The bishop was the natural steward of Distribution of the church; the public stock was in- the revenue. trusted to his care without account or control; the presbyters were confined to their spiritual functions, and the more dependent order of deacons was solely employed in the management and distribution of the ecclesiastical revenue. If we may give credit to the vehement declamations of Cyprian, there were too many among his African brethren, who, in the execution of their charge, violated every precept, not only of evangelic perfection, but even of moral virtue. By some of these unfaithful stewards the riches of the church were lavished in sensual pleasures, by others they were perverted to the purposes of private gain, of lute sacrifice, a moderate proportion was accepted by | without either a special privilege or a particular disthe ministers of the gospel; and in their weekly or pensation from the emperor or from the senate; who monthly assemblies, every believer, according to the were seldom disposed to grant them in favour of a sect, exigency of the occasion, and the measure of his at first the object of their contempt, and at last of their wealth and piety, presented his voluntary offering for fears and jealousy. A transaction however is related the use of the common fund. Nothing, however in-under the reign of Alexander Severus, which discovers considerable, was refused; but it was diligently incul- that the restraint was sometimes eluded or suspended, cated, that, in the article of tithes, the Mosaic law was and that the christians were permitted to claim and to still of divine obligation; and that since the Jews, un-possess lands within the limits of Rome itself. The der a less perfect discipline, had been commanded to progress of christianity, and the civil confusion of the pay a tenth part of all that they possessed, it would be- empire, contributed to relax the severity of the laws, come the disciples of Christ to distinguish themselves and before the close of the third century many consiby a superior degree of liberality, and to acquire some derable estates were bestowed on the opulent churches merit by resigning a superfluous treasure, which must of Rome, Milan, Carthage, Antioch, Âlexandria, and so soon be annihilated with the world itself. It is the other great cities of Italy and the provinces. almost unnecessary to observe, that the revenue of each particular church, which was of so uncertain and fluctuating a nature, must have varied with the poverty or the opulence of the faithful, as they were dispersed in obscure villages, or collected in the great cities of the empire. In the time of the emperor Decius, it was the opinion of the magistrates, that the christians of Rome were possessed of very considerable wealth; that vessels of gold and silver were used in their religious worship, and that many among their proselytes had sold their lands and houses to increase the public riches of the sect, at the expense, indeed, of their unfortunate children, who found themselves beggars, because their parents had been saints. We should listen with distrust to the suspicions of strangers and ene-fraudulent purchases, and of rapacious usury. But as mies on this occasion, however, they receive a very long as the contributions of the christian people were specious and probable colour from the two following free and unconstrained, the abuse of their confidence circumstances, the only ones that have reached our could not be very frequent, and the general uses to knowledge, which define any precise sums, or convey which their liberality was applied, reflected honour on any distinct idea. Almost at the same period, the the religious society. A decent portion was reserved bishop of Carthage, from a society less opulent than for the maintenance of the bishop and his clergy; a that of Rome, collected an hundred thousand sester- sufficient sum was allotted for the expenses of the pubces, (above eight hundred and fifty pounds sterling,) lic worship, of which the feasts of love, the agapæ, as on a sudden call of charity to redeem the brethren of they were called, constituted a very pleasing part. The Numidia, who had been carried away captives by the whole remainder was the sacred patrimony of the poor. barbarians of the desert." About an hundred years According to the discretion of the bishop, it was disbefore the reign of Decius, the Roman church had re-tributed to support widows and orphans, the lame, ceived, in a single donation, the sum of two hundred the sick, and the aged of the community; to comthousand sesterces from a stranger of Pontus, who fort strangers and pilgrims, and to alleviate the misproposed to fix his residence in the capital. These fortunes of prisoners and captives, more especially oblations, for the most part, were made in money; nor when their sufferings had been occasioned by their was the society of christians either desirous or capable firm attachment to the cause of religion. A geneof acquiring, to any considerable degree, the incum-rous intercourse of charity united the most distant brance of landed property. It had been provided by several laws, which were enacted with the same design as our statutes of mortmain, that no real estates should be given or bequeathed to any corporate body, Justin Martyr, Apolog. Major, c. 89. Tertullian, Apolog, c. 39. Irenæus ad. Hæres. 