is truly possess'd of the word of Jesus can hear also his silence that he may be perfect that he may do according to what he speaks and be known according to those things wherein he is silent Nothing is hid from the Lord but our very secrets are nigh unto him Therefore let us do all things as having him dwelling in us that we may be his Temples and he may be our God in us for whatever is shall be made manifest to us and therefore do we justly love him Erre not my brethren They who are destroyers of houses shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Therefore if they are dead who act such things according to the flesh how much more is it death for any man by an evil doctrine to corrupt the faith of God for which Jesus Christ was crucified Such a one being defiled shall go into the unquenchable fire and so shall he who hears him For this cause the Lord received the unction upon his head that he might breathâ— into his Church incorruption Be not annoynted with the doctrine of the prince oâ— this world which hath an ill odour neitheâ— let him lead you captive from the life which is set before you Why are we not all wise having received the knowledge of God that is Jesus Christ Why are we foolishly destroyed being ignorant of that Grace which the Lord hath truly sent amongst us My spirit is the Off-scouring of the Cross which is a scandal to unbelievers but to us Salvation and Life eternal Where is the wise where is the disputer where is the boasting of wise men so called For our God Jesus Christ was conceived by Mary according to the Oeconomie of God of the seed of David by the holy Ghost who was born and baptized that he might through sufferings cleanse the water And the Virginity of Mary the Child born of her and the Death of the Lord were hid from the prince of this world being three crying Mysteries yet wrought up by God in silence How came he then to be manifested to ages A Star in Heaven appeared which out-shined all the other stars and the light of it was ineffable and the Nâ—veltie of it did contain a strangeness in it All the other stars together with the Sun and Moon were a Chorus to this â—tar which did carry in it a brightness and â—lendour above them all The world was â—â—oubled about it to find out how this New-Star should appear amongst the other â—â—ars so unlike unto them hereupon all Magick was dissolved and every bond of wickedness dis-appeared ignorance was taken away the old kingdom was destroyed when God appeared as man for the â—enewing of Life eternal But that which was perfect with God took a beginning and thereupon all things worked together to bring about the destruction of death If Jesus Christ through your Prayers shall make me worthy and it be his will in a second little Book which I am about to write unto you I will lay open unto you how I began my Oeconomie in the New man Jesus Christ both in his Faith Love Passion and Resurrection and I shall the rather do this if the Lord shall reveal it unto me Because all of you man by man through the grace of his Name concur together in Jesus Christ of the stock of David according to the flesh the son of man and the Son of God and ye are all obedient to the Bishop and to the Presbyterie with an undivided mind breaking one bread which is the Medicine of Immortalitie an Antidâ— against death preserving to Life eternal Jesus Christ I could give my life for yoâ— and for him whom ye have sent to Smyrâ—â— for the honour of God whence also I wriâ— unto you giving thanks unto the Lorâ— loving both Polycarp and you Remembeâ— me as Jesus Christ also remembers yoâ— Pray for the Church which is in Syria whence I am led away a Prisoner untâ— Rome being the last of the faithful there if I may be accounted worthy to bâ— found to the honour of God Fareweâ— in God the Father and in Jesus Christ ouâ— common hope To the Ephesians To the Magnesians Ignatius who is also Theophorus to the Church blessed in the Grace of God the Father through Jesus Christ our Saviour which is at Magnesia neer to Maeander which I salute in him and wish it very much joy in God the Father and in Jesus Christ. KNowing your most excellent Order of Love which is according to God I joyfully made it my choice to speak unto you in the faith of Jesus Christ For being accounted worthy of the Name most becoming God in these bonds wherein I carry it about I celebrate the Churches praying that they may be united in the flesh and spirit of Jesus Christ who is our endless life by Faith and Love before which nothing is preferred but chiefly of Jesus and the Father through whom having patiently endured every injury from the prince of this world and escaping them we shall enjoy God For I was accounted worthy to see you by Damas your Divine Bishop and the worthy Presbyters Bassus and Apollâ—nius and Sotion the Deacon my Felloâ— servant whom I would enjoy because he â—â— subject to the Bishop as to the Grace of Goâ— and to the Presbyterie as to the Law of Jâ—sus Christ And it becomes you not to makâ— any use to your selves of the age of the Bâ—shop but to give him all Reverence according to the power of God the Father as have known holy Presbyters not presuming upon that juvenile order which appears but as wise men in God concurring with him yet not with him but with the Father of Jesus Christ the Bishop of all Therefore for his honour who wills it it is meet we perform obedience without hypocrisie For a man doth not deceive this Bishop whom we see but puts a fallacie upon him who is invisible This is not spoken in reference to the flesh but to God who knoweth secrets Therefore it is meet not onely to be called Christians but to be so For some indeed there are who own the Bishop in name but do all things without him Such men appear to me to be men of no good Conscience because they hold meetings not established by commandment All works have some end two are propounded Death and Life and every man shall go to his proper place As there are two sorts of Coyn one of God another of the world and each Coyn hath its proper stamp set upon it Infidels have the stamp of this world Believers in love have the stamp of God the Father by Jesus Christ whose life cannot be in us unless we can through him voluntarily die into his Passion But seeing I have in the persons prescribed taken a view of your whole multitude in Faith and Love I admonish you to do all things in the unanimity of God your Bishop being President over you in the place of God and the Presbyters in place
judgements who have discovered truth to be in those very interpolate Epistles Andrew Rivet an eminent man makes this out sufficiently However I now publish those Epistles which are genuine and in all respects agreeing with the testimony of the Antients so that they who will deny these must deny also that this Martyr ever wrote any Epistles But let them enjoy their own opinion for my part I am assured that they will meet with very few of the same and none that can be of it with reason But Courteous Reader thou art indebted to the Medicaean Library that thou hast these writings of Ignatius pure and not counterfeit and thou art indebted to the most Serene Prince Ferdinand the second the great Duke of Etruria through whose incomparable Love to Learning and Study I gained an opportunity of having the use of that famous Librarie and so of finding out this incomparable treasure of Ignatius which we now exhibit and publish to the world The Epistles of Saint Ignatius To the Smyrneans Ignatius who is also Theophorus to the Church of God the Father and of the beloved Jesus Christ which hath obtained mercy in all Grace replete with Faith and Love failing in no good gift most becoming God and fruitful in holiness which is at Smyrna in Asia be very much joy in the immaculate Spirit by the Word of God I Glorifie the God Jesus Christ who hath filled you with Wisdom For I understand that ye are perfected in an immoveable faith and are as persons fastened with nails to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ both in flesh and in spirit and well-grounded in love by the bloud of Christ having a full assurance in our Lord who was truly of the stock of David according to the flesh the Son of God according to the will and power of God truly born of a Virgin baptized by John that he might fulfil all righteousness and who truly suffered for us in the flesh under Pontius Pilate and Herod the Tetrarch From the fruit of whom we are even from his divinely blessed Passion that he might by his Resurrection lift up an ensign to all ages to the Saints and to all who do believe in him whether they be Jews or Gentiles in one body of his Church For he suffered all these things for us that we might be saved And he truly