SI
£««£*
PRINCETON, N. J.
BR 1705 .F4 D4 1893
Watson, Frederick, 1844-
The°d4fenders of the faith,
_or . The Christian,,
DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH,
€\)t Jfat&er* for engltstf) &eaier&
THE
DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH
OR,
THE CHRISTIAN APOLOGISTS OF THE
SECOND AND THIRD CENTURIES.
BY
THE REV. F. WATSON, D.D.,
THEOLOGICAL LECTURER AND LATE FELLOW OF ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE,
CAMBRIDGE, AND VICAR OF STOW-CUM-QUY, CAMBRIDGE.
FOURTH EDITION, REVISED.
PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE TRACT COMMITTED
LONDON:
SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE,
NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, W.C.J 43, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, E.C.
BRIGHTON : 135, North Street.
New York: E. & J. B. YOUNG & CO.
1893.
PREFACE.
The aim of this book has been to combine together,
in a connected form, and in a graphic manner, the
main points of the arguments urged on behalf of the
Christians by the numerous Apologists of the second
and third centuries. Their writings have a con-
siderable interest and importance for us, for it is
from them we learn the moral and religious con-
dition of the world at the coming of our Lord.
They picture to us the faith, and hope, and patient
endurance of the early Christians. In their time
the Church and the world were open enemies, and
they describe the bitter struggle which ended in the
victory of the Church.
There is little in this book which has not been
derived from the works of the Apologists themselves,
and the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius ; but the
author has also to express his obligations to the
following books : —
Bollinger's ' Jew and Gentile in the Court of
Christ.'
Lecky's ' European Morals.'
Blunt's ' History of the First Three Centuries.'
V\ DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
Westcott's ' History of the Canon of the New
Testament.'
Neander's ' History of the Christian Church.'
(The references are to Bonn's edition.)
It must also be stated that the translations of the
passages quoted have been mainly derived from the
translation of the ante-Nicene Fathers, published
by T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
The Enemies of the Faith .... Page
Early History of the Church not commonly known
— Its interest to Christians — The Apologetic Period
— Its characteristics — Its special difficulties — The four
great opposing forces — Law, Reason, Interest, Super-
stition.
CHAPTER II.
Epochs in the Struggle Page 13
' Picture I. The Commission — Picture II. The Gift
of Power and the first Victory — Picture in. The
straggle deepens and widens — Picture iv. The
contempt of the world — Picture V. The rapid
increase — Picture VI. The active opposition — Pic-
ture VII. The extension of the kingdom — Picture VI 1 1.
The pitched battle with the State— Picture IX. The
last bitter straggle— Picture X. The triumph.
CHAPTER HI.
The Defenders of the Faith . . . Page 21
The Church's work ; Conversion of souls — Edifica-
tion of the faithful — Vindication of her position in the
eyes of men. — Work of the Apologists — Its limits —
The Apologetic period — Those addressed— The re-
suits of their writings — Their use to us.
V'iii DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
CHAPTER IV.
The Defence Page 36
Charges. — Immorality; Basis of charge — Failure of
the Investigations to procure evidence — In Bithynia —
In Gaul. — Counter-evidence ; The deaths of Christians
— Reformation of life produced by Christianity —
Nature of Christianity. — Suspicion caused by Gnostic
Immorality — Charge never believed in by intelligent
heathen. — Monstrous worship ; the Christian's God
supposed to be the head of an ass — The Cross — The
God Serapis — The bodies of the martyrs. — Charge
retorted by the Apologists. — Atheism ; Reason for the
charge — Its odium — The Christians reckoned to be
responsible for the troubles of the times — Persecutions
followed on calamities — The Apologetic answer — The
times are not specially bad — The world is growing
old — The Christians have a God whom they worship.
— The political charge ; Roman jealousy against
secret societies — The Christian society likely to ex-
cite jealousy — Could not be tolerated — The Chris-
tians the cause of disturbances — The novelty of Chris-
tianity— The legal charge against the Christians —
A Christian's trial — The question of the judge — A
denial accepted — Confession followed by torture to
compel denial — First legal recognition of Christianity.
— Disloyalty to the Emperor; another King, one
Jesus — The Christians could not worship the Em-
peror.— Unprofitableness of Christians to the State ;
Christianity all-absorbing — Charge denied, but some
reason for it — Idolatry closely connected with every
sphere of public life — Scruples as to the use of
arms.
CONTENTS. IX
CHAPTER V.
The Attack Page 71
Christianity intolerant — The truth of the heathen
religion already given up — Heathenism maintained
for political reasons — The gods vilified in the games
and plays — The old Roman religion corrupted —
Superstition still strong. — Objections against heathen-
ism ; Polytheism — Image- worship — Representa-
tion of the deities by images — History of the gods —
No connection between Roman prosperity and the
Roman religion — The heathen religion demon-wor-
ship— The demons, their natui-e and works — Subject
to Christians. — The heathen philosophy; its slight
results — Able to expose error, unable to discover truth
— Scepticism of the age — Vices of philosophers —
Philosophy not practical — Its contradictions — Its
Exclusiveness — Stoic school a partial exception — ■
Connection of philosophy with Christianity ; Justin's
view — Terlullian's view.
CHAPTER VI.
Christians and Christianity . . . Page 98
The God of the Christians — God's Providence —
The immortality of the soul and the resurrection of
the body — Doctrines practical — Argument from ana-
logy— Christian religion based on Christ — The wis-
dom and morality of His teaching — Confessed by
heathen — Ancient prophecies — Indiscriminate use of
prophecy by Apologists — Testimonies from Scripture
out of place in an Apology — Christ's miracies ascribed
to magic — Contrasted with the miracles of magicians
— Purity of Christian lives — Heathen religion and
morality not connected — Christian religion spiritual
DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
— Firm endurance of persecutions — Christian love to
their fellow-men — The Christian sacrifices — Lucian's
account of the Christians — Celsus's account.
CHAPTER VII.
The Greek Apologists Page 127
Difference between the Greek and Latin Apologists;
Time — Substance — Spirit. — Greek Apologists —
Justin; his character — Studies in philosophy — Con-
version— Active labours — Death — His first Apology —
His Dialogue with Trypho. — Tatian; his heresy — his
position — his former life — his view of the Greek
religion and philosophy — Gnostic tendencies in his
Apology. — Athenagoras ; a philosopher — His con-
version— His plea — Nothing in a name — The three
charges — His defence — Its excellence. — Epistle to
Diognetus ; its occasion — Description of the world
before Christ — Christ's coming — Its difference from
other Apologies. — Theophilus ; his conversion — His
references to the Old Testament.— Clement of Alex-
andria ; his Apology an exhortation— His invitation
to the heathen to listen to the new song. — Origen ;
his Apology an answer to a particular work — Celsus's
method of attack — Origen's defence.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Latin Apologists Page 165
The Latin Apologists Africans — Tertullian j his
Apology — Its force — Its inappropriate spirit — Its
description of the Christian trials — Its answer to the
charges of illegality — Immorality — Neglect of the
gods — Parallel between the making of images and
the persecuting of Christians— Profanity of the hea-
CONTENTS. xi
then towards their own gods — The God of the Chris-
tians Christ — Heathen worship the worship of
demons — Christian power over them — Roman pros-
perity disconnected from Roman piety — The Chris-
tians not traitors to the Emperors — The nature of the
Christian society — Distinction between Christianity
and philosophy — Appeal against the heathen cruelty —
Merits of Tertullian's apology. — The Testimony of the
Soul — Why useful — Whence derived — Its force. —
Minucius Felix ; a dialogue — Its scene — Ccecilius's
statement — All things doubtful — Heathenism useful —
Christian doctrines foolish — Octavius's reply — Nature
declares God plainly — God's providence universal —
God one — God incomprehensible — Character of the
heathen religion — Defence of the Christians against
the charges of immorality and foolishness. — Cyprian ;
his description of Christian sufferings — Description of
an exorcism — Arnobius ; his standpoint — His specu-
lations on the nature of the soul — His argument
against material sacrifices. — Lactantius ; his ambitious
object — His criticisms of other Apologists —His refu-
tation of philosophy — Conclusion.
DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
CHAPTER I.
THE ENEMIES OF THE FAITH.
For one reason or another the views of most of us
about the early history of the Christian Church are
very indefinite. We read that history to the point
where it is left in the Acts of the Apostles, and then
we stop, and scarcely ask ourselves what became of
the Apostles, or what became of the Church when
the Apostles died. We know that the work went on ;
we know that that little seed, which, in the Bible
narrative, we see sprouting, grew into the greatest of
trees. We know that the growth of the Church was not
easy or unchecked. We have read of the sufferings of
the martyrs, and have learnt something of the cruel
torments inflicted upon men, women, and children to
cause them to deny their faith. But our notions are
quite vague. We scarcely know why the Christians
were persecuted, or how they defended themselves.
We could not tell the names of the champions of the
faith after Apostolic times. We know something about
Bible times, and we know something, it may be, about
2 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
Reformation times, but the intervening history is far
too much of a blank to us. The Church was living
and doing its work all that time. Why should we
know nothing about it ?
Now it is quite certain we lose very much by our
ignorance. Do we want to be interested ? By our
ignorance we lose the most thrilling and beautiful
stories. Do we want to be instructed ? By our igno-
rance we lose the most noble examples, encourage-
ments, and warnings. There is something in the
early history of our Church — remember it is ours —
which is likely above all things to fire us with noble
purposes, and to inspire us with new zeal for the work
we have in our generation to do. Why is it that we
enjoy so much the fine old stories of English history,
how Alfred defeated the Danes, and firmly established
his kingdom, or Harold and his English stood firm
against the Norman invader, and died for their
country? Why is it that Edward I.'s wars with the
Scots, and Edward III. and Henry V.'s wars with the
French, interest us so much, and yet we care so little
for the battles and the victories of the Christian
Church ? "I am an Englishman," you say, " and
therefore it is that I am proud to hear what my brave
English ancestors did in the olden days." You are
quite right, but remember also you are a Christian —
you belong not only to the English nation, but to
the Christian Church. Listen, then, to the story of
the noble deeds of your Christian ancestors. They
were very brave. They were very patient. They
won far nobler victories than Cressy or Agincourt.
Your English ancestors, in days gone by, won for
THE ENEMIES OF THE FAITH. 3
you freedom and a noble name, and you love them.
Your Christian ancestors won for you a still greater
freedom and a still nobler name. Will you not love
them too ? You read how the arrows came clouding
the air, and the horsemen came rushing headlong to
crush the little army of English who stood all firm
and undaunted, and who, though few, said that they
did not ask for reinforcements, they were enough to
conquer, and they were enough to die. They stood in
their ranks, they fell bravely, they triumphed nobly,
and we are proud of them. But oh ! be proud also
of that army which is fighting still, and to which you
yourself belong, " who through faith subdued king-
doms .... waxed valiant in fight, and turned to
flight the armies of the aliens."1 Remember they
suffered, and so you have not to suffer ; they laboured,
and you have entered into their labours; you are
fighting the same battle and under the same banner ;
they have won the victory, and you must win the
victory in the same way. Will it not be well for
you then to inquire into their history, so that you may
learn who were their enemies, and what were their
weapons, and where were their battlefields, and why
they fought, and how they fought, and how in God's
strength they won the victory ? And now the sub-
ject of this book has been pretty clearly stated. It
is to tell you the story of the battles of the Christian
Church, and the champions of the Christian faith,
in early times. For the most part we shall confine
ourselves to the second and third centuries a.d.
1 Hebrews xi. 33, 34.
B 2
4 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
Occasionally there will be something to say about
the first century, and once or twice we shall have to
go a little way into the fourth ; but for the most part
we shall be concerned only with the time extending
from 100 a.d. to 300 a.d.
Now there are two things specially to notice about
this period. The first is, the Apostles were then all
dead, and those who succeeded them had not the same
outward tokens of God's presence. The preachers of
the Gospel were not able, generally at least, to heal
the bodies of men, and so their task was in some
respects far more difficult, and a hearing was not so
easily obtained by them. The second thing to notice
is, that all this while the rulers of the state were
heathen, and therefore more or less opposed to
Christianity. Constantine was the first Christian
emperor, and he did not come into his power till the
year 312 a.d. So you see, during this period, on the
one hand, some of the help God had hitherto given
the Church was taken away, and on the other, she
had difficulties to contend against which were after-
wards removed. This was the time of the hardest
struggle of the Christian Church ; this was the time
also when her most brilliant victories were gained ;
this was the time, it is not too much to say, the battle
of The Faith was won..
And now to proceed to our subject. When the
last surviving Apostle died, only a beginning of the
great work which Christ had entrusted to His Church
had been made. At the end of the first century, the
Christians were only a feeble folk. The world was
just beginning to know about them. So far as they
THE ENEMIES OF THE FAITH. 5
>vere known, they were hated much, but despised
more. The Roman Empire was already feeling jealous
about them, as people who might one day be trouble-
some ; it was soon about to try to put them down.
As we may say, the two armies — the army for Christ
and the army against Him — were then being put in
array, army against army. The one army was like (i two
little flocks of kids,"1 but the other filled the whole
earth. If you looked on the one side you saw nobody
of any importance ; at the present day we scarcely
know more than half a dozen of their names. We
may safely say that there were very few of noble birth,
very few who were wise with worldly wisdom, very
few indeed who had, as far as men could see, any
qualifications for the task of overcoming the world.
They belonged mostly to the most despised nation of
the world, and that nation had cast them out of her
bosom. The Jews, persecuted by all others, were
themselves the fiercest persecutors cf the Christians.
And then, on the other side, what was there ?
There Avas the whole world ; and a world united
under one man, who ruled it according to his own
will and pleasure. Such was his power, such the
reverence he received, that more than human honours
were paid him ; even whilst living he was worshipped
as a god.
Now, this concentration of power under one head
added greatly to the difficulties of the Church. Other
great movements have, in their infancy and weakness,
profited greatly by the fact that sovereignty was shared
1 I Kings xx. 27.
6 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
by many kingdoms, commonly rivals, and jealous of
one another. Political necessities have often pro-
duced the strangest combinations, and the most
unexpected results. At the worst of times, the
authority of a State could not extend beyond its own
limits ; and hence those persecuted in one city would
flee into another. But the Church owed its victory
to no such external circumstances; in those early
times there was but one State and one ruler of it.
The law said, " The Christians ought not to be " ;
and the magistrates, when required, had always to
enforce the law. And when the emperor said, as he
sometimes did by a special edict, Put that law into
force ; there was then no one to be their defender, no
land to which they could fly for refuge, no political
combinations which could stay the persecuting hand.
And thus the Christians, without any earthly defender,
had to contend against the whole force of the Law ;
they had to withstand the united force of the great
Roman Empire with its Emperor-god.
But this was not all ; all the wise men of the
world were against them. The philosophers of that
day were, for the most part, men without religion and
without morality. They were too wise to believe in
the old heathen gods, but they were not wise enough
to attain to the knowledge of the one true God.
They were able, some of them, to lay down excellent
rules of life, but few thought it necessary to put them
into practice. They were proud and self-sufficient,
and looked down with contempt upon the unlearned
and ignorant common people. The Christians were,
for the most part, unlearned and uneducated ; and
THE ENEMIES OF THE FAITH. 7
yet, notwithstanding their deficiencies in philosophic
training and intellectual qualifications, they dared to
speak authoritatively on matters concerning which
the wisest teachers professed their ignorance. The
philosophers had pulled down many religions in their
time ; they were foes to all superstitions, and now
they banded together to pull down what they con-
sidered to be the last and worst of all. And thus
the leaders of Thought joined the rulers of the State
in the battle against the Christian name. The force
of Reason was added to the force of Law.
To these two a more popular and widely-reaching
force was added — the force of Interest. It is mar-
vellous to see how closely intertwined were the
heathen religion and all that concerned the outer
life of a man and the administration of the State. The
religion of a man had little or nothing to do with his
thoughts or affections, and it exercised little or no
influence over his morals ; but it entered into every
relation and action of his family and public life.
When you were born, when you were married, and
when you died, gods had to be propitiated, lest they
should do you harm, and in order that they might
do you good. At the corners of the streets, and at
the doors of the houses, in the halls, and in the bed-
chambers, at every turn one might say, images met
your eye. There was no occupation over which
some god did not preside, no public festival without
its religious sacrifices, no act of business without its
idolatrous ceremonies. It followed, of course, that
there were thousands of people who got their living
from the idolatrous worship ; and therefore thousands
8 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
of people who were most anxious that the old
heathen customs should be kept up. Very early we
see the force of interest exerted against Christianity.
"By this craft we have our wealth,"1 said Demetrius
to the makers of silver shrines for Diana. By Paul's
preaching, "this our craft is in danger to be set
at nought."2 The fear of such a result was sufficient,
as we know ; forthwith the craftsmen stirred up the
people. Similarly, Pliny (a.d. ioo circa), Governor
of Bithynia, noticed that in his province there
was no demand for the sacrificial victims ; in
consequence, he ordered an inquiry, and ulti-
mately a persecution. It was of direct importance
to the Government that the temples should be well
attended ; when they were deserted the State reve-
nues declined.3 By the advance of Christianity, the
priests lost their profits and their influence, the
armies their soldiers, the lawyers their clients, the
taverns their customers, and the sculptors and
painters their patrons.4 All the artists and craftsmen
derived the better part of their gains from the re-
quirements of the heathen religion. And besides the
temples and their gods there were also the shows
and the games. The Christians could not join in
the idolatry of the one, they dared not come in
contact with the pollutions of the other. The hangers-
on at the shows were only less numerous and various
than those at the temples ; and thus we see the con-
tingent to the army against Christ, collected under
1 Acts xix. 25. 2 lb. xix. 27. 3 Tert. Apol. c. 42.
4 Cf. for this Blunt's 'Three Centuries,' pp. 144, 145.
THE ENEMIES OF THE FAITH. Q
the banner of Interest, was very large. With intense
bitterness all these men banded themselves together
against a religion, which deprived them not only of
the gods which they worshipped but of the food
which they ate. And thus to the force of Law and
Reason was added the force of Interest.
To these three forces, strong as they were, yet an-
other, perhaps the strongest of all, was added — the
force of Superstition.
The philosophers might have sneered to their heart's
content ; those who earned a livelihood from idolatry
or the public games might have grumbled ; but the
State and the powers of the law would have been
indifferent ; had it not been that the common people
rose with one voice and said, " Away with these fellows
from the earth, for it is not meet that they should
live." In most of the persecutions of the 2nd century,
it was the people, not the State authorities, which took
the initiative. No doubt interested agitators were
behind the scenes, but the popular fury was, beyond
all, the persecuting force. The order of proceedings
commonly was, first, popular risings against the
Christians, and then, proceedings against them ac-
cording to the forms of law. Very often the Emperor
and the provincial governors were their best friends.
Trajan discouraged anonymous informations.1 Ha-
drian said the Christians were not to be arrested on
mere popular clamour.3 Antoninus Pius strongly
disapproved of the violent proceedings of the mob.2
Aurelius says the Christians must be punished with
1 Trajan's Letter to Pliny.
2 Cf. Neander 'History of the Church,' pp. 140, 143.
lO DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
divers tortures yet so that justice is mingled.1 The
governors also sometimes did not fear the people,2
and contrived means of dismissing the Christians
unpunished. Certainly of all the enemies of the
Church the people were the most bitter and violent.
Tertullian 3 tells us that none more frequently than
the rabble demanded the lives of the Christians.
41 How often," he says, " does the hostile mob, paying
no regard to you (i.e. the authorities), take the law
into its own hand, and assail us with stones and
flames ! "
And the reason of this appears to be quite plain.
It was their Superstition which urged the people on.
We must remember that the heathen religion was an
elaborate plan for securing national prosperity. The
sacrifices were bribes to secure the favour of the gods,
or rather, perhaps, magic spells to compel them to
act according to the sacrificer's wish.4 If everything
was done properly, without a mistake in the prayer
of consecration, or the occurrence of a sight or sound
of ill omen at the time of sacrificing, or a defect in
the entrails of the victim, then the wished-for result
was sure to be secured, the god was compelled to be
propitious.5 Of course it followed that times of
difficulty, danger, or calamity, were times for special
vows and sacrifices. Generals uttered vows just be-
fore joining battle with the enemy. A pestilence
filled the temples with devout worshippers. The idea
' Cf. Neander, ' History of the Church,' p. 149.
2 Tert. ad Scapulam, c. 4.
3 Apol. c. 37. * Dollinger's 'Jew and Gentile,' p. 75.
5 Dollinger's 'Jew and Gentile,' p. 77.
THE ENEMIES OF THE FAITH. II
in many minds, at such a time, was, the gods, one
or all, are angry because we have neglected them ;
if we only sacrifice largely enough, prosperity will
return. The expense incurred by the State on
these sacrifices for national prosperity was very
great. Sometimes it was so difficult to get sacri-
fices that representations in bread or wax took
the place of the animals themselves. As many as
three hundred bulls were offered in one sacrifice
to one god. At the death of Tiberius and at
Caligula's accession to the throne, upwards of
160,000 victims were sacrificed. Augustus and
Marcus Aurelius offered so many beasts, that it was
said all oxen and calves hoped that the emperors
might never return from their journeys or campaigns,
as otherwise they would be infallibly lost.1
It so happened that in the 2nd and 3rd centuries
there was a constant succession of calamities in the
State. There were "famines, and pestilences, and
earthquakes." " The gods are angry " was the general
cry. " These calamities have fallen upon us because
their shrines are neglected ; we must propitiate them
with sacrifices." They did so. But there were many
gaps in the line of worshippers ; the Christians ab-
sented themselves. By them were addressed no
supplications, by them were offered no gifts of expia-
tion to the angry gods. Then the popular anger burst
forth in uncontrollable fury. " It is because of those
impious Christians," they said, " that we are suffering
all these troubles. Away with them to the lion."
1 For all this see Bollinger's 'Jew and Gentile,' p. 80.
12 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
At such times the Christians suffered without trial at
all. Although the magistrates might scoff at popular
superstition, they quailed before the popular wrath.
They might expostulate, but, when they saw that they
prevailed nothing and that rather a tumult was made,
they let the people have their own way. They put the
existing law in force against men for whom they cared
nothing, and who in their opinion deserved punish-
ment for being so obstinate and troublesome.
And thus Ave see that these four forces, Laic, Reason,
Interest, and Superstition, were all combined against
the disciples of Christ. The learned few and the
superstitious many, the law administrators and the
lawless mob, those who reckoned the heathen religion
to be the great support of the State power and those
who knew that it gave them support and subsistence,
the priests and philosophers, the kings and people, all
hated the name of Christ, and all at times combined
together to give His Church a crushing blow. The
heathen raged, the people imagined a vain thing ; "the
kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered
together against the Lord and against His Christ."
And what was the result ? He that dwelleth in
heaven laughed them to scorn ; the Lord had them
in derision. He said, "/ have set my King on my
holy hill of Zion." He fulfilled His piomise, "Ask
of me and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine
inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for
Thy possession."
EPOCHS IN THE STRUGGLE, 1 3
CHAPTER II.
EPOCHS IN THE STRUGGLE.
In the last chapter a description was given of the
enemies against which the early Christians had to fight.
This chapter is intended to describe, in a series of
separate pictures, various epochs in the struggle.
picture 1.
A few men and women are assembled in an upper
room in a house at Jerusalem. The number of their
names is about one hundred and twenty. Their
Lord and Master has just been taken up from them
into heaven. He has left them His charge, and
it is this : " All power is given unto me in heaven
and in earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples
of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost :
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I
commanded you : and, lo, I am with you alway,
even unto the end of the world. Amen."1
According to the instructions given, they are
tarrying in the city of Jerusalem for the promise of
the Father of which Jesus had told them. They
1 Matt, xxviii. 18, 19, 23.
14 DEFENDERS OF THE FAi'IK.
continue in prayer and supplication, and they are
waiting for the signal to go forth and conquer the
world.
PICTURE II.
The time of waiting is over, and the day of work
and conflict has begun. The Day of Pentecost is
running its course. The promise has been fulfilled,
" I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh." The
Church fights its first battle, and wins its first victory.
" The same day there are added unto them about
three thousand souls."
PICTURE III.
Now comes a time when the struggle widens and
deepens.
At first the battle-ground is Jerusalem, and the
Church's chief enemy the Jews. Then persecution
disperses Christ's soldiers into many different coun-
tries. Unlike the armies of the World, dispersion
increases the power of the army of the Cross. One
single soldier -of Christ is able to seize and hold a
position for his Lord. Still hatred and opposition
follow them wherever they go. The Jews will not
believe, and stir up the Gentiles. The Gentiles com-
plain that these men are turning the world upside
down. Men can no longer ignore the infant Church.
To the period of insignificance succeeds one of ever-
increasing hatred.
Forty years pass away. The testimony of the Jews
now is, " This sect is everywhere spoken against." l
1 Acts xxviii. 22.
EPOCHS IN THE STRUGGLE.
*5
And as for the Gentiles, the Emperor Nero, having
set fire to Rome, wants a scapegoat on which to lay
his own crimes, and he finds the Christians ready to
his hand. Now comes the first great sowing of the
seed-blood of the Christians. They are crucified.
They are sewn up in the skins of wild beasts and
thrown to the dogs. Their garments are smeared
with pitch, and they are set on fire to light up the
public gardens. The people think they suffer un-
justly ; they believe them to be guiltless of the crime
ascribed to them ; but after all they are guilty of
hatred of the human race, and they are odious for
their crimes.1
PICTURE IV.
Still as yet the Roman Government hardly deems
the Christians worthy of its notice, and has, certainly,
not the remotest conception what they are aiming at.2
A jealous tyrant, Domitian, is on the throne, and he
hears the Christians are setting up a kingdom. He
inquires who is to be the king. He is told about
David and David's throne, and about Christ the son
of David. Then he seizes the grandsons of Judas,
called the brother of our Lord ; he thinks they must
be David's heirs and Christ's heirs. They are brought
before him to be examined. They are simple, rude
men, not the sort of stuff out of which conspirators or
pretenders to thrones are made. He finds they have
a little farm which they cultivate with their own hands.
They have the strong bodies and the hard hands of
1 Tacitus, Annals, xv. 44. 2 Eusebius, H.E. iii. 20.
1 6 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
tillers of the soil. He asks them about the kingdom
they are setting up, and finds that it is spiritual and
angelic, and that it will appear at the end of the
world. When he hears this he is too contemptuous
to make a reply; he sends them away as fools beneath
his jealousy or his notice.
picture v.
A very few years later, and the Church, working se-
cretly, has so prospered as to excite the attention of the
Roman governor of Bithynia. He finds the temples
deserted. He is told few now buy victims for the
sacrifices. The " contagious superstition " (that is his
name for Christianity) is not confined to the cities
only, it has spread to the villages. Many of all ranks
and ages, and of both sexes, are infected. Persecu-
tion involves so many that he feels himself obliged to
refer the matter to the Emperor. Although the mea-
sures he adopts have some success, the crime extends
even during the persecution, and seems likely to ex-
tend still further.
A little later still, and the martyr Justin says that,
wide as is the dispersion of the Jews, wider still is the
dispersion of the Gospel of Christ. " There is not
one single race of men, whether Barbarians or Greeks/
or whatever they may be called, whether nomads 01
vagrants, or herdsmen living in tents, amongst whom
prayers and giving of thanks are not offered through
the name of the crucified Jesus." 1
1 Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, c. 117.
EPOCHS IN THE STRUGGLE. 1 7
PICTURE VI.
Do you think the Christians spread because nobody
opposed them? Look at this picture, painted by
those who were engaged in the conflict.1 It is to be
found in a letter which begins thus : " The servants
of Christ dwelling in Vienne and Lyons of Gaul to
our brethren of Asia and Phrygia, who have the
same faith and hope of redemption with us. Peace,
grace, and glory be to you from God the Father and
Christ Jesus our Lord."
This is their account — -
" The greatness, indeed, of the tribulation, and the
intensity of the anger of the heathen against the
saints, and the sufferings which the blessed martyrs
endured, we are not competent fully to declare, nor
indeed could they be described in writing. For the
adversary assailed us with his whole strength, giving
already a foretaste how unbridled his future coming
among us would be. And indeed he resorted to every
means to practise and exercise his own servants
against those of God, so that we were excluded from
houses, and baths, and markets, and moreover every
one of us was prohibited from appearing in anyplace
whatever. But the grace of God contended for
us, and rescued the weak, and prepared those who,
like firm pillars, were able, through patience, to draw
the whole force of the Evil One's violence against
themselves. These came to close quarters with him,
enduring every species of reproach and torture.
Making light of grievous trial, they hastened to
1Eusebiiis, II. E, v. I.
C
1 8 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH,
Christ, showing in reality that c the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared with
the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward.' And
first, they nobly sustained all the evils that were
heaped upon them by the populace, clamours, blows,
halings, robberies, stonings, imprisonments, and what-
soever a savage mob delights to inflict upon its
enemies. Then they were taken to the forum by
the tribune and the authorities of the city, and were
examined in the presence of the multitude, and having
made confession they were shut up in prison until
the arrival of the governor."
This, be it remembered, is but the beginning of the
persecution — the prelude of infinitely worse things.
But it is quite enough to convince us that the Chris-
tians had to face most violent opposition, and patiently
to endure the bitterest trials.
PICTURE VII.
What is the result? Tertullian says, thirty years
after, " The more we are mown down by you, the
more in number we grow; the blood of the Christians
is seed." l And again — " We are but of yesterday, and
have filled every place among you ; we leave nothing
to you but the temples of your gods." 2 Christ's
kingdom has already extended further than any king-
dom of the world. Solomon, he observes, reigned
only from Beersheba to Dan. Darius had not power
over all nations. The Egyptians alone acknowledged
the rule of Pharaoh. Nebuchadnezzar and Alexander
had boundaries to their kingdoms. The Germans
are enclosed within their territory. The sea shuts in
1 Tert. Apol. c. 50. * lb. c. 37.
EPOCHS IN THE STRUGGLE. 1 9
the Britons. The Moors are kept in bounds by the
Romans. The Romans cannot extend their empire
amongst the Barbarians. " But Christ's name is ex-
tended everywhere, and believed everywhere, and
worshipped by all these nations. Everywhere He
reigns, everywhere He is adored, everywhere He is
imparted equally to all."1
PICTURE VIII.
Fifty years later, and after a long period of rest to
the Church, the Roman State determines that it will
put the Christians down. It has, meanwhile, gone so
far at times as to show a benevolent neutrality towards
them, though more often it has been hostile. One
emperor has tacitly acknowledged that the Christians
ought to be allowed to exist, and has decided that a
piece of ground would be more fitly occupied by a
Christian church than by a pastry-cook's shop. Mostly,
the emperors have moderated the rigour of the laws
and the fury of the people. But now the State awakes
to the fact that the contest with Christianity is a matter
of life and death — that if it does not put the Christians
down, they will put it down. So the first systematic
effort to suppress Christianity is made. Every citizen
has, on a given day, to appear before the magistrates
and offer sacrifices to the gods. It seems as if the
Christian army would hardly have won this battle had
it not been relieved. During the time of peace many
soldiers, fit only for peace, had been added to the
ranks.2
1 Tert. c. Judgeos, c. 7. 2 Cyp. de Lapsis, c. 5-
2 0 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
Alexandria and Carthage are the chief battle-fields
of which we have a record. In Alexandria1 popular
disturbances precede the imperial edict. A prophet
appears who incites the people to do their gods ser-
vice by slaying the Christians. Aged men and women
are torn in pieces. Houses are plundered. No
Christian dare show his face in the streets. The
decree is promulgated ; on a certain day all Christians
are publicly to offer sacrifice to the heathen gods.
Then the hearts of the faithful fail them, and it is feared
that, if possible, even the elect will stumble. A wide-
spread apostasy follows. To some their conspicuous
position, to others their office in the State, was the
stumbling-block. Fear overcame the constancy of
some ; friends over-persuaded others. The day
appointed by the decree arrived. The roll-call
was made. Some came up pale and trembling,
amidst the jeers of the bystanders, afraid either to
sacrifice or to die. Others, more bold in their apos-
tasy, denied they had ever been Christians. Some
fled away. Others endured imprisonment and even
torture for a while, and then apostatized. And there
was a faithful remnant, firm and blessed pillars of the
Lord, strengthened by Him, and receiving from Him
strength proportioned to their mighty faith, who be-
came marvellous witnesses of His kingdom.
At Carthage the state of things was very similar.2
There were many different kinds of apostates.3 Those
who sacrificed; those who, by fraud and the con-
1 Eus. H. E. vi. 41. 2 Cyprian de Lapsis, c. 6.
3 Cyp. Ep. 30.
EPOCHS IN THE STRUGGLE. 2 1
nivance of the magistrate, obtained, without sacri-
ficing, a certificate (libellum) that they had ; those
who said they had sacrificed and had got a certificate,
having none ; and those who allowed others to lie for
them. There were those, also, thanks be to God,
who endured to the end.
For the elect's sake, whom He had chosen, God
shortened these days. Had it not been so, it seems
as if the hopes of the enemy would have been
realized, and Christianity crushed. Tidings out of the
East and the North troubled Decius, and soon he
came to his end. The persecution did not outlast
him long, and ten years afterwards Christianity was,
for the first time, acknowledged to be a lawful religion
of the Roman State.
PICTURE IX.
One last bitter conflict with the powers of the State ;
and then, in a certain sense, the kingdoms of the
world became the kingdoms of our Lord and of His
Christ.
On Feb. 23, 303, a long-impending storm of per-
secution burst. The Emperor Diocletian is over-
persuaded by his colleague Galerius to crush that
imperium in imperio — the. Christian Church. The
cathedral church of Nicomedia is broken open, and
its Bibles and office-books are burnt; the building is
ransacked and destroyed. The next day an imperial
edict appears. All churches are to be levelled to the
ground— all sacred books are to be burnt. Christian
officials are to lose their places and all their civil
rights — private Christians are to become slaves.
22 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
Then comes a time when, throughout the Empire,
Bibles are burnt, churches are destroyed, and the
prisons are full of priests ; a time when Christian
men are tortured with incredible horrors, and Christian
women are sent to the brothels, and vile blasphemies
are forged and circulated against the name of Christ.
" The men bore fire, sword, and crucifixions, savage
beasts, and the depths of the sea, the maiming of
limbs, and searing with red-hot irons, pricking and
digging out the eyes, and mutilation of the whole body,
and moreover, hunger, and mines, and prisons. And
in all they exhibited a brave endurance for the sake
of religion, rather than transfer to idols the worship
due to God only. The women also, no less than the
men, were endued with manly courage by the teach-
ing of the Divine Word. Some indeed endured the
same trials as the men, and bore away equal prizes
of excellence. Some, when forced away, yielded up
their lives more readily to death than their bodies to
violation." 1
Then was the boast made that the Christian name
was destroyed, and the worship of the gods restored.2
Then did the heathen rejoice in bounteous harvests,
and settled peace, and a healthy air, and a calm sea,
and a serene sky ; all visible tokens, as they thought,
that the gods were once more propitious to an empire
at length separated from pollution and impiety.3
The boasting was idle, and the gleam of prosperity
delusive.4 Famine, pestilence, and war desolated the
1 Eusebius, H. E. viii. 14.
2 See the inscriptions found at Clunia in Spain.
3 Eus. H. E. ix. 7. * lb. ix. 8.
EPOCHS IN THE STRUGGLE. 23
Empire at one and the same time. The only alleviation
to these troubles was the conduct of the Christians.
