nus, the churches of Vienne and Lyons sent a relation of their sufferings to those of Asia and Phrygia, which is by some ascribed to the pen of Irenæus. It is written with simplicity and beauty, and is one of the most affecting passages in the ancient history of Christianity. Pothinus, the bishop, with several others, underwent the last infliction; still we have not reason to believe that the religion was at that time (A.D. 177)* widely diffused in the country; probably, indeed, the same Pothinus first introduced it from the East†. Irenæus, the learned and zealous combatant of heresy, succeeded to the dangerous eminence of Pothinus, and under his prolonged and vigilant protection Christianity took deep root, and finally fixed itself in the soil of France. According to the best authorities, he died in the year 202 ‡.

(8.) It was an early belief that St. Mark first preached his gospel at Alexandria, and founded churches there; and he is expressly mentioned by Eusebius§, as the first bishop of that city. The same writer asserts that a multitude of converts, both men and women, listened to his instructions, from their very first delivery. The evidence which he brings for this fact is not quite conclusive, but other circumstances render it highly probable. The population of Alexandria was very numerous, and composed of every variety of race and superstition-so that no general prejudice against the introduction of a new religion could exist there; it was commercial, and therefore enlightened; and it was also remarkable for the ardour with which it cultivated every branch of literature, the facility with which it admitted and reconciled philosophical tenets the most dissimilar, and the freedom which it indulged to every novelty of truth or speculation. Again, through the number of Jews originally established there at the foundation of the city, and continually increased by their domestic calamities; through the moderation¶ and even liberality of those Jews, as compared to their brethren in other countries, and especially through the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, which was there chiefly circulated, and studied by the learned of every sect, the knowledge of the true God was more generally diffused in Alexandria than in any other Gentile city, and the minds of men in some degree prepared to receive the second Covenant. We do not pretend to assert that they received it in entire purity, or with a perfect comprehension of its true character and inestimable advantages; but we doubt not that a vast number believed and were baptized, and constituted, under the holy guidance of the Evangelist and his successors, a respectable and powerful community. St. Mark was succeeded by Anianus, and the Latin names of many of the following bishops persuade us that the same

Le Clerc places that event seven years earlier.

† Dupin, H. E., vol. i. p. 32.

That he died a martyr is the common belief; but as the fact is not mentioned either by Tertullian or Eusebius, we may be allowed to suspect it, though asserted by Tillemont vol. iii. p. 94.

§ H. E. l. ii, c. 16 and 24. St. Luke is also believed to have visited this city, and the Acts of the Apostles to have been written and thence diffused over the Christian world. Semler, c. i. ch. 5.

Le Clerc (H. E. ann. 129) thinks it possible that Adrian was deceived by informers, who mistook the Gnostics, many sects of whom were then found at Alexandria, for the Orthodox Christians. But this supposition is not necessary; the very style of the passage argues inaccuracy and exaggeration, if not indifference. The Emperor erected a number of temples, without statues, which he intended, no doubt, to be consecrated to himself. Hence, some afterwards imagined that they were built for the Christians, but with little reason. Lampridius, Vit. Alex. Ser. ch. xliii. Eusebius, however, (Prep. lib. iv. c. 17.) assures us that it was particularly in the reign of Adrian that Revelation made progress. See note, p. 17.

alliance and continued intercourse subsisted between the ecclesiastical, as between the civil, governments of Rome and Alexandria.

Vopiscus, an historian who flourished about 300, A.D., has preserved a letter, written by the Emperor Adrian in the year 134, immediately after his visit to Alexandria. Its contents are nearly as follows:- I have found Egypt in every quarter fickle and inconstant-the worshippers of Serapis are Christians, and those are devoted to Serapis who call themselves Christian Bishops. There is no ruler of the synagogue, no Samaritan, no presbyter of the Christians, no mathematician, no soothsayer, no anointer; even the patriarch himself, should he come into Egypt, is compelled by some to worship Serapis, by others Christ-a most seditious and turbulent sort of men. However, the city is rich and populous. They have one God: him the Christians, him the Jews, him all the Gentile people worship.' We need not be surprised or offended by the insolent levity with which the profligate imperial philosopher places the religion of Serapis on a level with that of Christ, while, through the numerous misrepresentations so obvious in these sentences, one important truth may be descried. They manifestly prove, that, within a hundred years from the resurrection of Christ, his worshippers formed at least an important part of the inhabitants of the second city of the empire; and, perhaps, it is not unfair from this record to conclude, that they were as numerous as those who remained attached to the indigenous superstitions.

