A compendious ecclesiastical history

Front matter

Book •

' o o k

COMPENDIOUS

Preface

It is strange that a work like this should have been so long wanting in English literature. Rich as our language is in history, it possesses, as yet, no tolerable history of the Church of God. The scholar can in a degree make up this want by a resort to other sources : but those whose reading is confined to their native language, and those whose little leisure affords no time for research, or the study of bulky works, have had nothing really worth attention, on this subject, within their reach.

Dry abridgments or still drier compends, crowding the memory with names and dates, and little else, are not what is needed for general information on the most interesting of all topics that can occupy the attention

of a thinking man the rise and progress of the

society of which God is the Head, souls bought and washed with the most precious blood of Christ the members, and eternity the exclusive end and aim. The existence of such a society among men, its continuance^

VI PREFACE.

its propagation, and its more or less visible success, are facts, that taken in connection with its claims, have a direct and fearfully important interest for every member of the human family. It is with reference to that interest that they ought to be treated, at least for popular use. Catalogues of heresies, maps of the extension and contraction of Christendom in successive ages, and schemes of controversies that have raged and waned, all useful in their way, are of little use to the man w r ho is seeking after evidence of the accomplishment of the ends for which the Son of God assumed our nature, and when He had ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on high, sent forth the promise of His Father upon those whom He had sent into the world as He Himself was sent. The effectual working of Him who, in the fulness of the power and wisdom of the Godhead, dwells invisibly in the visible body that he organised and animates, is not to be learned from the weary and disgustful annals of contests between rival hierarchies, and intrigues of ecclesiastics with or against the civil power ; still less from the revolting exhibition of human frailty and perversity contaminating the provisions of infinite Love and Wisdom, an exhibition necessarily prominent in the chronicles of the Church, but most unnecessary to any true and adequate estimate of its real efficiency. All analogy and all experience bid us look for that efficiency in unobtrusive quietness and seclusion. " The works of the flesh are manifest," and accordingly attract, wherever sinful man w T orks out the designs of GOD, the superficial observer's gaze. " The fruits of the Spirit," meanwhile, w T hich are the tests of the fulfilment of the Saviour's promise to be ever with His body, lie hidden beneath the surface of society, and must be diligently

PREFACE. Vll:

sought for, and painfully dragged forth to view, before their evidence can be appreciated. The many whom the means of God's providing have silently nurtured up in faith and holiness have passed to their reward without leaving a trace behind on the page of history. The few who stand there recorded as exceptions from the mass of brawling strife and base ambition have been drawn from among their fellows by the demands of duty, growing out of official station or extraordinary endowments. Such must always be the minority in the records of the Church ; and it is as strange as lamentable that most of its historians seem to have lost sight of a truth so obvious, and while they either gloat or rave on the corruption of the clergy and the vile degeneracy of the laity, forget that a similar mode of estimation would go far toward the reduction of the past to one vast blot, and the banishment of virtue, peace and happiness from memory or belief.

This work has been prepared on a different plan. Its truly learned and sound-minded author has set himself honestly to seek out the results of the system devised by heavenly Wisdom and set in operation by God Himself, when He dwelt among us. He does not puzzle himself and his reader with an attempt at a " pragmatical"* investigation of the human motives and propensities that have carried on, while they seemed to thwart and vitiate, the divine counsels for man's salvation. Still less does he stoop to flatter the poor pride of human reason by lowering a narrative of God's doings with and in His Church to the tone of secular history, and making all plain and easy for the most unspiritual comprehension. He writes as a believer of the facts that he narrates ; but not a believer without

* See Mosheim's Preface.

Vlll PREFACE.

investigation. He writes as one whose own belief makes him in earnest with his reader, and in consequence leaves the impression of reality on the mind. Convinced that God did indeed found His Church upon a rock, immoveable and unconquerable, he looks for it, without fear or shrinking, amid the worst tempests of controversial strife or secular oppression, and under the deepest mists of ignorance and error, and not only finds it, signalized by its unvarying tokens of peace, holiness and joy, but makes it obvious to others. We see, with him, that though times have changed, and manners varied, the word and promises of God have endured unchanged and their accomplishment has gone on invariably.

In this respect, Mr. Palmer's design is the same with that of the pious Milner. But, beside its greater compendiousness, so much better suited for popular use, this work has the advantage of much better execution. The decided bias which so often sways the judgment of Milner is no where discoverable in Mr. Palmer. The scriptural catalogue of " fruits of the Spirit" is his test of that Spirit's presence, not any human scheme of doctrine. The bond of union by which he traces Christian faith and holiness up to their source in Christ, is the real and tangible bond of ordinances and institutions, not the figmentary connection of agreement in certain arbitrary views. He is content to find the fulfilment of the promise wherever it pleased the Giver to impart it, without questioning His ability or disposition to raise up burning and shining lights even in the midst of darkness, and perpetuate vital heat even in a body soiely diseased and maimed.

