Churches for Christian Worship, Part 3
IN THE THIRD CENTURIE.Ab Anno 200. ad 300.
NOW are we arrived at the third Seculum, and the last under the Ethnick and persecuting Emperours: VVherein the Testimonies of the Christians Oratories do abound, and are such as will out-face any that shall dare contradict them.
For the beginning of this Centurie, Tertullian shall give in evidence. 1. In his Book De Idololatria. VVhere declaiming against some Christian Artificers, who, because it was their occupation and trade, thought it lawfull to make Idols for the Gentiles, so themselves worshipped them not; he speaks thus: Tota die, ad hanc partem zelus fidei perorabit, ingemens Christianum ab Idolis in ECCLESIAM venire, de adversaria officina in DOMVM DEI venire; attollere ad Deum patrem manus matres Idolorum, his manibus adorare, quae (nempe in operibus suis) foris (.i. in Templis Gentium) adversus Deum adorantur; eas manus admovere Corpori Domini, quae Daemoniis corpora conferunt. Mark here, DOMVS DEI, & ECCLESIA expounded by it; In Ecclesiam venire, id est, In Domum Dei venire; and both of them set in opposition to an Idol-shop.
Of this DOMUS DEI or House of God, in his Book adversus Valentinianos, he describes unto us the form and posture, upon this occasion. He compares the Valentinian heresie, in respect of their affected secresie, and reservednesse in hiding the mysteries of their doctrine, to the Eleusinian Holies, whose Temple had many Curtains and Doores, through which those, that were to be initiated, were 5. years in passing, before they could be admitted unto the Adytum or sacrarie, where the Deity was: VVhereas contrariwise, he proveth out of Scripture, the badge and genius of the Religiō of Christ, to consist in a Dove-like simplicity and opennesse, and accordingly had its Oratories or Houses of worship, not like that of the Eleusinian Holies, concealed with multiplicity of walls, vails, turnings and windings, but agreeable to, and as it were figuring its disposition. For Nostrae Columbae domus (saith he) simplex, etiam in editis & apertis; & ad lucem. Amat figuram Sp. sancti, Orientem Christi figuram: Nihil veritas erubescit, &c....Nostrae Columbae domus .i. Domus religionis nostrae columbinae, or Catholici Christi gregis, qui Columba figuratur; namely, as he said a little before, Christum Columba demonstrare solitaest, serpens vero tentare; meaning, as I suppose, not so much Christ personall, as Christ mysticall, that is, the Disciples, or Religion of Christ. For it is the conclusion of his proofes brought out of Scripture, to shew, that simplicity was the livery of Christs Disciples or Religion; In summa, saith he, Christum columba demonstrare solita est, &c. And otherwise, that solita est would scarcely be true; since Christ personall is but once pointed out by a Dove, namely, at his Baptisme. This House, saith he, is simplex, that is, Sine tot portarum & sipariorum involucris: Also in editis & apertis, places which Doves delight in:foreign Cyril. Hier. Et ad lucem. i toward the place whence light springeth, or the Sun-rising: For Amat figuram Sp. sancti. i. the Dove, as also Orientem Christi, figuram: wherein he alludes to that Oriens exalto, or Day-spring from on high, in Zacharies Benedictus, and hath reference to the word, Et ad lucem. i. ad locum vel plagam lucis. For, that the Churches of Christians anciently were turned toward the East, appeares by the Author of the*Lib. 2. cap. 57. al. 61. Apostolicall Constitutions, which surely are as ancient as Tertullian Domus sit oblonga, ad Orientem conversa, saith he; Besides it appeares out ofaApol. cap. 16. Tertullian himself, that Christians then worshipped towards the East, and therefore more than probable, their houses were sited and accommodated accordingly. Thus I have done my best to cleare this passage, because the Author is crabbed and obscure.
