this true doctrine of CHRIST, clearly conveyed to us from CHRIST Himself and His Apostles. And observe this holy Bishop tells us, that it was received as such, preached as such, delivered as such, all over the world. There is no room for disputing, it is one and the same Truth, as CHRIST is One, and as the HOLY SPIRIT in the Church is One. Yes! and as the Church itself is one. The one faith is held in the one Church. Wanderers come home to it! come home to the Church Catholic, of which Irenæus spoke, which is still upon earth; of which the English Church, with its Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, is a true and living branch. And, at all events, even if you are not persuaded to this suitable religious deed, yet at least you cannot refuse to take up a humbler judgment of the Christianity of this day than is generally taken. For is not unity the chief blessing which CHRIST prayed His Church might possess? Was it not, as the above extract shows, marvellously instanced in the state of the Primitive Church? It is not lost now? Surely this is undeniable. Whatever our knowledge, our exertions, our various gifts, Christians have lost their peculiar privilege, have transgressed their peculiar duty, "that they all should be one, as CHRIST and the FATHER are One." ANECDOTE OF THE GREAT ST. BASIL, ARCHBISHOP of CÆSAREA IN CAPPADOCIA. THE Holy Basil visited one day a sacred brotherhood; and after such discourse as was fitting, said to the Head of it, "Hast thou a brother here who has the grace of obedience?" and he answered him, "My lord, we be all thy servants, and are endeavouring after salvation." Basil said a second time, "Yea, hast thou one so gifted?" And he brought unto him a brother. Then the Holy Basil employed him to minister to him as he dined. After he had eaten, the other brought him water to wash; but Basil said, "Come hither, and I too will give thee water to wash." And the other suffered the Bishop to pour out the water upon his hands. Then said Basil, "When I enter into the chancel come before me, and I will make thee a Deacon." And afterwards he made him Priest, and took him with him to his own house on account of his obedience. OXFORD, The Feast of St. Mark. [FOURTH EDITION.] These Tracts are continued in Numbers, and sold at the price of 2d. for each sheet, or 7s. for 50 copies. LONDON: PRINTED FOR J. G. F. &. J. RIVINGTON, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD, AND WATERLOO PLACE. 1840. GILBERT & RIVINGTON, Printers, St. John's Square, London. TRACTS FOR THE TIMES. RECORDS OF THE CHURCH. No. XV. THE HOLY CHURCH THROUGHOUT ALL THE WORLD DOTH ACKNOWLEDGE THEE The temporal condition and the principles of Christians. THE writer of the Epistle to Diognetus was either Justin Martyr, or some disciple of the Apostles themselves, a contemporary of Justin Martyr, i. e. about A.D. 130. CHRISTIANS differ not from other men in country, or language, or customs. They do not live in any peculiar cities, or employ any particular dialect, or cultivate characteristic habits of life. The truths which they hold result not from the busy ingenuities of human thought; the counsels of man in them possess no champion. They dwell in cities, Greek and barbarian, each where he finds himself placed, and while they submit to the fashion of their country in dress and food and the general conduct of life, they yet maintain a system of interior polity, which beyond all controversy is full of admiration and wonder. The countries they inhabit are their own, but they dwell like aliens ; they take their part in all privileges, as being citizens; and in all sufferings they partake as if they were strangers. In every foreign country they recognise a home; and in their home they see the place of their pilgrimage. They marry like other men, and exclude not their children from their affections: their table is open to all around them; they live in the world, but not according to its fashions; they walk on earth, but their conversation is in heaven. They obey the established laws, but VOL. I. A in their lives transcend all law; they love all men, and are persecuted by all; they are unknown, and yet are condemned. Death to them is life; of their poverty they make many rich, and in the extremity of want they still possess all things. They are treated with dishonour, and by dishonour are made glorious; their integrity is insured by the insults which they suffer; when cursed they bless, and reproaches they pay with respect. When doing good they are punished as evil doers; and when they are punished they rejoice as men that are raised unto life. By Jews they are treated as aliens and foes, by Greeks they are persecuted; and none of their enemies can state a ground for their enmity. In good truth, Christians are to the world what the soul is to the body. The soul is transfused through the members of the body, and Christians through the cities of the world: the soul dwells in the body, but is not of the body; and Christians dwell in the world, but are not of the world. The soul unseen is treasured up in the visible body; and Christians visibly are in the world, but their faith is a guest unseen in it. The flesh hates the soul, and wars against it without provocation, because it forbids the enjoyments of its pleasures; and the world hates Christians without provocation, because they are at enmity with its enjoyments. The soul loves that flesh and those limbs that hate it; and Christians love all that hate them. The soul is shut up in the body, but itself is to the body a protector; and Christians are included in the world as in a prison-house; and yet they are the guardians of the world. The immortal soul resides in a mortal tabernacle and Christians dwell amidst corruption, but are waiting for incorruption in heaven. By loss of meat and drink the soul is strengthened: and Christians abound more and more, though suffering every day. Such is the station in which God has planted them, and it is not lawful for them to retire from it. : I have already said, that their faith was not a discovery of this world. It is not a human counsel which they support with this anxiety; nor are they entrusted with the stewardship of mysteries which proceed from man: but God Himself, the Almighty and Invisible Creator, has sent down from heaven to men His holy and incomprehensible Truth and Word, and fixed it in their hearts; not, as might, perhaps, be anticipated, sending any minister to man, angel, or principality, (whether of those whose functions belong to the earth, or of such as are engaged in the economy of Heaven,) but Him, who was the very Maker and Builder of all by whom he built the heavens, and marked the bounds of the ocean; whose mysterious ordinances the elements all faithfully obey; from whom the sun receives the measure of its daily career, and at whose will the obedient moon puts forth her mighty lustre, with the stars that move attendant on her course. He is the universal Counsellor, and Lawgiver, and Monarch; His are the heavens, and all that is in heaven; His the earth, and all in the earth; the sea, and all that is in the sea; fire, air, and depth; the height above, and the deep beneath; all are His. Him God sent to man: but was it, as man might anticipate, to overrule, to terrify, and to strike? Not so: but in meekness and in mercy. He sent Him, as a king might send his royal son as GOD He sent Him; as a Messenger and a SAVIOUR to mankind, to persuade, but not to compel. Violence is not an attribute of GOD. He sent Him in love, not in judgment: in judgment He will hereafter send Him, and who will bear His coming?... See you not how Christians are cast to the beasts, that they may be made deny their LORD, and are not overcome? See you not how they abound, in proportion with the increase of their sufferings? These things seem not like the work of man; but they are the power of God, and indications of His presence. What mortal man could tell what God was, before He came among us? Would you admit the vain and trifling fables of such empty philosophers, as say that the DEITY is composed of fire (calling that a Deity, to which themselves are tending); or of water, or of any other of those elements which God has created? And yet, if any of these fables is admissible, each and every of the creatures might similarly be called a god. These things are the trickery and deceit of impostors. Man had never seen or known Him, but He manifested Himself. He manifested Himself by faith, by which alone it is possible to see God. For |