-U

The Bible Study Union Lessons

THE COMPLETELY GRADED SERIES

itnesses for Christ

MAY 2 7 J.;

What It Meant to be a Christian
In the Early Centuries

CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS

97-599 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK

CONTENTS

I^esson 1. Why the Christians were Persecuted in the Roman Empire 1
Lesson 2. An Invitation to a Supper ..... 7

Lesson 3. A Time When it was Dangerous to go to a Church . . 12

Lesson 4. A Robber Captain who was Converted . . .16

Lesson 5. A Christian Wife and a Heathen Husband . . . 22

Lesson 6. How Even the Weak were Strong Enough to Die for Christ 26
Lesson 7. Christian Leaders who were Faithful Unto Death . . 31

Lesson 8. A Roman Emperor who Became a Christian . . . 36

Lesson 9. A Great Empire Conquered by Barbarians ... 41

Lesson 10. A Christian Mother and Her Great Son ... 46

Lesson 11. How our European Ancestors were Converted to Christ 52
Lesson 12. The Christian Conquest of Europe. Review . . 57

The Bible Study Union Lessons (Completely Graded Series), Junior
Grade: Published by Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York; price 12 cents
each.

THE LAST TOKEN
From a painting^ by Gabriel Max

Witnesses for Christ

WHAT IT MEANT TO BE A CHRISTIAN
IN THE EARLY CENTURIES

A Course of Study for Classes of Boys and Girls
Twelve to Fifteen Years Old

By HAROLD B. HUNTING

Charles F. Kent, Ph.D.
George A. Coe, Ph.D., LL.D.

Consulting Editors

New York

CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS

INTRODUCTION

TO THE PUPIL

In the last thirty-six lessons of the Junior Bible, we have
followed the story of the disciples of Jesus down to about the
year 100 a.d. The later writings of the New Testament intro-
duced us to the beginning of one of the most thrilling chapters
in the world’s history, the life and death struggle between the
religion of Jesus and the heathenism of the Roman empire. If
we had stopped there in our study we would not have known
the trials which men and women had to endure to be Christians
in those early days. In the following pages, therefore, we shall
take up the story where the New Testament lets it drop. We
shall try to gain a vivid mental picture of the life of the Chris-
tians in the second, third and fourth centuries And we shall
find that this great period, from beginning to end, is a story
of marvelous Christian loyalty and heroism.

Most of our information regarding this history comes from
the Christian writers of those days, who are generally referred
to as “ the Fathers.” They wrote explaining Christianity and
its teachings and beliefs for the purpose of defending it against
the false statements of heathen enemies. These books defend-
ing Christianity are usually referred to as apologies.” The
Greek word apologia,” however, did not mean an apology”
in our sense of the word but rather a defense.”

On page 62 you will find a list of the early Christian writers
referred to in these lessons.

/ ^ l)eOi /

J2.70

Witnesses for Christ

LESSON I.

WHY CHRISTIANS WERE PERSECUTED IN THE
ROMAN EMPIRE.

§1. Wicked Customs Among the Romans.

The ancient world, in the time of the Roman Empire, was in
many ways extremely corrupt, heartless, and cruel. There
were many persons indeed, who tried to live righteous lives;
but even the best of them thought nothing of many customs
which would be considered shocking and wicked, nowadays.
It is hard to believe, for example, that civilized men and women
could take delight in watching the death agonies of their fellow-
men. Yet the great Coliseum at Rome, and the amphitheatres
in all the leading cities, were continually thronged with spec-
tators. Here, protected from the sun with awnings, and
decked out in splendid robes and glittering jewels, the fashion-
able men and women of each city looked down from their
perfumed cushioned seats, into the arena, where condemned
criminals were torn by leopards, or tigers or lions, or wild boars;
or where perchance trained gladiators fell upon one another in
mortal combat. These cruel and terrible exhibitions were
what the people of those days called amusements.

§2. The Unpopularity of the Christians.

Into the midst of these evil practices came the Christians,
with their purer and better way of living. They refused to go
to these amusements’^ at the amphitheatres. They refused
to share in the degrading vices which were commonly practised.
As a result they were unpopular. This unpopularity was
greatly increased among those who found that they were losing
money because of the new religion. Idol makers, for example,
and priests in heathen temples hated the Christians, because
each new convert to Christianity meant so much less revenue
for them. There were many persons moreover, who were

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influenced against Christianity through misunderstandings
and falsehoods. The Christians were called atheists, because
they would not worship idols. They were even accused of all
kinds of horrible deeds. It was reported that little children
were killed and eaten at their meetings. Although these
statements were absolutely false they were believed by many
intelligent men.

§ 3. The Christians and the Roman Government.

The Roman government permitted its subjects for the most
part to worship whatever gods they pleased. In Rome itself
all sorts of foreign religions flourished. One thing only was in-
sisted on: whatever special deity a man might choose to wor-
ship, he must also sacrifice to the old Roman gods, who were
supposed to protect the Roman Empire. Furthermore, all
Roman subjects were required to offer sacrifice, on certain
occasions, before the image of the emperor. These laws were
readily obeyed, by all except the Christians; they alone held
aloof and refused even to throw a pinch of incense on the altar
in worship of Csesar. To the Roman officials, this seemed like
treason against the government. Furthermore the Christians,
as we know, did really believe that Christ was soon to return,
and that He would overthrow the Roman Empire and all
earthly kingdoms, and establish His own heavenly kingdom.
When the Roman rulers heard about this belief, it was natural
for them to suspect that the Christians were actually plotting
against the government.

§ 4. Laws Against the Christians.

So from the time of Nero, Christianity seems to have been a
^Torbidden religion in the eyes of the law. The Emperor
Trajan, more wise and just than some rulers, gave orders that
the Christians were not to be sought out, but that when accused
and convicted, they were to be compelled to sacrifice to the
gods or else were to be put to death. Under this rule (about
110 A.D.), a Christian was left unmolested, unless some enemy
reported him to the local governor or prefect. They had many
enemies, however, and from time to time fierce attacks were

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Junior — Lesson One

made upon them. At no time, and under no circumstances,
could they feel secure. Many of them were cruelly tortured
and slain. They were torn with iron claws, hung upon crosses,
thrown to wild beasts, covered with skins of beasts and torn
by dogs, roasted over slow fires. No form of torture was
neglected which ingenuity could devise.

§ 5. The Failure of these Laws to Check the Growth
OF Christianity.

In spite of these attacks the number of the Christians in-
creased at a remarkable rate. Christianity appealed not merely
to the educated but to the humble and lowly. The Christians
were noted for their kindness to the sick and to the poor.
Their Gospel aroused the consciences of men and offered them
forgiveness and a Saviour from sin. One of the most powerful
influences in the winning of new converts was the courage and
constancy of the Christians themselves in the face of persecu-
tion; and their willingness to die, if need be, for their faith.
Thus for every Christian put to death, many more converts
would often be won.

The impression made on heathen spectators by the death of
the Christians is well brought out by the following description
from ^^Quo Vadis’^ of a scene in the arena during the persecution
by Nero.* ^^The turn of the Christians was at hand. Since
that was a new spectacle for people, and no one knew how the
Christians would bear themselves, all waited with a certain
curiosity. The disposition of the audience was attentive but
unfriendly. Those people who were to appear had burned
Rome and its ancient treasures. They had drunk the blood
of infants, and poisoned water; they had cursed the whole
human race, and had committed the vilest crimes. The harsh-
est punishment did not suffice for their hatred; and if any fear
possessed people’s hearts it was this: that the torture of the
Christians would not equal the guilt of these ominous criminals.

^^Now the prefect gave a sign. The same old man appeared
*Quotedfrom “Quo Vadis’^ by permission cf Little, Brown, and Company.
Copyright 1896, 1897, by Jeremiah Curtin,

Witnesses for Christ

who had called the gladiators to death, and passing with slow
step across the arena amid silence, he struck three times again
on the door.

Throughout the amphitheatre was heard the deep murmur —
^The Christians! the Christians!^

^'The iron gratings creaked; through the dark openings were
heard the usual cries of the scourgers, ^To the sand ’ and in one
moment the arena was filled with crowds of people covered
with skins of beasts. All ran quickly and reaching the middle
of the circle, they knelt one by another with raised hands.
The spectators judging this to be a prayer for pity, and enraged
by such cowardice, began to stamp, whistle, throw empty
wine vessels, bones from which the fiesh had been eaten, and
shout, ^The beasts! the beasts!^ But all at once something
unexpected took place. From out the shaggy assembly sing-
ing voices were raised, and then sounded that hymn, heard for
the first time in a Roman amphitheatre, ^ Christus regnat ’
(^Christ reigns 0* Astonishment seized the spectators. They
saw faces pale, but as it were inspired. All understood that
those people were not asking for mercy, and that they seemed
not to see the circus, the audience, the senate, or Csesar. ‘ Chris-
tus regnat’ rose ever louder, and in the seats far up to the
highest, among the rows of spectators, more than one asked
himself the question, ^What is happening, and who is that
Christus who reigns in the mouths of those people who are about
to die.’ ”

§ 6. Final Attempts to Stamp out Christianity, and
Their Failure.

Before the time of Decius (250 a.d.) no systematic attempt
was made by the government to search out the Christians.
During the reign of this emperor, however, there were many
great public calamities, as for example, a widespread pestilence.
^^The Christians have brought these things on us,” people said,
^^by their neglect of the gods.” So Decius issued an edict,
which was really a declaration of war against the new religion.
Christians were now hunted down like murderers all over the
empire. About fifty years later (303 a.d.), after a temporary

Junior — Lesson One

respite, the Emperor Diocletian undertook to carry out the
same kind of campaign, with even greater energy. By that
time the Christians had begun to have church buildings. These
were destroyed. All copies of the New Testament that could
be secured were burned. Pastors and church officers were
punished with special cruelty. It was a terrible experience
for the Christians, but the majority of them proved true.
In fact many who had been lukewarm in their loyalty were
awakened to heroism. New converts flocked to the standard
of the cross. It is said that a certain actor had been hired to
take part in a play which ridiculed and slandered Christianity.
He knew these statements were false, however, and when the
time came for him to repeat them on the stage, his better
nature triumphed. Instead of going on with his part he came
to the front of the stage and declared his belief in Christianity
and his purpose to be a Christian. He was immediately seized
and put to death. As time went on the Roman authorities
began to realize that it was impossible to destroy a religion
which could awaken so dauntless a spirit as this. The per-
secution of Diocletian was the last of the great Roman per-
secutions.

Questions and Topics.

1. Do you think the pagan Romans were naturally worse
people than we are to-day?

2. If you had lived in those days, would you have gone
to the shows held in the amphitheatre? Why?

3. What things do we do now which Christians living one
thousand years from now will consider wrong and wicked?

4. Why were the Romans offended at the Christians for
not taking part in the vices of those days?

Witnesses for Christ

5. Would you have believed the stories about the Chris-
tians? If not, how would you have found out the truth?

Questions to Sum Up.

1. Mention three reasons why the Christians were unpopular.

2. Mention two reasons why the Roman officials passed laws
against them.

3. What was the ruling of the Emperor Trajan, regarding
the Christians?

4. What effect did these laws have?

5. Under what two emperors was there a systematic at-
tempt to root out Christianity?

Junior — Lesson Two

LESSON 2.

AN INVITATION TO A SUPPER.

§ 1. The Spirit of Brotherhood Among the Early
Christians.

