Orioen, in his 6th Homily upon Leviticus, says, “ That the presence of the people is necessary in the ordination of a bishop, that all may know and be well assured, that he who is chosen to that office is dis- tinguished among all the people for his pre-eminence in learning, and holiness, and a virtuous life: and this is done in the presence of the people, that there may be no room for mistake or objection.”
Bishop Fell, who gives two of these references, shows, in his note, how exactly this primitive usage agrees with the custom of the Church of England.
fulfil the duties d of it. Blessed are those priests, who having finished their course before these times, have obtained a fruitful and perfect dissolution. For thejr have no fear lest any one should remove them from the place appointed for them. But we see how you have put out some, who conducted themselves well, from the ministry which by their innocence they had adorned.
45* Ye are contentious, brethren, and zealous for things which pertain not unto salvation. Look into the holy Scriptures, which are the true words of the Holy Ghost. Ye know that nothing unjust or counterfeit is written in them. There you shall not find that righteous men were ever cast off by those who were holy them- selves. The just were persecuted; but it was by the unjust: they were cast into prison; but it was by the unholy: they were stoned; but it was by transgressors r they were slain; but it was by the wicked, and by such as had taken up unjust envy against them. All these sufferings they endured gloriously. For what shall we say, brethren? Was it by those who feared God that Daniel was cast into the den of lions? Was it by men, who worshipped the most High with excellent and glorious worship, that Ananias, Asarias, and Misael, were shut up in the fiery furnace 1 God forbid. What manner of men, therefore, were they who did these things? they were men abominable, full of all wicked- ness: men so incensed as to afflict those who served God with a holy and unblameable purpose of mind r knowing not that the most High is the protector and defender of all those who with a pure conscience serve his holy name: to whom be glory for ever and ever; Amen. And they who in the fulness of faith have endured, are become inheritors of glory and honor; and are exalted and lifted up by God in their memorial for ever and ever; Amen.
46. It is, therefore, brethren our duty to cleave to such examples as these. For it is written “Hold fast to such as are holy; for they that do so shall be sanc- < xpoffeviyKovras r$ t&pa, offering the gifts. See note on Sect. 40. The Eucharist itself was also styled (( munus conseeratum,” “ Dinner* sancta,” iupofopta,” and by the Ethiopians, expressly! 4 Ccus ban,* that is to say, a gift; Mark vk. 11.
TO THE CORINTHIANS.
29 tified.” • And again in another place he saith, “ With the pure thou shalt be pure, and with the elect thou shalt be elect, but with the perverse man thou shalt be perverse.” f Let us therefore cleave to the innocent and righteous; for such are the elect of God. Where- fore are there strifes, and anger, and divisions, and schisms, and wars among us? Have we not all one God, and one Christ? * Is not one Spirit of grace poured upon us all? Have we not one calling in Christ? Wherefore, then, do we rend and tear in pieces the members of Christ: and raise seditions against our own body? And are come to such a height of madness, as to forget that “ we are members one of another.” k Remember the words of our Lord Jesus. For he said; 1 “Wo to that man (by whom offences come): it were better for him that he had never been born, than that he should have offended one of mine elect. It were bet- ter for him, that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and he should be cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of my little ones.” Your schism hath perverted many, hath discouraged many: it hath thrown many into doubt, and all of us into grief. And yet your sedition continues to prevail.
47. Take into your hands the epistle of the blessed Paul the apostle. What did he first write to you at the beginning of the Gospel. 11 Yerily he did by the Spirit admonish you concerning himself, and Cephas, and • See Wisd. vi. 25. 1 Cor. vii. 14. * Ps. xviii. 26.
* Eph. iv. 4. 1 Cor. xii. * Rom. xii. 5.
