Authority But then as Du Pin well observes it is certain that the Ancients knew nothing of it nor are the Acts we now have quoted by any before the time of Etherius before-mentioned And yet how they could have escaped the Search of the Primitive Fathers had they been extant in their days it is hard to imagin 34. BUT much less is the Credit that ought to be given to the pretended Works of Dionysius the Areopagite Which as Alexander confesses two very great Criticks of his own Communion to have deny'd to have been written by that Holy Man so has a third very lately given such Reasons to shew that the Writings now extant under his Name could not have been composed by him as ought to satisfie every considering Man of their Imposture For not to say any thing of what occurs every where in those Discourses utterly disagreeable to the State of the Church in the time that that Dionysius lived Can it be imagin'd that had such considerable Books as these been written by him none of the Ancients of the first IV Centuries should have heard any thing of them Or shall we say that they did know of them as well as the Fathers that lived after and yet made no mention of them tho' they had so often occasion to have done it as Eusebius and St. Jerome not to name any Others had 35. IN short one of the first times that we hear of them is in the Dispute between the Severians and Catholicks about the Year D. XXX.II When the Former produced them in favour of their Errours and the Latter rejected them as Books utterly unknown to all Antiquity and therefore not worthy to be received by them 36. IT is therefore much to be wondered that after so many Arguments as have been brought to prove how little Right these Treatises have to such a Primitive Antiquity nevertheless not only Natalis Alexander but a Man of much better Judgment I mean Emanuel Schelstrat the late Learned Keeper of the Vatican Library should still undertake the Defence of them When they were written or by what Author is very uncertain But as Bishop Pearson supposes them to have been first set forth about the latter end of Eusebius's Life so Dr. Cave conjectures that the Elder Apollinarius may very probably have been the Author of them Others there are who place them yet later and suspect Pope Gregory the Great to have had a hand in the Forgery And indeed the Arguments which our very Learned Mr. Dodwell brings to prove that they were originally written by one of the Roman Church are not without their just Weight But whatever becomes of this thus much is certain that these Books were not written before the middle of the IV th Century and therefore are without the Compass of the present Undertaking 37. AND now having taken such a View as was necessary for the present Design of all those other Pieces which have been obtruded upon the World for Apostolical Writings besides what is either here collected or has been before publish'd in the Sacred Books of the New Testament I suppose I may with good Grounds conclude that the little I have now put together is all that can with any Certainty be depended upon of the most Primitive Fathers And therefore that from these next to the Holy Scriptures we must be content to draw the best Account we can of the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church for the first Hundred Years after the Death of Christ. CHAP. X. Of the Authority of the following Treatises and the Deference that ought to be paid to them upon the account of it This is shewn from the following Considerations 1st That the Authors of them were Contemporary with the Apostles and instructed by them 2dly They were Men of an eminent Character in the Church and therefore to be sure such as could not be ignorant of what was taught in it 3dly They were very careful to preserve the Doctrine of Christ in its Purity and to oppose such as went about to corrupt it 4thly They were Men not only of a perfect Piety but of great Courage and Constancy and therefore such as cannot be suspected to have had any Design to prevaricate in this Matter 5thly They were endued with a large Portion of the Holy Spirit and as such could hardly err in what they deliver'd as the Gospel of Christ. And 6thly Their Writings were approved by the Church in those days which could not be mistaken in its Approbation of them BUT Secondly and to proceed yet farther The following Collection pretends to a just Esteem not only upon the account of its Perfection as it is an Entire Collection of what remains to us of the Apostolical Fathers but yet much more from the Respect that is due to the Authors themselves whose Writings are here put together 2. IF First we consider them as the Contemporaries of the Holy Apostles Some of them bred up under our Saviour Christ himself and the rest instructed by those Great Men whom he commissioned to go forth and preach to all the World and endued with an extraordinary Assistance of his Blessed Spirit for the doing of it We cannot doubt but that what they deliver to us must be without Controversie the pure Doctrine of the Gospel What Christ and his Apostles taught and what they had themselves received from their own Mouths This is the least Deference we can pay to them to look upon them as faithful Deliverers of the Doctrine and Practice of the Church in those most early Times When Heresies were not as yet so openly broke out in it Nor the true Faith so dangerously corrupted with the Mixture of those erroneous Opinions which afterwards more fatally infected the Minds of Men and divided the Church into so many Parties and Factions So that here then we may read with Security and let me add with Respect too And not doubt but what these Holy Men deliver to us is as certainly the true Doctrine of Christ as if we had received it like them from our Saviour and his Apostles 3. BUT Secondly The Authors of the following Pieces had not only the Advantage of living in the Apostolical Times and of hearing the Holy Apostles and conversing with them but they were of a very Eminent Character in the Church too Men raised up to the highest pitch of Honour and Authority in some of the most famous Churches of the World Chosen by the Apostles to preside in their own proper Sees at Rome at Antioch at Smyrna One of them set apart by the express Command of the Holy Ghost to be the Companion of the Great St. Paul in his Work of the Ministry and the rest for the most part commended for their rare Endowments in the inspired Writings of the Holy Scriptures delivered to us And therefore we may be sure that such Men as these must needs have been very carefully instructed in the Mystery of the Gospel and have had
own Ashes which is not only a thing false in its self but unworthy of such a Person as St. Clement to mention 24. NOW not to say any thing as to this Matter 1st That Photius a severe Critick of the ancient Fathers who first started it as a fault in St. Clement that he made use of this as a true Observation which it seems the Other look'd upon as a meer Fable yet did not think it any Objection against the Authority of this Epistle which he nevertheless acknowledg'd to be St. Clements To pass by 2dly That the Generality of the Ancient Fathers have made use of the very same instance in proof of the same Point as the learned Junius has particularly shewn in his Notes upon this Passage and the Authority of whose Works no one yet ever called in question upon that account I would only ask 3dly What if St. Clement really believed the Account which he here gives us of this Matter That there was such a Bird and that he did revive out of the Cinders of the Body before burnt Where was the great harm either in giving Credit to such a Wonder or believing it to make such a use as he here do's of it 25. THE Truth is Whosoever shall consider both the general Credit which this Story had in those days and the particular Accident which fell out not long before the time that this Epistle was written to confirm their Belief of it And of which one of the most judicious of all the Roman Historians has given us a large Account I mean of the Phoenix that was said to have come into Egypt a little after the Death of Christ and to have given occasion of much Discourse to the most Learned Men both of the Greeks and Romans concerning the very Miracle of which St. Clement here speaks Will find it to have been no such strange thing in this Holy Man to have suffer'd himself to be led away with the Common Opinion and to have believed what so many learned Men did among the Jews and Gentiles no less than among the Christians viz. That God was pleased to give to the World this great Earnest and Type of a future Resurrection and to silence thereby the Cavils of such as should pretend what we know the generality of the wise Men of the World did that it was