Dissertation Concerning the Antiquity of Churches, Section 14
SECT. 14.
Firſt, How careful the Primitive Chriſtians were, of keeping their Aſſemblies for the Worſhip of God, as Private as poſſible; appears by their holding them frequently in the Night, of which we have unqueſtionable Witneſſes. Pliny in's Ep. to Trajan, writes Se de ſacris corum nihil aliud comperiſſe, quam caetus antelucanos, &c. That he found nothing concerning their Religious Worſhip, but that they held their Meetings, in the Night before Day-light, wherein they ſung Hymns to Chriſt as God, &c.
The ſame is Recorded in Tertullian's Apol. c. 2. Euſeb. Hiſt. l. 3. c. 32. And Hiecrom in Chron. Euſeb. Gerh. Voſſius in's Comment on the foremention'd Epiſtle ſaith, It was neceſſary for them ſo to aſſemble in the Night, becauſe of the continual Perſecution they were under, Perſecutio totis ſae…lis duravit, ut paſſim neceſſe fuerit conveniri noctu.
Tertullian, l. 2. ad Ʋxorem, diſſwading her from Marrying an Infidel, brings this as one Argument, that He would not willingly ſuffer her to leave him in Bed, to frequent the Nocturnal Aſſemblies of Chriſtians, if it were needful. Quis Nocturnis Convocationibus, ſi ita oportuerit, à latere ſuo eximi libenter feret? And the Learned Heraldus in's Notes on Tertullian, de Corona Militis, ſaith, That the Chriſtians often aſſembled in the Night, ſaepius Noctu Congregatos. And ſo do ſeveral others: Whence the Learned derive that Ceremony, of Burning Wax Candles before the Shrines of Saints even in the Day Time (as is uſual in all the Popiſh. Countries) to retain that Cuſtom of the Primitive Chriſtians, who in Times of Perſecution met in the Night, and uſually in the Burying Places of the Deceaſed Chriſtians.
Secondly, Let us conſider what kind of Places, the Primitive Chriſtians held their Aſſemblies in, for Worſhip: And we ſhall find them the privateſt poſſible, that they might not be diſcovered. So that Celſus p. 4, and 5. in Origen, makes this his very firſt Objection againſt the Chriſtians in general, and not of that time only, that they held their Meetings in Private and obſcure Places. The which none ever doubted of or denied, that are not ſtrangers in Eccleſiaſtical Hiſtory or Antiquity; wherein this is ſo frequently mentioned.
Alexander Hales Writes of the whole Time in general, related by G. Biel on the Canon of the Maſs, Lect. 13. Ab Epiſcopatu Petri Apoſtoli, uſque ad Tempus Sylveſtri, &c. That from Peter to Sylveſter Perſecution raging, the Epiſcopal Station of the Biſhop of Rome was uncertain: But whereſoever the preſent Neceſſity conſtrained them to be, whether in Vaults under-ground, or the Houſes of Chriſtians, or what other places ſoever; there they celebrated Maſs upon an Altar of Wood, made hollow like an Ark, which was carried by the Prieſts to the Place, whereſoever tho Biſhop of Rome lay hid.
And Hierom on 40. Chap. of Ezekiel deſcribes thoſe Vaults, which they often made their Meeting-places, Dum eſſem Romae Puer, &c. When I was a Youth at Rome, and inſtructed in liberal Studies, it was my Cuſtom with others of the ſame Age and Profeſſion, on the Lords Days to viſit the Sepulchres of the Apoſtles and Martyrs, and often to enter into the Vaults, which were digged deep in the Earth; wherein were on each ſide as we went, the Bodies of dead Men buried. And all Places there were ſo Dark, that it might well be ſaid of them, according to that of the Prophet, The Living go down into Hell. And rarely Light was let in from above, to qualifie the horror of the Darkneſs, through a Hole rather than a Window.