The heathen writer Lucian said of the Christians Their
master has persuaded them that they are all brothers. In
this lesson, let us try to get a vivid idea of what this Chris-
tian brotherhood meant, and especially what it would mean to
a poor man. Let us imagine for example, a poor bricklayer,
who has been living in a village in northern Italy. Suppose we
call him Lycidas.

§ 2. A Poor Bricklayer, Out of Work, Homeless and

Hungry.

This man, Lycidas, let us say, belonged to a little band of
Christians in his native village, who had been converted by a
traveling missionary. One summer the crops were very poor.
People had no money to build houses, and Lycidas could find
no work. So he decided to come to Rome. The missionary,
on one of his visits, gave him a letter to a member of the church
in Rome who would help him to find work. When he reached

the great city, however, and went to the house to which he had
been directed by the missionary, he found that the man had
moved. With a sinking heart; he set out alonC; to look for a

Witnesses for Christ

job. First he found a cheap lodging, a small, dirty room, in a
three-story tenement house. Then he began to walk the streets
inquiring for opportunities to work at his trade. Days passed,
however, and he could find no work of any kind. It is not
pleasant to find oneself alone in a great city, with no friends and
with little money. Lycidas grew pale and haggard. Finally
his money was all spent, and his landlord put him out of his
room on the street, a helpless, homeless beggar. Winter was
coming on, and there are some cold winter days even in sunny
Italy.

§ 3. A Secbet Countersign. A Joyful Discovery.

Lycidas though sad and discouraged did not give up his
weary search for work. That afternoon, as he passed by a cer-
tain house, he noticed above the door a small drawing of a fish.
His heart was filled with joy and hope. For among the early
Christians a picture of a fish was used as a secret countersign.
The letters in the Greek word for fish formed the initials of the
words meaning Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour.^’
Was this perhaps a house where Christians lived? Lycidas
decided to knock, and a kind-faced woman opened the door.
^‘1 noticed the carving over your door,’^ said Lycidas, too
am one of the brothers.’^ The woman hesitated; for there were
spies who made it their business to search out Christians and
betray them. came from northern Italy,^^ continued Ly-
cidas. have a letter from the missionary Linus to a Chris-
tian here named Clement. But when I went to his house, I
found he had moved. At this the woman clapped her hands
with joy. Clement has told us about you,^^ she said, stretch-
ing out her hand to welcome the stranger. “He himself re-
ceived a letter from Linus about you, and he asked us all to be
on the lookout for you. We are so sorry that you have been
alone in the city all these weeks. IsnT it fortunate that
you noticed the sign of the fish over our door.”

§ 4. A Church Supper; the Love Feast of the Early
Christians.

So Lycidas at last found himself among friends. What did
it mean to him? Perhaps we can best find out by going with

Junior — Lesson Two

him to the weekly church supper to which the kind-faced woman
invited him. Let us suppose that it is held that very evening.
Lycidas does not hesitate to accept the invitation, for in spite
of the bread and milk which the good woman has already given
him, he is still ravenously hungry. Suppose then, that we go
with him, as the hour approaches. We open the door and an
eager welcome awaits us. ^^Here are our new members,
some one cries, and we receive a cordial hand clasp from every
one in the house. A fire is burning in an open fire-pan called a
brazier, and the room is warm. A table is spread in the large
central hall, and we take our places around it. Here are rolls
and honey, roast mutton, beans, cheese, dates and figs. Each
family has brought what it could, and all has been put together
in a common stock. How good that mutton tastes to Lycidas,
who really has not had enough to eat since he came to Rome.
Here are, perhaps, two dozen people, men, women and children.
Here are laborers, like Lycidas. Here are slaves. Over there
is a Jewish merchant. Yonder is a teacher of rhetoric. ^Hn
Christ, there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither bond nor free.^’
There are some, perhaps, whose manners are rude. They are
new converts and have not yet learned the ways of the Chris-
tians. It is a merry company. Jests are passed back and
forth. One member has brought a lyre and plays and sings.
Among those present is Clement, for whom Lycidas rece ved
the letter from the missionary. He is a foreman in charge of
the construction of a new aqueduct near Rome. He promises
Lycidas work and tells him to bring his trowel and commence
laying bricks the very next day.

§ 5. The Lord’s Supper.

At the close of the supper, the president of the church rises
in his place and stands by the table. Before him is a plate of
bread and a cup of wine. A silence falls upon the company.
Even the voices of the children are hushed.

^^Fellow-believers,” he says, ^Hhis bread and this wine sym-
bolize the presence with us of our Lord Jesus. Our pleasant
fellowship with each other should make us the more conscious
of Him. For wherever Christians sit down to eat together in

Witnesses for Christ

the spirit of mutual love, their table is the Lord’s table, and their
unseen Lord is present with them.” After a brief but earnest
prayer, the bread is passed around, and then the wine, each
one taking a small portion. Then they all rise from the table,
and sing a hymn, and are dismissed. Lycidas goes no doubt
with Clement.

§ 6. What Brotherhood Meant to the Christians of
Those Days.

Thus we see that Christian brotherhood meant food to the
hungry. It meant the chance to work and earn one’s own
bread. It meant the pleasure which comes from being with
other people, and realizing their love. It meant danger and
sometimes death. Finally, however, and best of all, it meant
fellowship with God. For it is chiefly through the brotherly
love of men, that we come to realize the fatherly love of God.

Questions and Topics.

1. Even though Lycidas could not furnish any of the food
for the supper, in what way could he show a brotherly spirit
on that occasion?

2. If Lycidas had died, some years later, leaving a wife and
little children with little or no money, how would the Christians
have shown their brotherhood?

3. Suppose some member of the church had been lazy,
and had made no attempt to find work. Do you think the
Christians would have supported him in idleness?

4. Compare this story of Lycidas with Jesus’ story of the
Good Samaritan. Which illustrates the more nobly the spirit
of brotherhood? Explain.

Junior — Lesson Two

5. How may we show the brotherly spirit to-day?

To Sum Up.

1. How did Lycidas discover the house where a Christian
family lived?

2. Why did the Christians use the picture or carving of a fish
as an emblem of their religion?

3. How did the Christians provide the food for their church
suppers?

4. What religious ceremony was observed on these occa-
sions?

5. What benefits did Christian brotherhood bring to the
members of the early Christian churches?

12 Witnesses for Christ

LESSON 3.

AN AGE WHEN IT WAS DANGEROUS TO GO TO
CHURCH.

§1. Going to Church Nineteen Centuries Ago.

Going to church is not generally considered an exciting expe-
rience in these days. There was a time, however, in the history
of Christianity, when being present at church worship was an
adventure which might end in death. Suppose we attend, in
imagination, one of the Sunday services of the early Christians
at Rome. Here is a Christian mother gently awakening her
twelve-year-old son, long before daylight, on Sunday morning.
Her husband is not a Christian and her boy is going to the serv-
ice with her. There were many such mothers with their
sons at the meetings of the Christians. Swiftly and silently
they dress and steal out into the dark, narrow street. Some of
the larger avenues in the city are lighted, and carts have been
moving to and fro all night. These two, however, make their
way through the side streets, lest they should be recognized.
It is necessary for them to be very cautious for some suspicious
official might trace them to the house where the meeting is to
be held, and then not only they but all the other Christians
present might be arrested. ^^Hark! is that some one following
us?’^ The mother seizes her boy^s arm and draws him back
into the dark shadows of an overhanging doorway. The steps
draw nearer; the man does not stop, however, as he passes
them. Whoever he is, he goes on down the street.

§ 2. Where the Christians Held Their Meetings.

Soon they reach the house where the meeting is to be held.
It is not a regular church building, like ours, but a private
house where one of the Christians lives. Perhaps it is the house
where we saw the supper in our last lesson. At the door the
mother knocks three times. It is opened, but only a few inches.

Peace be with you,^^ says the mother. Peace be with whom?’’
says a voice within. ^‘The faithful,” answers the mother.
Then they are admitted. ‘^Have they all come?” says the
mother, as she looks around the circle. Where is Glaucus?

Junior — Lesson Three

Oh, here he is! Where is Miriam?^’ ^^She is sick,’^ some one
answers. All the members, then, are accounted for. The first
part of the adventure is over. All who are coming to the meet-
ing have safely reached the house. The service may now begin.
We will be interested in watching it.

§ 3. An Ancient Christian Gathering.

We see that there are perhaps twenty or thirty people gath-
ered in a semi-circle around a table on which are a lamp and
several rolls of papyrus. The room is crowded. Some are
sitting on the floor. Others are standing in the rear. The
shadows from the flickering lamp flit weirdly across their faces.
Some of those present are not yet Christians, but are sincerely
interested in the new religion and have been brought to the meet-
ing by their friends. One of the older men steps to the table
and reads a passage from one of the rolls, which is a copy of
the Book of Isaiah. He reads the passage about the Servant
of Jehovah, who was despised and rejected of men. Then
he takes another roll, and reads a selection from the Gospels,
or from one of the Epistles of Paul. Then another man rises
and preaches a short sermon. Even in the dim light, we can
see his eyes flash, as he warns his hearers to beware of the evils
which are practised by their heathen neighbors, and tells them
of a power from on high which can guide and strengthen them.
In the course of his sermon, he may very likely have spoken
words like the following which are quoted from the Epistle to
Diognetus, Chapter 10, written about 150 a.d.

§ 4. Extract from an Ancient Christian Sermon.

^‘Do not be surprised that a man may become an imitator
of God. He can, if he is willing. For it is not by ruling over
his neighbors, or by seeking to hold the supremacy over those
who are weaker, or by being rich and showing violence toward
those who are inferior, that happiness is found; nor can any one
by these things become an imitator of God. But these things
do not at all constitute God’s majesty. On the contrary, he
who takes upon himself the burden of his neighbor, he who, in
whatever respect he may be superior, is ready to benefit another

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who is deficient; he who distributes to the needy whatever
things he has received from God, and thus becomes a god to
those who receive, — he is an imitator of God/^

After the sermon several persons pray. Perhaps the bread
and wine are again passed around, “in memory of the Lord.^’
A collection is taken up to buy food and medicine for sick
Miriam. Then they rise and sing a hymn, — one of the “Psalms
of David.^^

§ 5. An Interrupted Hymn.

But, hark, what is that noise at the door? The worshipers
do not hear it at first, because of the sound of their voices in the

Interior of the Mamertine Prison.

Plan op the Mamertine Prison.

The Mamertine prison was below ground, and its lowest dungeon could be entered only
through a hole in the floor of the upper chamber (X in cut) through which prisoners were
let down. The tradition is that both Paul and Peter were confined there, and that the
spring of water now there (XX in cut) was miraculously produced by Peter so that he
might baptize converts made in the prison. The event is commemorated in the bas-relief
over the altar. This dungeon is 19 feet long by 10 feet wide and 6 1-2 high. Here pris-
oners were left to perish. Sometimes they were chained to the stone post with iron bars
about it to the left of the altai . This horrible dungeon is now entered by stairs from the
outside.

hymn. Suddenly there is a crash, as the door is forced open
and the soldiers from the prefect rush in. That was a spy,
then, who followed the mother and her son. He was shadow-
ing them just as she feared, and when they went into the house,
he sent in haste for the soldiers. Heavy hands are laid upon
trembling, unresisting forms. The whole company, men, women.

DIANA OR CHRIST
From a painting by Edwin Long

'P,

. 1

Junior — Lesson Three

and children, are hurried off to prison. The interrupted music
of the psalm is continued and finished in the darkness of a
dungeon.

