The Church in Rome in the First Century Author(s): Edmundson, George (1849-1930) Publisher: Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library Description: In 1913, George Edmundson gave the University of Oxford©s Bampton Lectures, an annual (now biennial) lecture series that concentrates on Christian theological topics. This book contains the collection of Edmundson©s lectures, all of which concern Christianity©s first two hundred years. The majority of the book©s content addresses the New Testament directly, while a couple of the later lectures concern later early church figures such as Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertul- lian. During his time, Edmundson©s work was largely ignored, as he was a clergyman rather than a New Testament scholar. Not only this, but his conclusions differed vastly from the scholarly consensus of his contemporaries. Today, readers can approach Edmundson©s work as one piece of the ongoing dialogue in literary/historical criticism of the Bible. Kathleen O©Bannon CCEL Staff Subjects: Christianity History By period Early and medieval i Contents Title Page 1 Extract from the Last Will and Testament of the Late Rev. John Bampton 3 Synopsis of Contents 5 Lecture I 10 Lecture II 30 Lecture III 50 Lecture IV 71 Lecture V 90 Lecture VI 112 Lecture VII 136 Lecture VIII 154 Appendices 177 Note A. Chronological Table of Events Mentioned in the Lectures 178 Note B. Aquila and Prisca or Priscilla 181 Note C. The Pudens Legend 183 Note D. 188 Note E. The Tombs of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul 194 Note F. The Roman Catacombs. The Cemeteries of Priscilla and Domitilla. 206 Indexes 214 Index of Scripture References 215 Greek Words and Phrases 218 Latin Words and Phrases 227 German Words and Phrases 240 French Words and Phrases 242 Index of Pages of the Print Edition 244 ii This PDF file is from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, www.ccel.org. The mission of the CCEL is to make classic Christian books available to the world. • This book is available in PDF, HTML, ePub, and other formats. See http://www.ccel.org/ccel/edmundson/church.html. • Discuss this book online at http://www.ccel.org/node/2950. The CCEL makes CDs of classic Christian literature available around the world through the Web and through CDs. We have distributed thousands of such CDs free in developing countries. If you are in a developing country and would like to receive a free CD, please send a request by email to [email protected]. The Christian Classics Ethereal Library is a self supporting non-profit organization at Calvin College. If you wish to give of your time or money to support the CCEL, please visit http://www.ccel.org/give. This PDF file is copyrighted by the Christian Classics Ethereal Library. It may be freely copied for non-commercial purposes as long as it is not modified. All other rights are re- served. Written permission is required for commercial use. iii Title Page Title Page THE CHURCH IN ROME IN THE FIRST CENTURY ii George Edmundson's iii The Church in Rome in the First Century Is in the Public Domain PDF Format Dedicated to The Glory of God and Salvation Through Jesus the Messiah MCMXCIX THE BAMPTON LECTURES iv FOR 1913 v THE CHURCH IN ROME IN THE FIRST CENTURY AN EXAMINATION OF VARIOUS CONTROVERTED QUESTIONS RELATING TO ITS HISTORY, CHRONOLOGY, LITERATURE AND TRADITIONS EIGHT LECTURES PREACHED BEFORE THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD IN THE YEAR 1913 ON THE FOUNDATION OF THE LATE REV. JOHN BAMPTON, M.A. CANON OF SALISBURY BY 1 Title Page GEORGE EDMUNDSON, M.A. LATE FELLOW AND TUTOR OF BRASENOSE COLLEGE, VICAR OF ST. SAVIOUR, UPPER CHELSEA LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON NEW YORK, BOMBAY AND CALCUTTA 1913 [A11 rights reserved] CAROLO BULLER HEBERDEN D.C.L. vi AUL. REG. ET COLL. AEN. NAS. PRINCIPALI ACAD. OXON. VICECANCELLARIO AMICITIAE PROBATAE TESTIMONIUM D. D. D. OLIM PER DECENNIUM COLLEGA vii 2 Extract from the Last Will and Testament of the Late Rev. John Bampton Extract from the Last Will and Testament of the Late Rev. John Bampton EXTRACT FROM THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF THE LATE REV. JOHN BAMPTON CANON OF SALISBURY ‘. I give and bequeath my Lands and Estates to the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Oxford for ever, to have and to hold all and singular the said Lands or Estates upon trust, and to the intents and purposes hereinafter mentioned; that is to say, I will and appoint that the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford for the time being shall take and receive all the rents, issues, and profits thereof, and (after all taxes, reparations, and necessary deductions made) that he pay all the remainder to the endowment of