impossible for God to effect such a Restitution 26. BUT I insist too long on so trifling an Objection however magnified by some Men and may I think from what I have already said conclude that if this be indeed as they confess it is the greatest ground they have to call in question the Credit of this Epistle there is then nothing that ought to move any considering Man to entertain the least Doubt or Scruple concerning it 27. THERE are indeed two other Exceptions which Photius has made against St. Clement upon the Account of the Epistle before us which yet he look'd upon as unquestionably his the One for that he speaks in it of the Worlds beyond the Ocean the Other in that he seems not to have Written so honourably as was sitting of the Divinity of our Blessed Saviour But as the latter of these is but a meer Cavil against this Holy Man who in his Other Epistle expresly asserts his Divine Nature and even in this speaks in such a manner of him as shews him to be much more than a meer Creature So in the former he said nothing but what was agreeable both to the Notions and Language of the times in which he lived when it was common to call our British Isles another World or as St. Clement here stiles them the Worlds beyond the Ocean 28. AND these I think are the chief Exceptions that have been at any time raised against the following Epistle and which however insisted upon in these latter days yet did not hinder the first and best Ages of the Church when Men were less curious but much more pious from putting a very great Value upon it Nor will they I suppose have any more weight with any serious and ingenuous Mind now Or hinder him from esteeming it a very great Blessing to our present Times that a Work so highly esteemed among the Ancient Fathers but so long and as it was justly feared irrecoverably lost to these latter Ages was at last so happily found out for the Encrease and Confirmation both of our Faith and Piety 29. NOW the manner of its Discovery and Publication was this It happen'd about the beginning of the present Age that Cyril Patriarch of Alexandria being removed from thence to Constantinople brought along with him a great Treasure of Books to that place Among the rest he had a very ancient Manuscript Copy both of the Septuagint Old and of the New Greek Testament written but little more than three hundred years after Christ. This he sent as the most valuable Present that he was Master of to our late Royal Sovereign King Charles the First by Sir Thomas Roe his Majesty's Ambassadour at that time at the Port. Being thus brought into England and placed in the Royal Library at St. James's Mr. Patrick Young the learned Keeper of the King's Library at that time discover'd this Epistle with part of another at the End of the New Testament and was thereupon commanded by his Majesty to publish it for the benefit of the World This he accordingly did with a Latin Translation and Notes at Oxford Anno 1633 It was not long after that a very learned Man and a great Master of the Greek Tongue Mr. William Burton translated it into English and publish'd it very accurately and with new Annotations of his own upon it This I had not seen till the first Sheets of the present Edition were sent to the Press Nor had I any other knowledge either of that or of the Author than what I found in the Accounts given by our Reverend Dr. Cave and the late Monsieur Colomesius of the One and by our laborious Antiquary Mr. A. Wood of the Other in his useful Collection of the Lives and Writings of our Modern Authors And though I believe whosoever shall take the pains to compare the two Translations together will find them generally agreeing as to the Sense yet there will otherwise appear such manifest Differences between them as may abundantly satisfie any indifferent Person that I have tuly translated it from the Original Greek and not Revised only Mr. Burton's Edition of it CHAP. III. Of the Epistle of St. Polycarp to the Philippians Of the Time when St. Polycarp wrote this Epistle The Reason of its being placed before the Epistles of Ignatius That St. Polycarp wrote several other pieces Yet nothing of his now remaining but only this Epistle Whether this Epistle has been interpolated as those of Ignatius were The latter part of it vindicated against the Exceptions of Monsieur Daillé and some Others Of the Translation of it into our own Language by Dr. Cave
Title of Martyr to him 16. BUT whatever were the manner of St. Barnabas's Death yet famous is the Story of the Invention of his Reliques deliver'd by the same Monk and who as Baronius tells us lived at the same time under Zeno the Emperour and confirm'd by the concurrent Testimonies of Theodorus Nicephorus Cedrenus Sigebert Marianus Scotus and others With what Ceremony this was perform'd and how this Blessed Saint appear'd twice to Anthemius then Bishop of Salamis in order to the Discovery of his own Reliques and how the Emperour commanded a stately Church to be built over the Place of his Burial I shall leave it to those who are fond of such Stories to read at large in Baronius and the Monk whom I before mentioned It will be of more concern to take notice that Nilus Doxapater tells us that this very thing was the Ground of the Cyprian Privileges Where speaking of certain Provinces that depended not upon any of the Greater Patriarchats he instances first of all in Cyprus Which says he continues free and is subject to none of the Patriarchs because of the Apostle Barnabas being found in it And the same is the Account which Nicephorus also gives us of it and which was assign'd before both in the Notitia ascrib'd to Leo as I find it quoted by Monsieur le Moyne in his Preface to his late Collection of several ancient Pieces relating to Ecclesiastical Antiquity 17. TOGETHER with his Body was found says Alexander the Gospel of St. Matthew written in the Hebrew Tongue lying upon his Breast but Nilus says that of his Kinsman S. Mark Which of the two it was or whether any thing of all this were more than a mere Story contriv'd by Anthemius to get the better of Peter Patriarch of Antioch I shall not undertake to determine It is enough that we are assured that by this means he not only preserved his Priviledges against Peter but got his See confirm'd by the Emperour as an Independent See which was also afterwards again done by Justinian at the Instigation of the Empress Theodora who was her self a Cyprian 18. BUT to return to that which is more properly the Business of these Reflections It do's not appear that St. Barnabas left any more in Writing than the Epistle I have here subjoyn'd Indeed there were some heretofore who thought that the Epistle to the Hebrews was written by him Tertullian confidently quotes it as his Nor do's St. Hierome censure him for it but leaves it as a doubt whether it should be ascribed to him or to St. Luke St. Clement or St. Paul tho' he seems rather to incline to St. Paul As for the present Epistle I do not know that it is deny'd by any of the Ancients to have been written by St. Barnabas Clemens Alexandrinus both mentions and commends it as his Origen calls it The Catholick Epistle of Barnabas Eusebius and St. Jerome tho' they place it among the Apochryphal Books that is to say among such as were of doubtful Authority and not admitted into the Canon of the Church for so Valesius shews we are there to understand them yet make no question but that Barnabas was the Author of it any more than that the Epistles of St. James St. Jude the Second Epistle of St. Peter and the Second and Third of St. John together with his Revelations which Eusebius places in the same rank were written by those whose Names they bear 19. WHICH being so I cannot but wonder at some in our own Times who upon such weak Grounds peremptorily pronounce it to be none of St. Barnabas's which says our Learned Bishop Pearson none of all the Ancients pretended to doubt of And of this Cotelerius seems to have been sensible Who tho' he did not care to ascribe it to the Blessed Evangelist of whom we are now discoursing yet was forced to suppose that some other Barnabas wrote it and without which he saw there could be no way of answering the concurrent Verdict of all Antiquity which has universally agreed in Barnabas as the Author of it But now who this Other Barnabas was or that in those Times there was any such Person he pretends not to tell us and they who ascribe it to Barnabas expresly speak of him as the same of whom I have hitherto been discoursing 20. BUT of all Others most unaccountable is the Fancy of Monsieur le Moyne concerning the Author of this Epistle He had observed that in several Manuscripts it was immediately continued on with that of St. Polycarp And from this Ignorance or Negligence of a few Transcribers has this Learned Man