Primitive Christian Worship Part 6

[Footnote 35: And surely if Justin had intended to represent the holy angels as objects of religious wors.h.i.+p, he would not so violently have thrust the mention of them among the Persons of the ever-blessed Trinity, a.s.signing to them a place between the second and third Persons of the eternal hypostatic union.] {109}

To evade this charge of impiety, some writers (among others, M. Maran, the Benedictine editor of Justin,) have attempted to draw a distinction between the two verbs in this pa.s.sage, alleging that the lower degree of reverence expressed by the latter applies to the angels; whilst the former verb, implying the higher degree of wors.h.i.+p, alone relates to the G.o.dhead. But this distinction rests on a false a.s.sumption; the two words being used equally to convey the idea, of the highest religious wors.h.i.+p[36].

[Footnote 36: For example, the first word ([Greek: sebometha]), "we reverence," is used to mean the whole of religious wors.h.i.+p, as well with regard to the true G.o.d, as with reference to Diana [Acts xviii. 7. 13; xix. 27.]; whilst the second word ([Greek: proskunoumen]), "we wors.h.i.+p," is constantly employed in the same sense of divine wors.h.i.+p, throughout the Septuagint [Exod. x.x.xiv.

14. Ps. xciv. (xcv.) 6. I Sam. (1 Kings) xv. 25. 2 Kings (4 Kings) xvii. 36. Heb. i. 6.], (with which Justin was most familiar,) and is used in the Epistle to the Hebrews to signify the wors.h.i.+p due from the angels themselves to G.o.d, "Let all the angels of G.o.d wors.h.i.+p him." The very same word is also soon after employed by Justin himself (sect. xvi. p. 53) to mean the whole entire wors.h.i.+p of the Most High G.o.d: "That we ought to wors.h.i.+p ([Greek: prosk.u.mein]) G.o.d alone, Christ thus proves,"

&c. Moreover, the word which Justin uses at the close of the sentence, "honouring them" ([Greek: timontes]), is the identical word four times employed by St. John [John v. 23.], in the same verse, to record our Saviour's saying, "That all men might honour the Son, even as they honour the Father; he that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father, who hath sent him."]

But in determining the true meaning of an obscure pa.s.sage, grammatically susceptible of different acceptations, the author himself is often his own best interpreter. If he has expressed in another place the same leading sentiment, yet without the same obscurity, and free from all doubt, the light borrowed from that pa.s.sage {110} will frequently fix the sense of the ambiguous expression, and establish the author's consistency. On this acknowledged principle of criticism, I would call your attention to a pa.s.sage in the very same treatise of Justin, a few pages further on, in which he again defends the Christians against the same charge of being atheists, and on the self-same ground, "that they wors.h.i.+p the Father who is maker of all; secondly, the Son proceeding from Him; and thirdly, the Holy Spirit." In both cases he refers to the same attributes of the Son as the teacher of Christian truth, and of the Holy Ghost, as the Prophetic Spirit. His language throughout the two pa.s.sages is remarkably similar, and in the expressions on the true meaning of which we have already dwelt, it is most strikingly identical; but by omitting all allusion to the angels after the Son, his own words proving that the introduction of them could have no place there, (for he specifies that the third in order was the Holy Spirit,) Justin has left us a comment on the pa.s.sage under consideration conclusive as to the object of religious wors.h.i.+p in his creed. The whole pa.s.sage is well worth the attention of the reader. The following extracts are the only parts necessary for our present purpose:--

"Who of sound mind will not confess that we are not Atheists, reverencing as we do the Maker of the Universe.... and Him, who taught us these things, and who was born for this purpose, Jesus Christ, crucified under Pontius Pilate.... instructed, as we are, that He is the Son of the True G.o.d, and holding Him in the second place; and the Prophetic Spirit in the third order, we with reason honour." [Sect.

xiii. p. 50.] {111}

The impiety apparently inseparable from Bellarmin's interpretation has induced many, even among Roman Catholic writers, to discard that acceptation altogether, and to subst.i.tute others, which, though involving no grammatical inaccuracy, are still not free from difficulty.[37] After weighing the pa.s.sage with all the means in my power, and after testing the various interpretations offered by writers, whether of the Church of Rome or not, by the sentiments of Justin himself, and others of the same early age, I am fully persuaded that the following is the only true rendering of Justin's words:

"Honouring in reason and truth, we reverence and wors.h.i.+p HIM, the Father of Righteousness, and the Son (who proceeded from Him, and instructed in these things both ourselves and the host of the other good angels following Him and being made like unto Him), and the Prophetic Spirit."

