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
founded by St. Paul and as it was the Seat of the Beloved Disciple St. John who continued there to the very time of Trajan above 100 Years after Christ. Hence Tertullian directing those who were desirous to know what the true Faith of Christ was to enquire among the Chiefest Churches in every part what had been deliver'd to them and was the Faith received and taught amongst them bids them if they were in Italy go to Rome if in Achaja to Corinth if in Macedonia to Philippi if in Asia to Ephesus Insomuch that as Evagrius tells us the Bishop of Ephesus had a Patriarchal Power within the Diocese of Asia till the Time of the Fourth General Council And long after that Theodorus Bishop of this See subscribing to the Acts of the Sixth General Council calls himself Bishop of Ephesus the Metroplis of the Province of Asia And even in the Times of which we are now discoursing St. John writing to the Seven Churches of Asia of which Laodicea was One places Ephesus at the head of them as that which had the Precedence of all the rest in those Parts 15. SEEING then such was the Prerogative which the Church of Ephesus had from the beginning over all the other Churches of the Asian Diocese and that St. Paul himself had first planted Christianity there And seeing it appears from the Command which he gave to the Colossians Chap. iv 16 to cause the Epistle which he had written to them to be read in the Church of the Laodiceans that he was wont to order the Epistles which he wrote to One Church to be sent to and be read in the Others that we renear unto it Seeing lastly we are told both by Tertullian and Epiphanius that the Epistle to the Ephesians was anciently called by some the Epistle to the Laodiceans I think it may not be improbable but that by the Epistle from Laodicea he may have meant the Epistle which he wrote to the Ephesians at the same time and by the same Person that he wrote to the Colossians and which being from them communicated to the Laodiceans might be ordered by St. Paul to be sent on to the Colossians who were a Neighbour Church to Laodicea and afterwards subject to it as their Metropolitane 16. BUT whatever becomes of this Conjecture Whether by the Epistle from Laodicea we are to understand some Epistle written from that place and that either by St. Paul to some other Church or Person or by the Laodiceans to him Or whether we are to understand by it some Epistle that was to be communicated from thence to the Colossians which seems to me the more probable and particularly that which he wrote by Tychicus to the Ephesians at the same time that he wrote by him to the Colossians Certain it is that the Epistle now extant under that Title is none of St. Paul's nor do's his Expression in that place to the Colossians before mentioned any more prove there was ever any such than that Other in 1 Cor. v. 9 proves a Third Epistle to the Corinthians which some also have pretended as Sixtus Sinensis and Others observe 17. IT would be endless to insist upon all the other Spurious Pieces of the like kind that have been attributed to this great Apostle It is sufficient to observe that neither Eusebius nor St. Jerome knew any thing more of his Writing than what we have in those Epistles that are still extant in our Bibles under his Name except it were the Epistle to the Hebrews and which tho' doubted of by some in the Primitive Church is yet ascribed to him by Eusebius who expresly accounts XIV of his Epistles and speaks of that to the Hebrews as his tho' he adds that being not received by the Church of Rome it was by some suspected whether it were indeed the true Epistle of St. Paul 18. BUT much greater is the Authority of those Supposititious Pieces which the same Eusebius tells us were even in those days attributed to that other great Apostle St. Peter viz. The Acts the Gosple the Preaching and the Revelations of St. Peter Nevertheless seeing he at the same time declares that they were never look'd upon as Catholick but rather as set out by some Hereticks of those Times as many other Pieces of the like kind were under the venerable Name of that Apostle the better to gain thereby Credit to their Doctrine How ancient soever they may otherwise be yet they will not fall within the compass of the present Collection Nor indeed is there any thing of them remaining to us except the Names and perhaps a few Fragments scatter'd up and down in the Quotations that have been made by Ecclesiastical Writers out of them 19. TO these let me add in the third place the Discourses attributed to St. Matthew the first Writer of the New Testament Two Books there are still remaining under his Name A Liturgy pretended to have been composed be him and a Discourse concerning the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin But both rejected by Learned Men as the Works of some Impostor many Ages after the Death of that Holy Apostle 20. AND the same must be said of the Liturgies ascribed in like manner to St. Peter St. Mark St. James and Others and of the Falsity of which all the Learned World seems now to be universally agreed Which makes it the more to be admir'd that such Great Men as Cardinal Bona and Leo Allatius were should be so far prejudiced in their Favour as to think at least the Liturgy of St. James to have been truly composed by that Apostle and only corrupted and interpolated by some other hand in the following Ages 21. NOR may we judg any otherwise of the Gospels set out under the Names of several of the Apostles and Others who were contemporary with them And of which