NEW TESTAMENT FACTS CORROBORATED BY SECULAR WRITERS.
TERTULIAN'S WORKS--EXTRACT FROM TACITUS--VALUE OF COTEMPORARY
CORRESPONDENCE--PLINY'S LETTER--PROOF OF THE SAINTS' MORALITY--GOSPEL
DISTINCTIVE FROM ALL OTHER RELIGIONS--NO OTHER SYSTEM DEPENDS UPON
SIMILAR INFLUENCES.
In a former chapter was shown some of the internal evidences of the
validity of the New Testament. By continuing our investigations we find
other and valuable proofs of its authenticity. There was no printing in
those days; therefore the people to whom the gospels and epistles were
addressed, had the opportunity of knowing by the handwriting whether
these documents were genuine or not. For example, Paul in his second
epistle to the Thessalonians, says: "The salutation of Paul with my own
hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write. The grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." These words show indeed
the heart of an apostle; but what a business man would most appreciate
is the fact how greatly these few lines add to the {104} security
against forgery. It is a hard thing to forge a signature, but give a
business man two lines of any man's writing besides that, and he is
perfectly secure against imposition. The churches to whom the epistles
were written and to whom the gospels were delivered consisted largely
of business men, merchants, traders, city chamberlains and officers of
Caesar's household. Does any one think that such men could not tell the
handwriting of the apostle who had lived among them for years or that
they cared less for the documents of the gospel, for which they risked
their lives, than we would care about the genuineness of a ten dollar
check? Tertulian, who lived from A. D. 145 to 222, was one of the most
learned men of that age. He was well versed in Roman law, in ancient
philosophy, history and poetry. He had been brought up a heathen,
and was not therefore likely to favor the teachings of the apostles
without due investigation. His writings are interesting, throwing
much light on the circumstances and social questions of that age. He
traveled extensively among the churches which the apostles had planted
and claims to have seen the original copies of Matthew and John and
the epistles written to the churches at Rome, Corinth, Thessalonica,
Ephesus and Philippi, and refers skeptics to the places where these
documents could be found. That these writings contained the same words
as are in our present New Testament is evident from the numerous
quotations in Tertulian's works.
{105} In the British and other museums may be found thousands of
manuscripts on every conceivable subject embracing every age for
the past sixteen hundred years and even some still earlier. Among
these manuscripts are over two thousand copies of the New Testament,
some of them dating back to apostolic times. These manuscripts have
been scrutinized by the most critical scholars; yet the result of
this examination is merely the suggestion of thirteen unimportant
alterations in the seven thousand nine hundred and fifty-nine verses
of the New Testament. This is a fact utterly unexampled in the history
of manuscripts. We are thus, by the special providence of God, as
undoubtedly in possession of genuine copies of the gospels and
epistles, some of which were written while the companions of the Savior
were still living and the divine authority and Priesthood were still
upon the earth, as we are of genuine copies of the Constitution of the
United States and of the Declaration of Independence.
There is no history so trustworthy as that prepared by cotemporary
writers, especially by those who have themselves been actively
engaged in the events which they relate. Such history never loses its
interest, nor does the lapse of ages, in the least degree, impair its
credibility. While the documents can be preserved, Xenophon's "Retreat
of the Ten Thousand," Wellington's dispatches, and Washington's letters
to Congress, will be as trustworthy as on the day they were written.
Of the great facts described in these {106} documents addressed to
their cotemporaries, able at a glance to detect a falsehood, we never
entertain the least suspicion. Many such historical allusions might be
quoted.
We have selected one from the well-known works of Tacitus, the
celebrated Roman historian, who lived between A. D. 60 and 120,
and wrote a history of Rome up to the reign of the emperor Trajan.
Concerning this extract from the history of Tacitus the infidel,
Gibbon, says, "The most skeptical criticism is obliged to respect
the truth of this important fact and the integrity of this important
passage of Tacitus." After relating the burning of the city of Rome
by order of Nero, and his attempt to transfer the odium of it to the
Christians, Tacitus says:
"The author of that name was Christ, who in the reign of
Tiberius, was put to death as a criminal, under the procurator
Pontius Pilate. But this pestilent superstition, checked for
a while, broke out afresh and spread not only over Judea,
where the evil originated, but also in Rome, where all that is
evil on the earth finds its way, and is practiced. At first,
those only were apprehended who confessed themselves of
that sect; afterwards, a vast multitude were discovered by
them; all of whom were condemned, not so much for the
crime of the burning of the city, as for their enmity to
mankind. Their executions were so contrived as to expose them
to derision and contempt. Some were covered over with the
skins of wild beasts, that they might be torn to pieces by
dogs; some were crucified; while others having been daubed
over with combustible materials, were set up for lights in the
night time and thus burned to death. For these spectacles
Nero gave his own gardens, and, at the same time, exhibited
there the diversions of the circus; sometimes standing in the
crowd as a spectator, in the habit of a charioteer, and, at
{107} other times driving a chariot himself; until at length these
men, though really criminal and deserving of exemplary
punishment, began to be commiserated as people who were destroyed,
not out of regard to the public welfare, but only to gratify the
cruelty of one man."