[Footnote 37: Le Nourry (Apparatus ad Bibliothecam Maximam Veterum Patrum. Paris, 1697. vol. ii. p. 305), himself a Benedictine, rejects Bellarmin's and his brother Benedictine Maran's interpretation, and conceives Justin to mean, that the Son of G.o.d not only taught us those truths to which he was referring, with regard to the being and attributes of G.o.d, but also taught us that there were hosts of spiritual beings, called Angels; good beings, opposed to the demons of paganism. Bishop Kaye, in his excellent work on Justin Martyr, which the reader will do well to consult (p. 53), tells us he was sometimes inclined to think that Justin referred to the host of good angels who should surround the Son of G.o.d when he should come to judge the world. The view adopted by myself here was recommended by Grabe and by Langus, called The Interpreter of Justin; whilst Petavius, a Jesuit, though he does not adopt it, yet acknowledges that the Greek admits of our interpretation. Any one who would pursue the subject further may with advantage consult the preface to the Benedictine edition referred to in this work. Lumper Hist. Part ii. p. 225. Augustae Vindelicorum, 1784. Petavius, Theologicorum Dogmatum tom. vi. p. 298. lib. xv.

c. v. s. 5. Antwerp, 1700.

The whole pa.s.sage is thus rendered by Langus (as read in Lumper), "Verum hunc ipsum, et qui ab eo venit, atque ista nos et aliorum obsequentium exaequatorumque ad ejus voluntatem bonorum Angelorum exercitura docuit, Filium, et Spiritum ejus prophetic.u.m, colimus et adoramus."]

This interpretation is strongly confirmed by the professed sentiments both of Justin and of his contemporaries, {112} with regard to the Son of G.o.d and the holy angels.

It was a principle generally received among the early Christians, that whatever the Almighty did, either by creation or by the communication of his will, on earth or in heaven, was done by the Eternal Word. It was G.o.d the Son, the Logos, who created the angels[38], as well as ourselves; it was He who spoke to Moses, to Abraham, and to Lot; and it was He who conveyed the Supreme will, and the knowledge of the only true G.o.d, to the inhabitants of the world of spirits. Agreeably to this principle, in the pa.s.sage under consideration, Justin affirms (not that Christians revered and wors.h.i.+pped the angels, but), that G.o.d the Son, whom Christians wors.h.i.+pped as the eternal Prophet, Angel, and Apostle, of the Most High, instructed not only us men on earth, but also the host of heavenly angels[39], in these eternal verities, {113} which embrace G.o.d's nature and the duty of his creatures. [Trypho, -- 141. p. 231.]

[Footnote 38: Thus Tatian (p. 249 in the same edition of Justin), "Before men were prepared, the Word was the Maker of angels."]

[Footnote 39: "The OTHER good angels." Justin (Apol. i. sect.

lxiii. p. 81.) reminds us that Christ, the first-begotten of the Father, Himself G.o.d, was also an Angel (or Messenger), and an Apostle; and here Christ, as the Angel of the Covenant and the chief Apostle, is represented as instructing THE OTHER ANGELS in the truths of the economy of grace, just as he instructed his Apostles on earth,--"As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you."]

It is evident that Justin himself considered the host of angels to be equally with ourselves in a state of probation, requiring divine instruction, and partaking of it. It is also evident that many of his contemporaries entertained the same views; among others, Irenaeus and Origen. [Irenaeus, book ii. c. 30. p. 163. Origen, Hom. x.x.xii. in Joann.

-- 10. vol. iv. p. 430.] I will not swell this dissertation by quoting the pa.s.sages at length; though the pa.s.sages referred to in the margin will well repay any one's careful examination. But I cannot refrain from extracting the words in which each of those writers confirms the view here taken of Justin's sentiments.

Irenaeus, for example, says distinctly, "The Son ever, anciently and from the beginning co-existing with the Father, always reveals the Father both to angels and archangels, and powers, and excellencies, and to all to whom G.o.d wishes to make a revelation[40]." And not less distinctly does Origen a.s.sert the same thing,--"Our Saviour therefore teaches, and the Holy Spirit, {114} who spake in the prophets, teaches not only men, but also angels and invisible excellencies."