» Matt. xxvi. 24. Mark ix. 42. Luke xvii. 2. Matt, xviii. 6.
k The phrase, “in the beginning of the Gospel,” which is used by St. Paul, Phil. iv. 15, denotes either the period when the Gospel was first preached, or the time when it was first made known to any par- ticular Church. The Corinthian Church is here, then, called ancient, as having been founded in the first ages of the Christian religion. The Churches vrig:h were first established, were always held in the highest honor, ^rous, Irenjsus, Adv. Hcsres. iii. 3, eulogizes the Church of Rome, as “ the greatest and most ancient and well known Church, founded and established by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul.” Tertullian, de Virginibus Velandis, c.2, describes the apostolic Churches, as those “ which were avowedly founded by the apostles, which ascribed their origin to one of the apostles: which were taught by them; and to which any Epistles of the apostles were addressed.” See Tertullian, Praxcrip. Haret. 32. Adv. Marcion. IV. 5. — C0TELER1U8.
30 THE EPISTLE OP CLRMEKT [§ 48, 4 Ob Apollos, 1 because that even then ye had formed parties, and divisions among yourselves. Nevertheless your partiality then led you into less sin. For you were favorably inclined toward apostles, men of eminent reputation in the Church; and toward another who had been approved of by them. But consider, who they are that have now led you astray, and lessened the reputation of that brotherly love which was so celebrated among you. It is shameful, beloved, it is exceedingly shameful, and unworthy of your Christian profession, to hear, that the most firm and ancient Church of the Corinthians* should by one or two persons be Jed into a sedition against its priests. And this report is come, not only unto us, but to those also whose minds are unfavorably affected toward us. Insomuch that the name of the Lord is blasphemed through your folly; and ye yourselves are brought into danger by it.
48. Let us, therefore, with all haste take away this cause of offence; and let us fall down before the Lord, and beseech him with tears, that he would be favorably reconciled to us, and restore us again to a grave and holy course of brotherly love. For this is the gate of righteousness, opening into everlasting life: as it is written, “Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go in unto them and praise the Lord. This is the gate of the* Lord: the righteous shall enter into it.”» Although, therefore, many gates are opened, yet this gate, which is in righteousness, the same is that gate in Christ, into which blessed are all they that enter, and direct their way in holiness and righteousness, doing all things without disorder. Let a man be faithful; let him be powerful in the utterance of knowledge; let him be wise in making an exact judgment of words; let him be pure in all his actions: still, he ought to be so much the more humble-minded as he seems to be superior to others; and to seek that which is profit^e to all men, and not his own advantage. ™ 49. He that hath the love that is in Christ, let him keep the commandments of Christ. Who is able to express the obligation of the love of God? What man is sufficiently worthy to declare the excellency of its TO THE CORINTHIANS.
31 beauty? The height to which charity leads is inex- pressible. Charity unites us to God: charity “ cover- eth the multitude of sins “ charity endureth all things;”° is long-sufieringin all things. There is nothing sordid in charity, nothing proud. Charity hath no schism; charity is not seditious; charity doth all things in peace and concord. In charity were all the elect of God made perfect; without charity nothing is well- pleasing to God. In charity did the Lord take us to himself: through the love which he bare toward us, Christ our Lord gave his blood -for us, by the will of God: and his flesh for our flesh: and his soul for our souls, p 50. Ye see, beloved, how great and wonderful charity is: and its perfection cannot be expressed. Who is fit to be found in it, except those whom God shall vouch- safe to make so? Let us therefore pray to him and beseech him, that we may be worthy of it: that we may live in charity, without human partiality, unblameable. All generations from Adam until this day have passed away: but they who have been made perfect in love, according to the grace of Christ, have a place among the righteous, and shall be made manifest in the judg- ment of the kingdom of Christ. For it is written, “ Enter into thy chamber for a little space, until mine anger and indignation shall pass away. 4 And I will remember the good day, and will raise you up out of your graves.” Happy, then, are we, beloved, if we shall have performed the commandments of God in the unity of love, that so, through love, our sins may be forgiven us. For so it is written; “ Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth no sin, and in whose mouth there is no guile.” r This blessing is upon those who are chosen of God, through Jesus p rflv ijTfp rwv fip&v. Irenjbus, Lib. v. 1, uses the same expression: “ The Lord, therefore, having redeemed us by his own blcx>d, and having given his soul for our souls, and his flesh for our flesh, and having poured forth the Spirit of the Father, for the pur- pose of uniting God and man.”