1. iv. c. 27, 34. Origen in Num Hom. ii. Cyprian de Unitat. Eccles. Constitut. Apostol. I. ii. c. 34, 35. with the notes of Cotelerius. The Constitutions introduce this divine precept, by declaring that priests are as much above kings, as the soul is above the body. Among the tithable articles, they enumerate corn, wine, oil, and wool. On this interesting subject, consult Prideaux's History of Tithes, and Fra Paolo delle Materie Beneficiarie; two writers of a very different character. The same opinion which prevailed about the year one thousand, was productive of the same effects. Most of the donations express their motive, "appropinquante mundi fine." See Mosheim's General History of the Church, vol. i. p. 457. t Tum summa cura est fratribus Offerre, fundis venditis, Sestertiorum millia, provinces, and the smaller congregations were cheerfully assisted by the alms of their more opulent brethren. Such an institution, which paid less regard to the merit than to the distress of the object, very materially conduced to the progress of christianity. The pagans, who were actuated by a sense of humanity, While they derided the doctrines, acknowledged the benevolence, of the new sect. The prospect of immediate relief and of future protection allured into its hospitable bosom many of those unhappy persons whom the neglect of the world would have abandoned to the miseries of want, of sickness, and of old age. There is some reason to believe, that great numbers of infants, who, according to the inhuman practice of the times, had been exposed by their parents, were frequently rescued from death, baptized, educated, and y Diocletian gave a rescript, which is only a declaration of the old law; "Collegium, si nullo speciali privilegio subnixum sit, hæreditatem capere non posse, dubium non est." Fra Paolo (c. 4.) thinks that these regulations had been much neglected since the reign of Valerian. z Hist. August. p. 131. The ground had been public; and was now disputed between the society of christians, and that of butchers. a Constitut. Apostol. ii. 35. b Cyprian de Lapsis, p. 89. Epistol. 65. The charge is confirmed by the 19th and 20th canon of the council of Illiberis. e See the apologies of Justin, Tertullian, &c. a The wealth and liberality of the Romans to their most distant brethren is gratefully celebrated by Dionysius of Corinth, ap. Euseb. 1. iv. c. 23. e See Lucian in Peregrin. Julian (Epist. 49.) seems mortified, that the christian charity maintains not only their own, but likewise the heathen poor. Excommuni meut. maintained by the piety of the christians, and at the an inadequate satisfaction to the divine justice; and it expense of the public treasure." was always by slow and painful gradations that the II. It is the undoubted right of every sinner, the heretic, or the apostate, was re-admitted into cation. society to exclude from its communion the bosom of the church. A sentence of perpetual and benefits such among its members as reject or vio- excommunication was, however, reserved for some late those regulations which have been established by crimes of an extraordinary magnitude, and particularly general consent. In the exercise of this power, the for the inexcusable relapses of those penitents who had censures of the christian church were chiefly directed already experienced and abused the clemency of their against scandalous sinners, and particularly those who ecclesiastical superiors. According to the circumwere guilty of murder, of fraud, or of incontinence; stances or the number of the guilty, the exercise of the against the authors, or the followers, of any heretical christian discipline was varied by the discretion of the opinions which had been condemned by the judgment bishops. The councils of Ancyra and Illiberis were of the episcopal order; and against those unhappy held about the same time, the one in Galatia, the other persons, who, whether from choice or from compul- in Spain; but their respective canons, which are still sion, had polluted themselves after their baptism by extant, seem to breathe a very different spirit. The any act of idolatrous worship. The consequences of Galatian, who after his baptism had repeatedly sacriexcommunication were of a temporal as well as a ficed to idols, might obtain his pardon by a penance of spiritual nature. The christian against whom it was seven years; and if he had seduced others to imitate pronounced, was deprived of any part in the oblations his example, only three years more were added to the of the faithful. The ties both of religious and of pri- term of his exile. But the unhappy Spaniard, who had vate friendship were dissolved: he found himself a committed the same offence, was deprived of the hope profane object of abhorrence to the persons whom he of reconciliation, even in the article of death; and his the most esteemed, or by whom he had been the most idolatry was placed at the head of a list of seventeen tenderly beloved; and as far as an expulsion from a other crimes, against which a sentence no less terrible respectable society could imprint on his character a was pronounced. Among these we may distinguish mark of disgrace, he was shunned or suspected by the the inexpiable guilt of calumniating a bishop, a presgenerality of mankind. The situation of these unfor-byter, or even a deacon.i