[Footnote 40: So far did some of the early Christians include the hosts of angels within the covenant of the Gospel, that Ignatius (Epist. ad Smyrn. -- 6. p. 36.) does not hesitate to p.r.o.nounce that the angels incur the Divine judgment, if they do not receive the doctrine of the atonement: "Let no one be deceived. The things in heaven, and the glory of angels, and the powers visible and invisible, if they do not believe on the blood of Christ--for them is judgment." They seem to have founded their opinion on the declaration of St. Paul (Eph. iii.

10): "That now to the princ.i.p.alities and powers in heavenly places might be made known through the Church the manifold wisdom of G.o.d."]

I will only add one more ancient authority, in confirmation of the view here taken of Justin's words. The pa.s.sage is from Athenagoras[41] and seems to be the exact counterpart of Justin's paragraph.

[Footnote 41: Athenagoras presented his defence, in which these words occur, to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, and his son Commodus, in the year 177.]

"Who would not wonder on hearing us called Atheists? we who call the Father G.o.d, and the Son G.o.d, and the Holy Ghost, showing both their power in the unity, and their distinction in order. Nor does our theology rest here; but we say, moreover, that there is a mult.i.tude of angels and ministers whom G.o.d, the Maker and Creator of the world, BY THE WORD PROCEEDING FROM HIM, distributed and appointed, both about the elements, and the heavens, and the world, and the things therein, and the good order thereof." [Sect. 10. p. 287. edit. Just. Mart.]

I have already stated my inability to discover a single word in Justin Martyr which could be brought to sanction the invocation of saints; but his testimony is far from being merely negative. He admonishes us strongly against our looking to any other being for help or a.s.sistance, than to G.o.d only. Even when speaking of those who confide in their own strength, and fortune, and other sources of good, he says, in perfect unison with the pervading principles and a.s.sociations of his whole mind, as far as we can read them in his works, without any modification or any exception in favour of saint or angel: "In that Christ {115} said, 'Thou art my G.o.d, go not far from me,' He at the same time taught, that all persons ought to hope in G.o.d, who made all things, and seek for safety and health from Him alone" [Trypho, -- 102, p. 197.]

SECTION II.--IRENaeUS.

Justin sealed his faith by his blood about the year 165; and next to him, in the n.o.ble army of martyrs, we must examine the evidence of Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons. Of this writer's works a very small proportion survives in the original Greek; but that little is such as might well make every scholar and divine lament the calamity which theology and literature have sustained by the loss of the author's own language. It is not perhaps beyond the range of hope that future researches may yet recover at least some part of the treasure. Meanwhile we must avail ourselves with thankfulness of the nervous though inelegant copy of that original, which the Latin translation affords; imperfect and corrupt in many parts, as that copy evidently is. This, however, is not the place for recommending a study of the remains of Irenaeus; and every one at all acquainted with the literature of the early Church, knows well how valuable a store of ancient Christian learning is preserved even in the wreck of his works.

On the subject of the invocation of saints, an appeal {116} has been made only to a few pa.s.sages in Irenaeus. With regard, indeed, to one section, I would gladly have been spared the duty of commenting upon the unjustifiable mode of citing his evidence adopted by Bellarmin. It forces upon our notice an example either of such inaccuracy of quotation as would shake our confidence in him as an author, or of such misrepresentation as must lower him in our estimation as a man of integrity.

Bellarmin a.s.serts, building upon it as the very foundation-stone of his argument for the invocation of saints, that the souls of the saints are removed immediately on their dissolution by death, without waiting for the day of judgment, into the presence of G.o.d, and the enjoyment of HIM in heaven. This point, he says, must first be established; for if they are not already in the presence of G.o.d, they cannot pray for us, and prayer to them would be preposterous. [Bell. lib. i. c. 4. vol. ii. p.

851.] Among the authorities cited by him to establish this point is the evidence of Irenaeus (book i. c. 2). [See Benedictine ed, Paris, 1710.

book i. c. 10. p. 48.] Bellarmin quotes that pa.s.sage in these words: "To the just and righteous, and to those who keep his commandments, and persevere in his love, some indeed from the beginning but some from repentance, he giving life CONFERS by way of gift incorruption, and CLOTHES them with eternal glory." To the quotation he appends this note "Mark '_to some_' that is, to those who presently after baptism die, or who lay down their life for Christ; or finally to the perfect is given immediately life and eternal glory; to others not, except after repentance, that is, satisfaction made in another world[42]."

