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30 THE TEACHING OF THE T¥VELVE APOSTLES
Thou shalt not waver in spirit whctlicr it shall be yea or no. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain.
Thou shalt love thy neis •* r rnorc than thy lifc. Thou shalt not destroy a child by abortion, ncither again shalt thou slay it when born.
Thou shalt not
take away thy hand from thy son or from thy daugh ter, but from their youth up thou shalt teach them the fcar of God. 4“hou shalt not be covetous of thy neigh- bour’s goods ¡ thou shalt not be avaricious.
Thou shalt not be joined in thy soul with the lofty, but with the lowly and just shalt thou conversc, 4“lie operations [‹if God] that i›efall tliec, accept as good, knowing that without God nothing cometh to pass. Thou shalt not be doublc-minded nor double-toiigued ; for to be double-tongued is a snare of death.
Thou shalt be subject to thy masters as to an iniagc of God in shamefastness and fear. Thou shalt not lay commands in bitterncss u)ion thy bond man or maidser vant who hope in the same God, lest at any time thou cease to fear Him who is God over both : since He camc not to call men according to outward appcai’ance but to those whom the Spirit made ready for Him.
’1“hou shalt share in all things with thy neighbour, and shalt not call any- thing thine own ; for if ye be sharers in that which is imperishable, how m uch more in thc things wit ich arc perishable ! Thou shalt not be of forward speech ; for the mouth is a snare of death.
As much as thou art able, thou shalt be pure for thy soul’s sake. Be not one that stretcheth forth his hands to receive, but withholdeth them for giving.
Thou shalt love as the apple of thine eye every one that speaketh unto thee the word of the Lord. Night and day be mindful of the day of judg- ment, and every day shalt thou seek out the faces of the saints, either labouring by word of mouth † and going forth to exhortation and meditating how to save a soul b/ the word, or by thy hands shalt thou work for the rederription or atonement of thy sins.
Thou shalt not hesitate to give, neither when thou divest shalt thou
31 fHE TEACHING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES
3*
murmur * but thou shalt know who is the fair recom- * or grudge.
penser of tlic reward. Thou shalt keep what thou hast received, neither adding thereto nor taking away. Thou
shalt utterly hatc the wicked man.† Thou shalt judge righteously. Thou shalt not makc division, but thou shalt reconcile and bring together’ them that are at strife. Thou shalt make confession over thy sins , thou shalt
THE TEACHING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES
reported to yovi as Christians. For it is impossible to lay down any general rule which can assume a definite shape.
"Phe Cli ristians must not be sought out ¡ but if they are reported and convicted they must be punished : with this limitation, however, that any one who declares that he is not a Christian, and proves his dcclaration by fact—that is by worshipping our gods—shall obtain pardon on the ground of repentance, even though he may have been suspected in past time.
The posting of anonymous accusations cannot be allowed to for in parts of the case against any one. That would lie a dangerous precedent and unsuited to the age we live in.
APPENDIX C.
GItEE K AN D LATIN FA"PHERS QUO’I’E D OR REFE RRED TO I N ’I’HE 'J’EXT.
CLEMENT OF ROME.—AutliOr of an Epistle to the Corinthians, included in the Codcx Alcxandrinus, and in the volume containing the Didache discovered by
B ryennios ; date about 9 s A.D. He may possibly be the Clcincnt mentioned in Phil. iv. 3. His name is given by
Iraenm us in the list of early Bishops of Rome.
IGNATIus.—Bishop of Antioch, probably Q)- i i 6 A.D. Seven lipistlcs attributed to li ill have been the s’ubject of much controversy. He suffered martyrdom at Rome under 4”rajan.
JUSTIN MARTYR.—A Greek philosopher, born about I oO a.n. He was converted to Christianity in Palestine, and went to Ephesus after the rebellion under liar-cocli ba in i z A.D. At Ephesus he held his celebrated “ Dia- logue with Try pho,” in which he shows that Jesus is the Messiah of the Old Testament. At Rome lie wrote li is two “ Apologies ” in defence of Christianity ;
not come to pt ayer with an ev il conscience. Th is is } or ' place of p ra yet.’
t he \Vay of Ligh t.
Chap. xx. hut the Way of Darkness is crooked and
full of cursing.§ for it is the way of eternal death with § or ’ of the Black
punishment, wherein are the th ings that destroy the soul ; idolatry, insolence, liauglitiness of power, hypocrisy, duplicity, adultery, murder, plundering, arrogance, trans- gression, guile, malice, stubbornness, sorcery, witchcraft, avarice, defiance of God. Persccutors of the good, hating truth, loving falsehoods, not acknowledging the reward of righteousncss, not clcaviiig to that which is good, nor to righ teous ju‹Jginent ; not regarding the widow and orphan, watchful riot toward the fear of‘ God but toward evil , from whom meekuess and patience are far removed , loving vain things, seeking after recompense , not pitying the poor, not borrowing with the sorrow-laden, ready to speak evil, not acknowledging their h4aker, murderers of children, destroyers of the image of God, turning away from the need)r, and grieving the afflicted, ad vocates of the rich, lawless judges of the poor, wholly given to sin.