4 Isa. xxvi. 20. r Ps. xxxil 1.
Christ our Lord; to whom be glory for ever and ever; Amen.
61. Let us, therefore, as many as have transgressed by any of the suggestions of the Adversary, pray for forgiveness: and let those, who have been the leaders of the sedition and dissension among you, look to the common object of our hope. For as many as have their conversation in fear and charity, would rather they themselves should fall into trials than their neigh- bors: and choose to be condemned themselves, rather than to violate that good and equitable concord which hath been transmitted to us. For it is good for a man to confess wherein he hath transgressed, rather than to harden his heart, as the hearts of those were hardened, who raised up sedition against Moses the servant of Gon: whose punishment was manifest to all men; for they went down alive into the grave; death swallowed them up.* Pharaoh and his host, 4 and all the rulers of Egypt'Hheir chariots also and their horsemen, were overwhelmed in the Red Sea and perished, for no other reason than because they hardened their foolish hearts, after so many signs had been done in the land of Egypt, by Moses the servant of God.
62. Beloved, the Lord is in want of nothing: neither requires he any thing of us, but that we should confess our sins unto him. For so saith the holy David: “ I will confess unto the Lord, and it shall please him better than a young bullock, that hath horns and hoofs. Let the poor see it, and be glad.”* And again he saith, “ Offer unto God the sacrifice of praise; and pay thy vows unto the most Highest And call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.”* “ The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit.” 7 53. Ye know, beloved, ye know full well the holy Scriptures; and have thoroughly searched into the oracles of God. Call them, therefore, to your remem- brance. For when Moses went up into the mount and tarried there forty days and forty nights, in fasting tfnd humiliation, God said unto him,* “ Arise, Moses, get ’ Ps. 1L 17. * Exod. xxxii. Dent. ix. 12.
TO THE CORINTHIANS.
33 thee down quickly from hence, for thy people have committed wickedness: they whom thon hast brought out of the land of Egypt hare quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them, and have made to themselves molten images. And the Lord said unto him, I have spoken unto thee once and again, saying, I have seen this people, and behold it is a stiff-necked people. Let me therefore destroy them, and I will blot out their name from under heaven, and I will make of thee a nation mighty and wonderful, and much greater than they. But Moses said, not so, Lord: forgive now this people their sin; and if not, blot me also out of the book of the living.” O admirable cha- rity! O insuperable perfection! The servant speaka boldly to his Lord; he beseeches him either to forgive the people, or that he himself may also be destroyed with them.
54. Who, then, is there among you that is generous t who, that is compassionate? who, that is filled with charity? let him say, if this sedition, and strife and schism be upon my account,* I am ready to depart, to go away whithersoever ye please; and to do whatso- * Clement here professes* no more than he practised. It is highly probable, as Epiphanius asserts, that he was appointed, by St. Peter, to be Bishop of Rome, but declined accepting the office as long as Linus and Cletus (or Anencletus) lived. This seems the most prob- able cause of the difficulty of ascertaining the succession of the first bishops of Rome Chrysostom, in his 11th Homily on the Epistle to the Ephesians, (Vol. iii. p. 824. Savile.) expresses his readiness to act up to this precept; “If you entertain,” he says, “ such suspicions respecting me, I am ready to resign my office, and to retire whithersoever ye will, only so that the unity of the Church may be preserved.”
Gregory Nazianzen actually resigned the see of Constantinople, rather than be the cause of disputes in the Church. See Cave’s Life [of Gregory.] Sect 6.
* [What does Clement professl The probability of his practice of the resigna- tion of abishopric, is extremely slight— scarcely any; as will be apparent ifthe valu® of Epiphanius’ single testimony to an event so far removed from his own know* ledge be duly estimated, and placed in counterpoise with the discrepant accounts of earlier and more trustworthy writers. — But it is astonishing that this passage should have been thought to bear on the question, when the least attention to the context might suffice to convince the reader that Clement has not the slightest reference to himself in his recommendations for others; and that those recom- mendations (being addressed distributively to members of a Church which could have had but one bishop) were adapted to the circumstances of persons filling inferior office in the Church, not to the different obligations and responsibilities of a bishop.]
THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 84 ever the multitude command me; only let the flock of Christ be in peace, with the elders that are set over it He that shall do this, shall obtain to himself a very great honor in the Lord: and every place will be ready to receive him. “ For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.’ b These things they who have their conversation toward God not to be repented of, both have done, and will always be ready to do.
55. Nay, to produce examples even of the Gentiles: many kings and rulers, in times of pestilence, being warned by their oracles, have given themselves up to death, that they might, by their own blood, deliver their eountry. Many have forsaken their cities, that sedi- tions might no longer continue. We know how many* among ourselves have given themselves up into bonds that thereby they might free others. Many have sold themselves into bondage, and received the price, that with it they might feed others. Nay, even women, strengthened by the grace of God, have performed many manly actions. The blessed Judith, d when her city was besieged, desired the elders that they would suffer her to go into the camp of their enemies. Thus she went out, and exposed herself to danger for the love she bare to her country, and her people that were besieged: and the Lord delivered Holofernes into the hand of a woman. Again, Esther,* being made perfect in the faith, exposed herself to a danger equally great, that she might deliver the twelve tribes of Israel, who were in danger of being destroyed. For by fasting and humbling herself she entreated the great maker of all b Ps. xxiv. 1.
b Ps. xxiv. 1.
* St. Paul mentions “ Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus, who have for my life laid down their own necks.” Rom. xvi. 3, 4, and Epaphjroditus, who “ for the work of Christ was nigh unto death not regarding his life.” Phil. ii. 30. Baronius relates that St. Alban, the proto-martyr of Britain, gave hicnself up and was put to death under Diocletian, a. d. 303, instead of a fugitive who bad taken refuge from persecution under his roof.
In the early ages of Christianity many, under the designation of Parabolaniy gave themselves up to the care of the sick, at the peril of their own lives. These were so numerous, that a law was passed to limit their number. Codex Theodos. Lib. xvi. Tit. 2. leg. 42. (Pell.) m * Judith viii. ix. x. xl • viL viii.
TO TU CORIKTHIANS.
things, the God of the worlds; f to that beholding the humiliation of her soul, he delivered the people, for whose sahe she was in peril.
56. Let us, therefore, pray for those who are fallen into any sin; that meekness and humility may be given unto them, so that they may submit not unto us, but unto the will of God. For by these means they shall obtain a fruitful and perfect remembrance, with mercy, both in our prayers to God, and in our mention of them before his saints. Let us receive correction, at which no man ought to repine. Beloved, the admonition which we exercise toward one another is good, and exceedingly profitable: for it unites us the more closely to the will of God. For thus saith the holy Scripture: “ The Loud chastened and corrected me; but he did not give me over unto death.” * 44 For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourge the very son whom he receiv- eth.” h 44 The righteous,” saith he, 44 shall instruct me in mercy T and reprove me: but let not the oil of sinners anoint my head with its fatness.” 1 And again he saith, * 44 Happy is the man whom God correcteth: but despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty. For he mak* eth sore, and again restoreth; he woundeth, and his hands make whole. Six times out of trouble he shall deliver thee: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. In famine, he shall redeem thee from death; and in war he shall defend the from the hand of iron. He shall hide thee from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of evils when they come. Thou shalt laugh at the wicked and sinners; neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth. For the wild beasts shall be at peace with thee. Then shalt thou know that thy house shall be in peace; and the habita- tion of thy tabernacle shall not err. Thou shalt also know that thy seed shall be great; and thy offspring as all the grass of the field. And thou shalt come to the grave as ripe corn, that is taken in due time, like as a shock of com cometh in, in its season.” Ye see, beloved, that there is a protection to those who are corrected of the Lord. For he is a good instructer; and is 1 6th tQp @l4mv. * Ps. eniii. IS. ft Pror. iii. 1 1.