Some days later, as the little band was led out into the arena
to be put to death in cruel ways, certain of the heathen soldiers
noticed the look of peace and happiness upon all their faces.
They were hot like ordinary criminals, going with cringing
steps to the place of execution. They walked like princes and
princesses on the way to a coronation. The heathen onlookers
could but wonder at it. They did not know that in the hearts
of these Christians still was ringing the music of that inter-
rupted hymn; ^^Yea, though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.^^

Questions and Topics.

1. Why did the Christians hold their meetings before day-
light?

2. Compare the meeting described in the lesson with some
meeting which you have attended in one of our modern churches.
Mention the similarities and the differences.

3. Why were the Christians willing to risk their lives,
rather than be absent from any of these meetings?

4. What part of the meeting would you have liked best?

5. How may a person get as much help as possible from a
church service?

Witnesses for Christ

To Sum Up.

1. In what buildings did the early Christians hold their
services for worship?

2. On what day of the week did they meet?

3. At what time of the day?

4. What took place at these meetings?

5. Why was it dangerous to go to them?

LESSON 4.

HOW A ROBBER CAPTAIN WAS CONVERTED.

§1. The Good News of God's Forgiveness.

When Jesus was preaching in Galilee and Judea, one of the
most important parts of His work was to proclaim to sinners
the Heavenly Father's eagerness to forgive. Jesus also re-
quested His followers to preach this same Gospel, or Good News,
and thus win sinners to repentance. Were the later Christians
true to this purpose of Jesus? We may answer the question
in part by the following incident which is told by Clement of
Alexandria.

Junior — Lesson Four

§ 2. A Christian Teacher and His Boy Friend.

In the city of Smyrna there lived a promising young lad:
handsome, athletic, quick witted. Suppose we call him Lucre-
tius. One day he went with friends to a meeting of the Chris-
tians. Among the Christian teachers, there was a man named
John. Clement says that it was John the Apostle but it was
probably some other John. At any rate, whoever he was, the
boy and the man became good friends, and the boy never for-
got the older man's warm, hearty handclasp and kindly eyes.
Through John's influence he became a Christian; and after
being instructed in the Christian life was baptized and received
into the church.

§ 3. A Lad Who Fell in with Bad Companions.

Shortly after this, unfortunately, John was compelled to
leave Smyrna for several years. Before he went away he asked
the pastor of the church to watch over Lucretius with special
care. ^^For my sake," he said, ^^be a good friend to him. Give
him help and counsel and encouragement." This pastor, how-
ever, was not so earnest a Christian as John, and he forgot
about Lucretius; and as time went on the boy fell in with idle
companions of his own age, and began to yield to their influence.
First they took him to heathen entertainments, and gradually
led him deeper and deeper into wrongdoing. Finally, one
night while he was with them, they killed and robbed a wealthy
traveler, on a lonely road. Thus he felt that his hands were
stained with blood, and as Clement says, “he now entirely
despaired of salvation, and from the greatness of his nature,
having gone aside from the right path, he took the bit between
his teeth, like a hard-mouthed and powerful horse, and rushed
with all the more force into the depths." He organized his
companions into a regular band of robbers. He himself be-
came their captain, and was known as the fiercest, cruelest,
and bloodiest of them all.

§ 4. Going to Seek the Wanderers.

Years passed, and John came back to Smyrna. He was an
old man now. He had not forgotten about Lucretius, however,

Witnesses for Christ

but very soon after his arrival inquired of the pastor regarding
him. The pastor could not but hang his head in grief and
shame. ^^He is dead/^ said he, ^^not dead in body, but dead to
God. For he turned to wickedness, and became a robber, and
even now he and his robber band have taken possession of
that mountain yonder in front of the city. No one dares to go
along the road by that mountain any more.’^ Of course John
was shocked and indignant. If he himself could only have
stayed in Smyrna, he knew that the boy would not have gone
astray. ^^It was a fine guard I left,^’ he said, “over a brother's
soul. But bring a horse, and find some one to guide me to that
mountain.’’ “No, no,” cried the pastor, “you must not go there.
You are an old man, and those bandits are desperate.” But
John insisted; so the pastor finally brought a horse and the old
man climbed into the saddle. Let us hope that the pastor was
brave enough to go along himself, to act as guide.

§ 5. Visiting a Camp of Bandits.

About halfway up the mountain, one of the robbers, who
was stationed there as an outpost, came rushing, sword in hand,
and seized the bridle of John’s horse. “Take me to your cap-
tain,” said John. So in a little while they reached the rough
board shanty at the summit of the mountain, where Lucretius
was carousing with his men. His handsome face was hard and
cruel, and he wore a dagger in his belt. “Ah ha,” he shouted,
as John was brought into the dirty, disorderly room, “another
prisoner for ransom.” But just then he looked into the pris-
oner’s face, and in spite of the gray hairs, and other changes,
recognized his friend; and he stood with downcast eyes. “You
fellows get out of here,” he said; “I want to talk to this man
alone”; and they knew very well that it would be dangerous
to disobey. “My dear son,”'Said John, “I have come to bring
you back to your Heavenly Father’s love.” But Lucretius
would not even allow him to touch his hand. “I am not wor-
thy that you should touch me,” he said. The brave old man
would not be rebuffed, however, and kept on pleading with him
with tender and thrilling words. “Believe me, my boy, Christ
has sent me for you. For you I would gladly lay down my life,

Junior — Lesson Four

even as the Lord endured death for us all. It is not too late for
you to begin again to live the Christian life. Come.’^ And
strange and wonderful as it may seem, Lucretius yielded to
John^s pleadings, and with many of his followers turned once
and for all from his former evil life and became again a true
and loyal Christian.

§ 6. A Christian Slave Girl Who Converted Her
Mistress.

This incident was but a single example of the constant efforts
of the Christians to bring to sinners the good news of God’s
forgiving love. Pray without ceasing,” wrote Ignatius, ^^on
behalf of other men, that they may repent and find God. See
that they be taught by your deeds, if in no other way. While
we take care not to imitate their conduct, let us show ourselves
their brothers in all true kindness.” This was the spirit of
the Christians. Wherever a Christian went, his life was an
influence for good among his heathen neighbors. Here for
example is a Christian slave girl. “How is it, girl,” says her
mistress one day, “that you never steal from me, as other
slaves do?” “I used to do those things,” she answers. ^^But
now I have an unseen Master, who is holy and good. It would
grieve Him, if I should steal.” “What talk is this, girl?”
says the mistress. “Who is this unseen Master of yours?”
Then the maid tells her of this new religion of Jesus; how
this wonderful person Jesus lived in the land of the Jews;
how He had held up before His followers the ideal of being hon-
est, pure, and unselfish, as children of the holy and loving God;
and finally, how He died on the cross to save men from their
sins. The mistress is impressed by her maid-servant’s words;
for her own life has been selfish. Her conscience gives her no
rest. “You should come to our meeting to night, mistress,”
the girl finally adds. “You should listen to our teacher; he
can explain these things far better than I.” So perchance it
comes to pass that the mistress goes to the meeting of the Chris-
tians with her maid-servant and is converted.

Witnesses for Christ

§ 7. The Testimony of a Heathen Writer.

The heathen writer Celsus supposed that he was reproaching
the Christians when he said of them: “ Every one who is a sinner,
every one who is devoid of understanding, and every one who
is in any way unfortunate, him will the Christians receive into
the kingdom of God.’^ ^^What others,’^ says Celsus, would a
man invite if he were sending out a proclamation for an as-
sembly of robbers?^ ^ It was the same reproach that the Phari-
sees had brought against Jesus, namely, ^^He is a friend of
sinners.’^ In short, the Christians, for the most part, were
true to the spirit and purpose of their Master, and, like Him,
tried to ^^seek and to save the lost.’’

Questions and Topics.

1. He felt that his hands were stained with blood — and now
entirely despaired of salvation.” Mention one thing that you
would have said to Lucretius at this time, if you could have
talked with him?

2. Why was John able to win him back to the Christian life?

3. Notice the argument of Celsus against the Christians
(p. 7). How would Celsus have treated Lucretius if he had
had the opportunity?

4. How would you answer the argument of Celsus?

5. What light does this lesson throw on the question of bad
companions? Should we avoid them, or should we make
friends with them and try to wield a good influence over them?

Junior — Lesson Four

Notice first, how Lucretius was led into wrong-doing, and
second, how a heathen mistress was led to become a Christian.

To Sum Up.

1. What was one of the chief aims of Jesus?

2. What Christian writer tells the story of the conversion
of the robber captain?

3. About what period in history did Clement live? (See
appendix.)

4. Who was partly to blame that the young man (Lucretius)
fell into evil ways?

5. What kind of a young man was he, naturally?

6. How did it come about that be was finally won back to
Christ?

7. What was one of the chief means whereby new converts
were won to Christ, in the early days?

22 Witnesses for Christ

8. What did the heathen writer Celsus say against the
Christians?

9. Who made a similar charge against Jesus?

LESSON 5.

A CHRISTIAN WIFE AND A HEATHEN HUSBAND.
§ 1. Customs in Which the Christians Could not Join.

Any one who tries to live a Christian life among non-Christian
companions must come into almost daily conflict with their
customs. This was especially true of the Christians in the
Roman empire. The spirit of heathenism was everywhere.
If a Christian went out on the street, he saw images of the gods
standing there, and met processions in which these images were
solemnly carried about. All who passed by paid their homage;
the Christian could not do this. If he entered a courtroom
there stood an altar with incense and wine. Custom required
one in passing to strew incense and offer a libation, that is,
pour out the wine as an offering. If he stepped into a tavern
or store, or shop, to make a purchase, or leave an order, he al-
ways found an altar and idols, which he was expected to worship.
Or perhaps he was invited by heathen friends or relatives to a
family party. If he did not go, he gave offence; if he went, he
still could not but displease them by refusing to take part in
the sacrifices and libations. If a Christian wished to borrow
money, he was expected to take an oath in the name of the
heathen god. A Christian schoolmaster was expected to cele-
brate certain holidays in honor of the gods. Many a person
found that he had to give up his former occupation entirely,
in order to become a Christian; for example, laborers in heathen
temples, idol-makers, sellers of incense, Many others must

Junior — Lesson Five

have lost much money, simply because of the general dislike
felt for them. Christian merchants must have lost many
heathen customers. A Christian working man would find it
hard to get a job. Tertullian gives us a vivid picture of the
unpopularity which Christians had to face. good man,^

says one, Ms Gains Seius, only that he is a Christian.^ So
another, ^ I am astonished that a wise man like Lucius should
have suddenly become a Christian.’ ”

§ 2. A Wife who Became a Christian Against Her
Husband’s Wish.

The Christian had a particularly hard problem to face if the
other members of his own family were not Christians. In such
a case, the words of Jesus were literally fulfilled; came to
set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter
against her mother — and a man’s foes shall be they of his own
household.”

In the writings of Justin Martyr there is a story of a certain
married couple who lived in the city of Rome, about 150 a.d.
The wife was a Christian and the husband a heathen. For con-
venience sake, let us name them Lucia, and Julian. At the
time of their marriage, neither of them was a Christian. They
had money, and their lives were selfish and intemperate. Later
on, Lucia became acquainted with a Christian teacher named
Ptolemaus, and through his influence was converted to Chris-
tianity. When, however, she tried to win her husband to her
new Master, he only ridiculed and abused her.

§ 3. A Hard Fight Against Heathen Influences.