They only, in these distressing circumstances, ex-
hibited sympathy and humanity. By them the famish-
ing were fed, and the dead were buried. The fact was
cried abroad, and men glorified the Christians' God.
The Emperor, so lately the blasphemer of Christ
and of Christians, completely changed his policy,
and said persecution was a mistake he had never
intended, and he granted full freedom of worship,
and ordered the churches to be rebuilt, and the
confiscated property to be restored.1
Nevertheless, the historian tells us,2 vengeance frOm
God quickly overtook him. Whilst his army was over-
thrown in the battle-field, he perished miserably at
home. And in his dying agony he confessed that he
suffered justly for his wanton excesses against the
Christians.
picture x.
Now for our last scene. The persecutors are dead.
The Roman Empire has owned itself vanquished.
On the banners of the army — once idolatrous signs —
is to be seen the sign of Christ. Under the banner
of the Cross the Romans now go forth to victory. The
Emperor rebuilds and beautifies Christian churches,
and he causes copies of the Scriptures to be made.
He commands all the people of the East to honour
the Christian religion, and to worship the one true
God, whose power endureth for ever.3
1 Eus. H. E. ix. 9. 2 lb. ix. 10.
3 Sozomen, H. E. i. 8.
24 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
Then troubles inside the Christian Church arise.
Constantine, the Emperor, is greatly distressed. He
knows his own inability to mend matters, and he
determines to summon a meeting of those who can,
viz., the bishops of the Church. So, at the command
of the Emperor, in conveyances provided by him, the
most eminent of the ministers of God in all the
Churches which had filled Europe, Africa, and Asia,
were gathered together.1
One single building contained, by representation,
the Syrians and the Cilicians, the Phoenicians and the
Arabians, the Palestinians, the Egyptians, the Thebans,
the Libyans, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia.
Persia had its representative, nor was a Scythian
lacking. Pontus and Galatia, Pamphylia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Phrygia, supplied the most distinguished
representatives of all. Besides these there met to-
gether there, Thracians and Macedonians, Achseans
and Epirots, and those, who lived at a greater distance
still. Spain sent Hosius, Bishop and Confessor. Rome
sent two priests to represent her aged bishop. The
three other Apostolic thrones, Antioch, Jerusalem, and
Alexandria, were represented by their bishops in
person. Of bishops the total number was 318, and
of attendant priests, and deacons, and acolytes, the
number was beyond count. It was indeed a dis-
tinguished and august assembly, such as the world
had never seen.2 Some of them, says Eusebius, were
eminent for their wisdom ; some for the austerity of
1 Soc. H. E. i. 7, 8.
3 Life of Constantine, iii. 7 — 9 ; Socrates, Hist. Eccl. i. 8.
EPOCHS IN THE STRUGGLE. 25
their life and patient endurance of persecution ; and
some for their modesty. Some were venerable for
their age ; and some rejoiced in the vigour of their
youth. As another historian puts it, " Some were
richly endowed with apostolical gifts, and many bore
in their bodies the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ." 1
Into that assembly, summoned, conveyed, and sup-
ported by himself, the Emperor Constantine enters.2
He leaves his heathen attendants at the door. All rise
to receive him, but he waits permission to take his seat.
When he has taken his place, all present take theirs.
Then he tells them his desire. It is to promote the
unity of the Church. He reckons disunion therein
to be an evil more terrible and more grievous than
any kind of war. He trusts they will banish all causes
of dissension, so as to accomplish a work most agree-
able to God, and thus cause him, their fellow-servant,
infinite joy. Then he leaves them to accomplish un-
impeded a task in which he has no share.
And thus we see Christ has conquered. Kings
have begun to bow down before Him ; all nations
have begun to do Him service. The Roman Empire
has succumbed before the power of the Christian
Church. Not, indeed, that the work of Christ's
Church is accomplished ; far from it. Her victory is
far more apparent than real. But she has won her
position in the world. Henceforward the Church and
the State will be no longer open enemies. Nay, the
State will take the Church under its protection, and
the edicts of emperors will enforce the decisions of
1 Theodoret, Hist. Eccl. i. 7. 2 Soc. Hist. Eccl. i. 8.
26 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
bishops. But the victories which statecraft and state-
power will gain will not be so pure and holy, not so
real and lasting, as those which were won by the
Divine power of the Truth. The State has gained an
outward garb of Christianity, but the Church has now
a source of corruption within. She has not, in times
gone by, feared those who killed the body. She will
have, in years to come, to fear evils which kill the
soul, and which destroy her life.
In this book we have nothing to do with these later
times. We have to do with a period when the Church
won her victories against the State, and not by the
aid of the State. Never, as it seems, was there a time
when the Church's triumphs could be more fairly
ascribed to the unassisted truth. The Christians of the
second and third centuries had not seen Christ or
His Apostles, and yet they believed, and spread their
belief far and wide. They had not, commonly at any
rate, the power of working miracles on the bodies of
men, and yet they worked a miraculous change on
their souls. All the powers of the world were arrayed
against them, and this was the victory which overcame
it — even their Faith.
DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH. 2j
CHAPTER III.
THE DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
How was the mighty work accomplished ? That is
the next question we have to discuss. Of course
Christians are quite ready with their answer. The
words of our hymn come into our mind at once.
We think of the great army with its blood-red banner,
and Christ at the head. We picture our soldiers
conquering by suffering and death through His
help.
Mocked, imprisoned, stoned, tormented,
Sawn asunder, slain with sword,
They have conquered Death and Satan
By the might of Christ the Lord.
" By the might of Christ the Lord." Yes, that was the
secret of the triumph of the Church over the world.
Christ was in her ; hence her might and hence her
victory. The Divine Life in the Church was not
more real in Apostolic times than after they had long
fallen on sleep. Christ's promise remained firm,
" Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the
world," and therefore was the victory won.
But this answer though true is not complete. " By
the might of Christ the Lord " has been the secret ot
23 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
the triumph of the Church in all ages of her history,
whether Apostolic, Primitive, Mediaeval, or Modern.
Yet, as we know, Christ's might has been manifest in
many different ways. So we have still our question
to answer. We want to know hoiu the Divine energy
was exerted — what human instrumentalities were
employed for the great end.
The Church of Jesus Christ had in early times, as
in the present day, many different works, and many
different kinds of workmen.
Her great work then, as now, was the conversioji of
souls. This was done, not so much by the reading
as by the telling of the Gospel story.1 Teachers were
many, but books were few. This oral teaching was
given not to great assemblies, but to individuals,
for persecution soon put a stop to public preaching.
The Christians, it would seem, gained a hearing and
a credence for this individual teaching not so much
by the power of working miracles, though some
seem to have had it ; nor by their pure and holy
lives, though that too attracted attention. They
won more hearers by their deaths than by their
miracles or by their lives.2 As the grass from the
mowing, so sprung up the Christians with fresh vigour
when cut down.3 From the scene of terrible suffering
patiently borne, the heathen went away predisposed to
learn the source of such a mighty power of endurance,
and to listen to the story of the Cross. It was felt
1 Still notice that many of the Apologists were converted by
the reading of the Scriptures.
2 Tert. ad Scapulam, c. 5 ; Justin, Apol. ii. 12, 13.
3 Tert. Apol. c. 50.
THE DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH. 29
that such heroes must be in possession of a secret of
strength hidden from the rest of the world.
The next work of the Church was to build up souls
in the most Holy Faith. This was done in the secret
assemblies for worship, which met at dead of night,
and which were liable at any moment to be surprised,
and, as a matter of fact, were often surprised by the
authorities and the Roman soldiers.1 With their
lives in their hands, the Christians came to these to be
made partakers of Christ by the ministry of the Word
and Sacraments. At these was the reading of the
Scriptures, prayer, thanksgiving, giving of alms, in-
struction and exhortation, administration of the
Sacraments2 — in early times the Agape or Love
Feast.
But the Church had a work beyond the extension
of her borders and the intensifying of the Divine
Life within her members. She had to vindicate her
position in the eyes of men. It was necessary to put
before the world generally, and the State authorities
particularly, what Christianity really was. Christianity
was a new religion, in length of duration it could not
compare with the religions of the gods and of the
nations.3 It was a strange religion, quite differing
in kind from any other, without temples, images, aliars,
or sacrifices,4 or at least any that could be seen.5 It
was a secret religion,6 the assemblies were at night,
1 Tert. Apol. c. 7.
2 Justin Martyr, Apol. i. 65-67 ; Tert. Apol. c. 39.
3 Ep. ad Diognetum, c. I ; Arnobius adv. Gentes, ii. 67, 69.
4 Origen c. Celsum, vii. 62. 5 Octavius, c. 10.
* Octavius, c. 8, 9.
30 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
and none but its baptized members were admitted to
them.1 It was a religion spreading every day amongst
all classes, but especially amongst the women, the
ignorant, and the criminal.3 It was a religion against
which accusations of the most serious kind were made ;
the Christians were accused of being grossly im-
moral,3 atheists,4 traitors to the Emperor and the
State,5 and unprofitable citizens.6 Even if these
charges were not true, they could not be acquitted
of incredible folly and of being led away by a wild
enthusiasm.7
It was evidently quite necessary that these charges
should be refuted. The Christians were bound to
remove all these preliminary obstacles in the way of
their success. Before the heathen could be con-
verted to the faith of Christ, they had to be convinced
that the Christians were not immoral, or atheists, or
traitors. They had to be shown that at least there
was some ground for Christian hope, and some excuse
for what seemed to be incredible folly. So a class of
men arose commonly called Apologists, that is to say,
Defenders of the Faith, who made it their business to
give the unconverted heathen some true notion of
Christianity, to give them just that superficial view
which an unbeliever was capable of taking. Strike,
if strike you must, say these men to the heathen, but
hear us first. Do not exterminate us from off the
1 Just. Apol. i. 65, 66.
2 Origen c. Celsum, iii. 44, 49 ; Justin Martyr, Dialogue, c. 117.
3 Tert. Apol. c. 7, 39 ; Octavius, c. 9.
4 Athenagoras, Plea, c. 3, 4. 5 Tert. Apol. c. 29, 35.
6 Tert. Apol. c. 42. 7 Octavius, c. 8, 12.
THE DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH. 3 1
face of the earth till you know a little more about us.1
Do not be so unjust as to condemn us unheard.2
You punish us simply for being Christians, but surely
there is nothing in a mere name.3 You have vague
ideas we are very wicked people, but you are mis-
taken; our lives are pure, we worship God, and we
are loyal to the Emperor. Such was the work of the
Defenders of the Faith ; their object is not to teach
truth, but to prepare the way for teaching. They do
not prove that Christianity is true, they only prove
that it is not utterly unreasonable or noxious. They
remove stumbling-blocks and excite curiosity. In
consequence, they rarely quote the Holy Scriptures.
They refer to them, of course, constantly. They
speak of their antiquity as extending far beyond all
other books. They remark on their purity, contrast-
ing them in this respect with the legends concerning
the heathen gods. They describe their harmony and
simplicity, contrasting them here with the hard and
contradictory utterances of the philosophers. They
assert the fulfilment of prophecies of undoubted
antiquity, in the life of Christ and the establishment
of His religion. But they do not appeal to them as
authoritative. The heathen, for the most part, had
never seen them, and if they had, did not believe in
them. The Apologies are written to conciliate enemies,
and so the arguments are such as they would allow.
The Apologists, or Defenders of the Faith, are then
men living in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, who give the
1 Tert. Apol. c. I, 3. 2 Just. Apol. ii. c. 2, 3.
3 A thenagoras, Plea, c. 1, 2.
32 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
heathen true notions concerning Christianity. The
earliest of them lived when persecution was just
beginning. Quadratus and Aristides presented
apologies to the Emperor Hadrian about the year
1 20 a.d. Neither of these books is now extant ;l
but Eusebius tells us concerning Aristides,2 that he
was a man faithfully devoted to the religion we
profess, and that his work had been preserved by
many up to his days. And with respect to Quadratus,
he says that he wrote because certain malicious
persons attempted to harass our brethren, and that
his work, still existing, gave evident proofs of the
understanding and the apostolic faith of the writer.
Quadratus was able to appeal to the testimony of
those who had seen the men on whom Christ's
healing power had been exerted. Some of these
had lived even to his times.
The last Defender was Lactantius. He outlived
the times of persecution, and wrote an account of
the deaths of the last persecutors. He was tutor to
the son of the first Christian emperor, and from his
eloquence he was honoured with the title of the
Christian Cicero.3
The Defenders of the Faith in the 2nd century
were philosophers, and wrote in Greek. The De-
fenders of the Faith in the 3rd century were Africans
by country, lawyers or rhetoricians by profession, and
wrote in Latin.
Some of the Defences were intended to advocate
the Christian cause before emperors and rulers of
1 The Apology of Aristides has now (1893) been discovered.
2 Eus. Hist. Eccl. iv. 3. 3 Jerome ad Paul. Ep. xlix.
THE .DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH. 33
the provinces. Thus Quadratus and Aristides ad-
dressed Hadrian ; Justin Martyr — Antoninus Pius ;
Athenagoras, Melito, and Apollinaris — Marcus Aure-
lius ; Tertullian and Cyprian — African governors.
Others were addressed to private persons or the
public generally. Thus Theophilus of Antioch wrote
three letters to Autolycus, a heathen. Tatian ad-
dressed the Greeks ; Tertullian and Arnobius, the
nations ; Justin Martyr, the Jews. More commonly
the Defence is made against popular clamour and
to remove all pretexts for persecutions ; but one book,
written by Origen, is a reply to a book called "A
True Discourse," an attack on Christianity written
by the philosopher Celsus.
When we come to inquire what results these books
produced, we find very slight material for forming an
opinion. Antoninus Pius is said to have put a stop
to persecution after reading Justin's Apology, but the
story is of doubtful truth.1 Like most other Christian
work, the work done by the Defenders of the Faith
is hidden from the eyes of men. Still, it must not
be denied, that books had not the great influence
then they have now. Every single copy had to be
made by hand.2 Some of the greatest works only
existed in one copy. But this we may say with con-
fidence, whatever good the works of the Apologists
did the Christian cause in their day, they will certainly
do us great good in our day. They give us such a
1 Eus. Hist. Eccl. iv. 12, 13.
2 Still, slave labour was plentiful and cheap. Cf. ' Church
Quarterly Review,' MSS. and Miniatures, vol. v. p. 451.
D
54 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
wonderful picture of Christian life and the Christian
society in those early times ; and they convince us
of the mighty works which may be wrought by those
who with all their heart and soul trust in Christ the
Lord.
The Defenders of the Faith give us a picture of
the darkness which covered the earth, and the
gross darkness which covered the peoples, before the
true Light came into the world. Then they picture
to us Light and Darkness struggling together, and
little by little the Light conquering, and shining more
and more unto the perfect day. We need the testi-
mony of those who, with enlightened eyes, saw the
darkness before the dawn, to tell us how great that
darkness was. It was a shame even to speak of those
things which were done of the heathen, not only in
secret but in public, not only in their games and
shows, but also at their most solemn religious festivals,
and in the temples of their gods. The Defenders of
the Faith tell us of this, and they tell us, too, how
Christianity came into a dark and corrupt world
and brought with it new light and life. Old bonds
were being dissolved, but Christianity established a
new brotherhood, of whose members it was said
that they loved one another even before they knew
one another.1 Men were enslaved by their lusts and
passions, but those whom Christ set free were free
indeed. The world was without hope beyond the
grave ; Christians despised death in the certainty of
a happy resurrection.
i
1 Octavius, c. 9.
THE DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH. 55
Thus the Defenders of the Faith tell us what a
power Christianity has, and wherein that power con-
sists. We, in our day, as we know, have the same
source of strength that they had. When we read
what they did, we rise comforted with the thought that
Christ's grace is sufficient for us also. If the Roman
Empire could not destroy the Church in its infancy,
no action of the State can destroy the Church in its
mature strength.
And now let us consider our subject more par
ticularly in four chapters. The Christians were
attacked, and the Apologists defended them ; so the
first chapter will be The Defence. As we learn from
military tactics, no army can be successful which
stands only on the defensive, and the Christians, we
know, had to wage an aggressive war ; so the Apolo-
gists in their turn made an attack on the heathen
religion and philosophy ; hence the second chapter
will be The Attack. Besides this, the Apologists
give us, by the way, much interesting information
concerning themselves and their religion ; so the third
chapter will be Christians and Christianity. Lastly,
leaving Apologetic literature as a whole, we shall
consider the different Apologies with their Authors
separately ; so our fourth and fifth chapters will be
The Latin and Greek Apologists and their Apologies.
D 2
36 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
CHAPTER IV.
THE DEFENCE,
Three kinds of charges were brought against the
Christians by the heathen —Moral, Theological, and
Political. It was said they lived immoral lives ; that
they had no religion, or a bad one, or at least an
illegal one ; that they were traitors to the Emperor,
and enemies of the public good. The first two
excited the popular hatred, and were the causes of
the tumultuous risings; the last furnished the subject-
matter of the legal charge when they were brought
before the courts.
The charge of Immorality seems, at first, to have
been the most prominent : it sprung, no doubt,
from the suspicious jealousy with which the secret
meetings of the Christians were viewed. The perse-
cutions rendered it necessary that the Christian
worship should be conducted in secret and by night.
Before the light, as Pliny tells us,1 the Christians met
together in prayer to Christ. The heathen husband,
whilst it was yet dark, missed his wife from his side,
and vaguely suspected evil.2 Arguing from the heathen
rites, it was thought that the Christian mysteries must
be impure. Rumour soon gave shape to vague sus-
1 Plmy's letter to Trajan. 2 Tert. ad Uxorem, ii. 4.
THE DEFENCE. 37
picion. " About the modest supper-room of the
Christians," says Tertullian, " a great ado is made." i
The ceremony of initiation into the society, it was
said, was an abominable crime.2 The neophyte was
caused to stab unawares an infant to death, and then
all, in greedy haste, tore it limb from limb and
devoured it. The feasting was carried to excess. At
a given signal the light was put out and all indulged
in promiscuous lust. Origen tells us the Jews were
the authors of these charges3— a thing likely enough
in itself ; but whether this was so or not, it is easy to
see the foundation in fact for the calumny. The
heathen had heard of the Eucharistic food of the
Body and Blood of Christ, and of the love-feasts. To
the first they would be incapable of giving a spiritual
significance ; the second had but one meaning to an
impure imagination ; love and lust were, alas ! to the
heathen of the day, almost interchangeable terms. Re-
ligious ceremonies and gross immoralities were closely
connected in his experience. Purity was so rare that he
disbelieved in its existence. Outward self-restraint was,
in his idea, only a cloak to secret immorality : hence
he distorted the love-feasts into licentious orgies, and
the feeding on the Body and Blood of Christ into
murdering and devouring an infant.
For these charges,4 Tertullian assures us, the
heathen had lying rumour as their only witness ;
and yet the secret of the Christian meetings was by
no means well kept. He says.5 " We are daily beset
1 Tert. Apol. c. 39. 2 Octavius, c. 9.
3 Orig. c. Celsum, vi. 27; see also Just. Dial. c. 17.
4 Tert. Apol. c. 7. 5 lb.
38 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
by foes, we are daily betrayed ; we are ofttimes sur-
prised in our meetings and congregations. And yet,"
he asks, "who has ever happened on an infant wailing?
Who has found any trace of uncleanness in his wife ?
Where is the man who, when he had discovered such
atrocities, concealed them, or, whilst dragging the
guilty before the judge, was bribed to silence ?" As
a matter of fact, the authorities from time to time
did their best to procure evidence, and failed.1 Pliny
investigated the nature of the Christian society in a
thorough manner. He had no liking for it, quite
the reverse ; it was, in his eyes, " an absurd and
immoderate superstition." The Christians were pos-
sessed with "infatuation"; they were filled with "a
contumacious and inflexible obstinacy." But this
is the worst he has to say. He searched, but could
not find any basis for a criminal charge. He ques-
tioned apostates, and they were quite willing, for their
own safety, to revile the name of Christ ; but even
they did not venture to blacken the fair fame of the
Christians. Their evidence went no further than this,
that the Christians were wont to assemble together
before day, for prayer to Christ ; for binding all to-
gether, by a solemn sacrament, to abstain from all
kinds of sin ; and for eating a harmless meal. Two
deaconesses fell into Pliny's hands, and he put them to
the torture, but he could get nothing out of them to
his purpose. The conclusion he comes to is this : the
Christians are superstitious, they are obstinate, they
will not obey the laws, but they are not criminal. In
1 Justin (Apol. ii. c. 12) says that some female slaves were
forced by torture to confess the truth of these charges.
THE DEFENCE. 39
fact, Pliny's report to Trajan might be summed up in
the words, " I can find no occasion against these men,
except I find it against them concerning the law of
their God."
Pliny's investigation was made at the beginning of
the second century, in Bithynia. About fifty years
afterwards a violent persecution broke out in Gaul.
Reports of the vile doings of the Christians had been
circulated amongst the common people until they
were goaded to madness. Vettius Epagathus, a young
man of blameless life, was refused a hearing when
he undertook to show, on behalf of his brethren,
that nothing impious was done amongst them. Was
he a Christian ? the governor asked. He was. That
was sufficient ; his mouth was stopped, and he was
numbered amongst the martyrs.1
The heathen slaves of Christian martyrs were ap-
prehended ; they saw their masters suffering, and,
in fear for themselves, falsely accused them of un-
natural crimes. Then, as our account runs, " When
the rumour of these accusations was spread abroad,
all raged against us like wild beasts ; so that if any
formerly were temperate in their conduct to us on
account of relationship, they now became exceedingly
indignant and gnashed their teeth against us. And
thus was fulfilled that which was spoken by our Lord :
"The time will come when whosoever killeth you
will think that he doeth God service." 2
The threat of torture had been sufficient to cause
the heathen slaves to accuse their masters. Its ap-
1 Eus. Eccl. Hist. 2 lb.
40 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
plication was not sufficient to extort a confession from
the Christians themselves ; and yet, we are told, they
suffered pains beyond description, Satan striving
eagerly that some of the evil reports might be ac-
knowledged by them.
Sarictus, a deacon, nobly endured all the sufferings
that man could devise, and had but one word on his
lips, " I am a Christian." His body, with wounds,
lost human shape, but in him Christ wrought great
wonders; showing to the rest that there is nothing
fearful where there is the Father's love, and nothing
painful where there is Christ's glory.
For Blandina, a weak slave, all— even her Chris-
tian mistress — feared ; but she baffled her tormentors
though they did their worst, and in the midst of all
her sufferings she found strength, and refreshment,
and insensibility to pain, in saying, "I am a Christian,
and nothing vile is done amongst us."
One more faithful witness — the most faithful of all.
All had not stood firm ; some had by their conduct
caused evil reports and were sons of perdition, but
others were won back again by the martyrs' prayers.
One of these latter was Biblias. " The devil," such
is the account, u thinking he had already swallowed
her up, and wishing to increase her condemnation
by making her accuse (the brethren) falsely, brought
her forth to torture, to compel her, as already
feeble and spiritless, to make charges of impiety
against us. But she, in the midst of the torturing,
came again to a sound state of mind, and awoke,
as it were, out of a deep sleep, for the temporary
punishment reminded her of the eternal punish-
THE DEFENCE. 4 I
ment in hell ; and she contradicted the accusers of
Christians, saying, ' How can children be eaten by
those who do not think it lawful to partake even of
the blood of brute beasts?' And after this she con-
fessed herself a Christian, and was added to the
number of martyrs."
And so the devil's craft, as we see, betrayed him ;
and Christ rescued from his jaws one that was ready
to go down into the pit ; and the Christians gained a
testimony not to be gainsayed. The deacon's testi-
mony was strong, the slave's still stronger, but the
testimony of her who had fallen was strongest of all.
What could have raised the fallen one but the power
of Christ working in her mightily? The witness
extorted by suffering must have been for once the
witness of truth.
It is interesting to learn that God honoured His
martyrs in the eyes of men. Those who stood firm
suffered as Christians, and were not ashamed. Those
who apostatized suffered as murderers and profligates,
and were tormented by their guilty conscience. The
one came forth to their execution like " brides going
to their bridal " ; the others were downcast, and hum-
bled, and weighed down with every kind of disgrace.
The Apologists pointed to such scenes as these,
and asked, Is it possible that men who die as you
see they do, can live as you say they do? 1 In truth,
the deaths of the Christians were a convincing testi-
mony to the purity of the Christian lives. A life of
self-indulgence is not a preparation for a martyr's
1 Tert. Apol. c. 50; Just. Apol. ii. 12.
42 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
death. But those who were ever crucifying the flesh
with its affections and lusts after a spiritual manner,
were the men likely in the moment of trial to endure
bravely the most dreadful suffering. One of the
Apologists, Justin Martyr, saw the force of this argu-
ment, whilst still a heathen. He tells us,1 that when
he "was delighting in the doctrines of Plato, and
heard the Christians slandered, and saw them fear-
less of death and of all other things which are counted
to be fearful, he perceived it was impossible that they
could be living in wickedness and pleasure. For what
sensual or intemperate man, or who that counts it
good to feast on human flesh, could welcome death,
that he might be deprived of his enjoyments, and
would not rather continue always the present life?"
The Apologists appeal not only to Christian deaths
but to Christian lives in defending themselves against
this charge.2 They were able to point to the change
which Christianity had effected in the lives of many.
Tertullian says that the remarks used to be made,
" What a woman she was ! how wanton, how gay !
What a youth he was ! how profligate, how lustful !
They have become Christians ! So the hated name
is given to a reformation of character." 3 And then
he tells us further, that the heathen hated Christianity
more than they loved goodness. The chaste Chris-
tian wife, and the obedient Christian son, and the
faithful Christian servant, fared worse after their
reformation than beforetime in their wickedness.
1 Just. Apol. ii. 12.
2 Orig. c. Celsum, i. 9 ; Just. Apol. i. 14, ii. 2.
3 Apol. c. 3.
THE DEFENCE. 43
The prisons were often full of Christians, but their
Christianity was their only crime. Christian names
*ere not to be found in the list of criminals. " It
is always," the same writer says in another place,1
" with your folk the prison is teeming, the mines are
sighing, the wild beasts are fed ; it is from you the
exhibiters of gladiatorial shows always get their herd
of criminals to feed up for the occasion. You find no
Christian there, except simply as being such ; or if one
be there in any other capacity, a Christian he is no
longer."
Tertullian shows also 2 how it is the Christians were
so free from crime. Their morality was based on
their religion ; their moral sense had been educated
by a Divine Teacher; their moral code had been
taught them by Divine lips ; and they expected to be
judged by a Divine Judge. Eternal punishment, they
believed, was due for sin ; eternal life was the reward
of goodness. Moreover, the commandment which
had been laid upon them was exceeding wide ;
it reached even to the words of the lips and the
thoughts of the heart. So far from injuring anothei,
they patiently suffered injury themselves ; so far
from killing another, they were forbidden even to
be angry. A Christian could not, like a philosopher,
teach one thing and do another. He could not
promulgate a code of morals, and not live up to it.
Unless he were a Christian in deed, he ceased
forthwith to be a Christian in name.
Perhaps this charge could hardly have been so
1 Teit. Apol. c. 44. 2 lb. c. 45.
44 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
widely believed without some basis of truth, and
there is good reason for thinking that some of the
heretics brought discredit on the Christian name.
The Gnostics taught that matter, i.e. the stuff of
which the world generally, and so the human body,
was composed, was the principle of evil ; and the
question with them was, how to keep their higher
nature uncorrupted in its contact with matter. One
of their two theories was, " Do absolutely as you
please ; follow your own impulses ; don't give the
subject a thought, it is not worth the trouble. Nothing
your body can do can have any influence upon your
spirit." With such a theory we are prepared to hear
that the Gnostics led a licentious life. Irenaeus tells
us,1 " that they had been sent by Satan to bring dis-
honour upon the Church ; so that men hearing what
they say, may turn away from the preaching of the
truth ; and seeing what they practise, may speak evil
of us all, who in fact have no fellowship with them,
either in doctrine, or in morals, or in daily life."
Eusebius2 distinctly traces the "impious and absurd
suspicions" against the Christians to the Gnostic
theory and practice. They taught, he tells us, " that
the basest deeds should be perpetrated by those that
would arrive at perfection in their mysteries " ; and
the consequence was, "to the unbelieving Gentiles
they furnished abundant opportunity to slander the
Divine word, as the ill fame issuing from them cast
discredit on the whole body of Christians."
The Gnostic heresy, though in the 2nd century it
1 Iren. Hoer. i. 25, 3. 2 Hist. Eccl. iv. 7.
THE DEFENCE. 45
had spread far and wide, was not of long duration.
With it were extinguished, Eusebius1 tells us, all the
aspersions on our religion. When he wrote, 2 the old
calumnies were dropped by all. Still, under Maximin,
only a little before, the old charges had been revived.3
In Damascus some harlots were forced by the gov-
ernor into making a declaration that they had once
been Christians, and had been witnesses of their
wickedness. These confessions were engraved on
brazen tablets, and were published all over the empire.
Besides this, acts of Pilate, full of blasphemy against
Christ, were forged;4 and then, by an imperial edict,
all schoolmasters were provided with copies, and it
was expressly enjoined that every boy should learn
the lies by heart. Just then, "the devil had great
wrath, knowing that he had but a short time."
Within a year the devil was chained.
When persecutors were reduced for evidence to
such straits as we have described, it is plain how little
occasion had been given to the adversary to speak
reproachfully. Indeed, it may be fairly said, that at
no time was this charge believed in by intelligent
heathens.5 Certainly it was not believed in by the
emperors Trajan and Marcus Aurelius, as their edicts
published after inquiry show.6 The common people
believed in it, no doubt ; rumour and garbled quota-
tions were sufficient for them, and very likely their
1 Eus. Hist. Eccl. iv. 7. 2 330 A.D. circa.
3 Fus. Hist. Eccl. ix. 5. * lb. ix. 7.
5 Justin, in his Dialogue with Trypho (c. x. ), puts into the
mouth of his Jew a confession that the charges were false.
6 Eus. Hist. Eccl. iii. 2i3'} v. 1.
46 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
belief was encouraged by the authorities as useful.
But Roman governors knew, — aye, and acted on their
knowledge, that there was one thing more terrible to
a Christian woman than death itself.1 In the Dio-
cletian persecution it was common to send Christian
virgins to the houses of shame. The persecutors
knew that a taint on Christian purity was more terrible
than any punishment or any death. Surely enough
has now been said on this subject ; it would be well
indeed if Christ's Church could refute all the accusa-
tions made against her members as triumphantly as
this.
We pass on to the second charge made against the
Christians — the religious one. It was said that they
were either worshippers of monstrous things, or that
they were atheists and had no God at all. Here, too,
the imagination of the heathen seems to have been
their chief witness.
A common theory was that they worshipped the
head of an ass. Tacitus, according to Tertullian,2
was the first to put the notion into people's minds.
He records a tradition that the Jews in their
" exodus " were saved from perishing from thirst by
wild asses, and that in their gratitude they conse-
crated a head of that animal to be their god.
Arguing from the connection of Judaism and
Christianity, the heathen supposed the Christians
worshipped an ass's head also. A little before Ter-
tullian's time, an apostate Jew, a man who hired him-
self out to fight with wild beasts, carried about through
1 Tert. Apol. c. 50. 2 Apol. c. 16.
THE DEFENCE. 47
the streets of Rome a caricature of the God of the
Christians.1 He was depicted as having the ears of
an ass, hoofed in one foot, carrying a book, and
wearing a toga. And the crowd, we are told, believed
the infamous Jew.
Others said they worshipped the Sun.2 Perhaps
there were two reasons for this charge. Sunday was
the chief day of worship for the Christians, and they
turned to the east whilst they said their prayers.
Others were convinced that they worshipped the
Cross.3 Possibly the reason for this was, that the
Christians were seen constantly to sign themselves
with this sign.4
The Emperor Hadrian confounded them with the
worshippers of the Egyptian god Serapis.5 To him,
in his attachment to the old Roman and Greek reli-
gions, all foreign religions were alike.
The martyrs' bodies, rescued at such risk, and
buried with such care, were thought by some to be
the objects of their worship. Polycarp's body was
burnt lest they should abandon " The Crucified " and
worship him.6 For the same reasons the bodies of
some slaves martyred during the Diocletian persecu-
tion were cast into the sea.7
The Apologists, in dealing with these charges, often
wax sarcastic.8 Pretty fellows you heathens are, to
make any objection to our objects of worship ! Were
* Ad Nationes, i. 14.
2 Tert. Apol. c. 16. 3 lb. 4 Tert. de Corona, § 3
5 See Neander, Church Hist. i. 141, 142.
6 Eus. Hist. Eccl. iv. 15. 7 lb. viii. 6.
8 Tert. Apol. c. 16 ; Ad Nat. i. II.
48 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
all you say of us true, we should be much better than
you. Why should you object to our worship of an
ass's head? You have gods with the heads of dogs
and lions, and the horns of bucks and rams, and the
loins of goats, and the legs of serpents, and wings
sprouting from the back or foot. You say we are
devoted to asses ; but you must confess that you are
worshippers of cattle of all kinds. You say we worship
the Sun ; many of you worship all the heavenly bodies
and the clouds.1 You say we worship the Cross ;
you undoubtedly worship your military standards.2
It may have been injudicious to retort thus sharply
whilst making a plea for permission to exist ; but,
policy apart, the reply is effective enough.
Probably the charge of atheism was more popular
and more seriously believed in than any of the above.
Men so well hated as the Christians, were sure to be
attacked by scandalous reports not half-believed.
But the charge of atheism seemed to rest on a good
foundation; for the Christians had, or seemed to have,
none of those accessories of worship used by all other
religions. Certainly the charge made the common
people hate them more intensely.
The position of the common people with respect
to their religion was in some points very similar to
the position of many people now. When all went
well they did not trouble themselves much about it ;
but when misfortune came they were filled with guilty
fears. In prosperous times they were wont to offer in
sacrifice worn out, scabbed, and corrupting animals ;
1 Tert. Apol. c. 16. * lb.
THE DEFENCE.
49
or they would cut off the head and the hoofs — the
portion assigned to the slaves and dogs — and offer
them upon the altars.1 Tragic and comic writers did
not shrink from setting forth the gods as the origin of
all family calamities and sins. Men had no objection
to making merry over the story of their weaknesses
and crimes;2 dramatic literature pictured their vile-
ness ; and when their majesty was thus insulted
and their deity dishonoured, the world applauded.