> Pi. exL 5. Septuagint. ft Job ▼. 17.
36 THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT [$ 57, 5% willing that we should be admonished by his holy discipline.
67. Do ye, therefore, who laid the foundation of the sedition, submit yourselves unto your elders; 1 and be instructed unto repentance, bending the knees of your hearts. Learn to be subject; laying aside all proud and arrogant boasting of your tongues. For it is better for you to be found in the sheep-fold of Christ little and approved, than to appear superior to others, and to be cast out of his hope.® For thus speaks the excellent and all-virtuous Wisdom, “ “ Behold I will pour out the word of my spirit upon you; I will make known my speech unto you. Because I called, and ye would not hear: I stretched out my words, and ye regarded not: but ye set at nought all my counsel, and disobeyed my reproof; therefore I also will laugh at your calamity, and exult when your desolation cometh; and when trouble cometh suddenly upon you, and destruction as a whirlwind, or when persecution or siege cometh upon you. For it shall come to pass, when ye call upbn me, I will not hear you: the wicked shall seek me; but they shall not find me. For they hated knowledge, and did not seek the fear of the Lord: neither would they take heed to my counsels, but laughed my reproofs to scorn. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own ways; and shall be filled with their own wickedness.”
58. Now God, the inspector of all things, the Father • of spirits, and the Lord of all flesh, who hath chosen our Lord Jesus Christ, and us, by him, to be his peculiar people, grant to every soul of man that calleth upon his glorious and holy name, faith, fear, peace, patience, long-suffering, temperance, holiness, and sobri- ety, unto all well- pleasing to his name: through our high priest and protector Jesus Christ; by whom be glory and majesty, and power, and honor, unto Him now and for evermore. Amen.
® « tIjs fXm&os avrov — perhaps we should read Ik rffs havXioos — * out of his fold.’
* Prov. i. 23. The book of Proverbs is often quoted by this title, by the early Christian writers.
• $tox6rw TO THE CORINTHIANS.
37 59. The messengers, whom we hare sent unto you, Claudius Ephebus, and Valerius Bito, with Fortunatus, send back to us again with all speed in peace and with joy, that they may the sooner acquaint us with your peace and concord, so much prayed for and desired by us; and that we may rejoice in your good order.* 60. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, and with all that are any where called by God and through him; to whom be honor and glory, and might and majesty,, ahd eternal dominion, by Christ Jesus,** from everlasting to everlasting. Amen.
Voi. IV. —4 NOTES OH THB BRISTLE OP CLEMENT TO THE CORINTHIANS.
On the Preaching of St. Paul in the West.
This is the earliest account of the preaching of St. Paul, after the close of that part of his history, which is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. The testimony of Clement, the fellow laborer of St. Paul in the work of the Gospel, (Phi!, iv. 3.) is very valuable, and proves that at least a part of the Apostle's labors was directed to the West of Europe.
To form a judgment respecting the extent of his travels, it is neces- sary to consider what time probably elapsed between the termination of his two years’ resilience in Rome, (Acts xxiv. 10.) and his martyr- dom: and, consequently, to Ox the date of his first visit to Rome, which took place nearly at the time when Felix was recalled from the government of Judea. (Acts xxiv. 27.)
To this journey different dates are assigned by different writers.
Eusebius and Jerome, (Eusebius, Chronicon; Jerome, Catalogus Script. Eccles. Tom. IV. Part Il.fp. 103. Benedict. Edit.) who are followed by Scaliger, Cave, Stillingfleet and others, fix upon the second year of Nero, a.d. 56. Bp. Pearson, in his Annates Pau • lint, places this visit in'the sixth year of Nero, a.d. 60. Hale, in his Analysis qf Chronology, fixes upon the seventh of Nero, a.d. 61. And Abp. Usher places the event as late as the ninth year of Nero, The earliest of these dates appears to correspond very well with the period of the recall of Felix. Josephus (Ant. xx. c. 8, 9.) says that Felix would have been punished for his misconduct, had he not been pardoned at the intercession of his brother Pallas, who was then at the height of his favor with Nero. Tacitus (Annul, xii. 54.) shows how dependent Felix was upon the power of his brother.