however some were very ancient yet is it generally agreed among the most judicious of all sides that they were not only not written by those whose Names they carry but were for the most part set out by suspected Persons and for ill Ends after their Deaths 22. AS for the Writings of the whole Colledge of Apostles Two Pieces there are besides the Synodical Letter spoken of by St. Luke Acts xv 23 which not only go under their Names but have been by some ascribed to them as the Authors of them And those are first the Creed and secondly the Canons of the Apostles 23. FOR the former of these the Apostles Creed it has been thought by many that it was so called not only as being a Summary of the Apostles Doctrine but because it was really composed by them And that either in their first Assembly after our LORD's Resurrection Acts i. or else immediately before their Dispersion upon the breaking out of Herod's Persecution Acts xii which Baronius and others esteem the more probable It is not my intention to enter on any particular Examination of this Matter which has been so
Gentile But who of you are Ignorant of the Judgment of God Do we not know that the Saints shall judge the World As Paul teaches But I have neither perceived nor heard any thing of this Kind in you among whom the Blessed Paul laboured and whom he mentions with so much Honour in the beginning of his Epistle For he Glories of you in All the Churches who then only knew God for we did not then know Him Wherefore my Brethren I am exceedingly sorry both for him and for his Wife to whom God grant a true Repentance And be ye also moderate on this occasion and look not upon such as Enemies but call them back as Suffering and Erring Members that ye may save your whole Body For by so doing ye shall edifie your own selves XII FOR I trust that ye are well exercised in the Holy Scriptures and that nothing is hid from you But at present this is not granted unto me As it is written Be angry and Sin not And again Let not the Sun go down upon your Wrath. Blessed is he that believeth and remembreth these things which also I trust you do Now the God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ and He himself who is our Everlasting High Priest the Son of God even Jesus Christ build you up in Faith and in Truth and in all Meekness and Lenity in Patience and Long-suffering and Chastity And grant unto you that you may have your Lot and Portion among his Saints and that we also may be together with you and all that are under the Heavens who shall believe in our LORD Jesus Christ and in his Father who raised him from the Dead Pray for all the Saints Pray also for Kings and All that are in Authority and for those who persecute you and hate you and are the Enemies of the Cross That your Fruit may be manifest in all things and that ye may be perfect in Christ. XIII YE wrote to me both ye and also Ignatius that if any one went from hence into Syria he should bring your Letters with Him which also I will take care of as soon as I shall have a convenient opportunity either by my self or him whom I shall send upon your Account The Epistles of Ignatius which He wrote unto Us together with what others of his have come to our hands we have sent to you according to your order which are subjoyned to this Epistle By which ye may be greatly profited For they treat of Faith and Patience and of all things that pertain to Edification in the Lord Jesus XIV WHAT you know certainly of Ignatius and those that are with him signifie unto us THESE things have I written unto you by Crescens whom by this present Epistle I have recommended to you and do now again commend For he has had his Conversation without blame among us And I suppose also with you Ye will also have regard unto his Sister when she shall come unto you Be ye safe in the LORD Jesus Christ And in Favour with all yours Amen THE Genuine Epistles OF St. IGNATIVS I. TO THE Ephesians THE CONTENTS After the Salutation Chap. I. HE thanks them for sending Onesimus their Bishop to Him Whom he greatly Commends and expresses his Joy to receive from Him so good a Character of them II. He mentions the rest of their Members who were sent with Onesimus to Him And Exhorts them to Unity by a due Subjection to their Bishop and Presbyters III. He excuses the Liberty He takes of Admonishing them and so returns to his Advice to them IV. Which is still the same namely By a due Subjection to their Bishop to preserve Vnity among themselves V. The Benefit of which He particularly sets out to them VI. That they ought not to Respect their Bishop the less because he is not forward in exacting it from them But should rather Honour him the more which He also Commends them for doing VII He warns them against Hereticks bidding them stick to their Master Jesus Christ Whose Divine and Humane Nature he declares to Them VIII IX He Commends them for their Care to keep themselves from False Teachers and shews them the Way to God X. He exhorts them to Prayer and to behave themselves unblameably towards those that are without XI.XII. To be careful of their Salvation To Pray for Himself whose own worth he much lessens in Comparison of theirs Especially XIII XIV To be frequent in Publick Devotion To live in Unity in Faith and in Charity And XV. To shew forth the Truth of their Profession by their Works XVI XVII To have a Care that the Gospel of Christ be not Corrupted XVIII Vpon which occasion He treats particularly of the Three great Mysteries of Christianity viz. The Virginity of Mary And the Incarnation and Death of Christ Which he says were hid from the Devil XIX