APPENDIX B.
LETTER OF PAIN Y TO THE EMPEROR JRAJ AN I OJ A. D
I make it a rule, Sire, to refer to you all matters on which I am in uncertainty. For who is better able either to guide my perplcxity or to instruct my ignorance I I have never bccn present at any judicial examination of Christians ; consequently I have no knowledge of the direction or degree of pure ishment or inquiry wli ich custom permits. It has also greatl) embarrassed me to
32 THE TEACHING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES
decide whether there should be any distinction made betwcen different ages, or the same treatment for children and adults , whether a chance of repentance should be given, or no benefit allowed to him who has once been a Christian if he after wards recants ; whether the mere profession of Christianity without its crimes is to be punished, or onl) the crimes which are associated with it.
Mean wli ile in the cases of those wlio have from time to time been reported to me as Christians I have adopted the followtng course. I have demanded of them whether they really were Christians ; and if they admitted it I repeated the question a second and a third time, with thc th rcat of the capital penalty, and if they pcrsistcd I ordered them to be executed. For I could not doubt that whatever might be the substance of their confession, at least their obstinacy anal unyielding tenacity merited punishment.
There have bcen other victims of this folly whom, as they were Roman citizens, I havc noted to be sent to Rome,
After this, as usually happens, accusations came in
more plentifully owing to the mere fact of the matter being made public, and various phases of the crime were revealed.
An anonymous list was posted up containing many names. There were some who denied that they were or ever had been Christians ; who recited at my dictation a form of prayer to the goths, and paid adoration with incensc and wine to your image, which I ha4 ordered to be brought for that purpose together with figures of the gods, and who, moreover, cursed Christ.
None of these things it is said the real Christian can be made to do : and I accordingly thought it right to set these persons at liberty.
Others who had been named by an informer first said they were Christians and then denied it , they had been so, they said, but had renounccd it—some th ree years ago, some many years, a few of them even twenty years ago. They all worshipped your image and tlje figures of the gods, and cursed Christ. They declai ed, however,
THE TEACHING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES 33
that the sum of their crime or folly was no more than this : that they had been accustomed on a fixed day to assemble before sunrise, and to repeat in turn, with one another, a form of words addressed to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by a solemn oath, not to any criminal purpose, but against the commission of theft, robbery or adultery ; against breaking faith or repudiating a trust. That after this had been done they had been wont to separate, and afterwards meet again for the purpose of taking a meal, a meal, however, quite ordinary and harmless ; but they had given up even this after my edict, in which I had, according to your in- structions, forbidden secret societies or political clubs.
I thought it, however, the more necessary, to try further to elicit the truth by examining with torture two maid- servants, who were called “ deaconesscs.” But I could discover nothing else than an absurd and extravagant superstition ; and so I adjourned the proceedings, in order that I might at once consult you.
For indeed the matter seemed to me to deserve such consultation, especially on account of the large numbers involved. Many of every age and rank, both men and women are arid will be imperilled. It is not only cities but villages and country districts as well that have become infected with this superstition ; however, it seems that it can be arrested and cured. At any rate it is a fact that temples which had been almost abandoned are beginning to be frequented, and religious festivals which had long been unobser ved are now being resumed ; while sacrificial victims now find a ready sale, though only a short while ago it was a rare thing to find a purchaser. From all this one may easily infer how great a number may be
. reclaimed from error if only the opportunity is given for repentance.
J RAJAN ’s REPLY TO PriNY,
You have done quite right, my dear Secundus, in discriminating the cases of the persons who have been
the first to A iitoniiius l'ius, and the second to Marcus Aurelius. He was inai’tyred ii1 A.D. 164. See Appendix D.
lRENJus.—A disci{›1e of l'olycarp, li ishop of Sioyrna. Born in Asia Minor in the second centui y, and fi rst
34 THE TEACHING OF THE TVELV A POST LES 3
mentioned as a presbyter of Lyons, dur iiig the great persecution, .n. i y y, un der Marcus Au rel i us. Part of his great work, the “ Refutation of the G iiostics,” has bcen preserved (a Latin version of five books). He suffered martyrdom under Septimius Severus in aoz .D. See Appendix D.
CLEMENT OF LEXAN DRIA.—A disciple of Parité nus, the Christian Stoic. He succeefled li im in thc Catc- chetical School at Alexandrie, A.D. i 88. He reinai ncd there until A.D. zoz, when the ed ict of Scvcrus aval nst the Chi istians drove htm to Cappadocia. The date ariel place of his death •ire unknown. His “ S troiiiata ” or Miscellanies are valuablc and intei’esting, contain int facts and quotatioiis not found elsewhcre.
H is otlier works arc “ Pærlagogus ” and “ Protrcpticon.” In all lie vims at showing tlic influence of the D iv ine Logos tlu‘otiÿ1i all history in the initiés of men.
JERTULLIAN.—ThC fiFSt Latin Father.
Hc was borti at Cartliage, and wrote during the reigns of Sev crus and Caracalla. He was moquent, impetuous, faiiatical ; an o}›poiient of the Gnostics, and, in later life, a Montaiiist. He died about 2. 20 A.D.
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