THE CHURCH IN THE SECOND CENTURY.

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in two instances. His wife, who was well-known for her criminal passions and vile excesses, he mentions in his "Meditations" as "faithful and loving;" and after her death he obliged the senate to declare her a goddess, and had temples built to her honour. To his son Commodus, when a rash boy of fifteen, he gave a full share of imperial power; and having thus placed him beyond the reach of control, he vainly surrounded him with philosophers and instructors in morality. During the four years that he survived this unwise choice, he had reason to repent it; yet at his death he sacrificed the happiness of millions to his foolish fondness for this worthless son, and confirmed the authority that he had previously given him.

We shall now turn again and look towards the Church, though it does not present the same cheering sight as at first: and we have to learn, again and again, that all flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof as the flower of grass."

CHAP. XXVI.

CAUSES OF ERROR. JEWISH PRIESTHOOD AND CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. WORSHIP.- LITURGIES. ACCOMMODATIONS to PAGANISM.· - PUBLIC SERVICES. THE MEANING, SUBJECTS, AND FORM OF BAPTISM.-INFANT BAPTISM. INFLUX OF ERROR.

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In the second century the light held forth by the Church was still fainter, though it was more widely diffused. Instead of looking simply to Christ as the light, and thus living in the light of his countenance, Christians began to look to each other, or even to those who were without," and consequently lived in a kind of twilight. At every step we may learn it is vain to reverence any antiquity short of the Scriptures, and that the doctrines and practices of the ancient churches are of no value when they differ from the revealed will of God. It is well to be led thus to cease from man and to depend singly on the teaching of the Spirit in searching the written word.

If we lean to our own understanding, being wise in our own conceit, we must go astray: but if we lean wholly on the Lord, taking his word as a lamp to our feet, we shall surely be kept from wandering. That One Spirit will always teach the same

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things, and the written word is unchangeable; therefore it could only be from want of submission to the teacher of the Church that such a variety of doctrines and practices was introduced into it. From the same cause, subjects of difference remain such from age to age; a melancholy proof of human pride and infirmity.

The difference, and even contrast, between the Jewish and Christian dispensations has been already pointed out: but, partly through ignorance, partly by intention, they were soon confounded; and this confusion led to all the serious mistakes that followed. Soon after the destruction of Jerusalem, an idea arose that there should be the same distinction between those who ministered in the Church and their brethren as between the Jewish priests and people-that the bishop answered to the high-priest, the presbyters to the priests, and the deacons to the Levites. We know that the family of Aaron was set apart for the priesthood, and that of Levi for the service of the priests; but there was no similar arrangement in the constitution of the Church, and if those who were put into the ministry answered to any ministers under the old dispensation, it would have been to the prophets; this name is indeed applied to them, whereas that of priests is never used except in speaking of the whole Church (Rev. i. 6).

The prophets were not chosen on account of family descent; and their calling (like that of Paul) was not of men, neither by man. Without any previous preparation of their own, they were qualified by the Lord for the work, and sent forth to speak his word, whether from the plough, as Elisha; from among the priests, as Ezekiel; or from the midst of the herdsmen, as Hosea.

In the new dispensation we see the same exercise of the sovereignty of the Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will; and who could say to him, "What doest thou?" or try to confine his operations to any class or succession of men. Matthew was called from the receipt of custom; Peter, Andrew, James, and John from their fishing-nets: and they that were scattered abroad in the first persecution went every where preaching the Gospel. The eloquent Apollos, who was so mighty in the Scriptures, was not directed even to the apostles for instruction or permission to preach; but Aquila the tentmaker, and his wife, were sufficient to expound to him the way of God more perfectly; and he mightily convinced the Jews and

NEW ASPECT OF THE CHURCH.

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that publicly. Finally, in the last epistle (3 John) we find it is most commendable to help forward those who go forth for Christ's name's sake, taking nothing of the Gentiles. But we have now to trace the history of the Church under its two new divisions of clergy and laity, or priests and people; a distinction that gained for the clergy great honour and profit, but led to the most injurious consequences.* In the first place, it interfered with, or obscured the standing of the children of God, as one in Christ, and as having the same access to God by Him, through the Spirit (Eph. ii. 18). In the second place, it put Christian ministry out of its right place, making it lordship instead of service. And lastly, it led to endless assumptions on the part of those who usurped the name, rights, and privileges of priests. After this distinction was recognized, believers could no longer meet together as a family around the table of their common Lord, waiting upon the Spirit to enable any whom He would to pray, or to speak to the rest for edification, in exhortation, or to their comfort. But it must be remembered that the churches soon ceased to be gatherings of saints; and so many unregenerate persons were numbered with them that the same power could not be expected. We have observed, there is nothing that men are sooner weary of than dependance on an invisible guide; and it was, therefore, a great relief to the natural mind to adopt certain settled forms, and to make a certain class of men the stated leaders in the public assemblies. Worship, in its true and direct spiritual meaning, is the acknowledgment of what God has done for the soul, and consists in adoration of him in the way in which he has revealed himself. The carnal Jews (Ps. 1. 7—15) and the Gentiles (Acts xvii. 25) thought of God as one who needed to be reconciled, and who required something at their hands; and therefore sought to obtain his favour by multiplied sacrifices and services. But the Lord, when instructing the awakened sinner (John iv.), said, "The true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship Him."

