JŃKNν, or πAPAKATAýηy, the deposit] keep, by the Holy Ghost, which dwelleth in us.' Comp. ver. 12, and 1 Tim. vi. 20 (TMýv πapa‡ýkηv púλažov). Heb. v. 12: 'Ye have need that one teach you again which be THe first principles of THE ORACLES OF GOD' (tà σtoixeĩa tñs ápxñs twv λoyiwv tov Jɛov). Comp. vi. 1, 2. 1 John iv. 2: 'Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: every spirit that CONFESSETH THAT JESUS CHRIST IS COME IN THE FLESH [ὁμολογεῖ Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἐν σαρκὶ ἐληλυθότα] is of God.' 2 John 10: 'If there come any unto you, and bring not THIS DOCTRINE [Taútηy TηV didayýv, viz., the doctrine of Christ, ver. 9], receive him not into your house.' Jude 3: Exhorting that ye should earnestly contend for THE FAITH WHICH WAS ONCE DELIVERED UNTO THE SAINTS” (τῇ ἅπαξ παραδοθείση τοῖς ἁγίοις πίστει). καὶ καὶ ν REGULÆ FIDEI ECCLESIÆ ANTE-NICENE ET NICENÆ. ANTE-NICENE AND NICENE RULES OF FAITH AND BAPTISMAL CREEDS. REGULÆ FIDEI ECCLESIE ANTE-NICENE ET NICENE. ANTE-NICENE AND NICENE RULES OF FAITH AND ORIGEN, OF ALEXANDRIA. A.D. 230. GREGORY THAUMATURGUS, OF NEO-CÆSAREA. A.D. 270. 22 24 LUCIAN, OF ANTIOCH. A.D. 300 .. 25 THE PRIVATE CREED OF ARIUS. A.D. 328.... 28 29 COMPARATIVE TABLE OF THE ANTE-NICENE RULES OF FAITHI AS RELATED TO THE APOSTLES' CREED AND THE NICENe Creed. 40 REGULÆ FIDEI ECCLESIE ANTE-NICENE ET NICENE. ANTE-NICENE AND NICENE RULES OF FAITH AND BAPTISMAL CREEDS. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. The Rules of Faith and Baptismal Confessions which we find among the ecclesiastical writers of the second and third centuries mark the transition from the Bible to the Ecumenical Creeds. They contain nearly all the articles of the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, and some are even more full, especially those of the East; for the Greek Church was, at an early period, disturbed by heretical speculations and perversions, and had a greater talent and taste for metaphysical theology than the less learned but more sober, practical, and steady Church of the West. I have included here also some creeds of the fourth century, to facilitate the comparison with the Apostles' and the Nicæno-Constantinopolitan symbols. In addition to the valuable collections of HAHN (Bibliothek der Symbole und Glaubensregeln, 1842) and HEURTLEY (Harmonia Symbolica, 1858, and De Fide et Symbolo, 1869), I have examined the more recent works of CASPARI (Quellen zur Geschichte des Taufsymbols und der Glaubensregel, 1866-75, 3 vols.), LUMBY (History of the Creeds, 1873), SWAINSON (Literary History of the Nicene and Apostles' Creeds, 1875), and HORT (Two Dissertations, etc., 1876). The following passage is no creed nor part of a creed, but it shows what facts of the gospel history were most prominent in the mind of the famous bishop and martyr IGNATIUS, of Antioch, and the Church of his age, in opposition to the Gnostic heretics, who resolved the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ into an unreal and delusive show or phantom (dókŋais, hence Docete). A similar passage of greater length occurs in the commencement of his letter to the Christians at Smyrna. The text is from the shorter Greek recension of the seven Epistles, with the chief interpolations of the longer Greek recension added in brackets. The latter mentions also Christ's lonely descent into Hades (κañλdev eiç äöŋv μóvoc). In the short Syriac Ignatius there is no Epistle to the Trallians. On the Ignatian controversy and literature, see my Church History, Vol. I. § 119, pp. 463 sqq. Κωφώθητε οὖν, ὅταν ὑμῖν χωρίς Be deaf, therefore, when any would Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ λαλῇ τις [τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ], τοῦ ἐκ γένους [γενομένου] Δαβίδ, τοῦ ἐκ Μαρίας, ὃς ἀληθῶς ἐγεννήθη speak to you apart from (at vari ance with) JESUS CHRIST [the Son of God], who was descended from the fam- who truly was born γὰρ σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐπολιτεύ σατο ἄνευ ἁμαρτίας . . .], ἔφαγέν τε καὶ ἔπιεν [ἀληθῶς], ἀληθῶς ἐδιώχθη ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλά του, became flesh and dwelt among us without sin . . .], ate and drank [truly], truly suffered persecution under Pontius Pilate, ἀληθῶς [δὲ, καὶ οὐ δοκήσει] ἐσταυ- was truly [and not in appearance] IRENEUS was a native of Asia Minor, a pupil of Polycarp of Smyrna (Adv. Hær. Lib. III. cap. 3, § 4; Euseb. H. E. v. 20), and through him a grand-pupil of St. John the Apostle. He was bishop of the church at Lyons (Lugdunum), in the South of France, in 177, wrote his great work against the Gnostic heresies about 180, while Eleutherus (d. 185) was bishop of Rome (Adv. Hær. Lib. III. cap. 3, § 3), and died about 202. He was therefore a connecting link between the East and the West, as well as between post-apostolic and ante-Nicene Christianity, and altogether the most important witness of the doctrinal status of the Catholic Church at the close of the second century. The ancient Massilia (Marseilles) was a Greek colony, and the churches of Lyons and Vienne in Gaul were probably planted by Eastern missionaries, and retained a close connection with the Eastern churches, as appears from the letter of those churches to their brethren in Asia Minor after the fierce persecution under Marcus Aurelius, A.D. 177 (see Euseb. H. E. v. 1). Irenæus refutes the heretics of his age by the Scriptures and the apostolic tradition. This tradition, though different in form from the New Testament, and perhaps older than the writings of the Apostles, agrees with them, being a summary of their teaching, and is handed down in all the churches through the hands of the presbyters. The sum and substance of 1 The essential identity of the Scriptures and the apostolic tradition is asserted by Irenæus (Adv. Hær. Lib. III. cap. 1, § 1): 'Non per alios dispositionem salutis nostræ cognovimus, quam per eos [apostolos], per quos evangelium pervenit ad nos; quod quidem tunc præconaverunt, postea vero per Dei voluntatem in Scripturis nobis tradiderunt, fundamentum et columnam fidei nostræ futurum.' Comp. the fragment of his letter to Florinus, preserved by Eusebius (H. E. v. 20), where he says that the presbyters and Polycarp handed down the teaching of the Lord as they received it from the eye-witnesses of the Word of Life-in entire accordance with the Scriptures (πάντα σύμφωνα ταῖς γραφαῖς). |