tunate exiles was in itself very painful and melancholy; The well-tempered mixture of libe- The dignity of but, as it usually happens, their apprehensions far ex- rality and rigour, the judicious dispen- episcopal govern ceeded their sufferings. The benefits of the christian sation of rewards and punishments, accommunion were those of eternal life, nor could they cording to the maxims of policy as well as justice, erase from their minds the awful opinion, that to those constituted the human strength of the church. The ecclesiastical governors by whom they were condemn- bishops, whose paternal care extended itself to the ed, the Deity had committed the keys of hell and of government of both worlds, were sensible of the imparadise. The heretics, indeed, who might be sup- portance of these prerogatives, and covering their amported by the consciousness of their intentions, and by bition with the fair pretence of the love of order, they the flattering hope that they alone had discovered the were jealous of any rival in the exercise of a discipline true path of salvation, endeavoured to regain, in their so necessary to prevent the desertion of those troops separate assemblies, those comforts, temporal as well which had enlisted themselves under the banner of the as spiritual, which they no longer derived from the cross, and whose numbers every day became more great society of christians. But almost all those who considerable. From the imperious declamations of had reluctantly yielded to the power of vice or idolatry, Cyprian, we should naturally conclude, that the docwere sensible of their fallen condition, and anxiously trines of excommunication and penance formed the desirous of being restored to the benefits of the chris- most essential part of religion; and that it was much tian communion. less dangerous for the disciples of Christ to neglect the observance of the moral duties, than to despise the censures and authority of their bishops. Sometimes we might imagine that we were listening to the voice of Moses, when he commanded the earth to open, and to swallow up, in consuming flames, the rebellious race which refused obedience to the priesthood of Aaron; and we should sometimes suppose that we heard a Roman consul asserting the majesty of the republic, and declaring his inflexible resolution to enforce the rigour of the laws. "If such irregularities are suffered with impunity, (it is thus that the bishop of Carthage chides the lenity of his colleague,) if such irregularities are suffered, there is an end of episcopal vigour ;* an end of the sublime and divine power of governing the church, an end of christianity itself." Cyprian had renounced those temporal honours, which it is probable he would never have obtained; but the acquisition of such absolute command over the consciences and understanding of a congregation, however obscure or despised by the world, is more truly grateful With regard to the treatment of these penitents, two opposite opinions, the one of justice, the other of mercy, divided the primitive church. The more rigid and inflexible casuists refused them for ever, and without exception, the meanest place in the holy community, which they had disgraced or deserted, and leaving them to the remorse of a guilty conscience, indulged them only with a faint ray of hope, that the contrition of their life and death might possibly be accepted by the Supreme Being. A milder sentiment was embraced in practice as well as in theory, by the purest and most respectable of the Christian churches. The gates of reconciliation and of heaven were seldom shut against the returning penitent; but a severe and solemn form of discipline was instituted, which, while it served to expiate his crime, might powerfully deter the spectators from the imitation of his example. Humbled by a public confession, emaciated by fasting Public penance. and clothed in sackcloth, the penitent lay prostrate at the door of the assembly, imploring with tears the pardon of his offences, and soliciting the prayers of the faithful. If the fault was of a very heinous nature, whole years of penance were esteemed Such, at least, has been the laudable conduct of more modern missionaries, under the same circumstances. Above three thousand new-born infants are annually exposed in the streets of Pekin. Sec Le Comte Memoires sur la Chine, and the Recherches sur les Chinois et les Egyptiens, om. i. p. 61. The Montanists and the Novatians, who adhered to this opinion with the greatest rigour and obstinacy, found themselves at last in the number of excommunicated heretics. See the learned and copious Mosheim, Secul. ii. and iii. j See in Dupin, Bibliotheque Ecclesiastique, tom. ii. p. 304–313. a short but rational exposition of the canons of those councils, which were assembled in the first moments of tranquillity, after the persecution of Diocletian. This persecution had been much less severely felt in Spain than in Galatia; a difference which may, in some measure, account for the contrast of their regulations. k Cyprian, Epist. 69. 