And again, going on Foot by Foot, and being compaſſed about with dark Night, we are minded of that which Virgil ſaith, Horror ubique animos, ſimul ipſa ſilentia terrent. Horror on every ſide, and Silence therewithal affrights Mens Minds. A like Deſcription of theſe Vaults where tho Chriſtians met, we have in Prudentius his 11th Hymn, in excellent Verſes, but too many to be here inſerted.
Not that theſe Burying-places were peculiar to the Martyrs; for other Chriſtians were alſo Buried there, though not in the ſame Graves, till under Chriſtian Emperors, Churches were Erected in Cities, into which the Martyrs Bodies were brought from without, and Superſtition prevailed to make them the Common Burying-places: Which many Learned Men both Papiſts and Proteſtants have written againſt, and ſhewn how Injurious 'tis to the Health of the Living, with many other Reaſons; but the Tyrant Cuſtom hath always conquer'd the ſtrongeſt Arguments.
Nor when they met in ſuch Places, was it for their Worſhipping the Reliques of the Martyrs, as the Papiſts thence infer: But (beſides their Privacy, being remote from their Cities,) for the preſerving their Memories freſher in their Minds, and by their Examples be excited to Conſtancy in the Faith, and Suffering Martyrdom. And though Onuphrius de Caemiteriis, maintains, that Structures were made for Worſhip in theſe Burial-places; and Hoſpinian grants it came to that at length; yet were they but Sacella, or Chappels under-ground; as Platina tells us in the Life of Calixtus, who having ſaid he did not believe that famous and large Church which Alexander the Son of Mammaea (who began his Reign, A. D. 225. according to Baronius) had granted the Chriſtians, to be the ſame, with that which Calixtus was ſaid to have built, on the other ſide of Tiber, he gives this Reaſon, Cun…a tempeſtate, ob crebras Perſecutiones, occulta eſſent omnia, & ſacella potius, atque eadem abdita, & plerumque ſubterranea, quam apertis in Locis & Publicis fierent. For in thoſe Days, by Reaſon of frequent Perſecutions, all Things were carried ſecretly: And they had Chappels rather, and thoſe hidden, and for the moſt part under-ground, than in open and publick Places. Which laſt Words are alſo recited by Pol. Virgil. If any deſire further Satisfaction, concerning the Primitive Chriſtians meeting in thoſe Burial-Places: He may find it in Kercher's Roma ſubterranea, l. 1. c. 2. de Coemeteriis.
But though theſe Places after ſome time, and Martyrdom under Nero and following Emperors, were uſed more eſpecially by the Chriſtians, as appears by the Edict of Decius, Nec uſquam omnino vel vobis, vel aliis quibuſque poteſtas erit aut celebrandi conventus, aut in ea quae coemeteria appellantur ingredi; Thus the Chriſtians in Alexandria, and all others were prohibited their Meetings, or entering into the Coemiteries particularly. As alſo by the Edict of Valerian, whereby all their Aſſemblies being ſtrictly prohibited, theſe Places in ſpecial were forbidden them; And as Gallienus his Son by his Reſcript graciouſly reſtored the Places of Worſhip in general: So by another theſe Coemeteries in ſpecial, Euſeb. Hiſt. l. 7. Yet as Neceſſity required, by Reaſon of Perſecution, their Meetings in theſe Places, being found out and known by the Heathens, they met elſewhere ſome times in one Place, and ſome times in another, as in Woods, Caves, Mountains, &c. When they could not in Private Houſes, that they might not be diſcovered. Our Learned Hooker in's fifth Book of Eccleſ. Pol. §. 11. hath a ſhort, but very comprehenſive Paſſage for this.
