published his Aóyos áλŋŋs in the reign of Marcus Aurelius; and now for sixty years it had been in high repute among the pagans. He was an eclectic philosopher of the Platonic school, learned, acute, bitter. His work has not been preserved in a separate form. But Origen, in his reply to that work, follows Celsus step by step, quoting his language, it would seem, with entire accuracy, demolishing, with great learning and ability, his sceptical objections to Christianity, and refuting his abominable charges against this new religion. The limits appropriate to such an article as the present prevent our giving a more particular account, or an abstract, of this Apology. It is not, perhaps, inferior to any treatise of the kind produced in the early ages of Christianity. Apart from this treatise, Origen now toiled incessantly upon the Hexapla, and upon commentaries. His vigor scarcely abated with advancing age. The Hexapla contained mostly six, but in part seven, eight, or nine copies of the Old Testament in parallel columns. In the first column was the Hebrew text in Hebrew letters; in the second, this text in Greek letters; in the third, the version of Aquila; in the fourth, that of Symmachus; in the fifth, that of the Seventy; in the sixth, that of Theodotion; in the seventh,, eighth, and ninth, three versions known from their position as the Quinta, Sexta, et Septima Editiones. This great work perished after a time; we know it only by description, and by considerable fragments preserved in the writings of Jerome and others. Origen also executed a similar work, the Tetrapla, containing the versions of the Seventy, Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion. But his end was approaching. In A.D. 249 Decius succeeded Philip, and entered upon a most systematic and relentless persecution of Christians. It was his design to extinguish the name and faith. Fabian at Rome, Alexander at Jerusalem, and Babylas at Antioch, died in honor of the truth. Origen seems to have gone to Tyre before the outbreak. He was seized, thrust into prison, and a heavy iron collar put about his neck. He was tortured many days. He was threatened with death at the stake. But his stedfastness continued. And as his judge did not wish to take his life, he survived the torture and the persecution. But not long; for his sufferings had ruined his health. In A.D. 254, and in the seventieth year of his age, he fell asleep. The work of life was done. Besides a great number of letters and homilies, he had written commentaries on a large part of the Bible, had formed the Hexapla and Tetrapla, composed an able Apology and several doctrinal treatises, taught Christianity to a great number of young men, and travelled extensively. He was in labors abundant. And we must admire and love the man, while we reject many of his opinions. We know nothing of his personal appearance, except that he was small of stature, and of winning address. Intelligence and love beamed from his countenance. ART. VI. THE COUNCIL OF TRENT. History of the Council of Trent, from the French of L. F. BUN- THERE is no higher authority with Roman Catholics, in matters of doctrine and discipline, than the decisions of a general council, solemly ratified and confirmed by the sovereign pontiff. Such pontifical sanction is not by all Romanists regarded as essential to the validity of the acts of a general council; but where such decrees are so ratified, no Catholic will deny that they constitute the highest possible source of appeal, and the ultimate authority for faith and practice. The Romish church generally acknowledges eighteen such general councils, though there is some diversity between the Cisalpine and the Transalpine writers, in their enumeration. Of these eighteen, that of Trent is the last, and in its origin, history, and results, by far the most remarkable of them all. Three centuries have now nearly elapsed since the Trentine fathers-amidst acclamations of anathema cunctis hæreticis― dispersed from the closing session of this memorable council. From that time till the present, its doctrinal decrees have ever been regarded as the acknowledged and authoritative standard of the doctrines of Rome. Whatever is found in these decrees may fairly and legitimately be regarded as a doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, the validity of which no faithful son of the church will presume to deny or to dispute. The creed to which every Romish bishop and priest has solemnly expressed his adherence, and which every genuine Catholic cordially receives, is the creed of Pope Pius IV., the pontiff by whom all the acts and decrees of the council were solemnly ratified and confirmed. This is the present creed of the Romish church. In thirteen articles it embraces a summary of the doctrines established by the decrees of Trent, and in the fourteenth and fifteenth articles the believer is made to say--"I also profess and undoubtedly receive all other things delivered, defined, and declared by the sacred canons, and general councils, and particularly by the holy Council of Trent; and likewise, I also condemn, reject, and anathematize all things contrary