the Roman pontiffs; when those bishops, elevated to the summit of temporal and spiritual power in the West, introduced numberless corruptions and innovations; and when their power began to fade away. Fifthly, the epoch (1517-1839) when a reformation being called for, was resisted by those who ought to have promoted it; when the Western Church became divided; and at length infidelity came to threaten universal destruction.

CHAPTER II.

ON THE EARLY PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY.

A.D. 30-320.

HEREUNTO shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it ?-said our Lord. "It is like a grain of mustard-seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth. But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it."1 The Holy Spirit, by the mouth of the prophet Daniel, had many ages before predicted the same wonderful origin and diffusion of the kingdom of Christ, under the figure of "the stone cut out of the mountain without hands," which "became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." Thus was Christianity destined to spring from a small and obscure beginning, and to overspread the earth in the luxuriance of its growth. And so it came to pass. From Judæa, the least of

1 Mark iv. 30-32.

2 Dan. ii. 35, 44, 45.

the nations of the earth, and from twelve of its poorest and most illiterate children, a "sound went into all the earth, and words unto the ends of the world." The Son of God, when about to depart, had given to them that lofty commission: "All power is given to me in heaven and on earth. Goy ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you :" and they "went forth and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following,"

The number of the disciples assembled in the upper room at Jerusalem, after our Lord's ascension, was only a hundred and twenty; but the miracles of the day of Pentecost, and the sermon of St. Peter, added three thousand souls; and ere long, "the Lord adding to the Church daily such as should be saved," the number of the men was five thousand.2 In vain did the priests and their adherents endeavour to prevent the progress of true religion, by inflicting punishments on its preachers. The next account is, that "the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests was obedient to the faith."

The Gospel was, as yet, preached at Jerusalem only-in one city of a remote and obscure province of the Roman empire. What mere worldly calculation could then have imagined the triumphs which were in store for it? Who could then have expected that philosophies, idolatries, and superstitions, the growth of so many long ages, were to be prostrated and annihilated before it, and that the kingdoms of the earth were to bow beneath its dominion?

Rom. x. 18.

2 Acts ii. 47.

The destruction which Satan meditated against the Church in its infancy, was made the means of disseminating it more widely. The great persecution at Jerusalem, A.D. 37, and in which the first martyr, St. Stephen, afforded so noble an instance of the power of faith, dispersed abroad the disciples, who preached throughout Judæa, Samaria, Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Syria. The apostles alone remained at Jerusalem, where they probably continued to preach for several years after this time. Samaria, convinced by the miracles and the doctrine of Philip, with one accord embraced the Gospel: even the sorcerer Simon, deserted by his followers, and amazed at the gifts of the Holy Spirit, received baptism, in the vain hope of obtaining powers so far superior to his own. Tyre and Sidon now stretched forth their hands to the Lord; and at Antioch was a great multitude of believers.

Thus was the first great impulse to the dissemination of Christianity given by the persecution at Jerusalem. The next arose from the preaching of the apostle Paul to the Gentiles, which commenced about A.D. 44, fourteen years after our Lord's ascension. The result of his first mission with Barnabas was the establishment of Churches in Pamphylia, Pisidia, Lycaonia, and Cilicia, constituting the southern portion of Asia Minor. His next circuit, A.d. 4952, had the effect of extending the Church in Phrygia, Galatia, and Troas, or the centre of Asia Minor; and in Macedonia and Greece. Another journey added the coasts of Asia towards Greece; and the Church of Ephesus was formed, over which St. Paul presided for several years. Carried to Rome, about A.D. 59, he found Christianity already existing in several parts of Italy; and the Roman Church, which had lately been edified by his epistle, was now rapidly extended by his preaching. Released from prison

at Rome, he seems to have revisited Ephesus, where he left Timothy to exercise the episcopal office; to have preached in Crete, where Titus was invested with similar powers; and to have passed through Macedonia, and even into Spain; whence returning to Rome, he suffered for Christ about A.D. 68.

The other apostles also preached the Gospel among the heathen; though St. Paul declared that "he laboured more abundantly than they all." The north of Asia Minor, or Cappadocia, Pontus, and Bithynia (addressed by St. Peter in his epistle), probably received the Gospel from that apostle some time after A.D. 52; for St. Paul intended in that year to preach in Bithynia,' which he would not have done, had St. Peter already evangelised that province, as his rule was, never to build on another's foundation.2 The date of St. Peter's epistle from Babylon suggests the probability of his having preached in Chaldæa; and St. Thaddeus is said to have taught at Edessa and in Mesopotamia. In Egypt the Church was founded by St. Mark, who constituted Anianus the first bishop of Alexandria. There are also traditions, that Persia, Arabia, Ethiopia, and Britain, were visited by some of the apostles.

Thus, in about thirty years, that little grain of mustard-seed had grown into a mighty tree, the roots of which had struck themselves deep in all parts of the civilised world; and already it extended "from the river (Euphrates) to the ends of the earth." Nor was the success of its propagation in each locality inferior to the wideness of its dissemination throughout the world. We have seen examples of its rapid increase at Jerusalem, at Samaria, and Antioch. The heathen historian Tacitus, in describing the persecution which Christians suffered

"At

at Rome in the time of Nero, A.D. 64-68, says, first, those only were apprehended who confessed themselves of that sect; afterwards, a vast multitude discovered by them, all of whom were condemned." It appears from a letter of Pliny, the Roman governor of Pontus and Bithynia, about A.D. 107, that Christianity had nearly caused the heathen worship. in those countries to be deserted. Consulting the Emperor Trajan as to the mode of dealing with Christians, he says, "Therefore, suspending all judicial proceedings, I have recourse to you for advice; for it has appeared to me a matter highly deserving consideration, especially upon account of the great numbers of persons who are in danger of suffering; for many of all ages and every rank, of both sexes likewise, are accused, and will be accused. Nor has the contagion of this superstition seized cities only, but the lesser towns also, and the open country. Nevertheless it seems to me that it may be restrained and corrected. It is certain, that the (heathen) temples, which were almost forsaken, begin to be more frequented; and the sacred solemnities, after a long remission, are revived. Victims (for the sacrifices) likewise are every where brought up, whereas for some time there were few purchasers.' It appears from this remarkable testimony, that Christianity had, in the course of about fifty years, almost subverted idolatry in those provinces.

Little is known of the progress of Christianity for some years after the death of the apostles. The Church was probably engaged chiefly in the labour of converting the population more immediately around it; and we hear little of new missions to the heathen; yet Justin Martyr, about A.D. 150, wrote in his Apology, that "there is no race of men, whether barbarian or Greek, or by whatever other name they be designated, whether they wander in waggons, or