here. Tertullian, however, is less generally Such titles oft the sordid miser hide, known, and I may be permitted to remark that

Whose sharp-eyed vigils in no slumber cease: of the two tendencies in the early Church, the

(Like Pontic dragons o'er the golden fleece.)

Some, too, the great artificer admire! one looking to an assimilation of the old Græco

'Tis no mean thing this talent to acquire! Roman civilization and seeking an accommoda- As if the petty gains that avarice sweeps tion rather than a conflict with the Pagan world, From every side would not at last be heaps! the other rejecting any mingling of Christian As if the workmen whose eternal din

Rings on the anvil should no wages win! and Pagan whatsoever, and regarding all conciliatory efforts as acts of idolatry, as a betrayal Tacitus, Hist. V., Ch. IV., V., and XIII. of our Lord, of these two tendencies, Tertul- In order to bind the people to him for the time to lian was the uncompromising champion of the

come, Moses prescribed to them a new form of wor

ship, and opposed to those of all the world beside. latter, and it was in no small degree due to his

Whatever is held sacred by the Romans, with the Jews numerous writings that the early Church grad- is profane: and what in other nations is unlawful and ually assumed this attitude. He is the best impure, with them is permitted.

* * They representative of the aggressive side of early

abstain from the flesh of swine, from the recollection Christianity; the side which soon controlled the

of the loathsome affliction which they had formerly

suffered from leprosy, to which that animal is subject. Church and triumphed over the Empire. He

The famine, with which they were for a long time disis representative of the Church militant. tressed, is still commemorated by frequent fastings; Those who intend to follow this course can

and the Jewish bread, made without leaven, is a standnot do better than to provide themselves with

ing evidence of their seizure of corn. They say that Prof. G. B. Adam's Civilization during the

they instituted a rest on the seventh day because that

day brought them rest from their toils; but afterwards. Middle Ages, New York, 1894. Lecky's His

charmed with the pleasures of idleness, the seventh tory of European Morals from Augustus to year also was devoted to sloth.

(Ch. IV.) Charlemagne, Vol. I., Ch. III., should be con- These rites and ceremonies, howsoever introduced, sulted in the preparation of this number.

have the support of antiquity. Their other institu. Prof. Dana C. Munro and Edith Bramhall,

tions, which have been extensively adopted, are tainted

with execrable knavery; for the scum and refuse of A.M., have published an excellent pamphlet on

other nations, renouncing the religion of their country, The Early Christian Persecution, in Transla- were in the habit of bringing gifts and offerings to Jetions and Reprints from the Original Sources rusalem, -hence the wealth and grandeur of the state; of European History, published by the Depart

and also because faith is inviolably observed, and comment of History of the University of Pennsyl

passion is cheerfully shown towards each other, while

the bitterest animosity is harboured against all others. vania, Philadelphia, 1897. Price twenty cents.

The first thing instilled into their progIt has a select bibliography at the end.

elytes is to despise the gods, to abjure their country, to set at nought parents, children, brothers.

* I. WHAT THE ROMANS THOUGHT OF THE JEWS.

The Egyptians worship various animals and images, Juvenal, Satire XIV., lines 127-152.

the work of men's hands; the Jews acknowledge one There be, who, bred in sabbath-fearing lore,

God only, and conceive of him by the mind alone, conThe vague divinity of clouds adore;

demning, as impious, all who, with perishable maWbo, like their sires, their skin to priests resign, terials, wrought into the human shape, form represenAnd hate like human flesh the flesh of swine.

tations of the Deity. That Being, they say, is above The laws of Rome those blinded bigots slight,

all, and everlasting, neither susceptible of likeness nor In superstitious dread of Jewish rite:

subject to decay. In consequence they allow no reTo Moses and his mystic volume true,

*

*

number formerly, but had now (some above three, sidered an offence? 3. What was implied in their reothers more, and a few above twenty years ago ) re- fusal to worship the Emperor's image? 4. Why were nounced that error. They all worshipped your statue

associations of any sort so strictly forbidden in the

Roman Empire? 5. Would the fact that the meetings and the images of the gods, uttering imprecations at of the Christians were held before daylight tend to the same time against the name of Christ. They allay suspicion concerning their object? 6. Would affirmed the whole of their guilt, or their error, was,

the fellowship with slaves and the filling of offices by that they met on a strated day before it was light, and