eight Divinity Lecture Sermons, to be established for ever in the said University and to be per- formed in the manner following: ‘I direct and appoint, that, upon the first Tuesday in Easter Term, a Lecturer be yearly chosen by the Heads of Colleges only, and by no others, in the room adjoining to the Printing-House, between the hours of ten in the morning and two in the afternoon, to preach eight Divinity Lecture Sermons, the year following, at St. Mary's in Oxford, between the commencement of the last month in Lent Term, and the end of the third week in Act Term. ‘Also I direct and appoint, that the eight Divinity Lecture Sermons shall be preached upon either of the following Subjects—to confirm and establish the Christian Faith, and to confute all heretics and schismatics—upon the divine authority of the holy Scriptures—upon the authority of the writings of the primitive Fathers, as to the faith and practice of the primitive Church—upon the Divinity of our Lord and Saviour testis Christ —upon the Di- vinity of the Holy Ghost—upon the Articles of the Christian Faith, as comprehended in the viii Apostles' and Nicene Creeds. ‘Also I direct, that thirty copies of the eight Divinity Lecture Sermons shall be always printed, within two months after they are preached; and one copy shall be given to the Chancellor of the University, and one copy to the Head of every College, and one copy to the Mayor of the city of Oxford, and one copy to be put into the Bodleian Library; and the expense of printing them shall be paid out of the revenue of the Land or Estates given for establishing the Divinity Lecture Sermons; and the Preacher shall not be paid, nor be entitled to the revenue, before they are printed. ‘Also I direct and appoint, that no person shall be qualified to preach the Divinity Lecture Sermons, unless he hath taken the degree of Master of Arts at least, in one of the two Uni- 3 Extract from the Last Will and Testament of the Late Rev. John Bampton versities of Oxford or Cambridge; and that the same person shall never preach the Divinity Lecture Sermons twice.' ix 4 Synopsis of Contents Synopsis of Contents SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS LECTURE I Character of the theme—The Rome of Claudius and of Nero—Inter- course—Population—Slavery—The ‘Freedman' Class—Alien admix- ture—The Jewish Colony and its history—Its privileges and characterist- ics—Judaism attractive—Proselytes and ‘God-fearers'—The Syn- agogues—Soil prepared for Christianity—The Laureolus—The Jews ex- pelled by Claudius—Aquila and Prisca at Corinth—Their antecedents and position—Their close intercourse with St. Paul—St. Paul at Eph- esus—His Journey to Greece—He writes to the Roman Church from Corinth—The Epistle to the Romans: an Apologia—St. Paul's proposed visit to Rome—Three groups of Roman Christians addressed—The im- pelling motive of the Epistle—The Judaeo-Christians at Rome—The Sa- lutations of Chap. xvi. 1-23—Genuineness of the passage—Criticism dealt with—The Church in the house of Prisca and Aquila—Was this Ecclesia Domestica existent before 57 A.D.?—The Apostles Andronicus and Junias—The households of Aristobulus and Narcissus—The auto- biographic passage Chap. xv. 14-29—‘Another man's foundation'—Was the other man St. Peter? 1–29 LECTURE II The Lukan authorship of the Acts—Fragmentary character of the narrat- ive—The Acts written before 62 A.D.—The closing verses of the Acts—The Day of Pentecost—The sojourning Romans—The Twelve at Jerus- alem—The Hellenists and St. Stephen—Consequences of St. Stephen's martyrdom—Activity of St. Peter —The vision at Joppa—Conversion of Cornelius—Missionaries at Antioch—Barnabas sent to Antioch—He seeks Saul—The name Christiani—Herod Agrippa persecutes the Church—St. Peter escapes from prison—St. James and the Brethren—Value of tradition—Oral tradition—Early Christian written records—Their destruction—Apocryphal ‘Acts'—Criteria of authenti- city—Evidence for St. Peter's martyrdom at Rome—‘Ascension of Isai- ah'—Clement of Rome—Ignatius—Dionysius of Corinth—Irenaeus—The Episcopal lists—Eusebius of Caesarea—Jerome—The Petrine tradition universally accepted in East and West alike—Archaeological evid-x ence—Portraits—Sepulchral inscriptions—Mosaics—Frescoes—The 30–58 5 Synopsis of Contents Petrine ‘legends' based on fact—The Preaching of Peter—Local memor- ies—St. Peter at Rome—The envoy of the Twelve—Precedents of Samaria and Antioch—Analogy of circumstances LECTURE III St. Peter encounters Simon Magus at Rome—Eusebius on the story of Simon Magus—His visit to Rome in Claudius' reign, and success—Weighty evidence of Justin Martyr, of Irenaeus and Hippolytus—The theories of Baur and Lipsius untenable—Vogue of Oriental cults and teachers at Rome—John Mark Peter's interpreter—Origin of St.