[Footnote 42: Agreeably to the principles laid down in my preface, I will not here allude to the doctrine of purgatory, on which Bellarmin considers this pa.s.sage to bear; nor will I say one word on the intermediate state of the soul between death and the resurrection, on which I am now showing that the words of Irenaeus cannot at all be made to bear.] {117}

Here I am compelled to confess that I never found a more palpable misquotation of an author than this. I will readily grant that Bellarmin may have quoted from memory, or have borrowed from some corrupt version of the pa.s.sage; and that he has unintentionally changed the moods of two verbs from the subjunctive to the indicative, and inadvertently changed the entire construction and the sense of the pa.s.sage. But then what becomes of his authority as a writer citing testimony?

Irenaeus in this pa.s.sage is speaking not of what our Lord does now, but what he will do at the last day; he refers only to the second coming of Christ to judgment at the final consummation of all things, not using a single expression which can be made by fair criticism to have any reference whatever to the condition of souls on their separation from the body. I have consulted the old editions, some at least published before the date of Bellarmin's work; the suggestion offering itself to my mind, that perhaps the ancient translation was in error, from which he might have quoted. But I cannot find that to have been the case. The old Latin version of this pa.s.sage agreeing very closely with the Greek still preserved in Epiphanius, and quoted by Roman Catholic writers as authentic, conveys this magnificent though brief summary of the Christian faith:

"The Church spread throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, received both from the Apostles and their disciples that faith which is in one {118} G.o.d omnipotent, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things therein, and in one Jesus Christ, the Son of G.o.d, for our salvation made flesh, and in the Holy Ghost, who by the prophets announced the dispensations (of G.o.d[43]), and the Advent, and the being born of a Virgin, and the suffering, and the resurrection from the dead, and the bodily ascension into heaven of the beloved Jesus Christ our Lord, and his coming from heaven in the glory of the Father for the consummation of all things, and for raising again all flesh of the human race, THAT, in order that ([Greek: ina]), to Christ Jesus our Lord and G.o.d, and Saviour and King, according to the good pleasure of the invisible Father, every knee should bow of things in heaven and in earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess to Him, and that he should execute just judgment on all: that he should send the spirits of wickedness, and the transgressing and rebel angels, and the impious and unjust, and wicked and blaspheming men into eternal fire; but to the just and righteous, and to those who keep his commandments, and persevere in his love,--some indeed from the beginning, and some from their repentance,--he granting life, by way of gift, SHOULD CONFER incorruption, and SHOULD CLOTHE them with eternal glory." [Haeres. x.x.xi.

c. 30.]

[Footnote 43: The words "of G.o.d" are in the Latin, but not in the Greek.]

The words, "some from the beginning," "others from their repentance,"

can refer only to the two conditions of believers; some of whom have grace to keep the commandments, and persevere in the love of G.o.d from the beginning of their Christian course, whilst others, for a time, transgress and wax cold in love, but by repentance, through G.o.d's grace, are renewed and {119} restored to their former state of obedience and love. On both these cla.s.ses of Christians, according to the faith as here summed up by Irenaeus, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, when He comes in glory for the consummation of all things, and for the resurrection of the dead, will confer glory and immortality. No ingenuity of criticism can extract from this pa.s.sage any allusion to the intercession of saints, or to their being with G.o.d before the end of the world[44]. But I am not {120} here condemning Bellarmin's untenable criticism: what I lament is the negligence or the disingenuousness with which he misquotes the words of Irenaeus, and makes him say what he never did say. To extract from an author's words, correctly reported, a meaning which he did not intend to convey, however reprehensible and unworthy a follower of truth, is one act of injustice: to report him, whether wilfully or carelessly, as using words which he never did use, is far worse.

[Footnote 44: It will be well to see the words of Bellarmin and those of the translation side by side:

(Transcriber's note: They are shown here one after the other.)

_Bellarmin_ lib. i. c. iv. p. 851.

"Quartus Irenaeus, lib. i. c. 2. 'Justis, inquit, et aequis, et praecepta ejus servantibus et in dilectione perseverantibus, quibusdam quidem ab initio, quibusdam autem ex poenitentia, vitam donans, incorruptelam loco muneris CONFERT, et claritatem aeternam CIRc.u.mDAT.' Nota '_quibusdam_,' id est, iis qui mox a Baptismo moriuntur, vel qui pro Christo vitam ponunt; vel denique perfectis statim donari vitam et claritatem aeternam; aliis non nisi post poenitentiam, id est, satisfactionem in futuro saeculo actam."

_Latin Translation_.

