he merely says, that Tiberius threatened all who accused them. This threat appears to me to have referred to the inveterate hostility manifested by the Jews against Christ and his Disciples; which had come to the emperor's knowledge through the account transmitted by Pilate. Tertullian could not intend to say that any laws against the Christians were in force during the reign of Tiberius, since he has declared 35 more than once that Nero was the first emperor who enacted any such laws. I must, however, confess my own opinion to be that the story is liable to just suspicion.

"

It rests entirely on the authority of Tertullian. How happened it that so remarkable a fact, as a public proposal from the Emperor to the Senate, to receive Christ among the Gods of Rome escaped the notice of every other writer? Justin Martyr, who 36 on two different occasions appeals to what he calls the Acts of Pilate, in confirmation of the Gospel-narrative of our Saviour's sufferings and miracles, is silent respecting the proposal of Tiberius to the Senate.

But to proceed with the information supplied by Tertullian's works respecting the

35

36

Apology, cc. 5. 21. ad Nat. L. i. c. 7. Scorpiace, c. 15. Apol. I. pp. 76.. C. 84. C. The Acts of Pilate here referred to were the daily transactions of his government, registered in a book, a copy of which was probably sent to Rome.

causes which contributed to the rapid growth of Christianity, during the latter part of the second century. We have seen that they furnish no ground for ascribing the success of its teachers at that period to the exercise of miraculous powers. They enable us, however, to ascertain, that by the pious zeal and diligence of its professors, powerful engines had been set at work to promote the diffusion of the Gospel. Of these " Mosheim has noticed two: the translation of the New Testament into different languages, and the composition of numerous Apologies for the Christian Faith. The writings of Tertullian, which contain quotations from nearly all the Books of the New Testament, 38 render it highly probable that a Latin translation existed in his day. By such a translation the history and doctrines of the Gospel would be rendered accessible to a large portion of the subjects of the Roman empire, who had

37 Century II. Part I. c. i.

38 Semler indeed insinuates that the works, extant under Tertullian's name, contain the first specimens of a Latin translation. 66 Itaque videmur hic ipsa primordia Latinæ Translationis occupare et deprehendere." And again, "Aut illud scivit (Tertullianus) tam pauca esse adhuc Evangelii Latini exemplaria (nulla forte alia, quam hoc primum, suum ipsius) &c." Sect. 4. Yet he asserts that Tertullian, or whoever the author might be, never used a Greek MS.; De eo enim satis jam certi sumus, etsi solent viri docti aliter statuere, hunc scriptorem oculis suis manibusque nunquam usurpâsse Græcum ullum codicem Evangeliorum aut Epistolarum, &c. Ibid.

H

previously derived their notions of the New Religion only from report; and that perhaps. the report of enemies, anxious to misrepresent it. They were now enabled to judge for themselves, and to perceive how admirably all its precepts are adapted to promote the well-being of society, and to diffuse universal happiness. The favourable impression, produced upon the minds of men by the perusal of the Sacred Books, was doubtless confirmed and increased by the numerous Apologies for Christianity, to which Mosheim alludes. Among these the Apology of Tertullian has always held a distinguished place; and there is perhaps no better mode of conveying to the mind of the reader an accurate notion of the general condition of the Christians in the second century-of the difficulties with which they had to contend, and of the principles on which they actedthan by laying before him a brief summary of its contents. It will be necessary, however, to offer by way of preface a few remarks respecting what may be called the Legal Position of the Christians at that period; or the point of view in which they were regarded by the Roman laws.

Mosheim 39

39

says, that "in the beginning

Century II. Part I. c. 2.

of the second century there were no laws in force against the Christians; for the Senate had annulled the cruel edicts of Nero, and Nerva had abrogated the sanguinary laws of his predecessor Domitian." 40 Gibbon also infers from Pliny's celebrated letter to Trajan, that, when the former accepted the government of Bithynia, "there were no general laws or decrees of the Senate in force against the Christians; and that neither Trajan nor any of his virtuous predecessors, whose edicts were received into the civil and criminal jurisprudence, had publicly declared their intentions concerning the new Sect." If, however, we can attach any weight to the statements of Tertullian, the conclusions both of Gibbon and Mosheim are erroneous. In 4 the first Book ad Nationes, Tertullian expressly says, that, while all the other edicts of Nero had been repealed, that against the Christians alone remained in force. In the 12 Apology, after having stated that Nero and Domitian were

40 Chap. xvi. p. 540. Ed. 4to.

42

41 Et tamen permansit, omnibus erasis, hoc solum institutum Neronianum, &c. c. 7. Compare the Apology, c. 4. Sed quoniam, quum ad omnia occurrit veritas nostra, postremo legum obstruitur auctoritas adversus eam, &c.

42

c. 5. Tertullian says that Domitian's persecution was of short duration, and that the Emperor himself put a stop to it.

43

the only emperors who had persecuted the Christians, he says, as we have already seen, that Marcus Antoninus became their protector in consequence of the miraculous deliverance 44 66 Not," of his army in the German expedition. he adds, "that the emperor abrogated the punishment enacted against them, but he indirectly did away its effect by denouncing a heavier punishment against their accusers. What then," our author proceeds, " are we to think of laws which none but the impious, the unjust, the vile, the cruel, the trifling, the insane enforce? of which Trajan partly frustrated the effect by forbidding all enquiries to be made. after Christians? which neither Adrian, though a searcher out of all new and curious doctrines, nor Vespasian, though the conqueror of the Jews, nor Pius, nor Verus, called into ation ?" The whole tenor of this passage mani

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44

p. 106.

oper

Sicut non palam ab ejusmodi hominibus pœnam dimovit, ita alio modo palam dispersit, adjectâ etiam accusatoribus damnatione, et quidem tetriore. Quales ergo leges ista, quas adversus nos soli exequuntur impii, injusti, turpes, truces, vani, dementes? quas Trajanus ex parte frustratus est, vetando inquiri Christianos; quas nullus Hadrianus, quanquam curiositatum omnium explorator; nullus Vespasianus, quanquam Judæorum debellator; nullus Pius, nullus Verus impressit. Apol. c. 5. Quoties enim in Christianos desævitis, partim animis propriis, partim legibus obsequentes? c. 37. Quis denique de nobis alio nomine queritur? quod aliud negotium patitur Christianus, nisi suæ sectæ ? ad Scapulam, c. 4.