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History of tne ^m church
HISTORY
CHEISTIAI^^ CHIJECH:
PHILIP SCHAFF
ChristiamiS sum: Christiani nihil a me alienum puto
THIRD REVISION
VOL. I APOSTOLIC OHEISTIANITY
A.D. 1-100
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1889
COPYEIGHT BT
PHILIP SCHAFF
Tbow's
Peikting and Bookbinding Compah*
201-213 East V2th Street
New York
DEDICATED
TO THE MEMORY OF
CHARLES SCRIBNER PUBLISHER AND FRIEND
BY
THE AUTHOR
PREFACE TO THE THIRD REVISION.
The continued demand for my Church History lays upon me the grateful duty of keeping it abreast of the times. I have, therefore, submitted this and the other volumes (especi- ally the second) to another revision and brought the literature down to the latest date, as the reader will see by glancing at pages 2, 35, 45, 51-53, 193, 411, 484, 569, 570, etc. The changes have been effected by omissions and condensations, without enlarging the size. The second volume is now passing through the fifth edition, and the other volumes will follow rapidly.
This is my last revision. If any further improvements should be necessary during my life-time, I shall add them in a separate appendix.
I feel under great obligation to the reading public which enables me to perfect my work. The interest in Church His- tory is steadily increasing in our theological schools and among the rising generation of scholars, and promises good results for the advancement of our common Christianity.
THE AUTHOE. New York, June, 1889.
PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION.
As I appear before the public with a new edition of my Church History, I feel more than ever the difficulty and re- sponsibility of a task which is well worthy to occupy the whole time and strength of a long life, and M'liich carries in it its own rich reward. The true historian of Christianity is yet to come. But short as I have fallen of my own ideal, I have done my best, and shall rejoice if my efforts stimulate others to better and more enduring work.
History should be written from the original sources of friend and foe, in the spirit of truth and love, " sine ira et studio," "with malice towards none, with charity for all," in clear, fresh, vigorous style, under the guidance of the twin parables of the mustard-seed and leaven, as a book of life for instruction, cor- rection, encouragement, as the best exposition and vindication of Christianity. The great and good Xeander, " the father of church history " — first an Israelite without guile hoping for the Messiah, then a Platonist longing for the realization of his ideal of righteousness, last a Christian in head and heart — made such a history his life-work, but before reaching the Reformation he was interrupted by sickness, and said to his faithful sister : " Hannchen, I am weary ; let us go home ; good night ! " And thus he fell gently asleep, like a child, to awake in tlie land where all problems of history are solved.
"When, after a long interruption caused by a change of pro- fessional duties and literary labors, I returned to the favoi'ite studies of my youth, I felt the necessity, before continuing the History to more recent times, of subjecting the first volume to a thorough revision, in order to bring it up to the present state of investigation. We live in a stirring and restless age of dis- cover;/, criticism, and reconstruction. During the thirty years which have elapsed since the publication of my separate " His- tory of the Apostolic Church," there has been an incessant activity in this field, not only in Germany, the great work-
VI PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION.
shop of critical research, but in all ptlier Protestant countries. Almost every inch of ground has been disputed and defended with a degree of learning, acumen, and skill such as were never spent before on the solution of historical problems.
In this process of reconstruction the first volume has been more tlian doubled in size and grown into two volumes. The first embraces Apostolic, tlie second post-Apostolic or ante- Nicene Christianity. This first volume is larger than my sepa- rate " History of the Apostolic Church," but diifers from it in that it is chiefly devoted to the theology and literature, the other to the mission w^ork and spiritual life of that period. I have studiously avoided repetition and seldom looked into the older book. On two points I have changed my opinion — the second Roman captivity of Paul (which I am disposed to admit in the interest of the Pastoral Epistles), and the date of the ApocaljqDse (which I now assign, with the majority of modern critics, to the year 68 or 69 instead of 95, as before).'
I express my deep obligation to my friend. Dr. Ezra Abbot, a scholar of rare learning and microscopic accuracy, for his kind and valuable assistance in reading the proof and suggesting many improvements.
The second volume, likewise thoroughly revised and partly rewritten, is in the hands of the printer ; the third requires very few changes. Two new volumes, one on the History of Mediieval Christianit}'^, and one on the Reformation (to the Westphalian Treaty and the Westminster Assembly, 16J:S), are in an advanced stage of preparation.
May the work in this remodelled shape find as kind and in- dulgent readers as when it first appeared. My highest ambition in this sceptical age is to strengthen the faith in the innnovable historical foundations of Christianity and its victory over the world.
Philip Schaff. Union Theological Seminary, New York, October, 1883.