concluded the two Epistles to have been both written by St. Polycarp in which as he had none to go before him so I believe he will scarcely meet with any to follow him 21. NOR are the Arguments which they bring against the Authority of it of such Moment as to overthrow the constant Testimonies of the Ancients on its behalf They tell us first that it is evident from the XVI th Chapter of this Epistle that it was written after the Destruction of Jerusalem But why may not Barnabas have been then living as well as we are sure St. John and several others of the Companions of the Apostles were And if he may have been living after it why shall not we suppose that he was as well as they that he was not Seeing it does not appear from the Testimony of any Antient Writers when he died 22. BUT 2 dly They argue yet farther against it For if this say they be the Genuine Epistle of St. Barnabas how comes it to pass that it is not received as Canonical Certainly had the Primitive Christians believed it to have been written by such a Man they would without Controversie have plac'd it among the sacred Writings and not have censured it as of doubtful Authority This is indeed a very specious Pretence but which being a little examined will be found to have no strength in it It being certain that the Primitive Fathers did own this for St. Barnabas's Epistle and yet not receive it into their Canon and therefore that it do's not follow that had they believed it to have been his they must have esteem'd it Canonical 23. WHAT Rules they had or by what Measure they proceeded in those First Times in judging of the Canonical Scriptures of the New Testament it is not necessary for me here to enquire It is enough that we know what Books the Church did at last agree in as coming under that Character And for the rest as we cannot doubt but that there was a due care taken in examining into a matter of such Importance and that those Primitive Fathers did not without very good reason distinguish what were written by Divine Inspiration from what were not So we are very sure that all was not admitted by them into the rank of Canonical Scripture that was written by any Apostolical Man and therefore that it
the Greeks for pretending that neither Juno nor Minerva nor Jupiter were what those imagin'd who built Temples and Altars to them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nay so far went this last Author in his Allegories as to turn all the Trojan and Graecian Hero's into mere Fictions And to make Hector and Achilles and Agamemnon and even Helena her self nothing less than what one would think they were and what the common People ignorantly imagin'd them to be 33. AND for the Influence which this had upon the Ancient Fathers who from Philosophers became Christians the Writings both of Justin Martyr and Clemens Alexandrinus sufficiently shew And if we may believe Porphery an Enemy in the Case of Origen he tells us in the same place in which he complains of him For turning those things that were clearly deliver'd by Moses into Mystical Significations not only that he did this in Imitation of the Graecians but that it was his frequent Conversation with Numenius and Cronius Moderatus Nichomachus and Others among the Pythagoreans and with Chaeremon and Cornutus among the Stoics that he had learnt his Allegorical way of Expounding the Holy Scriptures and applied that to his Religion which they were wont to do to their Superstition 34. FROM all which it appears that this way of Writing in Matters of Religion was in those days generally used not only among the Jews but among the Wiser and more Philosophical of the Gentiles too And from both came to be almost universally practised among the Primitive Christians Which being so we ought to be far from censuring of St. Barnabas for his mystical Application of what God prescribed to the Jews in the Old Testament to the Spiritual Accomplishment of it in the New Much less should we ever the more call in question either the Truth or Credit of his Epistle upon this account 35. HAVING said thus much either in Vindication of the Allegorical Expositions of this Epistle or at least by way of Apology for them I shall add but little more concerning the Epistle it self I have before observed as to the Time of its Writing that it was somewhat after the Destruction of Jerusalem and as we may conjecture from the Subject of it for Title at present it has none nor do's it appear that ever it had any was address'd to the Jews to draw them off from the Letter of the Law to a Spiritual Understanding of it and by that means dispose them to embrace the Gospel Whether he had besides this a farther Design in it as Dr. Hammond supposes to confute the Errours of the Gnostick Hereticks and to prevent the Jewish Converts from falling into them it is not certain but may from the chief Points insisted upon by him be probably enough supposed If any one shall think it strange that disputing against the Jews for the Truth of the Gospel he should not have urged any of those Passages relating to the Messiah which seem to us the most apposite to such a purpose Such as the Oracle of Jacob concerning the Time that Shiloh was to come the LXX Weeks of Daniel the Prophecies of Haggai and Malachi of his coming while the Second Temple stood and which was now destroyed when he wrote this Epistle and the like Monsieur le Moyne will give him a ready Answer viz. that these Passages relate chiefly to the Time of Christ's appearing and that this was no Controversie in those days the Jews not only confessing it but being ready at every turn through this Persuasion to set up some or other for their Messiah to their Shame and Confusion It was therefore then but little necessary to use those Arguments against them which now appear to be the most proper and convincing since the State of the Question is alter'd and the Jews either deny that their Messiah is come or that it was necessary for him to have come about that time that our Saviour Christ appeared in the Flesh. 36. BUT tho' the chief Design of this Epistle was to convince the Jews of the Truth of our Religion yet are there not wanting in the latter part of it many excellent Rules to render it still very useful to the Pious Reader Indeed some have doubted whether this did originally belong to this Epistle or whether it has not since been added to it But seeing we find this part quoted by the Fathers as belonging to St. Barnabas no less than the other and that the Measure assign'd to it in the ancient Stichometries can hardly be well accounted for without it I do not see but that we ought to conclude that our Author did divide his Epistle into the two Parts in which we now have it and that this latter aswell as the former was written by him 37. AS for the Translation which I have here given of it I have made it up out of what remains of the Original Greek and of the Old Latin Version and of each of which tho' a Part be lost yet it has so fallen out that between them we not only have the whole Epistle but that too free of those Interpolations which Vossius tells us some had endeavour'd to make in this as well as in Ignatius's Epistles In both I have endeavour'd to attain to the Sense of my Author and to make him as plain and easie as I was able If in any thing I shall have chanced to mistake him I have only this to say for my self that he must be better acquainted with the Road than I pretend to be who will undertake to travel so long a Journey in the dark and never to miss his way CHAP. VIII Of the Shepherd of St. Hermas and of the Second Epistle of St. Clement to the Corinthians That the Hermas mention'd by St. Paul Rom. xvi 14 was the Author of that Book which is here subjoyn'd under his Name There is little remaining of his Life more than what is taken out of his own Book Of his Death Uncertain whether he died a Martyr The Ancient Fathers divided in their Opinions of this Book Nor are our later Criticks less That there are many useful things in it Of the Second Epistle of St. Clement That it is not of equal Reputation with the Former By some deny'd to be St. Clements It is most probable that it was written by St. Clement and has many excellent things and worthy of that Holy Man in it These two Pieces now the first time translated into our own Language 1. THERE is not a greater Difference between the Learned Men of the present Times concerning the Epistle of St. Barnabas than there was among the Ancient Fathers heretofore concerning the Authority of that Book which next follows under the Name of Hermas Who this Hermas was what he did and what he suffer'd for the Faiths sake is in great measure unknown to us That there was one of that Name at Rome when St. Paul wrote his Epistle to the Church there his Remembrance of him Rom.
