Again, the above narrative should And lastly, let us all solemnly encourage the aged to seek an in- reflect on the meaning of the words terest in Christ. Think not, aged which awakened the subject of this friends, that it is too late for you || notice. If any man love not the to turn unto God. Your case we Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anaknow is alarming, but it is not thema maranatha, cursed with a hopeless. The blood of Jesus Christ curse. Do we love the Lord Jecleanseth from all sin. It is suffi- sus Christ If we do not, how awcient to cleanse you. Seek the ful is our danger. He that beLord while he may be found, and|| lieveth not is condemned already, call upon him while he is near because he hath not believed on Turn unto the Lord and he will the name of the only begotten Son have mercy upon you, and unto our of God. God for he will abundantly pardon. REVIEW. The History of the Christian Church || ed simply as an historian he will from the Birth of Christ to the Eigh-bear away the palm from all the teenth Century, including a very inter; writers who have gone before him, esting account of the Waldenses and Albigenses. By WILLIAM JONES, Au- and what is better, he will confer thor of the Biblical Cyclopedia, &c. one of the most substantial blessFirst American from the 4th London ings upon the human race, that man Edition, published by Spencer H. Cone, has conferred since the days of the N. Y. 1824. 2 vols. pp. 483, 492, and Albany, by John B. Johnson, pp. 575. Apostles. No subject on which any histoTHERE yet remains one great de-rian has ever written can compare sideratum to be supplied in histori- with this in interest or importance. cal literature; it is a full and lu- We consider the New Testament minous history of the Church of an appeal to the moral nature of Christ. We use the terms history man, a book disclosing the remedy of the church, because they are so devised by Almighty God to rescue commonly used when speaking of him from the woes of the apostacy, this subject, but as they are gener- the grand means by which this ally understood, they are very far world, so full of misery and sin, is from conveying the idea of what to be restored to an intellectual we suppose to be so much wanted. and moral elevation, which shall The words have been so differently make it in some manner to resemapplied by different sects, and call ble the mansions of the blessed. up so infinite a variety of topics of Now what we would have an hispolemical controversy, that they are torian do is, to follow these docmost unfortunately used as the title trines wherever they have gone, of a work which should be design- mark their effects upon the state ed for Christendom and the world. of political society, domestic reWhat we wish to see, and what we lations, courts of justice, and all hope before long will be accom which belongs to the moral of plished, is a history of the rise, human nature. He should mark progress and effects of the doc by what means and under what trines and precepts of Jesus Christ. circumstances, these doctrines Let any man who is competent to spread at first with such unexthe task gird himself to this under- ampled rapidity. He should tell taking, and let him candidly and us where and when and how those fearlessly execute it; and consider-who professed them at first, began of Christianity; for no one would question whether a religion, which wrought such effects, were from God. It would diffuse over Christendom a deeper reverence for the Bible, and would make every sect see that we are only safe while we make it, and it alone, the only rule for our faith and practice. to depart from their primitive ciple in man, and the importance simplicity, and what in each case of cultivating this if they would was the result of each individual ever confer any substantial benefit deviation. He should trace the upon our race It would be an unseveral steps by which men de-answerable argument for the truth parted from the word of the Living God, until at last they were plunged into the night of a second paganism; and he should show us how, just in proportion as the light from the holy oracle was obscured by the devices and doctrines of man, darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people. And he should show us the process by which the human race emerged from this abyss of degradation; how the starting place of improvement was the Bible, how the press has interposed to stem the torrent of a second deluge of barbarism, and how the Bible is now leading men onwards in the career of improvement, and slowly, but surely, working out the emancipation of a world that lieth in wickedness. But when we come to speak of the qualifications required for such an undertaking, we almost fear that our readers, like the prince in Rasselas, will arrest us by saying-Enough! thou hast convinced me that no human being can ever be this historian. Proceed with thy narration." Yet vain as may seem the hope that such a man will be found, it may not be utterly useless to state some of the requisitions which appear most indispensable to his success. He should be a man of piety. He should have that delicate moral tact, which nothing but true religion can impart, that would enable him to discover where the principles of the gospel stood alone, and where they were mingled with the notions of men. He should be a man of learning. He must take nothing for granted, but must himself go up to the original sources of sacred and profane history. Whatever that has escaped the ravages of time, which the Fathers, or the We can conceive of no work of human intellect which must not yield in interest to such a history as this. It would not be the story of a tribe or a nation; it would be a grand development of the workings of the moral principle in man, and an exhibition of all the various ramifications of human character, with which this principle is connected. It would exhibit human nature at once in her boldest