How the Birth of Christ was in a most extraordinary Manner reveal'd to the World XX. XXI Of all which he promises to Write more largely in a second Epistle And then finally Undertakes for their Salvation if they continued as he had exhorted them to pursue it by Unity among Themselves and Piety towards God THE EPISTLE OF St. IGNATIVS TO THE Ephesians IGNATIUS who is also called THEOPHORUS to the Church which is at Ephesus in Asia most deservedly Happy being Blessed through the Greatness and Fullness of God the Father and Predestinated before the World began that it should be always unto an Enduring and Unchangeable Glory being United and Chosen through his true Passion according to the Will of the Father and Jesus Christ our God All Happiness by Jesus Christ and his Undefiled Grace I. I HAVE heard of your Name much Beloved in God which ye have very justly attain'd by a Habit of Righteousness according to the Faith and Love which is in Jesus Christ our Saviour How that being Followers of God and stirring up your selves by the Blood of Christ ye have perfectly accomplished the Work that was Natural to you For hearing that I came bound from Syria for the common Name and Hope trusting through your Prayers to sight with Beasts at Rome that so by Suffering I may become indeed the Disciple of Him who gave himself to God an Offering and Sacrifice for us ye Hastned to see me I understood therefore how great a Multitude there was among you in the Name of God by Onesimus who if we consider his Charity is beyond all Expression but who is according to the Flesh your Bishop Whom I beseech you by Jesus Christ to love and that you would all strive to be like unto Him And Blessed be God who has granted unto you who are so worthy of Him to enjoy such an Excellent Bishop II. FOR what concerns my Fellow-Servant Burrhus and your most Blessed Deacon in things pertaining to
make good the Promise before given to our Fathers and preparing himself a New People might demonstrate to them whilst he was upon Earth that after the Resurrection he would judge the World And thus teaching the People of Israel and doing many Wonders and Signs among them he preached to them and shewed the exceeding great Love which he bare towards them And when he chose his Apostles which were afterwards to publish his Gospel he took Men who had been very great Sinners that thereby he might plainly shew That he came not to call the Righteous but Sinners to Repentance Then he clearly manifested himself to be the Son of God For had he not come in the Flesh how could Men have been able to look upon him that they might be saved Seeing if we behold only the Sun which was the Work of his Hands and shall hereafter cease to be we are not able to endure stedfastly to look against the Rays of it Wherefore the Son of God came in the Flesh for this Cause that he might fill up the measure of their Iniquity who have persecuted his Prophts unto Death And for the same reason also he suffered For saith God By the Stripes of his Flesh we are healed And again another Prophet When I shall smite the Shepherd the Sheep of the Flock shall be scatter'd Nevertheless he would suffer in this Manner Because it behoved him to suffer upon the Cross. For thus one saith prophecying concerning him Deliver my Soul from the Sword And again They pierced my Hands and my Feet And again The Congregation of wicked Doers rose up against me And again he saith I gave my Back to the Smiters and my Cheeks to be buffeted and my Face I set as an hard Rock VI. AND when he had fulfilled the Commandment of God What says he Who will contend with me Let him stand against me Or who is he that will implead me Let him draw near to the Servant of the LORD Wo be to you Because ye shall all wax old as a Garment the Moth shall eat you up And again the Prophet adds He is put for a Stone of stumbling Behold I lay in Zion for a Foundation a precious Stone a choice Corner-Stone an Honourable Stone And what follows And he that hopeth in him shall live for ever What then Is our Hope built upon a Stone God forbid But because the LORD hath put his Flesh in strength he saith this of it As it is written I have placed my self as a sure Rock And again the Prophet adds The Stone which the Builders refused is become the Head of the Corner And again he saith This is the Great and Wonderful Day which the LORD hath made I write these things the more plainly to you that ye may understand For indeed I could be content even to die for your sakes But what saith the Prophet The Counsel of the Wicked encompassed me about They came about me as Bees about the Hive And Vpon my Vesture they cast Lots Forasmuch then as our Saviour was to appear in the Flesh and suffer his Passion was hereby foretold For thus again saith the Prophet against Israel Wo be to their Soul because they have taken Wicked Counsel against themseves saying Let us lay Snares for the Righteous because he is unprofitable to us Moses also in like manner speaketh to them Behold thus saith the LORD God Enter ye into the Good Land of which the LORD hath sworn to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob that he would give it you and possess it a Land flowing with Milk and Hony Now what the Spiritual meaning of this is learn It is as if it had been said Put your Trust in Jesus who shall be manifested to you in the Flesh. For Man is the Earth which suffers Forasmuch as out of the Substance of the Earth Adam was formed What therefore do's he mean when he says Into a Good Land flowing with Milk and Honey Blessed be our LORD who has given us Wisdom and a Heart to understand