them impress the Romans favorably? 7. What did

Tacitus think of even freedmen who filled offices? addressed a form of prayer to Christ, as to a divinity, (Germ., Ch. XXV., et passim.) 8. When Pliny says binding themselves by a solemn oath, not for the pur- that the “superstition is not confined to the cities poses of any wicked design, but never to commit any only, but has seven ) spread its infection among the Sraud, theft, or adultery, never to falsify their word,

neighbouring villages and country," what light does this

throw on the manner in which early Christianity nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to spread? 9. What are we informed concerning the deliver it up; after which it was their custom to numbers and condition of the Christians in this separate, and then reassemble, to eat in common a

province? 10. Were the Romans entirely destitute of harmless meal. From this custom, however, they de

a feeling of justice, even towards Christians ? sisted after the publication of my edict, by which, ac- Suetonius, Claudius, Ch. XXV. cording to your commands, I forbade the meeting of

He [ Claúdius ] banished from Rome all the any assemblies. After receiving this account, I judged Jews, who were continually making disturbances at it so much the more necessary to endeavour to extort the the instigation of one Chrestus. real truth, by putting two female slaves to the torture,

QUESTIONS. who were said to officiate in their religious rites: but all I could discover was evidence of an absurd and ex

1. Is Suetonius correctly informed as to the time of travagant superstition. I deemed it expedient, there

Christ's appearance upon earth? 2. As to the place?

3. Is Chrestus a permissible substitute for Christus, fore, to adjourn all further proceedings, in order to or is this another indication of Suetonius's ignorance?* consult you. For it appears to be a matter highly de- 4. Does he not, in fact, confess complete ignorance serving your consideration, more especially as great concerning the personality of Christ? 5. Is Tacitus numbers must be involved in the danger of these pro

equally ill informed? 6. Does Suetonius make any

distinction between Christians and Jews? secutions, which have already extended, and are still likely to extend, to persons of all ranks and ages, and

Tertullian, Ad Nationes, Ch. XI. even of both sexes. In fact, this contagious supersti

In this matter we are (said to be] guilty not merely tion is not confined to the cities only, but has spread of forsaking the religion of the community, but of inits infection among the neighbouring villages and

troducing a monstrous superstition; for some among country. Nevertheless, it still seems possible to re

you have dreamed that our god is an ass's head, -an strain its progress. The temples, at least, which were

absurdity which Cornelius Tacitus first suggested. In once almost deserted, begin now to be frequented; and

the fourth (fifth] book of his Histories, where he is the sacred rites, after a long intermission, are again re

treating of the Jewish war, he begins his description vived; while there is a general demand for the victims,

with the origin of that nation, and gives his own views which till lately found very few purchasers. From all respecting both the origin and the name of their religion. this it is easy to conjecture what numbers might be re- He states that the Jews, in their migration in the claimed if a general pardon were granted to those who

desert, when suffering for want of water, escaped by shall repent of their error.

following for guides some wild asses, which they supTrajan to Pliny, ib., Letter XCVIII.

posed to be going in quest of water after pasture, and You have adopted the right course, my dearest

that on this account the image of one of these animals Secundus in investigating the charges against the

was worshipped by the Jews. For this, I suppose, it Christians who were brought before you. It is not

was presumed that we, too, from our close connection possible to lay down any general rule for all such cases.

with the Jewish religion, have ours consecrated under Do not go out of your way to look for them. If indeed

the same emblematic form. they should be brought before you, and the crime is

QUESTION. proved, they must be punished; with the restriction,

1. Did the Romans always distinguish clearly behowever, that where the party denies he is a Christian, tween the Christians and the Jews? and shall make it evident that he is not, by invoking our gods, let him (notwithstanding any former suspi

Tertullian, Ad Nationes, Ch. IX. cion ) be pardoned upon his repentance. Anonymous

*

*

tions, your cry immediately is, This is the fault of the on those whose fury vented itself against the Lord. Christians! As if they who fear the true God could have to fear a light thing, or at least anything else

QUESTIONS. [than an earthquake or famine, or such visitations). I 1. How must the Romans have relished this prediction suppose it is as despisers of your gods that we call of the downfall of the Empire? of the fate in store for down on us these strokes of theirs.

their most illustrious emperors, their philosophers, poets,

etc.? of the destruction of all that they held dear? 2. QUESTIONS.