' My " History of the Apostolic Church " (which bears a relation to my "His- tory of the Christian Church," similar to that which Ncander's " History of the Planting and Traininjj of the Christian Church by the Apostles" bears to his "General History of the Christian Religion and Church") appeared in German at Mercersburg-, Pa., 1851, then in a revised edition. Leipzig, 1854, in an English translation by the late Dr. Yeomans, New York, 1851^, at Edin- burgh, 1854 (in 2 vols. \ and several times since without change. Should there be a demand for a new edition, I intend to make a number of improve- ments, which are ready in manuscript, especially in the General Introduction, which covers 134 pages. The fir.st volume of my Church History from A.D. 1 to 311) was first published in New York, 1858 (and in German at Leipzig, 1S()7) ; but when I began the revision, I withdrew it from sale. The Apostolic Age there occupies only 140, the whole volume 535 pages.
FROM THE PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
Encoukagkd by the favorable reception of my "History of the Apostolic Church," I now offer to the public a History of the Primitive Church from the birth of Christ to the reign of Constantine, as an independent and complete work in itself, and at the same time as the first volume of a general history of Christianity, which I hope, with the help of God, to bring down to the present age.
The church of the first three centuries, or the ante-Nicene age, pos- sesses a peculiar interest for Christians of all denominations, and has often been separately treated, by Eusebius, Mosheim, Milman, Kaye, Baur, Hagenbach, and other distinguished historians. It is the daughter of Apostolic Christianity, which itself constitutes the first and by far the most important chapter in its history, and the common mother of Catho- licism and Protestantism, though materially differing from both. It pre- sents a state of primitive simplicity and purity unsullied by contact with the secular power, but with this also, the fundamental forms of heresy and corruption, which reappear from time to time under new names and aspects, but must serve, in the overruling providence of God, to promote the cause of truth and righteousness. It is the heroic age of the church, and unfolds before us the sublime spectacle of our holy religion in intel- lectual and moral conflict with the combined superstition, policy, and wisdom of ancient Judaism and Paganism ; yet growing in persecution, conquering in death, and amidst the severest trials giving birth to princi- ples and institutions which, in more matured form, still control the greater part of Christendom.
Without the least disposition to detract from the merits of my numer- ous predecessors, to several of whom I feel deeply indebted, I have rea- son to hope that this new attempt at a historical reproduction of ancient Christianity will meet a want in our theological literature and commend itself, both by its spirit and method, and by presenting with the author's own labors the results of the latest German and English research, to the
Vlll FKOM THE PKEFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
respectful attention of the American student. Having no sectarian ends to serve, I have confined myself to the duty of a witness — to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth ; always remembering, however, that histoiy has a soul as well as a body, and that the niling ideas and general principles must be represented no less than the out- ward facts and dates. A church history without the life of Christ glow- ing through its pages could give us at best only the picture of a temple stately and imposing from without, but vacant and dreary within, a mummy in praying posture perhaps and covered with trophies, but withered and unclean : such a history is not worth the trouble of writing or reading. Let the dead bury their dead ; we prefer to live among the living, and to record the immortal thoughts and deeds of Christ ia and through his people, rather than dwell upon the outer hulls, the trifling accidents and temporary scaffolding of history, or give too much promi nence to Satan and his infernal tribe, whose works Christ came to destroy.
The account of the apostolic period, which forms the divine-luiman basis of the whole structure of history, or the ever-living fountain of the unbroken stream of the church, is here necessarily short and not in- tended to supersede my larger work, although it presents more than a mere summary of it, and views the subject in part under new aspects. For the history of the second period, which constitutes the body of this volume, large use has been made of the new sources of information recently brought to light, such as the Syriac and Armenian Ignatius, and especially the Philosophoumena of Hippolytus. The bold and searching criticism of modern German historians as applied to the apostolic and post-apostolic literature, though often arbitrary and untenable in its re- sults, has nevertheless done good service by removing old prejudices, placing many things in a new light, and conducing to a comprehensive and organic view of the living process and gradual growth of ancient Christianity in its distinctive character, both in its unity with, and dif- ference from, the preceding age of the apostles and the succeeding sys- tems of Catholicism and Protestantism.
And now I commit this work to the great Head of the church with the prayer that, under his blessing, it may aid in promoting a correct knowledge of his heavenly kingdom on earth, and in setting forth its history as a book of life, a storehouse of wisdom and piety, and the surest test of his own promise to his people: "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."
P. S.
TnEOLOQlCAl Seminabt, Merccrsburg, Pennsylvania, November 8, 1858.
CONTENTS,
GENEEAL INTBODUCTION.
