A. D. 325, Happy the course of those-the unmarried blessedwho in this world having shaken off the flesh, are nearer allied to the divine purity." Says Chrysostom, the most eloquent of the Fathers, born A. D. 354, "And truly if you will visit the Egyptian deserts, you will find there what is better than any paradise there you will find in human form innumerable choirs of angels, tribes of martyrs, assemblages of nuns, in a word the tyrannous empire of Satan brought to nothing, and the kingdom of Christ shining forth." "What," says Athanasius, "doth Christ require of thee, but only a pure heart, and a body unsoiled and made black and blue with fasting?..... Fasting," says he," will place a man near the throne of God."

To the horrible effect of this veneration of celibacy and virginity, and contempt of matrimony, we have already al luded. We wish not to dwell on such a subject. We will only say that within the Nicene period, priests were forbidden even by the decrees of councils to marry, and married men if they received orders were directed to separate themselves from their wives; that hundreds did put away their wives, desert their children, and hide themselves in monasteries; that many were excommunicated for returning to their wives after ordination; that thousands shunning marriage, entered the monastic life; and that frequently, and quite early too, in the ancient church, this dis honor of God's ordinance of marriage and outrage on nature produced the result which it has produced in the nunneries and monasteries of the Papacy-the result which it ever must produce-the most shameful and general licentiousness, many of their so-called religious houses being little better than Turkish harems.

subverts the scriptural standard of good and evil, which despises and condemns what God honors and approves, which makes void his commandments by the "fancies" of ascetic enthusiasts, and, subverting the gospel scheme of salvation, leads men to rely on the invocation of saints, on remedial sacraments, on alms-giving, celibacy, virginity, fasting, vigils, solitude and penance, more, far more than on faith in the

(For a full exposition of this subject in all its connections, see Taylor's Ancient Christianity.)

One of these Fathers in a sentence too long to quote, says, that Christ has grant ed remedial sacraments for the salvation of men. The efficacy of these sacraments, in their view, may be learned from these sentences of Chrysostom :—“Although a man should be foul with every vice, the blackest that can be named, yet should he fall into the baptismal pool, he ascends from the divine waters purer than the beams of noon." "As a spark thrown into the ocean is instantly extinguished, so is sin, be it what it may, when the man is thrown into the laver of regeneration," i. e. the “ baptismal pool." With the reverence which the aforementioned "diocesan" has for "the Scriptures as interpreted by the church in the earliest and purest ages of Christianity," we can easily see whence he derives the doctrine of baptismal regeneration,' which he so zealously advocates.

Gregory Nazianzen, commending the conduct of a certain beautiful nun, whom Cyprian before his conversion pursued importunately, being desperately enamored of her, says, " She supplicated the Virgin Mary, beseeching her to afford aid to a virgin in peril; and by the medicine of fasting and prostrations on the bare earth, she furthered her purpose, partly that by these means she might tarnish those charms which were the cause of her trouble, and so remove fuel from the fame; and partly that by her sufferings and hu miliations she might propitiate God, for indeed by nothing is God so well pleased as by the sufferings of the body, and it is to tears that he is wont to render his com. passion." The same Father, in a funeral oration over the dead body of a departed saint, thus addresses him in devout prayer: "And thou from thy seat look down upon us propitiously, aiding us in the gov ernment of the flock."

The parable of the ten virgins is interpreted by Chrysostom, as teaching the mode of obtaining the divine favor, viz.

atonement of Christ? The Scriptures as interpreted by the church during the first few centuries after the ascension of the Savior! Wayward fancies of individuals! Where among all the extravagancies of the wildest of modern enthusiasts, can you find any thing that equals the waywardness of the fancies of these fathers even those of them who flourished in the two first centuries? Enough has been said, we think, to show that the church during the

by virginity and alms-giving, of which virtues the former is the greater; and the foolish virgins, though possessing the greater, were excluded from heaven be cause they lacked the less. Hear him. "What! hast thou not understood from the instance of the ten virgins in the gospel, how that those who, although they were proficients in virginity, yet not possessing the virtue of alms-giving, were excluded from the nuptial banquet? Truly I am ashamed, and blush and weep, when I hear of the foolish virgin. When I hear the very name, I blush to think of one who, after reaching such a point of virtue, after she had gone through the training of virginity, after she had thus winged the body aloft toward heaven, after she had contended for the prize with the powers on high, aftet she had undergone the toil, and had trodden under foot the fires of pleasure, to hear such an one named and justly named a fool, because that after having achieved the greater labors of virtue, she should be wanting in the less. . . . Now the fire of the lamps is virginity, and the oil is alms-giving... Alms are the redemption of the soul.

