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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42622	The genuine epistles of the apostolical fathers, S. Barnabas, S. Ignatius, S. Clement, S. Polycarp, the Shepherd of Hermas, and the matyrdoms of St. Ignatius and St. Polycarp, written by those who were present at their sufferings : being, together with the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, a compleat collection of the most primitive antiquity for about CL years after Christ / translated and publish'd, with a large preliminary discourse relating to the several treaties here put together by W. Wake ...; Apostolic Fathers (Early Christian Collection) English.	Wake, William, 1657-1737.	1693 (1693)	Wing G523A; ESTC R10042	282,773	752

Opinions are examined at large by Bishop Usher Valesius Le Moyne Bishop Pearson and Others upon this Occasion But if we were right before in assigning the Year of his Suffering as I think we were then we must conclude the Great Sabbath to have been the same here that is usually called by that Name among Ecclesiastical Writers namely the Saturday in the Holy Week and to which all the Other Characters here assigned are exactly Correspondent And then according to this Computation St. Polycarp will have suffer'd in the Year of Christ CXLVII being March 26. the Saturday before Easter about VIII a Clock 18. THE place in which he suffer'd was a large Amphitheatre in which the Common Assemblies of Asia were wont to be kept And as we are told by those who have travelled into those Parts is in some measure still remaining and shewn as the Place of St. Polycarp's Martyrdom I say nothing to that which some have observed upon this Occasion of the Calamities which not long after fell upon the City of Smyrna and which may seem to have been the Effect of the Divine Vengeance punishing them for their Cruelty towards this Excellent Man and the rest of his Companions that suffered together with him But this is without the Bounds of my present Design which leads me only to consider what concerns the Epistle of the Church of Smyrna and to which that which follow'd the Death of Polycarp has no relation 19. AND now having pass'd through the chief Parts of the following Relation and which seem'd most to require our Animadversion it is time for me to observe concerning the Epistle it self which is here subjoyn'd that it is a piece of most unquestionable Credit and Antiquity As for the main Body of it we find it preserved in the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius who lived not above an Age and a half after the writing of it And even the Manuscript it self made use of by Bishop Vsher is so well attested that we need not any farther Assurance of the Truth of it The Sum of the Account which we have given us of it is this That Gaius an Acquaintance of St. Irenaeus the Disciple of Polycarp transcribed it from the Copy of that Father And Socrates the Corinthian from Gaius and from Socrates's Copy was transcribed that Manuscript which we still have of it 20. TWICE has this Epistle been been put into our own Language as far as the History of Eusebius has given occasion for the Translation of it What those Editions are I cannot tell having never perused either of them But I suppose it is now the first time joyn'd in an intire Piece together and so communicated to the English Reader In my Translation of it I have strictly follow'd the Edition of our most Reverend Primate from which Cotelerius's is but a Copy Nor have I that I know of departed in the least Circumstance from it except in that One for which I have before accounted So that I may venture to say I have here truly set forth the Epistle of the Church of Smyrna as near as our Language would serve to express the Sense if not to come up to the Beauty and Vigour of the Original CHAP. VII Of the Catholick Epistle of St. Barnabas Why the Pieces that follow are put in a Second Part separate from the foregoing The History of St. Barnabas chiefly from the Acts of the Apostles Of his Name Education and Travels especially with St. Paul How he came to be separated from that Apostle What he did afterwards Of his Death And the Invention of his Relicks and of the Cyprian Priviledges establish'd on that account Of the present Epistle and that it was truly written by St. Barnabas The principal Objections against it answer'd An Apology for its Allegorical Interpretations of Scripture The latter part of it originally belonging to this Epistle That it was written after the Destruction of Jerusalem The Design and Usefulness of it 1. WHEN I first enter'd upon the Design of publishing the following Collection I intended to have here put an End to it The following Pieces under the Names of Barnabas and Hermas together with the Second Epistle of St. Clement however undoubtedly very Ancient and confess'd by all to come but little if any thing short of the Apostolical Times having yet been neither so highly esteem'd among the Ancients nor so generally receiv'd by many of the present Times as those I have already mention'd But when I consider'd the Deference which Others among the Primitive Fathers have paid to them and the Value which is still put upon them by many not inferior either in Learning or Piety to those who speak against them I thought I could not