most unequivocal traces of episcopacy at an early date. Clement of
of God. And hence St Peter, as he moves from place to place, ordains bishops everywhere, as though this were the crowning act of his missionary labours. The divergence of the Clementine doctrine from the tenets of Catholic Christianity only renders this phenomenon more remarkable, when we remember the very early date of these writings; for the Homilies cannot well be placed later than the end, and should perhaps be placed before the middle of the second century. 3. We have hitherto been concerned only with the Greek Church of Syria. Of the early history of the SYRIAN CHURCH strictly so called, no trustworthy account is preserved. The documents which profess to give information respecting it are comparatively late: and while their violent anachronisms discredit them as a whole, it is impossible to separate the fabulous from the historic. It should be remarked however, that they exhibit a high sacerdotal view of the episcopate as prevailing in these churches from the earliest times of which any record is preserved. 4. ASIA MINOR follows next in order; and here we find the widest and most unequivocal traces of episcopacy at an early date. Clement of Alexandria distinctly states that St John went about from city to city, his purpose being 'in some places to establish bishops, in others to consolidate whole churches, in others again to appoint to the clerical office some one of those who had been signified by the Spirit'. 'The sequence of bishops,' writes Tertullian in like manner of Asia Minor, 'traced back to its origin will be found to rest on the authority of John.' And a writer earlier than either speaks of St John's 'fellow-disciples and bishops' as gathered about him. The conclusiveness even of such testimony might perhaps be doubted, if it were not supported by other more direct evidence. At the beginning of the second century the letters of Ignatius, even if we accept as genuine only the part contained in the Syriac, mention by name two bishops in these parts, Onesimus of Ephesus and Polycarp of Smyrna. Of the former nothing more is known: the latter evidently writes as a bishop, for he distinguishes himself from his presbyters, and is expressly so called by other writers besides Ignatius. His pupil Irenaeus says of him, that he had 'not only been instructed by Apostles and conversed with
many who had seen Christ but had also been established by Apostles in Asia as bishop in the Church at Smyrna.' Polycrates also, a younger con temporary of Polycarp and himself bishop of Ephesus, designates him by this title; and again in the letter written by his own church and giving an account of his martyrdom he is styled bishop of the Church in Smyrna. As Polycarp survived the middle of the second century, dying at a very advanced age (A.D. 155 or 156), the possibility of error on this point seems to be excluded: and indeed all historical evidence must be thrown aside as worthless, if testimony so strong can be disregarded. It is probable however, that we should receive as genuine not only those portions of the Ignatian letters which are represented in the Syriac, but also the Greek text in its shorter form. Under any circumstances, this text can hardly have been made later than the middle of the second century, and its witness would still be highly valuable, even if it were a forgery. The staunch advocacy of the episcopate which distinguishes these writings is well known and will be considered hereafter. At present we are only concerned with the historical testimony which they bear to the wide extension and authoritative claims of the episcopal office. Besides Polycarp and Onesimus, mentioned in the Syriac, the writer names also Danias bishop of Magnesia and Polybius bishop of Tralles; and he urges on the Philadelphians also the duty of obedience to their bishop, though the name is not given. Under any circumstances it seems probable that these were not fictitious personages, for, even if he were a forger, he would be anxious to give an air of reality to his writings: but whether or not we regard his testimony as indirectly affecting the age of Ignatius, for his own time at least it must be regarded as valid. But the evidence is not confined to the persons and the churches already mentioned. Papias, who was a friend of Polycarp and had conversed with personal disciples of the Lord, is commonly designated bishop of Hierapolis; and we learn from a younger contemporary Serapion, that Claudius Apollinaris, known as a writer against the Montanists, also held this see in the reign of M. Aurelius. Again Sagaris the martyr, who seems to have perished in the early years of M. Aurelius, about A. D. 165, is designated bishop of Laodicea
by an author writing towards the close of the same century, who also alludes to Melito the contemporary of Sagaris as holding the see of Sardis. The authority just quoted, Polycrates of Ephesus, who flourished in the last decade of the century, says moreover that he had had seven relations bishops before him, himself being the eighth, and that he followed their tradition. When he wrote he had been 'sixty-five years in the Lord;' so that even if this period dates from the time of his birth and not of his conversion or baptism, he must have been born scarcely a quarter of a century after the death of the last surviving Apostle, whose latest years were spent in the very Church over which Polycrates himself presided. It appears moreover from his language that none of these relations to whom he refers were surviving when he wrote. Thus the evidence for the early and wide extension of episcopacy throughout proconsular Asia, the scene of St John's latest labours, Bishops in may be considered irrefragable. And when we pass to other districts of Asia Minor, examples are not wanting, though these are neither so early nor so frequent. Marcion a native of Sinope is related to have been the son of a Christian bishop: and Marcion himself had elaborated his theological system before the middle of the second century. Again, a bishop of Eumenia, Thraseas by name, is stated by Polycrates to have been martyred and buried at Smyrna; and, as he is mentioned in connexion with Polycarp, it may fairly be sup posed that the two suffered in the same persecution. Dionysius of Corinth moreover, writing to Amastris and the other churches of Pontus (about A.D. 170), mentions Palmas the bishop of this city: and when the Paschal controversy breaks out afresh under Victor of Borne, we find this same Palmas putting his signature first to a circular letter, as the senior of the bishops of Pontus. An anonymous writer also, who took part in the Montanist controversy, speaks of two bishops of repute, Zoticus of Comana and Julianus of Apamea, as having resisted the impostures of the false prophetesses. But synods. indeed the frequent notices of encyclical letters written and synods held towards the close of the second century are a much more powerful testimony to the wide extension of episcopacy throughout the provinces of Asia Minor than the incidental mention of individual names. On one such