NERVA. he is supposed to have been one of those men who windered from country to country, boasting of Divine revelations and supernatural powers. A life of him was written by Philostratus, at the close of the second century, in which marvellous stories are related concerning him. Dr. Burton ranks him amongst those fictitious characters which some of the opponents of Christianity used to set up as rivals of our Saviour and his Apostles in the working of miracles. In the second and third century his name was employed with a view to weaken the effect that was produced by the evidence of miracles: it was asserted, not that Jesus had worked no miracles, but that Apollonius had worked greater. The Apostle 73. We have seen that John was banished to Patmos by Domitian. Soon after the death of Timothy, he took advantage of Nerva's edict and returned to Ephesus, and was invested with the care of the Church at that place. It is supposed that he wrote his Epistles and Gospel, as well as the Revelations, after his return. Many suppose St. John's Gospel to have been the last of the Holy Scriptures. The other three Evangelists had shown the humanity of Jesus Christ-St. John manifested his Divinity. Two reasons are assigned by the ancients for the writing of this Gospel. First, to refute the Gnostic heresy,* *Michaelis says that "thetics, who used the words λoyos, positions maintained in the first | ζωή, φῶς, μονογενής, πλήρωμα, fourteen verses are antitheses to &c., as technical terms of their positions maintained by the Gnos-philosophy. 73. Who was the last surviving Apostle? Where and in the reign of what Roman emperor did he die? What reasons have been assigned for writing St. John's Gospel? which denied our Saviour's Divinity, and His existence before His incarnation; wherefore St. John begins with asserting, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Secondly, to confirm the history of the other three Evangelists, and supply their omissions. St. John is said to have died at Ephesus, in the reign of Trajan, about the end of the first century, having attained the age of 100 years or more, and having outlived the rest of the Apostles by many years. Canon of } 74. The canon* of Scripture, that is, the authorized and received catalogue of the Scripture. sacred books, is sometime said to have been settled by St. John. We are not, however, to understand by this that he collected all the books of the New Testament, and formally sanctioned them by his authority: it is enough that the fact that John acknowledged the genuineness and authenticity of the books of the New Testament cannot be doubted. As to the time when and the persons by whom they were collected into one body or volume, the learned are not agreed. It was necessary at an early period that some authorized catalogue should be prepared, in consequence of the spurious writings that were circulated and we know that before the middle of the second century most of the books composing the New Testament+ *From кavov, a rule. †The genuineness of the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Epistles of James and Jude, the last Epistles of Peter and John, and NERVA. 74. By whom is the canon of Scripture said to have been settled? In what sense are we to understand this? Why was it necessary to prepare an authorized catalogue of the Holy Writings? NERVA, were regarded as the Divine rule of faith and practice in every Christian Church throughout the world. Fates of the 75. The joint testimony of sacred and profane writers informs us of little more concerning the Apostles than that, after a succession of dangers, difficulties, and distresses, many of them closed a laborious life by a painful and ignominious death, We have seen that James the son of Zebedee and James the Just received their martyr's crown at Jerusalem, and Peter and Paul at Rome; and that John died at Ephesus. Many fabulous stories are related of some others of the Apostles; but of authentic information concerning them we have very little indeed. 76. Those authors who are known to The Apostolic have been pupils of the Apostles have Fathers. acquired the name of the Apostolic Fathers. They are five in number, namely, Clemens Romanus, Ignatius, Polycarp, Hermas, and Barnabas. Among the writers of the early days of Christianity, the most distinguished place, after the inspired penmen, is due to (1) Clement, third Bishop of Rome, supposed to have been the friend and fellow-labourer of St. Paul. The accounts we have of his early life are for the most part uncertain, but probably he was a Roman, educated at Athens, and converted to Christianity upon discovering the unsatisfactory foundations of heathen philosophy. There are extant two Epistles to the Corinthians which have been ascribed to him; but the second is generally reputed not genuine. The Epistle which is acconnted genuine was written to allay certain dissensions in the Church of Corinth, and until it was rejected by 75. Mention what is known of the fates of the Apostles ? 