Even the sanctity of the temples was not respected, they
were convenient places for the most licentious deeds.3
But when disasters came — as in the second century
they constantly did — then superstitious fear rilled the
hearts of all.4 It was said at once, the gods are angry
because their temples have been deserted and their
rites neglected.5 At such times the Christians were a
convenient scapegoat.5 Public religious ceremonies,
rain-sacrifices, barefoot processions, were enjoined ;
and in these the Christians would take no part. Then
there were popular risings, all forms of law were set
at nought, and this to such an extent that the autho-
rities had to interfere. Tertullian tells us that the
heathen thought the Christians the cause of every
public disaster and affliction. If, he says, the Tiber
rises as high as the city walls, if the Nile does not
send its waters over the fields, if the heavens give no
rain, if there is an- earthquake, if there is a famine or
pestilence, straightway the cry is, " Away with the
Christians to the lion." It was Nero who set the
1 Tert. Apol. c. 14. 2 Arnobius, iv. 33-36.
3 Tert. Apol. c. if. * Am. i. 2\.
5 Tert. Apol. c. 40.
50 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
fashion of ascribing calamities to the Christians ; and
his example in this respect was constantly followed in
later times. The martyrdom of Ignatius, Bishop of
Antioch, seems to have followed on a destructive
earthquake. The persecutions under Antoninus Pius,
Marcus Aurelius, and Diocletian, followed after vari-
ous public calamities — pestilences, inundations, earth-
quakes, and fires. Maximin boasted that his perse-
cution of the Christians had brought back again to the
world long-lost abundance, peace, and health.1 So
prevalent indeed was the idea that the Christians were
the guilty causes of the calamities of the times, that
many of the Apologists set themselves to show that
there was no real connection between them. For the
most part the Apologists deal with this matter by
pointing out that national disasters occurred long
before Christians were known, and that the times are
not so bad after all.2 Seasons of scarcity are relieved
by times of plenty, disasters in war are compensated
for by victories and successes.
" It is three hundred years," says Arnobius,3 " since
we Christians began to exist. Have wars been in-
cessant ? Have the crops always failed ? Has there
never been peace and plenty on the earth ? On the
contrary, there have often been the most plentiful
yields of grain and seasons of cheapness. Victories
innumerable have been gained. The boundaries ot
the Empire have been extended. It would be quite
as fair to attribute your prosperity as your calamity
to us. Moreover, is it seemly to ascribe anger and
1 Eus. Hist. Eccl. ix. 7. 2 Am. adv. Gentes, i. 3-5.
3 Am. adv. Gentes, 1. 15.
1HE DEFENCE. 5 I
spite to the immortal gods ? Do such passions dwell
in heavenly minds ? Again, if we are the offenders,
do the gods need your strenuous advocacy to avenge
the insults offered them ? By heat and by cold, by
tempest and by disease, they can consume us and
drive us from the earth ; why do they not put forth
their power if they are really angry ? Moreover, if we
alone are the offenders, why does not the punishment
fall on us alone ? To you let them give good health,
to us the worst. On your farms let them send season-
able showers, on ours let them drive away all gentle
rain. Let your sheep multiply, and ours be barren.
Let your oliveyards and vineyards give their full in?
crease, let ours give not even a single fruit. Let them
make the fruits of the earth nutritious to you, but to
us let the honey be bitter, the oil rancid, and the
wine vinegar. Such is not the case now. To us
who are impious no less share in the bounties of life
accrues than to you who are pious. On you as well
as on us misfortune falls."
Tertullian points out that many calamities befell
the world before the coming of Christ. Islands were
swallowed up by earthquakes, the world was destroyed
by a flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, Vulsinii and
Pompeii were destroyed by fire, the Romans were
defeated at Cannas, and their Capitol was besieged,
long before the mention of the Christian name. In-
deed, as a matter of fact, the Christians lighten the
calamities which come upon the earth. When the
heathen, with their sacrifices and processions in the
times of their calamity and anxiety, are supplicating
the gods for deliverance, the Christians, by fasting
e 2
r2 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
and prayer, by abstinence from sin and even ordinary
enjoyments, assail heaven with their importunities.
They touch God's heart, and He is merciful ; but
Jupiter gets the honour.1
Cyprian, in replying to Demetrian, the proconsul
of Africa, on this matter, has quite another theory.'
He confesses that in winter there is not such an
abundance of showers, nor in summer, so much sun
to ripen the corn, that marble is dug in less quantity
from the mountains, and that the gold and silver
mines show signs of early exhaustion, that strength,
skill, and innocence are all failing ; and the reason is,
the world is growing old.
The Apologists are very careful to free the Chris-
tians from the charge of impiety and atheism. Though
they do not worship the gods of the heathen, they do
serve and worship God.
"To adore," asks Arnobius,3 "God as the highest
existence, as the Lord of all things that be, as occupy-
ing the highest place among all exalted ones, to pray
to Him with submission in our distresses, to cling to
Him with all our senses (so to speak), to love Him,
to look up to Him in faith — is this an execrable and
unhallowed religion, full of impiety and sacrilege, pol-
luting by its novel superstition ancient ceremonies?
Is this the daring and heinous iniquity on account of
which the mighty powers of Heaven whet against us
the stings of passionate indignation ; on account of
which you yourselves, whenever the savage desire has
seized you, spoil us of our goods, drive us from our
1 Tert. Apol. c. 40. 2 Ad Demet. c. iii. s Am. i. 25.
THE DEFENCE. 53
ancestral homes, inflict upon us capital punishment,
torture, mangle, burn us, expose us to wild beasts,
and give us to be torn by monsters? Does he deserve
the name of man who makes such a charge? Can he
be reckoned amongst the gods wLo charges with im-
piety those who serve the King supreme, or is racked
with envy because His Majesty and worship are pre-
ferred to his own ? "
Of course it is very easy to see how the charge of
atheism arose. The Christians had no temples and
no images, they would take no part in any of the
ceremonies of the State religion. Their whole life
showed that they despised and loathed heathenism.
Celsus says,1 " The Christians cannot so much as
endure the sight of the temples, altars, and statues."
The Christians have no temples, therefore they have
no gods, was a convincing argument to a heathen.
His religion was purely an external one. It concerned
his nation, it concerned his family, it affected his
public and domestic life, but it did not purify his
desires, and it did not influence his heart. Disbelief in
a god was no reason for not sacrificing to him ; if the
object of desire was criminal, that again was no reason
for omitting to ask a god's help. All alike were content
to make utility the foundation of religion. Philoso-
phers and statesmen said, with more or less certainty,
The religion of the gods is false ; but they felt the
masses could be hardly controlled without it. The
Roman people generally said, By venerating the gods
Rome has reached its present height of prosperity.2
1 Orig. c. Olsum, vii. 63 a Terr. Apol. c. 25.
54 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
From neglect of the auguries experience tells us
disaster has often come. The Christians, who despise
the gods, are enemies to the State.1
The third charge brought against the Christians,
and, in some respect, that of the most importance, was
of a political nature. They formed, it was said, a
secret society, they belonged to an unlawful and new
religion, they were disloyal to the Emperor, and un-
profitable to the State.
The jealousy of the Romans against secret societies
was very great. The Emperor Trajan went so far as
to forbid the formation of a company of firemen at
Alexandria. There was necessarily much secrecy
about the Christians and their religion, and there was
besides much about them to excite suspicion. They
were a body of men of all nations growing and spread-
ing every day. They were united by some tie for
some unknown purpose ; this purpose was plainly of
the greatest importance, for everything reckoned valu-
able by others was neglected by them ; the world's
honours and the world's pleasures they alike despised.
Vague reports of a kingdom which they were setting
up were continually floating about, and that was quite
enough to excite jealousy in the mind of any Roman
governor. Every now and then glimpses of their aims
would be seen, and these were nothing more or less
than the subversion of the State religion. The Chris-
tians, then, belonged to a secret society, and one,
apparently, of a dangerous character. But this was
not all, Christianity was an " unlawful " religion — a
1 Octavius of Min. Felix, c. 7.
THE DEFENCE. 55
" new " religion. Now, at first sight it might be
thought that one more or one less religion would not
have been considered a matter of much importance.
The heathen religions were more numerous than the
Christian sects now. The heathen had gods many and
lords many, and fresh ones were springing up every
day. The Roman government was tolerant of all
religions. It never called together all peoples, nations,
and languages, to worship the golden image which it
had set up. No one was persecuted for his opinions ;
it was quite an understood thing that different nations
had different gods. A religion was, as it were, a
national characteristic. Just as one nation differed
from another in colour, language, customs, and laws,
so it differed also in the gods which it worshipped.
So it came to pass that the Romans, when they con-
quered a nation, and incorporated it into their Empire,
incorporated also its gods into their Pantheon. Rome,
the mistress of the world, Alexandria, the meeting-
place of the world, were the homes of all religions ;
temples to the different gods stood side by side. The
gods and the nations were supposed to be suited the
one to the other ; the gods took care of the nations,
and the nations worshipped the gods. Everybody
worshipped the gods of his fathers after the rites of
his fathers, and the Government was not careful to
inquire what those rites were. Gallio represents the
indifference of the Roman State when he said, " If it
be a question of words and names, and of your law,
look ye to it ; for I will be no judge of such matters."1
1 Acts xviii. 15.
56 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
But religions being, according to the Roman idea,
national characteristics, they could not be changed
any more than you could change your nation. Pros-
elytizing was a thing strictly forbidden, it overthrew
the object of religions altogether. By the aid of reli-
gion, order was much more easily kept ; that, indeed,
according to some, was its chief use. A superstitious
fear, a Roman historian says, was the mainstay of
the Roman State.1 But proselytizing implied contro-
versy, and angry passions, and tumults, and disorder,
and all for a mere nothing. One god was, to all
intents and purposes, as good as another ; and the
gods of a nation had a claim on the worship and
veneration of the members of that nation.2
Now, of course, Christianity could not reap the
benefit of such toleration as this. It proclaimed
with a loud voice that there was but one God for all
nations. In its very essence it was aggressive ; the
work of its ministers was to go out into the highways
and hedges, and compel men to come in. It set
itself to the ridiculous (as it seemed) task of bringing
all the inhabitants of Asia, Europe, and Libya, Greeks
and barbarians, those dwelling in the uttermost ends of
the earth, under one law.3 It interfered with the worship
of the national gods, and moreover, it repudiated that
worship of the Emperor by which the Romans thought
they could unite the world in one religious bond. Very
soon we find the Christians overpassing the bounds
of Roman tolerance. They were found to be dis-
turbers of the public peace. They would not leave
1 Polybius, vi. 56. 2 Orig. c. Celsum, v. 25, 35.
3 lb. viii. 72.
THE DEFENCE. 57
other people alone, and therefore they were not left
alone. The history of the Church in the New Testa-
ment shows us this. To avoid a tumult Pilate ordered
Jesus to be crucified. Paul is scourged at Philippi
as an exceeding troubler of the city. At Thessalonica
he is described as a man who has turned the world
upside down. He excites disturbance wherever he
goes, and is ultimately sent to Rome because of an
uproar at Jerusalem. Perhaps it was tumultuous
gatherings arising out of Christian controversies which
caused the Jews to be expelled from Rome in the
reign of Claudius.1 It is evident that on the Christians
would be laid the blame of all such tumults. From
a political point of view they were justly blameable.
The view of the Roman authorities could be none
other than this. This man's teaching attacked people's
prejudices ; being what it was, it could hardly fail to
make them angry, and excite disturbance. We must
suppress him, and those like him, if we would have
peace.
The " novelty " of Christianity was no unimportant
item in the charge against it. " This new religion,"
Lucian calls it scoffingly.2 " Why has this new kind
of practice entered so late into the world ? " was the
question of Diognetus.3 "Your doctrine has but re-
cently come to light," was the common taunt.4 To
bring back the observance of the ancient institutions,
ancient laws and discipline, and the worship of the
1 Cf. Suetonius : Judieos impulsore Chresto assidue tumultu-
antes Roma expulit.
2 De Morte Peregrini. ' Ad Diognetum, *\ I.
4 Theoph. ad Aut. iii. 4.
58 DEFENDERS OF THE FAJTH.
ancestral religion, was the aim of the very last perse-
cution. " The ancient religion ought not to be cen-
sured by a new," is a statement in one of Diocletian's
edicts.1 " It is the greatest of crimes to overturn
what has been once established by our ancestors, and
what has supremacy in the State " ; " It is an act of
impiety to get rid of the institutions established from
the beginning in the various places," says the philo-
sopher Celsus.2 It was not difficult to answer the
objection based upon the novelty of Christianity.
Arnobius points out the improvements in science, art,
and civilization, and asks whether they are any the
worse for being new.3 He notices that the Romans
are constantly changing their habits and modes of
life. Granted that the heathen religion was old, it
was only a question of degree. " The belief which we
hold is new, some day it will be old ; yours is old,
but at its rise it was new and unheard of. The
credibility of a religion cannot be determined by its
age, but by its nature.4 Four hundred years ago our
religion did not exist, we admit. But two thousand
years ago your gods even did not exist. s Does the Al-
mighty and Supreme God seem to you something
new, and do those who adore and worship Him seem
to you to be introducing an unheard-of, unknown,
and upstart religion ? Is there anything older than
He ? . Can anything be found preceding Him ? Is
not He alone uncreated, immortal, and everlasting ?
Our religion is not new in itself, but we have been
late in learning the true object of worship.6 Our reli-
1 Quoted by Neander, C. H. i. 200. 2 Orig. c. Celsum, v. 25.
3 Arn. ii. 66, 67. 4 lb. c. 71. 5 lb. c. 72. 6 lb. c. 73.
THE DEFENCE. 59
gion, it is true, has only lately sprung up on the earth;
and the reason is, He who was sent to declare it to us
has but lately appeared.1 Do you ask why this was?
We answer, We do not know. We cannot explain
the plans of God. But this we may say ; in eternal
and unbounded ages nothing whatever can be spoken
of as late. Where there is no end and no beginning,
nothing is too soon, and nothing too late." 2
And now we are in a position to state the precise
way in which the Christians during the first three
centuries became obnoxious to the law. They be-
longed to a religion, not venerable for age, not allowed
by law, and not national. They belonged, moreover,
to a religion, which, instead of promoting order, caused
dissension and tumult all over the world. Christianity,
being what it was, could not be placed on the list of
allowed religions ; to belong to it was therefore a
legal offence. In consequence, a Christian's trial was
a very simple thing. He was dragged before the
judgment-seat by the mob for his unnatural crimes,
or for his atheism. The former charge was very difficult
to prove, and as for the latter, the judge was probably
himself an atheist by conviction ; still it was not
politic to let him go, for a tumult was made. The
judge, like Pilate, often wished to release him ; some-
times he ran all risks, and did release him,3 but more
commonly he let the people have their own way.
He condemned in legal fashion a man who was un-
justly accused. Not his immorality, or his atheism,
but his Christianity was the legal charge on which he
Am. ii. c. 74. * lb. ii. 75. s Tert. ad Scap. c. 4.
6o DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
was condemned. The law said, " The Christians are
not permitted to be." The judge had only to ask,
"Are you a Christian?" He had only to obtain
the confession, " I am," and then there was no need
to inquire further into other matters. The Christians,
as such, were liable to torture and death.
" Are you a Christian ?" This is a simple question
to us, but it is one which has caused many a stout
man's heart to quail. " Are you a Christian ? " He
had but to say, No ; he had but to throw a little
incense on the fire, he had but to revile the name of
Christ ; and then at once he would be dismissed
unhurt, confirmed in his office if he had one, with his
property untouched, and his reputation unsullied.
He might have been a Christian in days gone by, the
law would forgive him that ; he might still be a Chris-
tian by conviction, of men's opinions the law took no
cognizance ; if from henceforward he conformed out-
wardly to the State religion, that was sufficient, the
law asked for nothing more.
And soon, too, the authorities discovered that
denial and apostasy gave them more than they even
asked. The Roman governor with a sneer on his
face, the mob with outspoken jeers, the Christians
with heartfelt prayers and pity, marked the pale face
and hesitating look of the accused, and one and all
knew that if he said, " No, I am not a Christian," a
Christian ipso facto he was no longer. Open denial
and apostasy could only be purged by an open con-
fession. And thus all learnt the fact that a Christian's
words and deeds were in closest harmony. A philo-
sopher had no objection to take the test and swear
THE DEFENCE. 6 1
by the gods which he had proved had no existence.
A Christian who denied the name of Christ ceased
to be a Christian in any sense whatever.
If, then, the prisoner pleaded, " Not guilty," his
plea was accepted, and he was released. But if he
pleaded " Guilty " ; if he said, " I am a Christian,"
what then? Then the struggle began. Surely it is
an almost incredible fact in the history of trials of
justice, that the attempt should be made to compel
men to confess that they were innocent of the crime
laid to their charge. Yet so it was. Torture was
applied, not to make the accused confess, but to
make him deny.1 That was the great aim the la\v~
always had. The desire was, not to punish men who
had been Christians, but to exterminate Christianity.
It is Tertullian who brings this strange mode of proce-
dure clearly before us.2 He pictures a man replying
to the question with the words, " I am a Christian. "
" He tells you what he is," says Tertullian ; " you
wish to hear from him what he is not. Occupying
your place of authority to extort the truth, you do
your utmost to get lies from us. 1 1 am,' he says,
' that which you ask me if I am. Why do you torture
me to sin? I confess, and you put me to the rack.
What should you do if I denied ' ? Certainly you give
no ready credence to others when they deny; when
we deny, you believe at once." Tertullian sees in
this a proof that it is the Christian name which is
being pursued with enmity. "We are put to the
torture if we confess, and we are punished if we per-
1 Tert. Apol. c. 2. 2 lb.
62 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
severe, and if we deny, we are acquitted, because all
the contention is about a name." He points out that
the authorities, treating the Christians thus differently
from criminals, recognize the fact that Christians are
indeed guiltless of crime.
The accounts of Christian trials which have come
down to us, all confirm Tertullian's statement. The
question and the answer on such occasions seem to
have been nearly always the same. " Are you a
Christian ? " Pliny asks those brought before him.
When they confess, he repeats the question twice,
with threats ; when they persist, he orders them to be
punished. " I am a Christian," says Polycarp (they
did not need to ask him). To the invitations,
"Swear by the fortune of Caesar"; "Repent, and
say, 'Away with the Atheists' !" "Swear, and I will
set thee at liberty"; "Reproach Christ," — the same
simple statement is his only reply. Through the
Stadium the proclamation is thrice made, " Poly-
carp has confessed that he is a Christian." And
then the only doubt is, what death he shall die.1 One
question only is asked of Ptolemaeus when accused
before Urbicius at Alexandria ; as must needs be with
a true Christian, confession is made, and condemna-
tion at once pronounced. A bystander protests, and
asks, " What is the ground of this judgment ? Why
have you punished this man, not as an adulterer,
nor fornicator, nor murderer, nor thief, nor robber,
nor convicted of any crime at all, but who has only
confessed that he is called by the name of Christ ? "
1 Just. Apol. ii. 2.
THE DEFENCE. 63
The only answer the question gets is, " You also
seem to be such an one." It is promptly replied,
" Most certainly I am," and he too is led away to
death, to be in his turn followed by a third. " Are
you a Christian?" is the question of the prefect
Rusticus to Justin and his fellow-martyrs. " I am a
Christian," each replies in turn, " by the command of
God," " by the grace of God," " being freed by
Christ." " Do what you will, we are Christians, and
do not sacrifice to idols." Immediately sentence is
pronounced. What need is there of any further
instances ? The same is true throughout the period
of persecution ; and is it not cause for deep thank-
fulness and for pride, that our brothers, following the
Apostolic command, did not suffer as murderers, or
thieves, or evildoers, or busybodies in other men's
matters ; but they suffered as Christians, and were not
ashamed, but glorified God on this behalf.1
But it was very hard for them to resist to blood,
when a word would have set them free. Throughout, it
was the great object of the judges to make the Chris-
tians say that word. Sometimes threats were used ;
the confessors were threatened with the flames, or
the wild beasts, or the brothel.2 Sometimes a free par-
don was offered to all who renounced their faith,
whilst instant death was inflicted on those who still
stood firm.3 Sometimes a man was begged to have
respect to his old age,4 sometimes to have compassion-
1 1 Peter iv. 15, 16.
2 Martyrdom of Polycarp, c. xi. ; Eus. Hist. Eccl. viii. 1, 12;
vi. 41 ; The Passion of St. Theodotus.
3 Eus. v. I. 4 Polycarp, Martyrdom, c. 9.
04 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
on his youth.1 Sometimes friends did their utmost to
make them recant.2 A grey-haired father throws
himself at his daughter's feet, and with tears he im-
plores her.3 " Have pity, my daughter," he says, "on
my grey hairs. Have pity on your father, if I am
worthy to be called a father by you. If with these
hands I have brought you up to this flower of your
age, if I have preferred you to all your brothers, do
not deliver me up to the scorn of men. Have regard
to your brothers, have regard to your mother and to
your aunt, have regard to your son, who will not be
able to live after you." The procurator says, " Spare
the grey hairs of your father, spare the infancy of your
boy, offer sacrifice for the well-being of the emperors."
She answers, " I will not do so." He asks, " Are you
a Christian ? " and she replies, " I am." Then there
was but a step between her and death. But not all
were brave and constant, many were overcome by
torture, or over-persuaded by their friends. Specially
was this the case in the later persecutions. A time
of peace and quiet had its drawbacks, it added those
to the Church who in times of persecution were ready
to fall away. The number of apostates in the Decian
and Diocletian persecutions was very great ; and, the
persecutions over, the Church found the greatest
difficulty in dealing with them when they asked for
re-admission to communion. The orthodox teaching
was very strict. Some of the heretics said that you
might deny Christ with your mouth but still confess
' Polycarp, Martyr, c. 3. 2 Eus. Hist. Eccl. vi. 41.
8 Fassions of Perpetua and Felicitas.
THE DEFENCE. 65
Him in your heart.1 The Church always held that
those who formally or virtually apostatized committed
sin almost if not quite beyond forgiveness on earth.
Years of repentance had in every case to precede
restoration to full Christian privileges.
Gallienus, in the year a.d. 259, was the first emperor
who recognized Christianity as a legal religion.- Up
to that time the Christians were always liable to be
persecuted. The law was against them, although the
Emperor or the governors might be on their side.
Gallienus gave to the Christians the free exercise of
their religion, and the right of holding property ; and
thus placed the law on their side. The liberty then
first granted was withdrawn by later emperors ; it was
not till Constantine's time that Christianity was firmly
established in its position. Under him it became
not only an allowed religion, but the religion of the
State.
We pass on now to the next political charge, viz.,
disloyalty to the Emperor. The Christians had " an-
other king, one Jesus " ;3 this was the fact which at
first excited the jealousy of the State. But when it
discovered, as it soon did, that the Christian kingdom
was " celestial and angelic, and to appear at the end
of the world," it ceased to trouble itself about the
matter.4
The foundation for the charge of disloyalty was
quite different in later times. The Christians were
reckoned to be disloyal to the Emperor because they
1 Eus. Eccl. Hist. vi. 38.
2 Neander, ' History of the Church, vol. i. 194.
3 Acts xvii. 7. 4 Eus. Hist. Ecc. iii. 20.
F
66 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
refused to reverence him as divine, to swear by his
genius, and to celebrate his festal days. They would
not make a god of him, in fact, and so they were
reckoned to be traitors.
The Apologists1 tell us that the Christians were
quite ready to pay all human honours to the Emperor ;
that they prayed for, served, and honoured the Em-
peror as pious and loyal subjects should. They point
out the fact that no Christians are found amongst the
conspirators. Indeed, such a thing is impossible, for
their religion forbids them to wish, do, speak, or think
evil of any one. The Christians, they say, have a
special interest in the prosperity of the Roman em-
pire, for they believe that with its fall violent commo-
tions will come upon the world.2
The last political charge is unprofitableness to the
State, and perhaps no charge had more real founda-
tion in fact.3
When we examine the history and read the litera-
ture of the Early Church, we cannot fail being struck
with the all-absorbing character of Christianity in
those early times. A Christian had the hopes and
the promises of his religion, and for the most part
he had nothing else to call his own. He looked
back on the life of Christ Incarnate. He looked
forward to the coming of Christ in power and great
glory. Both events were very near to him. Christ
had but lately come ; Christ was very quickly to come.
The cloud had but just received Him out of his
sight ; the clouds were already gathering to accom-
1 Tert. Apol. c. 32. 2 lb. c. 32.
s Orig. c. Ce]eum, viii. 55-68.
THE DEFENCE. 67
pany His return. There was nothing on the earth
for him to delight in. He had no hold on its riches
or its honours, for he could not reckon even on his
life. Any day he might have to give up all for
Christ, and any day Christ might come again. The
state of the world in which he lived, the rapid
approach of the world to come — both these produced
in him a remarkable singleness of aim.
Hence arose the charge that the Christians were
unprofitable citizens. The later Apologists invariably
refer to it. Tertullian denies its truth.1 " How in all
the world," he says, " can that be the case with people
who are living among you, eating the same food,
wearing the same attire, having the same habits, under
the same necessities of existence?" "We sojourn
with you in the world, abjuring neither forum, nor
shambles, nor booth, nor workshop, nor inn, nor
weekly market, nor any other place of commerce.
We sail with you, and serve in your armies, and till
the ground with you. In like manner we unite with
you in your trafficking ; even in the various arts we
make public property of our works for your benefit."
The Christians, he tells us, had their own costly reli-
gious ceremonies. They spent much on charity, and
defrauded none of their due. They did not pander
to the luxury and vice of the age ; but that was
no loss to the State. Thev cost the Government
nothing as criminals, and they alone reckoned
themselves to be responsible for their words
and looks as well as their deeds. Such is Ter-
tullian's defence in his Apology. It seems to be
1 Apol. c. 42.
F 2
68 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
pretty complete, considering the times and the posi
tion of the Christians. Unfortunately, in other places,
Tertullian seems to contradict himself. He tells us
the Christians have in this world no concern, but to
depart out of it as quickly as they may.1 Lactantius
again denies the lawfulness of all pursuit of gain.2
With principles like these, there would be few busy,
thriving merchants among them, ministering either to
the luxuries, or even the wants of the people. For
another reason, also, commerce was almost closed to
them, for they could not protect themselves when
cheated. The forms of the law-courts were idolatrous,
so that they could not be used with a clear con-
science. It was doubtful whether, under any circum-
stances, lawsuits could be permitted. " It does not
become/' says Tertullian, " the son of peace to sue
at law."3 The Christians took no part in politics,
they despised and refused all temporal honours and
ensigns of magistracy.4 For conscience sake, as we
have seen, they abstained from the public games and
the temple worships ; they brought no custom to the
multitudes who derived their livelihood from one or
the other. More than all, some of the Christians had
conscientious scruples connected with the lawfulness
of the profession of arms. Tertullian says, " There is
no agreement between the divine and human sacra-
ment, the standard of Christ and the standard of the
devil, the camp of light and the camp of darkness."5
1 Apol. c. 41. 2 Div. Inst. v. 17.
3 Tert. de Corona, c. 1 1.
* Tert. Apol. c. 38 ; Orig. c. Celsum, viii. 75.
5 Tert. de Idol. c. 19.
THE DEFENCE. 69
If a soldier become a Christian, he says, he must either
quit the service or suffer for God's sake.1 Many of
the Apologists held the same opinion on the incom-
patibility of the military service with the service of
Christ. Origen says,2 " None fight better for the king
than we do. We form a special army for him, an
army of piety, by offering our prayers to God ; but we
do not fight under him, even if he require it." A
soldier's duties often brought him in corrupting con-
tact with heathenism : he had to keep guard over the
temples, and take meals in them ; he had to protect
the heathen gods, and had to carry idolatrous flags
and badges ; he had to take idolatrous oaths, and to
join in idolatrous ceremonies.3 Under the circum-
stances it was almost impossible for a Christian to be
a soldier. Tertullian went even further, and settled
the matter on abstract principles. The Lord had
taken away the sword; in disarming Peter he unbelted
every soldier.
It is impossible to conceive a course of conduct
better adapted to enrage the Roman Government than
this. They could hardly be expected to tolerate the
refusal of such a numerous body of men to serve in
the ranks as soldiers and to fulfil their duties as citi-
zens. They naturally asked what would become of
the State if all were Christians ; if there were none to
fill the public offices, to provide for the public neces-
sities, to fight against the public foe.5 It is true not
all the Christians were thus, by their principles, made
1 De Corona, c. II. 2 C. Celsum, viii. 73.
3 De Idol. e. 19; de Corona, c. II, 12.
4 De Idol. c. 19. 5 Origen c. Celsum, viii. 68, 69.
70 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
useless in the affairs of the world. Clement's exhorta-
tion is, " Practise husbandry if you are a husbandman ;
but while you till your fields, know God. Sail the sea,
you who are devoted to navigation ; yet call the while
on the heavenly pilot. Has knowledge taken hold of
you whilst engaged in military service ? listen to the
commander who orders what is right." 1 But in the
rise of a new party, the eccentricities or violent state-
ments of a few extreme members are invariably placed
to the credit of the whole. In this case the heathen
and social systems were so closely intertwined, that a
Christian could not join in many of the pursuits of
the day. In those open to him, conscientious diffi-
culties were constantly in his path, and dangers to
his property and life were continually threatening.
Not wishing to court martyrdom, he took refuge in
obscurity ; and thus incurred, with some reason, the
charge of neglecting his duty as a man living in the
world, and as a citizen in the State.
And now our description of " The Defence " is
complete ; we have seen all that the heathen had to
say against the Christians, and the reply the Christians
were able to make. Happy would it have been for
the Christians, if their enemies had never been able
to accuse them with so little truth, and if their cham-
pions had always been able to reply with such
convincing force.
1 Clem. Alex. Cohort, c 10.
DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH. 7 1
CHAPTER V.
THE ATTACK.
The Apologists were contending for toleration ; that
is a fact we must ever bear in mind. So their proper
work was Defence, not Attack. But it was very diffi-
cult to defend themselves without attacking the
heathen. Being Christians, their object was to sub-
vert all the religions of the world, and put Christianity
in their place. Christianity claimed to be The Reli-
gion for the world. Its God was the only true God.
All other religions were false ; their gods were evil
spirits, or mere men, or powers of nature, or senseless
wood and stone.
Doubtless it would have been more politic for
those who were asking for permission merely to exist,
to have abstained from carrying the war into
the enemy's country. But the Apologists would
not, or could not, do this. Attack they must and
would. Thus doing, they showed the heathen the
intolerant nature of Christianity. At first, the idea of
a universal religion was regarded with contempt.1 Its
accomplishment was considered to be beyond all
possibility. Later on, the authorities realized their
danger, but it was then too late.2 The Christians had
1 On'gen c. Celsum, viii. 72.
2 Decian and DiocJetian Persecutions.
72 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
become too powerful, and the battle was virtually
won.
When the Apologists attacked the existing heathen
religions, they had, so far as argument was concerned,
an easy task. The work had been done for them
already by the philosophers. The world had out
grown the gods of its childhood. Men, or, at any
rate, men of cultivated intellects, had ceased to deify
brute force and strong passion. Philosophy had
taught many that God was not a man, or like a man,
in His nature and attributes. The heathen mythology
had been examined, and its historical character utterly
destroyed. The truth of the heathen religion was
given up. It could not, it was confessed, be rationally
defended. Popular discussion upon it was to be
avoided, as inevitably tending to the overthrow of its
influence on the people.1 Its overthrow was to be
deprecated for many reasons. It would break the
connection with the past. It would cause a revolution
in the State. It would deprive the authorities of a
most useful engine of government. It was much better
to leave things- as they were. It was much better to
receive the teaching of antiquity, and to adore without
inquiry. The maintenance of a false religion could
do no harm. The overthrow of the religion of the
State must produce the greatest calamities.
These sceptical opinions were not wholly confined to
the learned few. They were popularized for the masses
by the poets and actors. The poets were allowed to
invent unseemly tales concerning the gods. Or rather
1 Lact. Div. Inst. ii. 3.
THE ATTACK. 73
invention was scarcely necessary ; they had only to
put in an attractive form the disgraceful legends
handed down from antiquity. To a still greater degree,
the actors in their representations exposed the gods
to popular ridicule. At the public games, in the pre-
sence of the Priests, the Flamens, the Augurs, and
the Vestal Virgins, the gods, in whose honour all were
assembled, were so depicted as to expose them to the
contempt and abhorrence of all. " May you have a
daughter as wicked as she whom you have described,"
said a spectator to an actor, after hearing the cata-
logue of Diana's sins.1 The gods furnished a mark
for the low wit and scurrilous jests of the comedians.
And this suited the popular taste.2 When a good hit
was made, the spectators, we are told, shouted and
rose up, and the whole pit resounded with the clapping
of hands and applause. Arnobius remarks that the
gods were the only beings unprotected by the laws of
libel.3 To whisper evil of a king was treason. To
degrade a magistrate or insult a senator was a crime
severely punished. To defame any one in a satirical
poem was, by the laws of the Decemvirs, a punishable
offence. Even severe affronts had their assigned
penalties. Only the gods were unhonoured, con-
temptible, and vile. About them, and them alone,
any one was at liberty to say what he would.
The Roman policy, and the course of events, had
greatly helped to weaken the hold of religion on the
minds of men. In ancient times the Romans had had
1 The story is Plutarch's, quoted by Lecky, ' European
Morals,' i. 178.
2 Arnobius adv. Gentes, iv. 36. 3 lb. iv. 34.
74 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
a religion which, however defective, had served many
useful purposes. It did not, as one has observed,
make men saints, but it made them patriots.1 There
are many noble examples of self-devotion in Roman
history. At the command of the gods many died,
not, indeed, for their religion, but for their country.
The old Roman religion promoted simplicity and
morality of life. It made men better citizens. It
filled them with feelings of submission and reverence
to the power above them, and beyond them, in whose
hands they were. But in later times all this was
changed. Conquered Greece enslaved its conqueror.
Greek philosophy and Greek religion were introduced
into Rome together. The Greek mythology was in-
corporated into the Roman religion and corrupted it.
When the lives of the gods were so wicked, and the
rites in which they were worshipped so impure, it
could not fail but that religion and morality were
altogether dissevered. At the same time Greek philo-
sophy leavened Roman thought, and made it utterly
sceptical. The idea of an overruling providence was
lost. " If there are gods," Ennius said, and the people
applauded, " they do not concern themselves in the
affairs of men." Some of the wisest Romans saw the
fearful danger to the State, and sought to avert it.2
The elder Cato, at the very commencement of the mis-
chief, declared the Greeks to be the parents of every '
vice, and obtained the dismissal of the Grecian teachers.
The mysteries of Bacchus and the Egyptian worship
1 Lecky, ' European Morals,' i. 177.
8 Cf. Merivale, ' History of the Romans under the Empire,'
ii. 5I2> 5!3-
THE ATTACK. 75
were, in the interest of morality, once and again ex-
pelled from Rome by the Senate. But all efforts were
in vain. The corruption in morals and faith was too
wide-spread. The old Roman religion was too simple
and severe to compete with the new, attractive, and
sensual worship. And so in the Apologetic period
the state of things was this : — There was a religion
which would not bear examination, and which taught
immorality. It had gods in whom many did not,
in any sense, believe ; and whom none, whoever
they were, could respect. Those who worshipped
them did so from a base, and not an ennobling, fear.