There are two or threebDe Spect. cap. 25. Ad Vxor: lib. 2. c. 9. De coron. milit. c. 3. De velandis virginibus. cap. 3. & 13. more places in the same Father, where the Christian Oratories are mentioned by the name of Ecclesia: but because the ambiguous and indifferent signification of this word, either for a Place or an Assembly, makes them not convictive, unlesse some circumstance bee annexed, which determines it: I will only produce that De corona Militis, Chap. 3. where concerning the Sacrament of Baptisme he speaks thus: Aquam adituri, ibidem, sed & aliquanto prius in ECCLESIA, sub Antistitis manu contestamur, nos renunciare Diabolo, & Pompae & Angelis ejus. Dehinc ter mergitamur. I say Ecclesia here signifies the Place. For the clearing whereof, know, that the Baptisteries, or places of water for Baptisme, in those elder times, were not, as now our Fonts are, within the Church, but without, and often in places very remote from it. When therefore Tertullian here saith; That those, who were to be baptized, first made their abrenunciation in the Church sub manu Antistitis (that is, as I suppose, the Bishop or Priest laying hands upon them, either in the mean time, or assoon as they had done) and afterward again at the Water: He must needs by Ecclesia mean the Place; otherwise, if it were taken for the Assembly of the faithfull, the Church in that sense was present also at the Water. But Ecclesia here and the Water are supposed to be two distinct places; in both of which (according to the rite of the African Churches) Abrenunciation was to be performed: Aquam adituri, IBIDEM (.i. apud aquam) sed & aliquando prius in ECCLESIA, contestamur, nos renunciare Diabolo, &c. And thus much for the testimony of Tertullian.
My next witnesse is Hippolytus, who flourished between the twentieth and thirtieth yeare of this Century in the raign of Alexander Mammeae. He in his Treatise De consummatione mundi seu de Antichristo, describing the signes and impieties which should precede the persecution of Antichrist (as he conceived thereof,) hath this passage concerning the irreligion and prophanenesse which should then raign: foreign, Templa Dei domorum communium instar erunt, ubi que Ecclesiarum eversiones fient, scripturae contemnentur. And in his description of the persecution it self, This: foreign IEPA foreign *Ex Psal. 79. 2. & caeteris similibus juxta LXX.foreign, &c. Sacrae Ecclesiarum aedes instar Pomorum custodiae erunt, pretiosum que corpus & sanguis non extabit in diebus illis, Liturgia extinguetur, Psalmorum decantio cessabit, scripturarum recitatio non audietur. No man of reason can beleeve, but that he that speaks thus, knew and was well acquainted with such Places in his own time; though his description be of that which was to be in time to come. For it would be a marvellous conceit, to think he prophecied of them, having never seen them. Nay, a prophane Testimony will further confirm us, he needed not: For Lampridius reports of this Alexander Mammeae (in whose time Hippolytus lived) Quòd cum Christiani, Cap. 49.quendam locum, qui publicus fuerat, occupassent; contra Popinarii dicerent sibi eum deberi: rescripsit Imperator, Melius esse, ut quomodocun que illic Deus colatur, quàm Popinariis dedatur.
About the middle of this Century flourished that famous Gregorie of Neocaesarea, surnamed Thaumaturgus. He in his Epistola Canonica (as the Greeks call it) describing the 5. degrees or admissions of Poenitents, according to the discipline of his time (which he cals foreign, & foreign) foreign (saith he) est extra portam foreign, ORATORII, ubi peccatorem stantem oportet fideles ingredientes orare, ut pro se precentur. foreign (.i. Auditio) est intra portam in loco qui foreign dicitur, ubi oportet eum qui peccavit stare us que ad Catechumenos, & illinc egredi. foreign (.i. substratio) foreign N̄AOY foreign, ut intra TEMPLI portam consistens cum Catechumenis egrediatur. foreign (.i. congregatio, seu consistentia) est ut cum fidelibus consistat, & cum catechumenis non egrediatur. Postremo est foreign participatio Sacramentorum. Who sees not here, that Christians in his time had Oratories or sacred Houses to worship in, and those accommodated with distinct places of remoter and nearer admission?
Nay further we finde in this Gregories life written by Gregorie Nissen, that he was himself a great Founder and erecter of these sacred Edifices; whereof the Church built by him at Neocaesarea in Pontus, (where he was Bishop) was still standing in Gregorie Nissens time. Heare his words, where he relates the speedy and wonderfull successe this Thaumaturgus had in the conversion of that City: Cum omnibus omnia fieret, saith he, tantum sibi auxilio spiritus repente populū adjunxit, ut ad TEMPLI fabricationem animum adjiceret (gr. foreign) cum omnes offerendo, tam pecunias quam operas suas, studium ejus adjuvarent. Hoc est, Templum, quod us que hodie ostenditur: quod magnus ille vir statim aggressus, quasi fundamentum atque foreign Sacerdotii sui (.i. Episcopatus) in maxime conspicuo urbis loco constituit. He addes besides, that, whereas in his own time there had happened a most grievous Earthquake; Quo omnia tàm publica quàm privata aedificia disjecta essent; solum illud Templum Gregorianum illaesum & inconcussum mansisse.