My brethren alms-giving is a great matter. Let us embrace it, to which nothing is equal, for it is sufficient to the wiping out of whatever sins, and for warding off condemnation.... Wherefore it was, that these foolish virgins entered not in, because they had not, along with virginity, alms-giving.... Think of them,.. after reaching, in the body, the perfections of the disembodied state, after having won, and held, the vast and unconquerable possession of virginity-a possession so great and difficult, that none of the antients (he instances Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph) were able to hold it; after all this then they hear- Depart from me, I know you not!'"

The following are a few examples also taken from a multitude of like character, of the interpretations of the Holy Scriptures by the writers of the early centuries of the church.

first few centuries after the death of Christ, does not deserve to be relied upon as an authoritative interpreter of the Bible.

But this rule of which we have spoken, not only sends us to those who are utterly unfit to be our authoritative guides, but it is self-contradictory, uncertain, and impracti cable.

It is self-contradictory. Long since it became a proverb among those acquainted with the writings

Gen. xiv, 14. "He (Abraham) armed his trained servants born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen." These words, three hundred and eighteen, according to the interpretation of Barnabas, signify Jesus and his cross! The mode of interpretation is this. The letters, iota signifying ten, and eta signifying eight, (eighteen,) are the beginning of Inces (Jesus); and the letter T, which designates three hundred, is in the form of a cross!

Irenæus, Origen, Theodoret, Chrysostom, and many others, in explaining Gen. xix, 36, justify entirely the incest of Lot's daughters. Gen. xlix, 11: " Binding his foal to the vine,... he washed his garments in wine," &c. Theodoret says that these words refer to Christ and his passion, and the nations to be converted by his disciples. Origen says that they refer to Christ, and that the garment washed in wine, is the church which Christ has cleansed with his blood. Much the same is the interpretation of Athanasius, Chrysostom, Ambrose, and Augustine. The rod of Moses, which, cast to the earth became a serpent, (Ex. iv, 3,) according to Irenæus and most of the an cient writers, prefigured the incarnation of Christ. Origen, interpreting the account of Pharaoh's direction to the midwives to destroy the male and preserve the female children of the Israelites, and also the account of the saving of Moses by Pharaoh's daughter, says that Pharaoh is the devil, Pharaoh's daughter is the church, the midwives are the Old and New Testaments, the male and female children are the animal and rational faculties of the soul, and Moses is the law. Speaking of the directions given in Leviticus for sacrificing, Origen says, that the fat is to be offered, because it signifies the life of Christ, and (tota cauda) the tail, or rump, because, as the end of the body, it is the symbol of perseverance and completeness in good works! Numb. xv, 32:" Found a man that gathered sticks on the Sabbath day." Irenæus remarks on these words, "He who brought dry sticks into the

of the Fathers, that any thing can be proved by the Fathers, any opinions however opposite, so contradictory are their writings. We We have the testimony of Chillingworth in these words: "I, for my part, after a long and as I verily believe impartial search of the true way to eternal happiness, do profess plainly, that I can not find any rest for the sole of my foot, but on this rock only, (the Bible.) I see plainly and with my own eyes, that there are Popes against Popes, and councils against councils, some Fathers against other Fathers, the same Fathers against themselves, and a consent of the Fathers of one age against a consent of Fathers of an

