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Its History, Doctrine, Worship, and Constitution,
Traced for the First Three Hundred Years.
Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Pastoral Theology to the
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
"Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God."
PSALM lxxxvii. 3.
I cannot permit this Edition of "The Ancient Church" to appear beforethe citizens of the United States without acknowledging my obligationsto Mr Charles Scribner of New York. Mr Scribner was the first gentlemanconnected with the noble profession to which he belongs, either in theOld or in the New World, from whom I received encouragement in thisundertaking; and his prompt and generous offers aided me materially inmaking arrangements for the publication of the work in Great Britain.Every line of the present impression has been corrected by myself, andshould my life be spared, any future Edition which Mr Scribner maypublish is to appear under the same supervision. I trust that the Tradethroughout the Union will recognize the debt of gratitude which I owe tomy American friend. There is a higher law than the law of internationalcopyright, and I feel confident that no Publisher of honour andintegrity in the Great Republic will repudiate its claims.
17 University Square, Belfast, Ireland,July 1859.
The appearance of another history of the early Church requires someexplanation. As the progress of the Christian commonwealth for the firstthree hundred years has been recently described by British, German, andAmerican writers of eminent ability, it may, perhaps, be thought thatthe subject is now exhausted. No competent judge will pronounce such anopinion. During the last quarter of a century, various questionsrelating to the ancient Church, which are almost, if not altogether,ignored in existing histories, have been earnestly discussed; whilstseveral documents, lately discovered, have thrown fresh light on itstransactions. There are, besides, points of view, disclosing unexploredfields for thought, from which the ecclesiastical landscape has neveryet been contemplated. The following work is an attempt to exhibit someof its features as seen from a new position.
The importance of this portion of the history of the Church can scarcelybe over-estimated. Our attention is here directed to the life of Christ,to the labours of the apostles and evangelists, to the doctrines whichthey taught, to the form of worship which they sanctioned, to theorganization of the community which they founded, and to the indomitableconstancy with which its members suffered persecution. The practicalbearing of the topics thus brought under review must be sufficientlyobvious.
In the interval between the days of the apostles and the conversion ofConstantine, the Christian commonwealth changed its aspect. The Bishopof Rome—a personage unknown to the writers of the New Testament—meanwhile rose into prominence, and at length took precedence ofall other churchmen. Rites and ceremonies, of which neither Paul norPeter ever heard, crept silently into use, and then claimed the rank ofdivine institutions. Officers, for whom the primitive disciples