men.

do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of Basil speaks of the Apostles and Fathers secretly conveying "their sacred doctrine in mystic forms, AFTER THE EXAMPLE OF MOSES." Thus does he upon this point completely identify himself, and his admirer the Oxford writer, with the Romanists and the followers of the Talmud, as will appear to every unprejudiced reader by the following quotation from the writings of one who was most profoundly conversant with Rabbinical lore." Whoso nameth the Talmud, nameth all Judaism, and whoso nameth Misna, and Gemara, he nameth all the Talmud: and so saith Levita, 'Hattalmud nehhlak,' &c. 'The Talmud is divided into two parts; the one part is called Misna, and the other part is called Gemara; and these two together, are called the Talmud.' This is the Jews' council of Trent;—the foundation and ground-work of their religion. For they believe the Scriptures, as the Talmud believes; for they hold them of equal authority: 'Rabbi Tanchum, the son of Hamlai, saith, Let a man always part his life into three parts: a third part for the Scriptures, a third part for Misna, and a third part for Gemara.' Two for one,two parts for the Talmud for one for the Scripture. So highly do they, Papist-like, prize the vain traditions of men. This great library of the Jews is much like such another work upon the Old Testament, as Thomas Aquinas's 'Catena Aurea' is upon the New. For this is the sum of all their doctors' conceits and descants upon the law, as his is a collection of all the fathers' explications and comments upon the Gospels. For matter, it is much like Origen's books of old, 'ubi bene, nemo melius,' &c.; where they write well, none better,—and where ill, none worse.

The word 'Falmud' is the same in Hebrew, that 'doctrine' is in Latin, and 'doctrinal' in our usual speech. It is (say the Jews) a commentary upon the written law of God. And both the law and this (say they,) God gave to Moses; the

law by day, and by writing,-and this, by night, and by word of mouth. The law was kept by writing still, this still by tradition. Hence comes the distinction so frequent in Rabbins, of Torah she baccatubh,' and 'Torah she begnal peh,' 'the law in writing, and the law that comes by word of mouth;' 'Moses (say they) received the law from Sinai,'(this traditional law, I think they mean,) and delivered it to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, the elders to the prophets, and the prophets to the men of the great synagogue.' And thus, like Fame in Virgil, 'crevit eundo,'-like a snow-ball, it grew bigger with going. Thus do they father their fooleries upon Moses, and elders, and prophets, who (good men) never thought of such fancies; as the Romanists, for their traditions, can find books of Clemens, Dionysius, and others, who never dreamed of such matters. Against this their traditional, our Saviour makes part of his sermon in the mount, Matt. v. But he touched the Jews' freehold, when he touched their Talmud; for greater treasure in their conceits they had none : like Cleopatra in Plutarch, making much of the viper, that destroyed them."-Lightfoot's Works. Vol. iv. p. 15. Pitman's Edition.

It is well worthy of the attention of those writers, who speak, in the genuine language of Romanism, of "the Oracle of tradition fresh from the breasts of the Apostles," (Vol. i. No. 31. p. 2.) and of " the pure fountains of tradition," (Vol. i. No. 71. p. 27.) that some of the most pernicious heresies that ever disfigured and mutilated the Christian faith were propagated and extensively embraced in the earliest ages of Christianity; and that the heresiarchs were wont to appeal to tradition in support of their erroneous tenets. These facts plainly demonstrate the necessity of testing tradition by the written word, and the insufficiency of tradition without that word as a safeguard from error. In proof of them, I will adduce the testimony of Evans and of Dr. Burton. The former says that

even these days of schism are unable to supply us with an adequate conception of the view which presented itself to Ignatius, from his chair at Antioch. THE WORST SECT

AMONG US IS FREE FROM THE INSANE EXTRAVAGANCE TO WHICH THE HERESY OF THOSE TIMES PROCEEDED. 'The latter times were indeed come, and the Churches of Asia were not exempted from the troubles predicted to Ephesus. The Jewish leaven was still fermenting in the Christian mass, and a worse corruption still (if it did not go hand in hand with the other) was the introduction of principles which afterwards became too notorious as maintained by the Gnostic heresy."Biography of the early Church, p. 56. Again, with reference to the same subject, he observes-"The leaders of the Gnostic heresy were busy and but too successful in propagating their opinions there," (viz. at Rome.) "At that early period the scriptural canon could not have obtained among the generality that implicit and almost intuitively acknowledged authority, both as to contents and extent, which length of time has given it in these days. The bold heretic, therefore, who denied the authority or purity of the received books, and CLAIMED APOS

TOLICAL TRADITION FOR HIS OWN FORGERIES OR CORRUPTIONS BY WHICH HE SECONDED HIS PERNICIOUS DOCTRINES, was sure of finding followers from among that large crowd who are ignorant, fond of novelty, or prone to rebel against authority." -Biography of the early Church. By the Rev. R. W.