better satisfie All than by adding them in a Second Part to the fore-going Epistles That so both they who have a just Esteem for them might not complain of being defrauded of any part of what remains of the Apostolical Writings and those who are otherwise minded might look upon them as standing in a second Rank and not taking place which otherwise they must have done of those undoubtedly Genuine and Admirable Discourses that make up the former part of this Work 2. AND here the first Piece that occurs is the Catholick Eplistle of St. Barnabas the Companion of St. Paul and Disciple of our Saviour Christ Being generally esteem'd to have been one of the LXX that were chose by him However our Country-Man Bede upon I know not what grounds calls the Verdict of Antiquity in question as to this Matter And of whom the Holy Spirit of God has left us by St. Luke this Character Acts xi 24 That he was a good Man full of Faith and of the Holy Ghost 3. IT is not my design to enter on any long Account of the Life of a Person so largely spoken of in the Holy Scriptures and of whom little certain can be written besides what is there recorded His Country was Cyprus a famous Island in the Mediterranean Sea where there inhabited in those days so great a Number of Jews that in the Time of Trajan they conspired against the Gentiles there and slew of them two Hundred and Forty Thousand Men. Upon which being cast out of the Isle they were never suffer'd upon any account to set foot again in it upon pain of Death 4. HIS Name was at first Joses but by the Apostles changed into Barnabas which being interpreted says St. Luke is the Son of Consolation And as we may conjecture from the place where it is first mentioned was given him by the Apostles as an Honourable Acknowledgment of his Charity in selling his whole Estate for the Relief of the poor Christians and upon the account of that Consolation which they received thereby 5. HIS first Education says Metaphrastes was at the Feet of Gamaliel by whom he was instructed together with St. Paul Which perhaps moved that great Apostle upon his Conversion to apply himself to him as the

called by the Name of Polycarp Both the Country and Parentage of St. Polycarp uncertain What he was before his Conversion and by whom Converted He is made Bishop of Smyrna by the Apostles How he behaved himself in that Office The great Veneration which the Christians had for him Of his Journey to Rome and what he did there The Testimony of St. John concerning him Rev. ii 8 Of the Time of St. Polycarp's Martyrdom What Persecutions the Church then labour'd under Of the Epistle of the Church of Smyrna concerning his Sufferings and the Value which the Antients put upon it Of the Miracles that hapned at his Death What his Age was when he suffered What the Day of his Suffering In what Place he was put to Death Of the Authority of the present Epistle and its Translation into our own Language 1. THE Epistle of the Church of Smyrna the next Piece that follows in the present Collection however it makes mention of some Others that suffered at the same time with St. Polycarp for the Faith of Christ yet insisting chiefly upon the particulars of his Passion and being design'd by that Church to communicate to all the World the Glorious End of their beloved Bishop and most worthy and constant Martyr of Christ I shall observe the same Method in treating of this that I did in discoursing of the Acts of St. Ignatius before and speak somewhat of the Life of St. Polycarp first before I come to consider the Account that is here given us of his Death 2. THAT there were several of the Name of Polycarp heretofore and who must therefore carefully be distinguish'd from him of whom we are now to discourse has been evidently shewn by the late Learned Editor of his Epistle As for our Polycarp the Disciple of St. John and the great Subject of the present Martyrologie we have little account either what was his Country or who his Parents In general we are told that he was born somewhere in the East as le Moyne thinks not far from Antioch and perhaps in Smyrna its self says our Learned Dr. Cave Being sold in his Childhood he was bought by a certain Noble Matron whose Name was Calisto and bred up by her and at her Death made Heir to all her Estate which tho' very considerable he soon spent in Works of Charity and Mercy 3. HIS Christianity he received in his younger Years from Bucolus Bishop of Smyrna by whom being made Deacon and Catechist of that Church and discharging those Offices with great Approbation he was upon the Death of Bucolus made Bishop of Smyrna by the Apostles and particularly by St. John whose Disciple together with Ignatius he had before been 4. HOW considerable a Reputation he gain'd by his wise Administration of this great Office we may in some measure conclude from that Character which his very Enemies gave of him at his Death When crying out that he should be thrown to the Lyons they laid this to him as his Crime but which was indeed his chiefest Honour This say they is the Doctor of Asia the Father of the Christians and the Over-turner of our Gods And when he was burnt they persuaded the Governour not to suffer his Friends to carry away any of his Remains Least say they the Christians forsaking him that was crucified should begin to worship