PAGE
§ 1. Nature of Church History, 1
§ 2. Branches of Church History, 6
§ 3. Sources of Church History, 11
§ 4. Periods of Church History, 13
§ 5. Uses of Church History, 20
§ 6. Duty of the Historian, 22
§ 7. Literature of Church History, 37
FIRST PERIOD.
APOSTOLIC CHEISTIANITY. A.D. 1-100.
CHAPTER I.
PREPARATION FOR CHRISTIANITY.
§ 8. Central Position of Christ in the History of the World, . . 56
^5 9. Judaism, 59
§ 10. The Law and the Prophecy, ....... 6G
§ 11. Heathenism, 7l
§ 13. Greoian Literature and the Roman Empire, . . . .76
§ 13. Judaism and Heathenism in Contact, 85
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER II. JESUS CHRIST.
PAGE
14. Sources and Literature, 90
15. The Founder of Christianity, 100
16. Chronology of the Life of Christ, Ill
17. The Land and the People, 136
18. Apocryphal Traditions, 162
19. The Resurrection of Christ, 172
CHAPTER II L
THE APOSTOLIC AGE.
§ 20. Sources and Literature of the Apostolic Age, .... 187
§ 21. General Character of the Apostolic Age. Peter, Paul, John, . 194
§ 22. The Critical Reconstruction of the History of the Apostolic Age, 205
§ 23. Chronology of the Apostolic Age, 217
CHAPTER IV.
ST. PETER AND THE CONVERSION OF THE JEWS.
(Map of Palestine.)
"^g 24. The Miracle of Pentecost and the Birthday of the Christian
Church. A.D. 30, 224
§ 25. The Church of Jerusalem and the Labors of Peter, . . . 245 § 26. The Peter of History and the Peter of Fiction, , . .253
§ 27. James, the Brother of the Lord, 264
'^ 28. Preparation for the Mission to the Gentiles, . . . .278
CHAPTER V.
ST. PAUL AND THE CONVERSION OP THE GENTILES.
/ (Map of Paul's Journeys.)
§ 29. Sources and Literature 281
§ 30. Paul Before his Conversion, 286
§ 31. The Conversion of Paul, 296
— § 32. The Work of Paul, 316
§ 33. Paul's Missionaiy Labors, ■ 323
^ 34. The Synod of Jerusalem, and the Compromise between Jewish
and Gentile Christianity, ..... . • 334
^ 35. The Conservative Reaction, and the Liberal Victory— Peter and
Paul at Antioch, 352
§ 36. Christianity in Rome, 360
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VI.
THE GREAT TRIBULATION.
37. The Roman Conflagration and the Neronian Persecution, . 376
38. The Jewish War and the Destruction of Jerusalem, . . . 390
39. Effects of the Destruction of Jerusalem on the Christian Church, 402
CHAPTER VII.
ST. JOHN AND THE LAST STADIUM OP THE APOSTOLIC PERIOD — THE CON- SOLIDATION OF JEWISH AND GENTILE CHRISTIANITY.
(Map of Asia Minor.)
§ 40. The Johannean Literature, 406
§ 41. Life and Character of John, 413
§ 43. Apostolic Labors of John, 433/
§ 43. Traditions Respecting John, 439
CHAPTER VIIL
CHRISTIAN LIFE IN THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH.
§ 44. The Spiritual Power of Christianity, 483
§ 45. The Spiritual Gifts, 436
§ 46. Christianity in Individuals 441
§ 47. Christianity and the Family, 443
§ 48. Christianity and Slavery, 444
^ 49. Christianity and Society, 448
§ 50. Spiritual Condition of the Congregations — The Seven Churches
in Asia, 450
CHAPTER IX. WORSHIP IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE.
§ 51. The Synagogue, 455
§ 53. Christian Worship, 460
§ 53. The Several Parts of Worship, 461
§ 54. Baptism, , . 465
§ 55. The Lord's Supper, 471
§ 56. Sacred Places, „ . . 475
§ 57. Sacred Times— The Lord's Day, 476
Xll CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X.
ORGANIZATION OP THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH.
PAGB
§ 58. Literature, 481
§ 59. The Christian Ministiy, and its Relation to the Christian Com- munity, 484
§ 60. Apostles, Prophets, EvangeUsts, 488
§ Gl. Presbyters or Bishops — The Angels of the Seven Churches —
James of Jerusalem, 491
§ G2. Deacons and Deaconesses, 499
§ 63. Church Discipline, 501
§ 64. The Council at Jerusalem, 503
§ 65. The Church and the Kingdom of Christ, 506
CHAPTER XI.
THEOLOGY OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH.
