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    single (^ heMuiW ' bf tfk e ' - JLdl-cl ^ Attj ^^ - ' tidt ye € ^ wbeeiM ( M * : « b ftii * . Utif even in Terttillian ' s age , the elem&rtfe WerW esteeitied jtecuII ^ Wy fibly , andbti that account , it appears , were usually received in assemblies held ver ^ eaW y in tbe morning , bfcfof e thfe first ordinary meal . For the sahie reason , erftr ^ irie care was taken to prevent any portion of'the elements from falling to ih& ground , and some of the consecrated bread was reserved by the communi * cants to be eaten at home before every other nourishment . Th ^ bread and

    wine were received at the hands of the Presidents ; but in what posture they were received cannot be ascertained from any passage in the writings of Tertullian . He speaks , indeed , in one passage , of the communicants as standing at the altar of God ; but as the Professor candidly observes , ** It may be doubted whether the expression is to be understood literally , * or

    whether we are warranted in inferring from it that altars had been , at that early period , generally introduced into the places of religious assembly . ' P . 453 . The term sacrificium is applied by Tertullian'to the Eucharist ; " but in the same general manner in which it is applied to other parts of divine worship , and to other modes of conciliating the Divine favour—as to prayer or fasting or bodily mortifications . " P . 452 .

    Marriage was certainly not considered as a sacrament in the days of Tertullian , Jret it seems to have been esteemed b y Christians as a strictly religious contract . The putting on of the ring is mentioned " as a part of the rites , not of marriage , but espousal . " The Romish sacrament of extreme unction derives no authority from the writings of Tertullian . The seventh chapter treats of " the last of the five branches into which Mosheim divides the internal History of the Church—the heresies by which

    its repose was troubled during the second century . " Before our author proceeds to consider Mosheim ' s enumeration of Christian sects , he gives an interesting analysis of Tertullian ' s tract against the Jews . From this tract it appears that the controversy between the Jews and the Christians " stood then precisely on the same footing as that on which it stands in the present day ; " excepting , as we think , that Christians have enlarged the distance between the Jews and themselves , by departing more widely from the doctrine of the Divine Unity . It also appears that the advocates for Christianity

    were in that day , as they are in this , often embarrassed by the application of some of the Old-Testament prophecies . In the interpretation of the Jewish Scripture , Tertullian discovers much more fancy than judgment ; and in some passages finds allusions to the death of Christ , " so grossly extravagant , ( hat it is difficult to conceive , " says our impartial Professor , " how they could ever enter into the head of any rational being . I know not , *' he adds , " whether it will be deemed any apology for Tertullian to observe that he was not the inventor of these fancies ; for it argues perhaps a more

    lamentable weakness of judgment to have copied than to have invented them : ifcost , however , if not all , are to be found in Justin Martyr . " P . 471 . It is true , they are in Justin Martyr , with a great heap of other absurdities * and we have always admired the singular patience of Trypho , if the dialogue really took place , in continuing to listen to such an

    opponent * Oa one subject relating to the Jews and intimately connected with the inquiry cbttceMing the state of early opinions respecting the person of Christ , nattiely , ^ he 'identity of the Nazarenes and Ebionites , Tertullian throws * no litht . He speaks of the Ebionites , and says that they derived their 'appellation from their founder Ebiort , whom he supposes to have \ A fe * the fAwfcesstoy but tiot to ttery fooiftt the follower , of Cerintbtis * Bt !» t ht

    Untitled Article

    ll&d ! li Review . —Dr . Kayeh \ TertuWait . 515

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1827, page 515, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1798/page/43/