Now Pallas was himself dismissed by Nero, in the second year of his reign; (Tacit. Ann. xiii. 14.) was soon after brought to trial for treason; (Ibid. c. 23.) and was put to death in the ninth year of Nero. (Tacit. Ann. xiv. 65.) It is probable that Pallas, who was intimate with Agrippina, (Tacit. Ann. xii. 25. xiv. 2.) was not restored to the favor of Nero, until after her death, in the fifth year of Nero. Ifj therefore, the pardon of Felix was obtained by the intercession of Pallas with Nero, his recall probably took place as early as the second year of Nero.
If we assume, however, that Eusebius and Jerome were correct in assigning the second year of Nero as the date of St. Paul's first journey to Rome^ his release would take place about the fifth year of Nero, probably in consequence of favors shown to prisoners and exile^ after the murder of Agrippina. (Massutius de Vitd Pauli^ THE EPISTLE OF CLEMENT.
39 MOTES.]
L 13. c. 1JS And he was put, to death during the persecution which began in the eleventh year of Nero, and continued four years. Euse- bius and Jkromr say that he suffered in the fourteenth year of Nero..
This computation would leave a space of about eight years for the labors of St. Paul, after his first imprisonment at Rome; an opportu- nity which he doubtless employed with his characteristic energy and activity.
It was during these years, then, that St. Paul, according to Cle- ment, visited “the furthest extremity of the West.”
Hales, in his Chronology (Vol. III. p. 546. edit. 2.) thinks that Clement here “speaks rather rhetorically of St. Paul’s travels to the western extremity of Europe.” And Basnage ( Eaferciiationea Histo- ricO‘crilicee, p.,511.) conceives that he means no more than St. Paul visited Italy. “ Mibi certum non Hispaniam, sed Italiam a Clemente designari.” Considering, however, that Clement wrote at Rome, we cannot but consider his words as referring to some country in- cluded under the Western provinces with respect to Rome. And the general current of ecclesiastical history plainly points to Spain, as one of the countries which he visited, in compliance with ah intention which he himself expressed. (Rom. xvi. 24, 28.)
'the evidence in favor of St. Paul having visited Spain appears quite conclusive.
Caius, the presbyter, in the beginning of the third century, says that “ writings not included in the canon of Scripture expressly men- tion the journey of St. Paul from Rome into Spain.”* Hippolytus, in the same century, says, that “ St. Paul went as far as Illyricum, and Italy, and Spain, preaching the Gospel.”** Athanasius, in the fourth century, that St. Paul' “ did not hesitate to go to Rome and to Spain.”* Jerome, in the same century, says, that “ St. Paul, after his release from his trial before Nero, preached the Gospel in the Western ports.”* And Theodoret, in the fifth century, that “ when, in con- * Sicat et semota passionem Petri evidenter declarant, sed et profectionem Pauli ab urbe ad Spaniam proficiscentis. — Caix Presbyteri fragmentum: Reliquie a Sacra, [h Rowth.] Vol. IV. pp. 4, 37.
* HoSAos Si fur* iviavrbv iva rfjg rou Xptorou bvaX/jtptug elorjXOev tig rft irrooToXf)v t xal Sp^dptvog avb 'ltpoveaXtip, itpo?iX6tv lug to v f IAAva<«ro8 «ai ’I raXlag teal Jliraviag Ktjpiootav rb E luyyiXiov Irr^Xi. ’Em Si Nipwvogfhf 'Pw/i /7 rrjv >cc<pa\r)v uvorpijdcts, ddirrtrai htett.
Hippolytus de xii Apostolia, Appendix, p. 31. Edit. Fabricii.