suffered as also he truly raised up himself neither did he suffer onely in appearance as some infidels affirm who themselves are onely in appearance and according to their wisdom shall it happen unto them being incorporeal and daemoniacks For I my self saw him in the flesh after his Resurrection and do believe that he is risen And when he came to those who were with Peter he said unto them Take hold of me handle me and see me for I am not an incorporeal spirit And straightway they touched him and believed in him being convinced by his flesh and by his spirit And hereupon they contemned death for they found themselves to be above it And after his Resurrection he eat and drank with them as one in the flesh though he was in spirit united to the Father Touching these things Beloved I admonish you however I know ye are already of this perswasion I do it to preserve you from beasts in the shape of men whom it is necessarie for you not to entertain but to avoid as much as possible Onely pray for them if happily they may repent which is a thing very difficult But Jesus Christ who is our true life hath the power of this But if these things were done by our Lord onely seemingly then am I also seemingly in bonds And why have I yielded up my self to be put to death why to the fire to the sword to the beasts but because to be nigh to the sword is to be nigh to God and to be inclosed with beasts is to be compassed about with God Only in the Name of Jesus Christ do I endure all things that I may suffer with him who is himself made a perfect man and now strengtheneth me Whom some ignorant men denie but they are rather denied by him being more the Preachers of death than of truth whom neither the Prophets have perswaded nor the Law of Moses nor yet the Gospel hitherto nor those suffrings of ours which are according to man For they are of the same mind concerning us But what would it advantage me should any man speak in my praise and yet blaspheme my Lord denying him to have taken flesh upon him For he who confesseth not this hath perfectly denied him and puts him to death But I am unwilling to write down their infidel names neither may I make any particular remembrance of them until they shall happily repent into a belief of the Passion which is our Resurrection Let no man be deceived For if things in heaven and the glory of Angels and Rulers visible and invisible believe not in the bloud of Christ it will be even unto them condemnation He who receiveth it may receive it Let place puff up no man for Faith and Charity is All and nothing is to be preferred before them But observe those who are otherwise opinioned of the grace of Jesus Christ which came unto us how contrary they are to the judgement of God They have no regard at all of Charity they neither care for the Widow nor Orphan nor any afflicted person be he bond or free hungry or thirstie They absent themselves from the Eucharist and Prayer because they will not confess the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ which suffered for our sins and which the Father by his goodness raised from death to life Therefore contradicting this gift of God and disputing about it they die but it would be better for them to Love it that they may rise again It is very convenient that ye abstain from such persons and that ye have no converse with them neither privately nor publikely But that ye give heed unto the Prophets and chiefly to the Gospel wherein the Passion is made manifest unto us and the Resurrection is completed But avoid Divisions as the beginning of evils And be all of you observant of the Bishop as Jesus Christ was observant of the Father and observe the Presbyterie as the Apostles and Reverence the Deacons as the command of God Let no man presume to do any thing belonging to the Church without the Bishop And let that Eucharist onely be accounted firm which is either performed by the Bishop himself or by his Licence Where the Bishop shall appear there let the multitude be for where Jesus Christ is there is the Catholique Church It is neither lawful to baptize nor to keep the Love-feast without the Bishop but whatever he shall approve of that is well-pleasing to God that so every thing which is done may be firm and established Furthermore it is a blessed thing to grow sober and whilst we have opportunity to
not as well be mistaken as their Relatives especially in things not appertaining to Faith Do we not meet with many things as strange in the Epistle of Clement which Epistle was published by Patricius Junius the Kings Library Keeper and an eminent man to whom I am so much a debtor that he cannot possibly oblige me more For who can well digest that fable of Clement about the Phoenix and his many worlds beyond the Ocean neither do I believe that some will easily admit of that Exposition about the Scarlet thred of the Harlot Rahab that it should be a Type of the bloud of Christ and other things of this nature which I could reckon up but they are not so proper for this place yet was this Clement called an Apostle by as good right as Barnabas was Therefore no persons ought to find fault with that in the one which they excuse in the other It is known to every one how very mystically superstitiously and almost impertinently those first Christians did interpret the Scriptures Therefore if some things should be met with in this Author which may displease the Learned let them rather impute it to the manner of expression used by thosâ— ancient Christians than entertain the leasâ— thoughts that this writing is supposititious Nor let any persons therefore like the worse of this Epistle of Barnabas because Eusebius and other Greek Writers of a later date have placed it amongst the Apocryphal writings For they did not question the Author only they approved not of those mystical Interpretations of his made upon many places of Scripture And for the same reason many works of Clement of Alexandria and of Origen were accounted Apocryphal whereas it was never yet doubted of whether those very works so accounted of were their genuine works And certainly if we should reject all Writings which have at any time been accounted Apocryphal we should reject the Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews and the Epistle of Jude the Apostle and that of Clement to the Corinthians which thing should we do how absurd would it seem to any man Others have given out that they have discerned this Epistle to be spurious both from the Style and manner of Writing and they have affirmed the very same things of the Epistles of Ignatius but they who boast of such things would seem more accute than becomes them For it is not so easie to distinguish spurious writings from genuine as it is to know true Pearls from counterfeit When true Stones are compared with counterfeit the fucus of the counterfeit soon appears as a true people will discover a false one which is a thing ordinary in other traffiqueable commodities But from what is it possible for these men to take the ground of their conjecture who deny these to be the very Epistles of Ignatius and Barnabas Have they seen other Writings of theirs Certainly not Therefore how come they to know what Style Barnabas and Ignatius used Yet they go on and say that what they think to be true they know to be true and if it be so with them I will not adde one word more about them The Catholique Epistle OF Saint BARNABAS the Apostle MY sons and daughters in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ who loved us I wish you much joy and peace Knowing that there is in you an abundance of the great and comely Graces of God I am rejoyced above measure by your blessed and excellent spirits for by this means ye have received a natural grace So that I am hereby very much comforted hoping to be set at liberty because I verily perceive that the spirit is infused into you from the honourable Fountain of God And seeing I am of this perswasion and know it the more fully so to be in regard that whilst I am conversing with you many things have succeeded well with me according to the equal way of the Lord therefore is it happily Brethren in my thoughts to love you more than my own soul because the greatness of faith and love dwelleth therein and the hope of that other life Thinking of this and because it was my care to impart something unto you of what I have received that it would be a sufficient reward to do service to persons of such a spirit I made it my proper business as allotted to me speedily to send unto you some few things that together with your faith ye may have also perfect knowledge There are also three Constitutions of the Lord The hope of life the beginning and the consummation For God hath made