OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH WITH A GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO CHURCH HISTORY. BY PHILIP SCHAFF, PROFESSOR IN THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, AT MERCERSBURG, PA. TRANSLATED BY NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER, 145 NASSAU STREET. 1853. 110.2.77. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by CHARLES SCRIBNER, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. C. W. BENEDICT, STEREOTYPER AND PRINTER 12 Spruce Street, N. Y. PREFACE. To present from original sources, in a faithful, clear and life-like picture, the history of the Church of Jesus Christ, the God-man and Saviour of the world; to reproduce, with ardent love of truth and with genuine catholicity, her inward and outward experience, her conflicts and triumphs, her sufferings and joys, her thoughts, her words and her deeds; and to hold up to the present age this panorama of eighteen centuries as the most complete apology for Christianity, full of encouragement and warning, of precept and example :-this is a task well worthy of the best energies of a long life, and offering in itself the amplest reward, but at the same time so vast and comprehensive, that it cannot be accomplished to any satisfaction, except by the cooperation of all varieties of talent. The individual must feel sufficiently fortunate and honored, if he succeed in furnishing few blocks for a gigantic edifice, which, in the nature of the case, cannot be finished, till the church shall have reached the goal of her militant stage. For science grows with experience and with it alone becomes complete. Two years ago I published in the retired village of Mercersburg, Pa., with discouraging prospects and at my own risk, the first volume of a General History of the Christian Church in the German language, and dedicated it to the memory of my late honored teacher and friend, Dr. AUGUSTUS NEANDER, (by his permission granted to me with the kindest wishes for my success shortly before his lamented death), as a token of my high veneration for the profound and conscientious scholarship, the liberal and catholic spirit, and the deep-toned, humble and childlike piety of this truly great and good man, the "father of modern church history." Although very limited in circulation, it was received with unexpected favor on both sides of the Atlantic by most competent judges of different evangelical denominations; and I feel under special obligations to the Rev. Doctors J. A. Alexander of the Presbyterian church, J. W. Nevin of the German Reformed, C. P. Krauth of the Lutheran, J. M'Clintock of the Methodist Episcopal, C. E. Stowe of the Congregational, also to Prof. Dr. Jul. Müller of Halle and Dr. C. Bunsen, the learned Prussian ambassador at London, for their very flattering and encouraging public notices of my unpretending book. This favorable reception, and the earnest call expressed from various quarters, both publicly and privately, for an English translation, have induced me to issue it in that language, which alone can open to it a respectable circulation in this country and in England. I have revised the whole work with reference to what has appeared in the same department since its publication, and have made some additions, especially in the fourth chapter of the General Introduction, and in the last chapter of the fifth book on the heresies of the Apostolic Age. The translation (including the re-translation of those portions which had been previously published, as separate articles, in various American Reviews) has been executed by my friend, the Rev. Edward D. Yeomans, a gentleman of excellent character and fine talents, who will no doubt make himself favorably known also in course of time by original contributions to our American theological literature. Having carefully revised the translation before sending it to the press, I can vouch for its faithfulness; while at the same time the style, I think, will be found as free and easy as that of an original English work. By this arrangement the translation appears much sooner and to much better advantage, than if I had undertaken it myself. For the careful reading of the proof I express my grateful acknowledgments to my learned friend, the Rev. John Lillie of New York. I prefer, for several reasons, to publish this volume as a separate work on the Apostolic Church, with a full General Introduction, which contains the outlines of a philosophy of Church History, and will supply, I hope, a defect in this department of our literature. It is my wish and intention, however, if God spares my life and strength, to bring the history down to the present time; and thus, so far as lies within my humble abilities, to give from reliable sources, under the guidance of our Lord's twin parables of the mustard-seed and leaven, a complete, true, and graphic account of the development of Christ's kingdom on earth, for the theoretical and practical benefit especially of ministers and students of theology. As regards compass, I propose to steer midway between the synoptical brevity of a mere compend and the voluminous fullness of a work, which seeks to exhaust its subject and is designed simply for the professional scholar. Each of the nine periods, according to the scheme proposed in the General Introduction, § 17, will probably require a moderate volume.* With these remarks, I send this book forth to the public, fully conscious of its many imperfections, yet not without hope, that under the blessing of Almighty God it may accomplish some good, so long as its time may last. With modest claims and the most peaceful intentions, polemical and uncompromising only towards rationalism and infidelity, whether of German or English origin, but * I regret that the large and valuable work of Cony beare and Howson: "The Life and Epistles of St. Paul," 2 vols., London, 1853 (embellished with many splendid plates), did not reach me till after the greater part of the manuscript was already in the hands of the printer. |