POLYCARP

POLYCARP, bishop of Smyrna, who had been a disciple of the apostle John, according to Irenæus, wrote several epistles, but only one is now extant, addressed to the Church at Philippi. This epistle appears to have been written soon after the death of Ignatius, as it refers to his patience under suffering, and requests any information which the Philippians had obtained respecting him. It teaches the charitable spirit of Christian piety, and is valuable from containing many scriptural expressions and frequent quotations of the recorded words of Christ. It consists of thirteen sections, but the original Greek of the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth is lost, and they have been preserved in an ancient Latin version. As Polycarp suffered martyrdom in the reign of Marcus Aurelius, A.D. 167, in the ninetieth year of his age, his epistle to the Philippians was probably written before the middle of the second century.

Another class of the fathers of the church are the Apologists, who in the order of time immediately succeeded the Apostolical Fathers. The first of these is QUADRATUS, an evangelist or Christian teacher not connected with any particular church, but travelling about as a missionary to preach the gospel. His Apology has unfortunately not come down to us, but Eusebius has preserved the following remarkable passage from it:—

"The works of our Saviour were always to be seen, for they were real. Those that were healed and those that were raised from the dead were seen, not only when they were healed or raised, but they were always there; not only whilst he dwelt on the earth, but also after his departure, which they long survived, so that some of them have lived even to our own times."²

The first of the Apologists whose writings have come down to our times is JUSTIN MARTYR. He was a Samaritan by birth, and successively adopted the tenets of the Stoics, the Peripatetics, the Pythagoreans, and the Platonists, probably not so much from a taste for speculative inquiries, as from a longing after some stable ground of religious conviction. Having discovered by experience the insufficiency and emptiness of these systems of philosophy, he seems to have been attracted to Christianity by the courage and constancy with which its adherents endured the sufferings inflicted upon them by their persecutors.

"I was once," says he, "an admirer of the doctrines of Plato, and I heard the Christians abused; but when I saw them meet death and all that is accounted terrible among men without dismay, I knew it to be impossible that they should live in sin and lust. I despised the opinion of the multitude. I glory in being a Christian, and take every pains to prove myself worthy of my calling."³ The conversion of Justin Martyr is supposed to have taken place about the year 133

Fathers. A.D. He wrote two Apologies for Christianity; the first addressed to Antoninus Pius, the second probably to Marcus Aurelius. They are valuable compositions, not only because they contain the most convincing arguments which had then been published in defence of Christianity, but also because they give numerous quotations from the four Gospels, and relate many interesting facts respecting the religious customs and ceremonies of the Christians of those early ages. Next to the Apologies, the largest and most important work of Justin is his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew. The object of this treatise is to prove that Jesus is the Messiah predicted and promised in the Old Testament Scriptures, and to vindicate the doctrines of Christianity against the objections of the Jews. It contains a good deal of useful matter, mixed up, however, with not a few weak arguments, as well as trifling and even erroneous interpretations of Scripture. It is probable that it was composed at a later period than either of the Apologies. Another production which bears his name is entitled an Admonition to the Gentiles. Its design is to convince the heathen of the insufficiency of their popular mythology as well as of their philosophical doctrines, and of the necessity of a divine revelation. It is supposed to be the same treatise which is cited by Eusebius and Photius under the title of The Refutation. A Short Address to the Gentiles is ascribed to Justin, but it differs from the style of his genuine writings, and its title is not to be found in the ancient indexes to his works. His book against Marcion, and a work which he wrote against all the heretical sects of his day, have both perished. The fragment of a treatise on the Resurrection was published under the name of Justin, by John of Damascus, in the eighth century, but its genuineness is extremely doubtful. The letter to Diognetus on the characteristics of the Christian worship compared with paganism and with Judaism, which is found among the works of Justin, has been classed, on high authority, among the finest remains of Christian antiquity. Its style and turn of thought, however, as well as the silence of ancient writers, prove that it could not have come from his hand, although it bears unmistakable evidence of high antiquity.

After the death of Justin Martyr, TATIAN of Assyria, who had been educated a heathen, and was converted by him during a visit which he made to Rome, wrote a discourse to the Gentiles, in which he vindicates the "philosophy of the barbarians" against the contempt of the Greeks, who, nevertheless, had received from them originally the germs of all science and arts. He was followed by Athenagoras, who addressed his apology to the emperor Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus. A work from the pen of Athenagoras, in defence of the doctrine of the Resurrection, has come down to our day. THEOPHILUS, bishop of Antioch, in the reign of the emperor Commodus, wrote an apologetical work in three books, which displays great learning and power of thought. He also wrote a treatise against Marcion and Hermogenes, and composed commentaries on various portions of the sacred scriptures.

The most prominent of the Apologists next to Justin Martyr was IRENEUS, who was bishop of Lyons about the year 178 A.D. His principal work is his Refutation of the Gnostic System, in five books, which contains a confutation of most of the errors which had then appeared in the church. It has come down to us, for the most part, only in the old Latin translation, together with some fragments of the Greek original. Many of the writings of Irenæus are known to us merely by their names. Two of his epistles possess an historical interest on account of their object. One of these is supposed to have been addressed to Blastus, who was probably a presbyter in the Church of Rome, and who had occasioned a division in that church, by adhering to the custom of Asia Minor with regard to the time of holding

Easter. The other epistle was addressed to Florinus, a presbyter with whom Irenæus in early youth had enjoyed the society and instructions of the venerable Polycarp, and who appears to have taught that God was the author of evil. "These doctrines," says the venerable writer, in his appeal to his former companion, "the elders who preceded us, who associated also with the apostles, did not teach thee; for while I was yet a boy, I saw thee in company with Polycarp in Asia Minor; for I bear in remembrance what happened then better than what happens now. What we have heard in childhood grows along with the soul, and becomes one with it; so that I can describe the place in which the blessed Polycarp sat and spake—his going in and out—his manner of life, and the shape of his person—the discourses which he delivered to the congregation—how he told of his intercourse with John, and with the rest who had seen the Lord—how he reported their sayings, and what he had heard from them respecting the Lord, his miracles and his doctrine. As he had received all from the eye-witnesses of his life, he narrated it in accordance with scripture. These things, by virtue of the grace of God imparted to me, I listened to even then with eagerness, and wrote them down not on paper, but in my heart; and by the grace of God I constantly bring them up again fresh before my memory."¹ All the writings of Irenæus which have come down to us display the peculiarly practical character of his mind in his mode both of conceiving and treating the doctrines of the gospel; and while they manifest his zeal for the great fundamental truths of our holy faith, they at the same time show his sincere aversion to religious dissensions, and his moderation and liberality of mind in all controversies about unessential matters.