E C C
315
E C C
*r ,e akin ~~-
: ^oiyi t |.® Ike peaceable times which the Christians enjoyedi °V‘rves ^ ersecut ' ons °f Valerian to that of Diocletian , he: t 'pli (! (j *liat the number of Christians so grew and mul-| ?'‘l la r ^° ^'at fifty years, that their ancient churches were|'° r a tl? 6 » nou gh to receive them, and therefore they erected,
Cit
o ---•> - ---- j . ->
:y i • I0 undations, more ample and spacious ones in every
“Th
[H ;il .,, 0 »ly objection against all this, made with any show of-* r ig,, n 1 is drawn from some of the ancient apologists—
> ^ "^inutius Felix, Arnobius, and Lactantius , whoi Pies Sa ^> ‘ that the Christians , in their time, had notl ' Vs ttM !dtars > nor ought to have any but, as Dr. Mede
> li e[(t | la rge, this is only spoken against such temples, as‘hity v letls pleaded for, in the notion of encloistering theAction an *^°k otherwise the very authors from whom theij| J hu 3 18 dl ' awn > must largely contradict themselves ; forj Vi w^j ° w ns they had their conventicula, houses of assem-N p ers 1 complains were barbarously destroyed in the
alg ec,1,; ' ons - And Lactantius says the same, giving# r ^ le d t ^ le name the temples of God , which DiocletianNlt s 0 f° demolished, at Bithynia. And Origen himself1 ''i. Il joi ning the Christian churches and altars, in one, [ l|st ttntiJ >,ru 'ie3 upon Joshua. Lactantius , in another of histo V n 0 p'p s Peaks of one of the Christian conventicula in'ol(i hfygia, which the heathen had burnt, with theS , en 'hly in it. And in his book de Mortibus Perse-
«ti
of
he
otilvl 1 c, ‘u
gtves a more particular account of the destruc-
[tfehes throughout the heathen world ; for he not-N, i^ U< | n9 t ' le demolishing the stately churches of Nico-jj'N fug 1 le kingdom of Bithynia , but intimates, that thef tl ''N bo t r;? nded *-ke churches over all the world ; however
■ ^ tlier e * ^ use hius and Lactantius agreed in this one point,i t’n a f' Veie ohurehes before the last' persecution.
L '*ft tj,j, J'fther proof of the existence of Christian churches' e l kis century, we have a remarkable story told
oft 60 * Q.^ 1 ?. conc ® rn ing the martyr Marinus, a.d. 259, in thetii u ee at q len us Marinus, who, being a candidate for aRomanP|)^ ll S°Hi S ( !S3area ! was informed against as a Christian , by anthat s " dl ° P' ea ded that he ought not to have the office,l,i Core * The judge, upon examination, finding it to beor*^.^ lree hours to consider whether he would quit his
■ Mt Sate a, uj Us kfe. During this space, Theotecnus, bishop of
b, a to (j e «s with him, and, taking him by the hand, carriesSibl ' Ulcdl > and sets kim by the holy table, then offerstipi dy, a,1 d a sword, and bids him take his choice. He
f,. 0 N, at) , kfod, and in his strength enjoy what thou hastliij dig C ) ®° * n peacewith this he immediately returned,Nt eilc ^'°k to the judge, makes his confession, receivesetatua’^* 1 dies a martyr.
N“8 ec . *■kes notice of forty churches in Rome before the\sr r d 3 l0n> which, being taken from the Christians , weretf ^'a l lag |' e, tored to them by order of Maxentius , as St.*1 qN Cl,j r ' 0re than once informed us. We have also readOr... ls tian churches in Africa , that were demolished
'ur<> > as at Zama and Furni, noticed in the
Vlf ’ Un ( f a lon ' 3 of Cecilian and Felix. Others were takenl \ C ° u Hc’ii m tde mean time, till they were restored again,^t. as p. an d church-assemblies were held in private'JDtnfno _ .£• a. i. _ _:i «c CKt.~ And
‘Au
Ptotus observes of the council of Cita.;u‘CSbi S bL llin ? sa y. 9 \ ‘ ll . was not to be wondered at,; j, *'«at 0 p °P a should hold a council in a private house,| *St'! 'he ijr P ers ecution, when the martyrs made no scru-S v ' a Priso 6 Case > to be baptized in prison, and Christiansi "s in n ce lebrate the sacrament with the martyrs,deluded places.’ But not to multiply instances
of this nature, the very tenor of the imperial edicts, whichraised the last persecution, is undeniable evidence, that theChristians , in all parts of the world, had their public churches,to which they resorted so long as they had opportunities tofrequent them; for Eusebius says, ‘the edicts of the em-perors of Rome were sent to all the Roman provinces, evento Britain, commanding the churches of the Christians to belevelled with the ground, and the Bibles to be given up andburnt.’ This was the last persecution, when Diocletian boasted that he had annihilated Christianity , and proclaimedthe extirpation by exulting inscriptions —’Nomine Chris-tianorum deleto qui templet evertebant; and, SuperstitioneChristi ubique deleta. But the flame was not extinguished ;it was again to break forth, for the mouth of the Lord hadspoken it. Diocletian had now become hateful; soon afterwhich he abdicated the throne, and Constantine the Great assumed the imperial sway of the Roman empire.”
To these remarks we would add some further ones ofMede, and likewise give, at length, some passages referringto this subject, drawn from the writings of the early fatherswho were living during the period we are speaking of.
Basil , speaking of the passage before alluded to, of Haveye not houses to eat and to drink in ? &c., says, that we oughtnot to dishonour sacred places or things by the mixture oftilings of common use ; and in answer to the question as towhether the Eucharist may be celebrated in a common house,says, that as the word doth not allow that any common vesselor utensil shall be brought into places that are sacred, so like-wise doth it forbid that the holy mysteries should be cele-brated in a common house ; for neither would the Old Testa-ment permit any such thing to be done, nor our Lord, whosaid, “ There is here one greater than the templenor theapostle, saying, “ Have ye not houses to eat and to drinkin,” &c. Whence we may learn, that we ought not to takeour common supper in the church, nor should we dishonourthe Lord’s supper by eating it in a private house. But ifone be necessitated to communicate in private, let him chooseout the most clean and decent room for such a purpose, andwithal see that he do it in the fittest and most seasonablelime. St. Chrysostom says, on the same subject, “ Beholda further change, that not the poor only, but also the churchitself, is injured. For, as hereby thou makest the Lord’ssupper a private supper, so thou dealest no better with theplace, in that thou usest the church as a private and ordinaryhouse.” So again, Theodoret , “ If ye come together to feastit, do this in your own houses, for to do thus in the churchis a manifest contempt, a plain dishonour done to the church.For how can it but seem a thing wholly indecorous andabsurd for you to fare deliciously in the temple of God ,where the Lord himself is present, who hath prepared for usa common table, when at the same time those Christians thatare poor, are hungry, and out of countenance by reason oftheir poverty ?” The author of the commentaries upon theepistles, alluding to the same text, says, “ Ye despise thechurch of God, making it a place for common feasts andbanquetings,” and in the same track follow Theophylact andCEcumenius.
With regard to the nature of the earliest churches, andmore especially to the Hyperoon, Mede says, “For the first itis not to be imagined they were such goodly and stately struc-tures as the church had after the empire became Christian ,and we now, by God ’s blessing, enjoy; but such as the stateand condition of the times would permit; at the first somecapable and convenient room within the walls or dwelling ofsome pious disciple, dedicated by the religious bounty of theowner to the use of the church, and that usually an Avoi yeov,or Y irepuiov, an upper room, such as the Latins call Coenacitlum.