before-hand things plain to us by his Prophets who are passed and hath given unto us the beginnings of future things But as he hath said It is a more honourable and high thing to approach to his Altar Yet I shall not as a Teacher or Doctour but as one of you shew you a few things by which ye may be the more joyful in many Seeing therefore that the days are most wicked and that the adversary hath the power of this world we ought diligently to make enquiry into the equal ways of the Lord. Fear and Patience are the Coadjutors of your faith and the things which fight for us are Longanimitie and Continence Where these remain pure according to the Lord wisdom understanding science knowledge rejoyce together with them For he hath laid it open to us by all the Prophets that he will not use our sacrifices victims nor oblations saying in this wise To what purpose is the multitude of Isai 1. your sacrifices unto me saith the Lord I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams and the fat of lambs I delight not in the bloud of goats and bulls Neither do I regard you when ye come to appear before me For who hath required these things at your hands neither shall ye tread my courts When ye bring your course bread it is vain your incense is an abomination to me Your new moons and sabbaths and great day I cannot endure Your fast idle time new moons and feasts my soul hateth God hath therefore made these void as the new Law of our Lord Jesus Christ which is without the yoke of necessity hath made void the humane oblation The Lord saith again unto them Have I commanded your fathers when they went out of the land of Egypt that they should offer unto me sacrifices and victims but this I commanded them saying Let every one among you bear no malice towards his neighbour and let no man swear falsly Seeing therefore that we are not without understanding we ought to understand the counsel of the goodness of our Father For he being willing to seek us also going astray hath told us how we should come unto him saying The sacrifice of God is a contrite heart and one that is humbled God doth not despise Therefore Brethren we ought to enquire more certainly concerning our Salvation that nothing may have entrance into us which may turn us away from our
consummate the sins of those who persecuted his Prophets unto death And for this he endured For God saith By the stripe of his Isai 53. flesh all are healed And again When I shall smite the shephered then shall the sheep of the Zech. 13. flock be scattered He would thus suffer and it was necessarie that he should suffer upon the tree For he saith who prophesied of him Thou shalt deliver my soul from the sword And Fasten my flesh with nails for the congregations of wicked men are risen up against me And again he saith Behold I have given my back to scourges and my cheeks to strokes and set my face as a firm rock But when he had done the Command what saith he Who shall condemn me let him be set against me or who shall judge me let him come neer to the servant of the Lord Wo unto you for ye shall all wax old as a garment and the moth shall devour you Again the Prophet saith He was set a stone for confusion Behold I will lay in Sion for foundations a pretious stone elect a chief corner-stone honourable What saith he after And he who hopeth in it shall live for ever Is our faith therefore placed in a stone Far be it But because the Lord hath given strength unto his flesh For he saith And he hath set me as a strong rock Again the Prophet saith The stone which the builders refused is made the head of the corner And again he saith This is the great and wonderful day which the Lond hath made I write the more simply to you that ye may understand I am the off-scouring of your love What saith the Prophet again The congregation of wicked men came about me they enclosed me as bees do the wax And They cast a lot upon my vesture Seeing he should be manifest in the flesh and should suffer his Passion was manifested long before For the Prophet saith to Israel Wo to the soul of profane men for they take evil couâ—sel against themselves saying Let us seiâ— upon the righteous for he is unpleasing to uâ— Moses also saith unto them Behold thesâ— things saith the Lord God Enter into tâ—â— good land which the Lord hath sworn to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and inherit thâ— land flowing with milk and honey Learâ— what knowledge saith Hope in Jesus who will come in the flesh to be manifested unto you Man is a suffering land For from the face of the earth was the figment of Adam driven Why therefore saith he A good land flowing with milk and honey Blessed be our Lord who hath put wisdom and understanding in us of his secrets For the Prophet saith Who shall understand the parable of the Lord but onely the wise and the intelligent and he who is a lover of the Lord. Seeing therefore he renewing us by remission of sins hath made us to be another figure he hath made us to have souls like children and hath formed us anew For what he saith to the Son the Scripture saith concerning us We will make man according to our image and likeness and let them rule over the beasts of the earth and the fowls of heaven and the fishes of the sea And the Lord seeing man an excellent figure he said Increase and ultiply and replenish the earth These things the Son Again I will shew you how in â—e last days he made a second figure as â—oncerning us The Lord saith Behold I â—ill make the last things as the former and herefore did the Prophet preach thus sayâ—ng Enter into the land flowing with milk and â—oney and have dominion over it Behold herefore we are formed a new as he also â—aith in another Prophet Behold saith the Lord I will take from them that is from those whom the spirit of the Lord hath foreseen their â—earts of stone and will give them hearts of flesh For he was to be manifested in the flesh and to dwell in us For my brethren the inhabitation of our hearts in an holy temple to the Lord. Again the Lord saith How shall I appear before the Lord my God and how shall I glorifie him He saith I will confess unto thee in the Church in the midst of my brethren and will praise thee in the midst of the Church of Saints Therefore we are they whom he hath brought into the good land But why milk and honey because a little child is first quickned with milk and honey and nourished So we also being nourished and enlivened by the faith of the Promise and the Word shall live and have dominion over the earth For he said before Let them increase and rule over the fisheâ— What can this be now that a man shoulâ— have power to rule the beasts or fishes oâ— fowls of the heaven For we ought to bâ— sensible To govern is of power and aâ—thoritie and he shall bear rule who thereto appointed And if this be not now he hath said that it shall be when wheâ— we our selves may be perfected to bâ— made heirs of the Covenant of the Lord Vnderstand therefore sons of joy that thâ— good Lord hath before hand manifested alâ— things to us that we might know whom we ought to praise with thanks-giving according to all Therefore if the Son of God being Lord who also shall judge the quick and dead hath suffered that his stripes may enliven us we ought to believe that this Son of God could not suffer unless it was for us And when he was crucified he had Vineger and gall given him to drink Hear how the priests of the people have manifested this there being a command written concerning it The Lord commanded that if a man would not fast the fast he should be destroyed Because he would offer up in sacrifice for our sins the vessel of the spirit that the type also which was made in Isaac offered upon the Altar might be completed What saith he further by the Prophet And â—et them eat of the goat offered on the fast for â—he sins of all Mark diligently and let all â—he Priests alone eat the entrails unwashed with vineger Why this because ye shall give me gall and vineger to drink when I shall offer up my flesh for the sins of the New people Eat ye alone the people fasting and bewailing in sackcloth and ashes that he might demonstrate that it behooved him to suffer by them Therefore what hath he given in command observe Take two goats fair and alike and offer them and let the Priest take one for an Holocaust but what shall he do with the other He saith Let one be made an execration Mark how the figure of Jesus is manifested And ye shall all spit upon it and pierce it and put crimson wooll about the head of it and so let it be sent into the wilderness and when this is done he who bears the goat into the wilderness shall take of the wooll and put it upon a dry brushie thorn called