"Et de coelis in gloria Patris adventum ejus ad recapitulanda universa et resuscitandam omnem carnem humani generis, UT Christo Jesu Domino nostro et Deo, et Salvatori, et Regi, secundum placitum Patris invisibilis, 'omne genu curvet coelestium, et terrestrium, et infernorum, et omnis lingua confiteatur ei,' et judicium justum in omnibus faciat; spiritalia quidem nequitiae, et angelos transgresses, atque apostatas factos, et impios et injustos et iniquos, et blasphemos homines in aeternum ignem mittat;--Justis autem et aequis et praecepta ejus servantibus et in dilectione ejus perseverantibus, quibusdam quidem ab initio, quibusdam autem ex poenitentia, vitam donans, incorruptelam loco muneris CONFERAT, et claritatem aeternam CIRc.u.mDET."--Irenaei liber i. cap. x. p.

48. Interpretatio Vetus.]

Another expression of Irenaeus is appealed to by Bellarmin, and continues to be cited at the present day in defence of the invocation of saints; the precise bearing of which upon the subject I confess myself unable to see, whilst I am very far from understanding the pa.s.sage from which it is an extract. Bellarmin cites the pa.s.sage not to show that the saints in glory pray for us,--that argument he had dismissed before,--but to prove that they are to be invoked by us. The insulated pa.s.sage as quoted by him is this: "And as she (Eve) was induced to fly from G.o.d, so she (Mary) was persuaded to obey G.o.d, that of the Virgin Eve the Virgin Mary might become the advocate." After the quotation he says, "What can be clearer?" [Benedict, lib. v. cap. xix. p. 316.]

In whatever sense we may suppose Irenaeus to have employed the word here translated "advocata," it is difficult to see how the circ.u.mstance of Mary becoming the advocate of Eve, who lived so many generations before her, can bear upon the question, Is it lawful and right for us, now dwelling on the earth, to invoke those saints whom we believe to be in heaven? I will not dwell on the argument urged very cogently by some critics on this pa.s.sage, that the word "advocata," found {121} in the Latin version of Irenaeus, is the translation of the original word, now lost [[Greek: paraklaetos]--paraclete], which, by the early writers, was used for "comforter and consoler," or "restorer;" because, as I have above intimated, whatever may have been the word employed by Irenaeus, the pa.s.sage proves nothing as to the lawfulness of our praying to the saints. If the angels at G.o.d's bidding minister unto the heirs of salvation; or further, if they plead our cause with G.o.d, that would be no reason why we should invoke them and pray to them. This distinction between what they may do for us, and what we ought to do with regard to them, is an essential distinction, and must not be lost sight of. We shall have occasion hereafter to refer to it repeatedly, especially in the instances of Origen and Cyprian. I will now do no more than copy in a note the entire pa.s.sage from which the sentence now under consideration has been extracted, that the reader may judge whether on such a pa.s.sage, the original of which, in whatever words Irenaeus may have expressed himself, is utterly lost, any reliance can satisfactorily be placed.

("Manifeste itaque in sua propria venientem Dominum et sua propria eum bajulantem conditione quae bajulatur ab ipso, et recapitulationem ejus quae in ligno fuit in.o.bedientiae per eam quae in ligno est obedientiam facientem, et seductionem illam solutam qua seducta est male illa, quae jam viro destinata erat virgo Eva, per veritatem evangelizata est bene ab angelo jam sub viro virgo Maria. Quemadmodum enim illa per angeli sermonem seducta est ut effugeret Deum praevaricata verb.u.m ejus, ita et haec per angelic.u.m sermonem evangelizata est ut portaret Deum obediens ejus verbo. Et si ea in.o.bedierat Deo, sed haec suasa est obedire Deo, uti virginis Evae virgo Maria fieret advocata. Et quemadmodum astrictum est morti genus humanum per virginem, salvatur per virginem, aequa lance disposita virginalis in.o.bedientia per virginalem obedientiam. Adhuc enim protoplasti peccatum per correptionem primogeniti emendationem accipiens, et serpentis prudentia devicta in columbae simplicitate, vinculis autem illis resolutis, per quae alligati eramus morti." St.

Augustin (Paris, 1690. vol. x. p. 500.) refers to the latter part of this pa.s.sage, as implying the doctrine of original sin; but since his quotation does not embrace any portion of the clause at present under our consideration, no additional light from him is thrown on the meaning of Irenaeus.) {122}

But pa.s.sages occur in Irenaeus, which seem to leave doubt, that neither in faith nor in practice would he countenance in the very lowest degree the adoration of saints and angels, or any invocation of them.

For example, in one part of his works we read, "Nor does it [the Church]