§ 66, Literature, 510
§ 67. Unity of Apostolic Teaching, ....... 511
§ 68. Different Types of Apostolic Teaching, 515
§ 69. The Jewish Christian Theology — I. James and the Gospel of
Law 517
§ 70. IL Peter and the Gospel of Hope 523
§ 71. The Gentile Christian Theology— Paul and the Gospel of
Faith, 525
§ 72. John and the Gospel of Love, 549
§ 73. Heretical Perversions of the Apostolic Teaching, . . . 564
CHAPTER XII.
THE NEW TESTAMENT.
§ 74. Literature, 569
S 75. Rise of the Apostolic Literature, 570
§ 76. Character of the New Testament, 573
§ 77. Literature on the Gospels, 575
^ 78. The Four Gospels, 579
§ 79. The Synoptists, 590
S 80. Matthew 612
§ 81. Mark, 627
§ 83. Luke, 648
§ 83. Jolin 675
p 84. Critical Review of the Johannean Problem, .... 715
§ 85. The Acts of the Apostles, 724
CONTENTS. XUl
PAGE
§ 86. The Epistles , .... 739
§ 87. The Catholic Epistles (James, Peter, John, Jude), ... 741
§ 88. The Epistles of Paul, 749
§ 89. The Epistles to the Thessalonians, 755
§ 90. The Epistles to the Corinthians, 757
§ 91. The Epistle to the Galatians, 763
§ 92. The Epistle to the Romans, 764
§ 93. The Epistles of the Captivity, 767
§ 94. The Epistle to the Colossians, 769
§ 95. The Epistle to the Ephesians, 776
i^ 96. Colossians and Ephesians Compared and Vindicated, . . .783
§ 97. The Epistle to the Philippians, 788
§ 98. The Epistle to Philemon, 793
§ 99. The Pastoral Epistles, 798
§ 100. The Epistle to the Hebrews, 808
§ 101. The Apocalypse, 825
§ 103. Concluding Reflections— Faith and Criticism, .... 853
Alphabetical Index, 865
LIST OF MAPS.
PAGE
The Eoman Empiee, Frontispiece.
Palestine in the Time of Christ, ...... 223
The Missionary Joueneys of St. Paul, 280
EoME, 361
Ancient Jerusalem, 395
Asia IMinob, .......•••• 405
GE^^ERAL mTRODUCTIOlsr.
LITEEATUKE.
C. Sagittakius : Introductio in histm'iam ecclesiasticam. Jen. 1694.
F. Walch : Orundsatze der zur K. Gesch. nothigen Vorbei-eitungslehren n.
BilcherTcenntnisse. 3d ed. Giessen, 1793. Flugge : Ei7ileitung in das Studium u. die Liter, der K. G. Gott. 1801. John G. Dowling : An Introduction to the Critical Study of Ecclesiastical
History, attempted in an account of the progress, and a shm^t notice of
the sources of the history of the Church. London, 1838. MoHLEK (E. C.) : Einleitung in die K. G. 1839 (" Verm. Schriften,': ed.
Dollinger, 11. 261 sqq.). Kliefoth : Einleitung in die Dogmengeschichte. Parcliim & Lnd'svigslust,
1839. Phtlip Schaff : Wliat is Church History ? A Vindication of the Idea of
Historical Development. Philad. 1846. H. B. Sjiith : Nature and Worth of the Science of Church History. An-
dover, 1851. E. P. HtJMPHKEY : Inaugural Address, delivered at the Danville Theol.
Seminary. Cincinnati, 1854. E. TxJKNBTJLLi : Christ in History ; or, the Central Power among Men.
Bost. 1854, 2d ed. 1860. W. G. T. Shedd : Lectures on the Philosophy of History. Andover, Mass.,
1856. E. D. HrrcHCOCK : The True Idea and Uses of Church History. N. York,
1856. C. BuNSEN : Gott in der Geschichte oder der Fortschritt des Glaubens an
eine sittliche Weltordnung. Bd. I. Leipz. 1857. (Erstes Bnch.
Allg. Einleit. p. 1-134.) Engl. Transl. : God in History. By S.
Winkworth. Lond. 1868. 3 vols. A. P. Stanley : Three Introductory Lectures mi tlie Study of Eccles. His- tory. Lond. 1857. (Also incorporated in his History of the Eastern Church, 1861.)
2 § 1. TTATURE OF CHUECII TII3T0EY,
GoLDWiN Smith : Lectures on the Study of History, delivered in 0:rforQ^ 1859-T)1. Oxf. and Lond. (republished in N. York) 1866.