return to God by repentance It is a becoming thing to know God and the Bishop He who honoureth the Bishop is honoured of God but he who doth any thing without the Bishops approbation performs a service to the Devil Therefore let all things abound among you in grace for ye are worthy Ye have every way refreshed me and Jesus Christ will refresh you Ye have loved me both when I was absent and present God will requite you and if ye patiently endure all things for his sake ye shall enjoy him Ye did well in that ye gave an honourable reception to Philon Rheus and Agathopus as the Ministers of God-Christ who have accompanied me for the Word of God They also give thanks unto the Lord for you because ye have every way refreshed them Nothing which ye have done to them shall be lost as to you I could offer up this my spirit upon the service of your Souls and upon the same account carry about these my bonds which ye have neither despised nor been ashamed of neither will Jesus Christ the perfect faith be ashamed of you Your Prayer reached as far as to the Church which is in Antioch of Syria from whence being carried a prisoner for God in most venerable bonds I salute you all And however I am not worthy of such an honour being the last that came thence yet by the will of God I was accounted worthy not from any thing which I know worthy in my self but through his grace which I pray may be perfectly bestowed upon me that through your Prayers I may obtain God And that your work may be perfected as well on earth as in heaven it would be an honourable Service very much becoming your Church which is worthy of God to appoint some fit person for the honour of God and to dispatch him into Syria to congratulate them for their restored peace that they have again received their proper splendour and that their little body is re-established in such a way as is fit for them Indeed it seems unto me a worthy work for you to send some person from amongst you with an Epistle to joyn in glory with them for that tranquilitie which is amongst them according to God and that they are now come to the quiet haven through your Prayers Being perfect your selves mind the things which are perfect For if ye have but a will to do good God is ready to assist yoâ— The Love of the Brethren who are â— Troas saluteth you whence also I write uâ—to you by Burrus whom ye sent along witâ— me together with your Ephesian brethren who hath refreshed me in all things I wish all would become imitatours of him who iâ— the Exemplar of the Ministerie of God Grace shall remunerate to him according to all that he hath done to me I salute the Divine Bishop and most venerable Presbytery and the Deacons my fellow servants and all in the name of Jesus Christ man by man and together both in his flesh and bloud passion and resurrection carnally and spiritually in the name and unity of God and of you Grace be unto you and Mercy and Peace and Patience always I salute the houses of my brethren together with the women children virgins and select widows Be strong to me-ward in the power of the spirit Philon who is with me saluteth you I salute the house of Tavia whom I pray that she may be established in Faith and Love both carnally and spiritually I salute Alke a name to me very desireable Farewel in the grace of God To the Smyrneans from Troas To POLYCARP â—gnatius who is also Theophorus to Polycarp Bishop of the Church of the Smyrneans who hath rather God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ for his Bishop be very much joy HAving embraced thy judgement which is according to God founded as upon a rock and immoveable I glory exceedingly that I was accounted worthy of thy unblameable presence which I would enjoy in God I exhort thee by that grace wherewith thou art endued that thou wouldest add unto thy race in admonishing all men that they may be saved Justifie thy place by using all diligence both in a carnal and spiritual way Be careful to preserve Unity than which nothing is better Support all as the Lord supporteth thee Bear with all men in charitie as also thou dost Find leisure to be constant in Prayers Desire a larger understanding than yet thou hast Be watchful keeping in thy possession a vigilant spirit Converse with all man by man as God shall inable thee Like a compleâ— Champion bear the infirmities of all â—â— more the labour is the more is the gain is not so much for thy commendation â— love eminent Disciples as by thy Meeknâ—â— to bring into subjection those who are moâ—â— pernicious Every wound is not heaâ—â— with the same Plaister Mitigate the Paroxysms by Embrocations Be in all thin wise as the Serpent and harmless as the Doâ— For this cause art thou carnal and spirituaâ— that thou mayest use a gentle hand in tâ—â— managerie of those things which are mâ—nifest to thee praying that those things aâ—so which are concealed may in time bâ— made manifest that so thou maist be dâ—fective in nothing but abounding in everâ— grace This very season calls upon thee tâ— desire the fruition of God as Governouâ— of ships wait for the winds and he who is tossed with the waves covets after the haven Be watchful as a Champion of God that which is deposited for thee is incorruption and life eternal of which also thou art persuaded I would in all things freely offer up my self for thee and these my bonds which thou hast loved Let not those persons at all astonish thee who seem to be persons worthy of Credit and yet are teachers of strange doctrines Stand thou â—â—rm as an Anvil which is beaten upon It â—s the part of a gallant Champion to be â—tripped of his skin and yet to overcome And in this respect it is necessary for us patiently to endure all things for God that he may patiently bear with us Be more diligent than yet thou hast been Consider the seasons and wait for him who is above season not limited to time invisible yet for our sakes made visible not capable of touch or suffering yet suffering for us and enduring every manner of way for our sakes Let not the widows be neglected under God do thou take care of them Let nothing be done without thy sentence and do thou nothing without the sentence of God that whatsoever thou dost may be established Let Congregations be gathered more frequently and take the names of all persons Let neither men nor maid-servants be despised by thee neither suffer them to become proud but let them be more and more servants to the glory of God that so they may obtain a better freedom from God Let them not love the common freedom that they may not be found the servants of Concupiscence
of the Council of the Apostles and the Deacons most pleasant to me having the Diaconie of Jesus Christ committed to them who was with the Father before ages and in the end appeared Having therefore all received manners like unto God reverence one another and let no man defraud his neighbour according to the flesh but love one another always in Jesus Christ Let nothing be amongst you which may possibly divide you but be united to the Bishop and to those who are Presidents over you according to the Type and Doctrine of incorruption Therefore as the Lord being united to him did nothing without the Father neither by himself nor by the Apostles so neither do ye act any thing without thâ— Bishop and the Presbyters Neither attemp any thing upon your own account however reasonable it may appear unto you When ye come together into one place let there be One Prayer One Supplication one mind one hope in Love and in immaculate joy There is one Jesus Christ thaâ— whom nothing is better Therefore all concur together as into the Temple of God aâ— to one Altar to one Jesus Christ who came from one Father and being one is returned to him Be not deceived by strange opinions nor old fables which are unprofitable For if we still live according to the Law and Judaism we confess that Grace is not received For the most divine Prophets lived according to Jesus Christ and therefore they were persecuted being inspired by his Grace that they might work a perswasion in those who were not perswaded that there is one God who manifested himself by Jesus Christ his Son who is his eternal Word not coming forth from Silence who in all things pleased him that sent him Therefore if they who were conversant in the works of old time came to the Newness of Hope not Sabbatizing any longer but living according to the Dominical life of that day whereon our life did rise again through him and through his death whom some deny through which mysterie we have received both to Believe and also to endure with Patience that we may be found the Disciples of Jesus Christ our onely Master how shall we be able to live without him whom the Prophets being his Disciples looked for in Spirit as their