masters speak of feeding on the body and blood of Christ, and taking it in a literal sense.

συλλαβόντες, εἶτα μαθεῖν τι παρὰ τούτων δῆθεν ἀπόῤῥητον περὶ Χριστιανῶν ἀναγκάζοντες, οἱ δοῦλοι οὗτοι, μὴ ἔχοντες πῶς τὸ τοῖς ἀναγκάζουσι καθ ̓ ἡδονὴν ἐρεῖν, παρ' ὅσον ἤκουον τῶν δεσποτῶν, τὴν θείαν μετάληψιν αἷμα καὶ σῶμα εἶναι Χριστοῦ, αὐτοὶ νομίσαντες τῷ ὄντι αἷμα καὶ σάρκα εἶναι, τοῦτο ἐξεῖπον τοῖς ἐκζητοῦσι. οἱ δὲ λαβόντες ὡς αὐτόχρημα τοῦτο τελεῖσθαι Χριστιανοῖς, κ.τ.λ.

CHAPTER III.

ON THE NATURE, OFFICE, POWERS, AND PRIVILEGES OF THE CHURCH.

THE proper aspect to view the Church in is a matter of so much practical importance at all times, that it can never be uninteresting to know the light in which it was regarded in the subapostolical age, of which Irenæus is a very unobjectionable evidence.

We shall find then that this writer considered the Church to be an ascertainable society, planted first at Jerusalem', and thence spread to the limits of the habitable globe 2; planted by the Apostles, and kept up by and in the elders or bishops their successors3. It is, however, divided into separate Churches, which are to regard that of Jerusalem as their mother

1 III. xii. 5. After quoting Acts iv. 24, &c. he proceeds thus: —Αὗται φωναὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ἐξ ἧς πᾶσα ἔσχηκεν ἐκκλησία τὴν ἀρχήν αὗται φωναὶ τῆς Μητροπόλεως τῶν τῆς καινῆς διαθήκης πολιτῶν.

Church. The whole Church, moreover, is to its individual members as a mother to her children 5:

5

III. xxiv. 1. Prædicationem vero Ecclesiæ undique constantem, et æqualiter perseverantem, et testimonium habentem a Prophetis et ab Apostolis, et ab omnibus discipulis, quemadmodum ostendimus per initia, et medietates, et finem, et per universam Dei dispositionem, et eam quæ secundum salutem hominis est solitam operationem, quæ est in fide nostra; quam perceptam ab Ecclesia custodimus, et quæ semper a Spiritu Dei, quasi in vase bono eximium quoddam depositum juvenescens, et juvenescere faciens ipsum vas in quo est. Hoc enim Ecclesiæ creditum est Dei munus, quemadmodum ad inspirationem plasmationi, ad hoc ut omnia membra percipientia vivificentur : et in eo disposita est communicatio CHRISTI, id est, Spiritus sanctus, arrha incorruptelæ, et confirmatio fidei nostræ, et scala ascensionis ad Deum. "In Ecclesia enim," inquit, "posuit Deus Apostolos, Prophetas, doctores," et universam reliquam operationem Spiritus cujus non sunt participes omnes, qui non currunt ad Ecclesiam, sed semetipsos fraudant a vita, per sententiam malam, et operationem pessimam. Ubi enim Ecclesia, ibi et Spiritus Dei ; et ubi Spiritus Dei, illic Ecclesia, et omnis gratia: Spiritus autem veritas. Quapropter qui non participant eum, neque a mammillis Matris nutriuntur in vitam, neque percipiunt de corpore CHRISTI procedentem nitidissimum fontem; sed effodiunt sibi lacus detritos de fossis terrenis, et de cœno putidam bibunt aquam, effugientes fidem Ecclesiæ, ne traducantur; rejicientes vero Spiritum, ut non erudiantur.- -2. Alienati vero a veritate, digne in omni volutantur errore, fluctuati ab eo, aliter atque aliter per tempora de eisdem sentientes, et nunquam sententiam stabilitam habentes, sophistæ verborum magis volentes esse quam discipuli veritatis: non enim sunt fundati super unam petram, sed super arenam.- -V. xx. 2. Fugere igitur oportet sententias ipsorum (of the Gnostics), et intentius observare necubi vexemur ab ipsis; confugere autem ad Ecclesiam, et in ejus sinu