A great degree of accuracy in general outline, and in minute detail wherever that is given, is another admira-

PREFACE. IX

ble characteristic of Mr. Palmer's work. It has been increased, perhaps, by the correction of one or two slips of a hasty pen, in this edition ; and the minute differences, of statement or opinion, in some of the editor's additional notes, will show how thoroughly he shared in the author's anxiety to be really useful — an end to be attained, in a work like this, only by the most scrupulous adherence to truth. If error as to fact be found in the book now presented to the reader, it has escaped not only the attention of the learned and indefatigable author, but the close examination of his humble and grateful fellow labourer,

W. R. W.

Baltimore, December 11th, 1840.

Index. -

Explanation of difficult Words.

Pasre. 100

A COMPENDIOUS

Chapter I. Introduction

The history of the world impresses the reflecting mind with the universal tendency of human institutions to decay and dissolution. Whether we contemplate the fate of man himself, or of illustrious empires raised by virtue, cemented by wisdom, but destroyed by luxury and sin, we trace in all the operation of that sentence of death which once passed on all men, and to which all that is merely human must bow.

But in the history of the Church we view not only the working of the law of death, but the counteracting tendency of the Spirit of life, sustaining man amidst his infirmities, elevating him above all that is carnal and terrestrial, and impressing on his actions and his destinies the stamp of eternity. Empires, superstitions, and philosophies, have faded away, but true religion continues always to exist ; and as it came in the beginning from above, so at the end of all things it shall return thither again. The patriarchs and the prophets, the law and the gospel, preached to mankind the same religion, which was expanded and developed as the fullness of time drew on. We now behold the fulfilment of what the patriarchs desired to see ; we enjoy the reality of those things which the law of Moses foreshadowed ; we worship the God of Abel and of Abraham, and serve him with their faith.

And as the true religion has always been essentially the same, so has it ever had to contend with the same inclination of the human heart. That inclination was awfully exemplified in the days of Noah, when " all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth ;" and that patriarch's family were alone found just. It was still more wonderfully manifested in the rebellions and backslidings of the children of Israel. It is again seen in the description which Scripture gives of the fallen state of Jew and Gentile, when the Son of God came to save a perishing world. 1 And who, that reflects on the exhortations and predictions addressed to Christians by the Lord and his disciples, can fail to perceive that the same evil tendency of the human heart was always to remain, even in the state of grace, and to form the chief danger and trial of the Church of God?

The life of a true Christian, as described in Scripture, consists of self-denial, of warfare against the inclinations of nature, of prayer and watchfulness under the deepest consciousness of infirmity, of labour to walk under the guidance of the Spirit of God, with objects, tastes, and desires, altogether different from those of the natural man. It was the sovereign will of God, that those who are saved should be fitted for their glorious inheritance by the discipline of this rough and narrow way ; but few, even of the best men, have passed through it without many grievous failures : all have come short of the glory of God, and all have need of serious and frequent repentance. Many, who profess to be disciples, have altogether turned away to the broad and beaten track ; and, as our Lord teaches that some should hear the word with joy, but in time of temptation should fall away ; that others should permit it to be snatched from them by the assaults of the devil, or to be choked beneath the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches ; he adds, that in that day many shall begin to 9ay, " We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou

1 Rom. i. ii.

Chap. I. Introduction. 6

hast taught in our streets ;" and that his reply shall be, " I know you not whence ye are : depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity." 1 The kingdom or Church of Christ is, indeed, compared to a field in which tares grow with tho wheat, 2 and to a net which was let down into the sea, and gathered of all kinds both bad and good. 3 Such was to be the mingled state of the Christian Church, comprising not only evil men, but good men, subject to infirmities, errors, and sins.