There is another circumstance which increases the importance we should attach to the early prosperity of the Alexandrian Church. Before the birth of Christ, a very great proportion of the learning of the Eastern world had been transferred from the schools of Greece to those of Alexandria. Not that Athens was entirely abandoned by disputants, or even by philosophers; but the uncertain renown which it still maintained was surpassed by the splendid institutions of a city, whose literary triumph was preceded, and perhaps occasioned, by its commercial superiority. The early Christians felt the necessity of education, though they differed as to its proper limits and object. We are told that St. John erected a school at Ephesus, and Polycarp at Smyrna, and even that St. Mark originally established the Catechetical School at Alexandria*. There can be no doubt that these schools, by whomsoever established, were useful in the propagation of religion; but it was long before any of them produced any persons of great literary merit. Pantænus a convert from stoicism, who flourished about 180, A.D., directed and adorned for several years that of Alexandria. He resigned his office in 190, in order more effectually to serve his religion as a missionary. His exertions were directed, with what success we know not, to the higher regions of the Nilet. He was succeeded by Clemens, commonly called the Alexandrian, and Clemens by the celebrated Origen, whose fame, however, belongs to the third century. It is only necessary here to observe, that these learned Christians being tinctured with certain philosophical notions which they were desirous to reconcile with the Gospel, and influenced by the society of those pro

* Schmidius de Schol. Catech. Alex. Jerom. de Vir. illust. c. 36.

From Euseb. H. E. I. v. c. 10, and Orig. Epist. 1. vi. c. 19, Le Clerc infers that Pantænus resumed his scholastic office after his return from Ethiopia (India), vol. i. p. 757 (ad ann. 179). Lardner fixes the earliest date of his return in 192. (p. ii. c. 21.) St. Jerome (de Vir. Ill. c. 36) relates that Pantanus found, that the Apostle Bartholomew had already preached in those regions the coming of Jesus Christ, according to the Gospel of St. Matthew, which he brought back to Alexandria, written in Hebrew."

fessing them, have very frequently distorted and discoloured the features of their religion.

At the end of the second century, the Church of Carthage was already growing into eminence; but we shall not at present do more than notice its existence.

CHAPTER II.

On the Numbers, Discipline, Doctrine, and Morality of the Primitive Church. (1.) General view of the extent of the Church-Facility of intercourse favourable to ChristianityOther circumstances-Miraculous claims of the Church-To what limits they ought to be confined. (2.) Government of the Primitive Church-During the time of the Apostles-After their Death-Deacons-Distinction of Clergy and Laity-Earliest form of Episcopal Government -Independence of the first Churches-Institution of Synods-Their character and uses-The evil supposed to have arisen from them-Metropolitans-Excommunication-Supposed community of property-Ceremonies of religion-Feasts and fasts-Schools. (3.) Creeds-The Apostles' Creed-Baptism-The Eucharist-The Agaps. (4.) Morality of the first Christians-Testimonies of St. Clement-Pliny-Bardesanes-Chastity-Exposure of infants-Charity-The earliest converts among the lower orders-The progress of the faith was upwards-Testimony of Lucian in history of Peregrinus-Suffering courage,

(1.) FROM a review of the preceding chapter, we find that before the year 200, A.D., the religion of Christ had penetrated into most of the provinces of the Roman empire, and was very widely diffused in many. By one of those dispositions in the scheme of Divine Providence, which it is not given us perfectly to comprehend, the people to which the faith was immediately addressed, was that which was most reluctant to receive it; indeed, its earliest and bitterest enemies*, wherever it presented itself, were Jews; but heaven protected its weakness, and proved its legitimacy, and avenged its sufferings, by executing on its first persecutor the severest chastisement ever inflicted on any nation.