Master and because they justly expected him he when he was come raised them from the dead Therefore let not us be insensible of his Goodness for if he should retribute to us according to what we do we should cease to be Therefore being made his Disciples let us learn to live like Christians For he who is called by any other name than this is not of God Therefore put away from you the evil leaven which is old and corrupt and be ye changed into the New Leaven which is Jesus Christ Be ye seasoned in him that none of you be corrupted for ye shall be disproved by your savour It is an absurd thing to profess Jesus Christ and yet to Judaize for Christianism hath not believed into Judaism but Judaism into Christianism that every tongue believing might be gathered unto God But these things my Beloved not because I have known any of you to be such but because though I am lesser then you I would have you to be preserved that ye may not fall into the snares of a vain opinion but may have a full assurance in the Nativity Passion and Resurrection effected in that season when Pontius Pilate was governour all truly and firmly accomplished by Jesus Christ our hope from which hope may none of you be perverted I would every way enjoy you if I may be worthy for though I am in bonds yet am I not to be compared to one of you who are at libertie I know ye are not puffed up for ye have Jesus Christ among you And I know the more I praise you it doth but shame you so much the more as it is written The just man is an accuser of himself Make it your endeavour to be confirmed in the determinations of the Lord and the Apostles that whatever ye do may be prosperous both in flesh and spirit Faith and Love in the Son and in the Father and in the Spirit in the beginning and the end together with your most venerable Bishop and your Presbyterie which is as a spiritual Crown decently plâ—tted and the Deacons who are according to God Be subject to the Bishop and one to another as Jesus Christ to the Father according to the flesh and the Apostles to Christ and to the Father and the Spirit that there may be unitie both carnal and spiritual Knowing that ye are full of God I have exhorted you but in few words Remember me in your Prayers that I may obtain God and that Church which is in Syria from whence I am not worthy to be called For I very much want your Prayer united in God and your Love that the Church which is in Syria may be accounted worthy to be watered by your Church The Ephesians from Smyrna salute you whence also I write unto you being present to the glorie of God as also ye are who have refreshed me in all things together with Polycarp the Bishop of the Smyrneans The other Churches also salute you in the honour of Jesus Christ Be strong in the concord of God being possessed with a discerning Spirit which is Jesus Christ To the Magnesians To the Philadelphians Ignatius who is also Theophorus to thâ— Church of God the Father and the Lorâ— Jesus Christ which is in Philadelphia of Asia which hath obtained mercy is settleâ— in â—he concord of God rejoycing in the Passion of our Lord indiscernably and fully assured of his Resurrection in all mercy which I salute in the bloud of Jesus Christ for she is my eternal and permanent joy chiefly if they continue united with the Bishop and the Presbytors with him and the Deacons manifested to be according to the Sentence of Jesus Christ whom he hath firmly established according to his own will by his holy Spirit WHich Bishop I have known to have obtained the Ministerie for the common good not by himself nor by men nor out of vain-glorie but by the love of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ whose mild temper I have been amazed at for by his silence he can do more than they who speak vain things For ye are as harmoniously agreeing in commands as the harp and the strings Therefore my Soul blesseth that sentence of his which is according to God knowing that it is vertuous and perfect and that he cannot be moved nor provoked to anger being in all the meekness of the Living God Being therefore the children of light and truth flie division evil doctrines Where the Pastour is do ye as sheep follow him for many wolves who seem worthy of credit do by an evil delectation lead captive persons running to God but through your unitie they shall have no place Depart from evil herbs which Jesus
Romans as over a Quire being divine comely most blessed worthy of praise in a becoming order eminently chaste and set up for a President of Charitie having the Law of Christ and bearing the Name of the Father which I also salute in the Name of Jesus Christ the Son of the Father according to the flesh and spirit united in every command of his filled with all the Grace of God without any difference and purged from every strange tincture wishing very much joy in our Lord Jesus Christ our God immaculately HAving beseeched God I happened to see your divine faces as I much desired to receive you And being in bonds for Jesus Christ I hope to salute you if it be his will that I may be accounted worthy to continue to the end For the beginning is well ordered if thereby I may obtain Grace so as to obtain my Lot unto the end without impediment For I fear your charitie lest it prove injurious to me For to you it is easie to do what ye will but to me it is a difficult thing to enjoy God unless ye are the more sparing to me I would not have you to please men but to please God as ye do please him I shall never have such an opportunity to enjoy God neither shall ye be intituled to a better work if ye can but be silent For if ye be silent and let me alone I shall be of God but if ye love my flesh I shall be but a voice and to run again Ye cannot do better than to let me be sacrificed unto God in regard the Altar is already prepared That ye being made up a chorus in love may sing to the Father in Jesus Christ because God hath accounted the Bishop of Syria worthy to be found and to be sent from the East unto the West to set and go down gloriously from the world unto God that I may rise again in him Ye have never bewitched me in any thing ye have instructed others and I would that those things may be firm which ye as teachers have commanded Onely pray for me to be inabled inwardly and outwardly that I may not onely say it but will it and not only be called a Christian but be found so For if I shall be found so I may also be so called and then be a Believer when I appear not to the world Nothing is good which is onely in appearance For our God Jesus Christ being in the Father appeareth the more A Christian is not a work of persuasion but of greatness especially when he shall be hated of the world I write to all the Churches and lay my commands upon them all that I may willingly die for God if ye shall not hinder me I intreat you that ye would not be unseasonably kind unto me Suffer me to be the meat of beasts that by them I may enjoy God I am the wheat of God and shall be ground by the teeth of beasts that I may be found the pure bread of God Allure those beasts the rather to become my sepulchre and to leave no reliques of my body that when I am fallen asleep I may not be burdensom to any Then shall I be the true Disciple of Jesus Christ when the world shall not see my body Pray to the Lord for me that by these instruments I may be found a sacrifice to God I do not give you commands as Peter and Paul they were Apostles but I am a condemned person they were free but I am a servant even until now yet if I suffer I shall be made the Freeman of Jesus Christ and shall rise again free and being now a Prisoner I learn to desire nothing From Syria even to Rome do I fight with beasts both by Land and by Sea by night and by day being bound to ten Leopards which are my military guard which are the worse for being kindly treated But by their injurious dealings I am the more made a Disciple yet am I not therefore justified I would enjoy the beasts which are prepared for me and I pray that they may be found sharply set nay I would entise them greedily to devour me and not fearfully to decline the touching of me as they have avoided some But if they shun me and will not I shall provoke them Pardon me I know what is convenient for me Now I begin to be a Disciple in that I have a zeal to nothing visible or invisible but that I may gain Jesus Christ Let the fire the cross the violence of beasts scattering of bones concision or chewing of members grinding of the whole body buffetings of the devil come upon me so that I may but enjoy Jesus Christ The ends of the world will profit me nothing nor the kingdoms of this age It is good for me to die for Jesus Christ rather then to rule over the ends of the earth I