A Source Book for Ancient Church History - Mirrors

133find Corinth. Since you are not far from Macedonia, you havePhilippi; there, too, you have the Thessalonians. Since you areable to cross to Asia, you get Ephesus. Since, moreover, you areclose upon Italy, you have Rome, from which there comes eveninto our own hands the very authority of Apostles themselves.How happy is that church, on which Apostles poured forth alltheir doctrine along with their blood! Where Peter endures apassion like his Lord's; where Paul wins a crown in a death likeJohn's; where the Apostle John was first plunged, unhurt, intoboiling oil, and thence remitted to his island exile! See what shehas learned, what taught; what fellowship she has had with evenour churches in Africa! One Lord God does she acknowledge,the Creator of the universe, and Christ Jesus born of the VirginMary, the Son of God the Creator; and the resurrection of theflesh; the law and the prophets she unites in one volume with thewritings of Evangelists and Apostles, from which she drinks inher faith. This she seals with the water of baptism, arrays withthe Holy Ghost, feeds with the eucharist, cheers with martyrdom,and against such a discipline thus maintained she admits nogainsayer.[117]§ 28. The Canon or the Authoritative New Testament WritingsThe Gnostics used in support of their doctrines writings whichthey attributed to the Apostles, thus having a direct apostolicwitness to these doctrines. This they did in imitation of theChurch's practice of using apostolic writings for edification andinstruction. Marcion drew up a list of books which were aloneto be regarded as authoritative among his followers [v. supra, §23, a]. The point to be made by the champions of the faith ofthe great body of Christians was that only those books could belegitimately used in support of Christian doctrine which couldclaim actual apostolic origin and had been used continuously in