1 [This supposition seems to have little foundation; the birth and talents of St. Cyprian would lead us to a different conclusion. Thascius Cocilius Cyprianus Carthaginensis, artis oratorie professione clarus, magnam sibi gloriam, opes, honores acquisivit, epularibus cœnis et largis dapibus assuetus, pretiosa veste conspicuus, auro atque purpura fulgens, fascibus oblectatus et honoribus, stipatus clientium cuneis, frequentiore comitatu officii agminis honestatus ut 1 Cave's Primitive Christianity, part iii. c. 5. The admirers of an- ipse de se loquitur in Epistola ad Donatum. (See Dr. Cave Hist. littiquity regret the loss of this public penance. h Dionysius ap. Euseb. iv. 23. Cyprian, de Lapsis. terar. vol. i. p. 87.)-G.] theism. lian or Lactantius employ their labours in exposing its falsehood and extravagance, they are obliged to transcribe the eloquence of Cicero or the wit of Lucian. The contagion of these sceptical writings had been diffused far beyond the number of their readers. The fashion of incredulity was communicated from the the noble to the plebeian, and from the master to the menial slave who waited at his table, and who eagerly listened to the freedom of his conversation. On public occasions the philosophic part of mankind affected to treat with respect and decency the religious institutions of their country; but their secret contempt penetrated through the thin and awkward disguise, and even the people, when they discovered that their deities were rejected and derided by those whose rank or understanding they were accustomed to reverence, were filled with doubts and apprehensions concerning the truth of those doctrines, which they had yielded the most implicit belief. The decline of ancient prejudice exposed a very numerous portion of human kind to the danger of a painful and comfortless situation. A state of scepticism and suspense may amuse a few inquisitive minds. But the practice of superstition is so congenial to the multitude, that if they are forcibly awakened, they still regret the loss of their pleasing vision. Their love of the marvellous and supernatural, their curiosity with regard to future events, and their strong propensity to extend their hopes and fears beyond the limits of the visible world, were the principal causes which favoured the establishment of polytheism. So urgent on the vulgar is the necessity of believing, that the fall of any system of mythology will most probably be succeeded by the introduction of some other mode of superstition. Some deities of a more recent and fashionable cast might soon have occupied the deserted temples of Jupiter and Apollo, if, in the decisive moment, the wisdom of Providence had not interposed a genuine revelation, fitted to inspire the most rational esteem and conviction, whilst, at the same time, it was adorned with all that could attract the curiosity, the wonder, and the veneration of the people. In their actual disposition, as many were almost disengaged from their artificial prejudices, but equally susceptible and desirous of a devout attachment; an object much less deserving would have been sufficient to fill the vacant place in their hearts, and to gratify the uncertain eagerness of their passions. Those who are inclined to pursue this reflection, instead of viewing with astonishment the rapid progress of christianity, will perhaps be surprised that its success was not still more rapid and still more universal. to the pride of the human heart, than the possession of | triumph over the folly of paganism; and when Tertulthe most despotic power, imposed by arms and conquest on a reluctant people. Recapitulation of In the course of this important, though the five causes. perhaps tedious, inquiry, I have attempted to display the secondary causes which so efficaciously assisted the truth of the christian religion. If among these causes we have discovered any arti-philosopher to the man of pleasure or business, from ficial ornaments, any accidental circumstances, or any mixture of error and passion, it cannot appear surprising that mankind should be the most sensibly affected by such motives as were suited to their imperfect nature. It was by the aid of these causes, exclusive zeal, the immediate expectation of another world, the claim of miracles, the practice of rigid virtue, and the constitution of the primitive church, that Christianity spread itself with so much success in the Roman empire. To the first of these the christians were indebted for their invincible valour, which disdained to capitulate with the enemy whom they were resolved to vanquish. The three succeeding causes supplied their valour with the most formidable arms. The last of these causes united their courage, directed their arms, and gave their efforts that irresistible weight, which even a small band of well-trained and intrepid volunteers has so often possessed over an undisciplined multitude, ignorant of the subject, and careless of the event of the war. In the various religions of polyWeakness of polytheism, some wandering fanatics of Egypt and Syria, who addressed them selves to the credulous superstition of the populace, were perhaps the order of priests" that derived their whole support and credit from their sacerdotal profession, and were very deeply affected by a personal concern for the safety or prosperity of their tutelar deities. The ministers of polytheism, both in Rome and in the provinces, were, for the most part, men of a noble birth, and of an affluent fortune, who received as an honourable distinction the care of a celebrated temple, or of a public sacrifice, exhibited, very frequently at their