xvi 14 will not suffer us to doubt Nor is it improbable but that it was the same Hermas who afterwards wrote this Book And who appears not only still to have continued his Relation to the Church of Rome but to have written at such a time as may well agree to one of St. Paul's Acquaintance The former of these may be collected from his Second Vision which he seems to have had at the same time that Clement was Bishop of Rome and to whom therefore he is commanded to carry a Copy of it And for the latter if the Conjectures of two of our Greatest Criticks may be allow'd in applying the Great Affliction of which he speaks in another of his Visions to the Destruction of Jerusalem then at hand it is evident that this Book must have been written within XL. Years after the Death of Christ and by consequence by some Author who lived at the very time that the Hermas of whom St. Paul speaks most certainly did 2. HENCE Origen in his Homily upon that place of St. Paul before mentioned delivers it as his Opinion that it was the Hermas there spoken of who wrote this Book But Eusebius do's more He tells us that it was the received Opinion in those days that it was composed by him And that it continued to be so in the Age after St. Hierome witnesses who speaks yet more positively than Eusebius to that purpose And from all which we may conclude what is to be judg'd of that Mistake which our latter Writers have fallen into by their too credulous following the Author of the Poem against Marcion under the Name of Tertullian viz. that it was written by Hermes Brother to Pope Pius and in which not only the Authors of the Pontifical ascribed to Pope Damascus and of the pretended Decretal Epistles of the ancient Bishops of Rome but the Martyrologists of the Middle Ages Bede Ado c. have generally been involved 3. IT is true Cardinal Baronius has endeavour'd to make up this Difference by supposing that the Hermes spoken of by St. Paul was Brother to Pope Pius and so all Parties may be in the right But besides that this Book was written by Hermas not the Hermes of whom St. Paul there speaks the difference of the Time renders it altogether incredible that a Person of some considerable Age at St. Paul's writing his Epistle should have lived so long as that Pope's Brother is said to have done Whom the Cardinal himself observes to have been living CLXIV Years after Christ that is to say CVII Years after the writing of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans And this his Epitomator Spondanus was aware of And therefore tho' he seems to have allow'd of the Conjecture yet could not chuse but add this Reflection of his own upon it that according to this reckoning Hermas must have been CXXX Years old when he died and in all probability a great deal more 4. WHAT the Condition of this Hermas was before his Conversion we cannot tell but that he was a Man of some Consideration we may conclude from what we read of him in his Third Vision Where he is said to have been formerly unprofitable to the LORD upon the account of those Riches which after he became a Christian he seems to have dispensed in Works of Charity and Beneficence 5. NOR have we any more knowledg how he was converted than what his Condition was before It is probable from several Passages in his Book that he was brought over to Christianity himself before his Family who continued yet in the practice of many and great Impieties During this while Hermas was not only very kind to them but seems to have been so indulgent towards them as to permit them rather to go on in their Sins than he would take any rough Measures with them to draw them off from them 6. BUT this was not all he not only patiently bore with them but was himself disturb'd with many anxious Cares to supply them in their Extravagances and often times did not behave himself so well as he ought upon that account But however being of an honest and upright Disposition and having a great Sincerity in his Religion it pleased God at last not only to convince him of his Faults in thus neglecting his Family but to give them Grace to hearken to his Admonitions and to embrace at once both the Christian Faith and a Practice also suitable thereunto 7. WHAT he did after this we have no account but that he lived a very strict Life we may reasonably conjecture in that it pleased God to vouchsafe such extraordinary Revelations to him and to employ him in several Messages to his Church both to correct their Manners and to warn them of the Tryals that were about to come upon them 8. THIS was so singular a Grace even in those Times of Miracles that we find some other Christians not so humble as they ought to be became Enemies to him upon the account of them However this did not hinder but that God still continu'd to make use of his Ministry in admonishing Sinners and he as readily and faithfully went on both in warning them of their danger and in exhorting them to repent and save their Souls 9. THIS then was the Business of this Holy Man in which he spent his Life and if we may believe the Roman Martyrologie his Death was not unsuitable to it Where we read that being illustrious for his Miracles he at last offer'd himself a worthy Sacrifice unto God But upon what Grounds this is establish'd Baronius himself could not tell us Insomuch that in his Annals he durst not once mention the manner of his Death but is content to say That having undergone many Labours and Troubles in the time of the Persecution under Aurelius and that too without any Authority he at last rested in the LORD July XXVI and which is therefore observed in Commemoration of him And here is indeed a pleasant Mistake and worthy the Roman Martyrologie For this Author from the Book of which we are now discoursing being sometimes called by the Title of Pastor or Shepherd the Martyrologist has very gravely divided the good Man into two Saints And they observe the Memorial of Hermas May IX th and of Pastor July XXVI th Unless we shall rather say that this was indeed the Cardinal's Blunder and the Martyrologie in the right to make two distinct Persons of St. Hermas rembembred by St. Paul and the Brother of Pope Pius to whom the Passages mention'd July XXVI do manifestly belong And erred only in applying the Character of Pastor to the latter which with the Treatise of which we are now discoursing ought as the Cardinal has truly observed to have been ascribed to the former 10. BUT not to insist any longer on the Author of this Book As for the Work it self we find both the Ancient Fathers and the Learned Men of our own Times not a little divided in
their Judgments concerning it Some there are and those the nearest to the time when this Book was written that treat it almost with the same Respect that they would do the Canonical Scriptures Irenaeus quotes it under the very Name of the Scripture Origen tho' he sometimes moderates his Opinion of it upon the account of some who did not it seems pay the same Respect with himself to it yet speaking of Hermas being the Author of this Book in his Comments on the Epistle to the Romans gives us this Character of it That He thought it to be a most useful Writing and was as he believed Divinely Inspired Eusebius tells us that tho' being doubted of by Some it was not esteem'd Canonical yet was it by Others judged a most necessary Book and as such read publickly in the Churches And St. Hierom having in like manner observed that it was read in some Churches makes this Remark upon it That it was indeed a very profitable Book and whose Testimony was often quoted by the Greek Fathers Athanasius places it in the same rank with the Books of Scripture and calls it a most useful Treatise And in another place tells us That tho' it was not strictly Canonical yet was it reckon'd among those Books which the Fathers appointed to be read to such as were to be instructed in the Faith and desired to be directed in the Way of Piety 11. HENCE we may observe as a farther Evidence of that Respect which was paid to this Book heretofore that it was not only openly read in the Churches but in some of the most ancient Manuscripts of the New Testament is joyned together with the other Books of the Holy Scriptures An Instance of this Cotelerius offers us in that of the Monastry of St. Germans in France in which it is continued on at the End of St. Paul's Epistles And in several of the Old Stichometries it is put in the same Catalogue with the Inspired Writings As may be seen in that which the same Author has published out of a Manuscript in the King's Library in his Observations upon St. Barnabas and in which St. Barnabas's Epistle is placed immediately before the Revelations as the Acts of the Apostles and Hermas's Shepherd are immediately after it 12. AND yet after all this we find this same Book not only doubted of by Others among the Ancient Fathers but slighted even by some of those who upon other Occasions have spoken thus highly in its Favour Thus St. Jerome in his Comments Exposes the Folly of that Apochryphal Book as he calls it which in his Catalogue of Writers he had so highly applauded Tertullian who spake if not honourably yet calmly of it whilst a Catholick being become Montanist rejected it even with Scorn And most of the other Fathers who have spoken the highest of it themselves yet plainly enough insinuate that there were those who did not put the same Value upon it Thus Origen mentions some who not only deny'd but despis'd its Authority And Cassian having made use of it in the Point of Free-Will Prosper without more ado rejected it as a Testimony of no Value And what the Judgment of the Latter Ages was as to this matter especially after Pope Gelasius had ranked it among the Apochryphal Books may be seen at large in the Observations of Antonius Augustinus upon that Decree 13. HOW far this has influenced the Learned Men of our present Times in their Censures upon this Work is evident from what many on all sides have freely spoken concerning it Who not only deny it to have been written by Hermas the Companion of St. Paul but utterly cast it off as a Piece of no Worth but rather full of Error and Folly Thus Baronius himself tho' he delivers not his own Judgment concerning it yet plainly enough shews that he ran in with the severest Censures of the Ancients against it And in effect