his Secrets For so says the Prophet Who shall understand the hard Sayings of the LORD But he that is Wise and Intelligent and that loves his LORD Seeing therefore he has renewed us by the Remission of our Sins he has given us another form that we should have our Souls like the Soul of a Child Even as he himself has form'd us by the Spirit For thus the Scripture saith concerning us where it introduceth the Father speaking to the Son Let us make Man in our Image after our Likeness And let him have Dominion over the Beasts of the Earth and over the Fowls of the Air and over the Fish of the Sea And when the LORD saw the Man which he had form'd that behold he was very Good He said Encrease and multiply and replenish the Earth And this he spake to his Son I will now shew you how he made us into a second Form in the latter Days As also he saith Behold I will make the last as the first Wherefore the Prophet thus foretold it Enter into the Land flowing with Milk and Hony and rule in it Wherefore ye see how we are again formed anew as also he speaks by another Prophet Behold saith the LORD I will take from them that is from those whom the Spirit of the LORD foresaw their Hearts of Stone and I will put into them Hearts of Flesh. Because he was about to be made manifest in the Flesh and to dwell in us For my Brethren the Habitation of our Heart is a Holy Temple unto the LORD As he again saith Wherewithal shall I appear before the LORD my God and be Glorified He answers I will confess unto thee in the Congregation in the midst of my Brethren and will sing unto thee in the Church of the Saints Wherefore we are they whom he has brought into that good Land But what signifies the Milk and Hony Because as the Child is nourish'd first with Milk and then with Hony So we being kept alive with the Belief of his Promises and the Word of his Gospel shall live and have Dominion over the Land For so he foretold above saying Encrease and Multiply and have Dominion over the Fishes c. But who is there that is now able to have this Dominion over the Wild Beasts or Fishes or Fowls of the Air For you know that to Rule is to have Power that a Man should be Lord over what he rules But forasmuch as this we have not now he tells us when we shall have it Namely when he shall become perfect that so we may be made Inheritors of the Covenant of the LORD VII UNDERSTAND then my Beloved Children that the Good God hath before manifested all things unto us that we might know to whom we ought always to
give Thanks If therefore the Son of God who is the LORD of all and shall come to judge both the Quick and Dead hath suffer'd that by his Stripes we might live Let us believe that the Son of God could not have suffer'd but for us But being crucified they gave him Gall and Vinegar to drink Hear therefore how the Priests of the Temple did foreshew this also The LORD by his Command which was written declar'd that whosoever did not fast the Appointed Fast should die the Death Because he also was one day to offer his Body for our Sins and so the Type of what was done in Isaac be fulfill'd who was offer'd upon the Altar What therefore is it that he says by the Prophet And let them eat of the Goat which is offer'd in the day of the Fast for all their Sins Harken diligently my Brethren And all the Priests and they only shall eat the Inwards not washed with Vinegar And why so Because I know that when I shall hereafter offer my Flesh for the Sins of a New People ye will give me Vinegar to drink mixed with Gall therefore do ye only eat the People fasting the while and lamenting in Sackcloath and Ashes That by this he might fore-shew that he was to suffer by them But hear then how he appointed it Take says he two Goats fair and alike and offer them And let the High Priest take one of them for a Burnt Offering And what must be done with the other Let it be accursed Consider how exactly this appears to have been a Type of Jesus And let all the Congregation spit upon it and prick it and put the Scarlet Wool about its Head And thus let it be carried forth into the Wilderness And this being done he that was appointed to convey the Goat led it into the Wilderness and took away the Scarlet Wool and put it upon a Thorn-Bush whose young Sprouts when we find them in the Field we are wont to eat So the Fruit of that Thorn only is sweet And to what end was this Ceremony Consider One was offered upon the Altar the Other was accursed And why was that which was accursed crown'd Because they shall see Christ in that Day having a Scarlet Garment about his Body and shall say Is not this he whom heretofore we crucified having despised him pierced him mocked him Certainly this is he who then said that he was the Son of God As therefore he shall be then like to what he was on Earth so were the Jews heretotore commanded to take two Goats Fair and Equal That when they shall see our Saviour hereafter coming in the Clouds of Heaven they may be amazed at the Likeness of the Goats Wherefore ye here again see a Type of Jesus who was to suffer for us But what then signifies this That the Wool was to be put into the midst of the Thorns This also is a Figure of Jesus set out to the Church For as he who would take away the Scarlet Wool must undergo many difficulties because that Thorn was very sharp and with difficulty get it So they says Christ that will see me and come to my Kingdom must through many Afflictions and Troubles attain unto me VIII BUT what Type do ye suppose it to have been where it is commanded in the Law that certain Men who had been guilty of many Sins should offer a Heifer