To them, sacrifice, but not reverence, was due. You
might ask them to exercise their power for the vilest
objects. If your prayers were unheard, you punished
them by overturning their altars and dishonouring
their images.1
It was evidently not a difficult task for the Apologists
to attack such a religion as this ; indeed, before their
attack was made, the defence on rational grounds
had ceased. Nevertheless, though the heathen re-
ligion had ceased to have any moral influence on
the habits of the people, though it had ceased in any
sense to control thought, it still remained a mighty
political engine not to be meddled with, and the
force of superstition was never more strong.3 The
man who did not believe in the existence of a god,
believed in the influence of the stars, and dared not
disregard omens. The people who made the gods a
laughing-stock in the theatres, believed that life and
J Cf. Lecky, 'European Morals,' i. 178. 2 lb. i. 179.
7 6 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
prosperity were in their power. So the attack, though
easy in one respect, was very dangerous in another.
You might, if you pleased, like the philosophers,
expose the folly of the religion of the gods, but you
must not seek to overthrow the religion of the State
and the religion of the people.
And now to notice certain points in the Apologetic
attack ; and first, the Polytheistic nature of the heathen
religion.
The Apologists argue the absurdity of supposing
that there can be more than one God existing from
everlasting. To suppose there are many is to cir-
cumscribe the power of each.1 Division of Deity
destroys the perfection of Deity ; what belongs to
the one god is wanting to the other; just as there is
only rcom for one ruler in an empire, for one general
in an army, and one master in a house, so there is
only room for one God in the universe.2 The bees
have one queen, the flocks one leader, amongst the
herds there is one ruler; so He who has ordered
and who governs heaven and earth is One. Even
the poets have announced " The One Father of gods
and men." The philosophers, though differing in
the way they express the truth, teach the unity of the
Divine Power, and Mind, and Providence.3 One of
them4 tells us, " The gods of the people, are many,
but the God of nature is One."
The second objection to the heathen religion is that
it is a worship of things earthly and material. Some
of the Apologists regard it as mere image-worship.
1 Lact. Div. Inst. i. 3. 2 Octavius, c. 18.
3 Octavius, c. 19. 4 An'.isthenes.
THE ATTACK. 77
Thus Theophilus, writing to Autolycus, says, he had
assailed him with empty words, boasting of his gods
of wood and stone, hammered and cast, carved and
graven, which neither see nor hear, for they are
idols, and so the works of men's hands.1 So, also,
the author of the Epistle to Diognetus, who asks,2
" Is not one of your gods a stone, similar to that on
which we tread ? Is not a second brass, in no way
superior to ordinary vessels ? Is not a third wood,
already rotten? Is not a fifth iron, consumed by
rust? Is not a sixth earthenware, like the com-
monest vessel? Did not the sculptor fashion one,
the brazier a second, the silversmith a third, and the
potter a fourth ? Are they not all deaf, blind, with-
out life, destitute of feeling, incapable of motion,
liable to rot ? Do not ye mock and insult them far
more than the Christians, when ye worship those
made of stone and earthenware, without appointing
any persons to guard them ? But those made of silver
and gold ye shut up by night, and appoint watchers
to look after them by day, lest they be stolen."
Arnobius, especially, is scathing in his sarcasm on
this aspect of the heathen religion.3 Why is it, he
asks, " O men, that you, of your own accord, cheat
and deceive yourselves by voluntary blindness ?
These images which fill you with terror, and before
whom you prostrate yourselves, were compacted, it
may be, of a harlot's gauds or a woman's ornaments, of
camels' bones or elephants' teeth, of cooking-pots and
little jars, of candlesticks and lamps, or of other less
1 Theoph. ad Aut. i. I. 2 Ad Diognetum, c. 2.
3 Adv. Gentes, vi. 14-16.
78 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
cleanly vessels ; and having been melted down they
were cast into these shapes, and came out the forms
which you see, baked in potters' furnaces, produced
by anvils and hammers, filed down with files, divided
with saws, cleft and hewn with axes, hollowed
out by the turning of borers, and smoothed with
planes. Is it not incredible folly to believe in, to
kneel trembling before, a god which you yourself
made with care, which is the product of the labour
of your hands ? Suppose some one were to place
copper, silver, gold, etc., in the lump, or bits of
broken statues before you, and were to bid you to
slay victims and give divine honours to them, would
you obey ? You answer, No one is . so stupid as to
class material substances like these among the gods.1
What then ! Do the fashioning and the working-up
of the material, the receiving of the form of a man,
give the power of deity and the rank of heavenly
beings? Does fashioning, even, change copper into
gold, or compel worthless earthenware to become
silver? And yet you men, rational beings, sink down
before pieces of baked earthenware; you adore plates
of copper ; you beg, from the teeth of elephants,
good health, office, power, gain, good harvests, rich
vintages. Would that you could only look at your gods
from the inside, you would see that they were kept from
falling to pieces by dovetails, and clamps, and brace-
irons. You would see that lead is run into their hollows -
and joints to give them permanence. You would
find faces without the back parts of the head, hands
1 Adv. Gentes, vi. 15.
THE ATTACK. 79
without anas, wood and stone mixed incongruously.
But, after all, it is not necessary to look inside. Do
you not see those images, whose feet and knees you
grasp at prayer, falling into ruins from the dropping
of rain, decaying and becoming rotten, blackened by
the smoke of the sacrifices, eaten away with rust? Do
you not see that newts, shrews, mice, and cockroaches,
which shun the light, build their nests and live in
the hollow part of these statues? that they gather
carefully all kinds of filth and other things suited to
their wants, hard and half-gnawed bread, bones laid
up for a time of scarcity, rags, down, and paper, to
make their nests soft, and keep their young warm ?
Do you not see sometimes over the face of an image
cobwebs and treacherous nets spun by spiders to
entrap imprudent flies? Do you not see the swallows
flying within the temples, bedaubing the mouths,
beard, eyes, noses of the deities with their excrement ?
Blush, and learn from dumb creatures that there is
nothing divine in images, into which they do not
fear or scruple to cast unclean things.
" But you say, These images are not themselves the
gods, but the gods dwell in them as dedicated to
their use. What ! do the gods leave heaven to dwell
in gypsum and earthenware? Why should they
prefer these prisons to their starry seats ? Are they
obliged to be there, and always there ? or have they free
passage to go when and where they please? What more
wretched beings than they, if hooks and leaden bonds
hold them fast on their pedestals ? If, on the other
hand, they can fly forth when they choose, it follows
that the images at these times cease to be gods, and
8o DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
sacrifices should not be then offered to them. Be-
fore you sacrifice you ought to inquire whether the
gods are at home. Then does each god dwell wholly
in one image, or is he divided into parts and
members ? There are ten thousand images of Vulcan
in the world : can he be at one time in all the ten
thousand ? This is utterly impossible, seeing he has
the form of a man. The whole cannot exist with-
out its parts. If, again, the gods dwell in the
images, why do you guard, protect, and keep them
shut up under the strongest keys, iron bars, and
bolts, guarded by a thousand men and a thousand
women, lest some thief should by chance enter
in ? Why do not the gods avenge insults like
that which Dionysius committed, when he despoiled
Jupiter of his golden vestment and gave him
one of wool instead, saying that gold was cold
in winter and heavy in summer, whilst wool was
fitted for both seasons ? Why do they not deliver
themselves when their shrines are destroyed by earth-
quake, and tempest, and fire, or robbed by their own
priests. from within, or thieves from without?
" The images are neither the deities themselves, nor
the habitations of the deities, but merely the repre-
sentations of the deities, was a third hypothesis.
Pretty representations they are, was the reply.
The wanton fancy of your artist has given forms to
your gods at which even the sternest might laugh; and
your celebrated courtezans have been models for your
goddesses. Under any circumstances, how do you
know your representations are correct ? It may
happen that in heaven one has a beard, who by you
THE ATTACK. 8 1
is represented with smooth cheeks ; that another is
advanced in years, to whom you give the appearance
of a youth. At the very best you are giving your
gods the forms of men. Have, then, the immortal
gods the weaknesses and inconveniences inseparable
from the bodies of men ?
"What shall we say then?*' says Arnobius,1 "that
the gods have a head modelled with perfect symmetry,
bound fast by sinews to the back and breast, and
that to allow the necessary bending of the neck, it
is supported by combinations of vertebrae and by
a bony foundation ? But if we believe this to be
true, it follows that they have ears also, pierced by
crooked windings; rolling eyeballs overshadowed by
the edges of the eyebrows; a nose, placed as a channel
through which waste fluids and a current of air might
easily pass ; teeth to masticate food, of three kinds,
and adapted to three services; hands to do their
work, moving easily by means of joints, fingers, and
flexible elbows ; feet to support their bodies, regulate
their steps, and prompt the first motions in walking.
But if they bear these things which are seen, it is
fitting that they should bear those also which the skin
conceals under the framework of the ribs. You say,
also, that they have not only bodies but that they
have also sex."2 "What shall we say then? that gods
beget and are begotten ? Who, however mean his
capacity, does not know that the sexes have been
ordained by the Creator to renew and maintain that
which is fleeting and transient ? Are, then, the
1 Adv. Gentes, iii. 12. lb. iii. 8, 9.
G
82 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
gods mortal ? If not, countless heavens will not be
able to contain the multitude of their offspring."
"Then again," he asks, "if the gods have bodies, are
these bodies marked by a difference in the contour
of their forms P1 If so, some have big heads, pro-
minent brows, broad brows, thick lips ; others of
them have long chins, moles, and high noses ; these
have dilated nostrils, these are snub-nosed ; some are
chubby from a swelling of their jaws or growth of
their cheeks ; some are dwarfed, others are tall or of
middle size ; some are lean, others sleek or fat ;
some have crisped and curled hair, others are shaven
or with bald and smooth heads. Your workshops
show and point out that our opinions are not false,
inasmuch as, when you form and fashion gods, you
represent some with long hair, others smooth and
bare ; as old, as youths, as boys, swarthy, grey-eyed,
yellow, half-naked, bare, or, that cold may not annoy
them, covered with; flowing garments thrown over
them." " Is not this really degrading, most impious,
and insulting, to attribute to the gods the features of
a frail and perishing animal?"
"But you say, perhaps, that you have given the gods
the appearance of men merely to do them honour, and
that they have, indeed, other forms.2 Supposing that
asses, dogs, and pigs had any human skill in con-
trivance, and wished to do us honour by some kind
of worship, should we not be greatly enraged if they
determined that our images should bear and assume
the fashion of their own bodies ? Why do you then
insult the gods in a similar way ? *
1 Adv. Gentes, iit. 14. 2 lb. iii. 16.
THE ATTACK. 83
" Then you ascribe to the gods not only human
bodies, but also human offices,1 You represent them,
some as artificers, some physicians, others working in
wool, sailors, players on the harp and flute, hunters,
shepherds, and, as there was nothing more, rustics.
And that god, men say, is a musician ; and this
other can divine. One is instructed in obstetric arts,
another trained up in the science of medicine. Is
each, then, powerful in his own department? and
can they give no assistance, if their aid is asked, in
what belongs to another ? Why should the gods be
acquainted with these human handicrafts, and arts,
and sciences? Are there forests in heaven that Diana
may hunt? Are the gods liable to diseases and wounds,
sothatthe assistance of/Esculapiusis needed? Do they
engage in agriculture or in war, so that they require
Vulcan's tools or weapons? Do they need to be covered
with garments, so that Minerva has to spin and weave
cloth, and make tunics suited to the season of the
year ? Surely, neither the divine necessities nor the
divine nature require any such ingenuity or mechanical
skill."
But the history of the gods is the most favourite
field for the Apologetic attack. That history showed
that the gods had a beginning, that the world was
created before them, and that men lived before them.
That history showed that to them belonged all the
weaknesses of weak men, the unrestrained passions
of bad men, and the most heinous crimes of the
worst of men. How could they talk of the immortal
gods when their sepulchres were with them unto this
1 Arn. iii. 20.
G 2
84 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
day? How could they believe the legends when
they were not consistent one with another? The
theologians spoke of three Joves, and five Junos, and
five Mercuries, and five Minervas. Arnobius pic-
tures the five Minervas hovering over their altar,
and each claiming for herself the sacrifice offered to
the goddess of her name.1 Following the various
traditions, he represents one claiming as mother of
Apollo and Diana ; the second, as the offspring of
the Nile ; the third, as the warlike descendant of
Saturn ; the fourth, as the goddess who sprang from
the head of Jove ; the fifth, as the virgin who slew
her wicked father Pallas. What judge, he asks, is
to decide between such great personages ? Would
it not be better, on the whole, for a man to have
nothing to do with any of them, lest, sacrificing to
one, and perhaps the wrong ' one, he should make
enemies of the rest? The Apologists attack the
heathen mythology with unnecessary minuteness.
We cannot follow them here to any profit. The
story of the lives of the gods is too corrupting for
men to read. Truly not those who denied, but those
who invented and believed such stories, were the
real blasphemers of the gods.
The untenability of the heathen mythology in its
literal meaning had been seen and confessed by their
own writers.2 Some of them said that it was not
intended to be history, but allegory. The gods were
the powers of nature personified. According to the
Stoic explanation, " Neptune was the sea, Pluto was
1 Arn. adv. Gentes, iv. l6. 2 lb. iv. 32.
THE ATTACK. 85
fire, Hercules represented the strength of God,
Minerva His wisdom, Ceres His fertilizing energy."1
According as the power of God was manifested, in
heaven or on earth, in the sea or in hell, He had
different names given Him. The objection to this
theory was that it did not account for the facts. You
might thus make a pretty little allegory here and there,
but the mass of the stories became nothing but non-
sense. Besides, why, it was asked, was it necessary to
put pure ideas into an obscene dress ? 3 The result
was, that what was venerable was vilely spoken of,
and the basest deeds were ascribed to the gods.
But, after all, said the Romans, the religion of the
gods is true, for it is by worshipping them that
Rome has leached its present height of prosperity.
You put the cart before the horse, is the Apologetic
answer. Rome's prosperity preceded Rome's worship
of the gods.3 The first Romans were " abandoned,
profligate, incestuous, assassins, and traitors " ; and
the Roman State laid its foundations in blood and
rapine. Irreligious Romulus preceded pious Numa.
The Romans have ever been wont first to conquer a
nation, and then to worship its gods. Is it possible,
then, that they owe their prosperity to powers which
could not defend their own worshippers ? They con-
quered gods and spoiled their temples, before they
professed to adore them and conquer by them. The
truth is, the Romans are not so great because they
are religious, but because they have been sacrilegious
with impunity. But, you say, see what disasters have
1 Lecky, 'European Morals,' i. 171.
* Arn. v. 40, 41. 3 Octavius, c. 26.
$6 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
resulted from neglecting the auguries. Well, it is quite
true. Clodius and Flaminius and Julius would not
wait for the greedy pecking of the chickens, and after-
wards lost their armies. But what about Regulus ? he
observed the auguries, and was taken captive. Paulus
had greedy chickens at Cannae, and yet he was utterly
overthrown. Caius Caesar despised the auspices, and
conquered all the more easily and quickly. Thus
there are facts on both sides.
But what was the secret of the power of the false
religions over men ? The Apologetic answer is, " The
demons or evil spirits." l They describe their origin,
nature, and method of working. They reckon them
to be the offspring of the intercourse of the sons of
God with the daughters of men. They are spiritual
beings whose great business is the ruin of mankind,
body and soul. Unseen and unfelt, their working can
only be traced in its effects. They are everywhere in
a single moment, the whole world is as one place to
them. They are the poison in the breeze which
blights the produce of the earth, in bud, and flower,
and maturity. They are the taint in the atmosphere
which spreads the pestilence. They breathe into the
soul and rouse up its latent corruption. They hung
upon the lips of the prophets and learned thus the
course of future events, and then set up false Christ s
and false prophets. They inspired the oracles ; hence
it was the Pythian at Delphi was able to declare so
wonderfully what Croesus was at that moment doing
in far-off Lydia; the demon inspiring the oracle
1 Tert. Apol. c. 22, 23; Lact. Div. Inst. ii. 15-18; [ust
Apol. i. 54-57, ii. 5.
THE ATTACK. 87
had gone and returned in a moment. They give dis-
ease in order to have the credit of curing it, and all
in order that men should believe in the deity of
stones, and not seek after the only true God. Powerful
as they are, they quail when adjured by Christians in
the most sacred Name. " Fearing Christ in God, and
God in Christ, they become subject to the servants
of God and Christ. So at our touch and breath,
overwhelmed by the thought and realization of the
judgment fires, they leave at our command the bodies
they have entered, unwilling, distressed, and ashamed
before your presence." l
This connection of the heathen idols with devils was
a matter of considerable practical importance to the
Christians. The philosophers had no objection to offer
sacrifice or burn incense to gods which had no exist-
ence. They considered such an act to have no
meaning in itself, but to be part of their duty as
citizens of the State. It did them no harm, and it did
others good. They regarded it as we should regard
some of the forms of society or ceremonies of public
life. But the Christians, believing the temples to be
the dwelling-places, and the sacrifices to be the food,
of devils,2 regarded all participation in the ceremonies
of the heathen religion as nothing less than devil-
worship. They, unlike the philosophers, owed allegi-
ance to a master, Christ they owned as their Lord.1
To share, to the slightest degree, in any idolatrous
ceremony was to forsake that allegiance, and to join m
covenant with that devil whom at their baptism they
' Tert. Apol. c. 23, 24. 2 Athenagoras, c. 26.
3 Lact. Div. Inst. v. 20, 21.
88 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
had renounced. They could not, for one moment,
take refuge in the plea of the unmeaningness and
emptiness of the act. It was to them nothing less
than replacing a broken yoke of bondage round
their necks. Moreover, why should they worship
beings of inferior power to themselves ? The weakest
Christian, they believed, was by the power of Christ
stronger than the strongest devil.1 Your divinities
are subject to us Christians, and we are ready to prove
it to you openly any day, is Tertullian's taunt. God
has enlightened our eyes, and delusions of devils
have no longer power to deceive us, is the assertion
of many Apologists.3 With such a belief a Christian
could have no trifling with any idolatrous ceremony,
lest he should be again taken captive to do the
devil's will.
Such are the main points of the Apologetic attack
on the heathen religion. As we have seen, very real
in its power, very noxious in its influence, that religion
seemed. To the light and liberty, love and purity,
of the religion of Christ, it presented a most fearful
contrast. What wonder is it that the defenders of the
faith could not help attacking it in season and out
of season? The importance of their attack to us lies
in this. From it we learn what the world was before
the Christian revelation. We see the gods which
men invented for themselves, and we learn to prize
more highly the light which we enjoy.
But Christianity had a more dangerous enemy than
the religion Of the gods, viz. the heathen philosophy.
1 Lact. Div. Inst. iv. 27 ; Tert. Apol. c. 23.
2 Just. Apol. i. 5 ; Athenagoras, c. 27 ; Tert. Apol. c. 22, 23.
THE ATTACK. 89
To it, and not to religion, the wisest men turned when
seeking a remedy for the corruptions of the age.
Pure and noble as much of the heathen philosophy
was, it was not difficult to attack it on the practical
side. It had destroyed the heathen religion, but it
could put nothing in its place. By its own confession
it had done nothing, and could do nothing. It dis-
claimed pronouncing with certainty on any matter.1
All human things were dubious. Probabilities, not
truths, were the results of its inquiries. After many
years of inquiry it deliberated still. It was not given
to man to know what is above the earth or under the
earth. It was not wise for him to wander beyond his
earthly limits. The wisest of men had said, " That
which is above us concerns us not."2 The confession
of ignorance was the height of wisdom to which
man could attain. The longer the research, th.3
cbscurer the truth became.
This was all the wise men of the world could do
for it. They could expose error, but they could not
discover truth.3 They searched into the darkness,
and they brought back no tidings of a guiding light,
they said, The darkness deepens the further we go.4
The study of philosophy brought with it no joy, but
an ever-increasing conviction that man was born to
sorrow, and that there was no well-founded hope of a
life beyond the grave.5 " All hope abandon ye who
enter here," was the inscription which first met the
eye of the student in the Stoic school. The world
1 Octavius, c. 5. 2 lb. c. 13.
3 So Cicero lamented.
4 Dollinger's 'Jew and Gentile,' ii. 129. 5 lb.
90 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
and men will be destroyed, because of their wicked-
ness ; the new world and new race will soon be just
as bad, was Seneca's teaching.1 " Let us eat and drink,
for to-morrow we die," was the true philosophy of life.
On the tombs are found such inscriptions as these : 2
" What I have eaten and drunk, that I take with me;
what I have left behind me, that have I forfeited."
" Reader, enjoy thy life ; for after death there is neither
laughter nor play, nor any kind of enjoyment." The
old heathen stories of the other world were false.
" Pilgrim, stay thee, listen and learn. In Hades
there is no ferry-boat, nor Charon, the ferryman ; no
^Eacus or Cerberus ; once dead, we are all alike." 3
The philosophers could see the whole creation groan-
ing and travailing in pain, but to them the pangs were
pangs of death, and not pangs of birth. They were
able to discern evil in the world, but they knew of no
deliverance. They became doubtful of such a thing
as divine justice in life, and incredulous of a retribution
after death. They were not certain whether human
affairs were set agoing by destiny and immutable
necessity, or by hazard.4 Most, of all things, they
needed an example. The Stoics admitted that the
ideal man had never yet appeared upon the earth.5
Cicero describes the rapture with which such an one
would be received. There was not amongst them,
as amongst the Jews, a well-grounded expectation of
"One who should come" to-be the Deliverer from
evil and the Example of good. The indefinite hope
1 Dollinger's 'Jew and Gentile,' ii. 126.
' Quoted by Dollinger, ii. 14. 3 lb. p. 139.
4 Cicero de Repub. vi. 24 ; Octavius, c. 5. 5 Dollinger, ii. 129,
THE ATTACK. 91
of the coming golden age, which was all any heathen
had, was to them but a popular superstition.
And, indeed, philosophy in early Christian times,
had, like all other things, degenerated.1 The Apolo-
gists constantly describe the vices of its professors.2
In the case of many, the philosophic garb was their
only claim to the name philosopher. Tatian describes
them as men who left uncovered one of their shoulders,
who let their hair grow long, who cultivated their
beards, and who allowed their nails to become like
the claws of wild beasts. They said they wanted
nothing, and wanted many things. They spoke with
an assumption of authority, and revenged themselves
if contradicted ; they indulged in abuse if they were
unpaid, and their philosophy was but the art of getting
money. Lactantius3 gives Seneca's definition of philo-
sophy, viz., " The right method of living, or the art
of passing a good life " ; and then he goes on to say
that of philosophers there has been seldom one who has
done anything praiseworthy in his life. "Who is there,"
he asks, " who does not see those men are not teachers
of virtue, who are themselves destitute of virtue ? for
if any one should diligently inquire into their charac-
ter, he will find they are passionate, covetous, lustful,
arrogant, wanton, and concealing their devices under
a show of wisdom, doing those things at home which
they had censured in the schools."
This defect in the philosophers was confessed by the
heathen. Cicero said4 there were few who thought
! Bollinger, ii. 156. 2 Tatian, Orat c. 2.
3 Div. Inst. iii. 15.
4 Quoted by Lactantius, Div. Inst. iii. 15.
92 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
true instruction, not a display of knowledge, but a law
of life ; few who were obedient to themselves and sub-
mitted to their own decrees. Some were so filled with
levity and ostentation, that they had better not have
learned at all. Some were eagerly desirous of money,
others of glory. Many were the slaves of lusts, so
that their speech wonderfully disagreed with their life.
Cornelius Nepos said, none had greater need of
teachers of living than those who discussed a rule of
life. Seneca said, that philosophers denouncing
avarice, lust, and ambition, seemed to be making a
description of themselves. They were like physicians
whose advertisements contained medicine, and their
medicine-chests poison. Most clever were they at
inventing excuses for committing unphilosophic crimes
in a philosophic manner. Seneca also said, the philo-
sophers were not ashamed of their vices, but invented
defences for their baseness, that they might appear
even to sin with honour. They would not abandcn
good morals, but would adapt them to the occa-
sion ; all things which the luxurious and ignorant do,
the wise man also will do, but not in the same manner,
and with the same purpose. Aristippus, the philo-
sopher, defended his own immoralities by saying he
committed them in a spirit differing from that of the
really immoral. So the criticism of Cicero l was just ;
— that the disputations of the philosophers, though
containing most abundant fountains of virtue and
knowledge, when compared with their practice, seemed
to be rather a pleasant occupation to pass the time,
1 Lact. D'v. Inst. iii. 16.
THE ATTACK.
93
than advantage in the business of life. The verdict
of Aristides1 was fully borne out when he said : —
" Their greediness is insatiable, their pillage of others'
property they call community of goods ; their envy is
nicknamed philosophy, they call beggary, contempt
of money. Haughty to all others, they creep before
the rich, nay, before the very cooks and bakers of the
rich. Their strength lies in impudence, and asking,
in abuse, and in calumny." And again, Quintilian,
" In our days most people hide their worst vices under
the names of old philosophers." 2
Besides all this the philosophers were not agreed
amongst themselves. There was no necessity for
the Christians to refute them, they refuted one an-
other. Their teaching was nothing but a confused
babble of conflicting voices. Lactantius3 describes
them as mad with the desire of contradiction. The
disciples of one schcol condemned all others as
false and vain; they armed themselves for baltle,
neither knowing what they ought to defend or what
to refute ; and they made attacks everywhere, with-
out distinction, upon ail the views of their opponents.
Of course, the consequence was, their teaching had
no power to influence the masses, who require a guide
speaking with authority and clearness. And, indeed,
philosophy did not address itself to the many, but to
the rich who could afford a fee, or to the well-educated
in science, or to those capable of abstract thought.4
As for all the rest they were looked down upon in
1 Quoted by Dollinger, ii. 157. 2 lb. ii. 157.
3 Div. Inst. vii. 7. * Just. Dial. c. 2.
94 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
contempt, and left to their irrational superstition.
They were as the people who knew not the Law
amongst the Jews. Even to its disciples philosophy
was not a practical guide. The questions it discussed
were words and names. It did not speak to the heart,
or to the senses, but only to the intellect of a man.
It enunciated certain laAvs, but they were based on no
rewards or punishments. It was a school of opinions,
not a discipline of life.1
And if to the Stoic philosophers many of these
criticisms do not apply, if there were amongst them
many who spoke to the conscience and heart, still
remonstrances against vice were more common with
them than exhortations to virtue. They uttered them,
despairing of any good result. Their teaching, no
less than that of the other philosophers, was utterly
unfit for the many, and the basis of their morality
was pride.2
Against these slight aims and slighter results of
philosophy, its partial application and its unpractical
nature, the Apologists contrasted the Christian reve-
lation : of divine nature and origin ; speaking with
authority and consistency ; appealing to all, learned
and unlearned, rich and poor, young and old ; in its
very essence practical, for those ceased to be Chris-
tians in name who were not Christians in life. They
have an Example of virtue, they have rewards of virtue.
Their morality is based not on pride but on love.
They have learned the truth, God has revealed it to
them.
1 See Merivale, 'Conversion of Roman Empire,' p. 94, &c.
2 Dollinger, 'Jew and Gentile,' ii. 125.
THE ATTACK. yfl
The Apologists find some germs of truth in the
writings of the philosophers, and they explain the
fact in various ways. Sometimes they charge them
with borrowing from the Hebrew prophets;1 Plato
especially is accused of borrowing from Moses.2
Others say the demons inspired them with their know-
ledge. But the most beautiful account is given by
Justin.3 He had in turn tried all the principal sys-
tems of philosophy, and insufficient as they were to
satisfy him, he still retained them in his affection.
He loved to see in them the germs of Christianity,
and to see in Christianity their full development. He
was not satisfied with viewing Christianity alone ; he
viewed it in relation to all other systems. The In-
carnation of Christ was to him the centre point of
history, to which all the teaching of Prophets and
philosophers converged, from which all truth radi-
ated. God had never left Himself without a witness ;
He had been working in the minds of men who knew
Him not by name. All this was done by His Word.
The Incarnate Word brought to their full development
those truths of which the Seminal Word had been
depositing the germ. All men, he believed, had been
partakers of the Word. The proof of this lay in
the lives of men. Not all were partakers alike; the
communication was according to capacity. The de-
mons hate and persecute all who have in any manner
been partakers of The Word.
Not all the Apologists can see so much to admire
1 Tert. Apol. c. 47.
2 Just. Hort. c. 26, 29, 31 ; Just. Apol. i. 59, 60.
3 Apol. i. 46, ii. 7-10, 13.
96 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
in the philosophic system. Tertullian especially
regards it as a thing utterly alien from Christ and
Christians.1 He never refers to it except to denounce
it. Its wisdom can do nothing but corrupt. He
asks, " Is there any likeness between the Christian and
the philosopher? Between the disciple of Greece
and the disciple of Heaven? Between the man
whose object is fame and the man whose object is
life ? Between the talker and the doer ? Between
the man who builds up and the man who pulls down ?
Between the friend and the foe of error ? Between
one who corrupts the truth and -one who restores and
teaches it ? Between its thief and its guardian ? "
Tertullian looks at philosophy from its practical
side and in his narrow spirit, and he can see nothing
but its defects. To those who realize the truth of St.
John's teaching, that The Word "was the true Light
which lighteth every man that cometh into the world,"2
Justin's theory will appear to be nearer the truth.
Still we have seen enough to assure us also of the
truth of St. Paul's words, " The world by wisdom
knew not God." 3 .
Lactantius4 gives to us a very apt conclusion to this
chapter. " The sum of the matter is this : the un-
learned and the foolish esteem false religions as true,
because they neither know the true nor understand
the false. But the more sagacious, because they are
ignorant of the true, either persist in those religions
which they know to be false, that they may appear to
1 Apol. c. 46. 2 John i. 9.
3 1 Cor. i. 21. 4 Div. Inst. ii. 3.
THE ATTACK. 97
possess something ; or worship nothing at all, that they
may not fall into error ; whereas this very thing par-
takes largely of error, under the figure of a man to
imitate the life of cattle. To understand that which
is false, is truly the part of wisdom, but of human wis-
dom. Beyond this step man cannot proceed, and thus
many of the philosophers have taken away religious
institutions, as I have pointed out ; but to know the
truth is the part of divine wisdom. But man of him-
self cannot attain to this knowledge unless he is taught
by God."
n
93 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
CHAPTER VI.
CHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIANITY.
We come now to the Apologists' description of Chris-
tians and Christianity. We must, now as before, bear
in mind their object ; namely, to defend themselves,
not to convince the heathen. Their appeal is, Put a
stop to the persecutions ; not, Become Christians.
So their account of themselves and their religion is
mainly intended to answer accusations and misrepre-
sentations. They could best show what they were
not, by describing what they were.
We have already noticed the Apologetic account of
the heathen deities ; let us now contrast with it Ter-
tullian's description1 of the Christians' God. "The
object of our worship is the One God ; He who by His
commanding word, His arranging wisdom, His mighty
power, brought forth from nothing this entire mass of
the world, with all its array of elements, bodies, and
spirits, for the glory of His majesty ; whence also the
Greeks have bestowed on it the name of Cosmos (order).
The eye cannot see Him, though He is visible. He is
incomprehensible, though in grace He is manifested.
He is beyond our utmost thought, though our human
1 Apo' x. 17.
CHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIANITY. 99
faculties conceive of Him. He is therefore equally
real and great. That which, in an ordinary way, can
be seen, and handled, and estimated, is inferior to
the eyes by which it is taken in, and the hands by
which it is touched, and the faculties by which it is
discovered ; but that which is infinite is known to
itself. Hence we are enabled to make an estimate
of God, while at the same time He does not admit
of our estimation. Thus the force of His greatness
presents Him to men, as at once known and un-
known. And this is the crowning guilt of men, that
they will not recognize one of whom they cannot
possibly be ignorant."
The superiority of the Christian conception of God
does not need pointing out ; but it is worth while
noticing that Tertullian is defining his position against
both classes of his antagonists. As against votaries
of the religion of the gods he says, God is incompre-
hensible, God is infinitely great. As against the
philosophers he says, God is, and He is manifested.
We know something concerning Him, though we can-
not know all.
We notice next the Apologetic teaching concerning
God's Providence. In no particular is the superiority
of the Christian religion to the heathen more clearly
to be seen, than in its conception of God's dealings
with mankind.
The heathen deities did, indeed, concern themselves
with the affairs of earth, being in fact men on a larger
and more powerful scale ; they came and meddled
and tyrannized amongst men in much the same way
as a few big boys might in a school of little ones ;
h 2
lOO DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
like them, taking opposite sides in any dispute, utterly
unreasonable in their likes and dislikes, and thwarting
each other to the best of their power. But they were
confessedly not all-powerful beings. There was a
power above them of which they were conscious, but
whose dealings were so little understood that they
gave it no form.1 Against, this abstract power, which
they called Fate, it was useless to struggle, — gods and
men were alike powerless in its hands. Christianity
came in with its flood of light and transformed the
abstract Fate into a personal God,2 who watched over
His creatures with all the tenderness of a Father, and all
the power of an Almighty Being. The heathen never
imagined that close personal attention extending to
thoughts and words, that ever-watchful, ever-present
care which the Christian represented his God as exer-
cising over the affairs of men. Such ideas appeared
to him absurd.3 In the language of the heathen in
the Octavius of Minucius Felix,4 " What strange
and portentous imaginations do the Christians form
to themselves concerning their Deity ! that this God
of theirs, whom they cannot show to others, nor
themselves see, carefully examines into the disposi-
tions of all men, and into the behaviour of all men,
and even into their words and most secret thoughts.
They describe Him as continually running hither
and thither, and as present everywhere ; as a Being,
troublesome, restless, and immoderately inquisitive ;
who at all actions is a bystander, and who strays
1 Tat. Orat. c. 8, 9 ; Arn. adv. Gentes, i. 34, vii. iO.
2 Octavius, c. 36. 3 Origen c. Celsum, iv. 99.
4 Octavius, c. 10.
CHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIANITY. ICI
into every place ; although it is impossible that He
should regard particulars while attentive to the whole,
or be sufficient for the whole while He is occupied
about particulars."
The Christian replies,1 " All things celestial and
earthly are known to Him, and full of Him." " He
is in all places most near to us ; nay, He is infused
into us all. Consider again the sun, fixed in heaven,
and yet spread over the whole earth ; he is equally
present in all places, and blended with the whole
creation, and everywhere his brightness remains in-
violate. How much more is God, who made and
who surveys all things, — how much more is He
present in darkness, and present even in that pro-
found darkness — our thoughts ! We not only act
under His inspection, but, I had almost said, we live
with Him." " Neither let us men amuse ourselves
'with the fond hope of impunity because of our num-
bers. In our own sight we are many, but to God we
appear very few. We make distinctions of peoples
and countries, but to Him the whole world is as one
house. Kings are not otherwise acquainted with the
details of their dominions than by the ministration of
inferior officers; but God needs not to be informed of
anything, for we live not only under His eyes, but in
His bosom."