she is appointed for the quickening of creation, and

8

She

in her is the way of life', which those who keep aloof from her do not possess ; in her is the Holy Spirit, which is not to be found out of her. possesses the adoption and inheritance of Abraham, and her members are consequently the seed of Abraham'. Being thus appointed for the quickening of the world, by being the way of life to its members, she has for that purpose received the faith from the Apostles, which it is her business to distribute to her children2. She is therefore the appointed preacher of the faith, or the truth, which is not variable and

educari, et Dominicis scripturis enutriri. Plantata enim est Ecclesia, paradisus in hoc mundo: "ab omni" ergo "ligno paradisi escas manducabitis," ait Spiritus Dei; id est, ab omni scriptura Dominica manducate.

6 III. xxiv. 1. supra.

III. iv. 1. Tantæ igitur ostensiones cum sint, non oportet adhuc quærere apud alios veritatem, quam facile est ab Ecclesia sumere; cum Apostoli, quasi in depositorium dives, plenissime in eam contulerint omnia quæ sint veritatis: uti omnis quicumque velit, sumat ex ea potum vitæ. Hæc est enim vitæ introitus; omnes autem reliqui fures sunt et latrones. Propter quod oportet devitare quidem illos; quæ autem sunt Ecclesiæ, cum summa diligentia diligere, et apprehendere veritatis Traditionem. 9 Ibid.

8 III. xxiv. 1. supra.

1IV. viii. 1. Deum, qui in regnum cœlorum introducit Abraham, et semen ejus quod est Ecclesia, per Christum Jesum, cui et adoptio redditur, et hæreditas quæ Abrahæ promissa est.

2 III. Præf. quoted p. 34, note 10.-V. xx. 1. Et Ecclesiæ quidem prædicatio vera et firma, apud quam una et eadem salutis via in universo mundo ostenditur. Huic enim creditum est

changeable, but one, and only one'; not merely a quality infused into the heart, but a form of truths embodied or summed up in words, and delivered to her members when they are initiated into her. Her ancient system is therefore the guide to truth, and those who wish to know it must have recourse to her, and be brought up in her bosom. Her testimony, moreover, is confirmed by the Apostles and Prophets', whose writings are kept in the custody of her elders, with which, moreover, those must

lumen Dei... Ubique enim Ecclesia prædicat veritatem; et hæc est ráμvžoç lucerna, Christi bajulans lumen.

3 I. ix. 5. Kaì EK TOÚTOV yàp (the exhibition of the inconsistency of error) ἀκριβῶς συνιδεῖν ἔσται, καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἀποδείξεως, βεβαίαν τὴν ὑπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας κηρυσσομένην ἀλήθειαν.—x. 3. cited p. 56, note 3.——III. xii. 7. Ecclesia vero per universum mundum ab Apostolis firmum habens initium, in una et eadem de Deo et de Filio ejus perseverat sententia.

4 I. ix. 4. See p. 56, note ".

5 IV. xxxiii. 8. Γνῶσις ἀληθὴς, ἡ τῶν ἀποστόλων διδαχὴ, καὶ τὸ ἀρχαῖον τῆς ἐκκλησίας σύστημα κατὰ παντὸς τοῦ κόσμου, et character corporis Christi secundum successiones Episcoporum, quibus illi eam, quæ in unoquoque loco est Ecclesiam tradiderunt: quæ pervenit usque ad nos custoditione sine fictione Scripturarum tractatio plenissima, neque additamentum neque ablationem recipiens; et lectio sine falsatione, et secundum Scripturas expositio legitima, et diligens, et sine periculo, et sine blasphemia.

6 V. xx. 2. See p. 75, note 5.

'III. xxiv. 1. cited ibid.

8 IV. xxxii. 1. Post deinde et omnis sermo ei constabit, si et Scripturas diligenter legerit apud eos qui in Ecclesia sunt presbyteri, apud quos est apostolica doctrina.