"Therefore, as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life;" and, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.'

Some wonder has been expressed that a controversy, so bitter as that to which Huber gave rise, could have continued to support itself on such seemingly slight grounds. But the difficulty is removed by the recollection, that, while he was venturing to assail a party, daily increasing in strength, he aroused even that to which he professedly belonged, to resist the haughty and dogmatic spirit with which he propounded his opinions.

CHA P. II.

CALIXTUS AND SYNCRETISM.-THE MYSTICS.

NEVER had the Church of Christ been exposed to more distressing difficulties than those which it had, at this time, to encounter. Times of persecution bring with them, by the grace of God, the blessings which attend upon the devotion of martyrs and confessors. "I can do all things, through Christ which strengtheneth me," is then the common language of believers; and the power of Christ, and the pervading influence of his spirit, are recognized as antagonist principles sufficient to overcome the mightiest efforts of the world. Times in which the people of God are known to be few and scattered, and when religion has so declined in strength, that the multitude who bear the name of Christ are manifestly strangers to his grace, do often present such a depth of piety, such noble instances of spiritual energy in the small band of faithful Christians, that their firm hold of the promises, and the living beauty *Romans, v., 18. 2 Cor. v., 19.

of their virtues, are sufficient to remove despondence as to the condition of succeeding generations.

But we are now studying the events of a period when dangers existed, which seemed to render doubtful the state of believers themselves. In many seasons of outward peril, God's people, driven together by communion of faith and hopes, rather than by fear, have remained safe in the sanctuary, whither the enemy thought not of penetrating, except for the sake of inflicting upon them wounds that could neither injure any vital principle, nor disturb the serenity of their souls. The present dangers belonged immediately to the most enlightened and devout professors of evangelical religion; and hence the duty of every one who could make his voice heard, through even a small circle, to rouse, exhort, and persuade those whom he might by any means influence to provide for their safety.

What were the dangers to which we allude? Whence their origin? What the probable means of escaping them? It requires many efforts of earnest thought to realize the notion of what has been called primitive Christianity. By this we do not mean that it is difficult to tell what the first disciples of Christ believed, or how they acted. But by primitive Christianity seems generally to be meant a system of doctrine, discipline and practice, no less distinctly impressed with special characteristics than any of those later systems which have been designated by particular titles. There is a tendency to confound the state of the individual believer with that of the community to which he belongs; and to apply indiscriminately the terms which can only properly describe the one to the peculiarities of the other. Christianity in the believer of the first century, can have exercised only the same powers, can have been developed in the renewed character, by no other than the same means and methods with which its true professors have been familiar in every succeeding age. Its divine author, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, those most intensely quickened by his spirit, must exhibit the same unchangeable elements of being.

Primitive Christianity then presents to our notice the

features of a system, existing in the first ages of the gospel, and not the character of individual disciples. Was the main distinction of that early system of a spiritual kind? If so, it could only have been in the degrees of its strength and continuity of operation that it made that period differ from any other. The distinction thus considered is one which scarcely deserves the name; for there have been, in the different ages of the Church's progress, seasons of every variety of temper and degree of spirituality and fervour; and periods when, if we may judge by their fruits, the spirit of faith and fervent devotion was as powerful as in the very earliest season of evangelical religion.

But while it would be vain to ascribe the difference between primitive Christianity and the Christianity of any other age to a superior intensity of the one general and spiritual principle, we may, perhaps, find some element of that difference in the relative weight and force of particular graces; some of them occupying a place, a relative height and power, superior to those which they have enjoyed at any later period.

Let us examine, with this view, the character of the earliest Christian community. There will be faith with its train of heroic graces ready for the loftiest designs. Hope giving a tone of gladness to expressions of awful devotion. There will be the spirituality which knows no compromise with the sensual world, and an earnestness of thought, and directness of heavenly purpose, which have never had their equals since, except in seasons acknowledged to be remarkable for instances of spiritual power.

But there is still another virtue of the Christian community to be mentioned, and that is, brotherly love; nor is it possible to contemplate long the state of the Church in the earliest times, without discovering the immense preponderance which this virtue had in the formation of the system by which it was originally governed. Faith, hope, and their kindred graces, belong to individuals; but the spirit of fraternal charity is proper to a community, and cannot exist in any high degree, without giving to the system which it animates

a very striking and peculiar character. However necessary it is to the life of Christian practice, at all times, lamentable experience shows that it has but rarely been allowed to exercise its proper force; nor has it, there is reason to fear, ever since the primitive ages, operated to the full extent of its energies in giving form and life to the institutions of the Church.

Whatever we know of primitive Christianity, it is by the prevalence of this virtue that it may be best distinguished from the Christianity of other times. "See how these Christians love one another"! It was the very characteristic which struck the eye of the most superficial observer. When the mysterious tokens of faith could be regarded as little different from other mystic things, the Christian brotherhood, founded on a common belief, but exhibiting proofs of a strength and activity which no other common profession had ever been known to bestow, excited the admiration of the multitude, the curiosity of the few, the emulation of all who had in their hearts the anxious desire to improve the condition of mankind, by bringing the different parts of the family into nearer and more affectionate com

munion.

It is not necessary here to speak of the principles on which the early Chistians founded this holy brotherhood. They had a great deal more than the mere commands of their Lord to animate their affections. There was one spirit as well as one hope of their calling: there was one fountain of salvation, and one altar, and one sacrifice. Wonderful objects for contemplation, and capable of effecting, by mere external influence on the thoughts, no slight change in the tendencies of the mind. But they were things to be participated in as offering life; and, when duly received, they made the comers thereunto perfect in Christ, the head of the body of which they were thus rendered living members.

Little could it matter by what name this true brotherhood was called. It had indeed "a name which is above every name," in regard to earthly institutions, or even earthly comprehension. In one language, however, it received a title significant of the state of its

members with reference to the world: in another, a name descriptive of their subjection to the Lord. But the nature of the system could not be affected by its appellation, and whether Ecclesia, or Church, the title given to the family of God, in Christ, neither adds to, nor takes from, its genuine attributes.

That a society or communion of this kind existed, immediately after the original publication of the gospel, has never been denied. That it was mainly distinguished by the principle here spoken of, is almost equally a matter of history. Had that society then continued in the state in which it existed at the beginning, there would have been as little difficulty in determining its characteristics, as in forming an estimate of its claims to the admiration of generous and virtuous minds.

But what does the actual history of this society show? It was next to impossible that it should really rapidly increase. Yet it did seemingly increase beyond all expectation. There were numberless contradictions, in its very constitution and spirit, to the principles of the world, yet in an incredible short time the world had professedly submitted itself to its government. Was this, we are compelled to ask, an act of complacency on the part of mankind, at large, or a sacrifice on the side of the followers of Christ? Did the former, or the latter, make the first approaches?

It is not necessary that we should answer these questions, but it may be useful to consider how the Christian communion acquired its most rapid and conspicuous enlargement. It is evident, if we keep carefully in view the origin, the fundamental principles, the main and life-giving spirit of the evangelical system, that there could be no proper addition to the numbers of those in communion with its original supporters, but by fresh outpourings of heavenly grace, and that the new members of the society could only actually be incorporated by becoming participants of the one spirit, as truly as they had declared themselves believers in respect to the one faith.

And what do we suppose was the hope entertained by