other age. Surely the Christian

in these days, distrusting his own

camp of the Lord, was justly stoned; for, 'every tree that beareth not good fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire!'" Justin Martyr and Clemens Alexandrinus, in remarking on Deut. iv, 19, say, that God gave the celestial bodies to be worshiped by the heathen, lest they should be complete atheists. Irenæus says, that the two spies sent by Joshua and lodged by Rabab, represent the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Ambrose says that the designation of Rahab's house by a scarlet thread, which figures the blood of Christ, and her escape from the destruction that came on the city, are a type of the church, which, saved by the blood of Christ, fears not the ruin of the world. Judges xv, 4: "Samson caught three hundred foxes;" these foxes, says Origen, are the teachers of heresy. 1 Kings iii, 16: "Then came two women that were harlots to the king," &c. These, says Jerome, represent the Jewish synagogue and the Christian church, contending concerning the child Jesus; Augustine, that they represent the Catholic church, and the Arian, Nestorian, and other heresies, which divide Christ in twain. Ps. cxliii, 1: "Who teacheth my hands to war and my fingers to fight," means, according to Theodoret, teaches our hands to do justice, and our fingers to make the sign of the cross on our foreheads. Matt. xxii, 39: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Hilary says, by neighbor is meant Christ. Mark iv, 20: "Some thirty fold, some sixty, some an hundred." Athanasius says, that the thirty fold refers to the virtue of the married, and the hundred fold to the virtue

"wayward fancy," and looking to "the church during the earliest ages" for the only true interpretation of the Bible" the only sure basis to rest upon"-must be dis tressingly perplexed to find it, amid such a confused mass of contradiction.

This rule for finding "the only sure basis" is also very uncertain. A very large portion of the works of the Fathers are lost, and only some fragments of others remain. Then, in respect to those that have come down to us, we find that there is less agreement in the interpretation of them, than in the interpretation of the Bible. In ascer taining the opinion of these authors, numerous and difficult questions are to be settled about forgeries, mu

of virgins; and Jerome adds, that the sixty fold refers to the virtue of widows. Luke xii, 58: "When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate," &c. Most, says Jerome, think this to be spo ken respecting body and soul, or soul and spirit. 1 Cor. iii, 15: “Shall be saved, yet so as by fire." Origen and many others, think this passage teaches, that all the saints after the resurrection from the dead, will be purified by flames, and have the dross of sin burnt off by fire. Papias, bishop of Hieropolis, an auditor of the apostle John, says that John declared that he himself heard Jesus, when speaking of his future and visible kingdom on earth, and of its abundance and fruitfulness, make the following declarations. "A grain of wheat will then produce ten thousand heads, and each head will yield ten thousand grains, and each grain will yield ten pounds of clear, fine flour, and other fruits will yield seeds and herbage in the same proportion. The days shall come in which there shall be vines, which severally shall have ten thousand branches, and every one of these branches shall have ten thousand lesser branches, and every one of these branches shall have ten thousand twigs, and every one of these twigs shall have ten thou sand clusters of grapes, and every one of these grapes being pressed shall give twenty five metretas (that is, according to the lowest calculation, two hundred and seventy five gallons) of wine; and when one shall take hold of one of these sacred bunches, another shall cry out—I am a better bunch, take me and by me bless the Lord."

ble for themselves, its tendency, as illustrated in the history of the past, is to deprive the people of the Bible-to degrade them intellectu ally and morally-and finally to destroy them.

And this is the rule of faith for us, and for Christians, in all ages of the church on earth! What position could be better adapted to make sensible men turn away in disgust from Christianity?

This rule for finding "the only sure basis" is also impracticable. We are to have the unanimous opinion of the church during the purest ages of Christianity. We have no decisions of general councils to guide us, but must take the consent of the Fathers of the church, who have written their own and others opinions. But here is the uncertainty. There is no consent among them. They contradict themselves and each other. And whoever undertakes to find whether they are agreed on any point, has to encounter the uncertainty resulting from their traditionary and legendary character, and wade through a multitude of folio vol. umes, all written in a dead language, and many of them in an obscure and barbarous style. For the mass of Christians this is utterly impossible. And for the very few learned men, who could accomplish it, to undertake it for the small amount of uncontradicted truth which they would obtain, would be, as another has said, about as rational as to make "a voyage to the Indies to bring home a cargo of one peppercorn, and two grains of

rice."