Nor was the Church only to be tried by inward failings ; it was to pass through the furnace of affliction and persecution from without. The saints in heaven are described as " they that came out of great tribulation ;" 4 and as the Captain of our salvation was made perfect through sufferings, 5 so it was fitting that the Church, which is His Body, 6 should be baptized with the baptism of his afflictions ; and accordingly his promise was, " In the world ye shall have tribulation : but be of good cheer ; I have overcome the world." 7

There was still a subtler danger in store for the Church, connected indeed with the desires of the natural man, but raised and stimulated by the Author of evil. False Christs and false prophets were to arise, and to show great signs ; insomuch that, if it were possible, they should deceive the very elect.® Damnable heresies were to be secretly introduced : 9 false teachers and antichrists, carried away by the desire of a godless pre-eminence, were to subvert the faith of the unstable. 10 As the apostle said, " There must be heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you." 11

Such were to be the infirmities, such the dangers of the Church ; and had she been left alone, and unaided amidst them all, "the waters had overwhelmed her, the stream had

7 John xvi. 33. 8 Matt, xxiii. 24. 9 2 Pet. ii. 1.

io Acts, xx. 30 ; 1 Tim. iv. 1 ; 2 Tim. iii ; 1 John ii. 18, iv. 3. 11 1 Cor. xi. 19.

gone over her soul." 1 Nothing but the Spirit of God within her could have saved her from speedy destruction. But it had been decreed of old, that in the seed of Abraham " all the nations of the earth should be blessed." 8 It had been foretold by the Spirit, that He " should be for salvation to the end of the earth;" 3 that He "should have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth." 4 It had been declared that his kingdom should endure " for ever," 6 and that " of the increase of his goverment and peace there should be no end." 6 And therefore when the Son of God came into the world, he said unto his disciples, " On this rock 1 will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it :" 7 and therefore did he console them in the prospect of his departure ; " I will not leave you comfortless, I will come unto you :" 8 "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth." 9 And when about to ascend up on high, he left to them that encouraging and blessed promise, " Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world." 10

The history of the Church, then, is not like other histories, in which the progress and fate of human enterprises is described ; it is the fulfilment of God's will for the salvation of man, the accomplishment of prophecies, the triumph of grace over the imperfection and sins of nature. The perpetuity of the Church ; its propagation in all nations ; the succession of the true faith ; the manifestations of the Holy Spirit's assistance in the lives of Christians ; the calamities, errors, afflictions, which, in all ages, beset it, — afford new proofs of the truth of Christianity itself, and inspire the devout mind with humility and faith.

The principal periods of ecclesiastical history may be arranged under the following divisions.

4 Ps. lxxii.8. 5 Daniel ii. 44. 6 Isaiah ix. 7.

7 Matt. xvi. 18. 8 John xiv. 18. • John xiv. 16. 10 Matt, xxviii. 20.

A.D. 30-320. PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH. 5

First, the ages of persecution, which terminated with the accession of the Emperor Constantine to universal empire, in a. d. 320, and during which the Church was purest.

Secondly, the ages, (a.d. 320-680,) when heresies invaded the Church, and were repelled by the six holy oecumenical synods ; and when the ravages of barbarians and heathens were counterbalanced by the conversion of many nations.

Thirdly, the period (680-1054) in which ignorance, worldliness, and superstition, began to fall thickly upon the Church, though an earnest spirit of piety still continued to produce evangelists, saints, and martyrs, and to add wide regions to the Church of Christ.

Fourthly, the times (1054-1517) when the East and West were estranged by the ambition of the Roman pontiffs ; when those bishops, elevated to the summit of temporal and spiritual power in the West, introduced numberless corruptions and innovations ; and when their power began to fade away.

Fifthly, the epoch (1517-1839) when a reformation being called for, was resisted by those who ought to have promoted it ; when the Western Church became divided ; and at length infidelity came to threaten universal destruction.

Chapter II. On The Early Progress Of Christianity

" W hereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God, or with what comparison shall we compare it ?" said the Lord. " It is like a grain of mustard-seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth. But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches, so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it." 1 The Holy Spirit, by

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. CH. II the mouth of the prophet Daniel, had many ages before predicted the same wonderful origin and diffusion of the kingdom of Christ, under the figure of " the stone cut out of the mountain without hands," which " became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." 1 Thus was Christianity destined to spring from a small and obscure beginning, and to overspread the earth in the luxuriance of its growth. And so it came to pass. From Judea, the least of the nations of the earth, and from twelve of its poorest and most illiterate children, a " sound went into all the earth, and words unto the ends of the world." 2 The Son of God, when about to depart, had given to them that lofty commission : " All power is given to me in heaven and on earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you :" and they "went forth and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following."

The number of the disciples assembled in the upper room at Jerusalem, after our Lord's ascension, was only a hundred and twenty ; but the miracles of the day of Pentecost, and the sermon of St. Peter, added three thousand souls ; and ere long, "the Lord adding to the Church daily such as should be saved," the number of the men was five thousand. 8 In vain did the priests and their adherents endeavour to prevent the progress of true religion, by inflicting punishments on its preachers. The next account is, that "the word of God increased ; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly ; and a great company of the priests was obedient to the faith."