Polycarp 5. NOR was it any small Testimony of the Respect that was paid to him that as we are told in this Epistle the Christians would not suffer him to pull off his own Cloaths but strove who should be the most forward to do him Service thinking themselves happy if they could but come to touch his Flesh. For says the Epistle even before he had grey Hairs he was adorn'd with such a good Conversation as made all Men pay a more than ordinary Respect to him 6. HENCE St. Hierome calls him the Prince of all Asia Sophronius the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Chief Ruler perhaps says a Learned Man in opposition to the Asiarchae of the Heathens spoken of in this Epistle Signifying thereby that as they were among the Gentiles the Heads of their sacred Rites and presided in the common Assemblies and Spectacles of Asia So was Polycarp among the Christians a kind of Universal Bishop the Prince and Head of the Churches in those Parts 7. NOR was his Care of the Church confined within the Bounds of the Lesser Asia but extended even unto Rome its self Whither we are told he went upon the Occasion of the Quarto-deciman Controversie then on foot between the Eastern and Western Churches and which he hoped to have put a stop to by his timely interposition with those of Rome But tho' Anicetus and he could not agree upon that Point each pretending Apostolical Tradition to warrant them in their Practice Yet that did not hinder but that he was received with all possible Respect there and officiated in their Churches in presence of the Bishop and communicated with him in the most sacred Mysteries of Religion 8. WHILE he was at Rome he remitted nothing of his Concern for the Interests of the Church but employed his time partly in confirming those who were sound in the Faith but especially in drawing over those who were not from their Errours In which Work how successful he was his own Scholar Irenaeus particularly recounts to us 9. WHAT he did after his return and how he discharged his pastoral Office to the time of his Martyrdom we have little farther Account Nor shall I trouble my self with the Stories which Pionius without any good Grounds has recorded of the Life of this Holy Man But that he still continued with all diligence to watch over the Flock of Christ we have all the reason in the World to believe And that not only from what has been already observed but from one particular more which ought not to be omitted namely that when Ignatius was hurried away from his Church of Antioch to his Martyrdom he knew none so proper to commend the Care of it to as to this Excellent Man or to supply by his own Letters what the Other had not time to write to all the Other Churches round about 10. BUT I shall close up this part of the Life of this Holy Saint with the Testimony which St. John has given to him Revel ii 8 And which as it affords us a sufficient Evidence of the Excellency of his Life so do's it open the way to what we are next to consider viz. his Death and Passion Unto the Angel of the Church in Smyrna write These things saith the First and the Last which was dead and is alive I know thy Works and Tribulation and Poverty but thou art Rich and I know the Blasphemy of Them that say they are Jews and are not but are the Synagogue of Satan Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer Behold the Devil shall cast some of you into Prison that ye may be tried and

these Holy Apostles we may add a very great number of others who having through Envy undergone in like manner many Pains and Torments have left a Glorious Example to us For this not only Men but even Women have been Persecuted And having suffer'd very grievous and cruel Punishments have finish'd the Course of their Faith with Firmness and though weak in Body yet received a Glorious Reward This has alienated the Minds even of Women from their Husbands and changed what was once said by our Father Adam This is now Bone of my Bone and Flesh of my Flesh. In a word Envy and Strife have overturn'd whole Cities and rooted out Great Nations from off the Earth VII THESE Things Beloved we write unto you not only for your Instruction but also for our own Remembrance For we are all in the same Field and the same Combat is prepared for us all Wherefore let Us lay aside all Vain and Empty Cares and let us come up to the Glorious and Venerable Rule of our Holy Calling Let us consider what is Good and Acceptable and Well-pleasing in the Sight of Him that made Us. Let us look stedfastly to the Bloud of Christ and see how Precious his Bloud is in the sight of God Which being shed for our Salvation has obtain'd the Grace of Repentance for all the World Let us search into the Ages that have gone before us and let us learn that our Lord has in every one of them still given place for Repentance to all such as would turn to him Noah preach'd Repentance and as many as hearkened to him were Saved Jonah denounced Destruction against the Ninivites Howbeit they repenting of their Sins appeased God by their Prayers and were saved tho' they were Strangers to the Covenant of God VIII HENCE we find how All the Ministers of the Grace of God have spoken by the Holy Spirit of Repentance And even the Lord of All has himself declared with an Oath concerning it As I live saith the LORD I desire not the death