It would seem as if the Great Head of the Church permitted these early writers to commit the grossest mistakes, and to propound the most foolish theories, for the express purpose of teaching us that we are not implicitly to follow their guidance.  It might have been thought that authors, who flourished on the borders of apostolic times, knew more of the mind of the Spirit than others who appeared in succeeding ages; but the truths of Scripture, like the phenomena of the visible creation, are equally intelligible to all generations.  If we possess spiritual discernment, the trees and the flowers will display the wisdom and the goodness of God as distinctly to us as they did to our first parents; and, if we have the “unction from the Holy One,” we may enter into the meaning of the Scriptures as fully as did Justin Martyr or Irenaeus.  To assist us in the interpretation of the New Testament, we have at command a critical apparatus of which they were unable to avail themselves.  Jehovah is jealous of the honour of His Word, and He has inscribed in letters of light over the labours of its most ancient interpreters—­ “CEASE YE FROM MAN.”  The “opening of the Scriptures,” so as to exhibit their beauty, their consistency, their purity, their wisdom, and their power, is the clearest proof that the commentator is possessed of “the key of knowledge.”  When tried by this test, Thomas Scott or Matthew Henry is better entitled to confidence than either Origen or Gregory Thaumaturgus.  The Bible is its own safest expositor.  “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.”

CHAPTER II.

THE IGNATIAN EPISTLES AND THEIR CLAIMS. THE EXTERNAL EVIDENCE.

The Epistles attributed to Ignatius have attracted greater notice, and have created more discussion, than any other uninspired writings of the same extent in existence.  The productions ascribed to this author, and now reputed genuine by the most learned of their recent editors, might all be printed on the one-fourth of a page of an ordinary newspaper; and yet, the fatigue of travelling thousands of miles has been encountered, [389:1] for the special purpose of searching after correct copies of these highly-prized memorials.  Large volumes have been written, either to establish their authority, or to prove that they are forgeries; and, if collected together, the books in various languages to which they have given birth, would themselves form a considerable library.  Recent discoveries have thrown new light on their pretensions, but though the controversy has now continued upwards of three hundred years, it has not hitherto reached a satisfactory termination. [390:1]