and kill it and burn it And the young Men should take up the Ashes and put them in Vessels and tie a piece of Scarlet Wool and Hyssop upon a Stick and so the young Men should sprinkle every one of the People and they should be clear from their Sins Consider how all these things are delivered in a Figure to us This Heifer is Jesus Christ the Wicked Men that were to offer it are those Sinners who brought him to Death Who now are no longer Men there is no more any Glory of those Sinners remaining The young Men that sprinkled them signifie to us those who preach the Forgiveness of Sins and the Purification of the Heart to whom our LORD gave Authority to Preach his Gospel Being at the Beginning Twelve for a witness of the Tribes because there were Twelve Tribes of Israel But why were there Three young Men that were appointed to sprinkle the Sinners In Testimony of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob that they were Great before God And why was the Wool put upon a Stick Because the Kingdom of Jesus was founded upon the Cross And therefore they that put their Trust in him shall live for ever But why was the Wool and Hyssop put together To signifie that in the Kingdom of Christ there shall be evil and base Days in which we shall be saved And because he that has any Disease in the Flesh is by Hyssop purged from the Pollution of it Wherefore these things being thus done to us indeed are evident but to the Jews they are obscure because they hearkned not unto the Voice of the LORD IX AND therefore the Scripture again speaks concerning our Ears that God has circumcised them together with our Hearts For thus saith the LORD in the Holy Prophet By the hearing of the Ear they obeyed me And again They who are afar off shall hear what things I have done and shall understand And again Circumcise your Hearts saith the LORD And again he saith Hear O Israel Thus saith the LORD thy God And again the Spirit of God prophesieth saying Who is there that would live for ever let him hear the Voice of my Son And again Hear O Heaven and give Ear O Earth Because the LORD has spoken these things for a Witness And again he saith Hear the word of the LORD ye Princes of the People And again Hear O Children The Voice of one crying in the Wilderness Wherefore he has circumcised our Ears that we should hear his Word and believe But as for that Circumcision in which the Jews trust it is abolished For the Circumcision of which God spake was not of the Flesh But they have transgressed his Commands because the Evil One hath deceived them For thus God bespeaks them Thus saith the LORD your God Here you may find the New Command Sow not upon Thorns Be circumcised to the LORD your God And what do's he mean by this Hearken unto your LORD and circumcise the Hardness of your Heart and harden not your Neck And again Behold saith the LORD all the Nations are uncircumcised they have not lost their Fore-Skin but this People is not circumcised in Heart But you will say the Jews were circumcised for a Sign And so are all the Syrians and Arabians and all the Priests of their Idols But are they therefore of the Covenant of Israel And even the Egyptians themselves are circumcised Understand therefore Children these
Temple of the LORD shall be gloriously built in the Name of the LORD I find therefore that there is a Temple But how shall it be built in the Name of the LORD I will shew you Before that we belived in God the Habitation of our Heart was corruptible and feeble as a Temple truly built with Hands For it was a House full of Idolatry a House of Devils inasmuch as there was done in it whatsoever was contrary unto God But it shall be built in the Name of the LORD Consider how that the Temple of the LORD shall be very gloriously built And by what means that shall be learn Having received Remission of our Sins and trusting in the Name of the LORD we are become Renew'd being again created from the Beginning Wherefore God truly dwells in our House that is in us But how do's he dwell in us The Word of his Faith the Calling of his Promise the Wisdom of his Righteous Judgments the Commands of his Doctrine He himself prophecies within us he himself dwelleth in us and openeth to us who were in Bondage the Gate of Our Temple that is the Mouth of Wisdom having given Repentance to us and by this means has brought us into his incorruptible Temple He therefore that desires to be saved looketh not unto the Man but unto him that dwelleth in him and speaketh by him being struck with Wonder forasmuch as he never either heard him speaking such Words out of his Mouth nor ever desired to hear them This is that Spiritual Temple that is built unto the LORD XVII AND thus I trust I have declared to you as much and with as great Simplicity as I could those things which make for your Salvation so as not to have omitted any thing that might be requisite thereunto For should I speak farther of the Things that now are and of those that are to come you would not yet understand them seeing they lie in Parables This therefore shall suffice as to these things XVIII LET us now go on to the other kind of Knowledge and Doctrine There are two ways of Doctrine and Power The one of Light the other of Darkness But there is a great deal of difference between these two ways For over one are appointed the Angels of God the Leaders of the way of Light Over the others the Angels of Satan And the one is the LORD from Everlasting to Everlasting the other is the Prince of the Time of Unrighteousness XIX NOW the way of Light is this if any one desires to attain to the Place that is