Now let the reader take up the New Testament and read the last six
chapters of Acts and the letters of Paul to Philemon, Titus and the
second to Timothy. These letters were written when the aged prisoner
was ready to be martyred, and the time of his departure was at hand.
Then let the reader form his opinion of the origin and nature of that
faith which enabled Paul to say, "None of these things move me, neither
count I my life dear unto me, that I may finish my course with joy, and
the testimony which I have received of the Lord Jesus."
There is still another kind of cotemporary history, which does not even
propose to relate history at all; but is for that very reason entirely
removed from the suspicion of making a false statement. By this is
meant cotemporary correspondence. The undersigned and incidental use
of a name, a date or a quotation often flashes conviction upon the
reader's mind in the most forcible manner. If we have the private
letters of celebrated men laid before us, we are enabled to look right
into them, and see their true characters. Thus Macaulay exhibits to the
world the proud, lying, stupid tyrant King, James, displayed in his own
letters. Thus the celebrated Voltaire records himself an adulterer,
and begs his friend {108} D'Alembert to lie for him, and his friend
replies that he has done so. Thus the correspondence of Thomas Paine
exhibits him drinking a quart of brandy daily at his friend's expense
and refusing to pay his bill for boarding. In the unguarded freedom of
confidential correspondence the veil is taken from the heart. We see
men as they are. The true man stands out in his native dignity and the
gilding is rubbed off the hypocrite. Give to the world their letters,
and no just person would hesitate to pronounce Hume a sensualist, or
Washington, "the noblest work of God," an honest man.
Now we are in possession of this same kind of indisputable evidence
concerning the great facts of the New Testament. From the abundant
notices of the faith, teachings and practices of the early saints,
which are to be found in the works of cotemporaneous writers,
historians and poets, philosophers and magistrates, Jewish, Christian
and heathen; it may be well to select one, to corroborate and compare
with the statements of the New Testament. Lest we should be accused of
partiality, let us take the celebrated letter of Pliny to Trajan. This
letter is utterly undeniable and admitted by the most skeptical to be
beyond suspicion, Pliny, the younger, was born A. D. 61. He lived and
died a pagan. In A. D. 106, when a little more than forty-five years
of age, he was appointed by the emperor Trajan to be governor of the
Roman provinces of Pontus and Bithynia--a vast tract of Asia-Minor, in
which {109} were situated the cities and churches of Ephesus, Smyrna,
Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis and Philadelphia. The Epistles of Peter "to
the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia Asia,
and Bithynia," brings us to the same mountainous region. Pliny, having
taken up his residence in Ephesus, wrote the following letter to the
Roman emperor:
"Pliny to the Emperor Trajan wishes health and happiness.
"It is my constant custom, sire, to refer myself to you in
all matters concerning which I have any doubt. For who
can better direct me when I hesitate, or instruct me when I am
ignorant? T have never been present at any trials of Christians,
so that I know not well what is the subject matter of
punishment, or of inquiry, or what strictures ought to be used in
either. Nor have I been a little perplexed to determine
whether any difference ought to be made upon account of age,
or whether the young and tender, and the full-grown and
robust, ought to be treated all alike; whether repentance
should entitle to pardon, or whether all who have once been
Christians ought to be punished though they are now no
longer so.
"In the meantime I have taken this course with all who
have been brought before me, and have been accused as
Christians. I have put the question to them whether they
were Christians. Upon their confessing to me that they were,
I repeated the question a second and a third time, threatening
also to punish them with death. Such as still persisted, I
ordered away to be punished; for it was no doubt with me,
whatever might be the nature of their opinion, that contumacy
and inflexible obstinacy ought to be punished. There were
others of the same infatuation, whom, because they are Roman
citizens, I have noted down to be sent to the city (Rome).
"In a short time, the crime spreading itself even while under
persecutions, as is usual in such cases, divers sorts of people
came in my way. And information was presented to me,
{110} without mentioning the author, containing the names of many
persons, who, upon examination denied that they were
Christians, or had ever been so; who repeated after me an
invocation to the gods, and with wine and frankincense made
supplication to your image, which, for that purpose, I have
caused to be brought and set before them, together with the
statues of the deities. Moreover they reviled the name of
Christ. None of which things, as is said, they who are really
Christians can by any means be compelled to do. These,
therefore, I thought proper to discharge.