of a Sinner but that He should repent Adding this farther Assurance Turn from your Iniquity O House of Israel Say unto the Children of my People Tho' your sins should reach from Earth to Heaven and tho' they should be redder than Scarlet and blacker than Sackcloth Yet if ye shall turn to me with all your Heart and shall call me Father I will hearken to you as to a Holy People And in another place He saith on this wise Wash ye make you clean put away the Evil of your doings from before mine Eyes Cease to do Evil Learn to do well Seek Judgment relieve the Oppressed judge the Fatherless plead for the Widow Come now and let us reason together saith the LORD Tho' your sins be as Scarlet they shall be as white as Snow tho' they be red as Crimson they shall be as Wooll If ye be willing and Obedient ye shall eat the Good of the Land But if ye refuse and rebell ye shall be devoured with the Sword for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it These things has God establish'd by his Almighty Will desiring that all his Beloved should come to Repentance IX WHEREFORE let us obey his Excellent and Glorious Will and imploring his Mercy and Goodness let us fall down upon Our faces before him and Cast our selves upon his Mercy Laying aside all Vanity and Contention and Envy which leads unto Death Let us look up to those who have the most perfectly ministred to his Excellent Glory Let us take Enoch for our Example who being found Righteous in Obedience was translated and his Death was not known Noah being proved to be Faithful did by his Ministry preach Regeneration to the World and the LORD saved by Him all the Living Creatures that went with one Accord together into the Ark. X. SO also Abraham who was called Gods Friend was in like manner found Faithful in as much as he obeyed the Commands of God By Obedience he went out of his own Country and from his own Kindred and from his Fathers House that so forsaking a small Country and a weak Affinity and a little House he might inherit the Promises of God For thus God said unto Him Get Thee out of thy Country and from thy Kindred and from thy Fathers House unto a Land that I will shew thee And I will make thee a Great Nation and I will bless Thee and make thy Name Great and thou shalt be blessed And I will bless them that bless Thee and Curse them that Curse Thee And in Thee shall all Families of the Earth be Blessed And again when he separated Himself from Lot God said unto him Lift up now thine Eyes and look from the place where thou art Northward and Southward and Eastward and Westward For all the Land which Thou seest to thee will I give it and to thy Seed for ever And I will make thy Seed as the dust of the Earth so that if a Man can number the Dust of the Earth then shall thy Seed also be numbred And again He saith And God brought forth Abraham and said unto Him look now towards Heaven and tell the Stars if thou be able to number them So shall thy Seed be And Abraham believed God and it was counted to Him for Righteousness Through Faith and Hospitality he had a Son given him in his Old Age and through Obedience he offer'd him up in Sacrifice to God upon One of the Mountains which God shew'd unto Him XI BY Hospitality and Godliness was Lot saved out of Sodom when all the Country round about was destroy'd by Fire and Brimstone The LORD thereby making it manifest that he will not forsake Those that trust in Him but will bring the Disobedient to Punishment and Correction For his Wife who went out with Him being of a different Mind and not continuing in the same Obedience was for that very reason set forth for an Example being turn'd into a Pillar of Salt unto this day That so all Men may know that those who are double minded and distrustful of the Power of God are prepared for Condemnation and to be a sign to all succeeding Ages XII BY Faith and Hospitality was Rahab the Harlot Saved For when the Spies were sent by Joshua the Son of Nun to search out Jericho and the King of Jericho knew that they were come to spy out his Country He order'd them to be taken that so they might be put to death Rahab therefore being Hospitable received them and hid them under the Stalks of Flax on the Top of her House And when the Messengers that were sent by the King came unto Her and asked Her saying There came

more weak Then he consider'd those which had Spots of these a few were found Black and these were carried to their Fellows The rest were White and Entire and they were fitted by the Virgins into the Building and placed in the Outside by reason of their Strength IX AFTER this he came to consider those Stones which were White and Round and he said unto me What shall we do with these Stones I answer'd Sir I cannot tell He reply'd Canst thou think of nothing then for these I answer'd Sir I understand not this Art neither am I a Stone-Cutter nor can I tell any thing And he said Seest thou not that they are very Round Now to make them Square I must cut off a great deal from them Howbeit it is necessary that some of these should go into the Building of the Tower I answer'd If it be Necessary why do you perplex your self and not rather chuse if you have any Choice among them and fit them into the Building Upon this he chose out the largest and brightest and squared them which when he had done the Virgins