seek him who died for us I will him who rose again for us He is the Gain set before me Pardon me brethren do not hinder me to live do not separate me by the world who am willing to be of God nor seduce me by that which is material Suffer me to receive the pure light when I approach to that I shall be a man of God Suffer me to imitate the Passion of my God If any man hath him within him he may understand what I will and sympathize with me knowing what things have taken possesion of me The prince of this world would spoil me and corrupt my judgement which is according to God Therefore let none of you being present contribute any assistance to him but rather be for me that is for God Do not speak Jesus Christ and covet the world Let no fascination be amongst you Neither do I exhort you being present to believe me rather believe the things which I write unto you for I write unto you being alive yet withal willing to die My Love is crucified and the fire which is in me desires no water But there is one living and speaking in me who saith to me inwardly Come to the Father I take no pleasure in the meat of corruption nor in the pleasures of this life I will the bread of God which is the flesh of Jesus Christ of the seed of David and the drink which I will is his bloud which is incorruptible love I would live no longer according to men and this shall be if ye will Will it therefore that ye also may be accepted I intreat you by a few writings believe me but Jesus Christ shall manifest these things to you that I speak truth That is no lying mouth by which the Father hath truly spoken Pray for me that I may obtain For I have not written unto you according to the flesh but according to the mind of God If I suffer ye have loved me but if I prove Reprobate ye have hated me Remember in your Prayers the Church in Syria which in my stead hath God
Rubus the berries of which we usually eat if finding them in the field For the fruits of this thorn onely are pleasant But what is the meaning of this Observe One goat was for the Altar the other for an execration and the goat for execration was crowned Why because they shall see him in that day having his flesh cloathed in scarlet and thâ— shall say â—s not this he whom we have crucifiâ—â— setting him at nought piercing and mockiâ— him Truly this was he who then saiâ— That he was the Son of God and he wâ—â— used in like manner as those fair goats whicâ— were alike So that when they saw hiâ— they mourned over him who was to comâ— under the figure of a goat See thereforâ— the Type of Jesus who was to suffer But whâ— did they put the wooll into the midst of thorns This is a Type of Jesus appointed to the Church He who would take away the scarlet wooll must needs suffer many things for the thorâ— is terrible and he who would rule over it must endure affliction so saith he they who would see me and approach my kingdom ought to receive me through tribulations and sufferings But see what figure this was when it was given in command to Israel That man in whom sins were completed should offer an Heifer and killing it should burn it and then servants should take up the ashes and put them into earthen vessels and then the servants should take scarlet wooll and hyssop and so sprinkle the people one by one that they might be purged from their sins Understand in what simplicity it speaks unto us This Heifer is Jesus Christ the men offering it are those sinners who brought him to the slaughter for they seemed partly men and partly sinners But the servants sprinkling were they who preached unto us remission of sins and puritie of heart To whom he gave the power of the Gospel they were Twelve in testimonie of the Tribes for they were the Twelve Tribes of Israel which they were to preach it to But why were there three servants sprinkling These were in testimonie of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob who were honourable with God But why was the wooll put upon wood Because the kingdom of Jesus was from the wood and they therefore who hope in him shall live for ever But why was there wooll and hyssop together Because in his kingdom shall be evil and gloomie days wherein we shall be saved For he who is wounded in the flesh is healed by hyssop cleansing away the filth And for this cause are these things which are made thus manifest to us obscure to them because they hearkned not unto the voyce of the Lord. Again the Lord saith by the Prophet something of the ears teaching us thereby how we should circumcise our heart saying By the hearing of the ear hath he heard me And again he saith They who are afar off shall hear with the hearing what I have done and shall know me And ye shall circumcise your hearts saith the Lord. And again he saith Hear O Israel for the Lord thy God speaketh these things unto thee And again the Spirit of the Lord prophesieth Who is he that would live for ever let him hear with the ear the voice of my servant And again he saith Hear O heaven and give ear O earth for the Lord hath spoken these things for a Testimony And again he saith Hear the word of the Lord ye rulers of this people And again he saith Hear O children the voice of one crying in the wilderness Therefore he circumcised our ears that hearing we may believe the word For the Circumcision of which they were perswaded is abolished For he said There should be a circumcision not made upon the flesh But they have transgressed because a wicked Angel hath taught them He saith again unto them These things saith the Lord your God Here I find a commandment Sow not among thorns but be circumcised to your Lord. And what saith he further And circumcise your hard heart and do not harden your neck And again Behold the Lord saith All nations are uncircumcised having on the foreskin but this people is uncircumcised in heart But thou wilt say The people hath received circumcision as a seal But so every Syrian and Arabs and all the idolatrous priests and the Egyptians have received circumcision therefore are they also within the Covenants Learn therefore Children abundantly concerning all nations That Abraham who first gave circumcision in the spirit did see so far as to the Son for receiving the definitions of three letters he gave circumcision For he saith That Abraham circumcised the males of his house which were ten and eight and three hundred Therefore what knowledge was given to him Learn there were first ten and eight 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then three hundred the Ten note 1. the Eight note n there ye have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Cross which should have the grace was noted in the three hundred for the numeral of that is â— Therefore it is manifest that Jesus was figured in two letters and the Cross in one Abraham knew the implanted gift of his doctrine and gave it for a sign to us No one hath learned a more genuine word from me onely I know that ye are worthy But whereas Moses hath said Ye shall not eat swines flesh nor the eagle nor the hawk nor the crow nor any fish which hath not scales upon it undoubtedly he received in his understanding three Constitutions Afterwards he saith to them in Deuteronomie I will give to this people my judgements Undoubtedly therefore the command of God was not that they should not eat but Moses spake in the spirit When he spake of not eating swines flesh he spake it to this effect Thou shalt not saith he be joyned to such men who are like unto swine who when they are fed and wanton forget their Lord but when they are in wants acknowledge him For the swine when he hath eaten knows not his Lord but when he is hungry he cryes when he is filled again is still and holds his peace Neither shalt thou eat saith he the eagle nor the hawk nor the kite nor the crow In this he saith Thou shalt not associate thy self with such men who do not make provisions for themselves by labour and sweat but live by rapine and injurious taking from others and however they appear to walk in simplicity yet they observe what things may be offered to them without any labour these they diligently prie out and being idle themselves and very pernicious creatures by reason of their wickedness they devour and feed upon the flesh of others He saith Thou shalt not eat the Lampry nor the Polypus nor the Cuttle-fish That is he saith Thou shalt not be joyned to nor like unto those men who are ungodly to the end and condemned to death for these fishes alone being accursed swim onely in the