Moreover, it is plain that the Lord was continually correcting the wrong thoughts of God common among the Jews, and teaching his disciples to avoid them. For instance, the Rabbins taught that a synagogue could only be formed where

* Every godly clergyman would seek, by his instructions, to prevent these effects.

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there were ten men of leisure always at liberty to attend, otherwise they could not expect the Divine Presence, for the Lord might say, Wherefore am I come and no one is here? But Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Again, the "long prayers" made by the Pharisees were as much to be avoided as the vain repetitions" of the heathens; those who loved to pray standing in the synagogues were no more to be imitated than the Gentiles with their thoughts of being heard on account of their much speaking: that which God calls worship must be in Spirit and in truth. The Lord, however, graciously gave His disciples a help for their infirmity till they were enabled to pray in the Spirit, and to make use of His name, neither of which they could do till He went to the Father (see Matt. vi. 5-15).

But worship soon lost its true scriptural character, and the adoration and prayers of the saints were by degrees exchanged for the performance of certain acts, and the repetition of certain forms which were considered pleasing to God, and the means of procuring His favour or salvation. Worship was no longer considered the free-will offering of a saved people filled with the Spirit, but a service to be performed by appointed persons, in parts of which a mixed assembly might unite. As the energy of the Spirit was found wanting, and prayerless persons increased in the Church, liturgies were gradually introduced, and in them of course all the errors and false doctrines of the times.

It is supposed that a Liturgy* was first used at Jerusalem ; and it is not surprising that synagogue habits should be adopted there. The date of the earliest liturgies is not satisfactorily ascertained; but we cannot believe that the Apostle James, as some have ventured to affirm, was the author of that used at Jerusalem.† The Romish Missal and Breviary, at the present day, are the standing proofs of the growth and establishment of error in such written services. But a Liturgy is not necessarily defaced by false doctrine; and those of the reformed churches and of the Moravians are, perhaps, as free from error as anything of human composition, and constructed

* Liturgy is from a Greek word, signifying to do a public service. + The prayer of faith-asking in faith-and the fervent (in the original, in-wrought) prayer are alone commended by James (i. 6; v. 15, 16).

for mixed congregations, is likely to be. Yet are they open to the same essential objection in the minds of such as are convinced of the sufficiency of the Holy Ghost in helping the infirmities of the children of God, and who object to put words into the mouths of those who do not understand the meaning of them.

It is probable that the first temptation to spoil the simplicity of Christian worship with useless forms and ceremonies, arose from the contempt cast upon the Christians by the Jews and Pagans because they had no visible religion, that is, no temples, altars, victims, &c., and no established priesthood, or set of men, distinguished from their brethren to the outward eye.

At first they met in private houses; and, in times of persecution, they were obliged to assemble secretly in cellars and caves, or even in vaults where the dead were buried: and their seasons for meeting were at sunrise, or in the evening, when they could best escape public observation. But, in the intervals of peace, they had their public oratories, or places of prayer; and then the martyria, which were slight buildings raised over the tombs of the martyrs. In accommodating themselves to common prejudices, and, perhaps, to increase the number of Jewish and Pagan converts, these buildings were soon regarded as temples, the ministering brethren as priests, the institutions of baptism and the Lord's supper as corresponding with the Grecian and Roman mysteries, &c.* Some Christian teachers also imagined that it would be helpful to persons of dull understanding to exhibit the truths of the Gospel by images, actions, and signs, forgetting that "the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple."

Baptism was now separated from believing, and only performed at two set times during the year; and when once the inventive powers of man were exercised in endeavouring to render this simple observance more venerable and interesting to the heathens, we cannot be surprised at the strangeness of the various ceremonies by which it was veiled in mystery, or the extraordinary virtues ascribed to it. In the second century it appears the practices of the churches differed in different

*Mystery is from the Greek, signifying a secret; and Sacrament is probably from the Latin, Sacramentum, which signifies the military oath of fidelity; but it is also used in the Vulgate as the rendering of the Greek word mystery (1 Tim. iii. 16).