The Church of Chriſt (ſaith He) which was in Jeruſalem, and hold that Profeſſion, which had not, the publick Allowance, and countenance of Authority, could not ſo long uſe the Exerciſe of chriſtian Religion, but in Private only. And as God gave Increaſe to his Church; they ſought out both there, and abroad for that Purpoſe, not the ſitteſt (for ſo the Times would not ſuffer them to do) but the ſafeſt Places they could. In Proceſs of Time, ſome whiles by Sufferance, ſome whiles by ſpecial Leave and Favour, they began to erect to themſelves Oratories. Thus Hilary alſo in his Book againſt the Arrians and Auxentius, ſpeaking of Chriſtians in the Apoſtles Days, affirms that they were, Per caenacula & ſecreta coenutes, ſuch as had their Meetings in Chambers, and ſecret Places. Afterwards moſt commonly in caemiteriis & cryptis, in ſubterraneous Vaults. And in the Time of his Baniſhment warns them to whom he writes, to beware of Antichriſt, for you are unhappily taken with the Love of Walls, you do not well in venerating the Church of God for Structures and Edifices: Is it doubtful that Antichriſt ſhall ſit in theſe? Montes mihi & ſylvae, & lacus, & carceres & vordgines tutiores ſunt, &c. Mountains and Woods, and Lakes, and Priſons, and Gulfs, are more ſafe to me. For in theſe, the Prophets either abiding or drowned, have Propheſied by the Spirit of God, And Walafudus Strabo to the ſame Purpoſe, whoſe Words we recited in Ninth Section, Page 40.
So Polid. Virgil, a good Antiquary in's Book de Inventione rerum, l. 5. c. 6. affirms that, à Chriſti aſcenſu, ad Diocleſianum & Maximianum, toto fere temporis intervallo tantum aberat, ut aliquod templum à Chriſtianis, publicè aedificaretur; ut etiam ommia eſſent occulta & ſacella potius, atque etiam abdita, & plerumque ſubterranea quàm apertis in Locis ac Publicis fierent. That from Chriſts Aſcenſion to Diocleſian and Maximianus, for that whole Interval of Time almoſt, the Chriſtians were ſo far from building any Temple in Publick, that all Things were kept ſecret: And Chappels rather, and thoſe alſo hidden, and for the moſt part under-ground, than in open and publick Places. Though He thinks it credible, where the Fury of perſecuting Tyrants reached not, the Apoſtles might Conſecrate ſome Temples, as Matthew in Aethiopia, Bartholomew in India, and Andrew in Scythia, and James at Jeruſalem. But theſe are but this Conjectures (for which he brings no Proof in founded upon the Piety of the Apoſtles, who always imployed their utmoſt Power to propogate Religion amongſt all Nations. For: we no where find that any of the Apoſtles required the erecting of Structures for Worſhip, or Conſecrating any for that end: Nor the leaſt Signification, that without ſuch, Religion could not be propogated.
And the Renowned Sir H. Spelman, p. 70. De non temevandis Eccleſiis, having mentioned the Conſecration of Churches in Conſtantines Time, adds, That the Chriſtians being in Elder Ages in Perſecution, might hardly Build or Dedicate any Churches; but were conſtrained to uſe Private Houſes, and Solitary Places for their Aſſemblies. The Learned Mr. Robert Cook Viccar of Leeds in's Cenſura quor. Script. ſhews Dionyſius Works to be Counterfeit, becauſe he mentions ſeveral Things, and particularly ſtately Temples, after the manner of that at Jeruſalem, having their Sancta Sanctorum divided from the reſt, into which it was not lawful for the Monks and Lay People to enter. Whereas there were no ſuch Things in thoſe Days, ſaith Cook, but Chriſtians met together after the Manner of the Apoſtles, Acts 1.13. and 12.12. and 20.8. in private and ſecret Places, and there had their Prayers and Sermons: Publick Temples they had none by reaſon of Tyrants.