him in the sepulchre For when Israel fell he made every serpent to bite them and they died because the transgression in Eve was by the serpent that he might reprove them and convince them that for their transgression they were delivered up to the anguish of death In the end though Moses had commanded that there should be no molten nor graven image amongst them for a God he made one to shew the type of Jesus For Moses made a serpent of brass and placed it gloriously and by Proclamation called the people They coming together intreated Moses that he would pray and make an offering for them that they might be healed Then Moses said unto them When any of you shall be bitten let him come to this serpent set upon a pole and let him hope believing that though it is dead it is able to give life and he shall be immediately healed and they did so In this thou hast the glorie of Jesus â—or all things are in him and to him What saith Moses again to Jesus the Son of Naue giving him being a Prophet this Name That all the people should hear him only because the Father would reveal all things touching his Son Jesus to the Son of Naue And when he gave him this Name and sent him to search the Land He said Take a little book in thine hands and write what the Lord saith Because the Son of God in the last days will cut up all the house of Amalek by the roots Behold again Jesus not the son of man but the Son of God but manifested by a type in the flesh And because they would say that Christ is the son of David he fearing and understanding the errour of sinners saith The Lord said to my Lord Sit on my right hand until I make thy enemies thy footstool And again Esaias saith in this manner The Lord said to Christ my Lord I have holden his right hand that the nations may hear him and I will break in pieces the power of kings See how David calls him Lord and the Son of God But let us see whether this people be the heir or first people and whether the Testament be ours or theirs Hear now what the Scripture saith concerning this people Isaac prayed for Rebekah his wife because she was barren and she conceived afterwards Rebekah came to enquire of the Lord and the Lord said unto her Two nations are in thy womb and two people in thy bowels and one people shall prevail over the other people and the Elder shall serve the Younger Ye ought to be sensible who is Isaac and who is Rebekah and which of the two he hath demonstrated to be the Elder people this people or that And in another Prophesy he saith Jacob spake more plainly to Joseph his son saying Behold the Lord hath not deprived me of thy presence bring thy sons unto me that I may bless them And he brought forth Ephraim and Manasses desiring that the blessing might be given to Manasses because he was the elder and he set him on the right hand of his father Jacob. But Jacob saw in the spirit a type of that people which should be And what follows And Jacob changed his hands and put his right hand upon the head of Ephraim the second and the younger and blessed him And Joseph said to Jacob Put thy right hand upon the head of Manasses because he is my first-born son And Jacob said to Joseph I know it my son I know it but the Elder shall serve the younger yet he also shall be blessed See which of these he hath appointed to be this first people and heir of the Covenant Yet further let it be remembred that through Abraham we have a greater perfection of our knowledge Therefore what saith he to Abraham That because he believed it was counted to him for righteousness Behold I have made thee a father of nations which should believe in the Lord through uncircumcision But let us now enquire whether he hath performed the Covenant which he sware to the fathers to this people He gave it but they were not worthy to receive it by reason of their sins For the Prophet saith And Moses was fasting in the mount Sinai fourty days and fourty nights that he might receive the Covenant from the Lord for the people and he received of the Lord the two tables written with the finger of the Lord's hand through the spirit and when Moses had received them he brought them down to deliver them to the people And the Lord said to Moses Moses Moses go down quickly for thy people have transgressed which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt And Moses understood that they had made them molten idols and he cast the tables out of his hands and the tables of the Covenant of the Lord were broken Moses indeed received them but they were not worthy Learn now how we received them Moses received them as a servant but the Lord himself gave them to us who suffering patiently for us was made manifest that they might be consummate in their sins and we might be the people of the inheritance and receive the Covenant by the heir Jesus Christ The Prophet saith again Behold I have set thee for a light of the Gentiles that thou maist be for salvation to the ends of the earth saith the Lord God who redeemed thee who was prepared for this very thing that he making discoverie of our evils destructive to death and how wholly we were given up to the transgression of errour might deliver us from darkness and put his Covenant in us by the Word For it is written how that the Father commanded him to redeem us from darkness and to prepare for himself an holy people Therefore the Prophet saith I the Lord thy God have called thee in righteousness and I will hold thy hand and will strengthen thee and I have given thee for a Covenant to the nations and for a light to the Gentiles to open the eyes of the blind and to deliver those that are in bonds those that sit in darkness from the prison-house Know therefore how we were delivered and redeemed Again the Prophet saith The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me and sent me to preach the glad tidings of grace to the humble to heal the broken-hearted to preach liberty to the captives to open the eyes of the blind and to call an acceptable year of the Lord and a day of retribution and to comfort all that mourn It is also written concerning the Sabbath in the Ten words wherein he spake in the Mount Sinai face to face to Moses And ye shall sanctifie the Sabbath of the Lord with pure hands and with a pure heart And in another place he saith If their sons shall keep my Sabbaths then will I put my mercy upon them He calleth it a Sabbath in the beginning of the Creation And God made in six days the works
of his hands and finished upon the seventh day and rested on it and sanctified it Sons observe what he saith when he saith He finished in six days This he saith That God the Lord will finish all things in six thousand years for a day with him is a thousand years He himself witnesseth it saying Behold this day A day shall be as a thousand years Therefore Children in six days in six thousand years all things shall be finished And he rested on the seventh day This he saith When his Son coming shall finish the works of his time and shall judge the ungodly and shall change the Sun and the Moon and the Stars thâ—â— he shall rest honourably upon the seventh day In fine this he saith Thou shalt sanctifie it with pure hands and a pure heart Therefore how can any one now sanctifie the day which God hath sanctified unless he be of a pure heart in all things Let us not be deceived For if he resting gloriously doth sanctifie it we being just and doing just things shall be able to sanctifie it when we have received the Promise of iniquitiâ— ceasing all things being made new by the Lord. Then we shall be able to sanctifie iâ— when we our selves are first sanctified Afterwards he saith to them Your new Moons and your Sabbaths I cannot away with See how he saith That the Sabbaths which are now are not acceptable unto me But in that he rested he made all things which he had made the beginning of the eighth day that is the beginning of another world Therefore we observe the eighth day with â—â—aâ—rity of mind whereon Jesus rose from the dead and being manifested ascended up into the heavens I shall moreover speak unto you concerning the Temple How they being in miserie did erre in their hope upon the way for they did not hope in the God of the Temple who made them but in the Temple as being the House of God for almost like the very heathens they confined him within the Temple but learn what the Lord saith making void the Temple Who hath measured the heavens with his palm and the earth with his fist Is it not I saith the Lord. Heaven is my throne and the earth my footstool what house will ye build unto me and what is the place of my rest Know that theirs is a vain hope After this he saith again Behold they who destroy this Temple shall themselves build it It is done For when they warred it was destroyed by the enemies and the ministers themselves of those enemies shall build it Again he hath opened How the City and people Israel should be delivered up For the Scripture saith And it shall be in the