76. Who were the Apostolic Fathers? State their extant writings. Give some account of Clemens Romanus and his writings. Who was Ignatius ? the Council of Nice, A.D. 325, it was equally esteemed with Apostolical Epistles. Ten books of Recognitions; an Epistle to James, our Lord's brother; Clementines or Homilies; and The Apostolical Constitutions and Canons. have also been attributed to Clement, but they are universally allowed to be spurious. It is related that Clement suffered matyrdom under Trajan, being condemned to be thrown into the sea with an anchor about his neck; but this wants confirmation. -Next after Clement was (2) Ignatius*, a disciple of St. John, who about the year 70 succeeded Evodius as Bishop of Antioch,† in Syria. To the disgrace of the otherwise moderate and upright Trajan, Ignatius, after a dispute with the Emperor at Antioch in the year 107, was condemned to be carried bound to Rome, and there thrown to wild beasts. On his journey to Rome he confirmed the Churches in every city through which he passed, by discourses and exhortations. From Smyrna, according to Eusebius, he wrote Epistles to the Ephesians, Magnesians, Trallians, and Romans, the purport of the last being to entreat the Roman Christians not to interpose and prevent his martyrdom. From Troas he wrote Epistles to the Philadelphians, the Smyrnæans, and his friend Polycarp. These seven Epistles are still extant. Others have been attributed to him erroneously. The writings of Ignatius bear strongly against Judaism and Docetism, and especially enforce obedience and dependence upon the ministers of religion, Heros succeeded Ignatius in the Bishopric of Antioch, * Called also Theophorus, because he had Christ in his heart. + Some ancient writers say that Evodius was ordained into this Church by St. Peter, the Apostle of the circumcision, and Ignatius by St. Paul, the Apostle of the uncircumcision, and that the Church was divided into two catus, or assemblies, under their respective Bishops. At the death of Evodius, the distinction between NERVA. *[Note.] By what other name was he called? Give a brief history of his life, martyrdom, and writings. Show what doctrines he must have held. Give a short account of Polycarp. From what source do we derive our information NERVA. (3) Polycarp was appointed Bishop of Smyrna by St. John (whose disciple he had been) about the year 82. We know nothing of his early life. Of several Epistles attributed to him, only one is extant, that to the Philippians, which he sent to them with the seven Epistles of Ignatius. He was burnt with eleven brethren of Philadelphia about the year 167, in the reign of Marcus Aurelius, and an interesting account of the particulars of his martyrdom is preserved in the circular Epistle of the Church of Smyrna.* (4) Hermas, who is spoken of by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans (xvi. 14.) is generally considered the author of The Shepherd, though some attribute it to Hermes, brother of Pius I, Bishop of Rome, and assign the year 140 as its date. The work is allegorical, and touches on fasting, second marriages, prayer, good and evil angels, &c. It proves the early existence of the three distinct orders of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons; and the Romans weakly argue from it in favour of Purgatory.-The Epistle ascribed to (5) Barnabas, the companion of St. Paul, is regarded as the work of some unknown author, of whom Mosheim says he "had no bad intentions, but possessed little genius, and was invested with the fabulous opinion of the Jews." It was never reckoned canonical. State of the Church at the end of the 77. At the end of the first century the Christian religion was spread through the greatest part of Europe, Asia, and Africa, extend ing from Britain to the farthest Indies, and fixing, not *The Christians interred the bones of Polycarp after his body had been burnt, and met annually at the place of burial, to honour the memory of the dead, and en courage others to give like testimony to the faith. Hence arose the solemn anniversarycommemorative of the Martyrs, generally observed in the primitive Church, concerning his death? [Note.] What was the kind of respect paid to the memories of martyrs, as gathered from the accounts written by the Church at Smyrna respecting the death of Polycarp ? What work is attributed to Hermas? What is the nature of it? Is any mention made of him in the New Testament? Has any work been ascribed to Barnabas? 77. To what country had Christianity extended at St. John's death? Who |