ARTICLE X.

REVIEW OF COLEMAN'S ANTIQUITIES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

By Ralph Emerson, D. D., Prof. of Eccl. Hist., Theol. Sem., Andover, Mass.

The Antiquities of the Christian Church. Translated and Compiled from the Works of Augusti, with numerous Additions from Rheinwald, Siegel and others. By Rev. Lyman Coleman. Andover & New-York: Gould, Newman & Saxton. Boston: Tappan & Dennett; Gould, Kendall & Lincoln. Philadelphia: Henry Perkins. 1841. pp. 557.

AMONG the bright features in the present aspect of the Protestant world, we may safely reckon the increasing attention that is paid to the early history of the Christian Church. For were it only the indulgence of curiosity, it would be one of the most rational and harmless indulgences of that knowledgeseeking faculty, which can be imagined;-far safer than the direction into which the serpent beguiled the same noble but perilous endowment of our first parents;-and far safer, we may add, than any of those directions into which he now beguiles unstable souls. To ponder veritable history of any kind is much better than to listen to the most enchanting fictions. And to the child of God, what can be more congenial than to study the record of the early struggles, perils and triumphs of that cause to which his heart is now devoted for eternity, and on which the heart of his Saviour was fixed from eternity;-to muse, too, on the infant efforts of the Church towards the systematic development of Christian doctrine, and then, on its childlike application of the doctrine itself, whether wisely or not, in the early formation of Christian life and Christian institutions? No employment, we say, of human curiosity is more harmless or more rational; and none, we may further say, is of better omen or brighter promise. It argues well for the single mind that spontaneously takes such a direction, and very well for that community which is brought, in any way, to receive such a direction.

It is not, however, nor can it be, the mere indulgence of curiosity. Good will come of it, and much every way. For,

next to the study of the Bible itself, what can promise more for the correct understanding of the truth it contains, than an accurate knowledge of the ways in which those truths have been understood, in diverse ages and by diverse kinds of men? And what can conduce more to a correct application of those truths to practice, than a knowledge of the different ways in which they have actually been applied? The experience of ages is surely one of the chief correctives for all kinds of mistakes; and next to 'inspiration itself, the grand voucher for whatever is true in theory or wise in practice.

In proof of the fact that an increasing attention has lately been paid to the early history of the Church, we need only allude to the rapidly increasing number of works on this subject, which are annually issued from the press in this and other Protestant countries. The supply is a good index of the demand, while it also serves to increase that demand.

If inquired of for the reason of this increase, our answer is at hand, and is manifold. Literature of almost every kind is rapidly advancing. During the last age, science, in distinction from literature, engrossed far the greater share of studious toil, in this country and in Europe, with the exception perhaps of Germany; and the mournful cry was not raised in vain, that learning was perishing from the earth. And, as is common in such cases, the cry has been continued, with but little abatement, to the present hour, though the occasion of alarm has ceased, and the prospect now is, that literature will soon stand in her full strength by the side of her sister science.

Peace, blessed peace, the daughter and handmaid of true religion, now so long enjoyed between the most enlightened nations, may be regarded as the chief cause of this relative change. War, while it is an unnatural stimulant to many of the arts and sciences, and indirectly encourages nearly all the rest, is wont to thrust its maniac sword into the very vitals of literature Amid the roar of cannon, the march of armies, and the sight of blood, the mind of whole nations becomes ferocious, and ceases to care, and then ceases to know about the pursuits of peaceful learning. It can think, and write and read of battles, and of the means of gaining battles, but of nothing else.

France, once so distinguished for both sacred and profane learning, is a living proof of what the spirit of war can do in this part of its devastating sphere. "France has no literature," is the sigh of a recent French writer. And peculiarly is this

true in regard to religious literature; yet France is pre-eminent in science. The martial soul of Napoleon seemed to extend itself into every French bosom; or rather, every Frenchman's soul seemed but a Gnostic emanation from the ruthless Æon of the Revolution. From this effect of the war spirit, France has scarcely begun to recover. England, too, has deeply felt the like effects in her literary pursuits. And Germany was saved from them, so far as she was saved at all,-partly by her division into small kingdoms, which could hope for no martial glory; but chiefly by what is otherwise her deepest calamity, the despotic sway of her sovereigns, allowing no scope for the common mind to become absorbed in political concerns. Hence it is, in no small degree, that Germany kept on in her literary career; and, when emerging from the wars of the last age, was found so far in advance of the rest of the world. And now, in these peaceful days, time and ample opportunities are afforded for disseminating through other nations the accumulated and accumulating fruits of German acquisition.