J. GcsT. Dboysen : Grundriss der Historik. Leipz. 1868 ; new ed. 1882.
C. DE Smedt (R. C. ) : Introductlo generalis ad historiavi ecdesiasticam cri- tice tractandam. Gandavi (Ghent), 1876 (533 pp.).
E. A. Freeman: The Methods of Historical Study. Lond. 1886.
O. LoRENZ : Oeschichtsicissenschaft. Berlin, 1886.
Jos. NiRSCHL (R. C.) : Propndeutik der Kirchengeschichte. Mainz, 1888 (352 pp.).
On the philosophy of history in general, see the works of Herder (Ideen zur Philosophie der Gesch. der Me^ischheit), Fred. Schlegel, Hegel (1840, transl. by Sibree, 1870), Hermann (1870), Rocholl (1878), Flint {The Philosophy of History in Eurojje. Edinb., 1874, etc.), LoTZE {Mikrokosmus, Bk. viith ; 4th ed. 1884 ; Eug, transl. by Eliza- beth Hamilton and E. E. C. Jones, 1885, 3d ed. 1888). A philosophy of church history is a desideratum. Herder and Lotze come nearest to it.
A fuller introduction, see in Schaff : History of the Apostolic Church,' with a General Introduction to Gh. H. (N. York, 1853), pp. 1-134.
§ 1. Nature of Church History.
HiCT.OEYjias_two.sidss, a divine and a human. On the part of God, it is his revelation in the order of time (as the creation is his revelation in the order of space), and the successive un- folding of a plan of infinite wisdom, justice, and mercy, looking to his glory and the eternal happiness of mankind. On the part of man, history is the biography of the human race, and the gradual development, both normal and abnormal, of all its physical, intellectual, and moral forces to the final consumma- tion at the general judgment, with its eternal rewards and punishments. The idea of universal history preaippiises the Christian idea of the unity of God, and the unity and com- rnon destiny of men, and was unknown to ancient Greece and Rome. A view of history which overlooks or undervalues the divine factor starts from deism and consistently runs into athe- ism ; while the opposite view, Avhich overlooks the free agency of man and his moral responsibility and guilt, is essentially fatal- istic and pantheistic.
From the liuman agency we may distinguish the Satanic, which enters as a third power into the history of the race. In
§ 1. NATURE OF CHURCH HISTORY. 'S
the temptation of Adam in Paradise, the temptation of Christ in the wilderness, and at every great epoch, Satan appears as the antagonist of God, endeavoring to defeat the plan of re- demption and the progress of Christ's kingdom, and nsing weak and mcked men for his schemes, but is always defeated in the end by the superior wisdom of God.
The central, cm-rent and ultiniats_ami of universal history is the Kingdom of God established by Jesus Christ. This is the grandest and most comprehensive institution in the world, as vast as humanity and as enduring as eternity. All other msti- tutions are made subservient to it, and in its interest the whole world is governed. It is no after-thought of God, no subse- quent emendation of the plan of creation, but it is the_elenial forethought, the controlling idea, the beginning, the middle, and the end of all his ways and works. The first Adam is a type of the second Adam ; creation looks to redemption as the solution of its problems. Secular history, far from controlling sacred history, is controlled by it, must directly or indirectly subserve its ends, and can only be fully understood in the cen- tral light of Christian truth and the plan of salvation. The Father, who directs the history of the world, " draws to the Son," who rules the history of the church, and the Son leads back to the Father, that "God may be all in all." "All things," says St. Paul, " were created through Christ and unto Christ: and He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the Church : who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the pre-eminence." Col. 1 : 16-18. " The Gos- pel," says John von Miiller. summing up the final result of his life-long studies in history, " is the fulfilment of all hopes, the perfection of all philosophy, the interpreter of all revolutions, the key of all seeming contradictions of the physical and moral worlds ; it is life — it is immortality."
The history of the church is the rise and progress of the kingdom of heaven upon earth, for the glory of God and the salvation of the, world. It hpo-iiia with thft preation of Adam.
4 § 1. NATURE OF CHUKCH HISTORY.
and with that promise of the serpent-bruiser, which relieved the loss of the paradise of innocence by the hope of future redemption from the curse of sin. It comes down through the preparatory revelations under the patriarchs, Moses, and the prophets, to the immediate forermmer of the Saviour, who pointed his followers to the Lamb of God, which taketh away tlie sin of the world. But this part of its course was only introduction. Its proper starting-point is the incarnation • of the Eternal Word, who dwelt among us and revealed his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth ; and next to this, the miracle of the first Pentecost, when the Church took her place as a Christian institution, filled with the Spirit of the glorified Eedeemer and entrusted with the conversion of all nations. Jesus Christ, the God-Man and Saviour of the world, is the author of the new creation, the soul and the head of the church, which is his body and his bride. In his person and work lies all the fulness of the Godliead and of renewed humanity, the whole plan of redemption, and the key of all history from the creation of man in the image of God to the resurrection of the body unto everlasting life.