But while this rule of faith is utterly useless for any good purpose, it is powerful for evil. Denying to individuals the right, and withdraw. ing them from the intellectual labor,

We can not refrain from asking, in conclusion, what is the real design of these " diocesans," in thus recommending as the rule of faith and practice-the only sure basis— the Scriptures as interpreted by the church during the early ages of Christianity? Do they understand all that their words import, and really mean what they say? Do they seriously intend that "the inferior clergy" shall interpret the Scriptures to their parishes as they were interpreted by the early Fathers? Do they intend that they shall preach the gloomy and morose austerities of Tertullian, or the absurd spiritualizing of Origenhis hidden sense of Scripture, divided into the moral and the mystical, and the mystical divided into the terrene or allegorical and the celestial or anagogical; and also his doctrine of the restoration of the damned? If "the inferior clergy” are to preach thus, we would sug gest that their "reverend fathers in God" should give them a special charge, informing them how to make such preaching accord with the thirty nine articles, even "for substance of doctrine." Do they intend that their clergy, like the Fathers of the first two centuries, shall teach that Christ has prescribed a twofold rule of holiness and virtue, the one ordinary, the other extraordinary, the one lower, the other higher, the one for men of business, the other for persons of leisure devoted to religion?—that they shall teach that matrimony is a state of inferior holiness and even of moral degradation? Do they

intend to rebuke all their clergy who have so disregarded the twofold rule as to contract a second marriage, in the language of Tertullian, "Shall one who has contracted a second marriage baptize? or shall such a one offer the eucharistic oblation?" Do they intend to revive the ascetic system of these early centuries, its fastings, vigils, solitude, penance, celibacy, virgin ity, and all its insane attempts to escape the influence of what is material? Do they wish their people to commit to memory the patris tic rhapsodies concerning "angelic households" of virgins, "tribes of martyrs," "assemblages of nuns, superior to any paradise?". Are we to expect all this in a Protestant land and in a Protestant denomination? This, the rule, as laid down by these diocesans," clearly requires. We can not but ask, do they intend that" their clergy" shall obey it? And will these "diocesans" set an example to "their clergy" in these ascetic habits, especially in abstinence from matrimony? oretical than practical ?*

Or is this rule rather the

We can not but ask further of all real Protestants, and especially of those within the pale of the Episcopal denomination, whither these signs of the times (we should call

* One reason perhaps of the fondness of these diocesans for the writings of the Fathers of the first two centuries, is their extravagant doctrine respecting the authority of the bishops and clergy, and the subjection of the laity, of which the folJowing are specimens.

"Wherefore," says Polycarp, "ye must need abstain from all these things; being subject to the Priests and Deacons, as unto God and Christ." Says Ignatius, (or rather say the epistles called his, and not often disputed by high churchmen,) "For whereas ye are subject to your Bishop as to Jesus Christ, ye appear to me to live not after the manner of men, but according to Jesus Christ. . . . It is therefore necessary that as ye do, so without your Bishop, you should do, nothing: Also be ye subject to your Presbyters as to the Apostles of Jesus Christ

them "errors of the times") point? Whither tend this denial of the right of private judgment of the great Protestant principle? this righthanded fellowship with Papists, and this left-handed fellowship, or rather refusal of all fellowship, with Protestant denominations? this renunciation of the name of Protestants for that of Churchmen? Is the high church portion of the Episcopal church going over to the Papists, or are the Papists and they about to make an arrangement to meet half way?

Of one thing we are sure that these signs indicate a struggle for Protestant principles. Nay, they tell us that this struggle is begun. Well, let it go on. This is a battle which Protestants have once fought and won. Their second victory is sure, and will be far more decisive and complete. They know too well what momentous questions hang on the issue, to sleep on their arms. They come to this second contest under better auspices. They contend not, as Luther did, against the leagued powers of political and spiritual despotism. They contend on freedom's soil and under freedom's sky. They contend amid the light of the nineteenth century, when the Bible is in possession of all the people, and that giant, the press, is