Read Ebook: An Account of the Life and Writings of S. Irenæus Bishop of Lyons and Martyr Intended to Illustrate the Doctrine Discipline Practices and History of the Church and the Tenets and Practices of the Gnostic Heretics During the Second Century by Beaven James

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DEDICATION.

To the Memory

Edward Burton, D.D.

Late Regius Professor Of Divinity In The University Of Oxford,

The Author Of This Work

Was First Led To Study, With Care And Attention,

The Writings Of

This Father and Martyr.

It Is Now Dedicated And Inscribed;

As A Humble Acknowledgement Of His Extensive Learning,

His Remarkable Singleness Of Mind,

And The Cordial Assistance He Ever Rendered

To Younger Travellers

In The Same Path Which He Himself Pursued.

PREFACE

It was, perhaps, somewhat presumptuous in a person occupying so humble a station in the sacred ministry to offer to the Church a work which would necessarily induce comparisons between itself and the similar productions of a Prelate of the Church--a Divine of the highest rank and character. The author can, however, at least say, that it was no foolish ambition which led to his employing himself on such a work. Having been led by circumstances to a repeated perusal and study of the writings of S. Irenaeus, he saw the great value of his testimony to the leading principles and doctrines of the Church of England. He had himself derived much benefit from the works of Bishop Kaye on others of the Fathers; he thought that if he could do nothing more than to draw out the substance of the doctrine and opinions of Irenaeus for the use of the student in theology, in a more accessible form than that in which he himself had to look for it, accompanied by the text of the portions from which he had formed his statements, and with a little illustration of the meaning in passages liable to misunderstanding,--he should have rendered a service to his younger brethren: and if it should so happen that that distinguished Prelate or any other writer did anticipate him, it would be so much clear gain to himself to have been so employed. When he had completed his first preparations, and had learnt by proper inquiry that the Illustrator of Justin, Clement, and Tertullian was not engaged on Irenaeus, he endeavoured to put the work somewhat into form: and being afterwards encouraged by one upon whose judgment and acquirements public opinion had set its stamp, and who had seen portions of the work, to believe that it possessed a certain degree of value,--he ventured to bring it into public notice in the only way which appeared open to him.

He desires here to record his sense of the most kind and most hearty encouragement he has met with from persons of all ranks and classes, capable of appreciating a work of this description, or of aiding in its publication: more especially of that afforded him by her Majesty THE QUEEN DOWAGER, by the Most Reverend and Right Reverend Prelates who have honoured him with their support, by the many persons distinguished either for station or for literary eminence, whose names will be found in the subjoined list, and by the warm-hearted friends, both of the clergy and of the laity, with whom he is either locally or personally connected.

His work, such as it is, he now sends forth, trusting that, through the blessing of the Divine HEAD of the Church, it may be available to the great ends of the ministry to which he has been called, and may tend to the unity, the strength, and the stability of the Church.

Before, however, he takes his leave of his readers, he wishes to add a few words on the Right Use of the Writings of the Fathers.

Again, when not writing controversially, if we are aware that they laboured under any particular prejudice or bias, either towards any particular opinion or state of feeling, or against any particular class or individual, which is liable to affect their statements,--then likewise we must view them with caution.

On the other hand, when we have no evidence of any circumstance likely to pervert their perceptions, or to exaggerate their statements, it is obvious that they must be taken at their full value.

But, as has been already stated, it is possible for an individual to be led away by controversy, or prejudice, or party bias; and therefore, when he is manifestly under any such influence, it is well to be on our guard. For that and other reasons, in any matter of serious doubt, it is impossible to rest upon the word of any single writer; but we use him as a link in the chain of evidence as to the doctrine taught from the beginning by the united universal Church.

Some contend that, however reasonable in the abstract this sort of appeal to the Fathers may appear, it is beset with such difficulties, that it is useless in practice: that we have so few early writings, that those we have are so adulterated, that we have so many forgeries in the names of early writers, that the writings of the Fathers are so difficult to understand, that they so often give the opinions of others without any intimation that they are not their own, that they so constantly altered their views as they grew older, and that it so frequently happened that the men who are now of most note were in a minority of their contemporaries,--that it is practically useless to attempt to apply the Fathers to modern use.