last days That the Lord will deliver up the sheep of the pasture and their fence and their tower to destruction And it is come to pass as the Lord hath spoken Therefore we shall enquire whether there be a Temple of God There is where he saith he would make and finish it For it is written It shall be when a week is finished that the Temple of God shall be built glorious in the name of the Lord. Therefore I find that there is a Temple But how shall it be built in the name of the Lord Learn Before we believed God the dwelling of our heart was corrupt and weak as a Temple built truly by the hand for the house was full of Idolatry by Idolatry it was the house of devils so that we did whatever was contrary to God But it shall be built in the name of the Lord. Learn that a glorious Temple of the Lord shall be built But how Learn we receiving remission of sins and hoping in the name of the Lord were made anew and created again as from the beginning So that in our house that is in us God truly dwelleth How The word of his Faith the calling of his Promise the wisdom of his judgements the commands of his doctrine he himself prophesying in us he himself dwelling in us opening to us the gates of the Temple who were before the servants of death that is opening that mouth which gives repentance to us hath brought us into the incorruptible Temple And he who desires to be saved minds nothing but him dwelling in him admires nothing but him speaking in him desires to hear nothing but the words spoken from his mouth This is the spiritual Temple built unto the Lord so far as he would in power and simplicity manifest it unto us My Soul hopeth with desire that I have omitted nothing convenient for you and conducing to Salvation If I should write unto you of things future ye would not understand me because they are shut up in Parables but these things are so Let us now pass over to another kind of knowledge and doctrine There are two ways of doctrine and power either of Light or of Darkness and great is the difference of these two ways Over one are appointed the Angels of God the Ministers of light Over the other the angels of Satan over the one is the Lord from ages to ages over the other the prince of the time of iniquity The way of light is this If a man would walk to the place designed he will make haste by his works Therefore Knowledge is given to us that we may walk in it which is this Thou shalt love thy Maker Thou shalt glorifie him who redeemed thee from death Thou shalt be simple in heart and being rich in the spirit thou shalt not joyn thy self with those who walk in the way of death Thou shalt hate to do that which is not pleasing to God Thou shalt hate all hypocrisie Thou shalt not forsake the Commandments of the Lord. Thou shalt not exalt thy self but be of an humble mind Thou shalt not assume glorie to thy self Thou shalt not take evil counsel against thy neighbour Thou shalt not give boldness to thy soul Thou shalt not commit adultery nor fornication nor buggerie Thou shalt not refrain to correct the impurity of some by that word which cometh from God and when thou reproovest transgressions thou shalt not respect persons Thou shalt be meek and quiet trembling at the words which thou hast heard Thou shalt not remember evil things against thy brother Thou shalt not be of a double and wavering soul doubting whether thus or thus Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord in vain Thou shalt love thy neighbour above thy soul Thou shalt not destroy the child by abortion nor kill it when it is born Thou shalt not take away thy hand from thy son nor from thy daughter but from their youth shalt teach them the fear of the Lord. Thou shalt not desire thy neighbours goods nor be a covetous person Thou shalt not adhere in thy soul to proud persons but be numbred amongst the just and humble Thou shalt embrace temptations when they happen as good things Thou shalt not be of a double mind nor a
double tongue for a double tongue is the snare of death Thou shalt be subject to the Lord to Masters as to the type of God in reverence and fear Thou shalt not command thy maid or man-servant with bitterness especially those who hope in him lest thou be found destitute of the fear of God who is over both For he came not to call men by their persons but those whom his spirit prepared Thou shalt communicate to thy neighbour in all things and shalt not call any thing thine own for if ye are communicative in incorruptible things how much more in corruptible Thou shalt not be hastie in tongue for the mouth is the snare of death Keep thy Soul as chaste as thou canst Do not stretch forth thy hands to receive and shut them when thou shouldst give Thou shalt love every man speaking to thee the Word of the Lord as the apple of thine eye Mind the day of judgement night and day Seek out every day the persons of holy men and searching by the Word go forth to exhort and meditate to save a soul by the Word And thou shalt labour by thy hands for the redemption of thy sins Thou shalt not doubt to give nor murmur when thou givest Give to every one that asketh of thee but know withal who is the good recompenser of the reward Keep the things which thou hast received neither adding to nor taking from them Hate a wicked person to the end Judge justly Make no Schism Make peace betwixt those who are at variance Confess thy sins Come not to Prayer with an evil Conscience This is the way of light But the dark way is crooked full of that which is execrable For it is the way of eternal death with torment wherein are things destructive to the Soul Idolatrie Boldness Sublimitie of power Hypocrisie Doubleness of heart Adulterie Murder Rapine Pride Transgression Deceit Malice Arrogance Witchcraft Magick Covetousness Want of the fear of God Persecutors of the good Haters of the truth Men who love but know not the wages of Righteousness Persons not adhering to that which is good nor to just judgement Men who regard not the widow nor fatherless being not watchful to the fear of God but to do evil from whom Meekness and Patience are far removed Lovers of vain things seekers of revenge such as have no pity for the poor nor endeavours to relieve the oppressed ready to detract nor knowing their Maker murderers of children corrupters of the figment of God such as turn away themselves from the needie oppress the oppressed advocates for the rich unjust judges of the poor and sinners every way It is therefore an excellent thing for him who learns the righteous commands of the Lord which are before written to walk in them for he who does them shall be glorified in the Kingdom of God but he who chooseth the other things shall perish with his works Therefore there is a Resurrection and a Retribution I intreat those who are eminent to take the counsel of my good will If ye have any amongst you upon whom ye may work forsake them not For the day is at hand in which all things shall perish together with him who is evil The Lord is at hand and his reward I intreat you again and again that ye be good Law-givers to your selves and that ye remain faithful counsellours to your selves Take away from amongst you all hypocrisie And may God who governs the whole world give to you wisdom science understanding and knowledge of his righteous judgements in patience Be ye taught of God seeking out what the Lord requireth from you and do that ye may be saved in the day of judgement And if there be any remembrance of good remember me meditating on these things that my desire and watchfulness for you may come to some good Begging grace I beseech you that as the good vessel is yet with you ye may fail in none of these things but search them out diligently that ye may fulfil every command For they are worthy things I therefore endeavoured the rather to write unto you of such things as I was able that I might cheer you up Be safe the sons of love and peace The Lord of glory and of all grace be with your spirit Amen The end of the Epistle of Barnabas the Apostle Companion of Saint Paul the Apostle A Postscript to the Reader THe Scope and designed end of this most excellent Epistle of Barnabas was to keep Christians from Judaizing and to fix them upon the substantial duties of Christ's Oeconomie whereof Moses Politie was but a shadow He sets down the types and the things typified the figures and the things prefigured shews in the former part what of Moses is done away and in the latter part what of Christ is come in place of it The Style is obscure because the subject is so If it please not Reader now it is translated thou maist it is to be hoped for that very reason pity the pains and pardon the mishaps and miscarriages in it of the Translatour Farewel FINIS