it happens that, sometimes, the excommunicated person is still in reality a member of the Church, and he who appears to belong to the Church, is the real excommunicated person."

Tertullian (concerning Chastity, chap. xxi.) denies most strenuously that the Priest has the power of forgiving sins of unchastity, which he declares heinous sins, which God alone can forgive. The Bishop can only forgive lighter offences; but greater ones, God alone. "Produce to me an example, drawn from the Apostles or the Prophets, which assigns to thee the power of forgiving such sins. As only the duty of regulating the discipline has been committed to thee, and thou art not a ruler but a servant, how canst thou arrogate to thyself the right of forgiving sins? On what grounds dost thou ascribe this right to the Church? Is it because the Lord (Matt. xvi.) said to St. Peter, On this rock I will build my Church;' or, because he said, 'Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven?' If on this account thou pretendest that the power of binding and loosing is transmitted to thee also, thou presumest to alter and to destroy the evident meaning of the Lord, who said this only to St. Peter personally. Jesus says, 'I will give thee,' not, I will give the Church, the key; and whatsoever thou, not they, (the Bishops) shalt bind or lose.' The power here delegated to St. Peter referred, not to the heinous sins of believers, (but to unbelievers," as Tertullian had already maintained in the 18th chapter.) "The Church is the spirit, which operates in the spiritual man. But the Bishops are not the Church; and judgment and decision belong to the Lord, and not to his servant; to God himself, and not to his priest."

Cyprian, in his book concerning the fallen, writes, "Let no man deceive or impose upon himself. The Lord alone can exercise mercy. He alone, who bare our sins, whom God offered for our offences, can impart forgiveness of those transgressions which have been committed against God. Man cannot be greater than God; and the servant cannot, by virtue of his own absolution, presume to forgive a grievous sin which has been committed against his Lord, and thus add to the guilt of the sinner, by imputing to him ignorance of the declaration, (Jerem. xvii. 5.) Cursed be the man that trusteth in man.'

II.

What is required to be saved?

HERMAS, in his Shepherd, (book ii. chap. vii.) "Fear God, and you shall live. All who fear Him and obey His commandments, their life is with the Lord; they, who do not obey Him, have not life."

Irenæus, against the Heretics, (book iv. chap. xv. §. 1.) God has first warned man by the laws of nature, which he implanted in him from the beginning, that is, by the Ten Commandments, He who does not observe these, cannot be saved."

Cyprian, on the Lord's Prayer: "Since the Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, is come for the benefit of all, and, collecting learned and unlearned, has given to every sex and age the commandments of salvation; He comprised His commandments within a very small compass, that they, who learnt the heavenly doctrine, might easily commit to memory, and quickly learn, what is necessary for simple belief. When He, therefore, intended to teach on what the obtainment of eternal life depends, He reduced the mys tery of salvation into the short divine words, (St. John xvii. 3.) And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.' In the same manner, when He intended to select the first and most important commandment from the Law and the Prophets, He said, 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one God; and thou shalt love Him with all thy heart, with all thy soul, &c.'"

III. (a)

That it is of no consequence to the truth whether it be old

or new.

TERTULLIAN, (concerning virgins taking the veil, chap. i.) "Our Lord Jesus Christ called himself the Truth, not Tradition. As Christ is eternal and more ancient than all,

so is truth an eternal and ancient thing. Heresies will be known as such, not by their newness, but by the truth. What is contrary to the truth is a heresy, although it be an ancient usage." The same in chap. xvi. "I defend my opinion by Scripture, by nature, and by moral feeling. The Scripture, as well as nature and moral feeling, all proceed from God. What is contrary to these is not divine. Should the Scripture be obscure, nature is distinct; should nature be doubtful, moral feeling shews what is acceptable to God."

Arnobius, (against the Heathens, Book II.): "Our cause which we produce (Religion) is new, but it will become old; your's is old, but when it began it was new and strange. The value of a religion is not to be estimated by its antiquity, but by its divinity; (numine); and a man must consider what he worships, not when he began to worship it."

Lactantius, (The instruction concerning Divine Things, book II. chap. viii.) "Since the desire of truth is implanted in all men, those persons renounce the love of truth, who, without any judgment of their own, approve of all the ideas of their forefathers, and, like irrational creatures, suffer themselves to be led by others. What prevents us from following the example of our heathen forefathers, viz. that, as they transmitted to their posterity the falsehood discovered by them, we should, in the same manner, transmit to our posterity the truth, the better part dişcovered by us."