appointed for him and will hasten thither by his Works And the Knowledge that has been given to us of walking in it to this Effect * Thou shalt love him that made thee * Thou shalt glorifie him that hath redeemed thee from Death * Thou shalt be simple in Heart and * Rich in the Spirit * Thou shalt not cleave to those that walk in the Way of Death * Thou shalt hate to do any thing that is not pleasing unto God * Thou shalt abhor all Dissimulation * Thou shalt not neglect any of the Commands of the LORD * Thou shalt not exalt thy self but shalt be humble * Thou shalt not take Honour to thy self * Thou shalt not enter into any Wicked Counsel against thy Neighbour * Thou shalt not be confident in thy Heart * Thou shalt not commit * Fornication nor * Adultery Neither shalt thou * corrupt thy self with Mankind * Thou shalt not make use of the Speech which God has given thee to any Impurity * Thou shalt not accept any Mans Person when thou reprovest any ones Faults * Thou shalt be Gentle * Thou shalt be Quiet * Thou shalt tremble at the Words which thou hast heard * Thou shalt not keep any Hatred in thy Heart against thy Brother * Thou shalt not entertain any doubt whether it shall be or not * Thou shalt not take the Name of the LORD in vain * Thou shalt love thy Neighbour above thy own Soul * Thou shalt not destroy thy Conceptions before they are brought forth nor kill them after they are born * Thou shalt not take off thy Hand from thy Son or from thy Daughter but shalt teach them from their youth the Fear of the LORD * Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbours Goods neither shalt thou be an Extortioner * Neither shall thy Heart be joined to proud Men but thou shalt be numbred among the Righteous and the Lowly * Whatever Troubles shall happen unto thee thou shalt receive them as good * Thou shalt not be double-minded or double-tongu'd for a double Tongue is the Snare of Death * Thou shalt be subject unto the LORD and to inferior Masters as to the Images of God in Fear and Reverence * Thou shalt not be bitter in thy Commands towards any of thy Servants that trust in God least thou chance not to fear him who is over both because he came not to call any with respect of Persons but whomsoever his Spirit had prepared * Thou shalt communicate to thy Neighbour of all thou hast Thou shalt not call any thing thine own For if ye partake in such things as are incorruptible how much more should ye do it in those that are Corruptible * Thou shalt not be forward to speak for the Mouth is the Snare of Death * As far as thou art able keep thy self Pure * Reach not out thine Hand to receive and with-hold it not when thou shouldst give * Thou shalt love as the Apple of thine Eye every one that speaketh unto thee the Word of the LORD * Call to thy Remembrance Day and Night the future Judgment * Thou shalt seek out every Day the Persons of the Righteous * And both seek by thy Speech and go forth to exhort and meditate how thou maiest save thine own Soul * Thou shalt also labour with thy Hands that thy Sins may be forgiven thee * Thou shalt not deliberate whether thou shouldst give * Nor having given murmur at it * Give to every one that asks so shalt thou know who is the good Rewarder of thy Gifts * Keep what thou hast received thou shalt neither add to it or take from it * Let the Wicked be always thy Aversion * Thou shalt judge righteous Judgment * Thou shalt never cause Divisions but shalt make Peace between those that are at variance and bring them together * Thou shalt confess thy Sins * And not come to thy Prayer with an Evil-Conscience This is the Way of Light XX. BUT the Way of Darkness is crooked and full of Cursing For it is the Way of Eternal Death with Punishment in which they that walk meet those things that destroy their own Souls Such are Idolatry Confidence Pride of Power Hypocrisie Double-Mindedness Adultery Murder Rapine Pride Transgression Deceit Malice Arrogance Witchcraft Covetousness and the Want of the Fear of God In this walk those who
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
you shall find it empty as you stopp'd it up So those empty Prophets when they come among the Spirits of the Just are found to be such as they came Thus you see the Life of each of these kind of Prophets Wherefore prove that Man by his Life and Works who says that he hath the Holy Spirit And believe the Spirit which comes from God and has Power as such But believe not the Earthly Spirit in whom there is no Trust nor Vertue but he is empty because he is from the Devil Hear now the Similitude which I am about to speak unto thee Take a Stone and throw it up towards Heaven or take a Spout of Water and mount it up thither-ward and see if thou canst reach unto Heaven Sir said I How can this be done For neither of those things which you have mentioned are possible to be done And he answer'd Therefore as these things cannot be done so is the Earthly Spirit without Vertue and without Effect Understand yet farther the Power of the other in this Similitude The Grains of Hail that drop down are exceeding small and yet when they fall upon the Head of a Man how do they cause Pain to it And again consider the Droppings of a House how the little Drops falling upon the Earth work a Hollow in the Stones So in like manner the least things which come from above and fall upon the Earth have great force Wherefore join thy self to this Spirit which has Power and depart from the other which is empty The Twelfth COMMAND Of a two-fold Desire That the Commands of God are not impossible And that the Devil is not to be feared by them that