Henceforth her experiences became harder and harder to
bear. From other Christian writers we know what she must
have suffered. Every day, she was compelled to clash with her
husband in regard to some matter of personal conduct or of
household arrangements. He wished her to go with him as
usual to the theatres. But there were no plays in those days,
fit for a Christian to see. He wished her to go with him to
heathen banquets, but these banquets were intemperate and li-
centious, and of course she could not attend them. She, on her

Witnesses for Christ

part, wished to go to the meetings of the Christians, especially
the Sunday services; in fact, she tried to observe Sunday as the
Lord’s Day, a day of worship, and to some extent, a day of
rest. Her husband, however, would do his best to keep her
from the meetings. When she went out to visit the sick and
the poor among her fellow Christians, he reviled her for enter-
ing the houses of “low-down freedmen and laborers.” There
was a family shrine in the dining room and at each meal, the
husband would offer a portion of the food to the household god,
but how could a Christian eat food which had been consecrated
to an idol before her very eyes? Yet how could she avoid it,
if she were not to starve? In their pathetic distress, many of
the Christians found a way out of this difficulty by bringing
home tiny portions of the bread from the Lord’s Supper. They
hoped that by eating this sacred bread, the rest of the food on
the table would be cleansed from the pollution of idolatry.
The heathen husband, however, would sooner or later notice
his wife secretly eating her tiny crumb of special bread, and
would suspect her of practising magic in order to invoke a
curse on the family meal.

§ 4. What It Cost to be True to Christ.

Thus this man Julian grew more angry and abusive day by
day, while Lucia grew more and more discouraged. She began
to fear that with such a husband she could not continue much
longer to live the Christian life. It occurred to her that she
might leave him, but her friends urged her not to do this.
“Perhaps even yet you can win him to Christ” they said. In
the midst of her perplexity, however, the man went away for
some weeks, on a business trip to Alexandria. During his
absence, Lucia gathered up a few belongings and went away
to the home of a Christian friend in another part of the city.
When Julian returned and found that his wife had left him he
was furious. He went immediately to a prefect, named Ur-
bicus, and laid charges against her as being a Christian, and also
against her teacher Ptolemaus. Lucia, apparently, had in-
fluence with the emperor, perhaps through aristocratic relatives,
and the charges against her were not pressed, at least not at

Junior — Lesson Five

that time. But Ptolemaus, and two others who were asso-
ciated with him, were condemned and put to death as Christians.
Thus we see that to a Christian of those early days, the heathen
life around him was like some monstrous octopus, whose num-
erous tentacles or arms reached out to draw him back again to
the old heathen sins. Very often the only escape was death.
These people, however, were true followers of Him who said,
‘Hf thy right eye cause thee to stumble, pluck it out,^^ and ^Tf
any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross.

Questions and Topics.

1. ^^At each meal, the husband would offer a portion of the
food to the household god.^^ In view of the fact that an ^Tdol
is nothing,^’ was there any good reason why the Christian wife
could not join in the meal?

2. In what other matters besides idolatry did the Christians
come into conflict with heathen customs?

3. What sacrifices and dangers did Lucia encounter in leav-
ing her husband?

4. Was it right for her to leave him?

5. Mention some modern custom in which a Christian
should not join.

To Sum Up.

1. Mention six occasions in the course of the day when an
early Christian would have had to make himself conspicuous
by his peculiar conduct.

26 Witnesses for Christ

2. Tell the story of the woman whom we have called Lucia.

(а) What sort of a life had she and her husband lived before
she became a Christian?

(б) How did her husband treat her after she became a
Christian?

id) What was the result, when she finally did leave him?

LESSON 6.

HOW EVEN THE WEAK WERE STRONG ENOUGH TO
DIE FOR CHRIST.

§ 1. Perpetua of Carthage, a Brave and Beautiful
Christian Woman.

One of the most thrilling stories of early Christian heroism is
that of the persecution which broke out in the year 202 a.d.,
in the city of Carthage. Among those who were arrested and
thrown into the dungeon was a beautiful young woman named
Vivia Perpetua. She was of aristocratic family and well edu-
cated. Her brother was also a Christian, and possibly other
members of her family. Her father, however, was still a
heathen in religion. At the time of her arrest she was twenty-
two years of age. She was married and had a little baby boy.
It is possible that her husband was a Christian and that he
shared her fate.

§ 2. Thrown into a Dark Dungeon for the Sake
OF Christ.

In the account of this persecution (written by one of the mem-
bers of the church at Carthage), there are several extracts
from the diary which Perpetua herself kept after her arrest.
She tells a pathetic story of her experiences; how frightened
she was when the rough soldiers seized her; how she shuddered

Junior — Lesson Six

when they thrust her down into the dark dungeon; and, worst
of all, how she was torn with anxiety for her little baby, who had
not yet been weaned, and who was now deprived of his mother.
Two fellow Christians helped her, however, in her trouble.
The ''blessed deacons, Tertius and Pomponius,'' who had not
yet been arrested, gave a fee to the jailor and the Christians
in the dungeon were all brought up into " a pleasanter part of
the prison.’’ Here her mother came with the baby, and per-
mission was granted that it might stay, for a time at least,
with its mother in the prison.

§ 3. The Tears of an Aged Father.

Before the day of the trial, Perpetua’s aged father came to
see her many times and kept begging her to give up this new
religion. The poor white-haired old man was almost crazed
with grief and anxiety. Perpetua had been his darling. He
thought of the times when, as a little girl, he had held her in his
arms, and how she had grown to beautiful maidenhood and
womanhood, and then he thought of the leopards and the other
fierce beasts in the arena, among which she was to be thrown,
and it nearly drove him mad. With haggard face and blood-
shot eyes he knelt at her feet in the prison, and covered her
hands with kisses. "Pity me, daughter,” he begged, "pity
your mother. Think of your little son, who is not yet weaned
and will die if you are taken from him.” Perpetua was "grieved
over the gray hairs of her father,” and tried to comfort him.
But one thing she could not do, even for her father; she could
not swerve from her loyalty to Christ.

§ 4. The Trial Before the Procurator.

A few days later, with the other Christian prisoners, she was
taken to the town hall, to be tried before the procurator, Hil-
arianus. This officer was seated on a platform. Close by
there was an image of the emperor, and beside it was an altar
on which a fire was burning. On a stand was a box of incense
powder. At the foot of the steps leading to the platform was
Perpetua’s father with his little grandson in his arms; and as
his daughter mounted the steps, he begged her once more to

Witnesses for Christ

pity the little child, and sacrifice to the emperor. But she
could only shake her head. When her turn came to be exam-
ined, the procurator said to her, ^^Just take a pinch of
this incense here, and throw it into the flames in honor of
Caesar and I will set you free. What harm can there be in throw-
ing a pinch of powder into the fire?’^ But Perpetua answered,
^^No, I cannot.’’ In anger, the procurator gave orders that
her father should be seized and beaten with rods before her eyes,
as though to punish him for having so obstinate and wicked a

Showing the raised platform on which the judge sat, with lictors carrying the fasces,
the emblem of authority, on either side. These basilicas, which were the largest Roman
halls of meeting, are said to have been copied by the early Christians for their churches,
many of which are still called basilicas.

daughter. So Perpetua must needs look on in helpless agony,
while her own father writhed beneath the lash, knowing all the
time she had only to throw a little of that incense on the altar,
in worship of Csesar, and his sufferings would cease. But
though her heart might break, she could not deny Christ.
She remembered His words, Every one therefore who shall
confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father who
is in Heaven.”

§ 5. Butchered to Make a Roman Holiday.

So at last, sentence was pronounced. Perpetua and her com-
panions were to be thrown to the wild beasts in the amphi-
theatre, on the birthday of the emperor’s son, Geta Csesar.
Meanwhile they were taken back to the dungeon; nor was
Perpetua’s baby brought to her again. When the day came for

From National Geographic Magazine, Washington, D. C. Copyright, 1911

THE ROMAN ARENA, CARTHAGE
Cross shows where Christian martyrs were thrown to wild beasts, 202 A. D

Junior — Lesson Six

the execution, the prisoners were sent out one by one, or in
small groups. Among the first was a young man named
Saturus, a friend of Perpetua. A leopard was loosed upon him
and blood streamed over his body^ wounded by the savage
teeth and claws. As he lay fainting on the sand, somebody
in the crowd shouted, washed and saved,’’ referring to the
belief of the Christians that their sins were washed away
through the blood of Christ. The great assemblage of specta-
tors caught up the mocking cry, and shouted in derision,

Washed and saved^ washed and saved.” Perpetua and a
young slave girl named Felicitas were exposed to the attack of a
fierce cow. They were tossed and trampled and badly hurt,
but were not killed. So at last, with a little group of others
who were still alive, they were brought out to be killed with a
sword. When the young gladiator came to Perpetua, he
hesitated. He was hardened to deeds of blood, but at the sight
of her youth and beauty and innocence, his hand trembled.
So Perpetua herself guided his wavering sword to her throat.

§6. “The Blood of the Christians is the Seed of
THE Church.”

The Christian writer Tertullian was living in Carthage at
this very time. He may have been thinking of Perpetua,
when he wrote the last paragraph of his famous defence of
Christianity: “Go zealously on, good rulers. You will stand
higher with the people, if you shed the blood of Christians;
crucify us, rack us, crush us, stamp us under foot. The more
ingenious your cruelty, the more numerous we are. The more
you mow us down, the faster we grow. The blood of Christians
is the seed of the church.”

Questions and Topics.

1. What do you think was the hardest part of the experience
for Perpetua to endure?

2. What do you think was the effect of her heroic death on
her fellow-Christians?

30 Witnesses for Christ

3. What was probably its effect on the non-Christians in
Carthage?

4. How may we to-day confess Christ before men?

5. In what ways does it help the cause of Christ, to declare
oneself His disciple?

To Sum Up.

1. In what city did Perpetua live?

2. In what year was she put to death?

3. How old was she at the time?

4. What members of her family were Christians?

5. When she was brought before the Roman procurator,
how might she have gained her freedom?

6. What efforts were made to influence her to renounce
Christ?

7. Where and how was she put to death?

THE CHRISTIAN MARTYRS
From a painting by Frances Leon Benouville

Junior — Lesson Seven

LESSON 7.

CHRISTIAN LEADERS WHO WERE FAITHFUL UNTO

DEATH.

§ 1. The Special ^Perils Faced by Christian Leaders.

If it was dangerous to be a Christian in the Roman empire,
how much more dangerous it must have been to be a Christian
leader. In any time of persecution, the leaders, the prominent
men, would be among the first victims. To realize how danger-
ous their position was, glance at the list of the Christian writers,
on page 62. Notice how few of them escaped martyrdom.
In this lesson we shall learn something regarding the lives of two
of these leaders, namely. Polycarp and Justin.

§ 2. The Early Life of Polycarp.

Polycarp was a bishop in the church at Smyrna. Tradition
says that when he was a boy, he was offered for sale in a slave
market in Smyrna, and was purchased by a Christian woman,
named Callisto, and brought up as her own son. At any rate,
as he grew older, he won the love and respect of his fellow
Christians in that city because of his enthusiasm and wisdom
and became their leader.

§ 3. The Christians in Smyrna Persecuted.