own expense, the sacred games," and with cold indifference performed the ancient rites, according to the laws and fashion of their country. As they were engaged in the ordinary occupations of life, their zeal and devotion were seldom animated by a sense of interest, or by the habits of an ecclesiastical character. Confined to their respective temples and cities, they remained without any connexion of discipline or government; and whilst they acknowledged the supreme jurisdiction of the senate, of the college of pontiffs, and of the emperor, those civil magistrates contented themselves with the easy task of maintaining, in peace and dignity, the general worship of mankind. We have already seen how various, how loose, and how uncertain were the religious sentiments of polytheists. They were abandoned, almost without control, to the natural workings of a superstitious fancy. The accidental circumstances of their life and situation determined the object as well as the degree of their devotion; and as long as their adoration was successfully prostituted to a thousand deities, it was scarcely possible that their hearts could be susceptible of a very sincere or lively passion for any of them. m The arts, the manners, and the vices of the priests of the Syrian goddess, are very humorously described by Apuleius, in the eighth book of his Metamorphoses. n The office of Asiarch was of this nature, and it is frequently mentioned in Aristides, the Inscriptions, &c. It was annual and elective. None but the vainest citizens could desire the honour; none but the most wealthy could support the expense. See in the Patres Apostol. tom. ii. p. 200. with how much indifference Philip the Asiarch conducted himself in the martyrdom of Polycarp. There were likewise Bithyniarchs, Lyciarchs, &c. empire. It has been observed, with truth as as well as the well as propriety, that the conquests of peace and union Rome prepared and facilitated those of of the Roman christianity. In the second chapter of this work we have attempted to explain in what manner the most civilized provinces of Europe, Asia, and Africa, were united under the dominion of one sovereign, and gradually connected by the most intimate ties of laws, of manners, and of language. The Jews of Palestine, who had fondly expected a temporal de liverer, gave so cold a reception to the miracles of the divine Prophet, that it was found unnecessary to publish, or at least to preserve, any Hebrew gospel. The authentic histories of the actions of Christ were composed in the Greek language, at a considerable distance from Jerusalem, and after the Gentile converts o [This insensibility was not so great as Gibbon seems to believe. A great number of Jews were converted; eight thousand were baptized in two days. (Acts of Apost. chap. c. v. 37-40.) They formed the first christian church.-G.] p The modern critics are not disposed to believe what the fathers almost unanimously assert, that St. Matthew composed a Hebrew gospel, of which only the Greek translation is extant. It seems, however, dangerous to reject their testimony. [There are strong reasons to confirm this testimony. Papias, who was contemporary with the apostle John, says positively that Matthew wrote the discourses of Jesus Christ in Hebrew, and that each Historical view In the east. themselves. From the writings of Lucian, a philosopher who had studied mankind, and who describes their manners in the most lively colours, we may learn, that, under the reign of Commodus, his native country of Pontus was filled with Epicureans and christians. Within fourscore years after the death of Christ," the humane Pliny laments the magnitude of the evil which he vainly attempted to eradicate. In his very curious epistle to the emperor Trajan, he affirms, that the temples were almost deserted, that the sacred victims scarcely found any purchasers, and that the superstition had not only infected the cities, but had even spread itself into the villages and the open country of Pontus and Bithynia. were grown extremely numerous.9 As soon as those been applied to the less numerous party. To theso histories were translated into the Latin tongue, they domestic testimonies we may add the confession, the were perfectly intelligible to all the subjects of Rome, complaints, and the apprehensions of the gentiles excepting only to the peasants of Syria and Egypt, for whose benefit particular versions were afterwards made. The public highways, which had been constructed for the use of the legions, opened an easy passage for the christian missionaries from Damascus to Corinth, and from Italy to the extremity of Spain or Britain; nor did those spiritual conquerors encounter any of the obstacles which usually retard or prevent the introduction of a foreign religion into a distant country. There is the strongest reason to believe, that before the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine, the faith of Christ had been preached in every province, and in all the great cities of the empire; of the progress but the foundations of the several conof christianity gregations, the numbers of the faithful Without descending into a minute The church of who composed them, and their proportion to the un- scrutiny of the expressions, or of the Antioch. believing multitude, are now buried in obscurity, or motives, of those