Believe I. AGAIN he said unto me Remove from thee all Evil Desires and put on all Good and Holy Desires For having put on a good Desire thou shalt hate that which is Evil and bridle it as thou wilt But an Evil Desire is dreadful and hard to be appeas'd It is very horrible and wild and by its Wildness consumes Men. And especially if the Servant of God shall chance to fall into it except he be very Wise he shall be ruined by it For it destroys those who have not the Garment of a good Desire and engages them in the Affairs of this present World and delivers them unto Death Sir said I What are the Works of an evil Desire which shall bring Men unto Death Shew them to me that I may depart from them Hear said he in what Works an evil Desire shall bring the Servants of God unto Death The Spirit of all Men is Earthly and light and has no Vertue and speaks much I said How then shall a Man be able to discern them Consider what I am going to say concerning both kinds of Men and as I speak unto thee so shalt thou prove the Prophet of God and the False Prophet And first try the Man who hath the Spirit of God because the Spirit which is from above is humble and quiet and departs from all Wickedness and from the vain Desires of the present World and makes himself more humble than all Men and answers to none when he is ask'd nor to every one singly neither do's the Spirit of God speak to a Man when he will but speaks when God pleases When therefore a Man who has the Spirit of God shall come into the Church of the Righteous who have the Faith of God and they pray unto the LORD then the Holy Angel of God fills that Man with the Blessed Spirit and he speaks in the Congregation as he is moved by God Thus therefore is the Spirit of God known because whosoever speaks by the Spirit of God speaketh as the LORD will II. HEAR now concerning the Earthly Spirit which is empty and foolish and without Vertue And first of all the Man who may be supposed to have this Spirit exalteth himself and desires to have the first Seat and is wicked and full of Words and spends his time in Pleasure and in all manner of Voluptuousness and receives the Reward of his Divination Which if he receives not he do's not divine Although the Spirit of God may receive Reward and Divine But it becomes not the Prophet of God so to do But it is an evil Desire to covet another Mans Wife or for a Woman to covet anothers Husband as also to desire the Dainties of Riches and Multitude of superfluous Meats and Drunkenness and many Delights For in much Delicacy there is Folly and many Pleasures are needless to the Servants of God Such Lusting therefore is evil and pernicious which brings to Death the Servants of God For all such Lusting is from the Devil Whosoever therefore shall depart from all evil Desires shall live unto God But they that are subject unto them shall die for ever For this evil Lusting is deadly Do thou therefore put on the Desire of Righteousness and being armed with the Fear of the LORD resist all wicked Lusting For Fear dwelleth in good Desires and when evil Coveting shall see thee arm'd with the Fear of the LORD and resisting it it will flie far from thee and not appear before thee but be afraid of thy Armour and thou shalt have the Victory and be crown'd for it and shalt attain unto that Desire which is good and shalt give the Victory which thou hast obtain'd unto God and shalt serve him in doing what thou thy self wouldst do For if thou shalt be subject to good Desires and follow them thou shalt be able to get the Dominion over thy wicked Lustings and they shall be subject to thee as thou wilt III. AND I said Sir I would know how I ought to serve that Desire which is good Hearken said he Fear God and put thy Trust in him and love Truth and Righteousness and do that which is good If thou shalt do these things thou shalt be an approved Servant of God and shalt serve him And when he had fulfilled these Twelve Commands he said unto me Thou hast now these Commands walk in them and exhort those that hear them that they repent and that they keep their Repentance pure all the remaining Days of their Life And fulfil diligently this Service which I commit to thee and thou shalt receive great Advantage by it and shalt find Favour with all such as shall repent and shall believe thy Words For I am with thee and will force them to believe And I said unto him Sir These Commands are Great and Excellent and able to chear the Heart of that Man that shall be able to keep them But Sir I cannot tell whether they can be observed by any Man He answer'd Thou shalt easily keep these Commands and they shall not be hard Howbeit if thou shalt suffer it once to enter into thy Heart that they cannot be kept by any one thou shalt not fulfil them But now I say unto thee If thou shalt not observe these Commands but shalt