I might bring in the like Atteſtations from our famous Jewel Article 3. p. 145. Willet's Synopſis Papiſmi, ſixth General Controverſie, Queſt. 6. With ſeveral others: But I ſhall conclude all with the Teſtimony of a great Hiſtorian yet living (of whoſe Acquaintance and Friendſhip I have the Honour to partake) viz, Dr. Spanhem the Honorary Profeſſor at Leyden, who in's learned and uſeful Eccleſiaſtical Hiſt. of the New Teſtament ſaith, Loca Sacrorum Conventuum fuere ſaeculo ſecundo, partim aedes privatorum, caenacula, balnea, porticus, cryptae, loca abdita. Partim caemeteria ſeu Sepulchreta Martyrum ad quae Conventus indicerent, zelo accendendo, his conſtantiae exemplis. The Places of the Chriſtians Meetings in the Second Century, were partly Private Houſes, Dining Rooms, Baths, Galleries, Vaults, and ſecret Places: Partly Burial-Places or Sepulchres of the Martyre, which they appointed their Meetings, for the inflaming their Zeal, by thoſe Examples of Conſtancy. And afterwards ſhews, the Manner of notifying their Conventions, was by their Servants from Houſe to Houſe: For as yet neither the beating of Wood, nor ſound of Bells, or Braſs, or Voice of Cryers were uſed for, this end, loſt their Aſſemblies ſhould be known to the Heathens.
In the Third Century, whether the Chriſtians had any Temples or Churches Dedicated or Conſecrated by Sacred and Chriſtian Rites is, ſaith He, a Controverſie amongſt the Learned. Pol. Virgil, Durantus, Baronius, Bellarminus, Ciaconius and Valcſius affirm it. And of ours alſo Wower, Fuller, Selden and others.
That Churches are frequently mentioned in this Age, is out of doubt: At nec Temptorum illis aut Nomen, aut Forma, aut Splendor, aut Species quaedam. Aedes fuere Privatorum, Domus, caenacula, ſed plorumque caemeteria, Cryptae ſpatioſiſſimae, quas areas Martyrum dixere; etiam latibula, ſtabula, oremi, carceres, agri ex Antiquis Scripporibus, & ox Conditione Temporum, ſaeviente ut plurimum Perſecutions. Quanquam ſub. Al. Severo, & Philippis, & Gallieno, conveniendi libertas Chriſtianis major. Hinc nulla eſſe Chriſtianis Templa. Quae memorantur Templa, Tituli, Conſecrationum Ritus Sacerdotales, à Baronio, Ciaconio, Fr. Bivario, aliis; ea ex Apocryphis Decretalibus, ex Pontific. vitis, ex Flavii Dextri Chronico Suppoſititio, id genus fontibus lutulentis hauſta. But they had neither the Name, nor Form, nor Splendor, nor Shape or Kind of Temples. They were the Dwellings of Private Perſons, Houſes, Dining-Rooms, and for the moſt part Burying-places, very ſpacious Vaults, which they called the Floors of the Martyrs: Alſo Lurking-places, Stables, Wilderneſſes, Priſons, Fields, as from Ancient Writers, and the Condition of thoſe Times is manifeſt, Perſecution then for the moſt Part raging. Allthough under Al. Sevetus, the Philips, and Gallienus, greater Liberty was given for Chriſtian Aſſemblies. Hence we conclude, the Chriſtians yet had no Temples. Thoſe Temples, Titles, and Sacerdotal Rites of Conſecration, mentioned by Baronius, Ciaconius, Fr. Bivarius, and others; are all taken from the Apocryphal Decretals, the Lives of the Popes, and the Suppoſititious Chronicle of Flavius Dexter, and ſuch like impure Fountains. Thus far that Learned Profeſſor.
To draw up all in a ſhort Concluſion. We read in Euſebius of the Chriſtians building Publick Oratories after Deeius and Valerians Days, not of any built before. Theſe were by Publick Decrees, commanded to be pulled down by Diocleſian and Maximus, and not long after reſtored by Conſiantine. Thoſe formerly taken from the Chriſtians by Decius and Valerian, were expreſſed to be Caemeteria Places of Burial in which they had their Cryptae or Vaults under-ground, formerly repreſented. So that for ſeparate and publick Places for Worſhip, for Two Hundred Years and more after Chriſts. Nativity, we have no Records in approved Hiſtory.
FINIS.