During the few first years of Christianity, the most flourishing Church was, undoubtedly, that of Antioch; until, in the wider progress of the Gospel, it was surpassed by the superior populousness of Rome and Alexandria.

From Syria to the shores of the Black Sea, throughout the rich provinces of Asia Minor, Cilicia, Phrygia, Galatia, Pontus, Bithynia, and along the whole coast of the Egean Sea, a considerable proportion of the inhabitants were Christians, and we find their establishment in all the leading cities of Greece. From the cities, in each instance, the religion was silently derived and distributed among the surrounding towns and villages and hamlets, purifying morality, and infusing hope and happiness; and thus every Church was surrounded by a little circle of believers, which gradually enlarged, according to the zeal and wisdom which animated the centre.

The earliest converts were to be found chiefly among the middling and lower classes, which will account as well for their numbers as for their

* Less so, however, at Alexandria than in Greece and Asia, which we may attribute, not so much to any general disposition in that people to engraft foreign superstitions on their national worship (See Dr. Burton, Bamp. Lect. iii.), as to the fact, that the Alexandrian Jews were much more enlightened by Greek literature and Platonic philosophy than the rest of their race. It was also another and principal cause of their greater moderation, that they had been allowed to build for themselves a temple at Leontopolis, near Alexandria, which tended to disconnect them from Jerusalem, and thus to soften their prejudices.

† Mosh. Gen. Hist. cent. i. p. i. ch. 5.

C

obscurity, and the little mention that is made of them by contemporary

writers.

We shall not enter into any elaborate consideration of the various human causes which may have facilitated the progress of our religion *, nor of the many impediments which have been opposed to it. Instances of both will frequently present themselves in the course of this history, and some of the former in the present chapter. It would neither be wise nor consistent to deny their existence, or to assert that Providence, which condescends to effect its other earthly purposes by the agency of man, has wholly neglected such means in effecting its great purpose, the propagation of Christianity.

A very general facility of intercourse, rendered still easier by the diffusion of the Greek language through the Eastern provinces, and by the knowledge of the Latin, which was universal in the West, prevailed throughout the Roman Empire; for the conquerors well knew that without great rapidity of communication by sea and by land, so vast a compound of discordant materials could not long be held together in one mass. This was the most beneficial result of their political speculations; and hence proceeded their great diligence in the formation of roads and the construction of bridges. The means which were intended to advance the progress of armies, and perpetuate the duration of slavery, were also converted to the more honourable purposes of commerce and civilization; and more than that, they were made serviceable to an end which was least of all contemplated by their authors, when they became instrumental in the dissemination of Christianity. But they speedily became so; and it was thus that the weak were enabled to obtain support from the more powerful, the poor from the more wealthy, the ignorant from the more enlightened brethren; that the churches in distant provinces could maintain an easy and rapid intercourse; that the East could send missionaries to the West; and the more recent converts hold fearless correspondence with the establishments of the Apostles †. The devoted zeal of the primitive missionaries, the pure and austere morals of their converts, and the union and discipline of the Church, are universally admitted. By these and similar considerations we are led to believe, that, at least throughout the Eastern provinces of the empire, in Syria, Egypt, Asia Minor, and Greece, a respectable proportion of the people were Christians, even before the end of the second century; and there is strong reason for supposing our religion to have been already so firmly rooted in those parts, that its extirpation by any domestic persecutor would even then have been wholly impossible. This, at least, is our opinion; if true, it is an important service to have established it from the fair examination of such imperfect records as remain to us; for infidel writers are fond of insinuating that Christianity emanated from the court of Constantine, and had nowhere assumed any permanent

* Le Clerc (ad ann. 102-3) ascribes the rapid propagation of Christianity during the second century to four causes: (1.) some remaining miracles performed by the last disciples of the Apostles; (2.) open confutation of heathenism by Christian apologists; (3.) the constancy of the martyrs; (4.) the morals of the Christians. Others might be added, but these were unquestionably among the principal.

