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THEOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT.

TESTIMONY OF THE FATHERS TO THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT.

AN opinion appears to prevail very generally in the church, that what are called the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost ceased with the immediate successors of the Apostles; but that such was not the case, will, it is trusted, appear evident from the following extracts from the writings of the Christian Fathers of the first three centuries. The extracts have all been carefully made from the originals, and the translations given are, with one exception, which will be noticed in its place, taken from the xiiith chapter of Biscoe's Boyle Lectures on the Acts of the Apostles, delivered in the years 1736-7-8. These translations, from the pen of an eminent English divine who lived about eighty years ago, have been preferred to any new rendering of the passages, not only on account of their general correctness, but in order that those persons who are not acquainted with the Greek and Latin languages may feel satisfied that these extracts are not presented to them so construed as to suit the views of any sect or party. The following are the Fathers from whose works the quotations are made; and the dates, taken from Cave's Lives of the Fathers, shew the years in which the authors died :—

Justin Martyr: died A. D. 165.

Irenæus died in 202.

Tertullian some of his writings bear date A. D. 207 and 208, but the time of his death is uncertain.

Origen: died A. D. 254.

Cyprian: died in 258.

Arnobius was converted about A. D. 303, and is supposed to have been alive in 327.

Lactantius is supposed to have died in 316.

The immediate friends and successors of the Apostles, such as Ignatius and Polycarp, are generally allowed to have possessed the power of working miracles: no reference need therefore be made to their writings; and particularly as there is a translation, by Archbishop Wake, of what are called the Apostolical Epistles of Saints Ignatius, Barnabas, Clement, and Polycarp. St. John, the last of the Apostles, is supposed, according to St. Jerome, to have died sixty-eight years after our Lord's crucifixion, which event took place A. D. 33-or, as some say, four years later-so that St. John's death may be placed in A. D. 101 or 105; and on comparing these dates with those

assigned by Cave as the years in which the Fathers quoted from died, it will be evident that signs and miracles were performed by Christians who could not have received from the last of the Apostles the imposition of hands, by which, as it has been asserted, though without sufficient foundation, the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost could alone be conferred. The first Father quoted from is Justin Martyr, whose testimony is also brought forward by Archbishop Wake, in the xth chapter, 12th section, of his Preliminary Discourse to his translation of the Apostolical Epistles, in proof that miracles were truly performed in the church after the Apostolic times. Justin Martyr thus writes:—

“ Και νῦν εκ των ὑπ ̓ οψιν γινομενων μαθεῖν δυνασθε. δαιμονιοληπτοις γαρ πολλοις κατα παντα τον κόσμον, και εν τῇ ὑμετερα πολει, πολλοι τῶν ἡμετερων ανθρωπων τῶν Χριστιανῶν, επορκίζοντες κατα τοῦ ονοματος Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ του σταυ ρωθεντος επι Ποντιου Πιλάτου, ὑπο τῶν αλλων παντων επορκιστών και επαστῶν και φαρμακευτῶν μη ιαθεντας ιασαντο, και ετι νυν ιωνται, καταργοῦντες και εκδιώκοντες τοις κατέχοντας τοις ανθρωποις δαιμονας.”Apologia i. p. 45, A' of

the Paris Edition.

“And this you may even now learn from those things which happen under your view. For many of our Christians, adjuring the demons by the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, have healed, and now do heal, many that were possessed by demons through the whole world and in your city, disappointing and chasing away the demons which had possessed them; and this when they could not be healed by any other exorcists and enchanters and sorcerers.”

"With us the prophetic gifts remain even to this day; whence ye ought to understand, that they, though formerly in your nation, are transferred to us.”

“With us also are to be seen both men and women having gifts from the Spirit of God."

“ The true disciples of Jesus, receiving favour from him, perform works for the beneft of other men, as every one hath received the gift from Him. For some cast out devils truly

« Καθώς και πολλῶν ακουομεν αδελφῶν ἐν τῆ εκκλησια προφητικα χαρισματα εχοντων, και παντοδαπαῖς λαλουντων δια τοῦ πνεύματος γλωσσαις, και τα κρύφια των αν θρωπων εις φανερον αγοντων επι τῷ συμφεροντι, και τα μυστηρια του Θεοῦ εκδιηγουμενων.”—Lib. ν. cap. 6.

and really, so that oftentimes the persons who were cleansed from those evil spirits have themselves believed, and are in the church. Others have the

knowledge of things future, and visions, and prophecies. Others, by the laying on of their hands, heal the sick, and restore their health. Also, as we have before said, even the dead are raised, and have continued with us many years."

"As also we hear many brethren in the church having prophetical gifts, and speaking by the Spirit all kinds of languages, and revealing the secrets of men for public good, and expounding the mysteries of God."

Biscoe translates the above passage in the past time, thus: "We have heard many brethren in the church who had the gift of prophecy:" but the verb aкovoμev is the present tense, and the other verbs are in the present participle. The verb akovw governs a genitive of the person. The translation, therefore, which has now been given of the passage-namely, "We hear many brethren❞—is as correct as if rendered "We hear of many brethren having prophetic gifts;" and, indeed, the contexts shew that Irenæus speaks of manifestations of the Spirit which he himself had witnessed in the church.

Tertullian thus writes of the miraculous operations of the Holy Ghost in the age in which he lived :

"Et quanti honesti viri [de vulgaribus enim non dicimus] aut à dæmoniis aut à valetudinibus remediati sunt. Ipse etiam Seuerus, pater Antonini, Christianorum memor fuit. Nam et Proculum Christianum, qui Torpacion cognominabatur, Euhodiæ procuratorem, qui eum per oleum aliquando curauerat, requisiuit et in palatio suo habuit usque ad mortem ejus :

"How many men of note and rank [for we speak not of the vulgar] have been delivered from demons, or cured of diseases! Even Severus himself, the father of Antoninus, was mindful of the Christians: for he diligently sought out Proculus, a Christian, who was surnamed Torpazion, procurator of Euhodia, who had formerly cured him by anointing him

The Severus and Antoninus here spoken of, were two Roman emperors in Tertullian's time. And again, Tertullian, in his rities, says :—

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