RECORDS OF THE CHURCH.

No. III.

THE HOLY CHURCH THROUGHOUT ALL THE WORLD DOTH ACKNOWLEDGE THEE.

The Apostle St. John and the Robber.

(From the Church History of Eusebius.)

LISTEN to a tale, which is no mere tale, but a true story, which has been handed down and kept in memory, of John the Apostle. For when the Roman Emperor was dead, and St. John had returned to Ephesus from his banishment in the island of Patmos, he went over to the neighbouring counties; in some places to appoint Bishops, in some to establish new Churches, in others to separate to the Ministry some one of those whom the SPIRIT pointed out to him. At length he arrived at a city not very far from Ephesus, of which some even give the name; and after he had refreshed the brethren, he turned at last to the Bishop, whom he had appointed, and having observed a youth of goodly stature, comely appearance, and of an ardent spirit, "Here," he said, "is a deposit which I earnestly commend to your care, in the sight of CHRIST and the Church." And after the Bishop had accepted the charge, and had promised all that was required of him, he repeated the same request, and with the same solemn form of words. Accordingly the Elder, taking to his home the youth intrusted to him, bred, controlled, fostered, and at last admitted him to baptism. After this he relaxed somewhat of his constant care and watchfulness, as having placed upon him the seal of the LORD, that last and best preservative from evil. But the other, having thus obtained his liberty too early, was taken hold of by certain idle and profligate youths of his own age, themselves habituated to wickedness. At first they lure him on by expensive revellings, next they carry him along with them on a thieving ex

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pedition by night, and then they beg him to join them in some still greater crime. By little and little he became habituated to vice, and then through the hotness of his nature, starting like a hardmouthed and spirited horse out of the right path, and taking as it were the bit into his mouth, rushed so much the more violently down the precipice. Finally, despairing of the salvation which is by GOD, he was no longer contented with mere petty offences; but, as he was now altogether lost, would fain do some great thing, and disdained to suffer but an equal punishment with the rest. He took therefore with him these same companions, and having got together a band of robbers, became their ready leader, and of all the most violent, the most bloody, the most cruel.

An interval elapsed; and upon some need falling out in the Church, the men of the city again called upon John to visit them. After he had set in order the things for which he came, “Come," said he to the Bishop, "give me back the deposit which I and CHRIST Committed to thee in the sight of the Church over which you preside." The Bishop was at first amazed, for he thought that John was unjustly charging him with money which had not been really given him, and knew not either how to credit a demand for what he had never received, or how to discredit the Apostle. But when he said plainly, "It is the youth I demand of thee, the soul of a brother," the old man groaned from the bottom of his heart, and shedding a few tears at the thought, answered him, “He is dead." "How then did he die, and by what death?" "He is dead," he said, "to GoD, for he has ended in becoming wicked and abandoned, and to sum up all, a robber, and now instead of the Church, he has taken to the hills with an armed band of robbers like himself." Then the Apostle tore his garment, and uttering a loud wail, beat his head, and said, "A careful guardian truly I left of the soul of my brother, but bring me a horse, and let me have some one to guide me on my way." So he rode away from the Church, just as he was, and when he came to the place, being taken by the outposts of the robbers, he neither fled from them, nor asked for mercy, but cried out, “ For this purpose came I, bring me to your chief." He in the mean time, in the armour he wore, waited for his approach. When, however, he recognised St. John, as he drew near, he was filled with shame, and turned and fled. But the Apostle followed after him with all his strength,

forgetful of his years, and calling out, "Why do you fly from me, my son, me your father, unarmed, and stricken in years; pity me, my son, and fear me not. Thou hast yet hope of life. I will give account for thee to CHRIST; yea, if it be needful, I will willingly undergo the death for thee, even as our LORD the death for us. For thee will I render up my breath. Stay and believe; CHRIST hath sent me." But the young man, when he heard his words, first stood still, with eyes cast down to the ground; next threw away his arms, and then trembling, wept bitterly. And when the old man drew nigh to him, he threw his arms around him, and besought pardon, as best he could, with his groans, and was baptized as it were a second time, with tears, hiding only his blood-stained hand. But John, with promises and solemn protestations of his having obtained his pardon from the SAVIOUR, besought him, nay, knelt to him, and kissed the very right hand he had withheld from him, as already cleansed by change of heart; and so brought him back to the Church. Finally, interceding for him, sometimes in frequent prayers, sometimes striving together with him in long continued fasts, and sometimes soothing his spirit with various holy texts, he departed not, so they tell us, till he had fully reinstated him in the Church, and had thus set forth a mighty example of true change of heart, and a mighty proof of regeneration, a trophy as it were of a visible resurrection.

Here we see sinners baptized, taught, and brought to repentance by the Holy Church, at the hands of the Apostles, and the Bishops whom they have appointed.

Conduct of St. John the Apostle, and his Disciple Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, towards the false teachers, Cerinthus and Marcion.

(In the words of Irenæus, Bishop of Lyons, in France.)

WHEN Polycarp visited Rome at the time Anicetus was Bishop there, he converted many heretics to the Church of God, declaring that he had received from the Apostles that one and only doctrine, which the Church has delivered to us. And there are those who heard him say, that John the LORD's Disciple, who lived at Ephesus, having gone to a bath, and finding Cerinthus within, rushed out without bathing, with the exclamation, "Let us fly, lest the bath fall in, while Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is in it."

And Polycarp himself was once met and addressed by Marcion, in these words: "Do you acknowledge me ?" "Yes," he replied, "I acknowledge you to be the first-born of Satan."

Such caution did the Apostles and their Disciples observe, lest they should hold intercourse even by word of mouth with any of those who adulterate the truth: as says St. Paul too; "A man that is an heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject; knowing that he that is such, is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself."

Hence we learn to avoid false teachers, after the pattern of the Blessed Apostle and his Disciple, even though it inconvenience us to do so.

[NEW EDITION.]

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RECORDS OF THE CHURCH.

No. IV.

THE HOLY CHURCH THROUGHOUT ALL THE WORLD DOTH ACKNOWLEDGE THEE.

Epistle of Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, the friend of St. Peter and of St. John, on his way to Martyrdom, to Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna.

IGNATIUS, called also Theophorus, to Polycarp, of the Church at Smyrna, Bishop [overseer]: yea, rather himself over seen by GOD the FATHER, and the LORD JESUS CHRIST, All hail!

I. WELCOMING thy godly disposition founded as upon an immoveable rock, I glorify Him, in that I have been honoured by thy unblameable presence, which may I enjoy in GOD. I beseech thee, in the grace wherewith thou art clad, to press onwards in thy course, and to exhort all men that they may be saved. Assert thy station in all diligence, both of flesh and spirit; have a care for unity, than which nothing is better. Bear with all men, as the LORD with thee; endure all men in love as thou dost; devote thyself to prayers without ceasing; ask for more understanding than thou hast; watch, being possessed of a sleepless spirit; speak unto every one as GoD shall enable thee: as a finished combatant, endure the diseases of all; for where labour abounds, there is much gain.

II. For in that thou lovest good disciples, thou hast not thank yea, rather with mildness bring into subjection the more mischievous. Not every wound is treated with the same application; paroxysms assuage by emollient medicine. Become in

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