charges it with favouring the Arrians tho' upon a mistaken Authority of St. Athanasius and which by no means proves any such Errour to be in it But Cardinal Bellarmine is more free He tells us that it has many hurtful things in it and particularly that it favours the Novatian Heresie which yet I think a very little Equity in interpreting of some Passages that look that way by others that are directly contrary thereunto would serve to acquit it of Others are yet more severe They censure it as full of Heresies and Fables Tho' this Labbe would be thought to excuse by telling us that they have been foisted into it by some later Interpolations and ought not to be imputed to Hermas the Author of this Book 14. NOR have many of those of the Reform'd Churches been any whit more favourable in their Censures of the present Treatise But then as the Chiefest of the most Ancient Fathers heretofore tho' they admitted it not into the Canon of Holy Scripture yet otherwise paid a very great Deference to it so the more moderate part of the Learned Men of our present Times esteem it as a Piece worthy of all Respect and clear of those Faults which are too lightly charged by some Persons upon it Thus Petavius none of the most favourable Critics upon the Ancient Fathers yet acknowledges as to the present Book that it was never censured by any of the Ancients as guilty of any false Doctrine or Heresie and especially as to the Point of the Holy Trinity Cotelerius one of the latest Editors of it esteems it as an Ecclesiastical Work of good note and a great Defence of the Catholick Faith against the Errors of Montanism Whose Judgment is not only follow'd by their late Historian Natalis Alexander but is made good too in the Defence of it against those Objections which some have brought to lessen its Reputation And for those of our own Communion I shall mention only two but They such as will serve instead of many to all judicious Persons who have at large justified it against the chief of those Exceptions that have been taken at it the One the most Excellent Bishop Pearson in his Vindication of St. Ignatius the Other the Learned Dr. Bull in his Defence of the Nicene Faith in the Point of our Blessed Saviour's Divinity and which he largely shews our present Author to have been far from doing any Prejudice unto 15. SUCH then have been the different Judgments of Learned Men both heretofore and in our present Times concerning this Book It would be too great a Presumption for me to pretend to determine any thing as to this matter and having subjoyn'd the Work it self in our common Language every one may be able to satisfie himself what Value he ought to put upon it That there are many useful things to be found in it but especially in the Second and I think the best part of it cannot be deny'd And for the other Two it must be considered that tho' such Visions as we there read of being
no longer continu'd to these latter Ages may warrantably be despised in the Pretenders of the present days yet we cannot doubt but that at the time when this Book was written the extraordinary Gifts of the Holy Ghost were very frequent And we need not question but that such Revelations too among the rest were communicated to Holy Men for the Benefit of the Church 16. BUT I shall not pursue this Subject any farther Nor will I add very much to what I have before said with relation to St. Clement and his First Epistle concerning that Part which still remains of a Second under his Name and which concludes the following Collection 17. THAT this Second Epistle was not of so great a Reputation among the Primitive Fathers as the foregoing Eusebius not only plainly tells us but gives us this Testimony of it That he could not find it quoted as the Other was by any of them But St. Jerome is more severe he represents it to us as rejected by them And Photius after him calls it a Spurious Piece And not to mention any more our most Reverend Bishop Usher not only concurs in the same Censure but offers several Arguments too in proof of it 18. AND yet when all is done it do's not appear but that St. Clement was indeed the Author of this as well as of the other Epistle before spoken of tho' it was not so much esteem'd nor by consequence so generally known to the Ancients as that In the Manuscript of St. Thecla we find this set forth under the same Title with the other And in all the other Catalogues of the Ancients wherever One is spoken of the Other is for the most part set together with it As may particularly be observed in the Apostolical Canons one of the most early Collections of this kind 19. NOR does Eusebius deny this Epistle to be St. Clement's but only says that it was not so celebrated as the Other And true it is we do not find it either so often or so expresly mention'd as that But yet if the Conjecture of Wendeline approved by a very Learned Man of our own Country may be admitted Eusebius himself will afford us an Instance of one who not only spake of it but spake of it as wont to be publickly read in the Church of Corinth For discoursing of the Epistles of Dionysius Bishop of that See he tells us that in One of them which he wrote to the Romans he took notice of St. Clement's Epistle in these Words Today have we kept the LORD 's Day with all Holiness in which we have read your Epistle as we shall always continue to read it for our Instruction together with the former written to us by Clement What that Epistle was that Dionysius here speaks of as written by the Church of Rome to that of Corinth and publickly read in the Congregation there it do's not appear nor can we give any account of it unless it was that which St. Clement wrote to them in the Name of the Church of Rome and which Eusebius tells us was publickly read in that Church in those days But then if this be so as I think it most likely that it is we must conclude that the Epistle of which we are now speaking was indeed the first written to them however called his Second Epistle and wont to be read together with that other which he sent in the Name of the Roman Church to them in their Assemblies 20. NOW that which yet more favours this Opinion is that it seems by many Arguments to appear that this Letter which he wrote in his own Name tho' as being sent from a particular Person and not in it self so considerable as the Other it was usually set after that which he wrote by the Order of the Church and in their Name to the Corinthians was yet indeed the first written And for being read in the Churches Epiphanius expresly tells us that this Epistle no less than the foregoing was in his time wont to be publickly read in the Congregation And tho' St. Jerome and Photius indeed speak but meanly of it in those places where they seem to deliver the Judgment of Eusebius rather than their own Opinion yet upon other Occasions they make no exception against the Authority of it but equally ascribe it to St. Clement with the Other of which there is no doubt 21. IT were an easie matter to shew that the same was the Opinion of the other Ecclesiastical Writers of those Times But this having been done at large by Wendeline first and since by Cotelerius and his perpetual Transcriber Natalis Alexander I shall forbear and conclude with this That it is an Epistle tho' not of equal Value with the Other yet of good use and which if it were not written by St. Clement as I make no doubt but it was has yet nothing in it that is in the least unworthy of him 22. AND now having said thus much concerning these two last Pieces and with which the present Collection is concluded I have but this to add That they are Both of them now first of all put into our own Language and presented to the perusal of the English Reader The Former from the Old Latin Version which is by some much complained of tho' by others as stifly defended The Latter from the Original Greek as it was publish'd by Mr. Patrick Young from the Alexandrian Manuscript the only Copy that for ought appears do's at this day remain of it 23. IF any one shall ask how it came to pass that our Learned Country-Man Mr. Burton when he set out the former Epistle of St. Clement in English did not subjoyn this to it the Answer which himself warrants us to return is this That taking what has been said by the Antients before mentioned in the strictest Sense he looked upon this Epistle as a Spurious Piece And which tho' it carried the Name of St. Clement was yet truly no more his than those Constitutions and Recognitions which are also publish'd under the same Name but are generally acknowledged to be none of his as in the prosecution of this Discourse I shall take occasion more particularly to shew 24. AS for the Epistle it self I have concluded it somewhat sooner than the Greek which yet remains of it do's But that which I have omitted being only an imperfect Piece of a Sentence and which would have made the Conclusion much more abrupt than it is now I chose rather to add what follow'd here than to continue it there And to make the Reader the better amends for this Liberty I have not only subjoyn'd what remains of St. Clement but have endeavour'd to make out the Sense of what is wanting in our Copy from the Other Clement who seems to have follow'd this Original FOR the LORD himself being asked by a certain Person when his Kingdom should come answer'd When Two shall be One and that which is without as that