writers who either celebrate or ladisguised by fiction and declamation. Such imperfect ment the progress of Christianity in the east, it may circumstances, however, as have reached our know-in general be observed, that none of them have left us ledge concerning the increase of the christian name in any grounds from whence a just estimate might be Asia and Greece, in Egypt, in Italy, and in the west, formed of the real numbers of the faithful in those we shall now proceed to relate, without neglecting the provinces. One circumstance, however, has been forreal or imaginary acquisitions which lay beyond the tunately preserved, which seems to cast a more disfrontiers of the Roman empire. tinct light on this obscure but interesting subject. Under the reign of Theodosius, after christianity had enjoyed, during more than sixty years, the sunshine of imperial favour, the ancient and illustrious church of Antioch consisted of one hundred thousand persons, three thousand of whom were supported out of the public oblations. The splendour and dignity of the queen of the east, the acknowledged populousness of Cæsarea, Seleucia, and Alexandria, and the destruction of two hundred and fifty thousand souls in the earthquake which afflicted Antioch under the elder Justin, are so many convincing proofs that the whole number of its inhabitants was not less than half a million, and that the christians, however multiplied by zeal and power, did not exceed a fifth part of that great city. How different a proportion must we adopt when we compare the persecuted with the triumphant church, the west with the East, remote villages with populous towns, and countries recently converted to the faith, with the place where the believers first received the appellation of Christians! It must not, however, be dissembled, that, in another passage, Chrysostom, to whom we are indebted for this useful information, computes the multitude of the faithful as even superior to that of the Jews and pagans. But the solution of this apparent difficulty is easy and obvious. eloquent preacher draws a parallel between the civil and the ecclesiastical constitution of Antioch; between the list of christians who had acquired heaven by baptism, and the list of citizens who had a right to share the public liberality. Slaves, strangers, and infants were comprised in the former; they were excluded from the latter. The rich provinces that extend from the Euphrates to the Ionian sea, were the principal theatre on which the apostle of the Gentiles displayed his zeal and piety. The seeds of the gospel, which he had scattered in a fertile soil, were diligently cultivated by his disciples; and it would seem that, during the two first centuries, the most considerable body of christians was contained within those limits. Among the societies which were instituted in Syria, none were more ancient or more illustrious than those of Damascus, of Berea or Aleppo, and of Antioch. The prophetic introduction of the Apocalypse has described and immortalized the seven churches of Asia; Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardes, Laodicea, and Philadelphia; and their colonies were soon diffused over that populous country. In a very early period, the islands of Cyprus and Crete, the provinces of Thrace and Macedonia, gave a favourable reception to the new religion; and christian republics were soon founded in the cities of Corinth, of Sparta, and of Athens. The antiquity of the Greek and Asiatic churches allowed a sufficient space of time for their increase and multiplication, and even the swarms of Gnostics and other heretics serve to display the flourishing condition of the orthodox church, since the appellation of heretics has always one interpreted it as he could. This Hebrew was the Syrio-chaldaic dialect, then in use at Jerusalem: Origen, St. Ireneus, Eusebius, St. Jerome, and St. Epiphanius, confirm this account. Jesus Christ himself preached in Syrio-chaldaic. This is proved by many words which he used, and which the evangelists have carefully translated. St. Paul, when haranguing the Jews, made use of the same language. (Acts of the Apostles, chap. 20. v. 2.-chap. 17. v. 4. chap. 26. v. 14.) The opinions of some critics are of little avail against incontroverti ble testimony, besides, their principal objection is, that St. Matthew quotes from the Old Testament, according to the Greek version of the septuagint; but they are not correct, for of the ten quotations which are found in his gospel, seven are evidently taken from the Hebrew text, and the other three do not differ from it,-besides, these last are not literal citations. St. Jerome says positively concerning a copy of this gospel, which he had seen in the library at Cesarea, that the citations were made in Hebrew. (in Catal.) More modern critics, among others Michaelis, express no doubt upon this question. The Greek version appears to have been made in the time of the Apostles, as St. Jerome and St. Augustine affirm. perhaps even by one of them.-G.] 4 Under the reigns of Nero and Domitian, and in the cities of Alexandria, Antioch, Rome, and Ephesus. See Mill. Prolegomena ad. Nov. Testament, and Dr. Lardner's fair and extensive collection. Vol. XV. The Alogians (Epiphanius de Hæres. 