There is some doubt whether this tract wus written by Hippolytus the Martyr. At all events, it contains little more information than could be col* lected or conjectured from the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistle to the Romans. The same remark applies to the subsequent passage of Atha* NASIUS.
4 Aid rovfo koI ovovSjj rdv dyltov uiX9 * T6 % ’lAAvpucoS Ktiporre i, cal ph inti. pijSi tig ri)p 'Puprjv a iriXdttv, pvdi tig rag Xicavtag &va(3ijvai.. - - Athanas. Epiat. ad Dracontium, Tom. I. p. 956. A. Edit. Paris, 1627.
* Sciendum autem in prima satisfactions, necdum Neronii imperio robo* vato, nec in tanta erumpente scelera, quanta de co narrant historic, Paulum I Nerone dimissum, ut Evangelium Chsisti in Occidentis quoque partibus prcdicaretur, si cut ipse scribit in secundd Epistola ad Timotheum, eo tern* pore quo et passus est, de vinculis dictans Epistolam. (2 Tim. iv. 16.)
Hibbon. Catalogue Scriplor. Ecclea. Nuui. v. Tom. IV. Par. n. p. 100.
BdiL BenedicL . y Google 40 THE EffSTLE OF CLBMBKT [NOTH*.
sequence of his appeal to Cesar, he (St. Paul) was sent to Rome by Festus, and was acquitted on his defence, he went to Spain, and can- ned the light of the Gospel to other nations.”* The expressions of Clement, however — bti ri rtppa 1 % ftiawt fttor — have been supposed to imply that the Apostle’s preaching did not terminate in Spain, but extended to the British Islands. Those who entertain this opinion observe, that in the language of that period, Britain is often called the extremity of the West. Thus Plutarch, in his life of Caesar, denominates the sea between Gaul and Britain, “the Western Ocean Eusebius and Nicephoros give the same name to the British Ocean: (Euseb. Vita Constant. I. cc. 25, 41. II. c. 28. Niceph. Hist. Lib. i. c. 1.) and Eusebius elsewhere (De Mar* PaltBstin. c. 13i) describes Britain under the appellation of the Western parts beyond Gaul, Theodoret also, speaking of the visi- ters attracted by the fame of Simeon Stylites, enumerates the inhabit- ants of Spain, Britain, and Gaul, which he says lies between the other two, and describes them all as dwelling in the extreme bounds of the west.f In the language of Catullus, Britain is “ Ultima Bri- tannia/’ and “Ultima Occidentis Insula.” (Carm. xxix.) He speake of the inhabitants as “ horribilesque ultimosque Britan nos 5 ” (Carm. xl) as Horace afterward calls them “ Ultimos orbis Britannoa.”
The language of Clement might very well therefore imply that St. Paul went not only to Spain, but to, the most remote of the three Western provinces, Spain, Gaul, and Britain.
There is distinct evidence that the Gospel was preached in the British islands by some qf the Apostles. Thus Tertullian, in the second century, speaks of “ all the extremities of Spain, and the dinerent nations of Gaul, and parts of Britain inaccessible to the Romans, but subject to Christ.” See Tertullian’s Apology, e. 37. p. 430. (of Cheyallier’s translation, Eng. ed.} note. The testimony of Eusebius to the same fact is peculiarly valuable. As the favorite of Constantine, the first Christian Emperor, who was born in Britain and there proclaimed Emperor, he may be supposed to have been well acquainted with the manner in which Christianity was introduced into Britain. And the remarkable passage in his Demonstratio Evan* gtliaa, in which he not only asserts the fact, that some of the apostles nreached in Britain, but argues upon the ract, may be regarded as a deliberate assertion, founded upon actual inquiry. His object is to prove that the first preachers of Christianity were not deceivers nor impostors. “ Observe,” he says, “ this also. If they were impostors and deceivers, and also uninstructed and entirely ignorant men, nay, rather barbarians, acquainted with no other than the Syrian language, how could they ever go through the whole world? How could so bold an undertaking enter their thoughts? and by what power could • Hvixa rjf rlfr f Prfp*v M rot $$*rm wap nrfr Sfr,