He was an old man at the time of the outbreak against the
Christians which cost his life. (This probably occurred in the
year 155 a.d.) At first he yielded to the entreaties of his friends
and took refuge in a farmhouse a few miles from Smyrna.
The authorities arrested as many of the other Christians as they
could find, and put to death eleven of them in the city arena, in
the presence of a. great crowd, after first torturing them in order
to compel them to deny Christ. With only one exception, they
all remained faithful to the last. Then the mob became exasper-
ated: ^‘Away with the atheists,’’ they shouted. Let Poly-
carp be sought out.” They knew that Poly carp was the leader.
So the soldiers found out where he was staying. As they were
approaching the farmhouse he was warned, and took refuge
in another house near by, so the soldiers seized a poor slave boy

Witnesses for Christ

and tortured him, until he confessed where the old man was
hiding. Polycarp would flee no further, and as evening drew
on, the soldiers found him and brought him back to the city.
The next day, some of the leading officials of Smyrna came and
begged him to yield. ^^What harm is there,’^ they said to him,
^Tn sacriflcing to Lord Caesar.’^ But he only replied, shall
not do as you advise me.^^

§ 4. The Death of Polycarp.

In the arena, also, the proconsul tried to persuade him to deny
Christ. We do not wish to slay an old man like you,’^ he said.

Swear by the fortune of Caesar, and say, ^^Away with the
Atheists.’ ” In reply. Poly carp turned and pointed to the mob,
and said, ^^Away with the Atheists.” Then the proconsul said
once more, ^^Only swear, and reproach Christ, and I will set
you free.” Polycarp answered, Eighty-six years have I served
Him, and He has done me no wrong. How then can I blas-
pheme my King and my Saviour?” When at last they saw that
neither threats nor arguments would move him, they gathered
a great pile of wood, and bound him to a stake in the center of
it. The fire was kindled and blazed up, fanned by the wind.
Owing to the direction of the wind, the flame arched itself above
him, and did not immediately envelop him with the full fury
of the heat. One of the soldiers, perhaps in pity, ended his
sufferings with a sword thrust. Then the body was burned.
Some of the bones were gathered up by the Christians as sacred
relics, and the annual anniversary of his martyrdom was ob-
served for many years by the Christians in Asia Minor.

§ 5. A Man who Defended His Fellow Christians.

In the early church there were not many persons who were
sufficiently well educated to write books. So except through ^
private conversations, the Christiains could not defend them-
selves against the false and wicked slanders which were cir-
culated about them. They greatly needed the help of men of
special ability and learning, and, we may add, of special cour-
age also. For if it was not safe to be even a humble unknown
Christian, much less a bishop like Polycarp, how much courage

Junior — Lesson Seven

it must have required to publish books defending Christianity.
One of the first of these brave men who wrote apologies/’
that is defences of Christianity, was Justin, commonly known,
from the manner of his death, as Justin Martyr.

§ 6. The Conversion and Writings of Justin.

He was born in the province of Samaria. In his youth^ he
went to Ephesus and studied with Greek teachers, in that city.
During these student days, he formed the habit of going for
walks in the country, along the seashore. Here one day he met
a certain venerable man, who told him about the teachings of
Jesus. Justin was deeply impressed. It seemed to him that
Jesus was the Great Teacher, greater than Plato, or any of the
other philosophers whom he had studied. So he became a
Christian. In the course of his life he wrote many books ex-
plaining Christianity and defending it against false statements.
For example, in reply to the charge that the Christians were
atheists, he answered, of course, that they indeed refused to
worship the false gods of the heathen, but that they did worship
the true God, and were seeking to persuade all other men to
worship Him. In reply to the dreadful slander that the Chris-
tians slew little babies and devoured them at their feasts,
Justin retorted that it was rather the heathen Greeks and Rom-
ans who should be charged with such crimes as these. For it
was a common practice among them to abandon new born
children in the streets, either to perish, or to be picked up and
raised as slaves. The Christians, however, taught that this
practice was cruel and wicked. On the other hand, Justin told
of the pure and holy teachings of Jesus, which the Christians
tried to obey. He also pointed out that many of the Greek
philosophers had taught doctrines very similar to the doctrines
of the Christians. For example, they had ridiculed idolatry,
saying that men ought not to worship the works of their hands,
“for the workman is greater than his work.” Justin explained
in a very wise and beautiful way these similarities between the
Christian teachings and those of the great writers of the Greeks.
He said that the spirit of Christ had been in the hearts of men
in every race, long before Jesus lived.

Witnesses for Christ

§ 7. The Death of Justin.

In the latter part of his life, Justin went to Rome. He was in
that city, when the Christian teacher Ptolemaus was put to
death, at the instigation of the heathen husband whose wife
(“Luciano had become a Christian. (See Lesson 5.) Justin
published a book protesting fearlessly against this injustice,
and addressed it to the emperor. “I too,'' he writes in this
book, ^'expect to be plotted against and fixed to the stake by
some of those whom I have mentioned." Very likely he was
thinking of the heathen husband and his friends. At any rate
he was brought before a prefect named Rusticus, with six other
Christians whose teacher he had been, ^^in his room above a
certain Martinus." As none of them would renounce Christ;
they were scourged, and then led away and beheaded (165 a.d.).

Thus we see that the front rank of the Lord's army in those
days was no place for cowards. These men were not cowards.
In death, as in life, they were true leaders inspiring their fol-
lowers to be loyal to the Master, ^^even unto death."

Questions and Topics.

1. What facts in the story of Polycarp show that he was a
man of considerable influence among the heathen, as well as
the Christians, in Smyrna?

2. What sentence shows the ruling motive in the life of
Polycarp?

3. How was Justin well fitted by his early education to ex-
plain and defend Christianity?

4. Which of Justin’s arguments probably had the greatest
influence on heathen readers?

Junior — Lesson Seven

5. Why did not Polycarp flee entirely from Smyrna, and
Justin from Rome, during periods of specially severe persecu-
tion?

To Sum Up.

1. In what city did Polycarp live?

2. Where did he hide when persecution broke out against the
Christians?

3. What led the people to shout, ^^Let Polycarp be sought
ouU’?

4. What efforts were made to persuade him to renounce
Christ?

5. What was his answer to the proconsul?

6. How was he put to death?

7. Where was Justin born, and how and where was he edu-
cated, in his youth?

8. What arguments did he use in his books to defend
Christianity?

Witnesses for Christ

9. What did he say to the Roman emperor regarding the per-
secution of the Christian woman Lucia/’ and her teacher,
Ptolemaus?

10. How was Justin put to death?

LESSON 8.

A ROMAN EMPEROR WHO BECAME A CHRISTIAN.

§ 1. The Last of the Persecutions.

The last and most terrible persecution which the Christians
suffered at the hands of the Roman government was that under
the Emperor Diocletian, beginning about 300 a.d., and lasting
about ten years. (See Lesson 1.) Even while this persecution
was going on, a young prince named Constantine was being
secretly trained as a Christian by his Christian mother, Helena.
Some two years after the persecution ceased Constantine was
encamped with an army not far from the city of Rome. Across
a river lay another army, with a rival prince, named Maxentius.
The winner of the battle, which was to be fought the next day,
would be the ruler of the Roman empire.

§ 2. Roman Legions Fighting Under a New Standard.

As Constantine slept in his tent that night he dreamed that
he saw in the sky a shining cross, and above it, this motto:

hoc signo vinces” (^^Through this sign, conquer.”) The
next morning he caused a banner to be prepared, called the
Labarum, bearing the sign of the cross, and a monogram stand-
ing for the word Christ. With this banner he led his army to
the battle and, winning the victory of Milvian Bridge, became
the Roman Emperor. Shortly afterward he issued an edict
permitting all persons to choose whatever religion they might

THE ARCH OF CONSTANTINE, ROME

Junior — Lesson Eight

prefer. Later, he even published a general exhortation, urg-
ing all his subjects to become Christians. Thus the crucified
Carpenter of Nazareth had conquered, outwardly at least,
the great empire which had so mercilessly persecuted His
followers.

§ 3. The Genuine Triumphs of the Man of Galilee.

Was this a real triumph over the hearts of men, or was it in
part a mere matter of outward profession? In answer it should
be said that Constantine himself was probably a sincere Chris-
tian. He may indeed have been influenced somewhat by the
desire to get political advantages. Moreover, in personal
character, he had many faults. But he certainly made many
laws which really embodied the Christian spirit. Crucifixion
as a punishment was abolished. Criminals were no longer
branded on the forehead; the reason given for this law was that
God had created the human countenance in His own image,
and it was sinful to disfigure it. The abandonment of new-
born babies was prohibited. Courts and government offices
were closed on Sunday. The bloody gladiatorial combats,
against which all the Christian leaders had protested, were
indeed kept up, but Constantine decreed that criminals should
no longer be put to death in this way. After about seventy-
five years the Christian spirit triumphed over all kinds of
gladiatori^ combats. This came about as follows: A combat,
between hired gladiators was being exhibited as usual, in the
Coliseum at Rome, when an aged Christian named Telemachus
leaped into the arena and separated the gladiators. The blood-
thirsty mob of spectators, angry that their sport had been inter-
rupted, rushed upon the old man and literally tore him to pieces.
The brutal deed seemed to awaken the conscience of the people,
and these combats were abolished. Thus we see that Christian-
ity had indeed become a mighty force for good in the lives of
men. The world had actually been lifted somewhat nearer
the Christian standard.

§ 4. The Temptations of Prosperity.

On the other hand, the conversion of Constantine brought
the Christians a new temptation. They had endured persecu-

Witnesses for Christ

tion with heroic faithfulness; could they stand the test of pros-
perity? The temptation was all the more severe, because
Constantine gave much money and land to the church, and his
example was followed by his successors, who hoped in this way
to buy the moral support of the Christian bishops. It was
natural, under such conditions, that many persons should pro-
fess themselves Christians, just because it was easy and popular.
Great numbers thronged into the church for wholly selfish
reasons, and lived thoroughly evil lives. Moreover, even the
best of the Christians failed in many ways to understand the
real spirit of Christianity.

§ 5. The Mistake of the Monks.

One of the worst mistakes was the idea that Christians
should if possible get away from the evils of the world and live
in monasteries. Jesus, we are sure, would have told them to
go back into the midst of the world with all its evils, and try to
cure them. In the century following Constantine, however,
hundreds of monasteries and convents were built, and great
numbers of the noblest Christians in the churches renounced
the comforts and joys of home life and became monks or nuns.
They spent their lives in hardship and self-denial. They slept
on stone beds; tortured themselves with hair shirts; and lacerated
their backs with scourges; some lived in lonely cayes on the
sides of steep cliffs; all in the mistaken belief that by such
means the soul could be purified. We cannot but admire their
courage, but after all, their religion was partly selfish. In-
stead of seeking first of all the kingdom of God, in order that
God’s will might be done on earth as it is in heaven, each one
of them was seeking to gain for his own soul the joys of a future
life. Intent on this narrow purpose, it is not surprising that
they were careless of the needs of the world outside of their
monasteries.

§ 6. Men who Rebuked Worldliness.

There were indeed certain men who protested against the
tendency towards worldliness in the church and against the evils
which they saw around them. Such a man was John Chry-

Junior — Lesson Eight

sostom, the great preacher of Constantinople, of whom some day
you will read. Such a man was the Christian writer Salvian.
^'Some one may urge,” says Salvian, “that the times are quite
changed, and that it is not expected now that we should undergo
for Christ's sake what the apostles suffered. That is very true.
For the governors are not now pagans, nor persecuting tyrants;
the blood of the saints is not now poured out, nor is our faith
tried by torture. Therefore,” he adds, “ since princes are now
become Christians, and there is no such thing as persecution,
and religion is not disturbed, we who are not compelled to
bear more severe trials, ought at least to please God by all
manner of lesser duties. And he who readily discharges these
lesser duties would probably perform the greater also, if he
should be called upon.” It was chiefly through such men as
these that the true Christian spirit was kept alive in the midst
of the temptations and trials and perplexities of that trying age.
In the remaining lessons of this course, we shall see what prob-
lems they had to face, and with what success they solved them.