May it possibly have been something of this sort which

Pliny extorted by torture from the two deaconesses, and 1. Make it clear from the extracts below why the which seemed to him a vicious, extravagant superstiChristians were thought to be more offensive to the tion? 3. Could it have seemed less vicious from the gods than any of the other numerous religious sects in exultation with which this destruction was predicted ? Rome, some of which were exceedingly vicious and im- 4. Are these the words of a “hater of the human race?" moral. 2. Would you expect to find on further inves- 5. The fall of the Empire was predicted in much more tigation that religion and morals were not closely con

direct terms. Was this treason? nected in the Roman mind? (Lecky, European Morals, I., Ch. III.) 3. Can you conceive of the separation of

Tertullian, Ad Scapulam, Ch. II. the two? 4. Do you think it indicates a high or low We are worshippers of one God, of whose existence stage of religious development, when the chief func- and character nature teaches all men; at whose lighttion of religion is to propitiate an angry diety?

enings you tremble, whose benefits minister to your III. WHAT THE CHRISTIANS THOUGHT OF THE happiness. You think that others, too, are gods; the

same we know to be devils. ROMANS, AND HOW THE CHRISTIANS BROUGHT PERSECUTION UPON THEMSELVES.

Tertullian, On Idolatry, Ch. I.

The principal crime of the human race, the highest Tertullian, De Spectaculis, Ch. XXX.

guilt charged upon the world, the whole procuring But what a spectacle is that fast-approaching advent cause of judgment, is idolatry. For, although each of our Lord, now owned by all, now highly exalted, single fault retains its own proper feature, although now a triumphant One! What that exultation of the it is destined to judgment under its own proper name angelic hosts! what the glory of the rising saints! what also, yet it is marked off under the (general) count of the kingdom of the just thereafter! what the city of idolatry. New Jerusalem! Yes, and there are other sights: that

QUESTIONS. last day of judgment, with its everlasting issues; that day unlooked for by the nations, the theme of their de- 1. Is Tertullian of the opinion that all religious sysrision, when the world, hoary with age, and all its many

tems contain at least some truth, and may therefore

be regarded with a tolerant eye, and may even be products, shall be consumed in one great flame! How

studied with profit? (He would admit this, I think, vast a spectacle then bursts upon the eye! What there of Judaism.) 2. Does he try to minimize the differexcites my admiration? what my derision? Which

ences between the Christians and the Pagans? 3. Was sight gives me joy? which rouses me to exultation ?-as

a compromise with Paganism possible? I see so many illustrious monarchs, whose reception into Tertullian, On Idolatry, Ch. VIII. the heavens was publicly announced, groaning now in There are also other species of very many arts the lowest darkness with great Jove himself, and those, which, although they extend not to the making of too, who bore witness of their exultation; governors of idols, yet, with the same criminality, furnish the adprovinces, too, who persecuted the Christian name, in juncts without which idols have no power. For it fires more fierce than those with which in the days of matters not whether you erect or equip; if you have their pride they raged against the followers of Christ! embellished his temple, or altar, or niche, if you have What world's wise men besides, the very philosophers, pressed out gold-leaf, or have wrought his insignia, or in fact, who taught their followers that God had no con- even his house: work of that kind, which confers not cern in ought that is sublunary, and were wont to as- shape, but authority, is more important. If the necessure them that either they had no souls, or that they sity of maintenance is urged so much, the arts have would never return to the bodies which at death they other species withal to afford means of livelihood, withhad left, now covered with shame before the poor de- out outstepping the path of discipline, that is, withluded ones, as one fire consumes them! Poetu also, out the confiction of an idol. The plasterer knows trembling not before the judgment-s. at of Rhadaman- both how to mend roofs, and lay on stuccoes, and polthus or Minos, but of the unexpected Christ! I shall ish a cistern, and traces ogees, and draw in relief on have a better opportunity then of hearing the trage- party-walls many other ornaments beside likenesses. dians, louder-voiced in their own calamity; of viewing The painter, too, and the marble-mason, and the the play-actors, much more "dissolute" in the dissolv- bronze-worker, and every graver whatever, knows exing flame; of looking upon the charioteer, all glowing pansions of his own art, of course much easier of exin his chariot of fire; of witnessing the wrestlers, not in ecution. For how much more easily does he who detheir gymnasia, but tossing in the fiery billows; unless lineates a statue overlay a sideboard! How much even then I shall not care to attend to such ministers sooner does he who carves a Mars out of a lime-tree, of sin, in my eager wish rather to fix a gaze insatiable fasten together a chest!

来