as well as in her most delicate aspects. The moral daring of the martyr, the tender anguish of the parent, the lofty purpose of the reformer, the patient suffering of the confes-Martyrs, or the Apologists, or their sor, the blinded rage of the pagan enemies have told us, must have persecutor, or the cold, cunning, been read and re-read, and thought deliberate malice of the papal in- into shape, and embodied into luquisitor, would all conspire to ren-minous and undeniable general der such a history indescribably truth. He must be a man of canmore fascinating than any of the dour. He should be of no sect, but fictions of romance. And what is prepared to expose the errors or of more consequence, it would be exhibit the virtues of all, as they a work of incalculable utility. It came, and only as they came in the would show to statesmen, what way of his grand design. He has statesmen have been ever slow to to do with no party distinctions, learn, the force o the moral prin- but only with the moral influence the Waldenses and Albigenses. He is evidently a man of enlarged information, of unusual honesty, of clear intellect, and sound practical sense: a combination of qualities for which we think Church historians have not been very generally distinguished. He is always a firm and intelligent defender of the rights of conscience; and in every case in which he discusses them, does it with peculiar ability. Though deficient in dates, and not always unexceptionable in method, of the doctrines of Jesus Christ. He should be a statesman. By this we do not mean that he should be the leader or the follower of a political party, but a man capable of seeing and estimating the force of moral cause and effect, who knows what has and what has not, what can and what cannot operate great changes in the moral mass which covers our globe, and in a word, who has keenness of eye and steadiness of hand to sketch the outline of that picture, which the religious history of man for eigh-his work abounds with important and teen centuries has spread out before him. But we will mention no more qualifications. Whenever the man shall arise who will dare to qualify himself for such an undertaking, let him thrust in his sickle and reap. interesting information respecting the Christian Church, and will doubtless do more to promote a taste for this kind of reading than any thing which has lately appeared. It has been, and it will still more A harvest of ex-be, extensively read. Its popularity is well deserved. We are pleased, and not at all surprised, that it has already passed through four editions in England, and two in our own country. We hope that the enterprising proprietors of both editions will be abundantly rewarded. haustless riches, yet almost untouched, is bending before him; and the church and the world will say unto him, "The blessing of the Lord be upon thee; we bless thee in the name of the Lord." To attempt an abridgment of such a work for the benefit of our readers would be useless. We shall not therefore attempt it. In the remarks which follow, we shall We know it will not be considered as intending to underrate the book before us when we say, that it is not, nor does it pretend to be, such a work as we have described. It is compiled, as the author in the preface informs us, with the desire of communicating some inter-only offer a few reflections on the esting information to a few friends, whose views of the Gospel of Christ, and the nature of his kingdom in this world, happen to coincide pretty much with his own, but who have been debarred the opportunity of exploring the voluminous productions in which that information lay scattered." It is but just to state, that this object has been fully accomplished. circumstances of the rise and decline of the Christian Church. Our remarks, from the nature of the case, will be brief, and many which we should be glad to make must of necessity be omitted. We shall therefore only select those of more general interest, and those which seem most likely to profit us in this age of the Christian Church. The author has The history of the Church from given us, as must necessarily be the time of Christ to the presthe case, a brief sketch of the most ent day, is naturally divided into prominent moral features of what two periods. The first ending and was called the church of Christ the second commencing with the throughout the first twelve centu- era of the Reformation. This first ries of the Christian Era, and has period is again naturally subdividdevoted the remainder of the worked by the age of Constantine, when almost entirely to an account of the church, delivered from pagan persecution, was taken into alliance with the civil power. From the Christian era to Constantine, embracing a period of about three centuries, may be considered the period of the rise of the Church. From the time of Constantine to the Reformation, the period of its decline. It is to some of the characteristic traits of the church during the three first centuries, that we shall now direct the attention of our readers. 1. And first, it is evident that the primitive Christians were distinguished by very high attainments in moral character In every situation in which we behold them, we find in them a confidence of hope, a steadfastness of faith, a coolness of decision, a disinterestedness of motive, a fervour of charity, and a purity of practice, which succeeding ages may celebrate, but which they can never expect to excel. The times in which they lived were such as to call into exercise all those graces of the Christian character, which take strong hold of the unseen world. The account of their persecutions, whether given by themselves or by their enemies, all teach the same truth, that without murmuring, without repining, nay, almost without the attempt even to escape, they bore with meekness all that their enemies could inflict, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. During three centuries