Two causes, however, in addition to a difference of languages, have conspired to retard in a measure the dissemination of these fruits. The diverse and seemingly artificial mould in which the German mind casts its productions, together with some lack of common sense in discriminating between important and unimportant matters, may be regarded as one of these causes; and it is one which calls for the sound discretion and independent thought of the compiler from their works, if he would present the results of their labors in the most intelligible and attractive form. The other cause, to which we allude, is the deep, and, for a time, indiscriminate suspicion of heresy that rested on the theological productions of Germany. So many of them were found infected with error, that such a suspicion naturally became too strong for any thing but time and the means of more accurate discrimination to allay. But now the language is more extensively cultivated among us, and the vast difference between different German authors is better known. God, too, has of late years raised up many pious and able men among them, whose character for general soundness in the faith is universally acknowledged, and who have corrected the errors of their skeptical countrymen, and turned their treasures of knowledge to the best account. The consequence is, that while the Christian community, both here and in England, have become better fortified against German error, the indiscriminate suspi

cion has subsided, and a taste for German learning, or rather for thoroughgoing research itself, has vastly increased.

This propitious change is particularly manifest in the departments of Biblical Criticism and Ecclesiastical History. Intimately connected as these two departments are, it could hardly be expected that either should rise or sink alone. Both rose together at the time of the Reformation, under the auspices of Luther, Melancthon, Calvin, Beza and the Magdeburg Centuviators; and both sunk together at a subsequent period. And both are now rising again in company,—biblical criticism having naturally enough taken the lead in this country. Much might be said to our present purpose, on the increased and rapidly increasing means for the pursuit of such literature, from the multiplication and endowment of seminaries, and the increase of books, and the higher demands for learning in the ministry. But both the facts and their influence are too obvious to require illustration.

A further and most powerful cause of the increased attention to the history, especially to the antiquities of the Church, as well as to biblical criticism, is found in the controversies between rival sects, and in the grand contest which the Church as a body has to sustain against her skeptical foes.

When the remarkable era of Bible Societies arose on the Church, near the commencement of our age, she seemed her self, for awhile, awestruck and lost in holy wonder and peaceful delight. The gowned prelate and the humblest dissenting presbyter, the Methodist, the Baptist, the Quaker, the dullest formalist and the most raving fanatic, the Antinomian, the Arminian and even the Socinian,-all found themselves strangely met together, not for some dread and unearthly struggle for final supremacy, but, for the first time, on a common platform, and in the metropolis of Protestantism, in the presence of thousands of every name and grade, with blandest eye and accent, to greet each other as Christian brethren. Delight followed the surprise of so unwonted a meeting; and the surprise increased the delight. How they were all brought there, none could tell. A voice, better than that of the Hermit, seemed to have summoned them to a holier crusade against the common foe. Their pledges of unity appeared, and were sincere. The voice of their cordial greetings rolled far and wide through the ranks of their diverse communions, and were fondly-alas! too fondly-received as the pledge, not only of a new era in Chris

tian activity, but also of a new dispensation, in which the voice of sectarian strife should be heard no more. And, indeed, for a season, a goodly one, the harsh notes of immemorial discord died away to a whisper. It was soon discovered, however, that the age for ending all controversy between religious sects had not yet come; (nor would we by any means intimate that the amicable discussion of disputed points, should ever be entirely dropped in this world ;) it was found, or imagined to be found, that some sects had begun rather adroitly to avail themselves of the quiet truce, for the goodly purpose of bringing all Christendom into a still closer union,-an exact union with their own right views and usages. And, from that moment, whether it were suspicion or fact at first, the wild-fire again spread from sect to sect. For a long time, the voice of contention, if not so harsh and criminating in all sects, has been at least as strong and decided as ever. The temporary suspension, though followed to a good extent by the milder spirit it was fitted to infuse, has yet, by the blasting of hopes so fondly cherished, been likewise followed by a more deliberate and decided purpose, in perhaps every sect, to maintain its own ground and spread its dominion ;-in some with more, in others with less of sectarian zeal and sectarian measures.

In the mean time, every sect has advanced with the rapid advance of our population. And their own increase is carefully registered by many of the sects, and loudly heralded in their periodical reports as though it were a proof that themselves are soon to fill the land. New sects, too, if really new sects there can now be, are rising up, for instance, the Mormons,-all claiming to be the original and genuine stock of Israel.

And there is yet another circumstance bearing directly and strongly on our subject. Nearly all these sects are rapidly rising into eminence in regard to learning, as well as numbers. This is the fact, with more than one which, a few years ago, were glorying in their ignorance; now they have their theological seminaries. They discarded and contemned all traditionary evidence in respect to doctrinal truth and ecclesiastical rites and offices; now they are exploring the antiquities of the church, in zealous quest of proofs in support of their own peculiarities; and sentences from the early fathers grace their controversial pages and are familiarly rehearsed to their congregations.

Instead of complaining, however, we count it all joy that it is so. A resort to this additional and legitimate source of argu