Offices were by the Spirit enabled to make of them So 3 dly If we look to those Accounts which still remain to us of them they will plainly shew us that they were endued and that in a very singular manner with this Power and Gift of the Blessed Spirit 19. OF Barnabas the Holy Scripture it self bears Witness that He was a good Man full of the Holy Ghost and of Faith Acts xi 24 Hermas is another of whom St. Paul himself makes mention Rom. xvi 14 as an early Convert to Christianity And what extraordinary Revelations he had and how he foretold the Troubles that were to come upon the Church his following Visions sufficiently declare 20 CLEMENT is not only spoken of by the same Apostle but with this advantageous Character too that he was the Fellow-Labourer of that great Man and had his Name written in the Book of Life Phil. iv 3 And when we shall consider to how much lesser and worser Men these Gifts were usually communicated at that time we can hardly think that so excellent a Man and the Companion of so great an Apostle employed first in the planting of the Gospel with him and then set to govern one of the most considerable Churches in the World should have been destitute of it 21. AS for St. Ignatius I have before observed that he had this Gift and by the help of it warned the Philadelphians against falling into those Divisions which he fore-saw were about to rise up amonst them 22. POLYCARP not only Prophecy'd of his own Death but spake often times of things that were to come And has this Witness from the whole Church of Smyrna that nothing of all that he foretold ever failed of coming to pass according to his Prediction 23. IT remains then that the Holy Men whose Writings are here subjoyn'd were not only instructed by such as were Inspir'd but were themselves Inspir'd too And therefore we must conclude that they have not only not mistaken the Mind of the Apostles in what they deliver to us as the Gospel of Christ but were not capable of doing of it By consequence that we ought to look upon their Writings tho' not of equal Authority with those which we call in a singular manner The Holy Scriptures because neither were the Authors of them called in so extraordinary a way to the writing of them nor endued with so eminent a Portion of the Gifts of the Blessed Spirit for the doing of it Nor have their Writings been judg'd by the common Consent of the Church in those inspir'd Ages of it when they were so much better qualified than we are now to judge of the Divine Authority of those kind of Writings to be of equal Dignity with those of the Apostles and Evangelists yet worthy of a much greater Respect than any Composures that have been made since however Men may seem to have afterwards written with more Art and to have shewn a much greater Stock of humane Learning than what is to be found not only in the following Pieces but even in the Sacred Books of the New Testament it self 24. I SHALL add but One Consideration more the better to shew the true Deference that ought to be paid to the Treatises here collected and that is Sixthly That they were not only written by such Men as I have said instructed by the Apostles and judg'd worthy by them both for their Knowledg and their Integrity to govern some of the most eminent Churches in the World and lastly endued with the extraordinary Gift of the Holy Ghost and upon all these Accounts to be much respected by us But were moreover received by the Church in those First Ages as Pieces of a very great value which could not be mistaken in its Judgment of them 25. THE Epistle of St. Clement was a long time read publickly with the Other Scriptures in the Congregations of the Faithful made a part of their Bible and was numbred among the Sacred Writings however finally separated from them And not only the Apostolical Canons but our most ancient Alexandrian Manuscript gives the same place to the Second that it do's to the First of them And Epiphanius after both tells us that they were both of them wont to be read in the Church in his Time 26. THE Epistle of St. Polycarp with that of the Church of Smyrna were not only very highly approved of by particular Persons but like those of St. Clement were read publickly too in the Assemblies of the Faithful And for those of Ignatius besides that we find a mighty Value put upon them by the Christians of those Times they are sealed to us by this Character of St. Polycarp That they are such Epistles by which we may be greatly profited For says he They treat of Faith and Patience and of all things that pertain to Edification in the LORD 27. THE Epistle of Barnabas is not only quoted with great Honour by those of the next Age to him but as I have before shewn is expresly called Catholick and Canonical And in the ancient Stichometry of Cotelerius we find it placed the very next to the Epistle of St. Jude and no difference put between the Authority of the One and of the Other 28. AND for the Book of Hermas both Eusebius and St. Jerome tell us that it was also used to be read in the Churches In the same Stichometry I before mentioned it is placed in the very next Rank to the Acts of the Holy Apostles And in some of the most ancient Manuscripts of the New Testament we find it written in the same Volume with the Books of the Apostles and Evangelists as if it had been esteem'd of the same Value and Authority with them 29. SO that now then we must either say that the Church in those days was so little careful of what was taught in it as to allow such Books to be publickly read in its Congregations the Doctrine whereof it did not approve Or we must confess that the following Pieces are deliver'd to us not only by the Learned Men of the First Ages of the Church but by the whole Body of the Faithful as containing the pure Doctrine of Christ and must be look'd upon to have nothing in them but what was then thought worthy of all Acceptation 30. NOW how much this adds to the Authority of these Discourses may easily be concluded from what I have before observed For since it is certain that in those Times the Extraordinary Gifts of the Holy Ghost were bestowed not only upon the Bishops and Pastors of the Church tho' upon them in a more eminent degree but also upon a great many of the common Christians too Since One particular Design of these Gifts was for the Discerning of Prophecies to judg of what was proposed by any to the Church or written for the Use and Benefit of it We cannot doubt but what was universally approved of and allow'd not by a few Learned Men but by
doth it shall prosper As for the Wicked it is not so with them but they are as the Dust which the Wind scattereth away from the face of the Earth Therefore the Vngodly shall not stand in the Judgment neither the Sinners in the Council of the Righteous For the LORD knoweth the way of the Righteous and the Way of the Vngodly shall perish Consider how he has join'd both the Cross and the Water together For this he saith Blessed are they who putting their Trust in the Cross descend into the Water for they shall have their Reward in due time then saith he will I give it them But as concerning the present time he saith Their Leaves shall not fall Meaning thereby that every Word that shall go out of your Mouth shall through Faith and Charity be to the Conversion and Hope of many In like manner do's another Prophet speak And the Land of Jacob was the Praise of all the Earth that is the Vessel of his Spirit which he there magnifies And what follows And there was a River running on the Right hand and beautiful Trees grew up by it and he that shall eat of them shall live for ever The signification of which is this That we go down into the Water full of Sins and Pollutions but come up again bringing forth Fruit having in our Hearts the Fear and Hope which is in Jesus And whosoever shall eat of them shall live for ever That is whosoever shall hearken to those who call them and shall believe shall live for ever XII IN like manner he determins concerning the Cross in another Prophet saying And when shall these things be fulfilled The LORD answers When the Tree that is fallen shall rise and when Bloud shall drop down from the Tree Here you have again mention made both of the Cross and of him that was to be crucified upon it And yet farther he saith in one of the Books of Moses where when Israel was beaten by a strange People to the End that God might remember them how that for their Sins they were deliver'd unto Death the Holy Spirit put it into the Heart of Moses to represent both the Sign of the Cross and of him that was to suffer That so they might know that if they did not believe in him they should be overcome for ever Moses therefore piled up Armour upon Armour in the middle of a rising Ground and standing up high above all of them stretched forth his Arms and so Israel again Conquer'd But no sooner did he let down his Hands but they were again slain And why so To the end they might know that except they trust in him they cannot be saved And in another Prophet he saith I have stretched out my Hands all the Day long to a People disobedient and speaking against my righteous Way And again Moses makes a Type of Jesus to shew that he was to die and then that he whom they thought to be dead was to give Life to others in the Sign of those that fell in Israel For God caused all sorts of Serpents to bite them and they died forasmuch as by a Serpent Transgression began in Eve that so he might convince them that for their Transgressions they shall be delivered into the Pain of Death Moses then himself who had commanded them saying Ye shall not make to your selves any graven or molten Image to be your God yet now did so himself that he might represent to them the Figure of the LORD Jesus For he made a brazen Serpent and set it up on high and called the People together to an Assembly Where being come they intreated Moses that he would make an Attonement for them and pray that they might be healed Then Moses spake unto them saying when any one among you shall be bitten let him come unto the Serpent that is set upon the Pole and let him assuredly trust in him that though he be dead yet he is able to give Life and presently he shall be saved and so they did See therefore how here also you have in this the Glory of Jesus and that in him and to him are all things Again What says Moses to Jesus the Son of Nun when he gave that Name unto him as being a Prophet that all the People might understand that the Father did manifest all things concerning his Son Jesus in Jesus the Son of Nun Moses therefore gave him that Name when he sent him to spy out the Land of Canaan and said Take a Book in thine Hands and write what the LORD saith forasmuch as Jesus the Son of God shall in the last Days cut off by the Roots all the House of Amaleck See here again Jesus not the Son of Man but the Son of God made manifest in a Type and in the Flesh. But because it might hereafter be said that Christ was the Son of David therefore David fearing and well-knowing the Errors of the Wicked saith The LORD said unto my LORD sit thou on my Right Hand until I make thine Enemies thy Footstool And again Isaiah speaketh on this wise The LORD said unto Christ my LORD I have laid hold on his right Hand