The heathen had, as we have seen, many gods ;
they gave to each god his own little work to do ;2
and yet they did not imagine that these gods, in their
limited spheres, exercised that providential care, which
1 Octavius, c. 32, 33. 2 0riS- c- Celsum, vii. 70, vii'.. 58.
102 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
the Christian believed His one God exercised, in every
single part of the whole universe.
" The Immortality of the Soul " and " the Resur-
rection of the Body " were doctrines put prominently
forward by the Apologists. The former of these had
been taught by some poets and philosophers, but it
was not generally received or practically applied. The
heathen, in the Octavius of Minucius Felix,1 speaks
of it as a fiction of a crazed fancy, and a foolish topic
of consolation on which the poets have sported in
melodious and deceitful verse. He argues that the
God who will not or cannot aid his own in this life,
cannot be able to restore men to life when dead.
" It is madness," he says, " to promise immortality
after death and extinction to us men, who, as we
came into being, must also cease to be."
On the other hand, the Christians accepted these
doctrines as the practical basis of their life, and as a
sure ground of confidence in the hour of death. "We,"
says Tertullian,2 " who receive our awards under the
judgment of an all-seeing God, and who look forward
to eternal punishment from Him for sin ; we alone
make real effort to attain a blameless life." " If we
believed," says Athenagoras,3 "that we should live only
the present life, then we might be suspected of sinning;
but since we are persuaded that, when we are removed
from the present life, we shall live another life, better
than the present one, and in heaven, or, perishing with
the rest, a worse one, and in fire, it is not likely that we
should wish to do evil, or deliver ourselves over to
1 Octavius, c. io, n, 12. 2 Apol. c. 45. 3 Lfgat. c 31.
CHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIANITY. IO^
the Great Judge to be punished." "After death I
shall exist again," says Tatian.1 " Even though you
destroy all traces of my flesh, the world receives the
vaporized matter; and though dispersed through
rivers and seas, and torn in pieces by wild beasts, I
am laid up in the storehouses of a wealthy Lord."
The Apologists use the argument from analogy to
recommend the doctrine of the Resurrection of the
Body to the heathen. The world bears in itself a
witness, nay, the exact image of the resurrection.
Light, every day extinguished, shines out again ; and
with like alternation, darkness comes and goes. The
defunct stars re-live ; the seasons, as soon as they are
finished, renew their course ; the fruits are brought to
maturity, and are then reproduced. The seeds do not
spring up with abundant produce, save as they rot
ind dissolve away ; all things are preserved by perish-
ing, all things are refashioned out of death. Thou,
man, of nature so exalted, lord of all these
things that die and rise, shalt thou die to perish ever-
more ? Thus Tertullian,2 and even still more beauti-
fully, Minucius Felix :3 " See, therefore, how for our
consolation all nature suggests a future resurrection.
The sun sinks in the ocean and emerges. The
planets glide on in their course and come back ;
the flowers fall and live anew ; after a temporary old
age, the shrubs reassume their foliage; and seeds must
be corrupted before they can put forth shoots. So is
the body in the grave : it resembles trees, which in
winter conceal their vegetation under a feigned ap-
pearance of withering. Why should you be impatient
1 Orat. c. 6. 2 Apol. c. 48. 3 Octavius, c. 34.
104 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
for its revival and restoration while winter is yet
intense ? We must await the spring-time of the
body."
Passing on to the doctrines exclusively Christian,
we find the Apologists clearly stating who the founder
of their religion is. " Our teacher of these things,"
says Justin,1 " is Jesus Christ, who also was born for
this purpose and was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
procurator of Judaea, in the times of Tiberius Csesar ;
and we reasonably worship Him, having learned He is
the Son of the true God Himself." " We Christians,"
says Arnobius, " are nothing else than worshippers of
the Supreme King and Head, under our Master,
Christ. If you examine carefully, you will find that
nothing else is implied in our religion. This is the
sum of all that we do ; this is the proposed end and
limit of our sacred duties. Before Him we all prostrate
ourselves, according to our custom ; Him we adore in
united prayers ; from Him we beg things just and
honourable, and worthy of His ear."2
Amongst the various titles of our Lord perhaps
" The Word " is the one most commonly used by the
Apologists. They describe His work as the revela-
tion of God to man, and the restitution of truth to
men.3 The deeper mysteries concerning sin and
atonement were kept hidden from the profane gaze.
Naturally, also, they touch but seldom on the doc-
trines of His Person and Nature. Such discussions
would have been out of place in Apologies addressed
1 Apol. i. c. 13. 2 Adv. Gentes, i. 27.
3 Tert. Apol. c. 21 j Just. Apol. ii. 6, 10, 13; Lact. Div.
Inst. iv. 8.
CHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIANITY. 105
to unbelievers. As vindication for their own conduct
in taking Him as their Master and Teacher, they give
three reasons, — the wisdom and morality of His
words and deeds, ancient prophecies concerning Him,
and miracles wrought by Him.
The first of these wras easily stated, and could be
easily grasped, and, without doubt, came home to
many thoughtful heathen hearts. Many who did not
acknowledge Christ as their Lord^ did homage to the
beauty of His character, the purity of His teaching,
and the beneficence of His life. Tiberius is said to
have wished to enrol Christ amongst the gods.1 On
one occasion the oracles were consulted by Pagans
whether Christ might be worshipped along with the
other gods.2 They answered, " He who is wise knows
that the soul rises immortal from the body ; but the
soul of that man is pre-eminent in piety." When they
were asked why Christ suffered death, the answer was,
" To be subject to light sufferings is always the lot of
the body, but the soul of the pious rises to the fields
of heaven." Porphyry takes occasion to say that
Christ must not be calumniated, though he condemns
those who worship Him.3 The Emperor Alexander
Severus4 had a bust of Christ in his Lararium. He
intended to have caused Christ to be enrolled amongst
the Roman deities ; and he constantly repeated the
words of Christ : " As ye would that men should do
to you, do ye also to them likewise." The purity of
Christ's teaching and life was then a fact acknow-
1 Tert. Apol. c. 5.
2 Cf. Neander, 'History of Church,' i. 239.
3 Neander, ib. 4 lb. i. 173.
Io6 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
ledged by many heathen. The Apologists make use
of this.1 They often point out that so pure a teacher
is hardly likely to have as his followers those practising
the worst of crimes. They show how His teaching
extended more deeply than that of any other to the
words and thoughts of men. " We alone," says Ter-
tullian,2 " are without crime. Is there anything wonder-
ful in that, if it be a very necessity with us ? For a
necessity it is. Taught of God Himself what good-
ness is, we have a perfect knowledge of it as revealed
to us by a perfect Master." The Christian idea of
virtue, he remarks, did not rest on human opinion,
nor was it a matter of human obligation. And which,
he asks, was the ampler rule, " To say, ' Thou shalt
not kill,' or to teach, 'Be not even angry'?" Which
is more perfect, to forbid adultery, or to restrain from
even a single lustful look? Which indicates the
higher intelligence, interdicting evil-doing or evil-
speaking ? Which is more thorough, not allowing an
injury, or not even suffering an injury done to you to
be repaid?"
Very commonly the Apologists appeal to the evi-
dence of Prophecy in their vindication of the claims
of Christ to be a teacher sent from God. They
allege predictions of undoubted antiquity spread over
hundreds of years, and show their fulfilment in the
life, and death, and work of Jesus Christ. This argu-
ment was far more subtle than the former one, and
required great discrimination in its use. The Apologists
cannot be said to have had the discrimination necessary.
1 Just. Apol. i. c. 15-17; Athenagoras, c. 32-35.
2 Tert. Apol. c. 45.
CHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIANITY. JCJ
They always seem to approach the subject from their
stand-point of believers. They do not seem at all able
to distinguish between those prophecies which could
serve only to comfort and instruct a man who has
already accepted the truth, and those which might con-
vince an unbeliever of the truth. Justin Martyr is a
great offender in this respect. In his Dialogue1 with
the Jew Trypho he proves that the twelve bells attached
to the robes of the high-priest were types of the twelve
Apostles, and then goes on to remark, " In short, by
enumerating the other appointments of Moses, I can
demonstrate that they were types, and symbols, and
declarations of those things which would happen to
Christ, of those who, it was foreknown, were to believe
in Him, and of those things which would also be done
by Christ Himself."
Origen is perhaps the most cautious in selecting
his proofs from prophecy ; but no Apologist is very
happy in the statement of this part of his case. It
may indeed be doubted whether it was wise in them
to enter into any prophetical details. For the due
appreciation of the evidence, research, conscientious
beyond all expectation, on the part of those whom they
addressed, was required, and an examination of books
accessible only to Jews. It was quite competent for
them to appeal generally to the evidence of the ancient
books of the Old Testament.2 The Septuagint trans-
lation had made them comparatively widely known, and
the Jews were the guardians of their integrity. It was
1 Dialogue, c. 42.
2 So Tertullian, Apol. c. 19; Justin, Apol. i. c. 31; Theo-
philus, Letters ii. and iii. ; Tatian, ?9.
108 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
quite competent for them to point out the consistency
and harmony, the accuracy and extent of the revela-
tion therein contained. They could, if they pleased,
claim, in general terms, that Jesus of Nazareth was
He whom the prophets said would come, and rule,
and save. Thus doing, they would have given their
religion that antiquity which it wanted in the populai
idea.1 But it is probable that, in going further, they
wasted their time and energy, and defeated their pur-
pose, by giving arguments beyond ordinary grasp.
It was quite understood, and practically carried out
by many of the Apologists, that in their works testi-
monies from Scripture were out of place.2 The words
of Lactantius3 are well worth recording. " Cyprian,"
he says, " when endeavouring to refute Demetrian,
did not handle his subject as he ought to have done ;
for he (Demetrian) ought to have been refuted, not
by the testimonies of Scripture, which he plainly con-
sidered vain, fictitious, and false, but by arguments
and reason. For, since he (Cyprian) was contending
against a man who was ignorant of the truth, he
ought for a while to have laid aside divine readings,
and to have built up from the beginning this man as
one who was altogether ignorant, and to have shown
to him by degrees the beginnings of light, that he
might not be dazzled by the whole of its brightness
being presented to him."
The argument from the miracles of Christ was not
1 Ep. to Diognetus, c. i. ; Theophilus, Letter iii. 4 ; Arno-
bius, i. 24 : cf. also a decree of Diocletian.
2 Cf. Tertullian's Apology, but not Justin's.
3 Div. Inst. v. 4.
CHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIANITY. IO9
at first so commonly used as we might have expected.
Miracles were commonly ascribed to magic, and
magicians were not men likely to obtain the respect of
any. To appeal to Christ's miracles was to be met by
the retort that He was a magician and imposter.1 The
later Apologists deal with the question. Lactantius 2
says that magic has no power except to deceive the
eyes. Origen, in answer to Celsus,3 who had com-
pared Christ's miracles to the tricks of jugglers, com-
pares the objects and the agents in the two cases.
The dealers in magical arts performed their works only
for show, and in return for a few oboli. They never
invited the spectators to reform their manners, and
indeed their own lives were full of the grossest and
most notorious sins. Christ, by His miracles, induced
those who beheld them to change their lives, and
He Himself was the pattern of a most virtuous life.
Arnobius- draws clearly and thoroughly the distinction
between Christ's miracles and those of all others.4
He is answering the charge that Jesus was a magician,
and an adept at secret arts stolen from Egypt. He
asks what magician has ever, even in the thousandth
degree, worked miracles like Him? The magicians
work by the power of incantations, the juice of herbs
and grasses, the anxious watching of sacrifices and
seasons, and by the invocation of deities. Christ
1 The fragment extant of the Apology of Quadratus, the fiust
Apologist, shows that he distinguished between Christ's miracles
and those of others. Cf. Eus. H. E. iv. 3.
2 Div. Inst. iv. 15. 3 C. Celsum, i. 68.
4 Adv. Gentes, i. 43~55« (This, as in other places, is Arno-
bius's language compressed.)
IIO DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
worked without any aid from external things, without
the observance of any ceremonial, without any fixed
mode of procedure, and by the might of His inherent
power. The deeds of the magicians were useless and
harmful. They consisted in the infliction of diseases,
the stirring of discord, the revealing of secrets,
the "getting at" (to use a modern phrase) horses,
the exciting unlawful love by philtres. Christ did
nothing hurtful or injurious, but only that which was
helpful and full of blessings to men. Was He one of
us, he asks, at whose voice infirmities and diseases
of the body fled away? Was He one of us, whose
very sight the race of demons was unable to bear ?
Was He one of us, at whose word the raging and mad-
dened seas were still, who walked over the deepest
pools with unwet foot, who with five loaves satisfied
five thousand of His followers ? Was He one of us,
who ordered the breath that had departed to return
to the body ? Was He one of us, who saw clearly in
the hearts of the silent what each was pondering?
WTas He one of us, who, after His body had been laid
in the tomb, manifested Himself in open day to
countless numbers of men ? Was He one of us, who
appears even now to righteous men of pure mind who
love Him, whose name when he:rd puts to flight evil
spirits, silences the soothsayers, and frustrates the
magicians ? Was He one of us, who conquered those
decrees of fate to which even the gods are subject?
Compare Him not with your deities. The comparison
will not hold. They have at times relieved disease by
medicine ; the credit is du; 'o the drug, not to the
giver. They have, it is said, healed a few ; but how
CHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIANITY. Ill
many thousands, life-long suppliants, have been sent
empty away ! Christ ordered diseases to fly from men
at a touch and a word. Christ healed all who came
to Him, good and bad alike. And more wonderful
still, He communicated His powers to others, and to
whom? fishermen, artisans, rustics, and unskilled per-
sons of a similar kind. He gave them the power to
do all things which He had done.
What say ye ? O minds incredulous, stubborn, hard-
ened ! Did that great Jupiter Capitolinus of yours
give to any human being power of this kind ? Did he
endow with this right any Pontifex Maximus ? To be
able to transfer to a man your own power, to share
with the frailest being the ability to perform that which
you alone are able to do, is a proof of power, supreme
over all, and holding in subjection the causes of all
things, and the natural laws of methods and of means.
Cease in your ignorance to receive such great deeds
with abusive language. There was nothing magical
in Christ. He was God on high, sent by the Ruler
of all things as the Saviour God. But you do not
believe these things. Yet eye-witnesses believed
them, and transmitted their belief. If the record is
false, how is it the belief has spread ? How is it that
nations dwelling widely apart unite in one conclusion ?
They have been prevailed upon (you say) by vain
hopes and mere assertions to run voluntarily the risks
of death. Nay, was it not because they had seen
these things ? Was it not because the force of truth
had overcome them, that they devoted themselves to
God, and reckoned it but a small sacrifice to surrender
their bodies to you ?
1 12 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH,
Thus conclusively, by a comparison of the means
used, results achieved, universality of success, trans-
mission of the power, and the enthusiastic and
practical belief inspired, does Arnobius prove the
superiority of the miracles of Christ.
When the Apologists are comparing the religion
of Christ with the religion of the gods, they have
no more legitimate ground for boasting than the
moral results the profession of Christianity pro-
duced. Over and over again they appeal to the
purity of Christian lives as a proof of the truth of
the Christian faith. The close connection, it must
be remembered, between morality and religion, which
seems to us so obvious, was not obvious to the
heathen mind. On the contrary, gross immoralities
were connected with the worship of the gods ; and the
rule of faith was quite dissevered from the rule of
life. Lactantius, the latest Apologist, brings home
most clearly this fact. " The worship of God," he
says, " of all things requires the greatest devotedness
and fidelity. How can God love the worshipper, if
He Himself is not loved by him? How can He
grant the petitioner his request if he draw nigh with-
out sincerity or reverence ? You heathen," he says,
" present your gods with nothing from within, no
uprightness of mind, no reverence or fear. When
your worthless sacrifices are completed, you leave your
religion altogether in the temple where you found it.
You took no religion there, and you take none
away. So your religious observances are not able to
make men good, or to be permanent in themselves.
Men are easily led away from them, because they
CHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIANITY. 113
teach nothing as to conduct, or as to wisdom, or as to
faith. For what is the religion of the gods ? What
is its power? What is its discipline? What its
origin ? What its principles ? What its foundation ?
What its substance? What its tendency? What its
hope ? There is nothing in it that cannot be learned
by rule of thumb. On the other hand, our religion
is firm, and solid, and unchangeable, because it has
its existence in the soul of the worshipper, because it
has the mind of man itself for a sacrifice. In the
heathen religion nothing is required but the blood of
animals, and the smoke of incense, and the senseless
pouring out of libations. In ours is required a good
mind, a pure breast, an innocent life. The heathen
rites are frequented by harlots, gladiators, robbers,
thieves, and sorcerers, who pray for nothing else but
that they may commit crimes with impunity. But in
our religion there is no place even for a slight and
ordinary offence; and if any one shall come to a
sacrifice without a sound conscience, he hears what
threats God denounces against him ; that God, I say,
who sees the secret places of the heart, who is always
hostile to sin, who requires justice, who demands fide-
lity. What place is there here for an evil mind or for
an evil prayer ? The unhappy heathen do not under-
stand how evil it is to .worship when stained by sin.
They imagine that they offer a pious sacrifice if they
wash their skin, as though any stream could wash
away, or any seas purify, the lusts shut up within the
breast. How much better it would be to cleanse the
mind defiled by evil desires, and to drive away all
1
114 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
vices by the one laver of virtue and faith. He who
shall do this, although he have a body denied with
sin, is sufficiently pure."
It was of course the fact that worship was not
a mere ritual observance, but the offering up of
the whole man, body, soul, and spirit, to his God,
that made Christians so determined in their refusal
to join in any of the idolatrous ceremonies. The
heathen were utterly unable to understand their
obstinacy, as the records of all the persecutions
show. It seemed to them utter folly to choose " to
be tortured and slain rather than to take incense
in three fingers and throw it upon the hearth"1
" They do not know," says Lactantius, " how great
an act of impiety it is to adore any other object than
God, who made heaven and earth, who fashioned the
human race, who breathed into them the breath of
life, and gave them light. If he is accounted the
most worthless of slaves who runs away and deserts
his master, and if he is judged most deserving of
stripes, and chains, and a prison, and the cross, and
all evil ; if a son likewise is thought abandoned, and
impious, and worthy of being disinherited, who deserts
his father, how much more does he who forsakes
God, in whom the two names entitled to equal reve-
rence of Lord and Father alike meet ! "
Animated with this intense devotion to their God,
the Christians did not fear what man could do unto
them. " With a fury more insatiable than that of wild
beasts," says Lactantius,2 " you rage against us. When
' Lact. Div. Inst. v. 19. 2 lb. v. 11.
CHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIANITY. 115
their appetite is satisfied they rest in peace. You,
with iron teeth, ever rage throughout the world.
You are not content with tearing in pieces the limbs
of men, you break their bones, and rage over their
ashes, so that there may be no place for their burial.
You deny light to the living, earth to the dead.
Death is too merciful a thing for you. Some of you
contend how you may conquer by inflicting exquisite
pain, and you avoid nothing else, except only that
the victims may not die under the torture. You
carefully tend the tortured in order that they may be
capable of enduring fresh tortures. One of you was
elated with joy because a victim who had resisted for
two years with great spirit appeared at length to yield.
Can you not see that it is not foolishness, but wisdom,
which causes us to be thus steadfast in suffering? It
is not one place, or one sex, or one age, which
furnishes examples of endurance. Everywhere there
is the same patient endurance, the same contempt of
death. There must be some foundation for that reli-
gion which thus thrives under persecution. Rob-
bers and strong men with you cannot bear similar
torture, but amongst us not even boys and delicate
women are overcome. You may boast in your
Mucius, who laid his hand upon the burning hearth
as an atonement for his crime. You may boast of
your Regulus, who gave himself up to death rather
than live a life of shame. But our weak women
and our slender boys endure laceration in the whole
body, and not even the fire can extort from them a
groan. They could escape if they so wished ; they
voluntarily endure all because they put their trust in
1 2
Il6 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
God. And what is the result of all these persecu-
tions? Our numbers are increased. Some hate
cruelty and are drawn to us. Some are pleased with
virtue and faith. Some suspect that there must be
evil in that worship which we abjure at the cost
of life. Some desire to know what that good is which
we prefer to all the joys of life, and from which no
loss of goods, no bodily pain, deters us. In the
midst of your torments we tell the bystanders that
sacrifices are not due to stocks and stones, graven by
art or man's device, but to the living God who is in
heaven. Many, when they hear, believe it to be true.
A fresh crowd is added to us, because of the won-
derful nature of the virtue displayed."1
The same religion which made Christians thus faith-
ful to their God, and thus patient in enduring persecu-
tion, also made them just and kind to their fellow-men.
They reckoned themselves, as children of one Father,
to be all equal in the sight of God. None was poor
but he that was without justice ; none rich but he who
was full of virtues. The excellent were the good and
innocent ; the renowned, those who were most mer-
ciful. To the question, " Are there not among you
Christians some poor, and others rich, some servants,
and others masters?" the answer was, "There is
no difference between one man and another. Why
should we call one another brethren, except we
reckoned ourselves to be equal? In lowliness of
mind we are all on an equality, the free with slaves,
and the rich with the poor, nevertheless in the sight of
1 I.r.ct. Div. Inst. v. 13, 23.
CHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIANITY. I I 7
God we are distinguished in respect of virtue. Every
one is more exalted according to his greater justice."
It is the life of holiness towards God, love towards
their fellow-men, and patience under injury, to which
Lactantius points as the sacrifice which Ggd desires.
" God does not desire," he says, " the sacrifice of a
dumb animal, nor of death and blood, but of man and
life.1 In this sacrifice there is neither need of sacred
boughs, nor of purifications, nor of sods of turf, which
things are plainly most vain, but of those things which
are put forth from the innermost breast. Therefore
on the altar of God, which is truly great, and which
is placed in the heart of man, and cannot be defiled
with blood, there are placed righteousness, patience,
failh, innocence, chastity, and abstinence. Spiritual
gifts must be offered to God, who is a Spirit. His
offering is innocency of soul, His sacrifice praise and
a hymn. The worship of God consists of one thing, —
not to be wicked."
But perhaps it will be said, that it is impossible, if
the Christians had been so pure and lovely in cha-
racter, they would have been so intensely hated.
And yet our Lord is a convincing proof to the con-
trary. We know also that " he that doeth evil hateth
the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved." Wicked men search diligently
for bad motives to good actions. That was the case
with many heathen in the first three centuries. They
tried to account for the Christians' lives and deaths,
and they came to the conclusion that a senseless
1 II). vi. 24, 25.
Jl8 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
enthusiasm and wicked superstition animated them.3
When they had settled this to their own satisfaction,
they gave them no reverence for their virtues, and
despised them for their fanaticism. The objection
may also be raised that this description of Christian
lives and deaths comes from those who were Christian
themselves, and that more impartial witnesses are
needed. It is certainly important for us to know
what the heathen of the first three centuries thought
of the Christians, and so we shall give two descrip-
tions of them from heathen sources. They are both
made by philosophers, and neither of them appears to
have been a man of moral worth.
The first description is that given by Lucian. It
is contained in his account of the death of a certain
Peregrinus, who was perhaps a real, perhaps only a
fictitious, character. This Peregrinus was a traveller
from place to place, and a wanderer from one sect of
philosophy to another. He was obliged to leave his
native country because of his crimes ; and in the
course of his travels he learned in Palestine the won-
derful doctrine of the Christians. In a short time
they were but children to him ; he held all their offices
— prophet, high priest, and ruler of a synagogue. He
wrote some books for them and interpreted others.
They called him a god, and took him for a lawgiver,
and gave him the title of master. They were still
worshippers of the great man who was crucified in
Palestine — the founder of their religion ; and for this
reason Peregrinus was put in prison. He turned his
1 Pliny ; Lucian, de Morte Teregi ini ; Octavius, c. I *
CHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIANITY. 119
imprisonment to good account ; the Christians were
much grieved at it, and tried to procure his liberty in
all ways. Not being able to effect that, they did him
all sorts of kindnesses ; and these, not casually, but
with the greatest care. Early in the morning old
women and little children would be at the prison
gates. The chief men would spend the night with
him ; they had a supper together, and the sacred
books were read. Even from Asia some Christians
came commissioned to relieve, encourage, and com-
fort him. It is incredible what expedients they use
when any of their friends are known to be in trouble.
They spare nothing on such occasions ; and so
Peregrinus's chain brought him in a good sum ot
money. These miserable men have no doubt they
are immortal ; and they despise death, and surrender
themselves to suffering. Their first lawgiver has
taught them that, when they have forsaken the gods
of the Greeks, and worship Him, and engage to live
according to His law, they are all brethren. They
despise the things of the world, and regard them as
common, and trust one another without security. Any
subtle fellow can impose upon them, — so simple are
they. Peregrinus was ultimately liberated from prison ;
he was provided with money for his travelling ex-
penses, and he lived in great plenty. So it went on
for some time. At last he separated from them ; he
had given them offence, as Lucian supposes, by eating
some forbidden food. Remembering what Lucian
was, — a scoffer at all religions and a licentious wit, — ■
is it not matter of pride that he has nothing worse to
say of us than this ? Have we not a most beautiful
120 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
picture of faith, hope, and love shining forth in
Christian life? And may we not triumph in the
thought that the subtle, worthless philosopher, reve-
renced as a god forsooth, and ministered to with such
undeserved kindness, was found out in the end by
the simple people whom he had deceived ?
And now for another picture of Christians painted
by a heathen : this we shall find to be of quite a dif-
ferent character. It is painted by the philosopher
Celsus, and it is to be found in his own words in
Origen's answer to him.1
He compares Jews and Christians together " to a
flight of bats, or a swarm of ants issuing out of their
nest, or to frogs holding council in a marsh, or to
worms crawling together in the corner of a dunghill,
and quarrelling with one another as to which of them
are the greater sinners, and asserting that God shows
and announces to us all things beforehand ; and that,
abandoning the whole world, and the regions of
heaven, and this great earth, He becomes a citizen
among us alone ; and to us alone makes His intima-
tions, and does not cease sending and inquiring in
what way we may be associated with Him for ever."2
" It is only foolish and low individuals, and persons
devoid of perception, and slaves, and women, and
children, of whom the teachers of the Divine Word
wish to make converts."3 They have laid down as a
rule, " Let no one come to us who has been instructed,
or who is wise or prudent (for such qualifications are
deemed evil by us) ; but if there be any ignorant, or
1 Origen c. Celsum, iv. 23. 2 lb. iii. 49. 3 lb. iii. 44
CHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIANITY. 121
unintelligent, or uninstructed, or foolish persons, let
them come with confidence." Thus "they manifestly
show that they desire and are able to gain over only
the silly, and the mean, and the stupid, with women
and children." Others invite to participation in their
mysteries those of clean hands and a pure tongue ;
but the Christians say, " Every one who is a sinner,
who is devoid of understanding, who is a child, and,
to speak generally, whoever is unfortunate, him will
the kingdom of God receive." " What others would
a man invite if he were issuing a proclamation for an
assembly of robbers ? " 1 They are like " the jugglers
who gather crowds around them in the market-places,
but who never dare to approach an assembly of wise
men, or dare to exhibit their arts among them." 2
" They act insolently towards God, in order to lead on
wicked men by empty hopes, and to persuade them
to despise better things.3 They are a set of people
associated together contrary to law.4 Their religion
is barbarous in origin and secret in practice.5 Their
system of morals is not new, and their miracles are
worked in the names of certain demons, and by the
use of incantations.'*' Like the devil-worshippers,
they take advantage of the ignorance of those who
are easily deceived. They do not wish either to
give or receive a reason for their belief, but keep
repeating, ' Do not examine, but believe.' ' Your
faith will save you.' ' The wisdom of this life is bad,
and foolishness is a good thing.' 7 At first, being few
in number, they held the same opinions, but when
1 Origen c.
Celsum, iii. 59.
2 lb. iii. 50.
3 lb. iii.
4 lb. i. I.
5 lb. i. 2.
6 lb. i. 4.
7 lb. i. 9,
T22 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
they grew to be a great multitude, they were divided
and separated, each wishing to have his own party.1
They differ from one another widely, and assail one
another in their disputes with the most shameful
language, and yet they say, 'The world is crucified
unto me and I unto the world.'2 If all were like
them, kings would be left in utter solitude and
desertion, and the affairs of the earth would fall into
the hands of the wildest and most lawless barbarians ;
and then there would no longer remain among men
any of the glory of their religion, or of the true
wisdom.3 If they refuse to render due service to
the gods, and to respect those who are set over this
service, let them not come to manhood, or marry
wives, or have children, or, indeed, take any share in
the affairs of life ; but let them depart hence with all
speed and leave no posterity behind them, that such a
race may become extinct from the face of the earth." 4
Such is Celsus's description, or rather caricature of
Christians and Christianity. There is very little in
it to trouble us. It is sad, indeed, to see the divi-
sions of Christians already attracting the attention of
heathen. Perhaps, too, there are indications that the
teachers of the gospel were not always careful enough
to show the reasonableness of their faith ; and that the
believers of the gospel sometimes neglected their duties
as citizens in the State. But most of the reproaches
cast by Celsus are our glory. We rejoice to hear
that the spiritually sick came to Christ, for in their
healing His power was magnified. We rejoice to
1 Origen c. Celsum, iii. io. 2 lb. v. 64.
3 lb. viii. 68. 4 Ib.viii. 55.
CHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIANITY. I 23
hear that the Christian religion attracted all kinds of
men. We rejoice to see that the Christians reckoned
all else as dross for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus their Lord. Celsus, it is plain, saw
no beauty in the Christian character or in the
Christian religion. That need not trouble us, for
he saw no beauty in Christ our Lord. " If they have
called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much
more shall they call them of His household."1 Celsus
can see no beauty or dignity in the Incarnation.2 In
Christ's deeds there was nothing truly great or worthy
of a God.3 His sufferings were only a proof of His
weakness. His denial and betrayal by His own
followers, and His punishment as a malefactor, were
an utter refutation of His claims.4 He does not even
allow that Christ was a virtuous man.5 He describes
Him as " gathering round Himself ten or eleven per-
sons of notorious character, the very wickedest of
tax-gatherers and sailors, fleeing in company with
them from place to place, and obtaining His living in
a shameful and importunate manner." He says that
the Christians set up " as a God one who ended a
most infamous life by a most miserable death."6 If
he could thus misrepresent and misconceive Christ,
what wonder is it if he slanders the Christian faith
and Christian men. Still his misrepresentations have
a value for us, for they show us how Christianity and
Christians were regarded by some at least of their
1 Matt. x. 25. 2 Origen c. Celsum, i. 28, iv. 23,
3 lb. ii. 30, 31, 33. 4 lb. ii. 9, 12, 20.
* lb. i. 62. 6 lb, vii. 53.
T24 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
heathen contemporaries ; and we are better able to
realize the nature of the opposition against which the
Apologists had to contend.
We now proceed to the last point in the Apologetic
description of Christianity on which we shall touch ;
viz. the Christian Worship. It will be remembered
that the heathen viewed with the greatest suspicion
the nocturnal assemblies of the Christians. They
were thought to be scenes of gross immorality, and
the meeting-places of conspirators against the rulers
in the State. Two of the Apologists, Justin and
Tertullian, endeavour to remove these suspicions by
describing them as they really were. Justin's account
is as follows.1 Those who are persuaded and believe
that what we teach and say is true, and undertake to
live accordingly, are taught to beseech God with
fasting and prayer ; and we pray and fast along with
them. Then they are brought by us where there is
water, and are regenerated by the washing of water, in
the name of God the Father and Lord of the Universe,
and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy
Spirit. For Christ also said, ' Except ye be born
again, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.'
This washing is called illumination, because they who
learn these things are illuminated in their under-
standings. The baptized person is then brought into
the assembly of our brethren,2 in order that we may
offer hearty prayers in common for ourselves and the
newly baptized, and all others in every place, that we
may be counted worthy, now that we have learned
1 Just. Apol. i. 61. 2 lb. i. 65.
CHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIANITY. I 25
the truth, to be found by our works also good citizens
and keepers of the commandments, so that we may
be saved with an everlasting salvation. Having ended
the prayers, we salute one another with a kiss. Then
to the President bread and a cup of wine mixed with
water are brought. He takes them, and gives praise
and glory to the Father through the name of the Son
and the Holy Ghost, and offers thanks for our being
counted worthy to receive these things at his hands.
When he has concluded, all present say, Amen. Then
the deacons distribute the consecrated bread and wine
mixed with water, and carry away portions to the absent.1
This food is called Eucharist, and is only for those
who believe and are baptized, and are living a
Christian life. Not as common bread and wine do
we receive it, but as the flesh and blood of the Incar-
nate Jesus, and in accordance with His command.2
We continually remind one another of these things.
And on Sunday we gather together, and the memoirs
of the Apostles and the writings of the Prophets are
read, and afterwards the President instructs and ex-
horts. Prayers, thanksgivings, and the Communion
follow. Every one gives alms according to his own
will. The President distributes the money collected
amongst the orphans and widows, the sick and the
needy, the prisoners and the strangers.
Tertullian does not add much to this account.3
He is endeavouring to show that the assemblies of
the Christians are in no sense factious or treasonable.
So he tells the heathen the prayers were made with
1 Just. Apol. i. 66. 2 lb. i. 67. 3 Apol. c. 39.
126 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
united force for the Emperor and all in authority. Be-
sides this, he mentions that the Sacred Scriptures were
read, exhortations made, rebukes and sacred censures
administered. The offertory in his time was monthly.
It was quite voluntary. There was no compulsion
whatsoever. There was no buying or selling of any
sort in the things of God. The money was used, not
for feasting, but for the burial of the poor, the edu-
cation of orphan children, the support of the old, and
the assistance of those suffering for the truth's sake.
The Christian feast (the Agape) permitted no vileness
or immodesty. It began and ended with prayer.
There was no such thing as immoderate eating and
drinking. When the cravings of hunger were satis-
fied, hymns were sung by each in turn to God. Such
a meeting, Tertullian thinks, ought not to be called a
faction, but a Curia, a sacred meeting.
DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH. I 27
CHAPTER VII
THE GREEK APOLOGISTS
As we have already observed, the Christian Apolo-
gists of the second century wrote in Greek, those of
the third century in Latin.1 This difference of lan-
guage and of time implies, of course, other differences
also. The Greek Apologists spoke as Greeks; the
Latin Apologists, though not Italians but Africans,
spoke as citizens of the Roman empire. By the
Greek Apologist the world is divided into two classes,
Greeks and Barbarians. It is the Greek mythology
which is exposed, the Greek philosophy which is
refuted, the Greek writings which are compared with
the Hebrew and Christian. But when we get to the
Latin Apologists, the Romans everywhere appear as
masters of the world. Roman history is appealed to,
and Roman authors quoted. Moreover, Christianity
was scarcely known to the authorities of the Empire
when the first Apologists wrote. The Emperor was a
Christian (so to speak) by conviction, though not by
baptism, before the last. Many mistakes had been
rectified in the mean time. No one thought at the
beginning of the fourth century that the Christians
were monsters of immorality. In the second century
1 There is only one exception — Origen — to this rule.
128 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
this was the popular belief. On the other hand, no
one imagined at first that the Christians would ever
be able to accomplish their purpose of supplanting all
the religions of the gods. They were considered by
the authorities at that time to be a troublesome l5ut
not a dangerous people. In the third century the
State found out they were far too powerful to be
despised and ignored, and that there really was a
probability that they might succeed in their efforts to
subvert the State religion. The general feeling was,
that, when the State religion fell, the State would fall
also, so closely were the two things connected together.