Nor is this all; He tels in the same place, how that a little before the persecution of Decius (which was Anno Christi 252.) this Thaumaturgus, having converted, not the City of Neocaesarea only, but the whole territory adjoyning, to the faith of Christ, [foreign, the converts pulling down their Idol-Altars, and Idol-Temples, and in every place erecting foreign, Oratorias in nomine Christi Aedes, stirred up the fury and indignation of the Emperour.
About the same time with this Gregory, lived S. Cyprian at Carthage. In him I observe the Christian Oratories twice remembred; once by the name of Domnicum .i. foreign; another time of Ecclesia. The first in his Book De opere & eleemosynis, speaking against communicating the holy Eucharist without an offering. Matrona, saith he, quae in Ecclesia Christi locuples & dives es, Dominicum (sacrificium) celebrare te credis, quae corbonam omnino non respicis? quae in DOMINICVM sine sacrificio venis, quae partem de sacrificio quod pauper obtulit, sumis? The other in his 55. Epist. or 3. ad Cornelium; where declaiming against some lapsed Christians, who having in time of persecution sacrificed unto Idols, would neverthelesse, without due penance and satisfaction, be admitted again into the Church: If this be once permitted (saith he) Quid superest quàm ut ECCLESIA Capitolio cedat; & recedentibus sacerdotibus ac Domini nostri ALTARE removentibus, in Cleri nostri sacrum venerandum que consessum (.i. in Presbyterium, seu foreign) simulacra at que Idola cum Aris suis transeant? Note, that Ecclesia here and Capitolium, Christs House and Iupiters Temple, stand in opposition one to the other; also that Capitolium by Antonomasia is put for a Gentile Temple in generall; that in the one (to wit, Ecclesia) was Altare Domini nostri, & sacer venerandus que consessus Cleri; in the other, Idola & simulacra cum Aris Diaboli.
Contemporary with S. Cyprian was that famed Dionysius Alexandrinus, He was made Bishop, Anno 249. lived untill 260. viz. Cypr.made Bishop somewhat before him, but out-lived him some 5. yeares, namely untill 265. There is an Epistle of his extant (which is part of the Canon Law of the Greek Church) to one Basilides, resolving certain quaeres of his; Amongst the rest, whether a woman during the time of her separation might enter into the Church or not; To which, his answer is negative. This Quaere he expresseth thus; De mulieribus quae sunt in abscessu, an eas sic affectas oporteat DOMVM DEI ingredi, gr. foreign. By which, and his answer thereunto we learn not only, that the Christians had then Houses of worship, but a religious respect also to difference them from common places.
And here, because the time fitly presents it in our way, take notice, for some reason that we shall heare of ere wee have done: That this of the Christians having such houses for their devotions, was a thing publiquely known to the Gentiles themselves, together with the name whereby they called them: as appears by two Imperiall Rescripts, the one of Galienus about the yeare 260. recorded by Eusebius. Hist. lib. 7. cap. 12. which cals them foreign, Worshipping Places; which having been a little before, in the persecution of Valerianus his Father, taken from the Christians, and then in the hands of the Gentiles, Galienus graciously restored them unto them, with liberty freely to exercise their Religion. The words of the Rescript, so much of them as is needfull to our purpose, are these: Imperator Caesar, Publius Licinius, Galienus, &c. Dionysio, Puniae, Demetrio, & caeteris Episcopis, salutem. Meae munificentiae beneficium per universum divulgari Orbem praecepi: Vt foreign .i. à locis religionis cultui dicatis discedatur. Et propterea vos mearum literarum exemplari uti poteritis, quo nemo deinceps vobis quicquam facessat molestiae, &c.
The other is of Aurelianus, De libris Sibyllinis inspiciendis, when the Marcomanni invaded the Empire, Anno Ch. 271. recorded by Vopiscus, in these words: Miror vos, Patres sancti (he writes to the Senate) tamdiu de aperiendis Sibyllinis dubitasse libris; perinde quasi in Christianorum ECCLESIA non in TEMPLO Deorum omnium tractaretis; that is, in the Capitol, where the Senate used sometimes to sit.