61.) disputed the genuineness of the Apocalypse, because the church of Thyatira was not yet founded. Epiphanius, who allows the fact, extricates himself from the difficulty by ingeniously supposing, that St. John wrote in the spirit of prophecy. See Abanzit Discours sur l'Apocalypse. The epistles of Ignatius and Dionysius (ap. Euseb. iv. 23.) point out many churches in Asia and Greece. That of Athens seems to have been one of the least flourishing. 12 VOL. I.-X In Egypt. The The extensive commerce of Alexandria, and its proximity to Palestine, gave an easy entrance to the new religion. It was at first embraced by great numbers of the Therapeutæ, or Essenians of the lake Mareotis, a Jewish sect which had abated much of its reverence for the Mosaic cere t Lucian in Alexandro, c. 25. Christianity, however, must have been very unequally diffused over Pontus; since, in the middle of the third century there were no more than seventeen believers in the extensive diocese of Neo-Cæsarea. See M. de Tillemont, Memoires Ecclesiast. tom. iv. p. 675. from Basil and Gregory of Nyssa, who were themselves natives of Cappadocia. u According to the ancients, Jesus Christ suffered under the consulship of the two Gemini, in the year 29 of our present era, Pliny was sent into Bithynia (according to Pagi) in the year 110. v Plin. Epist. x. 97. x Chrysostom. Opera, tom. vii. p. 658, 810. y John Malela, tom. ii. p. 144. He draws the same conclusion with regard to the populousness of Antioch. z Chrysostom, tom, i. 592. I am indebted for these passages, though not for my inference, to the learned Dr. Lardner. Credibility of the Gospel History, vol. xii. p. 370. and porters. The number of widows, of the infirm, and of the poor, who were maintained by the oblations of the faithful, amounted to fifteen hundred. From reason, as well as from the analogy of Antioch, we may venture to estimate the christians of Rome at about fifty thousand. The populousness of that great capital cannot perhaps be exactly ascertained; but the most modest calculation will not surely reduce it lower than a million of inhabitants, of whom Christians might constitute at the most a twentieth part.i monies. The austere life of the Essenians, their fasts and excommunications, the community of goods, the love of celibacy, their zeal for martyrdom, and the warinth though not the purity of their faith, already offered a very lively image of the primitive discipline. It was in the school of Alexandria that the christian theology appears to have assumed a regular and scientifical form; and when Hadrian visited Egypt, he found a church composed of Jews and of Greeks, sufficiently important to attract the notice of that inquisitive prince. But the progress of christianity was for a long time confined The western provincials appeared to In Africa and within the limits of a single city, which was itself a have derived the knowledge of christian- the western proforeign colony, and till the close of the second cen- ity from the same source which had dif- vinces. tury the predecessors of Demetrius were the only fused among them the language, the sentiments, and prelates of the Egyptian church. Three bishops were the manners of Rome. In this more important circumconsecrated by the hands of Demetrius, and the num-stance, Africa, as well as Gaul, was gradually fashionber was increased to twenty by his successor Hera-ed to the imitation of the capital. Yet notwithstandclas. The body of the natives, a people distinguished ing the many favourable occasions which might invite by a sullen inflexibility of temper, entertained the new the Roman missionaries to visit the Latin provinces, it doctrine with coldness and reluctance: and even in the was late before they passed either the sea or the Alps ;* time of Origen, it was rare to meet with an Egyptian nor can we discover in those great countries any assurwho had surmounted his early prejudices in favour of ed traces, either of faith or of persecution that ascend the sacred animals of his country. As soon, indeed, higher than the reign of the Antonines.' The slow proas christianity ascended the throne, the zeal of those gress of the gospel in the cold climate of Gaul, was barbarians obeyed the prevailing impulsation; the extremely different from the eagerness with which it cities were filled with bishops, and the deserts of The- seems to have been received on the burning sands of bais swarmed with hermits. Africa. The African christians soon formed one of the principal members of the primitive church. The prac tice introduced into that province, of appointing bisnops to the most inconsiderable towns, and very frequently to the most obscure villages, contributed to multiply the splendour and importance of their religious societies, which during the course of the third century were animated by the zeal of Tertullian, directed by the abilities of Cyprian, and adorned by the eloquence of Lactantius. But if, on the contrary, we turn our eyes towards Gaul, we must content ourselves with discov In Rome. A perpetual stream of strangers and provincials flowed into the capacious bosom of Rome. Whatever was strange or odious, whoever was guilty or suspected, might hope, in the obscurity of that immense capital, to elude the vigilance of the law. In such a various conflux of nations, every teacher, either of truth or of falsehood, every founder, whether of a virtuous or criminal association, might easily multiply