So the political charge took a prominent place. Of
course the Apologists recognized this altered condition
of things, and suited their defence to the , attack.
The charge of immorality appears in all the Greek
Apologists except Clement of Alexandria, but only in
two of the Latin, and those the earliest in date.1 In
the Greek Apologists, the political charges are very
little touched upon ; in the Latin, they are reckoned
to be worthy of the chief attention. In the Greek
Apologists, the charge of atheism is refuted ; in the
Latin, the charge of forsaking the worship of the gods.
And, besides this, the characteristics of the litera-
ture of Greece and Rome are to be discerned in either
class. " On the one side there is universality, free-
dom, large sympathy, deep feeling ; on the other,
there is individuality, system, order, logic. The
tendency of one mind is towards truth ; of the other,
towards law." 2
1 Tertullian, Minucius Felix.
3 Quoted from Westcott's 'Canon,' c. ii. p. 59.
THE GREEK APOLOGISTS.
129
Or, quoting the same author, " The Greek Apolo-
gists show in what way Christianity was the satisfac-
tion of all the deepest wants of humanity, the sum of
all knowledge ; it was reserved for the Latin Apolo-
gists to apprehend its independent claims, and estab-
lish its right to supplant, as well as to fulfil, what was
partial and vague in earlier systems.'' x This last
remark cannot be better illustrated than by comparing
the relations of Justin and Tertullian with the heathen
philosophy. Attention has been already drawn to
this point in Chapter V. Justin reckons the philo-
sophers, or at least some of them, to be Christians
before Christ. Tertullian will have nothing to do
with the teaching of the poets and philosophers.2
He is willing to let it be granted that there is nothing
in heathen writers which a Christian approves.
We proceed now to consider the separate "Apo-
logies," and their writers- Sometimes we shall give
abstracts of, or striking passages in, the writings,
sometimes incidents in the lives and deaths of the
writers.
JUSTIN MARTYR. IIO-165 A.D. CIRCA.
The earliest extant " Apologies " are those of
Justin.3 He was born early in the 2nd century,
and suffered martyrdom during the reign of Marcus
Aurelius, a.d. 165. His life gives us valuable
information on the relations of Christianity with
1 Westcott's ' Canon,' c. ii. p. 56.
2 ■ De Tcstim. Animse, ' c. i.
3 There is now (1893) an earlier extant Apology — that of
Aristides.
K
130 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
the philosophers and the Roman State. He himself
studied several philosophical systems before his con-
version, and after it, in the philosopher's dress, he
preached the word of God.1 The account which he
gives us of his studies in philosophy, and his subse-
quent conversion, is very interesting and instructive.
To be led and to be approved by God, seems to have
been the object of all his studies, and, knowing no
better guide, he chose philosophy. It was the duty,
he thought, of philosophy to investigate the Deity, and
with this notion he tried the different schools in turn.2
First he put himself under the instruction of a Stoic.3
When he had spent a considerable time with him, he
was disappointed at finding that he had gained no
certain knowledge of God. His master told him that
he himself knew nothing of the subject, and that
indeed such knowledge was unnecessary. Leaving
him in consequence, Justin went to a Peripatetic, a
man who was a shrewd teacher in his own estimation.
He, after a few days, asked for a fee, that their
intercourse might not be without profit. This very
unphilosophic request disgusted Justin, and he at
once sought for another teacher. Still eager, he went
to a Pythagorean, a very celebrated man, who prided
himself greatly on his wisdom. But when Justin
applied for admission to the number of his hearers
and disciples, he was asked, " Are you acquainted
with music, astronomy, and geometry? Do you ex-
pect to comprehend those things which conduce to
a happy life, without being first informed on those
1 Eus. Hist. Ecc. iv. ii. 2 Dialogue, c. I.
3 lb. c. 2.
THE GREEK APOLOGISTS. 131
points, which wean the soul from objects of sense to
the contemplation of intellectual objects, so that it
may be able to discern the things which are essen-
tially honourable and good ? " Dismissal followed a
confession of ignorance, and Justin was much cast
down, for he had a high opinion of this teacher, and
thought it would be far too tedious a business to
acquire a knowledge of these necessary preliminaries.
Lastly, he tried a Platonist sage. With him he im-
proved and made rapid advance daily, and the Platonic
conception of immaterial things captivated him, and
its theory of ideas furnished his mind with wings,
so that in a little time he supposed that he had be-
come wise, and, such was his folly, hoped shortly to
see God — the end of Plato's philosophy. Whilst
thus disposed, wishing to be quiet and alone, he was
one day walking in a field by the seaside; an old man
by no means contemptible in appearance, but of
venerable and meek manners, followed him at a little
distance. The following conversation followed : —
Old Mem. Why are you here ?
Justin. I delight in such walks, because my atten-
tion is not distracted; such places are most fit for
the study of philology.
O. Af. Are you, then, a philologian (i.e. a lover of'
words), but no lover of deeds or of truth ?
J. What greater work could one accomplish than
to show the reason which governs all ; and having
laid hold of it, and being supported by it, to look
down on the errors of others.1 Without philosophy
1 Notice the pride of the philosopher here.
K 2
132 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
and right reason none would possess prudence.
Therefore it is necessary to philosophize, and account
it the greatest and most precious of gains, all other
things being reckoned in comparison of second or
third-rate importance.
O. M. Does philosophy, then, confer happiness ?
J. Assuredly ; and it alone.
O. M. What, then, is philosophy? and what is
happiness ?
J. Philosophy is the knowledge of that which is,
and the discernment of the truth ; and happiness is
the reward of this knowledge of wisdom.
O. M. What do you define God to be ?
J. That which is ever one and the same, and the
cause of being to all other creatures, — that is God.
The old man is pleased at this answer, and asks, — •
" Is not knowledge a term common to different
things? For whoever is skilled in any of the arts is
said to have knowledge of it. But this cannot be said
equally well of divine and human things. Is there
any science, for instance, which gives us the know-
ledge of things divine and human, and likewise of the
divinity and righteousness in them ? "
J. Certainly there is.
O. M. What ! can we know God and man in the
same way as we may know music, arithmetic, astro-
nomy, and the like ?
J. By no means.
O. M. Of some things we have knowledge by
study or application, of others by sight. If any were
to tell you that an animal exists in India of a nature
unlike all others, you would not know it before you
THE GREEK APOLOGISTS. 133
saw it, or until you had heard from one who had
seen it?
J. Certainly not.
Now comes the crucial question. He wants to show
Justin that philosophy cannot give knowledge of God,
or, according to Justin's own definition, " That which
is." Philosophers cannot know that which they have
not seen, so he asks, —
" How, then, do philosophers know God, or speak
the truth about Him. when they have neither seen
Him at any time, nor heard Him?"
J. God is not to be discerned by the eyes, but by
the mind, so Plato teaches, and so I believe.
Now the object of the old man is to show that God
cannot be discerned by the unassisted mind, so he
asks, —
" How is it that the mind can see God ? "
J. From its nature, and relationship to God.
Then the old man's object is to show that it is not
natural to man to comprehend God, i.e., that man
cannot by searching find out God. So he drives
J ustin to admit that the comprehension of God is not
a characteristic common to all minds ; some have it,
and some have it not. He makes him»confess that
the philosophers cannot tell him what the soul of man
really is. He convinces him that the soul has nothing
which it has not received, and at last induces Justin to
ask, " Whom, then, shall a man take as his master?
or whence shall he derive any instruction if the truth
is not with these philosophers?" And now the old
man has got to the point he wished. In order to
attain to the knowledge of God. man wants a Divine
134 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
teacher. He cannot see God with his eyes, as Justin
allows. He cannot naturally comprehend God with
his mind, as he has been compelled to admit ;
but God reveals Himself to men, and in this way : —
"There once lived men," the old man says, "called
prophets, who were anterior to any of those who are
considered philosophers, both righteous and beloved
by God. These spoke by the Holy Ghost, and
foretold what would happen hereafter, and what is
now taking place. These alone knew and taught
the truth, neither regarding nor fearing any man,
nor being themselves carried away by the love of
glory, but declaring those things alone which they
saw and heard, when filled with the Holy Ghost.
Their writings are still extant, and he who has read
them will derive much instruction about the first prin-
ciples and the ends of things, together with all those
matters that a philosopher ought to know after he has
believed them. They have not indeed given demon-
strations in their writings, for they, in fact, as faithful
witnesses of the truth, are above all demonstration ; but
the events which have happened already, and those
which are taking place even now, compel you to
receive their testimony. Even, indeed, for the miracles
which they performed are they worthy of belief, and
especially since they glorified God the Father and
Maker of all things, and taught concerning Christ
His Son who was sent by Him, which the false pro-
phets, who were filled with a spirit of falsehood and
uncleanness, neither did nor do ; but these presume
to perform certain wonders to astonish mankind, and
set forth the praises of lying spirits and devils. But
THE GREEK APOLOGISTS. I35
do you, above all things, pray that the gates of light
may be opened to you ; for these things are not to be
seen or comprehended, except by him to whom God
and His Christ give the grace of understanding."
When the old man had said this and many other
things, he went away, and Justin never saw him again.
But straightway a fire was kindled in his soul, and a
love of the prophets and the friends of Christ pos-
sessed him ; and when he had considered the matter,
he found the Christian philosophy alone safe and
profitable. It became his desire and aim that others
should become as he was. He endeavoured to per-
suade others to give credence to the Saviour's words,
to become acquainted with the Christ of God, and,
being initiated, lead a happy life.
We have described Justin's conversion at great
length, because it describes so plainly the difference
between philosophy and Christianity. On the one
side there was human reasoning, on the other Divine
revelation ; on the one side there was demonstration
of truth, on the other witnesses to truth ; on the one
side there was nature, on the other grace.
Probably, Justin would not have been thus easily
converted, had not Christians by their deaths already
recommended their doctrines to his mind. He had
seen how Christians could die before he knew what
Christianity was. He had already come to the con-
clusion that the popular slanders were utterly false.
u I myself," he says, " when I was delighting in the
doctrines of Plato, and heard the Christians slandered,
and saw them fearless of death, and of all other
things which are counted fearful, perceived that it was
T36 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
impossible they could be living' in wickedness and
pleas are." He laughed at the wicked disguise which
evil spirits had thrown round the divine doctrines of
the Christians, and then, being instructed by the
old man, he strove with all his strength to be-
come a Christian, and endeavoured in his turn to
lead others to Christ. Of couise, being thus eager in
the Christian cause, he ran the greatest risks. He
was quite aware of this. He tells us that he ex-
pected to be entrapped and affixed to the stake
by some of his heathen opponents.1 He men-
tions especially one Crescens, a Cynic philosopher,
who was a lover of noise and boasting, a false
and ignorant accuser of the brethren, in order to
please the multitude. Justin had publicly refuted
him in argument, and so incurred his hatred. These
expectations were fulfilled ; Crescens was the cause
of his martyrdom at Rome.2 He was brought before
the prefect Rusticus along with others. He refused
to oiler libations to vain idols. He confessed he was
a Christian.3 He was asked scoffingly whether he
supposed that if he was scourged and beheaded, he
would ascend into heaven. He answered that he
did not suppose, but was fully persuaded of it. All
threats were in vain. Sentence was pronounced.
" Let those who have refused to do sacrifice to the
gods and to yield to the command of the Emperor,
be scourged, and led away to suffer the punishment
of decapitation, according to the laws." The holy
martyrs then glorified God, and "went out to the
1 Apol. ii. c. 3. 2 Tatian, quoted by Eusebius, iv. 16.
3 Martyrdom of Justin and others.
THE GREEK APOLOGISTS. 1 37
accustomed place.1 They were beheaded, and per-
fected their testimony in the confession of the Saviour.
Some of the faithful having secretly removed their
bodies, laid them in a suitable place, the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ having wrought along with them
to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen."
Three undisputed works of Justin, all of them of
an Apologetic character, are now extant ; namely,
the two Apologies and the Dialogue with Trypho.
All of them contain remarkable passages, and all of
them are deficient in order, and method, and logic.
Much that is most valuable to us seems unsuitable
for the object for which it was written. Of course,
this latter fault was a very natural one to fall into,
especially under the particular circumstances. To
know the arguments which will influence men of
principles wholly diverse from your own, is a rare
gift in every age. And Justin was treading on well-
nigh unknown ground. Later Apologists were ab'e
to use his materials, and, in some measure, to avoid
his mistakes.
Justin's first Apology was addressed to the Emperor
Antoninus Pius and his sons, the Sacred Senate, and
the whole Roman people. He calls it a petition on
behalf of those of all nations who are unjustly hated
and wantonly abused, he himself being one. Rumour
had spread certain charges against the Christians.
He asks for an investigation. He appeals to the piety
and philosophy of the rulers whom he addresses.
They are guardians of justice and lovers of learning,
and he demands justice at their hands. A mere
1 Martyrdom of Justin and others, c. 5.
138 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
name proves nothing one way or another. The
name Christian, so far as it goes, is an argument in
favour of the people who bear it. " We are (by
name) most excellent people. To hate what is ex-
cellent is unjust.1 Granted that some called Chris-
tians have ere now been arrested and convicted as
evil-doers,2 you must not allow the evil deeds of
some to discredit the character of all. Under the
one name of philosopher are banded together many
who do nothing worthy of their profession : many of
diverse opinions and teachings ; some who have even
taught atheism. You discriminate between philoso-
phers, you ought to discriminate between Christians.
Remember, to our credit, that it is very easy for us
to avoid your persecution ; you condemn us for our
mere name ; you acquit us if we are willing to deny
our name. Why is it that we refuse so to do? It is
because we would not live by telling a lie."
The charges he mentions as brought against the
Christians are Atheism and Immorality ; there is also
a reference to a Political charge. In answer to these
he remarks, that although atheists with respect to
the demon-gods of the heathen, the Christians have
a God whom they serve. Him they worship, but
not with sacrifices and libations, for they have been
taught that God, the provider of all things, needs no
material offerings at the hands of men, and that the
service He accepts is the imitation of the excellences
1 Chrestus is the Greek for "excellent," and Justin here
makes use of that fact.
2 The followers of Simon Magus (c. 26), and probably also
the Gnostics generally, are alluded to here.
THE GREEK APOLOGISTS. 1 39
which dwell in Him. Him they serve, because they
desire to live with Him in His kingdom, because
they fear everlasting fire. And as this system ot
rewards and punishments is divine, and therefore
perfect, it necessarily has a much greater influence
on their conduct than any human and imperfect
system. How can they lead wicked lives when they
know they cannot escape punishment? It is quite
true the Christians look for a kingdom, but the king-
dom is not human, it is with God. If it were human,
they would deny Christ in order that they might not
be slain; for death would cut them off from the ful-
filment of their hopes.
He then gives the source of Christian teaching.
Their doctrine has been taught them by the Word of
God, Jesus Christ, who was born for this purpose,
and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, procurator ot
Judaea in the times of Tiberius Caesar.
In forcible language Justin describes the change
which this doctrine has wrought on the lives of those
who have received it. " Since our persuasion by the
Word," he says, " we stand aloof from the demons,
and follow the only unbegotten God through His
Son ; we, who formerly delighted in fornication, now
embrace chastity alone; we, who formerly used magi-
cal arts, dedicate ourselves to the good and unbe-
gotten God ; we, who valued above all things the
acquisition of wealth and possessions, now turn what
we have into a common stock, and communicate to
every one in need ; we, who hated and destroyed one
another, and would not even use the same hearth or
fire with the men of a different tribe, on account of
I40 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
their different manners, now, since the coming of
Christ, live familiarly with them, and pray for our
enemies, and endeavour to persuade those who hate
us unjustly to live conformably to the good precepts
of Christ, to the end that they may become partakers
with us of the same joyful hope of a reward from
God."
Lest Justin should appear to be reasoning soph'is-
tically, he gives at great length the teaching of Christ
on matters of life and conduct. He shows how Christ
taught His disciples to be chaste even in thought, to
love even their enemies, to lay up treasure in heaven
and not on earth, to be patient under injuries, to
swear not at all. His system is such a practical one,
that it is not believing a certain set of opinions, but
acting them out in the life, which constitutes a Chris-
tian. He taught them to render to Caesar the things
that are Caesar's, so that they are necessarily obedient
subjects. All these precepts the Christians are duly
carrying out, and if any break them, then they cease,
ipso facto, to be Christians, and will be deservedly
punished.
He then endeavours to show that the Christian
doctrines of the Immortality of the Soul, the Resur-
rection of the Body, and the Incarnation of the
Deity, are not, a priori, incredible to a heathen, for
his own mythology contains similar doctrines. The
arguments he adduces here seem to be of a very
doubtful and fanciful character.
The Analogy of Nature furnishes him with an
additional argument in favour of the Resurrection.
He asks whether it is more difficult to believe that
■ THE GREER APOLOGISTS. 14I
the body of a man sown in the earth should, in
God's appointed time, rise again and put on incor-
ruption, or to believe that from a small drop of seed,
bones, and sinews, and flesh should be formed in
human shape. We should not have believed the
latter, had not experience convinced us. We have
no right to deny the possibility of the former, though
hitherto beyond our experience.
Justin now states the three points which he wishes
to prove.
(1.) That the Christian doctrine is alone true,
and that it is to be received, not because of its
resemblance to heathen doctrine, but on its own
authority.
(2.) That Jesus Christ is the only Son of God —
being His Word, and First Begotten, and Power.
(3.) That the demons have enabled the poets and
others to anticipate the facts of His life.
To prove the first point (c. 24-29), Justin remarks
that the heathen themselves are at variance as to the
proper objects of worship. Some of them worship
lifeless objects, some irrational animals ; the things
which some esteem gods, others esteem wild beasts.
If any one goes back to their ancient mythology, he
finds their gods perpetrating crimes too base for men
to mention : those cannot be gods who are slaves to
human passions. To come later down, the heathen
have esteemed even magicians worthy of divine
honours. The practical result of these doctrines is,
that they expose their children, or rear them for
shameful uses ; that immorality and unnatural crimes
are legalized, and that crimes are perpetrated under
142 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
the title of religious mysteries. Surely, a religion so
uncertain in its objects of worship, whose gods are so
despicable either from their vices or from their weak-
ness, whose votaries lead such immoral lives, cannot
but be false. Him whom the heathen esteem a god,
the Christians call the devil, who will hereafter be
sent, along with his worshippers, to eternal punish-
ment. This punishment has been delayed simply
because of God's regard for the human race. The
Christians, on the other hand, live continently ; they
worship a God who delights in virtue, who made the
human race with the power of thought, and choosing
the truth, and doing what is right.
To prove the second point (c. 30-53), Justin meets,
at the outset, the objection that Christ worked His
wonderful works by magical art, and thus appeared
to be the Son of God. The Christ of prophecy can
have been no magician. The books which tell of
Him are no cunningly devised fables, framed after
the event; they were translated for a heathen king
hundreds of years before He of whom they spoke
appeared upon earth. They do not exist in rare
copies, but are in the possession of all Jews through-
cut the world. They are not the longings of one
mind and one age, but in the succession of genera-
tions during 5,000 years, prophets after prophets
arose. They are no ambiguous oracles, giving doubt-
ful and shadowy information, but they tell of his age,
nation, tribe, miraculous conception, place of birth,
miraculous powers, character, and death, together
with numerous circumstances of His life. It is not
isolated expressions, on which coincidences might be
THE GREEK APOLOGISTS. 1 43
hung, which point to Him, but whole chapters to-
gether. No man before Him has ever realized the
predictions, for they foreshadow one who should be
more than man. It must not, however, be supposed
that " whatever happens, happens by a fatal necessity,
because it is foretold as known beforehand." The
balancings of a man between good and evil, and the
very existence of good and evil, prove this. The
same Spirit which foretold future events thus taught,
: — "Behold, before thy face are good and evil; choose
the good." Nor, again, was it to be believed that men
who lived before the birth of Christ were left without
instruction. The coming Word cast its light before
it, and shone on all races of men, as well on bar-
barian as on Greek, on Socrates as on Abraham.
As independent evidence of the fulfilment of pro-
phecy, Justin adduces the case of the Jews. The
desolation of Jerusalem was prophesied, and this
very day guards are set, that no one may dwell there.
All prophecy is not as yet fulfilled, but the past
fulfilments are an earnest of the future, the First
Advent is an earnest of the Second. It was not to
the Jews alone that Christ came. He was no local
national deliverer, but one whom the prophets de-
clare will have more followers among the Gentiles
than among the Jews.
To prove the third point (c. 5 4-64), Justin brings
forward the legend of Bacchus, the horse of Belle-
rophon, the strength of Hercules, the miracles of
^Esculapius, and the works of Plato, in which he
sees manifest plagiarisms from the sacred writers.
One thing, however, the demons did not understand,
144 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
and that was the Crucifixion • and yet the form of
the cross lies at the basis of all things in the W3rld.
He traces the sign of the cross in the sail of a ship,
in the plough, in the tools of diggers and mechanics,
and in the human form. " The human form," he
says, "differs from that of the irrational animals in
nothing else than in its being erect and having the
hands extended, and having on the face extending
from the forehead what is called the nose, through
which there is respiration for the living creature ;
and this shows no other form than that of the cross."
The power of the cross he tells the heathen, is shown
by their own symbols on the banners and trophies ;
in their state processions they use it unwittingly as
the insignia of their power and government. With
this form they consecrate the images of their emperors
when they die. After these remarks, which it is
difficult to take seriously, Justin thinks he has proved
this part of his case so well, that he is blameless if
men still disbelieve.
The demons were not satisfied with anticipating
the facts of the Incarnation ; after Christ's appear-
ance they put forth men like Simon Magus, who did
mighty works by means of magic, and deceived many.
It is they who cause persecution. It is they who
put forward heretics like Marcion, who denied that
God is the creator of heaven and earth.
As the Christian assemblies had been asserted to be
immoral, Justin then gives a simple account of their
meetings for worship and the administration of their
sacraments ; and he concludes by appealing to the
Emperor to act as his father Hadrian had dpn^,
THE GREEK APOLOGISTS. 1 45
and to do this, not on the ground of Hadrian's deci-
sion, but on the ground of justice.
It may not be amiss to add here the decree of
Hadrian referred to. It is quoted by Eusebius in
his ' Ecclesiastical History,' and is undoubtedly
genuine. It throws considerable light on the rela-
tions of the common people to the Christians.
Hadrians Epistle to Minucius Fun danus, Proconsul
of Asia, circa 124.
" I have received an epistle written to me by the
most illustrious Serenius Granianus, whom you have
succeeded. I do not wish that his communication
should be passed over without examination, lest men
should be disturbed, and occasion be given to in-
formers for practising villainy. Accordingly if the
people of your province will so far sustain this peti-
tion of theirs as to accuse the Christians in some
court of law, they may pursue this course, but they
are not to proceed by mere petitions and outcries.
It is far more seemly, if any one should wish to
make an accusation, that you should examine it.
If, therefore, any one makes an accusation and
proves these men to be acting contrary to the laws,
decide the case according to the heinousness of the
offence. But if any one, by Hercules, should put
forward an accusation for mere calumny's sake, in-
vestigate the case according to its criminality, and
take care that you inflict due punishment." 1
■ Justin's Apology is said to have elicited an epistle
1 Eus. Hist. Ecc. iv. 9.
L
I46 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
of the Emperor Antoninus Pius to the Common
Assembly of Asia.1 Its authenticity is doubtful, for
the Emperor contrasts disadvantageously the heathen
with the Christians. The heathen neglect the wor-
ship of God, and persecute those who do serve Him.
The Christians are to be unmolested, unless they
attempt anything against the Roman Government;
they are not to be punished simply on the ground
of their religion. Whether this epistle is genuine or
not, it is certain Antoninus Pius issued some decrees
in favour of the Christians. Melito, in the fragment
of his Apology (ad. 170) preserved by Eusebius,
distinctly states this.2
Passing over Justin's second Apology as not re-
quiring separate attention, we come next to his
Dialogue with Trypho. It differs fundamentally in
character from the other Apologies ; it is a defence
of Christianity against the Jews, and it is based upon
the prophecies of the Old Testament. It does not
aim at proving that the Christians are worthy of
toleration, but that Jesus is the Messiah, and that
the Mosaic Law is abrogated.
In the introductory part of the work, we3 have
that interesting account of Justin's studies previous
to his becoming a Christian, and of the circumstances
of his conversion, already quoted at length. 4 In the
actual argument, Trypho admits the groundlessness
of the charges of immorality brought against the
Christians, and confesses the wonderful character of
the precepts of the Gospel ; so wonderful, indeed.
1 Eus. H. E. iv. 13. 2 lb. iv. 26.
3 Just. Dial. c. 2-8, 4 c. 10.
THE GREEK APOLOGISTS. 1 47
are these, that he suspects no man can keep them.
The objections that he brings against the Christians1
are, that, although they profess to be so pious, they
observe no festivals or sabbaths, they do not practise
the rite of circumcision, and they rest their hopes on
a nan who was crucified.
Justin's argument2 in reply is, — that the Mosaic
Law is now abrogated ; that a new covenant has
been made, as the prophets foretold ; that righteous-
ness does not consist in observing the Jewish rites,
but in the circumcision of the foreskin of the heart,
the baptism of the soul, the fast from sin, the purging
oneself from the deeds of the old leaven. He con-
siders3 that the Mosaic laws were instituted only
because of the weakness and wickedness of the Jewish
nation. Circumcision was a sign of separation from
the rest of the world, that so God's punishments
might be inflicted on the Jews, and on them alone.
They were enjoined to offer sacrifices to God, in
order that they might not offer them to idols. They
were commanded to abstain from certain meats,
lest they should wax fat and kick. Sabbaths were
instituted, because of their unrighteousness and the
unrighteousness of their fathers. That the Jewish
rites were not necessary to salvation, is proved by
the fact, that they were not enjoined on any from
Adam to Moses, and never on any but the Jews
themselves. His remarks show plainly enough, that
in his days no one had conceived the notion of
what is now called the Christian sabbath. He speaks
of circumcision, sabbaths, and feasts, as alike enjoined,
1 c. 10. 2 c. 11-24. J c- 19-22.
l 2
I48 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
because of the hardness of the hearts of the Jews,
and as alike done away in the new covenant. When
Trypho quotes against him the well-known passage in
Isaiah, Ixviii. 13, 14, concerning the sabbath, he replies,
that the observance was re-enjoined by the prophets
for the same reason that it had originally been enjoined
by Moses.
The remainder of the Dialogue is mainly taken up
with Justin's proofs, —
(1.) That Jesus is the Christ.
(2.) That Christ is God.
He rests his arguments entirely upon the prophecies
of the Old Testament.
It is difficult for any one with Western modes of
thought to estimate the force with which Justin's
arguments would fall upon one of his own race or
time. His arguments rarely appear complete. There
is always something wanting in the connection, — at
least to a matter-of-fact Western mind. Resem-
blances, analogies, and direct prophecies seem with
him to have an equal cogency. He sees and expects
Trypho, an unbelieving Jew, to see in the two goats
of the day of Atonement, the two Advents of Christ ;
in the twelve bells of the high priest, the twelve
apostles; and in the Theophanies to Abraham,
the doctrine of the Trinity. The wood of the cross
is clearly symbolized by the rod of Moses, by the
tree cast into the waters of Marah, by the rod
which Jacob put into the water-troughs, by Aaron's
rod which budded, by "the rod and the staff"
of which David speaks in the twenty-third Psalm,
and by the stick which Elisha cast into the Jordan,
that the iron might swim. Leah and Rachel
THE GREEK APOLOGISTS. 149
represented the Jews and Gentiles; for both of them,
Christ, typified by Jacob, became a servant. The
speckled and many-spotted sheep, Jacob's allotted
hire, were the various and many-formed races of
mankind which Christ purchased by His blood. Leah
was weak-eyed, and the eyes of the souls of the Jews
were excessively weak. Rachel stole Laban's gods,
and has hid them to this day, and the Christians
have lost their ancestral gods of wood and stone.
Justin, in dealing with the prophecies ot the Old
Testament, seems to start with the assumption that
every sentence may be severed from its context, and
interpreted according to pleasure ; that any allusion
or coincidence thus obtained to the life, teaching,
or nature of Jesus, proves cither the passage to be
a prophecy, or Jesus to be the Christ. It is hardly
to be wondered at that he thus failed in dealing with
the evidence of prophecy. The subject was in itself
exceedingly difficult. No sound rules for his guidance
had been laid down ; he does not seem to have
had any special qualifications for his task ; his judg-
ment seems to have been faulty, and his imagination
excessive.
The death upon the cross was the great stumbling-
block to Trypho. He made no great difficulty in
admitting the doctrine of a suffering Messiah, but he
could not believe that He would be shamefully cruci-
fied.2 It is impossible to suppose that his difficulties
would in any way be removed by Justin's enumeration
of those passages of the Old Testament in which he
thought the cross was typified, — doubtful allusions,
1 Just. Dial. c. S). " c. gx
150 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
at the very best, they could have no argumentative
force to an unbeliever.1 When confronted by the
text, " Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree,"
Justin replies very differently to some in the present
day.2 He allows that Christ was cursed, not, how-
ever, by God, but by the Jews, who cursed both Him
and those that believed on Him.
As a defence of Christianity against the Jews,
Justin's Dialogue with Trypho is of little value to us.
Its chief value consists in the view it gives of the
principles of interpretation prevalent at the time,
and in the testimony it gives that the story of Christ's
life, then current, was substantially the same as that
contained in the Gospels. It is obvious that a work
like this has very little in common with the other
Apologies.
TATIAN. CIRCA 150 A.D.
There is something melancholy in considering
Tatian's address to the Greeks ; for this defender of
the faith ultimately made shipwreck of his own, and
founded an heretical sect. He rejected marriage as
impure, and refused the meats which God created to
be received with thanksgiving. His heresy appears to
have been similar to that condemned by St. Paul in his
Epistle to the Colossians. " Touch not, taste not, handle
not," would seem to have been one of his principles.
He is said to have composed a harmony of the four
Gospels, and to have left out all the parts that related
to the Incarnation and the true manhood of Christ.
1 c. 91-97. - z. 94-96.
THE GREEK APOLOGISTS. 151
Tatian writes as a barbarian to Greeks, and he
scoffs at the Greek pride, and the Greek philosophy,
and the Greek religion. He had been a great pro-
ficient in their wisdom, and had been admitted to
their mysteries. He had examined their religious
rites, and found they sanctioned wickedness. Dis-
gusted with all, he retired by himself to discover the
truth ; and, he says, " While I was giving my most
earnest attention to the matter, I happened to meet
with certain Barbaric writings, too old to be com-
pared with the opinions of the Greeks, and too divine
to be compared with their errors ; and I was led to
put faith in these by the unpretending cast of the
language, inartificial character of the writers, the
foreknowledge displayed of future events, the excel-
lent quality of the precepts, and the declaration of
the government of the universe as centred in one
Being ; and my soul being taught of God, I discerned
that the former (Greek philosophy) set of writings
leads to condemnation, but that these put an end
to the slavery that is in the world, and rescue us
from a multiplicity of rulers and ten thousand tyrants;
while they give us, not indeed what we had not
before received, but what we had received, but were
prevented by error from retaining (c. 30). Therefore,
being initiated and instructed in these things, I wish
to put away my former errors as the follies of
childhood."
The Greek religion is regarded by Tatian as demon-
worship (c. 8, 10). The demons have reduced men
to slavery, and perverted their minds from heavenly
things by a deceptive display of power; they are the
152 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
examples of all crime (c. 16, 17). The depravity of
man is the secret of their strength, for they minister
to men's lusts (c. 17, 19). He rejects the Greek
philosophy on account of its arrogant, unpractical,
and indefinite nature (c. 2, 3), and because of the
vices, errors, and quarrels of the philosophers. He
speaks bitterly throughout (c. 25, 27). His Chris-
tianity had not made him a happy man (c. 32).
The shadow of his apostasy seems to be cast before.
Gnostic tendencies can be traced in his Apology (c. T2,
13, 15, 16); but inasmuch as he believed that the
world was created by the Word (c. 5), that the body
would rise again (c. 6), and that no distinction was to
be made between Christians (c. 32), it cannot be
said that these tendencies had attained as yet a high
degree of development.
ATHENAGORAS. DATE OF APOLOGY, 1 77 A.D.
Athenagoras next claims our attention. He, like
Justin, when he became a Christian, did not cease
to be a philosopher. He styles himself Christian
and philosopher, in the title of his Apology. If we
may believe a tradition of the 5th century, he was
converted to Christianity whilst presiding over the
Academic School at Alexandria.1 It was his object,
like Celsus, to write against the Christians. For this
purpose he studied the Divine Scriptures, and while
thus engaged, he was himself caught by the All-Holy.
1 So Philip of Side. See Art. "Athenagoras," Smith's
Dictionary of Christian Biography.
THE GREEK APOLOGISTS. 1 53
Spirit, so that, like Paul, he became a teacher of the
faith which once he persecuted. He addressed his
"Embassy" for the Christians, about the year 177
a.d., " to the Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Corn-
modus, conquerors of Armenia and Sarmatia ; and
more than all, philosophers." His opening words
are remarkable, and show the grounds on which he
claimed toleration.
" In your empire," he says, "greatest of sovereigns,
different nations have different customs and laws ;
and no one is hindered by law or fear of punishment
from following his ancestral usages, however ridicu-
lous these may be. A citizen of Ilium calls Hector
a god, and pays divine honours to Helen, taking her
for Adrasteia. The Lacedaemonian venerates Aga-
memnon as Zeus, and Phylonoe the daughter of
Tyndarus, and the men of Tenedos worship Tennes.
The Athenian sacrifices to Erectheus as Poseidon. The
Athenians also perform religious rites and celebrate
mysteries in honour of Agraulus and Pandrosus,
women who were deemed guilty of impiety for opening
the box. In short, among every nation and people,
men offer whatever sacrifices, and celebrate whatever
mysteries, they please. The Egyptians reckon among
their gods, even cats, and crocodiles, and serpents,
and asps, and dogs. And to all these, both you and
the laws give permission so to act ; deeming, on the
one hand, that belief in no god at all is impious and
wicked ; and on the other, that it is necessary for each
man to worship the gods he prefers, in order that
through the fear of the deity, man may be kept from
wrong-doing."