Questions and Topics.

1. Resolved: That Constantine was a sincere Christian.
Choose the affirmative or the negative side of this question, and
briefly state your reasons.

2. What statement in section 4 helps to explain the sudden
increase in the number of monks and nuns, described in sec-
tion 5?

3. What is the good element in the life of a monk or a nun?

4. Mention some opportunities for self-denial which come
to us to-day.

40 Witnesses for Christ

5. What sentence in section 6 applies with special force to
our lives to-day?

To Sum Up.

1. About how much time elapsed between the beginning of
the persecution of Diocletian, and the Edict of Toleration,
issued by Constantine?

2. Describe the dream or vision which led to Constantine’s
conversion.

3. Mention some laws enacted by Constantine which showed
the influence of Christianity.

4. Tell how gladiatorial combats were abolished.

5. What new temptations did the reign of Constantine bring
to the Christians?

6. What mistaken idea of Christianity did many sincere
Christians have?

7. Mention two men who protested against worldliness in
the church.

Junior — Lesson Nine

LESSON 9.

A GREAT EMPIRE CONQUERED BY BARBARIANS.

§ 1. Keeping Back the Floods.

During all the centuries of which we have been studying, the
shadow of a great fear hung over the Roman empire. Beyond
its frontiers, but pressing against it on all sides, as the sea
presses against the dykes in Holland, were the barbarians.
Especially dreaded were the Germans and the Goths. These
tribes were then at about the same stage of civilization as the
American Indians when America was discovered. They lived
in rude huts, wore garments of skins, and obtained their food
chiefly by hunting and fishing. They were never conquered
by the Romans, although they were driven back again and
again to their homes in the forests of the north.

§ 2. Will Christianity Save the Empire?

As time went on, however, and especially in the century fol-
lowing Constantine (from 300 to 400 a.d.), it seemed more and
more difficult to repulse them. Bands of Franks and Goths
kept breaking past the military forts along the Rhine and the
Danube, to plunder the rich cities beyond. This was the very
century when Christianity became the official religion of the
empire. One might naturally suppose that through the in-
fluence of Christianity, the nation would be stronger, and better
able to solve its problems. The actual course of events, however,
is well illustrated by the following incident, the main facts of
which are told by Salvian:

§ 3. A Poor Immigrant, and His Rich Roman Neighbor.

About 425 A.D., there lived in the province of Gaul, near the
city of Marseilles, a certain poor farmer whom we will call
Ursus. His father had come down from Germany, and had
adopted the customs of the Romans. The farm was a small
one; nevertheless, for a long time Ursus had managed to sup-
port himself. As the years passed, however, he found himself
poorer and poorer. The governor of the province lived in a
palace, and wasted much money in extravagant luxuries, while
poor farmers like Ursus were forced to pay very high taxes.

Witnesses for Christ

Finally, one year, Ursus’ wife fell sick. In order to secure
money to pay for medicine, Ursus went to a rich neighbor of his,
whom we will call Demas. ^'Lend me a little money, he said,
''and you will save my wife.'' Now Ursus and Demas were
both members of a Christian church in Marseilles. As Demas
gave liberally to the church, and was highly spoken of as a de-
vout man, Ursus naturally hoped that he would treat him
kindly, as a brother Christian, as well as a neighbor. "Cer-
tainly" said Demas, " I will lend you money . Only sign this
agreement and I will let you have what you need." When
Ursus read the agreement, he found that it would require him
to pay a very high rate of interest every month, or else forfeit
his little farm. It was a hard bargain; nevertheless, the poor
man was in desperate need of the money. He loved his wife
dearly, and his heart was heavy. So at last he signed the paper.

§ 4. Driven from Home

Six months later, the day came which Demas had been waiting
for. Ursus had no money to pay the interest, and he received
notice to move out of his home, with his wife and babies, and
all their possessions. Where could they go? What could they
do? In his distress, Ursus thought of the pastor of his church
who was none other than Salvian. Going to the pastor's house,
Ursus begged for help. "Will you not go to Demas," he said
when he had told him the circumstances, "and intercede for
me?" "Indeed I will," replied Salvian, for he was a just man
and a true Christian.

§ 5. A Champion of Justice Repulsed.

At the earliest possible moment, therefore, Salvian went to
the fine house where Demas lived. "Why do you devour this
poor man's possessions?" he demanded. "Have you no mercy?
Do you not know that he has nothing else wherewith to keep
himself and his little ones from starving? I pray you do not
rob him of his home." In spite of Salvian's rebuke, however,
Demas did not seem in the least ashamed of himself. On the
contrary, he glared at the pastor, as though he had presumed
to ask a favor. "Do you mean that barbarian Ursus?" Demas

Junior — Lesson Nine

said. ^^Well, I cannot grant your request.’’ ^^Why not?\
asked Salvian. Those barbarians are ruining the country/’
replied Demas; “and I have sworn by Christ, to take away
from this man everything which he possesses. Pray, is it
lawful for me to leave undone, what I have sworn by that Holy
Name to do?” When Salvian heard this astonishing piece of
hypocrisy and impudence, he was speechless with anger.* Turn-
ing on his heel, he walked away without a word. “What could
I say,” he asks in his story of the incident, “having heard the
reason of so religious a piece of villainy?” Sad at heart, he
could only go to Ursus and confess that he had failed. The
little family was driven out from their home to beg or starve.

§ 6. A Harvest of Disaster.

The next year a horseman came riding posthaste into Mar-
seilles. “The Goths are coming ” he cried. “They have cros-
sed the Alps, and a large band of them is marching towards this
city.” At this news, the governor and his rich nobles bestirred
themselves. “We must gather an army,” they said; and
Demas was appointed among others to organize a company of
soldiers. Demas thought of Ursus. That fellow would make a
good soldier. No doubt he would know of others. But where
was Ursus? Where did he live, since that little trouble about
the farm? Alas, Ursus was nowhere to be found. Afterwards,
it was discovered that he had gone over to the Goths. In fact, a
great many native Romans who, like Ursus, had been unjustly
treated, had followed his example. When the Goths came, they
burned Marseilles to the ground, after helping themselves to
whatever they wanted, in the houses of Demas and his friends.
A part of the invaders moved on to burn and plunder elsewhere.
Others settled down in the neighborhood, and made it their
permanent home. For centuries, however, the city lay for the
most part in ruins. Of all its buildings, only the church had
been spared. The people lived in huts and hovels.

§ 7. The Beginning of the Dark Ages.

Such events as these were taking place all over the empire.
The old Roman civilization was being destroyed. Christianity

Witnesses for Christ

had failed to cure it of corruption and injustice. The centuries
from this period until about 1000 a.d., are known in history as
the Dark Ages. Imagine New York and London and Chicago
lying for the most part in ruins; the grass growing on the rail-
road tracks; the government destroyed; the doors of the school-
houses closed; not one person in a thousand ever learning to
read and write; no protection for property, and no man^s life
ever safe; thus we may, perhaps, understand what befell the
world when the old Roman civilization was broken up, and the
Dark Ages set in. Had there been more Christian leaders
like Salvian, this might never have happened. The strength
of the nation would not have been weakened by injustice to-
ward the poor. But alas too many of the Christians were
like Demas. Others, as we have seen, were shut away in
monasteries trying to save their own souls instead of trying
to help their country. Nevertheless, loyalty to Christ had by
no means died out altogether. We shall see in a later lesson
that although the Roman empire passed away, Christianity
lived on. In fact, the Christian church was in a measure puri-
fied by the disasters and trials which she encountered during
these Dark Ages.

Questions and Topics.

1. ^Hn his distress, Ursus thought of Salvian the pastor of
the church.’’ What had Salvian probably done on previous
occasions, to win the friendship and confidence of Ursus?

2. Those barbarians are ruining the country.” Of the char-
acters in this story, what ones were really doing most to ruin
the Roman empire?

3. Suppose Salvian had succeeded in his errand to Demas;
suppose Ursus had not been driven from his home; suppose
justice had ruled among all the people of Marseilles: what differ-
ent outcome might there have been when the Goths came?

Junior — Lesson Nine

4. How do you think Demas would have answered the ques-
tions, ^^What does religion consist in? What must a religious
man do?”

5. How would Salvian have answered this question?

To Sum Up.

1. What great fear overshadowed the Roman empire in the
latter part of its history?

2. Mention some of the barbarian tribes who invaded the
empire.

3. What kind of people were they? How were they accus-
tomed to live?

4. What injustice was inflicted on the poor immigrant Ursus,
by his rich neighbor Demas?

5. Who protested against this injustice?

6. What was the excuse of Demas to Salvian.

7. What was the result of this act of injustice, and others
like it, when the savage Goths invaded Marseilles?

46 Witnesses for Christ

8. What is meant by the Dark Ages?

9. What caused the decay and ruin of the old Roman civiliza-
tion?

10. Why did not Christianity prevent this decay?

LESSON 10.

A CHRISTIAN MOTHER AND HER GREAT SON.
MONICA AND AUGUSTINE.

§ 1. The Christian Home.

One of the greatest blessings which Christ gave to the world
was a new reverence for womanhood and a nobler ideal of home
life. The homes of the early Christians were happy homes, and
in the new atmosphere of Christianity there were many women
who distinguished themselves for their character and ability,
and who rose to positions of influence. Behold,^’ exclaimed a
heathen writer, ^^what women these Christians haveJ’^ These
ideals were kept alive all through the Middle Ages, and are
among the chief glories of our modern civilization. As an illu-
stration of what Christianity meant for womanhood, and for
the home, let us turn to the story of Monica and her son Augus-
tine.

§ 2. A Boy who Loved His Mother.

Augustine was born in the village of Tagaste, in North Africa,
some twenty years after the death of Constantine (354 a.d.).
His father, Patricius, was not a Christian. Nevertheless, he
sacrificed his personal comforts to send his son away to school,

Junior — Lesson Ten

and thus showed himself a good father. Moreover, he became a
Christian not long before his death. It was the Christian
mother, Monica, however, who wielded the greatest influence
in the boy’s life. Her character was strong and beautiful.
Augustine tells of her kindness to the poor, and to all in distress.
He tells how on a certain stormy se.a voyage, she was the sun-
shine of the entire ship’s company, both passengers and crew.
Her whole life was like sunshine in dark places.

§ 3. A Boy in Bad Company.

As a boy, Augustine was like other boys. He was fond of
ball-playing, in fact he sometimes played hookey” from school,
in order to play ball. Yet he was fond of books too, and shed
tears over the sorrows of Dido, the heroine of Virgil’s great
story, “The ^Eneid.” As he grew older, he fell in with a gang
of boys of his own age; and they led each other into many pranks
which would better have been left undone. One night for
example, they robbed a neighbor’s pear tree which was loaded
with fine pears. Augustine tells us that he could have had even
better pears at home; but the other boys kept saying “Let’s
go and do it,” and he was ashamed not to join them. One
thing led to another, of course, and the boys gradually fell into
worse practices. People called them “wild.” Monica indeed,
talked to her son about the temptations which boys encounter,
and warned him against these wild ways. Augustine loved
his mother. Indeed she afterwards testified that she “had
never heard a harsh or reproachful word come out of his mouth
against her.” Nevertheless, at this time, he thought his moth-
er’s words were only “womanish counsels,” and so kept on in
his wilful headstrong life.