This is the objective conception of church history.
In the subjective sense of the word, considered as theological science and art, church history is the faithful and liferlike d escription of the origin and progress of this heavenly king- dom. It aims to reprofbifp. in l-bou'dit and to eml^ody in lan- guage its outward and inward development down to the present time. It is. a continuous commentary on the Lord's twin pRra- bles_ofihejmiataiiL:£££d rmd of tlip Ipjivpu . It shows at once how Christianity spreads over the world, and how it penetrates, transforms, and sanctifies the individual and all the depart- ments and institutions of social life. It thus embraces not only tlie^ external fortujics^of riunVfpnrlom, butrmoro osj^ecmlElhar
iri.-\vnrd ovpp.rJi^ir-P Lor rf^1i(ri'nns Hftyjjor mental and UlOra]
activity, her conflicts with the ungt)dly world, her sorrows and sufferings, her joys and her triumphs over sin and error. It records the deeds of those heroes of faith " who subdued king-
§ 1. NATURE OF CHURCH HISTORY. 3
donis, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of tire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, w^axed valiant in fight, turned to flio-ht the armies of aliens."
From Jesus Christ, since his manifestation in the flesh, an unbroken stream of divine light and life has been and is still flowing, and will continue to flow, in ever-growing volume, through the waste of our fallen race ; and all that is truly great and good and holy in the annals of church history is due, ulti- mately, to the impulse of his spirit. He is the fly-wheel in the world's pi'ogress. But he works upon the world through sinful- and fallible men, who, while as self-conscious and free agents they are accountable for all their actions, must still, willing or i unwilling, serve the great purpose of God. As Christ, in the days of his flesh, was hated, mocked, and crucified, his church likewise is assailed and persecuted by the powers of darkness The histor)^ Christianity includes therefore a history of Antii^ Christ. With an unending succession of works of saving power and manifestations of divine truth and holiness, it uncovers also a fearful mass of corruption and error. The cliurch militant must, from its very nature, be _at_perpetiial-wa££a4^'o with the world, the flesh, and the devil, both without and within. For as Judas sat among the apostles, so " the man of sin " sits in the temple of God ; and as even a Peter denied the Lord, though he afterwards wept bitterly and regained his holy ofiice, so do many disciples in all ages deny hkn in word and in deed.
Bjii,_jOii,.iJie__QtlieiLJiEiLd^-ii^ shows., iliat God is
evei^tronger than Satan, and that his kingdom of light puts the kingdom of darkness to shame. The Lion of the tribe of Judah has bruised the head of the serpent. With the cruci- fixion of Christ his resurrection also is repeated ever anew in the history of his church on earth ; and there has never yet been a day without a witness of his presence and power order- ing all things according to his holy w^ill. For he has received all power in heaven and in earth for the good of his people, and from his heavenly throne he rules even his foes. The in-
6 § 2. BRANCHES OF CHURCH HISTORY.
fallible word of promise, confirmed by experience, assures us that all corruptions, heresies, and schisms must, mider the guidance of divine wisdom and love, subserve the cause of truth, holiness, and peace ; till, at the last judgment, Christ shall make his enemies his footstool, and rule undisputed with the sceptre of righteousness and peace, and his church shall realize her idea and destiny as " the fullness of him that filleth all in all."
Then will histoiy itself, in its present form, as a struggling and changeful development, give place to perfection, and the stream of time come to rest in the ocean of eternity, but this rest will be the highest form of life and activity in God and for God.
§ 2. Branches of Church History.
The kingdom of Christ, in its principle and aim, is as com- prehensive as humanity. It is truly catholic or universal, de- signed and adapted for all nations and ages, for all the powers of the soul, and all classes of society. It breathes into the mind, the heart, and the will a higher, supernatural life, and consecrates the family, the state, science, literatm-e, art, and commerce to holy ends, till finally God becomes all in all. Even the body, and the whole visible creation, which groans for redemption fi-om its bondage to vanity and for the glorious liberty of the children of God, shall share in this universal transformation ; for we look for the resurrection of tlie body, and for the new earth, wherein dwellcth righteousness. But we must not identify the kingdom of God with the visible church or churches, which are only its temporary organs and agencies, more or less inadequate, while the kingdom itself i.s more comprehensive, and will last foi- ever.