his disciples or accomplices. The christians of Rome, at the time of the accidental persecution of Nero, are represented by Tacitus as al-ering, in the time of Marcus Antoninus, the feeble and ready amounting to a very great multitude, and the language of that great historian is almost similar to the style employed by Livy, when he relates the introduction and the suppression of the rites of Bacchus. After the Bacchanals had awakened the severity of the senate, it was likewise apprehended that a very great multitude, as it were another people, had been initiated into those abhorred mysteries. A more careful inquiry soon demonstrated, that the offenders did not exceed seven thousand; a number indeed sufficiently alarming, when considered as the object of public justice. It is with the same candid allowance that we should interpret the vague expressions of Tacitus, and in a former instance of Pliny, when they exaggerate the crowds of deluded fanatics who had forsaken the established worship of the gods. The church of Rome was undoubtedly the first and most populous of the empire; and we are possessed of an authentic record which attests the state of religion in that city about the middle of the third century, and after a peace of thirty-eight years. The clergy, at that time, consisted of a bishop, forty-six presbyters, seven deacons, as many sub-deacons, forty-two acolythes, and fifty readers, exorcists, united congregations of Lyons and Vienna; and even as late as the reign of Decius, we are assured, that in a few cities only, Arles, Narbonne, Thoulouse, Limoges, Clermont, Tours, and Paris, some scattered churches were supported by the devotion of a small number of christians. Silence is indeed very consistent with devotion, but as it is seldom compatible with zeal, we may perceive and lament the languid state of christianity in those provinces which had exchanged the Celtic for the Latin tongue; since they did not, during the three first centuries, give birth to a single ecclesiastical writer. From Gaul, which claimed a just pre-eminence of learning and authority over all the countries on this side of the Alps, the light of the gospel was more faintly reflected on the remote provinces of Spain and Britain; and if we may credit the vehement assertions of Tertullian, they had already received the first rays of the faith, when he addressed his apology to the magistrates of the emperor Severus." But the obscure h Eusebius, 1. vi. c. 43. The Latin translator (M. de Valois) has thought proper to reduce the number of presbyters to forty-four. This proportion of the presbyters and of the poor, to the rest of the people, was originally fixed by Burnet, (Travels into Italy, p. 168.) and is approved by Moyle. (Vol. ii. p. 151.) They were both unacquainted with the passage of Chrysostom, which converts their conjecture almost into a fact. k Serius trans Alpes, religione Dei suscepta. Sulpicius Severus, 1. These were the celebrated martyrs of Lyons. See Eusebius, v. Tillemont, Mem. Ecclesiast. tom. ii. p. 316. According to the Donatists, whose assertion is confirmed by the tarit acknowledg. ment of Augustin, Africa was the last of the provinces which received the gospel. Tillemont, Mem. Ecclesiast. tom. i. p. 754. ii. a Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, 1. 2. c. 20-23. has examined with the most critical accuracy, the curious treatise of Philo, which describes the Therapeutæ. By proving that it was composed as early as the time of Augustus, Basnage has demonstrated, in spite of Eusei. bius (1. ii. c. 17.) and a crowd of modern catholics, that the Therapeuta were neither christians nor monks. It still remains probable that they changed their name, preserved their manners, adopted some new articles of faith, and gradually became the fathers of the Egyptian Ascetics. b See a letter of Hadrian, in the Augustan History, p. 245. e For the succession of Alexandrian bishops, consult Renaudot's History, p. 24, &c. This curious fact is preserved by the patriarch Eutychius, (Annal. tom. i. p. 334, Vers. Pocock.) and its internal evidence would alone be a sufficient answer to all the objections which Bishop Pearson has urged in the Vindicia Ignatianæ. a Ammian. Marcellin, xxii. 16. • Origen contra Celsum, 1. i. p. 40. f Ingens multitudo is the expression of Tacitus, xv. 44. T. Liv. xxxix. 13, 15-17. Nothing could exceed the horror and consternation of the senate on the discovery of the Bacchanalians, whose depravity is described, and perhaps exaggerated, by Livy. Tum primum intra Gallias martyria visa. Sulp. Severus, 1. ii. With regard to Africa, see Tertullian ad Scapulam, c. 3. It is imagined that the Scyllitan martyrs were the first (Acta Sincera Ruinart. p. 34.) One of the adversaries of Apuleius seems to have been a christian. Apolog. p. 496, 497. edit. Delphin. m Rare in aliquibus civitatibus ecclesiæ, paucorum Christianorum devotione, resurgerent. Acta Sincera, p. 140. Gregory of Tours, I. 1. c. 28. Mosheim, p. 207, 449. There is some reason to believe, thut, in the beginning of the fourth century, the extensive dioceses of Liege, of Treves, and of Cologne, composed a single bishopric, which vi. part. i. p. 43, 411. had been very recently founded. See Memoires de Tillemont, tom. The date of Tertullian's Apology is fixed, in a dissertation of Mosheim, to the year 198. |