thereto, and all heresies whatsoever, condemned, rejected, and anathematized by the church. This true Catholic faith, out of which no one can be saved, which I now freely profess and truly hold, I promise, vow, and swear, most constantly to hold and profess the same, whole and entire, with God's assistance, to the end of my life." Dr. McClintock+ has truly remarked: "The acknowledged creed of Rome is contained in the acts and decrees of the Council of Trent-there and nowhere else. Quote the most "Extra quam, nemo salvus esse potest." †The editor of the American edition of Bungener's History of the Council. See the Introduction which he has prefixed to that work. celebrated Roman doctors-an angelical Aquinas, or a sainted Liguori-and you will be told that their writings are "not authoritative." Cite a catechism, a prayer-book, a breviary -your mouth is closed, at once, with the declaration that the church recognizes none of these as giving her creed. Pursue your quest as far as you may, you will find no book, no formulary, no summary of doctrine, recognized as binding, except the canons and decrees of Trent. The canons of Trent are the very citadel of Rome." From the above observations, it will be seen that a knowledge of the history and the decrees of the Council of Trent is absolutely essential to a correct understanding of the doc trines of the Romish church. Mr. Butler, the celebrated Romish controversialist, in his Book of the Roman Catholic Church, demands that "in every religious controversy between Protestants and Roman Catholics, the following rule should be rigidly observed, viz., "That no doctrine should be ascribed to the Roman Catholics as a body except such as is an article of their faith." If this rule is a just one--and we have no disposition to repudiate it-then, we ask, how car. any one be qualified to engage in this great controversy, or even to judge of its merits, who has not made himself familiar with the accredited decrees and formularies in which those articles of faith are embodied? A diligent perusal and careful study of such works, as those whose titles we have prefixed to this article, will do much towards imparting that knowledge which is necessary to a correct understanding of the matters in dispute between Romanists and Protestants. If we would be armed for the present and the coming conflict between Romish error and Bible truth, we must adopt the advice of one of England's brightest lights,* in a recent sermon-"Study popery anew. The remedy I would propose against the threatened influx of of papal power, is to study afresh the tenets of the papacy, to understand its errors, to chronicle its crimes, to mark well that its character is as immutable as its pretensions are arrogant; and that everywhere and always, it has proved itself * Rev. Thomas Binney, D.D., Pastor of the Weigh-house Chapel, London. to be a thing which at once insults God and degrades man." The History of the Council of Trent by Bungener is a work of recent origin. Its author, an accomplished clergyman of the Reformed Church of France, has recently placed himself in the front rank of the Protestant writers of Europe, by his graphic and eloquent historico-dramatic works (if the word may be pardoned) entitled-The Priest and the Huguenot The Preacher and the King, &c. The present work will not detract from his well-earned honors. It is a well-conceived and well-executed attempt to popularize a knowledge of the historical intricacies which originated and influenced the Council of Trent from its inception, through all its various sessions and recesses, from its inauguration in 1545 to its final dispersion, eighteen years afterwards, in 1563. In this the author has succeeded in an admirable degree. The book is written in a graphic and animated style, and is well adapted to convey to readers of every class, a general impression of the history of the council and the doctrines which it promulgated. Yet it is not a work adequately adapted to meet the wants of the quiet student of history and theology. It would be but poorly adapted as an armory for the Protestant controversialist, or a text-book for the college or the theological seminary. Probably it was never intended for such a purpose. Its statements of the doctrinal decisions of the council are not sufficiently clear and precise, and they are very seldom given in the language of the doctrinal decrees. This, to the careful student, is a serious defect, as he cannot learn from Bungener's book precisely what Rome teaches on the points discussed.* The work seems to be written, rather for the meridian of Papal France, than Protestant England or America, and the author seems to assume that the doctrinal teachings of Trent are generally known. Yet the theological discussions of the council are related in a lively style, accompanied generally with pregnant reflections, • This deficiency, Dr. McClintock, whose editorial labors have much enhanced the value of the American edition, has, in part, but only in part, supplied, by abridging from Landon's Manual of Councils a brief account of the sessions of the Council of Trent in chronological order. |