The Gospel was, as yet, preached at Jerusalem only — in one city of a remote and obscure province of the Roman empire. What mere worldly calculation could then have imagined the triumphs which were in store for it ? Who

A.D. 30-320. PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH. 7

could then have expected that philosophies, idolatries, and superstitions, the growth of so many long ages, were to be prostrated and annihilated before it, and that the kingdoms of the earth were to bow beneath its dominion?

The destruction which Satan meditated against the Church in its infancy, was made the means of disseminating it more widely. The great persecution at Jerusalem, in „,-

which the first martyr, St. Stephen, afforded so noble an instance of the power of faith, dispersed abroad the disciples, who preached throughout Judsea, Samaria, Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Syria. The apostles alone remained at Jerusalem, where they probably continued to preach for several years after this time. Samaria, convinced by the miracles and the doctrine of Philip, with one accord embraced the Gospel : even the sorcerer Simon, deserted by his followers, and amazed at the gifts of the Holy Spirit, received baptism, in the vain hope of obtaining powers so far superior to his own. Tyre and Sidon now stretched forth their hands to the Lord ; and at Antioch was a great multitude of believers.

Thus was the first great impulse to the dissemination of Christianity given by the persecution at Jerusalem. The next arose from the preaching of the apostle Paul to the Gentiles, which commenced about fourteen years after our Lord's ascension. The result of his first mission with Barnabas was the establishment of Churches in Pamphylia, Pisidia, Lycaonia, and Cilicia, constituting the southern portion of Asia Minor. His next circuit, had the effect of extending the Church in Phrygia, Galatia, and Troas, or the centre of Asia Minor ; and in Macedonia and Greece. Another journey added the coasts of Asia towards Greece ; and the Church of Ephesus was formed, over which St. Paul presided for several years. Carried to Rome, he found Christianity already existing in several parts of Italy ; and the Roman Church, which had lately been edified by his epistle, was now rapidly extended by his preaching. Released from prison

8 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, CH. II.

at Rome, he seems to have revisited Ephesus, where he left Timothy to exercise the episcopal office ; to have preached in Crete, where Titus was invested with similar powers ; and to have passed through Macedonia, and even into Spain; whence, returning to Rome, he suffered for Christ about a.d. 68.

The other apostles also preached the gospel among the heathen ; though St. Paul declared that " he laboured more abundantly than they all." The north of Asia Minor, or Cappadocia, Pontus, and Bithynia, (addressed by St. Peter in his epistle,) probably received the Gospel from that apostle some time after a.d. 52 ; for St. Paul intended in that year to preach in Bithynia, 1 which he would not have done, had St. Peter already evangelised that province, as his rule was, never to build on another's foundation. 2 The date of St. Peter's epistle from Babylon suggests the probability of his having preached in Chaldsea ; and St. Thaddaeus is said to have taught at Edessa and in Mesopotamia. In Egypt the Church was founded by St. Mark, who constituted Anianus the first bishop of Alexandria. There are also traditions, that Persia, Arabia, and Ethiopia, were visited by some of the apostles.

Thus, in about thirty years, that little grain of mustard-seed had grown into a mighty tree, the roots of which had struck themselves deep in all parts of the civilised world; and already it extended " from the river (Euphrates) to the ends of the earth." Nor was the success of its propagation in each locality inferior to the wideness of its dissemination throughout the world. We have seen examples of its rapid increase at Jerusalem, at Samaria, and Antioch. The heathen historian Tacitus, in describing the persecution which

&a na Christians suffered at Rome in the time of Nea.d. 64-68.

ro, says, " At first, those only were apprehended who confessed themselves of that sect ; afterwards, a vast multitude discovered by them, all of whom were condemned." It appears from a letter of Pliny, the Roman governor of Pon-

1 Acts xvi. 7, 3 Rom. xv. 20.

A.D. 30-320. PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH. 9

tus and Bithynia, that Christianity had near- , ~ w ly caused the heathen worship in those

countries to be deserted. Consulting the Emperor Trajan as to the mode of dealing with Christians, he says, " Therefore, suspending all judicial proceedings, I have recourse to you for advice ; for it has appeared to me a matter highly deserving consideration, especially upon account of the great numbers of persons who are in danger of suffering ; for many of all ages, and every rank, of both sexes likewise, are accused, and will be accused. Nor has the contagion of this superstition seized cities only, but the lesser towns also, and the open country. Nevertheless it seems to me that it may be restrained and corrected. It is certain, that the (heathen) temples, which were almost forsaken, begin to be more frequented; and the sacred solemnities, after a long remission, are revived. Victims (for the sacrifices) likewise are every where bought up, whereas for some time there were few purchasers." It appears from this remarkable testimony, that Christianity had, in the course of about fifty years, almost subverted idolatry in those provinces.