§ 4. An Ambitious but Selfish Young Man.

When he was about nineteen years old, his father, at a
financial sacrifice, as we have said, sent him to the city of
Carthage to study. Here at first, he continued in much the
same kind of life as at home. He was very fond of fine clothes
and gay times. Nowadays we should have called him “a
sport.” In the course of his studies, however, he came upon a
great book by the Latin philosopher Cicero, on the search after

Witnesses for Christ

truth. He was deeply impressed and resolved to spend less
time in frivolous follies. Only one thing troubled him. ‘‘The
name of Christ’’ was not in this book of Cicero. With
all his wilfulness, he had not forgotten what he had learned
about Jesus, as a child on his mother’s knee. “The name of
my Saviour, my tender heart had drunk in even with my moth-
er’s milk. And whatever was without that name, however
learned, polished or truthful, took not complete hold of me.”
From this time on, however, he began to study with more pur-
pose, and shortly afterwards returned to Tagaste to be a teacher
of rhetoric. He was very successful, not only in his home
town, but also in Carthage, whither he went some years later,
and finally in Rome itself. His life during this period was not a
happy one, however. He had to do many things, as a teacher
of rhetoric, of whjch his conscience did not approve. Pupils
came to him to learn tricks of speech with which to gain unjust
decisions in court. As a rhetorician he was once called upon to
deliver an address praising the emperor, who was a bad man.
In this speech, says he, “I was to speak many a lie, and lying,
was to be applauded by those who knew I lied.” Such tasks
as these were distasteful to him. In other ways also, his life
was still evil. When he went to Rome, his mother begged him
to take her with him, as her husband Patricius was now dead,
and she was lonely. She went with him, indeed, as far as the
sea; but by a trick, he took ship alone, leaving her weeping on
the shore. “I had lied to my mother,” he writes, “and such a
mother.” Later on, however, she came to live with him in
Italy.

§5. An Inward Struggle: Shall I Become a Christian?

When he was about thirty-three years old, he came to the
supreme crisis and turning-point in his life. A better position
as a teacher was offered him in the city of Milan, in Northern
Italy; and he went there with his mother. He had received
letters to the bishop of the church in that city, whose name was
Ambrose, a good man and a true minister of Christ. Augustine
found him exceedingly warm hearted and friendly, and liked
him so much that he went to hear him preach. After that he

THE CATHEDRAL, MILAN
In this city Augustine was converted

Junior — Lesson Ten

went to church every Sunday and his heart was deeply touched.
His mother Monica, and the good preacher Ambrose, became
great friends, and their united influence over the young man
grew stronger and stronger. He grew more and more dis-
contented with the life he was living, and conscience told him
to become a Christian. But there were certain pleasures which
he was then enjoying which he felt to be sinful; softly they
whispered to him, ^^Canst thou part with us?’’ Could he give
them up? Like many a young man at such a time, he kept
postponing his decision. ^^Presently, lo presently,” he would
say to the voice of God in his heart. Leave me a little
while.” ^‘But my ^presently, presently’ had no present, and
my 4eave me a little while’ went on for a long while.” One
day when his distress was at its worst, he went out into the gar-
den, back of his house, with a friend named Alypius, and a
little later he left Alypius and went on further into the garden,
and flung himself down, weeping, under a fig tree. ^^How
long, how long?” he cried. To-morrow, and to-morrow?
Why not now? Why is there not this hour, an end to my un-
cleanness?”

§ 6. Augustine’s Conversion.

“I was saying these things,” he writes, ^^and weeping in the
most bitter contrition of my heart, when lo, I heard the voice
as of a boy or girl, coming from a neighboring house, chanting
and oft repeating, ^Take and read, take and read.’ Imme-
diately I ceased to weep, and I began to ask myself most ear-
nestly whether it were usual for children in any kind of game
to sing such words, nor could I remember ever to have heard
the like. So I rose up, interpreting it in no other way than as a
command to me from heaven to open the^book [that is, the
Bible] and to read the first chapter I should light upon. So I
returned quickly to the place where Alypius was sitting; for
there had I put down the volume of the Apostles. I grasped,
opened, and in silence read that paragraph on which my eyes
first fell, — ^Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering
and wantonness, not in strife and envying; but put ye on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil
the lusts thereof.’ No further would I read, nor did I need;

e50

Witnesses for Christ

for instantly, as the sentence ended, by a light as it were of
security infused into my heart, — all the gloom of doubt vanished
SLWScy” Thus Augustine became a Christian in that garden.

Almost his first act after his conversion was to go into the
house and tell his mother. Her joy we can well imagine. All
these years she had been praying for her son, with many tears.
She had believed in Christ that before she departed this life
she would see him a believer.’’ And now her prayers were
answered, and her faith rewarded. The story of Augustine’s
latter life may be found in other books. He became one of the
greatest leaders in Christian history, and one of the world’s
greatest thinkers. It should never be forgotten, however,
that there could have been no Saint Augustine, as he is known
in history, had it not been for the loving, faithful, tender,
influence of the Christian mother, Monica.

Questions and Topics.

1. If Augustine had refused to join the other boys in robbing
the pear tree, what would they probably have said?

2. Where did he get the idea that his mother’s words were
only womanish counsels”?

3. Suppose Augustine’s father had been a Christian as well
as his mother, in what way might his life have been different?

4. Why did not Augustine wish to have his mother live with
him in Rome?

5. Is it probable that Augustine was sometimes influenced
by his mother when he did not realize it? When, for example?

Junior — Lesson Ten

6. How does this story of Augustine^s early life show the
providential care of God?

To Sum Up.

1. Where and when was Augustine born?

2. Tell what you can about his father.

3. What kind of a woman was Monica, his mother?

4. By what forces for evil was Augustine influenced in his
boyhood and youth?

5. By what good influences was he helped?

6. Tell the story of his conversion, in the garden?

Witnesses for Christ

LESSON 11.

HOW OUR EUROPEAN ANCESTORS WERE
CONVERTED TO CHRIST.

When the barbarians invaded the Roman empire, the leaders
of the Christian churches were aroused to the fact that they
had a duty to perform. These northern tribes were worshipers
of Woden and Thor, and the other deities of Norse mythology.
To them, the ideal life was one of fighting and carousing; and
they dreamed of a future Valhalla, after death, where those who
fought bravely in this life might conquer their enemies, and
drink strong liquor, forever and ever. These idolaters had to
be converted to Christ, or Christianity would perish. The pe-
riod of the Dark Ages, therefore, with all its darkness, was a
time of splendid Christian missionary activity. Unfortunately,
few records of this missionary work were kept. Some interest-
ing facts, however, have been handed down to us in the old
annals.

§ 2. The Bible Translated into Gothic.

The Goths, who came down into Italy, Southern France and
Spain, were converted to Christianity before they left their
former home in Eastern Europe. This was accomplished in
part through the efforts of a missionary named Wulfila, or
Ulfilas (Little Wolf). He invented an alphabet for the Gothic
language, and translated the Bible into it. In this translation,
he omitted the stories in the Book of Kings, about the bloody
wars of the Hebrews, lest they should stir up the warlike pas-
sions of the Goths. Who knows how much more cruel and mur-
derous they might have been, as they forced their way down
into their new homes in Southern and Western Europe, had it
not been for the teachings of this brave apostle of the Prince
of Peace.

§ 3. Heathen Angleland Becoming Christian England.

Britain had been partially Christianized while under the rule
of the Romans. Later, however, while the Goths and Franks
were invading the rest of the empire, the Angles and Saxons
came swarming into the British Isles and brought heathenism

Junior — Lesson Eleven

with them. These newcomers learned of Christianity, as the
result of the following incident. Shortly before the year 590
A.D. a monk named Gregory was passing a slave-market in
Rome, where he saw three fair-haired, handsome boys. ^^Who
are these, and where did they come from?’^ he asked. ^^They
are Angles,’^ was the answer. Indeed,’^ said Gregory, “they
look like angels.’^ Some years later, when he became a bishop
of the Roman church, or the Pope, he sent a band of mission-
aries to Angleland, or England. The leader of the band was a
certain Augustine (not the Augustine of whom we learned in
Lesson 10).

§ 4. St. Patrick in Ireland.

Christianity was carried to Ireland by Patricius or Patrick,
whose ancestors had been Christians since the days when the
Romans were in Britain. As a boy he was taken captive from
Scotland, and sold as a slave in Ireland. For six years he fed
cattle for his master. Amidst the hardships of his life, he found
comfort in the teachings of Christ, which he remembered from
his childhood in a Christian home. Later in life, having es-
caped from slavery, he felt himself called of God to go back to
Ireland, and tell the heathen tribes there about the Gospel.
He was very successful as a missionary. One of his disciples,
St. Columba, carried the Gospel to Scotland. In fact, Ireland
became a center of missionary work; bands of zealous Irish
missionaries went to many parts of Europe.

§ 5. A French Chilftain who Wanted to Avenge the
Death of Jesus.

Christianity became the tribal religion of the Franks (or the
French) through the conversion of their king Clovis. He had
married a Christian princess named Chlotilda, who came from
a tribe further south, and through her had learned something
of the Christian religion. Just before a battle with a hostile
tribe, he prayed to Jesus Christ for aid, and promised, if his
prayers were answered, to be baptized as a Christian. It hap-
pened that he did indeed, win the victory, and on the following
Christmas Day he was baptized with three thousand of his war-
riors. It is plain enough that such a wholesale conversion as

Witnesses for Christ

this was chiefly a matter of outward profession, rather than of
inward purpose. Yet these people had begun to learn some-
thing of the meaning of Christianity. It is said that when King
Clovis first heard the story of the crucifixion of Jesus, he was
deeply stirred. Would that I had been there with my Franks,”
he said, ^Ho avenge Him.”

§ 6. Cutting Down the Oak Tree of Thor.

The chief missionary to the Germans w^as an English monk
named Winfred, better known as St. Boniface, who established
monasteries in many parts of Germany. In the course of his
travels he found a certain great oak tree which was sacred to
the Thunder-God, Thor. Winfred saw an opportunity to
strike a death blow against the old northern heathenism. Hav-
ing gathered a great assembly around this oak tree, he appeared
on the scene with an axe, and with his own hand felled it to
the ground. When the people saw that Thor was unable to
defend his tree, they abandoned the old worship, and accepted
Christianity. After a long life of active missionary work,
Winfred was beheaded by the Frisians, a tribe which at that
time was hostile to Christianity.

§ 7. How Winfred Preached to the Germaus.

Some of Winfred^s missionary sermons have been preserved,
and the following extracts show how practical they were:

These are the commandments which you shall keep and fulfil:
to love God with all your heart, all your soul and all your
strength, and to love your neighbor as yourselves. Be patient,
have mercy, be kind, chaste, pure. Teach your sons to fear
God, teach your whole family to do so. Make peace wherever
you go, and let him who sits in court give a just verdict, and
take no presents, for presents make even a wise man blind.
Keep the Sabbath and go to church to pray, but not to prattle.
Give alms according to your power, for a^ms extinguish sins,
as water does fire. Show hospitality to travelers, visit the sick,
take care of widows and orphans, pay your tithes to the church
and do to nobody what you would not have done to yourself.
Cling to the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed, and teach them to

WINFRED AND HIS FOLLOWERS ON A MISSION TOUR

Junior — Lesson Eleven

your children. Keep the fast, love what is right, stand up
against the devil, and partake from time to time of the Lord’s
Supper. Such are the works which God commands you to do
and fulfil.”

