merciful, that

ye may obtain

mercy; forgive, that it may be forgiven unto you; as you do, fo fhall it be done unto you; as you give, so shall it be given unto you; as ye judge, fo fhall ye be judged; as ye fhew kindness, so shall kindness be fhewn unto you; with what measure ye mete, with the fame it shall be measured to you. By this command, and by these rules, let us establish ourselves, that we may always walk obediently to his holy words."

Again, "Remember the words of the Lord Jefus, for he faid, Wo to that man by whom offences come; it were better for him that he had not been born, than that he fhould offend one of my elect; it were better for him that a mill-ftone fhould be tied about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the fea, than that he should offend one of my little ones

* "

In

* Mat. xviii. 6. "But whofo fhall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a mill-ftone were hanged about his neck, and that he were caft into the fea." The latter part of the paf

fage

In both thefe paffages we perceive the high refpect paid to the words of Chrift as recorded by the evangelifts: "Remember the words of the Lord Jefus-by this command and by these rules let us eftablish ourselves, that we may always walk obediently to his holy words." We perceive alfo in Clement a total unconfcioufnefs of doubt, whether these were the real words of Chrift, which are read as fuch in the gofpels. This obfervation indeed belongs to the whole feries of teftimony, and efpecially to the most ancient part of it. Whenever any thing now read in the gofpels is met with in an early Chrif tian writing, it is always obferved to ftand there as acknowledged truth, i. e. to be introduced without hesitation, doubt, or apology. It is to be obferved alfo, that as this epiftle was written in the name of the church of Rome, and addreffed to the church of Corinth, it ought to be taken as exhibiting

fage in Clement agrees more exactly with Luke xvii. 2. "It were better for him that a mill-ftone were hanged about his neck, and he caft into the fea, than that he fhould offend one of thefe little ones."

the

the judgement not only of Clement, who drew up the letter, but of these churches themselves, at least as to the authority of the books referred to.

It may be faid, that, as Clement hath not ufed words of quotation, it is not certain that he refers to any book whatever. The words of Chrift, which he has put down, he might himself have heard from the apostles, or might have received through the ordinary medium of oral tradition. This hath been faid; but that no fuch inference can be drawn from the abfence of words of quotation is proved by the three following confiderations:-First, that Clement, in the very fame manner, namely, without any mark of reference, uses a paffage now found in the epiftle to the Romans * which paffage, from the peculiarity of the words which compofe it, and from their order, it is manifeft that he must have taken from the book. The fame remark may be repeated of fome

;

* Rom. i. 29.

very

fingular fentiments in the epiftle to the He brews. Secondly, that there are many fentences of St. Paul's first epiftle to the Corinthians ftanding in Clement's epiftle without any fign of quotation, which yet certainly arë quotations; because it appears that Clement had St. Paul's epiftle before him, inafmuch as in one place he mentions it in terms too express to leave us in any doubt-"Take into your hands the epiftle of the bleffed apostle Paul." Thirdly, that this method of adopting words of fcripture, without reference or acknowledgement, was, as will ap pear in the fequel, a method in general use amongst the most ancient Chriftian writers. Thefe analogies not only repel the objection, but caft the prefumption on the other fide; and afford a confiderable degree of pofitive proof, that the words in question have been borrowed from the places of fcripture in which we now find them.

But take it if you will the other way, that Clement had heard thefe words from the apoftles or first teachers of Chriftianity; with respect

refpect to the precise point of our argument, viz. that the scriptures contain what the apoftles taught, this fuppofition may ferve almoft as well.

III. Near the conclufion of the epistle to the Romans, St. Paul, amongst others, fends the following falutation: "Salute Afyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobus, Hermes, and the brethren which are with them."

Of Hermas, who appears in this catalogue of Roman Chriftians as contemporary with St. Paul, a book bearing the name, and it is moft probable rightly, is ftill remaining. It is called the Shepherd or Pastor of Hermas*. Its antiquity is inconteftable, from the quotations of it in Irenæus, A. D. 178, Clement of Alexandria, A. D. 194, Tertullian, A. D. 200, Origen, A. D. 230. The notes of time extant in the epistle itself agree with its title, and with the teftimonies concerning it, for it purports to have been. written during the lifetime of Clement.

VOL. I.

Lardner's Cred. vol. i. p. 111.

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