Review of the past.--What follows in the future.
Let us assume a stand at the beginning of Adrian's reign, A.D. 117, and
make a survey of the Christian world as it presents itself at that day.
A half-century has passed since the death of Paul. Since then, Rome has
been without a Christian population. Driven from the city through the
cruel butcheries of the tyrant, they took refuge in the provinces,
especially Asia Minor, where they remained until the reign of Adrian
and his successor, the tolerant Antoninus Pius. In the mean time, the
Therapeutan element of Christianity had been steadily on the increase,
while that of Paul had correspondingly declined. The proclamation of
Adrian, or rather his letter to Fundanus, a governor of one of the
provinces, prohibiting the punishment of Christians on account of their
religion, was the first intimation from the capital of the empire that
they could return in safety. From this time Christians began to return
to Rome in a steady stream, so that within the next twenty years they
had so increased in numbers that they once more take a place in history,
and are found mixed up in the history of the imperial city.
But at this time Christians, in their contest with the Pagans, found the
evidence of Christianity, as it then stood, not sufficient to contend
with the infidelity of the age. The old religion of Rome was hallowed by
time, supported by the learned men of that day, and upheld by the power
of the State. The Gospels had not yet appeared; the world was without a
miracle; Mary, the bride of Heaven, afterwards the central figure in the
Hierarchy of the orthodox, had no place in history. Peter had not
been in Rome, or John in Asia. The personal influence of Paul and his
immediate followers had kept alive the spirit of Christianity in Asia;
but now Paul is no more, and the influence of his name has nearly passed
away. The proof that there ever were such persons as Christ and his
disciples had become faint. The dim light of tradition, and what Paul,
and his companion Barnabas, said of him in their epistles, comprised
about all the evidence at that day to sustain the claims of
Christianity. But Paul himself had not seen Christ, except under such
circumstances as might excite suspicion of either delusion or fraud. He
had seen Peter, and remained with him, in the first place fifteen days;
and afterwards went to Jerusalem, where he saw all of the disciples who
were then living. What Paul learned from the disciples, with his vision
near Damascus, was sufficient to convince him of the reality of Christ
and the truth of the religion he taught. But the proof all lay within
himself. The genuine epistles of Peter, as we will show, were so
corrupted by the men of the second century, that we have no means of
knowing how much of the original remains or how much has been added. The
epistle of James, which is the only writing by an Apostle, or any one
else, that has come down to us from the Apostolic age without some
evidence of fraud and corruption, only speaks of Christ as a just man,
and makes no mention of the prodigies and wonders claimed to have taken
place at the time of his birth and death; nor does he take notice of
the miracles and wonderful things spoken of in the Gospels. The proof,
whatever it may have been, that Christ ever existed, was too weak to
overcome or even contend against the skepticism of the age.
So far we have said nothing of the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, because
it was cast to one side, for the reason that it was a standing argument
against the Alexandrian ideas of the Logos--and was regarded as of
no authority in the church until it had been improved by important
additions made afterwards, and passed into the present Greek version.
With such proof as existed at the time we write of, Christianity could
not hold its ground against the great pressure brought to bear it
down--much less make headway against such powerful opposition. The time
to supply new proof of the reality of Christ was favorable. All the
scenes in his life lay within the boundaries of Galilee, Samaria, and
Judea--the greater part in and about Jerusalem. Since his death the
Legions of Rome had been there, and left nothing standing except a few
towers, reserved for military defence. The silence of death, for almost
a half century, had reigned in the streets of Jerusalem. The greater
part of the Jewish people had been put to death by the sword, or carried
away into captivity. All who lived during the time of Christ, by age and
the calamities of war had gone to their graves. We shall soon see the
Synoptics appear in intervals such as circumstances demanded, each
bearing the name of an Apostle, or the name of some one who wrote at
their dictation. A little further down in the century we will find
men engaged in laying the foundation of a church, whose claims to
infallibility and supremacy are based on "apostolic succession." When we
come to this period we will find all ecclesiastical history to consist
of traditions, and a time in the world's life which is populated by
Bishops and high-church dignitaries, who pass before us without speech
or action, like shadows on a wall. We shall find Peter has been in Rome;
John at Ephesus; Paul in Gaul, Spain, and Britain. We will find parties
engaged in exalting Peter above all the other Apostles--and the same
influence at work to put down Paul. Again we will see Paul restored
to favor, but his writings defaced by forgeries, to conform to the
doctrines of the day. We shall also see Christians enter into quarrels
among themselves, which continue through centuries.
Books are forged, traditions manufactured, and the works of the Fathers
shamefully altered and corrupted. Later in the century, brought out by
a pressure which made it necessary, the fourth Gospel will appear, and
Christianity pass from the Alexandrian Logos to the Incarnate God.
By casting our eyes still further down the centuries, we will see
Christianity and the philosophy of Plato strangely allied, which brings
us to the era of the Trinity. Let us first inquire into the origin of
the first three Gospels.