of unexampled turbulence, they were never accused of sedition. Throughout so long a period of the most unbridled profligacy, they stood unconvicted of crime. Indeed, for the purity of their morals we may appeal to the testimony of their enemies. "They were accustomed," says Pliny in his letter to Trajan, "on a stated day, to assemble before sunrise and join together in singing hymns to Christ as to a deity, binding themselves with a solemn oath not to commit any kind of wickedness to be guilty neither of theft, robbery, nor adultery; never to break a promise, nor to keep back a deposit when called upon. Their worship being concluded, it was their custom to separate, and meet together for a repast, promiscuous indeed, and without any distinction of sex, but perfectly harmless; and even from this they desisted since the publication of my edict, in which, agreeably to your orders, I forbade any societies of this sort." p. 187, vol. 1. Very much to the same purpose is the testimony of Tertullian. "Let," said he, "the claws of wild beasts pierce us, let their feet trample upon us while our hands are stretched out to God, let crosses suspend us, let fire consume us, let swords pierce our breasts, A PRAYING CHRISTIAN IS IN A FRAME FOR ENDURING ANY THING. Were we disposed to return evil for evil, it were easy for us to avenge the injuries which we sustain. But God forbid that his people should vindicate themselves by human fire, or be reluctant to endure that by which their sincerity is evinced. Were we disposed to act the part, I will not say of secret assassins, but of open enemies, should we want forces and numbers? It is, true, we are but of yesterday, and yet we have filled all your towns, cities, islands, castles, boroughs, camps, councils, courts, palaces, senate, forum-we leave you only your temples. For what war should we not be ready and well prepared even though unequal in numbers, we who die with so much pleasure, were it not that our religion requires us rather to suffer death than to inflict it? We are dead to all worldly honours and dignity; nothing is more foreign to us than political concerns. The whole world is our republic.” Vol. I. p. 219. 2. Another trait by which the primitive Christians were distinguished was, their attachment to man. prayer before we sit down to meat. We eat only what suffices nature. We sup as servants that know we must wake in the night to the service of our master, and discourse as those who remember that they are in the presence of God." p. 221. 3. Another thing which distin its almost unbounded charity. This was a spirit with which it was from the beginning imbued. We learn from the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles, that Paul was twice charged with the service of conveying to the poor saints in Je the word of God. Well indeed || tance here. Our souls ascend in might they love it; for it was all that they had left. There was noth. ing here which they could call their own. Their possessions, nay, their lives, were every moment exposed to the will of a bloodthirsty rabble, or the malice of a persecuting tyrant. The promises of the Gospel were their only solace, and its pre-guished the primitive church was, cepts their only law. In this world all was tribulation; in the books which told them of another, alone did they find peace. And they were equally distinguished for the simplicity of their reliance upon it. The necessities of their condition allowed of no metaphysical subtil-rusalem, in time of peculiar distress, ties; they needed a plain, unam- a general contribution from the biguous declaration from God to Gentile church. One spirit, that of Nothing could be added to fervent love to each other, seemed its promises that would increase to pervade the bosom of every one their confidence; and to take any who was called by the name of thing away would have been suicide Christ. If one member suffered, to their hopes. They felt that it all the members suffered with it. meant what it said, and was so to Indeed the affection, which ordibe understood and so obeyed. narily subsists between members They dared not adopt a mode of of the same family, seems a weak interpretation which would fritter and powerless illustration of the away its precepts, for the same tender and affectionate sympathy mode of interpretation would weak-which animated in these days, the en their hold on its promises. Their hopes and their fears, every thing without them and every thing within them, demanded a plain, consistent, matter-of-fact interpretation. Such an interpretation they applied to it, and the word of God became to them as an anchor to the soul, sure and steadfast. "Thus," says Tertullian, " we are a body united in one band of reliWe gion, discipline and hope. whole of the suffering church universal. Thus, again says Tertullian, "Every one pays something into the public chest every month, or when he pleases, according to his ability or inclination; for there is no compulsion. These gifts are, as it were, the deposites of piety. Hence we relieve and bury the needy, support orphans and decrepit persons, those who have suffered shipwreck, and those who for the word of God meet in our assemblies for prayer. are condemned to the mines and We are compelled to have recourse imprisonment. This very characto the divine oracles for caution ter of ours has caused us to be noand recollection on all occasions.ticed by some, See, say they, how We nourish our faith by the word these Christians love one another. of God; we erect our hope, we fix We Christians think we can be our confidence, we strengthen our never too expensive, because we discipline by repeatedly inculcating consider all to be gain that is laid precepts, exhortations, corrections, out in doing good. When thereand by excommunications when it fore we are at the charge of an enis needful.” Nothing earthly, tertainment, it is to refresh the nothing unclean, has ever admit-bowels of the needy. We feed the |