Accordingly, church history has various departments, corre- sponding to the different branches of secular history and oi natural life. The principal divisions are :
I. The history of :siissions, or of the spread ^f ChristianitA
§ 2. BEANCHES OF CHURCH HISTORY. 7
among imconTerted nations, whether barbarous or civilized. This work must continue, till " the fullness of the Gentiles shall come in," and " Israel shall be saved." The law of the missionary progress is expressed in the two parables of the grain of mustard-seed which grows into a tree, and of the leaven which gradually pervades the whole lump. The first parable illustrates the outward expansion, the second the all-penetrating and transforming power of Christianity. It is difficult to con- vert a nation ; it is more difficult to train it to the high stand- ard of the gospel ; it is most difficult to revive and reform a dead or apostate church.
The foreign mission work has achieved three great conquests : first, the conversion of the elect remnant of the Jews, and of civilized Greeks and Romans, in the first three centuries ; then the conversion of the barbarians of ISTorthern and Western Europe, in the middle ages ; and last, the combined efforts of various churches and societies for the conversion of the savage races in America, Africa, and Australia, and the semi-civilized nations of Eastern xlsia, in our o^vn time. The whole non- Christian world is now open to missionary labor, except the Mohammedan, which will likewise become accessible at no dis- tant day.
The domestic or home mission work embraces the re\dval of Christian life in corrupt or neglected portions of the church in old comitries, the supply of emigrants in new countries with the means of grace, and the labors among the semi-heathenish populations of large cities. Here we may mention the planting of a purer Christianity among the petrified sects in Bible Lands, the labors of the Gustavus Adolphus Society, and the Inner Mission of Germany, the American Home Missionary Societies for the western states and territories, the City Mission Societies in London, Xew York, and other fast-growing cities.
II. The history of persecution by hostile powers; as by Judaism and Heathenism in the first three centuries, and by Mohammedanism in the middle age. This apparent repression of the church proves a purifying process, brings out the moral
8 § 2. BRANCHES OF CHURCH HISTORY.
heroism of martp-dom, and thus works in the end for the spread and establishment of Christianity. " The blood of mar- tyrs is the seed of the church." ' There are cases, however, where systematic and persistent persecution has crushed out the church or reduced it to a mere shadow, as in Palestine, Egypt, and North Africa, under the despotism of the Moslems.
Persecution, like missions, is both foreign and domestic. Besides being assailed from without by the followers of false religions, the church suifers also from intestine wars and vio- lence. Witness the religious wars in France, Holland, and England, the Thirty Years' War in Germany, all of which grew out of the Protestant Reformation and the Papal Reaction ; the crusade against the Albigenses and Waldenses, the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition, the massacre of the Huguenots, the dragonnades of Louis XIV., the crushing out of the Reforma- tion in Bohemia, Belgium, and Southern Europe ; but also, on the Protestant side, the pei'secution of Anabaptists, the l);;niing of Servetus in Geneva, the penal laws of the reign of Elizabeth against Catholic and Puritan Dissenters, the hanging of witches and Quakers in New England. More Christian blood has been shed by Christians than by heathens and Mohammedans.
The persecutions of Christians by Christians form the satanic chapters, the fiendish midnight scenes, in the history of the church. But they show also the gradual progress of the truly Christian spirit of religious toleration and freedom. Persecu- tion exhausted ends in toleration, and toleration is a step to freedom. The blood of patriots is the price of civil, the blood of martyrs the price of religious liberty. The conquest is dear, the progress slow and often interrupted, but steady and irre- sistible. The principle of intolerance is now almost universally disowned in the Christian world, except by ultramontane Ro-
' A well-known saying of Tertullian, who lived in the niiilst of persccntioa A very different estimate of martyrdom is suggested by the Arabic proverb ■. "The ink of the scholar is more precious than the blood of the martyr." The just estimate depends on the quality of the scholar and the quality of the martyr, and the cause for which the one lives and the other dies.
§ 2. BRANCHES OF CHtJHCH HISTORY. 9
inaiiisin (which indirectly reasserts it in the Papal Syllabus of 1S64) ; but a ruling church, allied to the state, under the influ- ence of selfish human nature, and relying on the arm of flesh rather than the power of truth, is always tempted to impose or retain unjust restrictions on dissenting sects, however innocent and useful they may have proved to be.
In the United States all Christian denominations and sects are placed on a basis of equality before the law, and alike pro- tected by the government in their property and right of public worship, yet self-supporting and self-governing; and, in turn, they strengthen the moral foundations of society by training loyal and virtuous citizens. Freedom of religion must be recog- nized as one of the inalienable rights of man, which lies in the sacred domain of conscience, beyond the restraint and control of politics, and which the government is bomid to protect as much as any other fundamental right. Freedom is liable to abuse, and abuse may be punished. But Christianity is itself the parent of true freedom from the bondage of sin and error, and is the best protector and regulator of freedom.