154 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
Why, he goes on to ask, is a mere name odious
to you ? Names are not deserving of hatred ; it is the
unjust act that calls for punishment. Throughout the
empire all enjoy equal rights and profound peace ;
all, except the Christians. Not that they had com-
mitted any wrong. Nay ! as he will show, they are
of all men most piously and righteously disposed
toward God and the rulers of the State, and yet it
was allowed to the multitude to harass, plunder, and
persecute them simply for their name. He ventures
to lay a statement of their case before the emperors.
If any can convict them of a crime, be it great or
small, they do not ask to be excused from judgment
(c. 2); but if the accusations relate only to the name,
if they rest only on popular talk, then it behoves the
emperors to take legal measures for the removal of this
despiteful treatment. Three charges, he says, were
brought against the Christians, Atheism, Thyestean
Feasts, ^dipodean intercourse (c. 3). If they are
true, destroy us, root and branch, with our wives and
children. If they are only idle tales and empty slan-
ders, you ought to make inquiries concerning our
life, our opinions, and our loyalty, and grant us the
same rights as our persecutors.
Athenagoras then proceeds to defend the Christians
on the three charges. The Christians were not atheists;
they worshipped one God, and there could not be
more than one. They did not worship images, for
they distinguished God from material substances.
They did not worship nature, they reckoned it to be
only God's house, and they looked beyond to Him
who made it. They did not worship the gods of the
THE GREEK APOLOGISTS. I 55
heathen, for they were but of yesterday, they had
bodily form and fleshly desires. Poets and philoso-
phers agreed with Christians here. It was the evil
spirits, greedy of sacrificial odours and the bloud of
victims, who had seduced the ignorant to worship gods
like these.
The stories of impious feasts had, he says, been
made up, to justify the popular hatred, to terrify the
Christians themselves, and to induce the ruler to deal
harshly with them. He remarks that it has always
been common for vice to make war on virtue. But
the emperors, who excel in intelligence, must know,
that that life which is directed towards God as its rule,
is likely to be the most pure. The Christians' account
is not with human laws, which a bad man can evade.
They know that they are liable to God for the looks
of their eyes, and the very thoughts of their hearts.
Oh, what a difference there is between them and the
heathen, with their impurities, and unnatural crimes,
and their gladiatorial contests ! The accusations
brought are an example of the proverb, " The harlot
reproves the chaste." The Christians will not even
look upon murders in the games, how, then, is it likely
that they will themselves commit murder? They believe
in the resurrection of the dead, how is likely that they
should make themselves tombs for bodies that will rise
again ? He concludes with the following appeal : —
" And now do you, who are entirely in everything,
by nature and by education, upright, and moderate,
and benevolent, and worthy of your rule, now that
I have disposed of the several accusations, and proved
that we are pious, and gentle, and temperate in spirit,
T 56 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
bend your royal head in approval ; for who are more
deserving to obtain the things that they ask, than
those who, like us, pray for your government, that you
may, as is most equitable, receive the kingdom, son
from father, and that your empire may receive in-
crease and addition, all men becoming subject to
your sway ? And this is also for our advantage, that
we mny lead a peaceable and quiet life, and may
ourselves readily perform all that is commanded
us."
The "Embassy" of Athenagoras is a model apology.
Its author had a clear conception of the arguments
likely to attain his end ; he knew how far to go, and
when to stop. There was no danger in attacking the
heathen religion and mythology in a work addressed
to a philosopher like Marcus Aurelius ; philosophers
before him had done the same thing. Athenagoras
studiously endeavours to place the Christians on the
same footing with them ; he uses their writings to
show the reasonableness of Christian doctrine, and
he is very sparing in his censure of them. On the
other hand, he does not enter into minute discussion
of Christian doctrines, or detailed accounts of Chris-
tian ceremonies, like Justin. He was simply endea-
vouring to deliver the Christians from persecution by
clearing them from the charge of impiety and immo-
rality, and all his statements have reference to this.
His object is, to show that the Christian religion is at
least as worthy of toleration as many others which
the State tolerated without difficulty. The modera-
tion, and elegance, and judgment, with which he
states his case, are worthy of all praise.
THE GREEK APOLOGISTS. 157
EPISTLE TO DIOGNETUS. 1 50 A.D. CIRCA.
The Epistle to Diognetus is a very interesting anony-
mous fragment. Its first chapter gives us some of the
points in Christian life and character which specially
attracted the attention of the heathen, and led them
to be curious about the Christians' God and the
Christian religion.
Diognetus had observed that the Christians looked
down upon the world, and despised death. He had
noticed that they neither reverenced the Greek gods,
nor held to the Jewish religion. He saw also that
they' cherished a remarkable affection amongst them-
selves. In consequence he inquired very earnestly and
carefully in what God they trusted, and what religion
they observed, and why it had been so late in entering
into the world. The author of the letter to him
cordially welcomes this desire, and prays God that
he may speak to edification.
The author realizes very vividly the wretched state
of the world before the coming of the Word. The
heathen were worshipping images of wood and stone.
The Jews were worshipping the true God in a wrong
way. The doctrines of those philosophers deemed
trustworthy, were vain and silly. God appeared to
neglect men, and to have no care for them. He per-
mitted them to be borne along by unruly impulses.
Then, when it was manifest that we in ourselves were
unable to enter into the kingdom of God, when our
wickedness had reached its height, and punishment
and death were impending over us — the one love of
God did not remember our iniquity against us, but
15S DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
showed great long-suffering and bore with us. " He
Himself took on Him the burden of our iniquities,
He gave His own Son as a ransom for us, the Holy
One for transgressors, the Blameless One for the
wicked, the Righteous One for the unrighteous, the
Incorruptible One for the corruptible, the Immortal
One for them that are mortal. For what other thing
was capable of covering our sins than His righteous-
ness ? By what other one was it possible that we,
the wicked and ungodly, could be justified than by
the only Son of God ? O sweet exchange ! O un-
searchable operation ! O benefits surpassing all ex-
pectation ! that the wickedness of many should be
hid in a single Righteous One, and that the righteous-
ness of One should justify many transgressors.
Having, therefore, convinced us in the former time
that our nature was unable to attain to life, and having
now revealed the Saviour, who is able to save even
those things which it was impossible to save, — by both
these facts God desired to lead us to trust in His kind-
ness, to esteem Him our Nourisher, Father, Teacher,
Counsellor, Healer, our Wisdom, Light, Honour,
Glory, Power, and Life, so that we should not be
anxious about food or clothing."
We do not often meet with passages like this in the
Apologies. In fact, this letter is rather an exhortation
than an apology. It makes no allusion to the charges
brought against the Christians.
THE GREEK APOLOGISTS. 1 59
THEOPHILUS,
BISHOP OF ANTIOCH. l68-l8l OR 186 A.D.
The three letters of Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch,
to Autolycus, a heathen, may be passed over with a
very slight notice. We know little of Theophilus
himself; but it is worth noticing that he, too, owed
his conversion to the reading of the Scriptures. He
met with the writings of the prophets, and studied
the prophecies, and believed (ij 14). Perhaps it is in
consequence of this that he gives, in great detail, the
Old Testament history, and lays great stress on the
accurate and ancient information therein contained.
His object seems to be to induce Autolycus to enter
upon the same study (ii. 4-8). He contrasts the dis-
cordant and foolish statements of the poets and
philosophers with the consistent, and harmonious, and
God-inspired utterances of the long line of Hebrew
prophets (ii. 9). Along with these he classes the
Greek Sibyl, and he quotes from her at length an
exhortation to forsake the worship of images, and to
worship the one Supreme God, the Maker of heaven
and earth (ii. 36). He rebuts the usual accusations
in the usual way.
CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, TEACHER OF THE CATE-
CHETICAL SCHOOL AT ALEXANDRIA. IOO-200 A.D.
Clement of Alexandria's address to the Greeks is
quite as much hortatory as apologetic. He attacks
100 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
the heathen religion, but does not defend the Chris-
tians from accusation. He endeavours to attract to
Christianity by a description of the beauty of its
doctrines. The spirit of the whole work is best illus-
strated by its opening chapter.
In the Greek legends certain minstrels were re-
nowned for the power of their song. Amphion of
Thebes had allured fishes, Arion of Methymna had
surrounded Thebes with walls, by the power of music.
The Thracian Orpheus had tamed wild beasts and
transplanted trees, by the might of his song. "Do you
believe," says Clement, " all these vain fables, and are
you only incredulous concerning the Truth? Let us
bring down from heaven, Truth, with Wisdom in all her
brightness, and the sacred prophetic choir. Let her
cast her rays all round on those sitting in darkness.
Let all men cease to listen to their old, deceiving,
demon-inspired hymns, and listen to the new, and
immortal, and divine songs. Those minstrels were
all deceivers, unworthy of the name, by their songs
and incantations corrupting human life under the
pretence of poetry, possessed with a spirit of sorcery
for the purposes of destruction, celebrating crime,
enticing to idols, bringing into bondage the free citi-
zens of heaven. Not such is my song. It has come
to loose, and that speedily, the bitter bondage of the
tyrant demons, and to lead us back to the mild and
loving yoke of piety : it recalls to heaven those who
have been cast prostrate to the earth. It alone has
tamed men, the most intractable of animals. Men
were like the beasts, nay, were like the stocks and
stones in their stupidity, like the serpents in their
THE GREEK APOLOGISTS. l6l
deceitfulness, like the wolves in their rapacity. But
all such most savage beasts, and all such blocks of
stone, the heavenly song has transformed into tract-
able men. Behold the might of the new song ! It
has made men out of stones, men out of beasts. The
dead, even, have heard it, and have become partakers
of the true life. The universe has been composed by
it into melodious order, the discord of the elements
has been tuned, so that the whole world has become
harmony. This deathless strain has reached from
pole to pole, and has harmonized all things according
to the paternal counsel of God. On man himself,
composed of body and soul, a microcosm, an instru-
ment of many strings, tuned by the Holy Spirit, the
Word of God makes melody. A beautiful breathing
instrument of music the Lord made man. He is
God's lute and harp, and to Him he sings accordant.
The Celestial Word is also Himself the melodious
holy instrument of God. He is the New Song, This
instrument of God loves mankind. Many are the
tones in in which He speaks to them. Sometimes
He upbraids, sometimes He threatens, some men He
mourns over, some men He cheers with His melody.
To all He speaks, and calls them to salvation, and
rescues them from the wicked tyrant who binds them
fast"
The whole exhortation is only an expansion of the
ideas contained here. We have an exposure of the
heathen mythology, the opinions of philosophers, and
the fables of the poets. At the same time it is con-
fessed that Plato and others touched the truth. The
Scriptures (in which term he includes the Sibyl) alone
M
j 62 DEFENDERS Ot THE FAITH.
present us with the appliances necessary for the attain-
ment of piety. Devoid of outward beauty and em-
bellishment, they raise up humanity strangled by
wickedness, to despise the casualties of life. The
prophets form one harmonious choir under one leader
and teacher — The Word. They attain to and rest in
the same truth, and cry, Abba, Father. Clement pic-
tures the great blessings offered to the world by Christ.
He describes Him as inviting all to come to Him.
He urges all to hasten to accept the invitation.
It will thus be seen that this work of Clement,
though commonly included amongst the Apologies,
is really an exhortation to the heathen to become
Christians. Its idea cannot be better expressed than
in the words of a modern hymn : —
Come, weary souls, for Jesus bids you come :
And through the dark, its echoes sweetly ringing,
The music of the Gospel leads us home.
ORIGEN. 185-255 A.D.
Origen's life is far too vast a subject to deal with
in a paragraph, and so we shall leave it untouched,
and confine our attention to the Apology which
he wrote. In one respect this is unique amongst
early Apologies. It is not a general but a particular
defence. It is an answer to a book written by a
philosopher called Celsus, seventy years before.
Origen's method is to take and refute seriatim the
different accusations brought by him.
THE GREEK APOLOGISTS. 1 63
As we have already seen, Celsus was not a formid-
able antagonist. He knew many things about, but not
much of, Christianity. He was well acquainted with
the Gospel narrative, the Old Testament Scriptures,
and . the many legends which popular rumour, the
malice of the Jews, and the unrestrained imagination
of the heretics, had invented concerning Christians
and their religion. But he had no notion of Chris-
tianity as a whole. He attacks particular points in
it without considering them as parts of a system.
He makes no consistent attack. His idea seems to
be, that if he throws enough mud some of it will be
sure to stick. He brings the ordinary accusations
against the Christians, but with this difference, he
endeavours to trace them home to the spirit of
Christianity. Like others he charges them with im-
morality (iii. 59, 64, 73, 74), and this is natural
enough, for the worst of men are invited to their
society (i. 62, 63). He charges them with foolishness,
and what are they always saying, but " Do not ex-
amine, but believe" (i. 9. 13). " The wisdom of this
world is foolishness." He charges them with impiety,
and, confounding them with the Gnostic heretics
called Ophites, he declares it is part of their belief to
execrate the Creator of the world.
Origen's defence necessarily took its form from the
attack. He takes each statement of Celsus and in-
vestigates it separately. He clears away misrepre-
sentations. He distinguishes between Catholics and
Heretics, and he adduces the evidences of prophecy
and miracles. Probably the extracts from Celsus are
to us the most valuable part of Origen's work. There
M 2
164 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
are extant many early Apologies for Christianity, but
no complete early attack. It is important that we
should be able to realize what appearance Christianity
presented to the heathen of those early times, and
this Origen's extracts effect for us in some measure.1
1 See p. 1 20.
THE LATIN APOLOGISTS. 165
CHAPTER VIII.
THE LATIN APOLOGISTS.
We pass on to consider the Latin Apologists, who
lived in the 3rd century a.d. We do not find them, as
we might have expected, in the Church of Rome.
In these early times she was distinguished rather for
her zeal for the purity of the faith than for her learn-
ing. The African Church, now so utterly fallen to
decay, gave to the Christians the earliest defenders
who wrote in the Latin tongue.
TERTULLIAN. I5O-22O A.D.
The first in time, and in other respects the most
important of all the Latin Apologists, is Tertullian.
Of his life we know little, but his works are most
numerous and valuable, and leave untouched few
points relating to Christian faith and practice.
Amongst them are contained four treatises of an
Apologetic nature. Two only need be considered
by us, his " Apologetic Book/' and his " Testimony
of the Soul."
The Apology. — No early defence of the Christians
can be compared in force and completeness with the
"Apologetic Book" of Tertullian. We miss, indeed,
t66 defenders of the faith.
that moderation, and elegance, and wide sympathy,
which are found so markedly in the " Embassy " of
Athenagoras. One cannot help feeling that Tertullian's
logic was too keen for his purpose. He seems to wish
to prove his case, rather than to win his cause. It
was dangerous and impolitic to press home argu-
ments, when the enemy had material power on his
side. Retort was out of place in an Apology. It
only embittered the controversy, and conciliation was
required. Such considerations were, however, quite
beneath Tertullian's notice. He seems to have been
of a stern and harsh character. His own religion,
and his judgment on that of others, were hard and
unsympathizing. Hence we find him attacking the
heathen with relentless vigour. His is not the tone
of a suppliant pleading for toleration. He demands
justice. Arraigned as a criminal at the bar, he
accuses and condemns his judges.
His Apology was addressed to the governors and
proconsulars of Africa, and was written almost exactly
at the commencement of the third century. Like
most of the Apologies, it is an appeal to the autho-
rities that the Christians should not be condemned
unheard. Tertullian opens his case by objecting to
the mode of procedure at the trials. The forms of
law were not observed. The accused were not
allowed to defend themselves against the popular
accusations. Their treatment was wholly different
from that adopted at the trials of other criminals.
When accused of the crime of Christianity, confession
of guilt was followed by torture to force them to a
denial of guilt. On the other hand, a denial of their
TKE LATIN APOLOGISTS. 1 67
guilt wa~s at once accepted, and they were let go free.
Inasmuch as, in the courts, all turned on the answer to
the question, " Are you a Christian 1 " it came to pass
that the title Christian summed up in one word all
the reproaches and accusations which the hatred of
the times had invented. What is there in this name
to excite your hatred ? whether it be Christian, which
speaks of anointing and Christ our founder, or
Chrestian, as you wrongly call it, which tells of sweet-
ness and benignity.
Proceeding from the trial to the accusation (c. 4),
Tertullian is the first of the Apologists who goes
fairly into the charge, that the Christians formed a
body unrecognized by law.
When the Christians had been able to prove their
innocence of the crimes charged against them, their
accusers fell back on the authority of the laws, and
said, " It is not lawful for you to exist." Tertullian
argues that justice is the foundation of law. A thing
should be unlawful, not because men wish it so to be,
but because it ought so to be. This particular law
has not dropped down from heaven ; if it is a bad one,
it can be repealed. Laws have been changed, are
being changed every day, and many still require to be
changed ; then why not this, if reason be shown ? He
remarks that the laws against the Christians were only
enforced- by unjust and wicked emperors, — emperors
like Nero, the first to assail them, and like Domitian,
a man of the same type in cruelty; emperors like
Trajan, Antoninus Pius, or Marcus Aurelius, had
never persecuted them.1 " What sort of laws," he
1 Facts seem to be against Tertullian here.
l68 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
asks, " are these which the impious only use against
us ? Moreover, who are you, that you should set
yourselves up as protectors of the laws and institutions
of your fathers ? Where is the ancient simplicity of
life, and purity of morals ? It is utterly gone. What
has become of your ancient religion ? You have
introduced new gods. In your dress, your food, your
style of life, in your opinions, and even in your speech,
you have renounced your ancestors.
Proceeding to the charges of immorality, Tertullian
argues that they rest, notwithstanding watches and
surprises, on rumour only. " Everybody knows what
sort of a thing rumour is ; it is essentially lying.
Even its truths are mixed with falsehood ; it is the
very designation of uncertainty. It has no place
when proof is given and the truth is known. Does
any but a fool put his trust in it ? Yet it is the only
witness you can bring against us (c. 8). Moreover,
these charges are intrinsically improbable. Human
nature is incapable of such baseness. Christians are
men as well as you." Then, curiously but charac-
teristically enough, Tertullian turns round (c. 9), and
retorts the same charges against the heathen ; in so
doing, he overthrows, of course, this last argument.
The theological charge next receives his attention
(c. 10). " You do not," said the heathen, " worship the
gods, and you do not offer sacrifice to the Emperor."
His answer is, " No, we do not ; for the gods you
worship are no gods at all." To prove his point he
examines the statements made concerning them in
"heathen books ; he shows that they are not gods by
nature, but originally men ; that they were not made
THE LATIN APOLOGISTS. 169
gods, either because the great God needed their aid,
or wished to reward their merit (c. 11). The God
who created and ordered the world in the beginning,
needed no help from men for the governing of it.
The merits of the heathen deities were not of a kind
to have raised them to heaven, but rather to have
sunk them into the lowest depths of hell. As for the
images of the gods, in what do they differ from
common vessels and utensils ?
He draws an amusing parallel between the making
of images and the persecuting of Christians. The
heathen make gods in the same way that they kill
Christians. " In their fashioning you fix them to
frames, and in our execution you fix us to crosses
and stakes ; you tear our sides with claws, you use
axes, and planes, and rasps on every member of their
body. We are headless when you have done your
worst upon us, they are headless before you have
used your lead, and glue, and nails. You drive us to
wild beasts, and lions and tigers are their constant
attendants. We are burnt in the fire, and so is the
metal of which they are composed. We are con-
demned to the mines, and from thence their original
lump came. We are banished to islands, — in islands
it is common for the gods to be born or to die.
Spite of all this, 'They are gods to us,' you say (c. 12).
Indeed ! How is it, then, that you are convicted of im-
pious and sacrilegious conduct to them? With you,
deity depends upon a decision of the Senate. With
you, gods are pledged, sold, broken up, changed into
cooking-pots and firepans. With you, deity is made
a gain of and farmed out to the highest bidder. The
I JO DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
more sacred a god is, the larger is the tax he pays.
Majesty is made a source of gain. Religion goes
about the taverns begging. You enrol amongst your
ancient gods your prostitutes, and sorcerers, and infa-
mous court pages (c. 14). You offer as sacrifices
diseased and dying animals (c. 15). You insult your
objects of worship, in your books and theatres by
your scoffs, in their temples and at their very altars
by your crimes " (c. 16).
After denying the truth of certain absurd stories as
to the object of the Christian worship, Tertullian
describes what that object really is (c. 17). It is the
one God, the Creator of all things, Invisible, Incom-
prehensible, the true God because immensely great.
To Him His great and manifold works, and the
simple soul of man bear witness (c. 18). Not these
alone, His written Word also, — the writings of just
men on whom He poured His Spirit; ancient writings,
as the facts of history show (c. 1 9) ; true writings, as
the fulfilment of prophecy proves (c. 20).
Up to this point, no Christian, as distinguished from
Jewish, elements, have been introduced ; but now
Tertullian states the fundamental distinction between
Judaism and Christianity (c. 21). The Jews consider
Christ to be a mere man ; the Christians believe Him
to be God. He describes the nature of Christ's
divinity. He is the Word of God, by whom all things
were made. As the rays proceed forth from the sun,
and there is no division, so the Son of God came
forth from His Father, and yet the two are one. The
Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us, and
proved His divinity by His wonderful works in His,
THE LATIN APOLOGISTS. 171
life, and His death, and His resurrection. Of these
things Pilate was a witness, who sent an account of
them to Tiberius.1 Is there, then, anything in the
origin and Founder of our Name that should cause
you to persecute it so cruelly? Your duty is to
search and see whether the divinity of Christ is true.
If the acceptance of its truth transforms a man and
makes him truly good, then you are bound (as we
have felt ourselves already) to renounce the worship
of other gods.
Tertullian now describes what the heathen worship
really is. It is worship of demons. It is they who
give to the heathen religion its power over men.
They are the cause of all the mischief on the face of
the world. Their great business is the ruin of man-
kind. Still, all unwillingly, they are most effective
witnesses for Christ. When those possessed by them
are brought to us, and we adjure them in the name of
Christ, they confess what they are, even the gods you
worship, and they bear testimony to the truth of
Christian doctrine. Fearing Christ in God, and God
in Christ, they become subject to the servants of God
and Christ (c. 23). So at one touch and breathing,
overwhelmed by the thought and realization of the
judgment fires, they leave at our command the bodies
they have entered, unwilling and distressed, and put
to open shame (c. 24). The whole confession of
these beings, in which they declare they are no gods,
and that there is no God but one, — the God whom
we adore, is quite sufficient to clear us from the crime
of treason against the Roman religion. If these gods
1 Tertullian is probably here referring to a Christian forgery.
1 72 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
have no existence, there is no religion in the case.
Even if they have an existence, is it not generally held
that there is One above them? Can we give His
glory to another ? Under any circumstances is un-
willing homage of any value? All other nations,
provinces, and even cities, have their own gods, why
should we only be prevented from having a religion
of our own?
The objection is now started, If the Christian
theory is true, the heathen gods are no gods at all,
and yet history shows that the Romans have been
prosperous because they have been pious. Tertul-
lian is treading on delicate ground now, and he is
not the man to tread delicately (c. 25, 26). He
proves, and proves conclusively, that history does not
bear out this theory. The Romans were great before
they were religious ; they triumphed over gods, and
not till then worshipped them. But he is not satisfied
with this. He finds instances where the gods did
not exercise their power in the defence of their wor-
shippers, and he brings these forward as proofs
of want of power. Non-exercise of Divine power,
according to Tertullian, proves its non-existence.
Every martyrdom showed the fallacy of this argument.
The last charge Tertullian meets is that of treason
against the Emperor (c. 28). It was based simply
on the fact that the Christians refused to pay him
divine worship (c. 28-36). As Tertullian explains,
the Christian religion forbids its followers to invoke
a mere man — even the ruler of the world ; but it
requires them to invoke God for his safety, and to
pay him the respect due to his position and to the
THE LATIN APOLOGISTS. I 73
minister of God (c. 32). They have special reasons
for their prayers, for with the fall of the Roman
empire will come the violent commotions which are
impending over the whole world. As usual, Ter-
tullian is not satisfied with showing that the Christians
are loyal, but he proceeds to show that they alone are
loyal (c. 35-36), he points to the prevalence of treason.
In spite of the provocation the Christians have re-
ceived, their names are not to be found in the lists of
conspirators ; their numbers make them formidable,
but their principles make them harmless (c. 37).
Tertullian next explains (c. 38, 39) the nature of
the Christian Society, with the intention of showing
that it contains none of the characteristics of a faction,
nothing to make it formidable to the State, and,
therefore, nothing to prevent its toleration. He
asserts (c. 40) that the Christians, so far from being
the cause of public calamity, have been in reality the
very salt of the earth. He meets and denies the
charge of unprofitableness in the concerns of life
(c. 42). He boasts of the superior morality of the
Christians (c. 43, 44), and ascribes it to their rule of
life, which is not human, but divine (c. 45).
And now we notice one of the characteristics of
the Latin Apologists (c. 46) : he is most anxious to
maintain the independent claims of Christianity. Un-
belief, convinced of the worth of Christianity, sug-
gested that it was, notwithstanding, not really divine,
but only a kind of philosophy. Innocence, justice, pa-
tience, sobriety, and chastity, were just the very things
which the philosophers counselled and professed.
" Is this so ?" says Tertullian, " then why do you not
174 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
treat us like the philosophers ? No one compels a
philosopher to sacrifice or take an oath. Nay, they
openly overthrow your gods, and you applaud them
for it. But are we, indeed, like the philosophers?
Far from it. The name of philosophers drives out
no wicked spirits ; philosophers merely affect to hold
the truth, and all the while they corrupt it. We
Christians ardently and intensely long for it, and
maintain it in its integrity. We are like philosophers
neither in our knowledge nor in our ways. The
philosophers do not know God ; but He has been
revealed to us. The philosophers do not practise
the virtues they recommend : we must and do. No
doubt the teachings of the philosophers and the
Christians are, in some respects, similar (c. 47). The
reason is, the poets and sophists have drunk from
the fountain of the prophets. At least we are entitled
to argue that our doctrines are not utterly foolish,
if like to those of your wisest men (c. 49). The
ideas, which in them are called sublime speculations
and illustrious discoveries, cannot be called in us
presumptuous speculations. If they are men of
wisdom, we cannot be fools."
Tertullian concludes by appealing against the
heathen cruelty (c. 50). The Christians glory in their
sufferings, but they do not suffer willingly. They
desire to suffer as the soldier longs for war. In
suffering they reap glory and spoil, and in death
they win the victory. The cruelty of the heathen
is of no avail ; the blood of the martyrs is the seed
of the Church ; the deeds of the Christians find more
disciples than the words of the philosophers. No
THE LATIN APOLOGISTS. 1 75
one who sees the fortitude of the Christians, fails
to inquire what is the cause of it ; no one who
has inquired, fails to embrace their doctrines ; no
one who has embraced their doctrines, is unwilling
to suffer for them, and thus obtain from God full
forgiveness.
Tertullian's Apology is remarkable for its arrange-
ment. He had a definite plan, and he always kept
to it. He shows great discretion in the choice of his
authorities. Elsewhere, he constantly quotes the
Scriptures ; here, very rarely. When he alludes to
them, it is not to appeal to their authority but as
containing information on Christian doctrine. What-
ever its faults, the Apology of Tertullian holds the
first place among the apologies of the age. It
meets the accusations fully and completely, and so
accomplishes its chief purpose. No one can fail to
admire its earnest spirit. Although narrow and harsh
in its judgments, it is the warm appeal of a warm
heart.
The Testimony of the Soul. — We must not pass
over, without notice, the argument against heathenism
we find in Tertullian's treatise 'On the Testimony of
the Soul.' He alone, of all the Apologists, refuses
to search heathen literature for testimonies in favour
of Christianity. Such arguments, he conceived, were
easily set aside ; they required great research for
their acquisition, and a retentive memory for their
use. So, in their place, he calls in a new witness,
a witness more simple and better known — The soul
of man ; meaning thereby that part of man's nature
which makes him a rational being in the highest
176 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
degree capable of thought and knowledge. He will
not have, indeed, the soul trained, and fashioned
in, and corrupted by, the wisdom of the world,
but the soul simple, rude, unlearned, untaught,
as far as might be, except by itself and its Author.
Not yet Christian, he presses it for a testimony
on behalf of Christians. He draws this testimony
from certain expressions which it uses naturally
and constantly. When expressing its hopes and
wishes, it does not invoke the gods for help, but
it says, " Which may God grant," " If God so will."
It thus acknowledges that there is One who is God
and Sovereign. Yet again, it says, " God is good,"
and "God does good," and thus it declares the nature
of God ; and, by contrast, it seems to imply that man
is evil, and has departed from God. It says, " God
sees all ; I commend thee to God :" " May God
repay"; " God shall judge betwixt us"; and thus it
confesses God's providence, His power, His justice,
and a future retribution. It gives these testimonies
whilst in the temples, and whilst engaged in the sacred
rites. In the immediate presence of its gods, it appeals
to the God who is elsewhere. And, besides, it gives
a testimony to the immortality of the soul. When
it speaks of the dead, it says, " Poor man." Why
is a dead man poor, if he has lost the burden of life,
and is beyond the feeling of pain? It curses the dead
who have wronged it, and it blesses the dead to whom
it is indebted for favours. It thus shows that they
are not, in its idea, beyond the reach of blessing and
curse. It says of one lately dead, " He is gone."
He is expected to return, then. Nor can these
THE LATIN APOLOGISTS. 1 77
testimonies be considered frivolous or feeble when
it is recollected that the soul derives all its knowledge
from Nature, and that Nature's teachings are derived
from God. Is it a wonderful thing that, fallen though
it is, it cannot forget its Creator, His goodness and
His law, and its own end? Is it wonderful that, being
divine in its origin, its revelation agrees with those
made by God to His people in the Jewish Scriptures?
There is an obvious answer to this argument which
Tertullian mentions. The expressions he has alleged
may be only an accommodation to existing prejudices;
they may have had their origin and become common
from arguments used in books. To meet this, he
appeals to the nature of language. A word is but an
embodiment of a thought : thoughts are the offspring
of the soul ; words existed long before books ; before
the cultivated poet or philosopher came the rude and
simple man. We have then to search for the origin
of such expressions in the nature of man, who found
need for them as expressing some deep feeling within
him, or some truth which had been revealed to him
from the beginning. If, indeed, the soul has taken
them from writings at all, it must have done so from
the earlier and not later ones, and the Scriptures
of God are much more ancient than any secular
literature.
And so Tertullian calls upon the heathen to give
credence to the witness of the soul. He asks them
to consider how it is it uses Christian phrases,
though it hates Christians. From the whole wide
world its testimony comes. "There is not a soul
of man that does not," he says, ' from the light that
n
178 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
is in itself, proclaim the very things we are not per-
mitted to speak above our breath. Most justly, then,
every soul is a culprit as well as a witness. In the
measure that it testifies for truth, the guilt of error
lies on it. On the day of judgment it will stand
before the courts of God without a word to say.
Thou proclaimedst God, O soul, but thou didst not
seek to know Him. Evil spirits were detested by
thee, and yet they were the objects of thy adoration ;
the punishments of hell were foreseen by thee, but
no care was taken to avoid them ; thou hadst a
savour of Christianity, and withal wert the persecutor
of Christians."
MINUCIUS FELIX. 200-2 50 A.D. CIRCA.
The Octavius of Minucius Felix is a lively and
elegant Apology in the form of a dialogue between a
Christian, Octavius (whence its name), and a heathen,
Caecilius. It is remarkable for giving a clear and
complete picture of the Christians and their religion
as they appeared in the eyes of the heathen world.
In the introduction Minucius describes Octavius, then
dead, as his most intimate friend. " He had been,"
he says, " my confidant in my love affairs, and my
companion in my mistakes. When I emerged from
the abyss of darkness into the light of wisdom and truth,
he did not cast me off, but, — what is more glorious, —
he outstripped me." The scene (so to speak) of the
dialogue is laid as follows : On one occasion Octavius
had come to Rome during the vacation time to visit
THE LATIN APOLOGISTS. 1 79
Minucius. Along with Csecilius, a constant com-
panion of the latter, they had gone to Ostia to take
the mineral baths. Early one morning they were all
walking together along the banks of the Tiber close
to its mouth, and enjoying the gently-breathing air
and soft yielding sand. Caecilius perceived an image
of the Egyptian god Serapis, and following the custom
of the superstitious common people, he raised his
hand to his mouth and kissed it. At once Octavius
reproved Minucius for suffering his friend to remain
in the darkness of idolatry. It was not the part of
a good man so to do. The error of his friend was
reflected upon himself. At the moment nothing more
seems to have been said on the subject. They have
now come to the sea-shore, and they walk along the
beach. " There the gently rippling wave was smooth-
ing the outside sands, as if it would level them for a
promenade ; and as the sea is always restless even
when the winds are lulled, it came up on the shore,
although not with waves crested and foaming, yet with
waves crisped and curling. Just then we were exces-
sively delighted at its vagaries, as on the very thresh-
old of the water we were wetting the soles of our
feet, and now the wave broke over them, and then
retiring sucked itself to itself." As they walked along,
Octavius beguiled the way with stories of navigation.
On their return they came to a place where boats were
lying on wooden slips, and they saw some boys eagerly
gesticulating as they played at throwing shells into
the sea. "This play is; to choose a shell from the
shore, rubbed and made smooth by the tossing of the
waves ; to take hold of the shell in a horizontal posi-
N 2
l8o DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
tion with the fingers ; to whirl it along sloping and as
low down as possible on the waves, that when thrown
it may either skim the back of the wave, or may swim
as it glides along with a smooth impulse, or may
spring up as it cleaves the top of the waves, and rise
as if lifted up with repeated springs. That boy
claimed to be conqueror whose shell both went out
furthest and leaped up most frequently."1
All this while Caecilius was silent and sulky, and
Minucius asks, "What is the matter? Why are you
not so lively as usual ? " The answer is, that he is
nettled at Octavius' speech and indirect imputation
of folly, and is anxious for an argument with him.
He suggests that they seat themselves on the rocky
barriers that are placed for the protection of the baths,
and argue there. The suggestion is carried out, Minu-
cius is placed in the middle as arbiter, and Caecilius
begins.
After reminding Minucius that, though a Christian,
he as judge must hold the balance even, he begins by
remarking that there is no difficulty in making plain
that all human affairs are doubtful, uncertain, and
unsettled, and that all things are rather probable than
true. Such being the case, all men must be indignant
that certain persons, and these unskilled in learning,
and strangers to literature, and without knowledge of
the common arts, should dare to determine with cer-
tainty matters on which different religions differed,
and on which philosophy still deliberated. When you
examine Creation, you cannot find its origin. When
you observe events in the world, you can find no
1 An ancient description of the English "duck and drake."
THE LATIN APOLOGISTS. l8l
order or discrimination, and no distinction between
the good and the bad. Fortune unrestrained by laws
seems to be ruling over us. Under these circumstances
it is better to receive the teaching of our ancestors,
and to assert no opinion about the gods. Each
people has its national rites of worship, and adores
its local gods. The Romans, adoring all divinities,
have conquered all nations. Their wars have always
been religious. When conquered at home, they still
worshipped the gods who had not taken care of
them ; when conquerors abroad, they venerated the
conquered deities. In all directions they seek for
the gods of the strangers and make them their own.
