his precedence was but nominal, and those, who might have been competent to point out the delusion, had no wish to give offence, by attacking the fond conceit of a friendly and prosperous prelate.  But when the scene changed, and when the Empire found another capital, the acumen of the bishop of the rival metropolis soon discovered a sounder exposition; and Chrysostom of Constantinople, at once the greatest preacher and the best commentator of antiquity, ignored the folly of Tertullian and of Cyprian.  “Upon the rock,” says he, “that is, upon the faith of the apostle’s confession,” [362:1] the Church is built.  “Christ said that he would build His Church on Peter’s confession.” [362:2] Soon afterwards, the greatest divine connected with the Western Church, and the most profound theologian among the fathers, pointed out, still more distinctly, the true meaning of the passage.  “Our Lord declares,” says Augustine, “On this rock I will found my Church, because Peter had said:  Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.  On this rock, which thou hast confessed, He declares I will build my Church, for Christ was the rock on whose foundation Peter himself was built; for other foundation hath no man laid than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus.” [362:3] In the Italian capital, the words on which the power of the Papacy is understood to rest are exhibited in gigantic letters within the dome of St Peter’s; but their exhibition only proves that the Church of Rome has lost the key of knowledge; for, though she would fain appeal to Scripture, she shews that she does not understand the meaning of its testimony; and, closing her eyes against the light supplied by the best and wisest of the fathers, she persists in adhering to a false interpretation.

SECTION II.

     THE LITERATURE AND THEOLOGY OF THE CHURCH.

CHAPTER I.

THE ECCLESIASTICAL WRITERS.

By “the Fathers” we understand the writers of the ancient Christian Church.  The name is, however, of rather vague application, for though generally employed to designate only the ecclesiastical authors of the first six centuries, it is extended, occasionally, to distinguished theologians who flourished in the middle ages.

The fathers of the second and third centuries have a strong claim on our attention.  Living on the verge of apostolic times, they were acquainted with the state of the Church when it had recently passed from under the care of its inspired founders; and, as witnesses to its early traditions, their testimony is of peculiar value.  But the period before us produced comparatively few authors, and a considerable portion of its literature has perished.  There have been modern divines, such as Calvin and Baxter, who have each left behind a more voluminous array of publications than now survives from all the fathers of these two hundred years.  Origen was by far the most prolific of the writers who flourished during this interval, but the greater number of his productions have been lost; and yet those which remain, if translated into English, would amount to nearly triple the bulk of our authorised version of the Bible.  His extant works are, however, more extensive than all the other memorials of this most interesting section of the history of the Church.