"Others were named by an informer, who at first confessed
themselves Christians, and afterwards denied it. The rest
said they had been Christians, but had left them; some three years
ago, some longer, and one or more above twenty years. They
all worshiped your image, and the statues of the gods; these
also reviled Christ. They affirmed that the whole of their
fault or error lay in this: that they were wont to meet together,
on a stated day before it was light, and sing among themselves
alternately, a hymn to Christ as a God and bind themselves
by a sacrament, not to the commission of any wickedness, but
not to be guilty of theft, or robbery, or adultery; never to
falsify their word nor to deny a pledge committed to them
when called upon to return it. When these things were
performed, it was their custom to separate, and then to come
together again to a meal which they ate in common, without
any disorder; but this they had forborne since the publication
of my edict, by which, according to your command, I
prohibited assemblies. After receiving this account, I judged
it the more necessary to examine two maid servants, who
were called ministers, by torture. But I have discovered
nothing besides a bad and excessive superstition.
"Suspending, therefore, 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 number 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
{111} the open country. Nevertheless, it seems that it may be
restrained and arrested. It is certain that the temples which
were almost forsaken, begin to be frequented. And the sacred
solemnities, after a long intermission, are revived. Victims,
likewise, are everywhere brought up, whereas, for some time,
there were few purchasers. Whence, it is easy to imagine,
what numbers of men might be reclaimed, if pardon were
granted to those who shall repent."
To this the Emperor Trajan replied:
"Trajan to Pliny wisheth health and happiness:
"You have taken the right course, my Pliny, in your
proceedings with those who have been brought before you as
Christians; for it is impossible to establish any one rule that
shall hold universally. They are not to be sought after. If
any are brought before you, and are convicted, they ought to
be punished. However, he that denies his being a Christian,
and makes it evident in fact, that is, by supplication to our
gods, though he be suspected to have been so formerly, let
him be pardoned upon repentance. But in no case of any crime
whatever, may a bill of information be received without being
signed by him who presents it. For that would be a
dangerous precedent, and unworthy of my government."
Now let us read the First General Epistle of Peter, the First General
Epistle of John, and the second and third chapters of Revelation and we
will be able to see the force of the various allusions, to the numbers,
doctrines, morals and persecutions of the Saints as mentioned in this
letter. The doctrines of the Christian faith then are not the gradual
growth of centuries, as the infidel would make us believe. On the
other hand the primitive churches possessed a perfection of doctrine
and organization unknown to the so-called Christian churches of the
present day. In the life time {112} of those who had seen the Savior
crucified, and in countries a thousand miles distant from Jerusalem, we
find the Saints scattered over Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and
Bithynia, as well as in the world's proud capital, the city of Rome.
In this letter also we have the testimony of apostates, eager to save
their lives by giving such information as they knew would be acceptable
to the persecuting governor, the testimony of the two servants under
torture, and the unwilling, yet express testimony; of their torturer,
that all his cruel ingenuity could discover nothing worse than what he
called "a bad and excessive superstition." Now, what was it that this
heathen governor called a "superstition?" Why simply that they bound
themselves by the most solemn religious services, not to be guilty of
theft, robbery or adultery; not to falsify their word nor deny a pledge
committed to them; and when a statue of the emperor was presented to
them they refused to make supplication to it. For this refusal, and
this alone, he ordered them away to death. And as these martyrs went
away to torture and to death, may they not have heard tingling in
their ears the words of Peter which had been written to them a few
years previous: "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery
trial that is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto
you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an
evil-doer, or as a busybody in other men's matters" (_I. Peter iv_,
12-15). Pliny says that there were apostates twenty years previous,
that is in the year 86. Now does not {113} that exactly coincide with
what John wrote to them in the year 90: "They went out from us but
they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would no doubt
have continued with us" (_I. John ii_. 19). So Pliny speaks of the
apostates, "They all worshiped your image and statues of the gods;
these also reviled Christ. None of which things, as is said, they who
are really Christians can by any means be compelled to do." What was it
that enabled the early Saints of all ranks and all ages, of both sexes
likewise, to joyfully meet death in its most horrid forms? It was the
power of truth--it was the power of God.
Now, the grand idea that strikes us in the testimony of the Saints,
both of primitive and modern times, is that it stands out utterly
different from all other religions. There is nothing in the world
like it, not even its counterfeits. The great central fact of
Christianity--that Christ died for our sins, and rose again from the
dead--stands absolutely alone in the history of religions. The priests
of Baal, Brahma or Jupiter never dreamed of such a thing. Confucius,
Buddha or Zoroaster never attained to such sublime ideas. Our modern
positivists and spiritualists perceiving the grandeur of this doctrine,
have vainly attempted to destroy this, the key-stone of the gospel arch.
There is no instance in the whole world's history of any other religion
ever producing the same effects; no other instance of men destitute
of wealth, arms, power and learning, converting multitudes of lying,
lustful, murdering idolators {114} into honest, peaceable Christians,
simply by prayer and preaching. When the skeptic tells us of the rapid
spread of impostures which enlist disciples by promising free license
to lust, robbery and murder, and retain them by the terror of scimetar
and rifle ball, he simply insults our common sense, by ignoring the
difference between the degrading practices of vice, and the ennobling
principles of virtue. The gospel stands alone in its doctrines,
singular in its operation, unequalled in its success.
* * * * *