much Jesus Christ vouchsafed to suffer for our sakes What Recompense then shall we render unto him Or what Fruit that may be worthy of what he has given to us For indeed how great are those Advantages which we owe to him in Relation to our Holiness He has illuminated us as a Father he has called us his Children he has saved us who were lost and undone What Praise shall we ascribe to him Or what Reward that may be answerable to those things which we have received We were defective in our Understandings worshiping Stones and Wood Gold and Silver and Brass the Works of Mens Hands and our whole Life was nothing else but Death Wherefore being encompassed with Darkness and having such a Mist before our Eyes we have look'd up and through his Will have laid aside the Cloud wherewith we were surrounded For he had Compassion upon us and being moved in his Bowels towards us he saved us having beheld in us much Deceit and Destruction and seen that we had no hope of Salvation but only by him Therefore he called us who were not and was pleased from nothing to give us a Being II. REJOICE thou Barren that barest not break forth and cry thou that travailest not for she that is desolate hath many more Children than she that hath an Husband In that he said Rejoice thou Barren that bearest not He spake of us For our Church was barren before that Children were given unto it And again when he said Cry thou that travailest not He implied thus much That after the manner of Women in Travail we should not cease to put up our Prayers unto God only And for what remains Because she that is desolate hath more Children than she that hath an Husband It was therefore added because our People which seem'd to have been forsaken by God now believing in him are become more than they who seem'd to have God And another Scripture saith I came not to call the Righteous but Sinners to Repentance The Meaning of which is this that those who were lost must be saved For that is indeed truly great and wonderful not to confirm those things that are yet standing but those which are falling Even so did it seem good to Christ to save what was lost and when he came into the World he saved many and called us who were already perishing III. SEEING then he has shew'd so great Mercy towards us and chiefly for that we who are alive do now no longer sacrifice to dead Gods nor pay any Worship to them but have by him been brought to the Knowledge of the Father of Truth Whereby shall we shew that we do indeed know him but by not denying him by whom we have come to the Knowledge of him For even he himself saith Whosoever shall confess me before Men him will I confess before my Father This therefore is our Reward that if we confess him we shall be saved by him But wherein must we confess him Namely in doing those things which he saith and not disobeying his Commandments By worshiping him not with our Lips only but with all our Heart and with all our Mind For he saith in Isaiah This People honoureth me with their Lips but their Heart is far from me IV. LET us not then only call him LORD for that will not save us For he saith Not every one that saith unto me LORD LORD shall be saved but he that doth Righteousness Wherefore Brethren let us confess him by our Works by loving one another in not committing Adultery not speaking Evil against each other not envying one another but by being Temperate Merciful and Good Let us also have a mutual Sense of one anothers Sufferings and not be covetous of Mony But let us by our Good Works confess God and not by those that are otherwise Also let us not fear Men but rather God For this cause and to the End that we should do thus hath the LORD said Though ye should be joyn'd unto me even in my very Bosom and not keep my Commandments I would cast you off and say unto you Depart from me I know not whence you are ye Workers of Iniquity V. WHEREFORE Brethren laying aside our sojourning in this present World let us do the Will of him who has called us and not fear to depart out of this World For the LORD saith Ye shall be as Sheep in the midst of Wolves Peter answered and said What if the Wolves shall tear in pieces the Sheep Jesus said unto Peter Let not the Sheep fear the Wolves after Death And ye also fear not those that kill you and after that have no more that they can do unto you but fear him who after you are dead has power to cast both Soul and Body into Hell Fire For consider Brethren that the sojourning of this Flesh in the present World is but little and of a short Continuance but the Promise of Christ is Great and Wonderful even the rest of the Kingdom that is to come and of Eternal Life But what then must we do that we attain unto it We must be converted to a divine and just Course of Life and look upon all the things of this World as none of ours and not desire them For if we shall desire to possess them we are fallen from the Way of Righteousness VI. FOR thus saith the LORD No Servant can serve two Masters If therefore we shall desire to serve God and Mammon it will be without Profit to us For what will it profit us if we shall gain the whole World and lose our own Souls Now this World and that to come are two Enemies This calls us to Adultery and Corruption to Covetousness and to Deceit but that commands us to renounce these things We cannot therefore be the Friends of both but we must resolve by forsaking one to enjoy the other And we think that it is better to hate the present things as little short-lived and corruptible and to love those which are to come which are truly good and incorruptible For if we do the Will of Christ we shall find Rest But if not nothing shall deliver us from Eternal Punishment if we shall disobey his Commands For even thus saith the Scripture in the Prophet Ezekiel If Noah Job and Daniel should rise up they shall not deliver their Children in Captivity Wherefore if such Righteous Men are not able by their Righteousness to deliver their Children how can we hope to enter into the Kingdom of God except we keep our Baptism Holy and Undefiled Or who shall be our Advocate unless we shall be found to have done what is Holy and Just VII LET us therefore my Brethren contend with all Earnestness knowing that we are now called to the Combat and that many go long Voyages to corruptible Encounters in which all are not concern'd but they only that labour much and