Evans, p. 78.

Dr. Burton, a late very learned Regius professor of Divinity, in his Bampton Lectures quotes the following, amongst other passages, relative to the practice of the Gnostics of appealing to tradition in support of their heretical opinions, one of which is taken from the writings of Irenæus, the other from those of Tertullian. They say, that Jesus spoke privately in a mystery to his disciples and the Apostles and enjoined them to deliver these things to those who were worthy and would obey

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them." "They think that the Apostles did not reveal every thing to every body: for they spoke some things openly and to all; some in secret to a few for which reason also St. Paul used these words to Timothy, O Timothy keep that which is committed to thy trust."—An Inquiry into the heresies of the Apostolic Age, by the Rev. Edward Burton, D.D.

Let the reader carefully compare the preceding extracts, from Lightfoot, Evans, and Burton, with the following annotations, on 1 Tim. vi. 20., taken from the Rhemish New Testament and Dr. Fulke's answers to the notes of the Romanists, and he will find that Basil's principle of "a continuous tradition in mystical depositories" was the principle espoused in common by the Talmudists, the Gnostics, and the Romanists.

Rhem. "20 Depositum. The whole doctrine of our Christianity, being taught by the Apostles, and delivered to their successors, and coming down from one bishop to another, is called the Depositum, as it were a thing laid into their hands, and committed unto them to keep. Which, because it passeth from hand to hand, from age to age, from bishop to bishop, without corruption, change, or alteration, is all one with tradition, and is the truth given to the holy bishops to keep, and not to laymen." &c.

Fulke. "Timothy had nothing committed to him by unwritten tradition, but the doctrine contained in the holy Scriptures, and the government of the Church according to the same. Wherefore, you do but mock the unlearned readers, with a Latin word, which the Apostle used not; nor any of the ancient fathers did include any such matter (as you pretend) therein. Ambrose useth the word commendatum, that which is committed, and saith,-'He admonisheth that those things be kept which were said before,' therefore he speaketh of no unwritten tradition. Theodoret saith, I think he calleth the grace of the Spirit, which he received by ordination, the thing that was

committed to him. But that was not unwritten traditions delivered by the hands of men." &c.

Rhem. "Falsely called knowledge. It is the property of all heretics to arrogate to themselves great knowledge, and to contemn the simplicity of their fathers, the holy doctors, and the Church, but the Apostle calleth their pretended skill, a knowledge falsely so called, being in truth high and deep blindness. 'Such' (saith Irenæus) 'as forsake the preaching of the Church, argue the holy priests of unskilfulness, not con sidering how far more worth a religious idiot' (obscure and illiterate person)' than a blasphemous and impudent sophister, such as all heretics be.' And, again, Vincentius Lirinensis, speaking in the person of heretics, saith, 'Come, O ye foolish and miserable men, that are commonly called Catholics; and learn the true faith which hath been hid many ages heretofore, but is revealed and shewed of late.' &c.-See his whole book concerning these matters."

Fulke. "SUCH HERETICS WERE THE VALENTINIANS AND GNOSTICS, WHICH, NOT CONTENT WITH THE SIMPLE KNOWLEDGE THAT WAS CONTAINED IN THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, DID ARROGATE UNTO THEMSELVES A FAR HIGHER UNDERSTANDING, WHICH NONE COULD ATTAIN UNTO, BUT THEY THAT UNDERSTOOD THE UNWRITTEN TRADITION. 'When they are convicted.' (saith Irenæus) 'out of the Scriptures they fall to accusing the Scriptures themselves, as though they were not perfect as though they were not of authority sufficient, because they were diversely uttered, and that the truth out of them cannot be found out by them which know not the tradition, for that was not delivered by writing, but by word of mouth.' Join this saying, therefore, to the other two of Irenæus and Vincentius, and you shall make a perfect description of papists; which boast of the truth-of the Church-of tradition, by word of mouth, more certain than the Scriptures; all which is nothing else but falsely called knowledge, being