that the Nations should obey before him and I will break the strength of Kings Behold how both David and Isaiah call him LORD and the Son of God XIII BUT let us go yet farther and enquire whether this People be the Heir or the former and whether the Covenant be with us or with them And first as concerning the People hear what the Scripture saith Isaac prayed for his Wife Rebeckah because she was barren and she conceived Afterwards Rebeckah went forth to enquire of the LORD And the LORD said unto her There are two Nations in thy Womb and two People shall come from thee and the one shall have power over the other and the Greater shall serve the Lesser Understand here who was Isaac who Rebeckah and of whom it was foretold that this People should be Greater than that And in another Prophecy Jacob speaketh more clearly to his Son Joseph saying Behold the LORD hath not taken me from thy Face bring me thy Sons that I may bless them And he brought unto his Father Manasseh and Ephraim desiring that he should bless Manasseh because he was the Elder Therefore Joseph brought him to the Right Hand of his Father Jacob. But Jacob by the Spirit foresaw the Figure of the People that was to come And what saith the Scripture And Jacob crossed his Hands and put his Right Hand upon Ephraim his second and the Younger Son and Blessed him And Joseph said unto Jacob Put thy Right Hand upon the Head of Manasseh for he is my First-born Son And Jacob said unto Joseph I know it my Son I know it but the Greater shall serve the Lesser though he also shall be Blessed Ye see of whom he appointed
has multiplied them for his Holy Churches sake is angry with thee because thou hast sinned against me And I answering said unto her Lady If I have sinned against thee tell me where or in what Place or when did I ever speak an unseemly or dishonest Word unto thee Have I not always esteemed thee as a Lady Have I not always reverenced thee as a Sister Why then dost thou imagine these wicked things against me Then she smiling upon me said The desire of Naughtiness has risen up in thy heart Does it not seem to thee to be an ill thing for a Righteous Man to have an evil desire rise up in his heart It is indeed a Sin and that a very great one to such a Man for a righteous Man thinketh what is righteous And whilst he does so and walketh uprightly he shall have the LORD in Heaven favourable unto him in all his Works But as for those who think wickedly in their hearts they take to themselves Death and Captivity and especially those who love this present World and glory in their Riches and regard not the good things that are to come their Souls wander up and down and know not where to fix Now this is the Case of such as are Doubtful who trust not in the LORD and despise and neglect their own life But do thou pray unto the LORD and he will heal thy Sins and the Sins of thy whole House and of all his Saints II. AS soon as she had spoken these Words the Heavens were shut and I remained utterly swallowed up in Sadness and Fear and said within my self If this be laid against me for Sin how can I ever be saved or how shall I ever be able to intreat the LORD for my many and great Sins With what Words shall I beseech him to be merciful unto me As I was thinking over these things and meditating in my self upon them behold a Chair set over against me of the whitest Wool as bright as Snow And there came an old Woman in a bright Garment having a Book in her hand and sate alone and saluted me saying HERMAS hail And I being full of Sorrow and weeping answered Hail Lady and she said unto me Why art thou sad Hermas who wert wont to be patient and modest and always cheerful I answered and said to her Lady a Reproach has been objected to me by an excellent Woman who tells me that I have sinned against her She replied Far be any such thing from the Servant of God But it may be the desire of her has risen up in thy Heart For indeed there is such a Thought even in the Servants of God leading unto Sin Nor ought such a detestable Thought to be in the Servant of God nor should a Spirit that is approved desire that which is evil nor especially HERMAS who contains himself from all wicked Appetites and is full of all Simplicity and of great Innocence III. NEVERTHELESS the LORD is not angry with thee for thine own sake but upon the account of thy House which has committed Wickedness against the LORD and against their Parents And that Act of thy Fondness towards thy Sons in that thou hast not admonished them but hast permitted them to live wickedly and for this Cause the LORD is angry with thee But he will heal all the Evils that are done before thee in thy House For through their Sins and Iniquities thou art wholly consumed in secular Affairs But now the Mercy of God hath taken Compassion upon thee and upon thine House and hath greatly comforted thee only as for thee do not wander but be of an even Mind and comfort thy House As the Workman bringing forth his Work offers it to whomsoever he pleases so shalt thou by teaching every day what is just cut off a great sin Wherefore cease not to admonish thy Sons for the LORD knows that they will repent with all their heart and he will write thee in the Book of Life And when she had said this she added unto me Wilt thou hear me Read I answer'd her Lady I will Hear then said she And opening the Book she read gloriously greatly and wonderfully such things as I could not keep in my Memory For they were terrible Words such as no Man could bear Howbeit I committed her last Words to my Remembrance for they were but few and of great use Behold the mighty LORD who by his invincible Power and with his excellent Wisdom made the World and by his glorious Counsel encompassed the Beauty of his Creature and with the Word of his strength fix'd the Heaven and founded the Earth upon the Waters and by his powerful Vertue establish'd his Holy Church which he hath blessed Behold he will remove the Heavens and the Mountains the Hills and the Seas and all things shall be made Plain for his Elect that he may render unto them the Promise which he has promised with much Honor and Joy if so be that they shall keep the Commandments of God which they have received with great Faith IV. AND when she had made an end of Reading she rose out of the Chair and behold four Young-men came and carried the Chair to the East And she called me unto her and touch'd my Breast and said unto me Did my Reading please thee I answered Lady These last things please me but what went before was severe and hard She said unto me These last things are for the Righteous but the foregoing for the Revolters and Heathen And as she was talking with me Two more appeared and took her up on their shoulders and went to the East where the Chair was And she went chearfully away and as she was going said unto me HERMAS be of good chear VISION II. Again of his Neglect in Correcting his Talkative Wife and of his Lewd Sons and of his Own Manners I. AS I was on the Way to Cumae about the same time that I had been the last Year I began to call to mind the Vision I formerly had And again the Spirit carried me away and brought me into the same Place in which I had been the Year before And when I was come into the Place I fell down upon my Knees and began to Pray unto the LORD and to Honour his Name that he had esteemed me worthy and had manifested unto me my former Sins And when I arose from Prayer behold I saw over against me the Old Woman whom I had seen the last Year walking and reading in a certain Book And she said unto me Can'st thou tell these things to the Elect of God I answered and said unto her Lady I cannot retain such great things in my Memory but give me the Book and I will write them down Take it says she and see that thou restore it again to me As soon as I had receiv'd it I went aside into a certain Place of the Field and transcribed every Letter for I found no
Syllables And as soon as I had finished what was written in the Book the Book was suddenly caught out of my hands but by whom I saw not II. AFTER fifteen days when I had fasted and intreated the LORD with all earnestness the Knowledge of the Writing was revealed unto me Now the Writing was this Thy Seed O HERMAS hath sinned against the LORD and have betrayed their Parents through their great Wickedness And they have been called the Betrayers of their Parents and have gone on in their Treachery And now have they added Lewdness to their other Sins and the Pollutions of Naughtiness Thus have they fill'd up the Measure of their Iniquities But do thou upbraid thy Sons with all these Words and thy Wife which shall be thy Sister And let her learn to refrain her Tongue with which she calumniates For when she shall hear these things she will refrain her self and shall obtain Mercy And they shall be instructed when thou shalt have reproach'd them with these Words which the LORD has commanded to be revealed unto thee Then shall their Sins be forgiven which they have heretofore committed and the Sins of all the Saints who have sinned even unto this day if they shall repent with all their Hearts and remove all Doubts out of their Hearts For the LORD hath sworn by his Glory concerning his Elect having determined the certain Day that if any one shall even now sin he shall not be saved For the Repentance of the Righteous has its End The Days of Repentance are fulfilled to all the Saints but to the Heathen there is Repentance even unto the Last Day Thou shalt therefore say to those who are over the Church that they order their Ways in Righteousness that they may fully receive the Promise with much Glory Stand fast therefore ye that work Righteousness and continue to do it that your Departure may be with the Holy Angels Happy are ye as many as shall endure the Great Tryal that is at hand and whosoever shall not deny his Life For the LORD hath sworn by his Son that who so denieth his Son and him being afraid of his Life he will also deny him in the World that is to come But those who shall never deny him he will of his exceeding great Mercy be favourable unto them III. BUT thou O Hermas remember not the Evils which thy Sons have done neither neglect thy Sister but take care that they amend of their former Sins For they will be instructed by this Doctrine if thou shalt not be mindful of