Now I do not deny that there is something in these difficulties; otherwise they would not have been brought forward at all. No doubt we have but few writings of sub-apostolical times: but then we must use such as we have, and illustrate their sense by such methods as are in our power; and we shall find that they give a clear and consistent testimony to several important matters, both of doctrine and of discipline. It might be true, when Daill? first wrote, that the very important epistles of S. Ignatius were much adulterated: but it is not so now; the genuine copies having become known to the world in his time: neither is it true to any considerable extent of subsequent writers; and when it is, it simply presents a difficulty, which must be surmounted as we best can, or must cast a doubt over any particular writing. Sermons and popular treatises of writers of note were often altered in transcribing; just as we, in these days, re-publish popular books with omissions and alterations suited to the change of times, or to the shade of difference between our own views and those of the writer: and for that reason works of that description, however useful for devotional reading and instruction, must be brought forward in controversy with more caution than others, and sometimes set aside altogether. In short there is need of judgment and discrimination in the use of the Fathers; and that is the whole amount of this difficulty. With regard to the difficulty of understanding them, that is of course a matter of degree, dependent upon the acquaintance of the student with the original languages, as used in the age and country of the writers, upon his acquaintance with Church history and the state of controversy, upon the degree of prejudice or false doctrine with which his own mind is imbued: but I do not think that they present nearly so much difficulty as the Platonical writers, which many persons study with great interest. As to the Fathers giving the opinions of others without intimating that they are so, that is no more than St. Paul himself does; and it very seldom occurs. So no doubt, like all other persons, they modify their views and occasionally change them, as they grow older: but that is, for the most part, only in subordinate matters, and it is very rarely that the circumstance presents any practical difficulty. Finally, that men whose name has become great amongst posterity were in a minority in their own age, is no doubt true in some instances: but when it is so, it can be ascertained, and must be allowed for; and when it cannot be ascertained it must not be surmised. And even where they were so, as in the case of Athanasius, they may be connected with a majority in preceding and subsequent ages.

So that these objections are partly such difficulties as occur in every study, and partly flimsy unpractical cavils, not worth dwelling upon.

But supposing that the writings of the Fathers are intelligible upon many points, another class of objections arises. It is asserted that they were themselves often mistaken, that they even contradict one another, and in short that no class or party is really willing to abide by their decision.

Now to quote sentences of the Fathers, as we do texts of Holy Writ, as being infallibly conclusive, can only be done in ignorance or in bad faith; because every person acquainted with them knows that, like all uninspired writers, they differ from each other and from themselves. But if we simply quote them as persons whose opinion or testimony ought to have with us very great weight, either for what they were in themselves, or for the age in which they lived, this is a quite different matter; it is constantly done in the Homilies of the Church; and there surely can be no valid objection to it. We do not hesitate to appeal to the judgment of the great lights of our own Church, and to regard their dicta as not to be lightly questioned, partly for their own learning, judgment, and piety, partly for the era in which they flourished, we give them authority over our own minds, and in deciding controversies between ourselves; and what valid objection can be raised to our giving corresponding weight to the worthies of more ancient times? And as the earliest writers conversed either with Apostles, or with those who had heard the Apostles, it is natural to attribute greater weight to their words than to those of subsequent writers. And what if they do show whilst writing, that they had no anticipation of being guides to posterity? what if they caution us against trusting them implicitly, and recommend us to search the Scriptures for ourselves? what if they were sometimes in error? Do not all these circumstances apply to those more modern authors whom we do not hesitate to recognize as, in themselves, authorities? and why then should we be reluctant to yield to the more ancient that authority, as individuals, which all subsequent time has accorded to them? Authority may be great without being infallible. Authority may have weighty influence upon the judgment without directly binding the conscience.

These remarks and arguments are capable of being stated much more fully, and of being illustrated by instances throughout; but to do so would require a separate treatise; and it has been thought better to produce them thus nakedly than to omit them altogether.

It is proper to state that the editions of Irenaeus and of other Fathers referred to are chiefly the Benedictine: Clement of Alexandria is quoted in the edition of Klotz, and Eusebius in that of Zimmermann.

SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES.

Her Majesty Adelaide The Queen Dowager.

The Most Reverend William Howley, D.D., Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England, 2 copies.

The Most Reverend Edward Harcourt, D.C.L., Lord Archbishop of York, Primate of England.

The Most Reverend John George Beresford, D.D., Lord Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of all Ireland.

The Right Reverend Edward Maltby, D.D., Lord Bishop of Durham.

The Right Reverend John Kaye, D.D., Lord Bishop of Lincoln.

The Right Reverend Christopher Bethell, D.D., Lord Bishop of Bangor.

The Right Reverend Edward Coplestone, D.D., Lord Bishop of Llandaff.

The Right Reverend Richard Bagot, D.D., Lord Bishop of Oxford.

The Right Reverend Joseph Allen, D.D., Lord Bishop of Ely.

The Right Reverend Charles Thomas Longley, D.D., Lord Bishop of Ripon.

The Right Reverend Edward Denison, D.D., Lord Bishop of Salisbury.

The Right Reverend James Bowstead, D.D., Lord Bishop of Lichfield.

The Right Reverend Connop Thirlwall, D.D., Lord Bishop of St. David's.

Acland, Sir T. Dyke, Bart., M.P., Killerton, Devon.

Allen, Rev. Henry, Vicar of St. Mary-le-Wigford, Lincoln.

Anderson, Rev. J. S. M., Perpetual Curate of St. George's, Brighton.

Andrews, Mr., Bookseller, Durham.

Andrews, Rev. W., Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford.

Anson, Very Rev. Frederic, D.D., Dean of Chester.

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