§ 8. Building a New Christian Civilization.

Beside these missionaries named above, there were of course
hundreds of others, who carried the teachings of the Gospel to
all parts of Europe; wherever they went they cut down trees
and built monasteries. Each monastery became a kind of
Christian school. Here the people in the neighborhood were
taught to till the soil and build houses. Here the weak could
fiee for refuge from the murderer and the oppressor. Here. law
and order prevailed, and men gained some notion of the bles-
sings of government. Schools, also, were established, and in
each generation, at least a few learned to read and write.
Libraries were collected, and copies of the Bible and other
ancient writings were preserved — a service for which we in our
day can never be too grateful. In short, although the Christian
church was unable to preserve the old Roman civilization from
corruption, it was itself awakened to a new life by the shock of
the barbarian invasions; and the religion of Jesus became one
of the chief forces which helped to build a new and grander
civilization.

Questions and Topics.

1. Which of the missionaries mentioned in this lesson was per-
haps the one who converted your own ancestors to Christ?

2. How did these missionaries show their courage and faith?

3. What other reasons besides love for Christ may have in-
fluenced some persons among these northern tribes to call
themselves Christians?

Witnesses for Christ

4. On the other hand, what facts show that the missionaries
exerted a genuine Christian influence upon the moral character
of many?

5. How did Ulfilas help the Roman empire as well as the
Goths?

6. How do foreign missions help our own country, to-day?

To Sum Up.

1. Describe the religion of the northern barbarians who
conquered Rome.

2. How was the church compelled to send missionaries to
them?

3. What missionaries are mentioned in this lesson?

4. In what country did each of them work?

5. Mention one or two of the precepts of Winfred, as quoted
in the extract from his missionary sermons.

6. What is meant by the sentence, ^^Each monastery became
a kind of Christian school ’7

Junior — Lesson Twelve

LESSON 12.

THE CHRISTIAN CONQUEST OF EUROPE.
Review.

Christianity began as the religion of a little band of disciples
of Jesus, in an upper room in Jerusalem. As Jews, they be-
longed to a despised race. They were despised and hated even
by the leaders of their own race. The Master whom they wor-
shiped had been a carpenter, and carpenters were looked down
upon, in those days, as peasants. Worse still,SHe had been
crucified between two thieves, — executed as a criminal.

To-day, Christianity is the leading religion of the leading
nations of the world. In every city, in every civilized land,
Christ is worshiped in great and beautiful churches. Although
many un-Christian acts are performed every day, nevertheless,
outwardly at least, the name of Christ is everywhere revered;
and there are multitudes who sincerely try to be His disciples.

How has this come about? We have answered this question
in the lessons of this course. We have seen that this great
victory has been won at the cost of blood and torture and death,
on the part of countless humble Christian men and women.
Yet we should not close our study with a sense of pity for those
early Christians. They were perhaps the happiest people who
have ever lived. They were so completely enraptured by the
glory of the cause which they served, that they seem scarcely
to have felt the pain and suffering which their persecutors
sought to inflict. It was this spirit of enthusiasm which con-
quered the Roman empire, and the continent of Europe, for
the Christian religion. This same spirit, in our hearts, will
help each one of us to be a conquering influence for the Christian
life. Surely if the Christians could sing for joy, amidst the tor-
tures of the arena, that same power of Christ can make us tri-
umphant over the petty trials and temptations which come to
us day by day.

^^When brambles vex me ^ore, and anguish me.

Then I remember those pale martyr feet.

That trod on burning shares, and drank the heat,

As it had been God’s dew, with ecstasy.”

Witnesses for Christ

Questions and Topics.

1. Into what three periods may we divide the history which
we have been studying in this course?

2. In which of these periods were the Christians most Christ-
like? Explain why?.

3. How do you explain the fact that in about two and a half
centuries, a despised religion of a crucified carpenter became the
leading religion of the Roman empire?

4. How do you explain the fact that when the barbarians
conquered Rome, they themselves and all the northern lands
from which they came, were conquered by Christianity?

5. From Jerusalem to Damascus; from Damascus to Antioch;
from Antioch, all over the Roman empire; from the Roman
empire all over Europe; from Europe to America — how long
and how far will this triumphal march of Christianity continue?

Final ^^Sum Up.’^

1. Mention three reasons why the Christians were persecuted
in the Roman empire?

2. When did the Roman government first attack Christianity?

Junior — Lesson Twelve

3. What was Tragan’s rule regarding the Christians?

4. Under what emperor were the Christians persecuted most
severely?

5. How did the early Christians show the spirit of brotherly
love?

6. Where did they hold their meetings for worship?

7. What did they do at these meetings?

8. How did they win converts to Christ?

9. To whom did they offer the blessings of the Gospel?
Was the Gospel merely for those who were already righteous?

10. What story is told of a robber chieftain near the city of
Smyrna?

11. By what temptations were the Christians constantly
surrounded?

60 Witnesses for Christ

12. How and when and in what city was Perpetua put to
death?

13. By what act could she have gained her freedom? '

14. Tell what you can about the death of Polycarp? of
Justin?

15. With what arguments did Justin, in his writings, defend
his fellow Christians, and the Christian religion?

16. Tell the story of the conversion of Constantine? Was it
sincere?

17. When did this occur?

18. Why was Rome so easily conquered by the barbarians?

19. Why did not the Christian religion preserve the old
Roman civilization from destruction?

20. What kind of a man was Salvian?

J unior — Lesson Twelve

21. Tell the story of Salvian and the poor farmer whom we
called Ursus.

22. Where and when was Augustine born?

23. What person wielded the strongest influence over his
life?

24. Tell what you know regarding his boyhood and early
education.

25. What profession did he choose?

26. Mention three other influences, beside Monica^s, that
led to his conversion.

27. Tell the story of his experience in the garden in Milan.

28. Mention the names of early missionaries to the following
countries: England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany?

29. What is a monastery? How did missionary monasteries
build up European civilization?

30. What is the error in the monastic idea of religion?

62 Witnesses for Christ

APPENDIX

List of Chukch Fathers Mentioned in these Lessons.

Ignatius was a bishop of the church in Antioch. He was
taken to Rome and put to death as a Christian about 117 a.d.

Polycarp was a bishop in the church at Smyrna, when Ignatius
was put to death. He himself was put to death as a Christian,
about 155 A.D.

Justin Martyr was a younger contemporary of Polycarp.
He lived in Ephesus and Rome. He was beheaded about 166

A.D.

Tertullian was a Roman lawyer, in the city of Carthage in
North Africa. He became a Christian about 190 a.d., when he
was about thirty or forty years old. He was not called upon to
die for his religion, but died in old age, about 220 a.d.

Clement of Alexandria was the president of a Christian
school in that city, where catechumens, that is, persons who
wanted to learn about Christianity, were instructed in its doc-
trines. He lived about the same time as Tertullian.

Origen was a pupil of Clement in his school at Alexandria, and
later took Clement’s place as president of the school. He was
a man of remarkable learning and genius. About 250 a.d., he
was cruelly tortured by the Roman authorities and condemned
to be burned as a Christian. Although this sentence was not
carried out, he died shortly afterwards, as the result of his
injuries.

Augustine was born in 354 a.d., and died in 430 a.d. Like
Tertullian he spent most of his life in North Africa, not far
from Carthage.

Salvian was born in Gaul about 400 a.d. He became a priest
in the city of Marseilles.

Christian Life and Conduct

Christian Life and Conduct is an analysis of the particular Biblical
rules and principles which all Christians should undertake to follow.
Though our religion is not a set of rules, nevertheless the Christian
purpose includes a determination to do certain things and to abstain from
others.

At the age of fourteen there is a tendency in boys and girls to break
away from restraint and to resent authority. They are passing rapidly
from the period when they follow rules of conduct merely because they
have been so trained, to the period when they should follow them of
their own desire. They are unwilling to be children any longer. They
desire the freedom of men and women, while as yet they do not under-
stand the adult point of view. The aim of Christian Life and
Conduct is to assist the pupil to make the transition from childish conduct
to that of young men and women who desire to live as Christians.

partial list of topics

Part I. LIVING ACCORDING TO THE STANDARDS OF LAW

Here the pupil surveys in a new way the great laws of the Scriptures.
Frequent reference is made to our common law which is largely founded
upon 'the* Bible.

2. The Si^ht to Property 5. The Rl^bt to Truth

3. The Ri{iht to Fair Dealing 7. The Rights of Parents

4. The Ri^ht to Rest 9. The Rights of the Unprotected

Part II. LIVING ACCORDING TO THE STANDARDS OF THE
PROPHETS AND SAGES

Here emphasis is laid upon the duty of doing good to others instead of
merely refraining from injuring them. The lesson material is from the
Old Testament.

13. Nc^lidence and its Results 16. The Power of the Tondae

14. The Cultivation of Habits 20. The Brotherhood of Man

15. The Importance of Self-control 22. False and True Worship

Part HI. LIVING ACCORDING TO THE STANDARDS OF JESUS

The course is brought to a culmination by the application of the
standards of Jesus to everyday life. The lesson material is from the New
Testament.

25. The Christian and his Leader 31. The Ambition of a Christian

27. The Christian and his Friends 34. The Life of Faith

30. The Christian and his Thouilhts 35. The Christian and his Heavenly

Father

Complete in thirty-six lessons

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part. Complete In one volume, cloth, 60 cents net.

The BibU Study Manual, the teachers’ aid, is indispensable for teaching the lesson.
In three parts, price 15 cents per part. Complete in one volume, cloth, 60 cents net.

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Heroes of the Faith

By Herbert Wright Gates

A Course of Forty-eight Lessons for Intermediate Pupils.

Abraham

David Livingstone.
Moses.

John Howard.
Florence Nightingale.
Guido F. Verbeck.
Elijah.

Amos.

Jeremiah.

John Wyclif.

Girolamo Savonarola.
Martin Luther
Gaspard de Coligny.
John Knox.

Paul.

John Eliot.

William Carey.
Adoniram Judson.
Marcus Whitman.
William Taylor.

John G. Paton,
Jonathan.

Esther.

Judas Maccab.®us.
Chinese Gordon.
William Penn.

George T. Angell.
Frances E. Willard.
Everyday Heroes.

Experience has shown that at about I
the age of thirteen a radical change!
in the 'subject studied is of great ad-j
vantage in securing a sustained in-|
terest. Boys and girls will return to|
the study of the Bible with fresh in-i
terest if they pause here to study the I
working of Biblical principles in other !
lives than those included in the Bib-|
lical records.

The HEROES OF THE FAITH?
has been constructed in view of this[
need. Its purpose is, by brief sketchesl
of heroic and grandly religious char-j
acters, to kindle in the pupil the)
spirit by which these men and women]
were animated, and to encourage its^
expression in similar virtues and deeds. J
A constant effort is made in these 5
studies to bring the heroic down to
everyday life, rather than to exalt it
beyond the reach of common men.
The lessons aim to impress the possi-|
bility and need of heroism in any
kind of situation— in the home or
school, on the street or the playground.]

Send postal to-day for free sample^
lessons and examine yourself
these interesting studies

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