Little is known of the progress of Christianity for some years after the death of the apostles. The Church was probably engaged chiefly in the labour of converting the population more immediately around it; and we hear little of new

missions to the heathen ; vet Justin Martyr _ ., nn wrote in his Apology, that "there is no race of

men, whether barbarian or Greek, or by whatever other name

they be designated, whether they wander in wagons, or dwell

in tents, amongst whom prayers and thanksgivings are not

offered to the Father and Creator of all, in the name of the

crucified Jesus." We learn from Irenseus, , n ~ bishop of Lyons, that the light of the Gospel had, at that time, been received in Germany, France, Spain, and in Libya : and Tertullian, a few ^ qo

years later, declares that Parthia, Media, Armenia, the Getuli and Moors in Africa, all the borders of

10 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. CH. III.

Spain, many nations of Gaul, those parts of Britain which were inaccessible to the Romans, the Sarmatians, Dacians, Germans, Scythians, and other nations and islands innumerable, were then subject to the dominion of Christ. " We are but of yesterday," he said ; "yet we have filled your empire, your cities, your islands, your castles, your corporate towns, your assemblies, your very camps, your tribes, your companies, your palace, your senate, your forum ; your temples alone are left to you." "We constitute," he elsewhere says, " almost the majority in every town."

In the succeeding century new nations were gathered within the fold of Christ. The assiduous labours of Origen con- 01 . verted many of the Arabs to Christianity. The Goths of Mysia and Thrace followed their example ; and a number of pious missionaries successfully dis-

oon seminated the Gospel throughout Gaul, and about a.d. 280. i iT u • n

founded several churches in Germany.

So great was the progress of religion, notwithstanding the violent and cruel persecutions to which it was continually exposed, that it became no less the interest than the duty of the first Christian emperor, Constantine the Great, to relieve the Church from persecution, to act as the defender of its faith, and to distinguish its ministers and members by marks of his favour and generosity.

Chapter III. On The Faith Of The Church

The promises of our Lord to his disciples, that the Spirit of truth should lead them into all truth and abide with them for ever, that the gates of hell should not prevail against his Church, and that he would himself be always with his disciples, — imply that the faith revealed by Jesus Christ should,

A.D. 30-320. FAITH OF THE CHURCH. 11

in every age, continue to purify and sanctify the hearts and lives of his real followers ; and we may hence infer, that the belief which has, in all ages, been derived by the Church from holy Scripture ; the great truths which Christians have always unanimously held to be essential to the Christian profes- ' sion ; which have supported them under the tortures of martyrdom, and transformed them from sin to righteousness ; that such doctrines are, without doubt, the very same which God himself revealed for the salvation of man.

What, then, was the belief received by all Christians from the beginning ? Let the martyr Irenseus, the friend of St. John's disciple Polycarp, reply : " The Church," he says, " though disseminated throughout the whole world, even unto the ends of the earth, hath received from the apostles the belief in one God, the Father Almighty, who made heaven and earth, and the seas and all that in them is -; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who was made man for our salvation ; and in the Holy Spirit, who, through the prophets, announced the dispensations (of God,) the advent of the beloved Christ Jesus our Lord, his birth of a virgin, his suffering, resurrection from the dead, and bodily ascension into heaven, and his coming (again) from the heavens in the glory of the Father, to gather together all things in one, and to raise up all flesh of mankind, in order that, according to the invisible Father's will, every knee of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, may bow to Christ Jesus our Lord, our God, our Saviour, and our King, and every tongue confess unto him ; and that he may exercise righteous judgment on all — may send spiritual wickedness, and the angels that transgressed and became apostate, and the impious, unrighteous, wicked, and blasphemous among men, into eternal fire ; and bestow life and immortality and eternal glory on the righteous, the pious, and those who observe his commandments, and continue in his love, either from the beginning, or from the time of their repentance."

"This preaching, and this faith (as we have said,) the

12 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. CH. JII.

Church, though disseminated throughout the whole world, guards as carefully as if she dwelt in one house ; believes as if she had but one soul ; and proclaims, teaches, and delivers, as if she possessed but one mouth."