Cyprian, in his thirty-first Letter: "Some who are compelled to yield to our arguments, in vain oppose usages against us, as if usage had more weight than the truth, or as if, in spiritual things, we were not to follow the better part, which the Holy Spirit reveals." And, in the seventyfourth letter: "Usage cannot prevent the truth from becoming victorious. For an usage, which is not true, is an old error."

III. (b)

THE Emperor, Constantine the Great, wrote thus (about the year 314 to his prefect in Africa, respecting a dispute

which had arisen concerning Bishop Caecilian, in Carthage*.
"To settle the dispute I have commanded Cæcilian, as well
as some of his opponents, to appear personally in Rome.
For I had before determined that some Bishops from both
Gauls should repair to my city of Rome, (ad urbem nos-
tram, Romam), that both these, and the Bishop of the city
of Rome, might bring the matter to a proper conclusion.
These have now informed me of all that has been done in
your presence, and laid the acts before me, and have, be-
sides, verbally assured me, that they had decided accord-
ing to the justice of the case, &c." The same Emperor
writes on the same occasion (Mansi, p. 466.) to Bishop
Chrestus at Syracuse. "To put an end to these disputes,
I had commanded that some Bishops from Gaul, and, to-
gether with them, his opponents from Africa, should come
(to Rome) that at the same time, in the presence of the
Bishop of Rome (præsente insuper Romano Episcopo), all
that had arisen into dispute might be adjusted in their
presence by satisfactory investigation." Constantine the
Great summoned, not only the council of Arles, but also
one at Carthage, on account of the Donatists, as well as
the first general council at Nice, in the year 325. He
acted on all occasions as sovereign of the Bishops, and of
the Bishop of Rome.

IV.

THE Roman Bishops were only equal to other Bishops, who
also bore the title Papa.

In the Apostolical Decrees, Book VII. Chap. 46, the
Bishops, who had succeeded the Apostles themselves, are
introduced by name, and the two first Bishops of Rome,
Linus and Clemens, stand there without any distinction
from the Bishops of other cities. In the Eighth Book,
Chap. 10th, it is decreed, "Christians ought to offer
prayers for the whole holy Apostolical Church; for all Bi-
shops; for James, Bishop of Jerusalem; for Clement,
Bishop of Rome; for Evodius," &c.; where, consequently,
the Bishop of Rome stands in the same class as the other
Bishops, and is placed after the Bishop of Jerusalem.

* See the decrees of the Council of Mansi, vol. ii. p. 463.

The Bishops of the Council of Arles, in the year 314,
gave to the Roman Bishop, who was not at the Council,
an account of their Resolutions, in a letter (Mansi, Vol. II.
p. 469.) wherein they say, "Adhering faithfully to the
common bond of brotherhood, and to the unity of our Mo-
ther, the National Church, we, who at the command of the
Emperor, assembled at the city of Arles, greet you, praise-
worthy Father (Papa) with due reverence. For it seemed
good to us (placuit), that all should be informed of our
Resolutions, by means of thee, and through thee, who hast
a larger diocese."

The letters of Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, and his cor-
respondence with the Roman Bishops, are peculiarly im-
portant. The Roman Clergy give to Cyprian, the title
Papa, (for instance, in the 30th and 31st Letters,) and
say in a Letter (the 2d) to the clergy of Carthage, "We
have heard that the blessed Papa (Pope) Cyprian is dead."
Cyprian, in his Letters, (the 3d and 52d) to the Bishop of
Rome, not only calls him his colleague, but treats him
throughout only as a colleague, and not as a superior.
The most important parts of his correspondence with Rome,
the genuineness of which is unquestionable, are, perhaps,
the following. He writes, in the 29th Letter to the Clergy
of Rome, "Mutual regard, as well as our relationship, de-
mand that we conceal from you nothing that we under-
take, that, in what regards the interest of the Church, we
may form common resolutions." The Roman Clergy an-
swer thereupon (Letter 13th), "Thou hast acted in thy
usual manner, in acquainting us with a matter which ex-
cites apprehension. It is incumbent upon us all to provide
for the body of the whole Church, the members of which
are dispersed over different provinces." The Roman Clergy
write further (Letter 31st) to Cyprian, "Although an
honest mind is satisfied with the approbation of God, and
neither seeks the praise of others, nor fears their censure,
those, however, deserve a double praise, who, while they
are conscious that they are only responsible to the judg-
ment of God, wish, however, to see their actions approved
by their brethren. That thou, dear brother Cyprian, dost
this, is not to be wondered at, since, according to thy na-
tural modesty and care, thou considerest us not only as
judges, but rather as partakers of thy resolutions, that we,