took them up and placed them in the Outside of the Building And the rest that remained were carried back into the same Field from which they were taken Howbeit they were not cast away Because said he there is yet a little wanting to this Tower which is to be Built and perhaps the LORD will have these Stones fitted into this Building because they are exceeding White Then were there called twelve very Stately Women cloath'd with a Black Garment girded and their Shoulders free and their Hair loose These seem'd to me to be Country Women And the Shepherd commanded them to take up those Stones which were cast out of the Building and carry them back to the Mountains out of which they were taken And they took them up joyfully and carried them back to their Places from whence they had been taken When not one Stone remain'd about the Tower he said unto me let us go about this Tower and see that nothing be wanting to it We began therefore to go round it and when he saw that it was handsomely Built he began to be very Glad for it was so beautifully framed that any one that had seen it must have been in Love with the Building For it seem'd to be all but one Stone nor did a joynt any where appear but it look'd as if it had all been cut out of One Rock X. AND when I diligently consider'd what a Tower it was I was extremely pleased And he said unto me Bring hither some Lime and little Shells that I may fill up the Spaces of those Stones that were taken out of the Building and put in again for all things about the Tower must be made Even And I did as he commanded me and brought them unto him And he said unto me Be ready to Help me and this Work will quickly be finish'd He therefore filled up the Spaces of those Stones and commanded the place about the Tower to be cleansed Then those Virgins took Beasoms and cleansed all the place around and took away all the Rubbish and threw on Water Which being done the place became delightful and the Tower Beauteous Then he said unto me All is now Clean If the LORD should come to finish the Tower he will find nothing whereby to complain of us When he had said this he would have departed But I laid hold on his Bag and began to entreat him for the LORD's sake that he would explain to me all things that he had shewn me He said unto me I have at present a little business but I will suddainly explain all things unto thee Tarry here for me till I come I said unto him Sir What shall I do here alone He answer'd Thou art not alone seeing all these Virgins are with thee I said Sir Deliver me then unto them Then he called them and said unto them I commend this Man unto you till I shall come So I remain'd with those Virgins Now they were Chearful and Courteous unto me especially the four which seem'd to be the Chiefest among them XI THEN those Virgins said unto me that Shepherd will not return hither to day I said unto them What then shall I do They answer'd Tarry for him till the Evening if perhaps he may come and speak with thee But if not yet thou shalt continue with us till he do's come I said unto them I will tarry for him till Evening but if he comes not by that time I will go home and return hither again the next Morning They answered me thou art deliver'd unto us thou mayst not depart from us I said Where shall I tarry They replied Thou shalt sleep with us as a Brother not as a Husband For thou art our Brother and we are ready from henceforth to dwell with thee for thou art very dear to us Howbeit I was ashamed to continue with them But she that seem'd to be the chiefest amongst them embraced me and began to kiss me And the rest when they saw that I was kissed by her began also to kiss me as a Brother and led me about the Tower and play'd with me Some of them also sung Psalms others made up the Chorus with them But I walked about the Tower with them rejoycing silently and seeming to my self to be grown young again And when the Evening came on I would forthwith have gone home but they with-held me and suffer'd me not to depart Wherefore I continued with them that Night near the same Tower So they spread their Linnen Garments upon the Ground and placed me in the middle nor did they any thing else but Pray I also pray'd with them without ceasing no less than they Who when they saw me pray in that manner rejoyced greatly and I continued there with them till the next day And when we had worship'd God then the Shepherd came and said unto them You have done no Injury to this Man They answer'd Ask him I said unto him Sir I have received a great deal of Satisfaction in that I have remained with them And he said unto me How didst thou sup I answered Sir I feasted the whole Night upon the Words of the LORD They received thee well then said he I said Sir Very well He answer'd Wilt thou now learn what thou didst desire I reply'd Sir I will And first I pray thee that thou shouldst shew me all things in the Order that I asked them He answer'd I will do all as thou wouldst have me nor will I hide any thing from thee XII FIRST of all Sir said I Tell me what this Rock and this Gate denote Hearken said he This Rock and this Gate are the Son of God I reply'd Sir How can that be seeing the Rock is old but the Gate new Hear said he O foolish Man and understand The Son of God is indeed more antient than any Creature insomuch that he was in