III. The history of church government and discipline. The church is not only an invisible communion of saints, but at the same time a visible body, needing organs, laws, and forms, to regulate its activity. Into this department of history fall the various forms of church polity: the apostolic, the primitive episcopal, the patriarchal, the papal, the consistorial, the pres- byterial, the congregational, etc. ; and the history of the law and discipline of the church, and her relation to the state, under all these forms.
IV. The history of worship, or divine service, by which the church celebrates, revives, and strengthens her fellowship with her divine head. This falls into such subdivisions as the his- tory of preaching, of catechisms, of liturgy, of rites and cere- monies, and of religious art, particularly sacred poetry and music.
The history of church government and the history of worship are often put together under the title of Ecclesiastical Antiqui-
10 § 2. BKANCHES OF CnURCH HISTORY.
ties or Archifioiogy, and commonly confined to the patristic age, whence most of the cathoHc institutions and usages of the church date their origin. But thej may as well be extended to the formative period of Protestantism.
V. The history of Christiai^ life, or practical morality and religion : the exhibition of the distinguishmg virtues and vices of different ages, of the development of Christian philanthropy, the regeneration of domestic life, the gradual abatement and abolition of slavery and other social evils, the mitigation and diminution of the horrors of war, the reform of civil law and of government, the spread of civil and religious Kberty, and the whole progress of civilization, under the influence of Chris- tianity.
YI. The history of theology, or of Christian leaiTung and literature. Each branch of theology — exegetical, doctrinal, ethical, historical, and practical — has a history of its own.
The history of doctrines or dogmas is here the most impor- tant, and is therefore frequently treated by itself. Its object is to show how the mind of the church has gradually apprehended and unfolded the divine truths of revelation, how the teachings of scripture have been formulated and shaped into dogmas, and grown into creeds and confessions of faith, or systems of doc- trine stamped with public authority. This growth of the church in the knowledge of the infallible word of God is a constant struggle against error, misbelief, and unbelief; and- the history of heresies is an essential part of the history of doctrines.
Every important dogma now professed by the Christian church is the i-esult of a severe conflict with error. The doc- trine of the holy Trinity, for instance, was believed from the beginning, but it required, in addition to the preparatory labors of the aTite-Nicene age, fifty years of controversy, in which the strongest intellects were absorbed, until it was brought to the clear expression of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed. Tlie Christological conflict was equally long and intense, until it was Ijrouglit to a settlement by the council of Chalcedon. The
§ 3. SOUECES OF CHUECH HISTOEY. 11
Eeformation of the sixteenth century was a continual war- fare with popery. The doctrinal symbols of the various churches, from the Apostles' Creed down to the confessions of Dort and "Westminster, and more recent standards, embody the results of the theological battles of the militant church.
The various departments of church history have not a merely external and mechanical, but an organic relation to each other, and form one living whole, and this relation the historian must show. Each period also is entitled to a peculiar arrangement, according to its character. The number, order, and extent of the different divisions must be determined by their actual im- portance at a given time.
§ 3. Sources of Church History.
The sources of church history, the data on which we rely for our knowledge, are partly divine, partly human. For the his- tory of the kingdom of God from the creation to the close of the apostolic age, we have the inspired writings of the Old and Kew Testaments. But after the death of the apostles we have only human authorities, which of course cannot claim to be in- fallible. These human sources are partly written, partly un- written.
I. The WRITTEN sources include :
(a) Official documents of ecclesiastical and civil authorities : acts of councils and synods, confessions of faith, liturgies, church laws, and the official letters of popes, patriarchs, bishops, and representative bodies.
(b) Private writings of personal actors in the history : the works of the church fathers, heretics, and heathen authors, for the first six centuries ; of the missionaries, scholastic and mys- tic divines, for the middle age ; and of the reformers and their opponents, for the sixteenth century. These documents are the richest mines for the historian. They give history in its birth and actual movement. But they must be carefully sifted and weighed ; especially the controversial writings, where fact is
12 § 3. SOURCES OF CHURCH HISTORY.
generally more or less adulterated with party spirit, heretical and orthodox.
(e) Accounts of chroniclers and historians, whether friends or enemies, who were eye-witnesses of what they relate. "The \'alue of these depends, of com-se, on the capacity and credi- bility of the authors, to be determined by careful criticism. Subsequent historians can be comited among the direct or hii- mediate sources only so far as they have