what they have done wickedly For the Remembrance of Evils worketh Death but the Forgetting of them Life Eternal But thou O HERMAS hast undergone a great many Wordly Troubles for the Offences of thy House because thou hast neglected them as things that did not belong unto thee and thou art wholly taken up with thy great Business Nevertheless for this cause shalt thou be saved that thou hast not departed from the Living God And thy Simplicity and singular Continency shall preserve thee if thou shalt continue in them Yea they shall save All such as do such things and walk in Innocence and Simplicity They who are of this kind shall prevail against all Impiety and continue unto Life Eternal Happy are all they that do Righteousness they shall not be consumed for ever But thou wilt say Behold there is a great Tryal coming If it seems good to thee Deny him again The LORD is nigh to them that turn to him as it is written in the Books of Heldam and Modal who prophecy'd to the Israelites in the Wilderness IV. MOREOVER Brethren it was reavealed to me as I was sleeping by a very goodly young Man saying unto me What thinkest thou of that old Woman from whom thou receivedst the Book Who is she I answered a Sybil. Thou art mistaken said he she is not I reply'd who is she then Sir He answered me it is the Church of God And I said unto him Why then do's she appear Old She is therefore said he an Old Woman because she was the first of all the Creation and the World was made for her After this I saw a Vision at home in my own House and the Old Woman whom I had seen before came to me and ask'd me whether I had yet deliver'd the Book which she had given me to the Elders of the Church And I answered that I had not yet She reply'd Thou hast well done for I have certain Words more to tell thee But when I shall have finished all the Words they shall be clearly understood by the Elect. And thou shalt write two Books and send one to Clement and one to Grapté For Clement shall send it to the foreign Cities because it is permitted to him so to do But Grapté shall admonish the Widows and Orphans But thou shalt read it to the Elders that are over the Church VISION III. Of the Building of the Church-Triumphant and of the several Orders of Reprobates I. THE Vision which I saw Brethren was this When I had often fasted and pray'd unto the LORD that he would manifest unto me the Revelation which he had promised by the Old Woman to shew unto me The same Night she appear'd unto me and said unto me because thou dost thus afflict thy self and art so desirous to know All things come into the Field where thou wilt and about the sixth Hour I will appear unto thee and shew thee what thou must see I ask'd her saying Lady into what part of the Field She answered wherever thou wilt only chuse a good and a private place And before I could begin to speak and tell her the place she said unto me I will come where thou wilt I was therefore Brethren in the Field and I observed the Hours and came into the place where I had appointed to go And I beheld a Bench placed it was a linnen Pillow and over it spread a Covering of fine Linnen When I saw these things order'd in this Manner and that there was no Body in the place I began to be astonish'd and my Hair stood on end and a kind of Horror seiz'd me for I was alone But being come to my self and calling to mind the Glory of God and taking Courage I fell down upon my Knees and began again to confess my Sins as before And whilst I was doing this the Old Woman came thither with the six young Men whom I had seen before and stood behind me as I was praying and confessing my Sins unto the LORD And touching me she said leave off now to pray only for thy Sins pray also for Righteousness that thou maist receive a part from her in thy House And she lifted me up from the place and took me by the Hand and brought me to the Seat and said to the young Men Go and Build As soon as they were departed and we were alone she said unto me sit here
dissemble thou shalt not be saved nor thy Children nor thy House Because thou hast judged that these Commands cannot be kept by Man IV. THESE things he spake very angrily unto me insomuch that he greatly affrighted me For he changed his Countenance so that a Man could not bear his Anger And when he saw me altogether troubled and confounded he began to speak more moderately and chearfully saying O foolish and without Understanding Unconstant not knowing the Majesty of God how great but withal how merciful he is who created the World for Man and hath made every Creature subject unto him and given him all Power that he should be able to overcome all these Commands He is able said he to overcome all these Commands who has the LORD in his Heart But they who have the LORD only in their Mouths and their Heart is hardned are far from the LORD To such Persons these Commands are hard and difficult Put therefore ye that are empty and light in the Faith the LORD your God and keep him in your Hearts and ye shall understand how that nothing is more easie then these Commands nor more pleasant nor more gentle and holy And turn your selves to the LORD your God and forsake the Devil and his Pleasures because they are Evil and Bitter and Impure And fear not the Devil because he has no Power over you For I am with you the Messenger of Repentance who have the Dominion over him The Devil do's indeed affright Men but his Terror is vain Wherefore fear him not and he will flee from you V. AND I said unto him Sir Hear me speak a few Words unto you He answer'd Say on A Man indeed desires to keep the Commandments of God and there is no one but what prays unto God that he may be able to keep his Commandments But the Devil is hard and by his Power rules over the Servants of God And he said He cannot rule over the Servants of God who believe in him with all their Hearts The Devil may strive but he cannot overcome them For if ye resist him he will flee away with shame from you But they that are not full in the Faith fear the Devil as if he had some great Power For the Devil tries the Servants of God and if he finds them empty he destroys them For as a Man when he fills up Vessels with good Wine and among them puts a few Vessels half full and comes to try and tast of the Vessels do's not try those that are full because he knows that they are good but tasts those that are half full least they should grow sowre for Vessels half full soon grow sowre and lose the Tast of Wine So the Devil comes to the Servants of God to try them They that are full of Faith resist him stoutly and he departs from them because he finds no place where to enter into them then he go's to those that are not full of Faith and because he has place of entrance he goes into them and do's what he will with them and they become his Servants VI. BUT I the Messenger of Repentance say unto you Fear not the Devil For I am sent unto you that I may be with you as many as shall repent with your whole Heart and that I may confirm you in the Faith Believe therefore ye who by reason of your Transgressions have forgot God and who company your Salvation with your Sins lead your Lives in Trouble that if ye shall turn to the LORD with your whole Hearts and shall serve him according to his Will he will give a Remedy to your Souls notwithstanding your former Sins and ye shall have dominion over all the Works of the Devil Be not then afraid in the least of his Threatnings for they are without force as the Sinews of a dead Man But hearken unto me and fear the LORD Almighty who is able to save and to destroy you and keep his Commands that ye may live unto God And I said unto him Sir I am now confirm'd in all the Commands of the LORD whilst that you are with me and I know that you will break all the Power of the Devil And we also shall overcome him if we shall be able through the help of the LORD to keep these Commands which you have delivered Thou shalt keep them said he if thou shalt purifie thy Heart towards the LORD And all they also shall keep them who shall cleanse their Hearts from the vain desires of the present World and shall live unto God The Third BOOK OF St. HERMAS Which is Called His SIMILITUDES The First SIMILITUDE That seeing we have no abiding City in this World we ought to look after that which is to come AND he said unto me Ye know that ye who are the Servants of the LORD live here as in a Pilgrimage For your City is far off from this City If therefore ye know your City in which ye are to dwell why do ye here buy Estates and provide your selves with Delicacies and stately Buildings and superfluous Houses For he that provides himself these things in this City do's not think of returning into his own City O foolish and doubtful and wretched Man Who understandest not that all these things are other Mens and under the Power of another For the LORD of this City saith unto thee either obey my Laws or depart out of my City What therefore shalt thou do who art subject to a Law in thine own City Canst thou for thy Estate or for any of those things which thou hast provided deny thy Law But if thou shalt deny it and wilt afterwards return into thy own City thou shalt not be received but shalt be excluded thence See therefore that like a Man in another Country thou procure no more to thy self than what is necessary and sufficient for thee and be ready that when the God or LORD of this City shall drive thee out of it thou mayst oppose his Law and go into thine own City where thou mayst with all Chearfulness live according to thine own Law without Wrong Take heed then ye that serve God and have him in your Hearts work ye the Works of God being mindful both of his Commands and of his Promises which he has promised and be assured that he will make them good unto you if ye shall keep his Commandments Instead therefore of the Possessions that ye would otherwise purchase redeem those that are in want from their Necessities as every one is able Justifie the Widows Judge the Cause of the Fatherless and spend your Riches and your Wealth in such Works as these For for this end has God enriched you that ye might fulfil these kind of Services It is much better to do this than to buy Lands or Houses because all such things shall perish with this present Time But what ye shall do for the Name of the LORD ye shall