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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
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Concerning the Epistles and the Writings of the Apostolic and the early Fathers of the Christian Church, it should be borne in mind, as has been pointed out earlier, that their authors were anxious to reveal, but forced to conceal, their true views. The different Epistles have all one end in view, to push the knowledge, if possible, a step further, in each new document; and the same line of conduct is followed in the writings of the Apostolic and other' early 'Fathers' of the Church mostly, though we may be sure that true enlightenment is not to be found in every one of the writers. Irenæus, for instance, even writes that Jesus lived to be an old man, and that his ministry covered a period of at least ten years! It is even said in the Introduction (see pages svii and xviii) to the fifth volume of the Ante-Nicene Christian Library that “ upon these and some other points the judgment of Irenæus is at fault," and that “ upon the whole his style is very involved and prolix”! It is to the glory of the Epistles and the Writings of the early Fathers' of the Christian Church that it is still possible to reconstruct a complete system in the main outline of the teaching of the Science of Salvation which was conceived and preached by the Founders of Christianity, for the benefit of the people in the Holy Land. The results attained furnish a complete system, scientific, self-contained, useful, and, within certain limits, practical.
But it may be asked, 'What reliance can you place upon fragments thus discovered from such a heterogeneous collection as the Epistles and Writings of the AntoNicene Fathers?' The answer may be given by another