Experience has shown that this devotion is expedient.
This attention to religion has given prosperity. Neg-
lected auguries have brought with them disaster.
The philosophers are not, therefore, to be lis-
tened to when they strive to undermine a religion
so ancient, so useful, and so wholesome. Much less
is it to be tolerated that men of a reprobate, and
unlawful, and desperate faction, gathered from the
lowest dregs of the people, leagued together by
nightly meetings and inhuman rites, a people skulk-
ing and shunning the light, should rage against the
gods. This wicked confederacy grows daily, and
assuredly ought to be rooted out and execrated. Its
worship is secret, by report abominable, certainly
suspicious. Unless it was vile, why do its followers
conceal it so carefully ? Why have they no altars, no
temples or acknowledged images.
Proceeding to discuss Christian doctrines, The
Providence of God extending over each and all, The
l82 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
destruction by fire of the eternal order constituted by
the Divine laws of nature, The resurrection of the
body after it has been resolved into dust, are marked
out by Csecilius as specially foolish. He argues that
the present condition of the Christians is a sufficient
proof of the vanity of their hopes. The greater part
of them are in want and cold, and their God suffers
it. Why ? Because he is either unwilling or unable
to assist his people. Those who dream of immortality
are shaken by danger, consumed by fever, and torn
by pain. Yes, and they have special troubles. For
them were threats, punishments, fines, and crosses not
for adoration,1 but for torture. Who was that God
who was able to bring them to life again, when He
was unable to help them whilst in life ? Of all men
they were the most miserable in life, and there was
nothing beyond. Cease, Caecilius exhorts them in
conclusion, to pry into the regions of the sky. All
matters relating to the gods are uncertain, and had
far better be left as we find them. And now Csecilius
has talked himself out of his temper, and exults in the
prospect of a decided victory; but Minucius asks him
to restrain his self-approval till he has heard the other
side.
Octavius, in his reply, first remarks on the doubtful
position of his opponent, at one time believing the
gods, at another quite doubtful on the subject. He
answers the objection brought against the Christians
as illiterate, poor, unskilled people, by remarking that
wisdom is not obtained by wealth, but implanted by
1 For the allusion here, see page 47 ; Octavius replies,
* Crosses we neither worship nor wish for."
THE LATIN APOLOGISTS. 1 83
nature. It is quite true that man ought to know
himself, and should study the works of nature.
But when you lift up your eyes to heaven, and look
into the things below and around, what can possibly
be more evident than that there is some God of most
excellent intelligence by whom all nature is inspired,
moved, nourished, and governed ? The movements of
the stars in the heavens, and the order of the seasons
upon earth, the ebbs and flows of the tides, and the
perpetual flowing of the fountains and rivers, the
varied faculties of the animals, and, above all, men,
with their body of upright stature, and many members
all beautiful and necessary, all having the same
general form, and yet so unlike in special features, —
all these need a Supreme Artificer and perfect Intelli-
gence to create, to fashion, and to arrange them.
Proceeding to show that God's care is manifestly
exerted, not only over the whole universe, but over
its several parts, he makes a remark specially inter-
esting to us : '• Britain," he says, " is deficient in sun-
shine, but is refreshed by the warmth of the sea that
flows around it." The house of the world, he argues,
being thus beautiful and well-ordered, the Lord of
the house must be far greater and more glorious.
The analogy of the history of the world shows that
that Lord is one ; the authority of the Divine empire
cannot be sundered. Such is God's greatness that He
is incomprehensible, and so a name cannot be given
Him. Nor is this necessary. Being unique. He needs
not to be distinguished from others by a name. All
these truths are confirmed by the discourse of the
common people, and the testimonies of poets and the
184 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH
wisest philosophers. Why, then, should men be carried
away by the errors of their credulous ancestors ?
Going into detail, Octavius shows the human origin
of the gods, the ridiculous and corrupting character
of their history and their rites of worship. He dis-
sociates Roman prosperity from Roman religion. He
shows that the oracles were unreliable^ and traces
their power to the demons. He claims that the
demons are subject to the powers of the Christians.
He rebuts the accusations of immorality and un-
worthy and infamous objects of worship ; and he con-
trasts the lives of Christians with those of heathens.
Not by a small bodily mark, as Caxilius had sup-
posed, are Christians distinguished, but very plainly
by the sign of innocency and modesty. They love
one another, because they do not know how to hate.
They call one another brethren, because they are
born of one God and Parent, because they are com-
panions in faith, and co-heirs in hope.
Nor again is it for purposes of concealment that they
have no temples, and altars, and images. Image of God
there can be none, except man. Temple of God cannot
be built, since the world itself cannot contain Him. The
sacrifices to be offered to God are not sheep and
cattle — His own gift to men ; but a good soul, and a
pure mind, and a sincere judgment. Certainly the
God whom Christians worship, they can neither show
nor see. We cannot even look upon or into His works,
how then can we look upon Himself? And yet He
is not far away and ignorant of men's doings. All
things are full of Him. We live under His eyes, and
even in His bosom.
THE LATIN APOLOGISTS. 1 85
After showing the possibility of a dissolution
of all things, and adducing the argument from
analogy which nature gives to the doctrine of the
resurrection, he points out that God permits suf-
fering as a trial and discipline. God's soldier is
neither forsaken in suffering, nor brought to an end
by death. The Christian may seem to be miserable,
but is not really so. Those only are truly wretched
who know not God. Apart from the knowledge of
God, what solid happiness can there be, since death
must come? Like a dream, happiness slips away
before it is grasped. The Christians use this world
as not abusing it, and have their innocent enjoyments
here ; but they live in contemplation of the future,
and are animated by the hope of future happiness.
When Octavius ceases to speak there is silence for
a time, and then C?ecilius breaks forth : " I do not
wait for the decision. We are both conquerors ;
Octavius has conquered me, and I have conquered
error. I yield to God. I have many questions yet
to ask, not in a spirit of doubt but of inquiry."
After a few words from Minucius, all separate, glad
and cheerful. Caecilius, to rejoice that he had be-
lieved ; Octavius, to rejoice that he had conquered ;
and Minucius, the friend of both, to rejoice for both
reasons alike.
CYPRIAN. 2OO-258 A D.
Cyprian's life was momentous in its issues, but his
Apologetic treatises are short, and of no great im-
1 86 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
portance, and are, in part, derived from the writings
of former Apologists. His address to Demetrian,
proconsul of Africa, contains a remarkable description
of the sufferings the Christians had to endure : "You
deprive," he says, "the innocent, the just, the dear
to God, of their home ; you spoil them of their estate,
you load them with chains, you shut them up in
prison, you punish them with the sword, with the
wild beasts, with the flames. Nor, indeed, are you
content that we should have a brief endurance of
suffering, and a simple and swift exhaustion of pains.
You set on foot tedious tortures, by tearing our
bodies ; you multiply numerous punishments, by
lacerating our vitals; nor can your brutality and
fierceness be content with ordinary tortures. Your
ingenious cruelty devises new sufferings. Why," he
asks, "do you turn your attention to the weakness
of our body? Why do you strive with the feeble-
ness of this earthly flesh? Contend rather with the
strength of the mind ; break down the power of the
soul ; destroy our faith ; conquer, if you can, by
discussion; overcome by reason ; or, if your gods have
any deity and power, let them themselves rise to their
own vindication, let them defend themselves by their
own majesty." He goes on to show that the heathen
gods are all unable to protect themselves. They are
the demons whom the Christians cast out. "Oh,
would you but hear and see them when they are
adjured by us, and are tortured with spiritual scourges,"
and are ejected from the possessed bodies with tor-
ture of words, when, howling and groaning at the
voice of man and the power of God, feeling the
THE LATIN APOLOGISTS. 187
stripes and blows, they confess the judgment to
come ! Come and acknowledge that what we say
is true ; and since you say that you thus worship
gods, believe even those whom you worship ; or, if
you will even believe yourself, he (i.e. the demon)
who has now possessed your breast, who has now
darkened your mind with the night of ignorance,
shall speak concerning yourself in your hearing * you
will see that we are entreated by those whom you
entreat, that we are feared by those whom you fear,
and whom you adore; you will see that under our
hands they stand bound and tremble as captives,
whom you look up to and venerate as lords ; as-
suredly, even thus you might be confounded in those
errors of yours, when you see and hear gods, at once,
upon our interrogation, betraying what they are, and
even in your presence unable to conceal these de-
ceits and trickeries of theirs."
The claim which Cyprian here makes is a very
remarkable one; and he is not alone in making it.
Every Apologist, with one exception (Clement of
Alexandria), asserts that the power of casting out
devils was a power continuing in, and being con-
stantly exercised by, the Christian Church. Ter-
tullian is quite ready to rest the Christian cause on
the result of the encounter of any Christian with any
demoniac.
lS8 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
ARNOBIUS. 300 A.D. CIRCA.
Arnobius's Apology is of great value. His rhetorical
power was great. He wrote from the standpoint of
an unbeliever, for he was not yet admitted into the
Christian Church, and was evidently still ignorant of
many of her doctrines.1 A professor of rhetoric at
Sicca, in Africa, he had been active in his attacks on
Christianity, and devoted in his worship of images.
When he wished to become a Christian (led by
visions, Jerome tells us), his sincerity was at first sus-
pected, and he composed his Apology as a pledge of
his good faith. Amongst all the Apologists he is
able most clearly to distinguish the Christian and
the heathen miracles. His exposure of heathenism
contains passages of scathing, though somewhat too
redundant, eloquence. Many of these have been
already quoted in a compressed form.
Inasmuch as Christianity was well known when
Arnobius wrote, he naturally touches on matters
which had not been noticed by former Apologists.
The writings of the New Testament were in heathen
hands, and they were objected to as containing bar-
barisms and solecisms. Arnobius asks how the truth
of the substance is affected by the roughness of the
form. The Christians discuss matters far removed
from mere display ; and they consider how they may
benefit their hearers, not how they may tickle their
ears.
He discusses at great length the nature of the
soul. He denies that it is immortal, or that it comes
1 Jerome, Cat. Script. Ecc, Arn. i. 39.
THE LATIN APOLOGISTS. 1 89
di'rect from God, If it were born of God, men's
lives would be pure, and their beliefs one and the
same. He thinks that naturally a man does not
differ in kind from the animals. He suggests an
experiment to prove his point. He supposes an
infant brought up in a place where no sound or cry,
no beast or bird, no storm or man, ever comes. He
is to be tended by a dumb nurse, and to be fed on
an invariable vegetable diet. He is to drink no wine,
but only water from the spring. Thus he is to pass
his life for twenty or thirty years, and then he is to
be brought into the assemblies of men and questioned
who and what he is. Will he not stand speechless,
with less wit and sense than any beast, ignorant of
the names and natures of the things offered to him ?
Arnobius thinks that you have here a man in his
natural condition, and that his utter ignorance shows
that his soul cannot have a divine origin. Of course,
the answer to his argument is this — faculties, if
uneducated and undeveloped, are wholly lost. Arno-
bius took care to preserve the bodily life of his infant
with food, he left the soul unprovided with food, and
it necessarily perished.
In his seventh book he has an elaborate argument
against material sacrifices. He wants to know for
what reason they are offered. Are the gods of
heaven nourished by them ? Surely not, since they
are immortal. Moreover, the substance of the sacri-
fice is not consumed by them, but by fire. What
pleasure can the gods above take in the slaughter of
harmless creatures? Even we, half savage men, take
some pity when we see the victims bleeding. They
IQO DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
are offered, men say, that the gods may lay aside
their anger. But can passion be felt by the Deity?
If it can, why should the killing of a pig, or the con-
suming of a pullet, or the blood of a goose, or a goat,
or a peacock, bring them relief? Are the gods like
little boys, who give up their fits of passion when gifts
of sparrows, or dolls, or ponies, are made to them ?
Then again, why should the burden of men's sins be
cast on the innocent animals ? He pictures an ox
addressing Jupiter, and saying, that he had never
done him wrong, or celebrated his games irreverently,
or polluted his sacred groves. Man was the cause of
all wickedness, why then should he (an ox) be slain
to soothe the divine anger ? Again, Arnobius objects,
does not experience show that the sacrifices are of
no avail for procuring benefits ? Is it not dishonour-
ing to the gods to suppose that their gifts are an object
of sale, to be purchased by rich scoundrels, beyond
the reach of the pious if poor? The gods, though
not benefited, are honoured by the sacrifices, it is
said. What ! honoured by that foul smell which is
emitted by burning hides, by bones, by bristles, by
the fleeces of lambs, and the feathers of fowls !
What kind of honour is it to invite a god to a banquet
of blood, which he shares with dogs ? What kind
of honour is it to set on fire piles of wood, to hide
the heavens with smoke, to darken with gloomy
blackness the images of the gods ? If dogs and
asses, and swallows, and pigs were to offer sacrifices
to you, how would you like it? Supposing the
swallows consecrated flies to you, and the asses put
hay upon your altars and poured out libations of
THE LATIN APOLOGISTS. 191
chaff; supposing that the dogs placed bones on your
altars, and the pigs poured out a horrid mess from
their troughs, would you not be inflamed with rage ?
And then your sacrificial laws by which you offer
different animals to different gods, how destitute of
reason are they ? Why do you offer a bull's blood
to Jupiter, and a goat to Bacchus, and a barren heifer
to Proserpine ? Tn a similar manner he exposes the
folly of offering wine to the gods, as if they could
be thirsty, and he shows how utterly impossible it is
that they can take delight in the shameless games
which are celebrated in their honour. He traces all
these vicious opinions to this cause : — Men were
unable to know what God is, they were unable to
discern Him by the power of reason, and so they
fashioned gods for themselves and like themselves.
LACTANTIUS. 250-325 A.D.
Lactantius's ' Divine Institutions ' was written when
persecution had ceased. In the latter part of his
work he goes quite beyond the Apologetic limits.
His object was a very ambitious one. It was so to
plead the Christian cause, as not only to overthrow
former writers against it with all their writings, but
also to cut off from future writers the whole power of
writing and of replying. With one blow he hopes to
overthrow all accusers of righteousness. He onlv
asks for attention (v. 4), and then he will assuredly
effect that man must either embrace Christian doc-
trine, or at least cease to deride it. He compares
192 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
his work with that of other Apologists. Tertullian
sought only to answer accusers, he seeks to instruct.
Cyprian did not handle his subject as he ought, for
he endeavoured to refute his adversaries by testimo-
nies from Scripture which they did not admit, instead
of by arguments and reason (v. 4). He intends to
use the testimonies of philosophers and historians.
There have been wanting amongst us, he says (v. 1),
suitable and skilful teachers, who might vigorously
and sharply refute public errors, and who might
defend the whole cause of truth with elegance and
copiousness. Tertullian had little readiness of speech,
was not sufficiently polished, and was very obscure.
He undertakes to plead the cause of truth with dis-
tinctness and elegance of speech, in order that it may
flow with greater power into the minds of men, being
both provided with its own force, and adorned with
brilliancy of speech (i. 1).
If we had no other evidence than this criticism of
former Apologists, and this self-complacent applica-
tion of his own powers, we should, I think, be justi-
fied in assuming that the Apologetic period had nearly
come to an end, and that Christians were no longer
struggling for existence. Lactantius falls into some
of the errors which he points out in others. If he is
more eloquent, he is less forcible than some of those
who had gone before. The most interesting part of
his work is his refutation of Philosophy. He has a
clear idea of the nature and causes of its failure, and
he does not refuse to give it credit for that which it
had been able to achieve. His work is not a defence
of Christians from accusations; he defends them,
CONCLUSION. 193
indeed, from the charge of foolishness, but does not
refer to any charges of immorality or impiety.
Christianity was much better known than in the first
Apologists' time. The ground was cleared for a work
like the ■ Divine Institutions/ which should discuss in
greater detail the nature and evidence of a religion
which had, single-handed, fought a battle against
the Roman State, and won a complete victory.
CONCLUSION.
And now our task is complete. We cannot sum
up our results better than in the noble words of an
unknown Apologist.1
" The Christians are distinguished from other men,
neither by country, nor language, nor the customs
which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities
of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech,
nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity.
Their course of conduct has not been devised by any
speculation of inquisitive men ; nor do they proclaim
themselves the advocates of any merely human doc-
trine. Inhabiting, as lot may determine, Greek as
well as barbarian cities, following the customs of the
natives with respect to clothing, food, and other
matters, they display to us their wonderful and con-
fessedly paradoxical mode of life. They dwell in
their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As
citizens, they share all things with others, and yet
endure all things as aliens. Every foreign land is to
them as their native country, and every land of their
1 Author of Epistle to Diognetus, c. 5, 6.
o
194 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all
others, and beget children, but they do hot destroy
their offspring. They have a common table, but not
an impure one. They are in the flesh, but they do
not live after the flesh. They pass their days on
earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey
the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the
laws by their lives. They love all men, and are
persecuted by all. They are unknown and con-
demned ; they are put to death, and restored to life.
They are poor, yet make many rich ; they are in lack
of all things, and yet abound in all ; they are disho-
noured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified.
They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified ; they
are reviled, and bless ; they are insulted, and repay
the insult with honour ; they do good, yet are punished
as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if
quickened into life. They are assailed by the Jews
as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks ; and
yet those who hate them are unable to assign any
reason for their hatred. To sum up all in one word ;
what the soul is in the body, that are the Christians
iii the world. The soul is dispersed through all the
members of the body, and Christians are dispersed
through all the cities of the world. The soul dwells
in the body, yet is not of the body ; and Christians
dwell in the world, yet are not of the world. The
invisible soul is guarded by the visible body; and
Christians are indeed known to be in the world, but
their godliness remains invisible. The flesh hates
the soul, and wars against it, though itself suffering
no injury, because it is prevented from enjoying
CONCLUSION. 195
pleasures. The world, also, hates the Christians,
though in no wise injured, because they abjure plea-
sures. The soul loves the flesh that hates it, and,
loves also the members ; Christians likewise love
those that hate them. The soul is imprisoned in the
body, yet preserves that very body; and Christians
are confined in the world as in a prison, and yet they
are the preservers of the world. The immortal soul
dwells in a mortal tabernacle ; and Christians dwell
as sojourners in corruptible bodies, looking for an
incorruptible dwelling in the heavens. The soul,
when but ill provided with food and drink, becomes
better ; in like manner, the Christians, though sub-
jected day by day to punishment, increase the more
in number. God has assigned them this illustrious
position, which it were unlawful for them to forsake."
How had all this come to pass? No mere "earthly
invention " or " human system of opinion " had been
committed to them, but truly "God Himself had sent
from heaven and placed among men, Him who is the
Truth, and the holy and incomprehensible Word, and
had firmly established Him in their hearts. He did
not, as might have been supposed, send to men any
servant, or angel, or ruler in heaven or earth, but the
very Creator and Fashioner of all things. Did He
send Him for the purpose of exercising tyranny, or
inspiring fear ? By no means ; but in clemency and
meekness. As the king sends his son, so sent He
Him. As God, He sent Him ; as to men, He sent
Him : as a Saviour, He sent Him. As calling us,
not vengefully pursuing us, as loving us, not judging
us, He sent Him. He will yet send Him to judge
[96 DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH.
us, and who shall endure His appearing? Do you not
see (the Christians) exposed to wild beasts, that they
may be persuaded to deny the Lord, and yet not
overcome ? Do you not see that the more of them
are punished, the greater becomes the number of the
rest? This does not seem to be the work of men.
This is the power of God."
finis
Richard Clay &> Sous, Limited, Lo?idon &* Biuigay.
PUBLICATIONS
OF THE
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge,
WORKS BY THE
REV. F. BOURDILLON, MA
t. d.
Bedside Heading's. Being short portions of Holy Scripture,
with a simple Commentary. 12 mo. ... Cloth boards 2 O
The Week of Mourning" ; or, Short and Simple Exposi-
tions of Scripture, for the Use of the Bereaved.
Cloth o 10
Alone with God; or, Helps to Thought and Prayer,
for the Use of the Sick ; Based on Short Passages
of Scripture. Series I and II. nmo. Cloth boards,
each 1 o
Lesser Lights. Series I and II. Post 8vo. Cloth boards, each 2 6
Straight On ; Directions, Encouragement, and Warn-
ings addressed especially to Young Men who
have set out on the way of eternal llfe.
Crown 8vo. Cloth boards I 0
A Quiet Visitor. A Book for Lying-in Women. Post
8vo. Cloth boards o 10
Our Own Book. Very Plain Reading for People in Humble
Life. Post 8vo Cloth boards 1 o
Cloudy Days. Short Meditations on some Texts and Portions
of Holy Scripture for the private use of those in trouble.
Post 8vo Cloth boards 1 6
A Chain of Love. Post 8vo. Cloth boards 2 o
Volume of Tracts. Series I Cloth boards 1 o
Ditto Series IL {large type) Cloth boards 1 o
PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY.
WORKS BY MRS. RUNDLE CHARLES, AUTHOR OF
" The Chronicles of the Schonberg-Cotta Family."
The Beatitudes. Thoughts for All Saints' Day. Post 8vo.
Cloth boards, is. 6d.
" By the Mystery of Thy Holy Incarnation." Post 8vo. Cloth
boards, is. 6d.
"By Thy Cross and Passion." Thoughts on the words spoken
around and on the Cross. Post Svo. Cloth boards, is. 6d.
"By Thy Glorious Resurrection and Ascension." Easter
Thoughts. Post Svo. Cloth boards, is. 6d.
" By the Coming' of the Holy Ghost." Thoughts for Whitsuntide.
Post Svo. Cloth boards, is. 6d.
The True Vine. Post 8vo. Cloth boards, is. 6d.
The Great Prayer of Christendom. Thoughts on the Lord's
Prayer. Post 8vo. Cloth boards, is. 6d.
An Old Story of Bethlehem. One link in the great Pedigree.
Fcap. 4to, with six plates, beautifully printed in colours. Cloth
boards. 2S. 6d.
Three Martyrs of the Nineteenth Century. Studies from the
Lives of Gordon, Livingstone, and Patteson. Crown Svo.
Cloth boards. }>s. 6d.
Martyrs and Saints of the First Twelve Centuries. Studies
from the Lives of the Black-letter Saints of the English
Calendar. Crown Svo. Cloth boards. is.
Against the Stream. The Story of an Heroic Age in England.
With eight page woodcuts. Crown Svo. Cloth boards. 4*.
Conquering" and to Conquer. A Story of Rome in the days of
St. Jerome. Illustrated. Crown 8vo. Cloth boards. 2s. Gd.
Early Christian Missions of Ireland, Scotland, and England.
Crown 8vo. Cloth boards. 4s.
Lapsed, not Lost. A Story of Roman Carthage. Crown 8vo.
Cloth boards. 2s. 6d.
Within the Veil. Studies in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Post
8vo. Cloth boards, is. 6d.
The Boole of the Unveiling. Studies in the Revelation of St.
John the Divine. Post Svo. Cloth boards, is. 6d.
Lady Augusta Stanley. Reminiscences. iSmo. Limp cloth. 6d.
Sketches of the Women of Christendom. Crown Svo. Cloth
boards. 3J. 6d.
Thoughts and Characters. Being Selections from the Writings
of Mrs. Charles. Crown 8vo. Cloth boards, is. 6d.
PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY.
THE HOME LIBRARY.
A Series of Books illustrative of Church History, &c, specially, bat not
exclusively, adapted for Sunday Reading.
Crown 8vo, cloth boards, 3s. 6d. each.
Black and White. Mission Stories. By H. A. FORDE.
Charlemagne. By the Rev. E. L. Cutts, B.A. With Map.
Constantine the Great. The Union of the Church and State.
By the Rev. E. L. Cutts, B.A.
Great English Churchmen; or, Famous ITames in English
Church History and Literature. By the late W. H. Davenport
Adams.
John Hus. The Commencement of resistance to Papal Authority
on the part of the Inferior Clergy. By the Rev. A. H.
Wratislaw.
Judzea and Her Rulers, from Nebuchadnezzar to Vespasian.
By M. Bramston. With Map.
Mazarin. By the late Gustave Masson.
Military Religious Orders of the Middle Ages; the Hospi»
tallers, the Templars, the Teutonic Knights, and others. By
the Rev. F. C. Woodhouse, M.A.
Mitslav ; or, the Conversion of Pomerania. By the late Right
Rev. Robert Milman, D.D. With Map.
Narcissus : A Tale of Early Christian Times. By the Right
Rev. W. Boyd Carpenter, Bishop of Ripon.
Richelieu. By the late Gustave Masson.
Sketches of the Women of Christendom. Dedicated to the
Women of India. By Mrs. Rundle Charles.
The Church in Roman Gaul. By the Rev. R. Travers Smith.
The Churchman's Life of Wesley. By R. Denny Urlin, Esq.
The House of God the Home of Man. By the Rev. Canon Jelf.
The Inner Iiife, as Revealed in the Correspondence of
Celebrated Christians. Edited by the late Rev. T. Erskine.
The Life of the Soul in the World ; its Nature, Needs, Dangers,
Sorrows, Aids, and Joys. By the Rev. F. C. Woodhouse,
M.A.
The E"orth-African Church. By the late Rev. Julius Lloyd.
With Map.
Thoughts and Characters : being Selections from the Writings
of Mrs. Rundle Charles.
PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY.
THE
DAWN OF EUROPEAN LITERATURE.
A set of Works designed to present the chief races of Europe as they emerg*
out of pre-historic darkness into the light furnished by their earliest recorded
words.
Post 8vo, cloth boards, 2s. 6d. each.
Anglo- Saxon Literature. By the Rev. Professor Earle.
French Literature. By the late Gustave Masson, B.A.
Slavonic Literature. By W. R. Morfill, M.A.
THE
FATHERS FOR ENGLISH READERS.
A Series of Monograms on the Chief Fathers of the Church, the Fathers selected
being centres of influence at important periods of Church History, and iu
important spheres of action.
Fcap. 8vo, cloth boards, 2s. each.
Leo the Great. By the Rev.
Charles Gore, M.A.
Gregory the Great. By the
Rev. J. Barmby, B.D.
Saint Ambrose : his Life,
Times, and Teaching. By
the Venerable Archdeacon
Thornton, D.D.
Saint Athanasius : his Life
and Times. By the Rev.
R. Wheler Bush. 2s. 6d.
Saint Ang-nstine. By the Rev.
E. L. Cutts, B.A.
Saint Basil the Great. By the
Rev. R. T. Smith, B.D.
Saint Bernard : Abbot of
Clairvaux, A.D. 1091 —
1 153. By the Rev. S. J.
Eales, D C.L. 2j. 6d.
Saint Jerome. By the Rev.
Edward L. Cutts, B.A.
Saint Hilary of Poitiers, and
Saini Martin of Tours.
By the Rev. J. Gibson
Cazenove, D.D.
Saint John of Damascus. By
the Rev. J. H. Lupton.
Saint Patrick : his Life and
Teaching. By the Rev. E.
J. Newell, M.A. 2s. 6d.
Synesius of Cyrene, Philoso-
pher and Bishop. By
Alice Gardner.
The Apostolic Fathers. By the
Rev. Canon Scott Holland.
The Defenders of the Faith ;
or, The Christian Apologists
of the Second and Third
Centuries. By the Rev. F.
Watson, M.A.
The Venerable Bede. By the
Rev. Canon Browne.
PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY.
ANCIENT HISTORY FROM THE
MONUMENTS.
This Series of Books is chiefly intended to illustrate the Sacred Scriptures
by the results of recent Monumental Researches in the East.
Fcap. 8vo, cloth boards, 2s. each..
Assyria, from the Earliest Times to the Fall of Nineveh.
By the late George Smith, of the British Museum.
Sinai, from the Fourth Egyptian Dynasty to the Present
Day. By the late Henry S. Palmer. A New Edition,
revised throughout by the Rev. Professor Sayce. With Map.
Babylonia (The History of). By the late GEORGE SMITH.
Edited by the Rev. Professor Sayce.
Egypt, from the Earliest Times to B.C. 300. By the late S.
Birch, LL.D.
Persia, from the Earliest Period to the Arab Conquest. By
the late W. S. \V. Vaux, M.A.
NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS.
A Series of Manuals which furnish in a brief and popular form an accurate
account of the great Non-Christian Religious Systems of the World.
Fcap. 8vo, cloth boards, 2s. 6d. each.
Buddhism — Being a Sketch of the Life and Teachings of Gautama,
the Buddha. By T. W. Rhys Davids. With Map.
Buddhism in China. By the Rev. S. Beal. With Map.
Christianity and Buddhism : a Comparison and a Contrast. By
the Rev. T. Sterling Berry, D.D.
Confucianism and Taouism. By Professor ROBERT K. DOUGLAS,
of the British Museum. With Map.
Hinduism. By Sir Monier Williams. With Map.
Islam and its Founder. By J. W. H. Stobart. With Map.
Islam as a Missionary Religion. By Charles R. Haines. 2s.
The Coran — Its Composition and Teaching, and the Testimony it
bears to the Holy Scriptures. By Sir William Muir, K.C.S.I.
PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY.
CHIEF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHIES.
This Series of Books deals with the chief systems of Ancient Thought, not
merely as dry matters of History, but as having a bearing on Modern
Speculation.
Fcap. 8vo, cloth boards, 2s. 6d. each.
Epicureanism. By William Wallace, Esq., Fellow and Tutor
of Merton College, Oxford.
Stoicism. By Rev. W. W. Capes, Fellow of Hertford College.
Aristotelianism. The Ethics of Aristotle. By the Rev. I.
Gregory Smith, M.A., Hon. LL.D. The Logical Treatises,
the Metaphysics, the Psychology, the Politics. By the Rev.
W. Grundy, M.A.
DIOCESAN HISTORIES.
This Series furnishes a perfect Library of English Ecclesiastical History. Each
volume is complete in itself, and the possibility of repetition has been car»
fully guarded against.
Fcap. 8vo, with Map, cloth boards.
Bath and Wells. By the Rev.
W. Hunt. 2s. 6d.
Canterbury. By the Rev. R.
C. Jenkins. 3s. 6d.
Carlisle. By Richard S.
Ferguson, Esq. 2s. 6d.
Chichester. By the Rev. W.
R. W. Stephens. With
Map and Plan. 2s. 6d.
Durham. By the Rev J. L.
Low. With Map and Plan.
2s. 6d.
Hereford. By the Rev. Canon
Phillott. o)S.
Lichfield. By the Rev. W.
BERESFORD. 2S. 6d.
Korwich. By the Rev. A.
Jessop, D.D. 2s. 6d.
Oxford. By the Rev. E. Mar-
shall. 2s. 6d.
Peterborough. By the Rev.
G. A. Poole, M.A. 2s. 6d,
Salisbury. By the Rev. W. H.
Jones. With Map and
Plan. 2s. 6d.
Sodor and Man. By A. W.
Moore, M.A. WTith Map.
St. Asaph. By the Ven. Arch-
deacon Thomas. 2s.
St. David's. By the Rev. Canon
Bevan. With Map. 2s. 6d.
"Winchester. By the Rev. W.
Benham, B.D. 2>s-
"Worcester. By the Rev. I.
Gregory Smith, M. A., and
the Rev. Phipps Onslow,
M.A. 3.r. 6d.
York. By the Rev. Canon
Ornsby,M.A.,F.S.A. 3s.6d,
PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY.
EARLY BRITAIN.
This Series has for its aim the presentation of Early Britain at great historic
periods. Each volume is the work of an accredited specialist, and the
whole gives the result of the most recent critical examinations of our Early
Records.
Fcap. 8vo, cloth boards.
Anglo- Saxon Sritain. With Map. 2s.6d.
Celtic Britain. By Professor Rhys. With two Maps. 3J.
Eorman Sritain. By the Rev. W. Hunt. With Map. 2S. 6d.
Post-Hornian Britain. By Henry G. Hewlett. With Map. 3$.
Uoman Britain. By the late Rev. Preb.ScARTH. With Map. 2s.6d.
CHURCH READERS.
A Set of Graduated Readers ; for Sunday School and Home Use.
Fcap. 8vo, with Illustrations.
No. I. Christian Children. Limp cloth, 3d.
No. 2. The Way of Life. Cloth boards, \d.
No. 3. Helps by the Way: the Two Sacraments and Confirma-
tion. Cloth boards, ^d.
No. 4. Tho Church and its Service. Cloth boards, 6d.
CONVERSION OF THE WEST.
These are intended to show, in the first place, the condition of the chief races
of the West before they were brought into contact with Christianity ; and,
in the second, how their Conversion was brought about, and the immediate
results.
Fcap. 8vo, with Map, cloth boards, 2s. each.
The Continental Teutons, by the Very Rev. Charles Merivale,
U.D., D.C.L., Dean of Ely.
The Celts, by the Rev. G. F. Maclear, D.D.
The English, by the Rev. G. F. Maclear, D.D.
The Northmen, by the Rev. G. F. Maclear, D.D.
The Slavs, by the Rev. G. F. Maclear., D.D.
PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY.
THE HEATHEN WORLD AND ST. PAUL.
This Series of Books is intended to throw light upon the writings and labours
of the Apostle of the Gentiles, by furnishing an account of the Environ-
ment, Social, Political, &c, of St. Paul in the several great heathen centres,
Fcap. 8vo, with Map, cloth boards, 2s.
St. Paul in Greece, by the Rev. G. S. Davies, M.A., Charterhouse,
Godalming.
St. Paul in Damascus and Arabia, by the Rev. George Rawlin-
SON, M.A., Canon of Canterbury.
St. Paul at Rome, by the Very Rev. Charles Merivale, D.D.,
D.C.L., Dean of Ely.
St. Paul in Asia Minor, and at the Syrian Antioch, by the late
Rev. E. H. Plumptre, D.D.
COLONIAL CHURCH HISTORIES.
Fcap. 8vo, with Map, cloth boards.
Diocese of Mackenzie River, by the Right Rev. W. C. Eompas,
D.D., Bishop of the Diocese. 2s.
New Zealand, by the Very Rev. Henry Jacobs, D.D., Dean of
Christchurch. Containing the Dioceses of Auckland, Christ-
church, Dunedin, Nelson, Waiapu, Wellington and Melanesia. 51.
History of the Church in Eastern Canada and Newfoundland,
by the Rev. J. Langtry. $s.
SERMONS FOR THE PEOPLE.
Post 8vo, cloth boards, Is. each.
VOL.
I. Sermons for Advent and Christmastide.
II. Epiphany to Ash Wednesday.
III. Ash Wednesday to Easter.
IV. Easter Day to Tuesday in Whitsun Week.
V. Trinity Sunday to Eighth Sunday after Trinity.
VI. Ninth Sunday after Trinity to St. Michael and All Angeh.
VIL Seventeenth to Twenty-fourth after Trinity.
LONDON :
NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, W.C ; 43, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, E.C
New Youk : E. & J. B. YOUNG & CO.
Princeton Theological Seminary Libraries
1 1012 01236 7944
mjn
Date Due
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11