Adde to this, if you please, that which Eusebius relates of this Emperour, to wit, that when Paulus Samosatenus, being deposed by the Councell from his Bishoprick, and Domnus chosen in his room, would not yeeld up the possession of the Church foreign: The matter being brought before Aurelianus the Emperour, he decrees, that it should be given to those of the Sect, unto whom the Bishops of Rome and Italy should send Letters of communion: Sic demum Paulus (saith Eusebius) à seculari potestate, summo cum dedecore, ex ECCLESIA expellitur. For that by foreign is here meant the Christians Oratorie or house of sacred assembly at Antioch, (and not the Bishops house, as some would have it) appeares, both because Eusebius elsewhere so uses it, as namely Lib. 8. cap. ult. & Lib. 9. cap. Θ. as also, because he expounds himself presently by Ecclesia, when he saith: Sic Paulus summo cum dedecore à potestate seculari, ex Ecclesia exigitur. For surely he meant not, that he was by the secular arme cast out of the Church, as Chu…ch is taken for the company of the Faithfull, but as it signifies the Place of sacred assembly, where this Paulus kept possession, after he was deposed for heresie by the Councell.
But what need we trouble our selves thus to gather up Testimonies for the latter half of this Seculum? I have one Testimony behinde, which will dispatch it all at once, yea, and if need be, depose for the whole also. It is that of Eusebius in his eighth Book Hist. Eccl. in the beginning: where describing those peacefull and halcyonian dayes, which the Church enjoyed for many yeares, from the time of the Martyrdome of S. Cyprian unto that most direfull persecution of Diocletian, and how wonderfully the number of Christians was advanced during that time, he speaketh on this manner: Quomodo quisquam infinita illos hominum turbâ frequentatos conventus coetuū que in singulis urbibus congregatorum multitudinem, illustres que in *foreign.ORATORIIS concursus describere valeat? Quorum causa, quum in aforeign.ANTIQVIS illis AEDIFICIIS satis amplius loci non haberent (vel antiquis illis aedificiis haudquaquam amplius contenti) bforeign....amplas spatiosas que in omnibus urbibus ex fundamentis erexerunt ECCLESIAS. Loe here, how in those Halcyonian dayes, Christians had not only Churches or Houses of worship, but such as might then be called foreign, ancient aedifices; which how far it may reach, let others judge: Secondly, that the number of Christians being grown so great, that those ancient Fabricks were no longer sufficient to contain them, they erected new and more spacious ones in every City from the foundations: And all this testified by one that himself lived and saw part of those times. These sacred Aedifices, Diocletian, and those other surrogated Emperours, (which contained that direfull ten yeares persecution begun by him) commanded by their Edicts to be every where demolished, as we may reade in the same Eusebius at large. The like whereunto seems never to have happened in any of the former persecutions; in which they were only taken from the Christians; but again, when the persecution ceased, for the most part restored unto them: as in the former persecution they were by Galienus, under the name of foreign.
And thus I think I have proved, by good and sufficient Testimonies, that Christians had Oratories or Churches, that is, appropriate Places for Christian worship in every of the first 300. yeares: I am well assured (whosoever be Iudge) long before the dayes of Constantine. I will adde to these authorities two or three reasons, why they must, in all likelihood, have had such Places; First, because it is certain, that in their sacred assemblies they used then to worship and pray towards the East: which how it could be done with any order and conveniencie, is not easie to be conceived; unlesse we suppose the Places wherein they worshipped to have been situated and accommodated accordingly; that is, chosen and appointed to that end. Secondly, because of their discipline, which required distinct and regular Places in their assemblies, for the Poenitentes, Auditores, Catechumeni, & Fideles, and therefore argueth they met not in every place promiscuously, but in Places already fitted & accommodated for that purpose. Lastly, because they had before their eyes an example and pattern in the Proseuchais and Synagogues of the Iews, from whom their Religion had its beginning; which though as contrary to the Religion of the Empire as theirs,Wheresoever ten men of Israel were, there ought to be built a Synagogue. Maimon. in Tephilla. cap. 11. §. 1. yet had places appropriate for the exercise therof, wheresoever they lived dispersed amōg the Gentiles. Who can beleeve, that such a pattern should not invite the Christians to an imitation of the same, though we should suppose, there were no other reasons to induce them, but that of ordinary conveniencie.