As in the case of the Church of Lyons, which seems to have been established by a Greek missionary, Pothinus, and continued in correspondence with the Churches of Asia.

The great number of councils assembled about the years 195 and 196, on the controversy about Easter, proves, as Tillemont (vol. iii. p. 114) observes, the tranquillity of the Church: it proves also its prosperity; and the authority of Tertullian has persuaded that historian that the Christians formed at that time almost the majority of the inhabitants.

or consistent form until its character was fixed and its stability decided by

the policy of an emperor.

Miraculous claims.

In order to rest on ground which will not be disputed, we have been contented to seek our proofs of the early strength and security of Christianity in the ordinary records of history, made probable by natural circumstances and human operation. But we should treat the subject imperfectly if we were to make no mention of those higher powers which have been so generally claimed for the primitive Church, not merely through the interposition of Divine Providence at such moments as seemed fit to His omniscience, but as a gift confided by the Most High to the uncertain discretion of his ministers on earth, and placed through a succession of ages, at their uncontrolled disposition. The chain of historical evidence on which this claim rests is continued from the days of St. Irenæus to those of St. Bernard (and even much later) with much uniformity of confident assertion and glaring improbability; it is interwoven in inseparable folds throughout the whole mass of ecclesiastical records, and the links which compose it so strongly resemble each other both in material and manufacture, that it appears absolutely impossible to break the succession, or to distinguish which of the portions were fabricated by the wisdom of God, which by the impiety of man *. Various writers have assigned various periods to the cessation of supernatural aids; but they appear for the most part to have been rather guided by their own views of probability, than by critical examination of evidence; which would have led them equally to receive or equally to reject the claims of every age, excepting the first. The powers which were undoubtedly communicated by the Apostles to some of their immediate successors probably continued to enlighten and distinguish those holy persons to the end of their ministry, and were eminently serviceable in the foundation of the faithf; but it is a reasonable opinion‡,

The performance of a pretended miracle for the purpose of delusion is the highest imaginable impiety, and the deliberate propagation of accounts of such performances, with knowledge of their character, is not far short of it. But we do not intend to impute this guilt to all the ancient Christian retailers of miraculous stories,-far from it ;-credulity is the weakness of some minds, as mendacity is the vice of others; and the former of these qualities, perhaps even more than the latter, has characterised some Eastern nations in every age. And we should recollect that to them we are indebted for the fabrication of most of the tales which stain ecclesiastical history, and for the example which led to them all.

+ Mosh. Hist. Gen. c. i. p. i. ch. 4.

On such a question as this it is vain to appeal to authorities; and unhappily we have here no space for full developement of our reasons. We must be contented, then, to say, that the argument by which we are principally moved is this: miracles become improbable in proportion as they seem to be not absolutely necessary; and we consider that through the wonders wrought by the Apostles, and those, their contemporaries, to whom similar power was vouchsafed, some of whom may have survived them forty or fifty years, the foundation of the Christian Church was so firmly established as to remove the neces sity of the further continuance of that power to it. The facts which have chiefly decided us are the following:-In the writings of the Apostolical Fathers and those immediately succeeding, we read nothing respecting apostles, prophets, interpreters, or other inspired and extraordinarily gifted ministers: we have no record of the perpetuation of any office in the ministry which in its nature and name included the certainty of inspiration and miraculous powers. Again, the fathers who succeeded them, those of the second and third centuries, when they speak of the existence of such powers, confine themselves to the use of general language; they seldom specify an instance of their application; and when they do so, it may usually be classed in that description of miracles which is most liable to misrepresentation or mistake; such as the healing of diseases, or the expulsion of demons. Add to these and similar considerations that which we do not hesitate to call the historical impossibility of assigning any period for the cessation of such gifts in the Church, if we once exceed the barrier which the infallibility of the inspired writers